There is still one month left

After the last great battle, Raditz's strength was finally acknowledged by everyone. Even Piccolo kept a lower profile, training harder and teaching Gohan more strictly. In his spare time, he often sought out Goku for grueling practice against the Kaio-ken.

The others also deeply felt their own shortcomings and applied themselves more earnestly.

Time slipped by quietly. Immersed in their training, they didn't realize until King Kai reminded them that the time to face the Saiyans was nearly upon them.

"King Kai, how long until they get here?"

"Hmm... about a month from now, a bit later than I expected," King Kai said. "Their ship ran into a planet explosion in space, which threw off their course."

Goku looked puzzled. "So we still have a month to train, right?"

"Well..." King Kai wiped his sweat. "The truth is, you've already surpassed me. There's nothing left for me to teach. You can train just as well back on Earth."

He clasped his hands behind his back, turned around, and gave a slight nod, the picture of a master.

But behind his sunglasses, his eyes betrayed deep fear.

Don't stay any longer. For one thing, this planet's been rebuilt who knows how many times now—every time it gets fixed, it gets smashed again, worse each time. After the car was wrecked, I never drove again. Even my hobby of counting grass was brutally taken away. All I do now is play with Bubbles.

Worst of all, my pantry's almost empty. Everyone's starving after training, eating meals that'd last me days in one sitting. Especially Raditz and Goku—they eat ten or even twenty times what a normal person does!

At first, he'd just been polite, but everyone took it for granted, praising his generosity while wolfing down his food without mercy. After a year, his long-stocked supplies were nearly gone, and there was no way they'd last another month.

King Kai made up his mind: he couldn't let them stay!

"But on Earth..." Goku frowned and started to protest.

Before he could finish, King Kai roared, "I said go back, so go back!"

"Ahh, okay, okay!" Goku waved his hands and stepped back.

Raditz walked over and grabbed Goku. "King Kai's right. We should head back to Earth. Get used to the environment, and relax a bit."

These days of training had pushed everyone to their limits. Their bodies were at their breaking point, and another month of training wouldn't yield much improvement. Better to go back, rest up, and recover.

The timing was off from what he knew, and that bothered him. The Saiyans should have arrived a month earlier, but now it was almost exactly a year. Was this change really a coincidence? Or had things already started to diverge?

Raditz clenched his fist, a flicker of unease stirring inside him.

"If Raditz says so too, let's head back," Yamcha chimed in.

"We're so much stronger now. Master Roshi's gonna be shocked when he sees us," Krillin said with a grin. "And Gohan—no wonder he's Goku's son, with Piccolo training him too."

"Huh? I..." Gohan lowered his head, a little shy.

Piccolo shot him a cold glance. "Still not nearly enough." He gave a light snort. Stern as he was, there was a strange warmth in his gaze.

Those two really are the perfect master-and-student pair... Raditz thought with a quiet smile.

He led the group in saying goodbye to King Kai, then jumped from King Kai's Planet onto Snake Way. King Kai, relieved, wiped his sweat with a handkerchief and waved them off.

Goku still looked reluctant, which made King Kai wave faster. "I'll have Earth's Kami come get you! Just follow Snake Way to the end!"

"Got it!"

Raditz called back loudly, waved at King Kai, and shot off. Without King Kai's tenfold gravity, he felt as light as floating on clouds, merging with the wind rushing past him.

"Let's race—see who's fastest!" Goku followed close behind Raditz, air currents swirling around him, leaving a long trail of light.

"That's cheating!"

"I'm not losing!"

The others caught the competitive spark and burst forth with powerful Ki, vanishing from sight in an instant.

Several streaks of air cut through the sky like shooting stars, racing across the vast, endless Other World.

Hours later, Raditz was the first to reach the end of Snake Way. Even he was sweating plenty. A journey of millions of kilometers was no joke, and his speed was already incredible.

After a while, Goku appeared on the horizon, with Piccolo right on his tail, always a step behind no matter how hard he pushed. They reached the end almost together.

Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Yamcha came next. Chiaotzu was another half hour slower, arriving with Gohan.

Gohan's Ki was strong, but he hadn't mastered it yet, so he lagged a bit at full speed. He glanced nervously at Piccolo and, sure enough, got a cold stare.

"You're the ones back from King Kai's, right?"

A Other World office worker in a shirt and glasses suddenly appeared before them, holding a clipboard. His face was blue, and he had two horns on his head, but otherwise looked like a normal human.

"He looks weird," Goku muttered, leaning in curiously.

"He's a Other World employee—it's just how they are," Raditz whispered in explanation.

"I'll take you to Earth's Kami. King Kai had King Yama arrange everything. Follow me, please get in." The worker led them to a stretch limo from Other World, driving straight to King Yama's hall.

Kami was already waiting there, greeting them as they arrived.

Kami could travel freely between Other World and the planets he oversaw. Everyone grabbed hold of each other and then Kami, and in an instant, they all transferred to Heaven.

"We're back!"

"Man, I feel so light—way too light!" Krillin shouted in delight. He hadn't noticed how light he felt while racing down Snake Way, but back on Earth, he felt almost weightless, his whole body several times more agile.

Raditz gazed at the horizon, eagerly awaiting Vegeta's arrival.

Come on. Let me show you the results of my training—and what these Earthlings can do!