Galactic Patrol Headquarters!
"Oh? You say King Kai sent you here. Do you have any proof?"
Standing before Son Gohan was the Galactic King, who looked like a green octopus!
"Your Majesty, the proof isn't important. You must have a way to contact King Kai, right? Why not ask him yourself?" Son Gohan replied.
"Heh. You've got some nerve, kid. You must be pretty confident in your strength!" The Galactic King wasn't offended by Son Gohan's rudeness. In fact, he was quite intrigued!
He closed his eyes, and an invisible wave of energy radiated from his body!
King Kai's Planet
"Huh? The Galactic King? Why is he contacting me? We haven't spoken in over a thousand years!" Though puzzled, North Kai still answered the Galactic King's telepathic call.
"Honored North Kai, it's been a long time!"
"Galactic King. How have you been?"
The two exchanged insincere pleasantries!
"Yes, it's been so long since we last spoke. I've missed you dearly!"
"Likewise, likewise. Heh. What brings you to contact me, Galactic King?" North Kai asked directly.
"There's someone here—hmm, from his race, he seems to be a Saiyan. His name is Son Gohan. He says you sent him here. Is that true?" The Galactic King opened his eyes and carefully studied Son Gohan before closing them again to speak telepathically with King Kai.
Seeing the Galactic King's actions, Son Gohan guessed that he had a special telepathic ability!
"Son Gohan? He went to your place?" King Kai was taken aback.
"He said you sent him. Is that true? It seems he had ulterior motives and lied!" The Galactic King immediately understood what King Kai meant.
"No, no, I know him. I did send him to you. He's a talented fighter with great potential, so I sent him over to train. I told the kid to start at the bottom, but I didn't expect him to be so bold as to come straight to you!" King Kai hurriedly covered for Son Gohan.
He didn't know why Son Gohan had gone there, but since he'd used King Kai's name, he probably wasn't there to cause trouble!
Frieza, the great menace to the North Galaxy, still needed to be dealt with. King Kai couldn't let anything happen to Son Gohan!
"Since the story checks out, there's no problem. Don't worry, North Kai. Leave him to me!" The Galactic King wasn't a fool, of course. He could hear that King Kai was looking out for Son Gohan.
Since King Kai didn't mind, he saw no need to play the villain. Building a good relationship with him wouldn't hurt!
"Then I'll leave him in your hands, Galactic King. Give him plenty of dangerous missions. The kid is strong, so make sure you train him well!" North Kai replied.
"Understood, understood! I'll keep him safe!" After his final words, the Galactic King cut off the telepathic connection.
After all, telepathic communication took a toll on the mind!
The two old schemers had chosen their words carefully, and every line had to be read between the lines!
North Kai had said to give him dangerous missions and that he was strong!
But then he'd added that the Galactic King should train him well!
That last sentence had clearly been a message to the Galactic King: Son Gohan was one of his people. He could be trained, but his safety had to be ensured!
The Galactic King had understood, naturally, which was why he'd promised to keep him safe!
Patrol Headquarters
"Kid, I've contacted King Kai. It seems you weren't lying. He asked me to train you well!" The Galactic King found Son Gohan even more intriguing!
Saiyans were famous as a warrior race, but he also knew that they weren't particularly powerful. Instead, they were under the control of Frieza, the emperor of the universe!
Frieza had even destroyed the Saiyans' planet!
He couldn't understand why North Kai thought so highly of Son Gohan and had secretly asked him to keep the boy safe!
"Then thank you, Your Majesty. Can I go with him?" Son Gohan offered a half-hearted thanks, pointed at Merus beside him, and asked to join him.
"Heh, you've got a sharp eye. Merus is one of the Patrol's elite officers! Countless people want to go on missions with him. Are you really that confident?" the Galactic King asked curiously.
"In the few minutes since I got here, you're the only one besides him whose strength I can't see through!" Son Gohan hinted that he was powerful. There were only one or two people he couldn't read!
"Haha! Good, I like your spirit. Merus, take him along from now on. Is that all right?" the Galactic King said cheerfully.
"No problem, Your Majesty. I'll take him with me, then!" Merus replied calmly.
"Mm, go ahead!"
And with that, Merus led Son Gohan away!
Watching them leave, the Galactic King thought, What an interesting Saiyan. He's a Half-Saiyan, but the power he's hiding is impressive, and he doesn't have the Saiyans' ferocity! He's only about four, yet he's as mature as an old schemer! An Apprentice Angel and a Half-Saiyan... I wonder what kind of sparks they'll create!
If Son Gohan could have heard the Galactic King's thoughts, he would have been terrified!
This Galactic King was clearly quite different from the one in the anime!
Not only could he see through Son Gohan's background and strength, he also knew Merus's identity!
"Merus, is it okay if I call you big brother?" Son Gohan felt incredibly nervous.
Of course, he knew who the man before him was!
Merus, an Apprentice Angel and Whis's younger brother, had come to the Seventh Universe to train after he was born. He hadn't yet become a full-fledged Angel!
Later in Dragon Ball Super, he had interfered in Son Goku's battle with Moro and disappeared because of the rules!
As for whether he was revived afterward, Son Gohan couldn't remember! Dragon Ball Super's second season hadn't even come out yet when he crossed over!
The reason he'd come to Patrol Headquarters was Merus!
The God of Destruction hadn't awakened, and Son Gohan didn't want to wake Beerus. Whis was always watching over Beerus, too!
He didn't dare go to Beerus's Planet on a whim.
The only other gods he could meet were the Supreme Kais and Merus!
But Shin was a new Supreme Kai who knew nothing, and he had an arrogant servant, Kibito, at his side!
Besides, the time when the Old Supreme Kai was sealed inside the Z Sword was during the Majin Buu era!
That was after Super Saiyan 2!
Though Son Gohan had neglected his training by then and his strength had fallen considerably, he was still definitely stronger than he was now!
He wasn't sure he could pull out the Z Sword at his current strength!
So he hadn't gone to Kaioshin Star. Merus was his only remaining choice!
Although Merus was only an Apprentice Angel, he had mastered Ultra Instinct with ease, even if he wasn't as accomplished as Whis!
And if Son Gohan could get on good terms with him, he'd have someone to rely on in the future!
"Call me whatever you like. I'll show you around first. Once we get a mission, I'll take you along a couple of times, and then you can work on your own. With your strength, ordinary missions shouldn't be a problem!" Merus could tell that Son Gohan was no ordinary child.
"Hehe, you could tell, big brother Merus!" Son Gohan smiled sheepishly.
"Don't worry. I can sense that you mean no harm," Merus said calmly.
"Yeah, I came out here to train and see the universe. I can't see through your strength, so I figured you must be stronger than me. I wanted to learn from you!" Son Gohan didn't care about revealing his intentions.
"I like your honesty. Follow me!" Merus said.
"Hehe, okay!" Son Gohan happily scampered after him!