Dragon Balls

Watching Kast, who had already suppressed his aura, the Guardian of Earth turned to Mr. Popo beside him.

"Popo, have you gathered everything...?"

At the Guardian of Earth's question, Mr. Popo silently took out a bundle.

"Please rest assured, Guardian. Popo has gathered everything."

Meanwhile, after his training came to an end, Kast slowly opened his eyes.

"Excellent!" Clenching his fists, Kast could clearly feel an immense power gathering inside him. Although he hadn't used a Scouter to measure it, based on his past experience, he estimated that his battle power was now around 50,000.

Yes, around 50,000—far beyond Zarbon and Dodoria, whom he'd seen on Planet Vegeta.

With his current battle power, unless he went looking for trouble, he was now a powerful presence in the surrounding star systems.

As for how he'd grown so strong, the Room of Spirit and Time deserved much of the credit. Even Kast himself hadn't expected to survive in such a harsh environment.

He remembered that the original story had described the room as having thin air and oppressive heat, with temperatures ranging from fifty degrees Celsius to minus forty. Its gravity was ten times that of Earth. Of course, Kast barely felt the gravity. Planet Vegeta's gravity was already ten times Earth's, so being in the room was much like returning to Planet Vegeta.

Compared with the gravity, the room's space was what made it so extraordinary. The Room of Spirit and Time contained an expanse as vast as Earth's. Those with weak wills or unfocused minds could easily suffer hallucinations inside.

Most importantly, one year there was equivalent to only one day in the outside world.

For Kast, a place with such unique properties was the perfect training ground, especially since he knew the story and understood that he would eventually have to face Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu.

So, as soon as Kast learned to sense auras, the first thing he did was seek out the Guardian of Earth and ask to train in the Room of Spirit and Time.

To force himself to grow as quickly as possible, he also asked for a specially weighted training suit.

As it turned out, Kast had made the right decision.

At first, the harsh environment was brutal. Wearing the weighted suit made it even worse. The first time Kast went inside, he nearly got crushed under his own weight. The suit he wore weighed 50 kilograms, and the room multiplied that by ten, making it 500 kilograms—or 1,000 jin. Combined with his own weight, the load immediately pinned Kast to the ground, unable to get up.

Though he nearly died, Kast had Senzu Beans on him. With their help, he eventually managed to survive.

After repeated brushes with death and one grueling training session after another, his strength finally began to grow explosively.

During his training, Kast could already clearly feel his strength increasing.

That feeling was so wonderful, so intoxicating, that as he continued training, Kast ignored even the pain and focused solely on his cultivation.

Fortunately, Kast had been born a Low-Class Warrior and exiled. For the first five years of his life, he had survived on that savage planet—a desolate world without civilization, inhabited entirely by unintelligent creatures. There, he had developed an iron will.

With that iron will and the intense thrill of growing stronger, Kast quickly became addicted to training.

Finally, after a full year of nonstop training, with no so-called Saiyan bottleneck holding him back, Kast had reached his current battle power of 50,000.

With his current strength, unless he ran into Frieza or Captain Ginyu, there was probably no one who could defeat him anytime soon.

"Time to leave."

Landing on the ground, Kast silently walked toward the Lookout.

At that moment, the Guardian of Earth and Mr. Popo were also walking toward the entrance of the Lookout.

Soon, the Guardian of Earth reached the entrance. Seeing Kast approach, he quietly asked, "Your training is over, then?"

Looking at Kast's resolute eyes, the Guardian of Earth could tell he was determined to leave, even though they'd only lived together for two short months.

"You're planning to leave now, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Looking at the old man before him, Kast nodded. "It's about time. Now that my training has come to an end, it's time for me to leave."

"Mm... Popo." The Guardian of Earth closed his eyes, then gestured to Mr. Popo beside him.

"Since you're preparing to leave, let me give you one more gift before you go."

As he spoke, Mr. Popo took out a gray bundle.

When he opened it, Kast saw seven orange glass balls, each about the size of his palm. Inside them were between one and seven stars. Strangely, no matter what angle he viewed them from, the stars always faced forward.

"The Dragon Balls?!"

Also known as Wish Orbs, the Dragon Balls were objects that only Namekians had the ability to create.

Kast stared at them in shock. In the original story, the Dragon Balls played a crucial role in connecting one event to the next. It could even be said that everything began with a Four-Star Dragon Ball.

It wasn't that Kast didn't want to find the Dragon Balls, but Bulma hadn't been born yet, and no one had invented the Dragon Radar. There was no way he could gather them all right now.

Rather than waste time collecting them on Earth, he might as well head to Planet Namek when he left and get them there. They'd be much easier to obtain there than here. After all, Kast wasn't an evil man like Frieza, and he was fairly confident he could get the Dragon Balls.

But Kast truly hadn't expected the Guardian of Earth to have gathered the Dragon Balls.

"That's right. They're the Dragon Balls."

Seeing Kast's shocked expression, the Guardian of Earth smiled.

"During one of our conversations, I learned my origins from you. It was a question that had troubled me all my life. I'd always been searching for the answer, and you helped me find it. Now that you're leaving, you can use these Dragon Balls to grant one wish as a token of my gratitude."

Earlier, during a quiet moment, Kast had briefly chatted with the Guardian of Earth and told him about his race. As a result, the Guardian of Earth had learned who he really was.

He wasn't from Earth. Like Kast, he was an alien—a Namekian.

"I gathered these myself, you know,"

Mr. Popo said softly with a simple, honest smile as he handed Kast the bundle containing the Dragon Balls.

"Thank you."

Kast thanked him. He was somewhat excited, but didn't show much of it on his face. After taking a few slow breaths, he steadied himself.