The Hyperbolic Time Chamber

"What-what should we do now?"

Krillin panicked and asked helplessly.

"It's all right. Goku should have recovered by now. You should be able to sense his ki, right?"

Piccolo said to everyone.

They slowly nodded.

The only good news now was that Goku had recovered, which should be a great morale boost for everyone.

Just as they were discussing Goku, two figures—one tall and one short—descended from the sky.

They were none other than Son Goku and his son, Son Gohan.

"Everyone, long time no see! How have you been?"

Son Goku smiled and waved at them.

"Goku!" "Goku's here!"

Speak of the devil, and he appears. The gloom lifted from everyone's faces.

As Son Goku greeted them, his eyes kept scanning the area.

"Where's Li Lin? Where did he go?"

"And Master Roshi said a powerful new enemy has appeared!"

Son Goku fired off several questions in quick succession.

Faced with so many questions, Krillin walked over, punched him, and replied with a grin, "That guy Li Lin wandered off somewhere. We haven't seen him in three days!"

"After you went down, three incredibly powerful Androids appeared. They're really strong!" Piccolo picked up the conversation and got straight to the point. After a pause, he continued, "But so far, they haven't done anything bad, so we can set them aside for now."

Son Goku nodded slowly. "I know. Gohan told me all about it!"

"What's the deal with that monster called Cell?"

Piccolo folded his arms and began explaining in a low voice.

On hearing this, Son Goku reacted quite differently from everyone else. A trace of excitement showed in his eyes.

The fighting instinct in his blood seemed to stir once more.

"What? You're so strong, and even you can't handle him?"

Son Goku said in surprise.

Piccolo was incredibly strong now—stronger than him.

If even Piccolo couldn't handle Cell, then he probably didn't stand a chance either!

"That's right," Piccolo said helplessly. "The only way now is to find the Androids and destroy them. That's the only way to stop Cell from growing even stronger!"

Son Goku hadn't heard a word of that last sentence. All he'd registered was that Cell was incredibly strong.

Seeing Goku's expression, Krillin walked over, tugged at his clothes, and asked with a bemused look, "Goku, what's with you? You look pretty happy."

"Huh?" Son Goku came back to his senses and scratched the back of his head. "Do I?"

Everyone shrugged, confirming that he really did look very happy.

"Heh, I guess so!" Son Goku didn't deny it, because that was exactly how he felt. He then asked, "Where's Vegeta? Why haven't I seen him?"

"He went off to train. I heard he wants to surpass Super Saiyan and reach a higher level," Piccolo said calmly.

Son Goku became even more interested.

If it was possible to surpass Super Saiyan, he wanted to do it too.

He was very dissatisfied with his current strength.

Besides Cell, there was also Li Lin, whose strength was impossible to gauge.

Li Lin was his friend, but he still didn't want to fall behind!

"All right, everyone, I'm going to start training too. I'll leave things here in your hands for now," Son Goku said.

Li Lin was nowhere to be found, so they couldn't count on him for the time being.

They would have to rely on their own efforts to defeat the enemy.

Krillin rubbed his chin and asked in confusion, "Where are you going to train? Things are urgent right now. How much could you improve, even if you did train?"

They were trying to cram at the last minute.

Goku certainly had a great talent for training, but there was no way he could make any major gains in such a short time!

"I know a place where a year of training is equal to one day in the real world," Son Goku said with a relaxed smile.

He had already figured out what to do when he decided to train.

As long as nothing major happened on Earth while he was training, he wouldn't have to fear any of the threats there once he returned.

Everyone was slightly surprised to hear that.

A year of training for every day in the real world? Was there really such a place on Earth?

Piccolo didn't seem surprised. He asked outright, "You mean the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in the Lookout?"

Son Goku smiled and nodded.

That was exactly where he meant. Give him another year, and he'd be able to face any enemy.

"I'm planning to take Gohan with me to train. I think his talent is greater than mine."

"We might even have to rely on him in the end."

Son Goku smiled as he patted Gohan's head.

Everyone smiled at that, but didn't take it too seriously!

Only Piccolo firmly believed that his "son's" potential was incredible, and that Gohan might well surpass Son Goku!

"Good. Then go train. Leave things on Earth to me," Piccolo said with a nod.

He understood that although he was very strong now, defeating Cell on his own would be extremely difficult.

But that hadn't shaken his confidence. He would keep looking for Cell and, if the chance arose, take him out in one decisive blow.

"See you later, then!"

Son Goku waved to everyone and used Instant Transmission to leave!

As they watched Goku depart, everyone fell into a long silence.

Then Krillin broke it. "Man, I really wonder where Li Lin's gone. If he were here, we wouldn't have to struggle so much!"

Piccolo agreed with Krillin.

He hadn't thought much of it before, but after his strength had increased dramatically, he realized just how terrifying the ki Li Lin had released back then had been.

With Li Lin around, even the Androids and Cell together wouldn't be enough to take him on.

"Forget it. We'll have to rely on ourselves. He's got all that power, but in the end, he was the first one to hide away," Piccolo said blandly.

"Think he might be at home right now?" Krillin wondered.

On a plain several hundred miles away.

Inside a simple Capsule house!

"Achoo!"

Li Lin was lounging on the sofa, watching a show on TV. He sneezed and grumbled, "Is someone badmouthing me?"

A glass of unfinished orange juice sat on the table.

His plan was simple. Nothing was happening just yet.

Rather than searching around without a clue, he'd wait for them to show themselves.

Cell needed to absorb the Androids to evolve. Li Lin only had to show up when that happened.

There was no point in going out now!