Earth's Arctic Ice Field!
"You two really don't care if you live or die!" Son Gohan lifted them with his ki and fed each of them a Senzu Bean.
"Whew!"
The two instantly recovered to their full strength!
But Sun Wukong was different from Piccolo. Just by sensing his ki, you could tell he'd gotten quite a bit stronger than before!
"Sun Wukong, you're a freak. No, you and your son are both freaks!" Piccolo snapped.
While Son Gohan had been training with King Kai, Sun Wukong and Piccolo had already fought dozens of times!
At first, Piccolo had held the upper hand thanks to the strength he'd gained after the Grand Elder unlocked his potential!
But as time went on, he became less and less of a match for Sun Wukong!
"Piccolo, you're strong too!" Sun Wukong tried to comfort him.
"Get lost! Don't think I don't know. In that last fight, you held back and fought me with the same amount of ki. That wasn't even close to your full strength!" Piccolo cursed irritably.
"Ah... haha... well..." Sun Wukong awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
Son Gohan took a careful look. At full power, Sun Wukong probably had a battle power of around 28,000, while Piccolo only had 15,000!
The reason the fight had been so close was probably that Sun Wukong had deliberately held back!
"Fighting's only fun when you're evenly matched. That's how you improve! And besides, Piccolo, that new move of yours, the Demon Killer Light Cannon, is incredible. Its destructive power is way beyond your strength!" Sun Wukong praised him.
"Sun Wukong, quit being disgusting. I'm not an idiot. My Demon Killer Light Cannon is powerful, but its charge time is its biggest weakness. Only an idiot like you would wait for me to finish charging!" Piccolo denied it, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He was clearly enjoying Sun Wukong's praise!
"Piccolo, if you want to surpass my dad, you need to start thinking seriously about merging with Kami!" Son Gohan reminded him.
"I don't need you to tell me! I know what I'm doing," Piccolo said with a frown.
He did want to merge, but he was afraid Kami's personality and thoughts would influence him. That worry had become a knot in his heart that he couldn't untie!
"I don't agree with you two. I don't think you should merge with Kami just yet," Sun Wukong said.
After Son Gohan took Piccolo to Namek and then told Sun Wukong about the Saiyans, both of their perspectives had broadened.
Piccolo was no longer fixated on ruling Earth or defeating Sun Wukong!
As for Sun Wukong, hearing that the universe was full of powerful fighters had rekindled his fighting spirit!
The deep-seated hatred they'd once felt for each other had vanished after dozens of fights!
Even so, they still acted like sworn enemies around each other!
"Sun Wukong, are you afraid I'll surpass you?" Piccolo asked.
"No. I'd be thrilled if you surpassed me. What I mean is, you haven't come anywhere near reaching your full potential. From what Gohan told you, merging with Kami could multiply your strength several times over! But your current base strength is so low. How strong would you really become, even after merging? You've seen Gohan's Super Saiyan form. Do you think you can surpass him?" Sun Wukong explained.
"Sun Wukong, what the hell are you talking about? What do you mean my base strength is so low? You looking down on me? If you've got the guts, let's fight again!" Piccolo had completely missed the point!
"..." Son Gohan was speechless.
"Can you focus on what I'm saying?" Sun Wukong said helplessly.
"I know what you mean! But I feel like I can't get much stronger without some special method. Even the Grand Elder never explained how Namekians specifically increase their strength!" Piccolo said, frowning deeply.
"I know a way!" Son Gohan cut in.
"What way?"
Piccolo and Sun Wukong both turned to Son Gohan.
"At the end of Snake Way in the Underworld, there's a small planet called King Kai's Planet. I've been training there these past few days! North Kai may not be very strong, but he knows a lot. And he has a technique that lets you grow stronger in battle!" Son Gohan began telling them about his time on King Kai's Planet!
"King Kai Fist???" They both stared wide-eyed.
"That's right! This is King Kai Fist!" Son Gohan shouted.
A red aura burst from his body! The terrifying shockwave sent the two of them flying!
Whoosh!!!
After Son Gohan powered down, the two quickly rushed back over!
"Gohan, can I learn it?" Sun Wukong asked excitedly.
Piccolo looked just as eager, watching Son Gohan expectantly.
"Dad, you're my father, so of course you can learn it. But Piccolo... Namekians have a different body structure from Earthlings, so I don't know if he can learn it. Still, I can take you both there and have King Kai teach you himself," Son Gohan said.
"Son Gohan, are you discriminating against me? What do you mean, I have a different body structure from Earthlings? If I'm different, are you Saiyans the same as them?" Piccolo protested.
"Sorry, but aside from their bloodline and tails, Saiyans are actually pretty similar to Earthlings!" Son Gohan said, teasing Piccolo.
"You...! Hmph!" Piccolo was so furious he didn't even know how to argue back.
"Gohan, then take us there! Hurry, hurry! I can't wait!" Sun Wukong said.
"Dad, are you sure you don't want to tell Mom first?" Son Gohan asked worriedly.
"Ah... Chi-Chi... I guess I should go tell her, right?" At that, Sun Wukong instantly froze.
Mount Paozu!
"What? You're going to train in the Underworld? Do you have a death wish? That's no place for the living! And what am I supposed to do at home if you leave? You don't earn any money as it is. We get by on what you hunt. If you leave now, what will Gohan eat and drink? What will I eat? What will I drink..." Chi-Chi pointed at Sun Wukong and launched into a tirade.
She didn't repeat herself once. She cursed, complained, cried, sounded aggrieved, and raged...
"Gohan... maybe I shouldn't go after all?" Sun Wukong said cautiously.
Outside the house, Piccolo's face went completely blank!!!
With his keen Namekian hearing, he'd naturally heard what Sun Wukong had said!
"What kind of strongest man on Earth is he? He's nothing! His wife's the real strongest, isn't she? Wives are terrifying creatures. Good thing I'm a Namekian and don't need one... Reproducing on my own is the ultimate truth!"
Inside the house,
Chi-Chi was still going on and on about her troubles!!!
"Mom, I'll be leaving for a while too, so you don't need to worry about what I'll eat!" Son Gohan only made things worse.
"What? You're leaving too? Sun Wukong, look what you've done! Letting Gohan train with you was already the biggest concession I've ever made. And now you're taking my Gohan to the Underworld too... I'm so young, and I'm about to lose both my husband and my son! Boohoohoo!" Chi-Chi misunderstood completely, thinking Sun Wukong was the reason Gohan was going to the Underworld too.
Tears instantly streamed down her face as she wailed loudly!
"Gohan... you handle this!" Sun Wukong nudged Gohan with his shoulder.
Son Gohan had no choice but to soothe her himself. "Mom, we're not dead. We're going to train. Besides, with Dad and me gone for a while, you can get some rest! You can visit Grandpa, go out for a bit, buy some makeup or whatever... Don't worry about money. Your son is so smart that we'll never have to worry about money in the future! Here, this is payment from Aunt Bulma. There's a hundred million in it. You can use it for now!"
"A hundred million???" Chi-Chi snatched the bank card from Gohan at super-speed!! Her eyes gleamed!
But she immediately suppressed her greed and scolded him. "Gohan, how could you take Aunt Bulma's money? We may be poor, but we can't just take someone else's money!"
"Mom, I told you, it's payment. Aunt Bulma asked me to help her, and this is what she paid me. I didn't take it for nothing!"
"I don't believe you!"
"If you don't believe me, call Aunt Bulma and ask her!"
"Hello, Bulma? Gohan came back and said..." Chi-Chi called Bulma right away!!