The full moon hung overhead.
The moon in the Western Regions was bigger, closer, and brighter than the one in the Dragon Ball World.
Moonlight spilled over the Gobi Desert, coating its rugged rocks in silver. The wind had died, the sand had settled, and the whole world seemed frozen in place.
Outside the Axe Gang's stronghold, Goten sat cross-legged on a boulder, the Moonlight Box resting in front of his knees.
A faint purple glow shimmered across the box's surface—not a passive reflection of the moonlight, but an active, rhythmic pulse, like breathing, a heartbeat, or some ancient resonance.
Goten reached out and gently touched the box.
Bzz—
A warm power flowed through his fingertips and into his body.
It wasn't pain or a shock, but a familiar sensation he hadn't felt in a long time.
His Saiyan energy was awakening.
The power that had been suppressed by this world for three whole days was like a frozen river, beginning to thaw beneath the moonlight.
Goten closed his eyes and felt the power returning within him.
"Ten percent... twenty percent... thirty percent..."
He opened his eyes and clenched his fist.
Golden sparks of electricity danced around it.
"Forty percent."
Zixia sat on a rock not far away, watching him quietly.
Her eyes were puffy—she'd been crying just moments ago.
But now her expression was calm, even tinged with relief.
"How does it feel?"
Goten looked down at his hand. "Like... I've been trapped in a tiny room this whole time, and now the door's open."
He raised his head and looked at Zixia.
"Sister Zixia, that voice—the Sun Wukong inside the Moonlight Box—who is he, exactly?"
Zixia fell silent for a moment.
"You should see for yourself."
Goten frowned. "How?"
Zixia walked over and crouched in front of him, gently placing the Moonlight Box between his hands.
"Close your eyes. Focus on that power—the thing inside you called 'ki'—and let it flow into the box."
Goten did as she said.
Saiyan energy flowed down his arms and into the Moonlight Box.
Bzz—!!!
The box suddenly burst into a dazzling purple light!
Goten felt a force tug at his consciousness—just like when he'd crossed into this world, only gentler this time—
He opened his eyes.
He was no longer in the Gobi Desert.
He stood before a magnificent palace of gold and jade.
No—not a palace.
The Heavenly Palace.
The three characters above the South Heaven Gate shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Beyond the gate stretched a road with no visible end, lined with ranks of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.
But every soldier was wounded, and their formation was in disarray.
Wounded Heavenly Soldiers lay all over the ground, groaning. Their golden armor was shattered, and their weapons were scattered everywhere.
And at the end of the road, before the tallest palace—
A figure.
He was no taller than an ordinary human, clad in battered Chainmail Armor, with his Purple Gold Crown askew.
In his hand, he held a staff that gleamed from end to end with golden light.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven—Sun Wukong.
With his back to Goten, he walked step by step toward the gates of Lingxiao Palace.
"Sun Wukong—!"
Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li's furious roar came from inside the hall. "You've gone mad! You really mean to fight your way in?!"
Sun Wukong didn't stop.
He didn't even look back.
He simply raised the Golden Cudgel and pointed it straight at the plaque above Lingxiao Palace, which had hung there for ten thousand years.
"Old Sun—"
His voice wasn't loud, but every word hit like a hammer striking steel.
"—is done being an official of the Heavenly Court!"
The Golden Cudgel came down!
Boom!!!
The plaque exploded! Golden light burst in every direction! One blow punched through the roof of Lingxiao Palace!
Goten's pupils contracted sharply.
At that moment—
He saw Sun Wukong turn around.
The golden monkey face wasn't angry or crazed—
It was smiling.
A fearless smile.
The exact same smile his dad, Sun Wukong, wore.
The vision faded.
Goten opened his eyes and found himself still sitting in the Gobi Desert. He didn't know when the tears had started falling.
He raised a hand and touched his face.
"I... I was crying?"
Zixia gently patted him on the shoulder.
"Everyone who sees him ends up like that."
Goten drew a deep breath and wiped away his tears.
"He was incredible."
"Yeah."
"No—not incredible—" Goten shook his head and said earnestly. "It's... freedom."
Zixia paused.
"Freedom?"
"My dad once told me that a true strongman isn't someone with great power—it's someone whose heart is free." Goten clenched his fist. "That Sun Wukong—his heart is completely free. No one can bind him, and no rules can hold him back. He doesn't care about the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals or the Heavenly Court."
He raised his head and gazed at the full moon.
"I want to become someone like that."
Zixia looked at him, a complicated emotion flickering in her eyes.
This boy was unlike every other being in the Three Realms she knew.
He had no reverence for the Heavenly Court, no greed for power, and no acceptance of fate.
All he had was pure curiosity, pure passion, and a pure desire to grow stronger.
Just like that person from five hundred years ago.
"Sister Zixia," Goten said suddenly, "can the Moonlight Box take me back to the past?"
Zixia nodded. "It can. But you can only stay for the time it takes one incense stick to burn."
"One incense stick?"
"The Moonlight Box's power hasn't fully recovered yet. Each trip can only last that long before it automatically pulls you back."
Goten's eyes lit up.
"One incense stick—that's enough."
"What do you want to do?"
Goten didn't answer.
Before you continue