King Kai

Looking across King Kai's Planet, aside from a small house, there were only a few lonely trees, with a single lane and an antique car at the planet's center.

Come to think of it, the places gods live are all pretty boring. Kami's Sacred Water was equally empty, and even the Supreme Kai's Realm was desolate enough. No wonder gods all need servants or keep pets, and they all love spying on the mortal world. Even someone like Beerus sleeping for years at a time is understandable—eternity is just too dull!

While they were taking in the scenery of King Kai's Planet, an ape appeared.

"King Kai is here!" Tien Shinhan, having the sharpest eyes, shouted to the group.

"Could this be King Kai?"

"He looks like an ape!"

"No, it should... not be him..." Piccolo made a quick judgment and shook his head.

Meanwhile, Goku had already started imitating the ape, shouting "Ooh ooh ooh" while waving his arms around.

Krillin pulled at Gohan, unsure whether he should join in or not.

"Ahem... what are you all doing?" A person with antennae on his head walked out of the house, wearing strange clothes and a pair of sunglasses.

No mistake, this was North Kai.

Raditz was the first to walk over, bowing respectfully. "Lord Kai, greetings. We've come specially from Earth, hoping you could guide our training!"

Seeing Raditz's sincere attitude, King Kai nodded.

"Earth... it's no easy feat getting here. I haven't met anyone in a long time—truly rare." King Kai looked unusually excited at the crowd. "However, if you want to train, you'll have to pass my test first!"

"A test?!"

"I'm a genius at telling jokes. If you can make me laugh with a joke, I'll guide your training! Come on, give it a try—it's not easy." King Kai was quite pleased with himself, then pointed at Goku. "Stop chasing my pet. His name is Bubbles, and he can't teach you to train."

"Huh? So he's a pet." Goku trudged back dejectedly.

Piccolo saw Goku's expression and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he also found himself in a bind. Making him tell a joke... that would be the biggest joke of all.

Most of the others were equally stunned, never imagining such a bizarre assessment method.

Young Gohan wasn't included in the test due to his age. Yamcha and Krillin easily passed King Kai's low-laugh-threshold test. Raditz, well-versed in all kinds of cold jokes from the internet, also passed with ease, earning high praise from King Kai—"Are you a professional comedian or something?"

The remaining Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, and Goku racked their brains but couldn't think of any jokes. In the end, with everyone's help, they barely scraped by.

King Kai wiped tears of laughter from his eyes with a handkerchief, savoring the moment. "Looks like you all came prepared. Can't be helped, then—I'll teach you to train. Come on, let me first see what you're capable of."

King Kai didn't look impressive, but his every move carried an air of authority that made the group instinctively take him seriously. Under ten times gravity, they could barely move, let alone fight. Several of them struggled to assume fighting stances but lacked the strength to launch an attack.

"It seems you haven't adapted to the gravity here yet. Earth's gravity is only about one-tenth of this—no comparison." King Kai relaxed his posture and pointed at Bubbles. "Tell you what, first race against Bubbles. Whoever can catch him passes, and then I'll teach them."

Catching this ape—now that sounded fun!

"Yes!" Goku and the others perked up immediately.

Goku entrusted Gohan to King Kai, asking him to let Gohan slowly acclimate to the environment. After all, with Saiyan blood flowing through him, Goku believed Gohan had the potential. This was also why he hadn't objected when Raditz suggested bringing Gohan along.

"Goku, I won't lose to you this time!" Piccolo strode over first. Even in his heavy gear, he was noticeably faster than the others, able to move at a brisk pace.

Aside from Goku, everyone else struggled far more, gradually falling behind.

Bubbles calmly watched the group of "foolish Earthlings" approach, completely unimpressed. The moment he darted off, he vanished from sight, undoing all the progress they had barely made.

King Kai watched them smugly, about to lead Gohan back inside, when he suddenly noticed Raditz.

"Why aren't you going?"

"This gravity has no effect on me. I'd like to start training directly." Raditz stated plainly.

King Kai frowned. Seeing Raditz's Battle Suit and tail, his expression shifted slightly. "You're a Saiyan, aren't you? No wonder—your planet's gravity is about the same as here. But how are you with Earthlings?"

"It's like this: within a year, two Saiyans will attack Earth. To prepare for them, we came here. No matter what, we need to train enough to stand against them."

"Saiyans... that's a tough situation. But aren't you a Saiyan too?" King Kai was a bit confused.

"I'm different from them. I'm going to stop them."

"Hmm... you really don't have any evil aura."

Of course not. I'm a model citizen, certified by my neighborhood association. Raditz thought to himself.

In truth, the soul beneath this shell had been replaced. Though he had killed some aliens when he first crossed over, they weren't good people either—it could be considered punishing evil. So even the records in King Yama's book had changed. The current Raditz was a completely good person.

King Kai's two antennae finally twitched, like antennas receiving a signal.

"Let me see... yes, indeed. They're heading for Earth. About ten months or so left. Don't worry—training here will bring rapid progress. But one of them is very strong. Even after training, you might not be a match!"

"No problem. I'm a Saiyan too!" Raditz said confidently. "Please train me directly."

He was confident enough to handle the incoming Saiyans, but that still wasn't enough to satisfy Raditz. There wasn't much training time left. What about Frieza behind the Saiyans? And the other ambitious beings in the universe? Still far from enough!

That was why he valued training on King Kai's Planet so highly. At this stage, King Kai was the best instructor available. Though King Kai's own strength might be lacking, his two signature techniques and training methods were worth learning. If not for wanting to learn his Kaio-ken, Raditz wouldn't have come all this way.

Seeing Raditz's determined expression, King Kai thought to himself: This guy's got some real ability. He might even be able to push Kaio-ken to its limits!

"Alright then, the first training exercise starts now. Try holding this child while dodging my attacks." King Kai tossed Gohan to Raditz. "Don't let either of you get hurt. If you manage that, we'll move on to the second exercise."

Protect Gohan? Raditz took the exhausted, speechless boy in his arms, feeling a surge of emotion. "Gohan, don't be scared." With that, he assumed a ready stance, and King Kai immediately attacked.

The next second, a barrage of Ki Blasts came raining down on Raditz!