One More Month

After the last great battle, Raditz's strength was finally acknowledged by everyone. Even Piccolo became much more low-key, training harder than ever and becoming increasingly strict when teaching Gohan. In his spare time, he often sought out Goku for grueling practice in dealing with the Kaio-ken.

The others had also deeply realized their own shortcomings and became even more serious about training.

Time passed quietly. It was only when King Kai reminded them that they abruptly realized it was nearly time to face the Saiyans.

"Lord King Kai, how much longer until they arrive?"

"Hmm... well, probably about a month from now. A little later than I expected," King Kai said. "Their spaceship encountered a planetary explosion in space, which affected its course."

Goku looked puzzled. "Then don't we still have another month to train?"

"Well..." King Kai wiped away his sweat. "Actually, you've already surpassed me. I have nothing more to teach you. You can train just as well after returning to Earth."

With his hands behind his back, he turned away and gave a slight nod, looking every bit like a grandmaster.

Yet beneath his sunglasses, his eyes revealed deep fear.

Please, don't stay any longer. Leaving everything else aside, this planet had been rebuilt who knew how many times. Every time it was fully repaired, it got smashed to pieces again, and each time was worse than the last.

After his car had been wrecked, he had never driven again. Even his hobby of counting grass had been cruelly taken from him. Every day, he could only play with Bubbles.

Worst of all, his storehouse was nearly empty. Everyone was ravenous after training, and a single meal for them lasted him several days. Raditz and Goku were especially outrageous—they each ate ten, even dozens of times more than everyone else!

At first, he had merely been polite. He never expected everyone to take it for granted, praising King Kai's generosity while eating without the slightest restraint. Over the past year, the food he had stockpiled for so long had nearly run out, and it definitely would not last another month.

King Kai made up his mind. He absolutely could not let them stay!

"But Earth..." Goku frowned and began to protest.

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

"Ah, all right! All right!" Goku waved his hands repeatedly and took two steps back.

Raditz stepped forward and grabbed Goku. "Lord King Kai is right. We should return to Earth. We need to get used to the environment in advance, and we should relax a little too."

These days of training had put every one of them through immense hardship. Their bodies had already reached their limits, and another month of training would not bring much improvement. They would be better off going back, resting properly, and nursing themselves back into peak condition.

The timing differed somewhat from what he knew, and that bothered him. The Saiyans should originally have arrived a month earlier, but now their journey had taken almost exactly a year. Was such a change truly a coincidence? Or had everything already begun to diverge?

Raditz clenched his fists tightly, feeling a trace of unease.

"If even Raditz says so, then let's go back," Yamcha agreed.

"We've become so much stronger now. Master Roshi will definitely be shocked when he sees us," Krillin said with a smile. "And Gohan too. As expected of Goku's son, with Piccolo teaching him as well."

"Huh? I..." Gohan lowered his head shyly.

Piccolo shot him a cold glance. "It's still far from enough." With that, he snorted again. Though he was extremely strict, an inexplicable concern showed in his gaze.

Those two really were the perfect master and disciple pair... Raditz chuckled inwardly as he watched them.

He led everyone in bidding King Kai farewell, then leaped from King Kai's Planet onto Snake Way. King Kai, greatly relieved, wiped his sweat with a handkerchief while waving goodbye to them.

Goku still looked reluctant to leave, frightening King Kai into waving even faster. "I'll notify Earth's Kami to come pick you up. Just follow Snake Way to the end!"

"Got it!"

Raditz shouted back, waving to King Kai before shooting forward. Without the tenfold gravity of King Kai's Planet, he felt incomparably light, as though he were floating among the clouds, merging with the sound of wind rushing past him.

"Let's compete and see who's the fastest!" Goku closely followed Raditz, air currents surging around him and leaving a long streak of light behind.

"That's too sneaky!"

"I won't lose!"

Everyone's fighting spirit was ignited. They erupted with powerful Ki at the same time and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Several streams of air streaked through the sky like racing meteors, sweeping across the boundless Other World.

A few hours later, Raditz was the first to appear at the entrance to Snake Way. Even he was drenched in sweat. A journey of a million kilometers was no joke; his speed was already extraordinarily impressive.

After a while, Goku finally appeared in view, with Piccolo following closely behind him. Though there was always a gap he could not overcome, they ultimately reached the entrance to Snake Way one after the other.

Behind them came Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Yamcha. Chiaotzu arrived another half hour later, together with Gohan.

Gohan's Ki had become very strong, but he still could not use it well enough. At full speed, he was naturally somewhat inferior. He timidly glanced at Piccolo and, as expected, received a cold look.

"You must be the people returning from Lord King Kai's place, right?"

Suddenly, an Other World civil servant wearing a shirt and glasses appeared before them, holding a notebook. His face was blue, and he had two horns growing from his head, but aside from that, he looked no different from an ordinary human.

"This guy looks really strange." Goku leaned over and muttered curiously.

"He's an Other World employee. He has to look like that," Raditz explained quietly.

"I'll take you to meet Earth's Kami. Lord King Kai has already had Lord King Yama make all the arrangements. I'll guide you there. Please get in." The Other World employee led them to an extended Other World official vehicle, which drove directly to King Yama's hall.

Kami was indeed already waiting there and came forward as soon as they appeared.

Kami could travel freely between Other World and the planet under his charge. Everyone grabbed hold of some part of another person's body, then grabbed Kami. In an instant, they were all transported to Heaven.

"We're back!"

"I suddenly feel so light. This feels amazing!" Krillin cried out happily. He had not had time to appreciate the lightness of his body while racing along Snake Way, but after returning to Earth, he realized he felt almost weightless. His entire body had become several times more nimble.

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

Come on, let me show you the results of our training—and how formidable these Earthlings are!