However.
Son Goku still had no idea he'd said something wrong. Looking bewildered, he asked, "Huh? Gohan, did I say something wrong again?"
"But I feel like... I didn't say anything wrong?"
Seeing his innocent expression, everyone fell silent for two seconds.
The next moment, everyone present except the three members of the Son family and Vegeta burst out laughing.
"Hahahahaha!"
An hour and a half later.
Riding along with Son Goku, Tarble successfully arrived on New Namek.
Of course.
During that hour and a half, Tarble had successfully bound Son Goku, and his available binding slots had once again been reduced to zero.
He had also gained a new skill: Dragon Fist Explosion.
His total number of bound people was now 6.
His training multiplier was 7x.
The next time he entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, his training speed would increase by another 1x.
But back to the main point.
The Namekians naturally welcomed Son Goku with great enthusiasm.
But they weren't nearly as friendly toward Vegeta.
When Frieza invaded the old Namek to seize the Namekian Dragon Balls, Vegeta had personally slaughtered the Namekians in an entire village.
For that reason, Vegeta had the good sense not to come along.
He'd simply asked Tarble to make a wish to Shenron on his behalf: to grow his tail back.
As for himself, he'd volunteered to prepare more food.
Tarble had naturally agreed to such a small favor.
"Grand Elder Mulin, thank you so much for lending us the Dragon Balls!" Son Goku said sincerely, looking at the seven Namekians behind Mulin, each holding a Dragon Ball the size of a basketball.
His excitement and anticipation were impossible to hide.
Mulin was the current Grand Elder of the Namekians.
After Frieza invaded Namek all those years ago, the former Grand Elder had also reached the end of his life, so the position had passed to Mulin.
"Mr. Goku, there's no need to thank us. You're a great benefactor who saved us Namekians. What's the harm in letting you use the Dragon Balls?"
"If it weren't for you, Mr. Goku, we wouldn't still be alive and well here."
"From now on, whenever you want to use the Dragon Balls, you're welcome to come by."
"However, if we ever need your help, we hope you'll lend us a hand."
The kind-hearted Namekians understood what truly mattered in life.
They knew that once a person died, everything was over.
And setting aside Son Goku's kindness to them, even without that debt, making friends with a super-powerful warrior as loyal and honorable as him by letting him use the Dragon Balls was a very good deal.
Although the fighting-type Namekians were now much stronger than Nail had been back then, they still couldn't hold a candle to a super-powerful warrior like Son Goku.
What was more, when Son Goku arrived this time, he'd told them about Tarble.
When Mulin learned that Tarble was even stronger than Son Goku, he was all the more willing to bring out the Namekian Dragon Balls.
Earlier, they'd all sensed an unprecedentedly powerful energy coming from the direction of Earth.
At the time, they'd been worried, praying that trouble wouldn't once again break out in the universe.
Now they'd learned that Tarble was the one behind that overwhelming energy.
And Mulin couldn't sense any evil in Tarble at all. So what did he have to hesitate about?
After hearing him out, Son Goku accepted without the slightest hesitation. "Hehe, thanks, Grand Elder Mulin!"
"If there's anything I can do to help, just say the word!"
He might have been simple-minded, but he wasn't stupid.
In his eyes, the Dragon Balls were a wonderful thing.
Only a fool would turn down a promise to use them whenever he wanted without having to pay much of a price.
Seeing this, Tarble was privately at a loss for words.
It was only because the Namekians had no ulterior motives. Otherwise, Goku could have been sold off and still helped count the money without even realizing it.
Mulin was different. Seeing Son Goku agree without hesitation, a smile appeared on his somewhat aged face.
"Mr. Goku, what wishes would you like to make this time?"
"Shall I have the children help you make them?"
Son Goku replied without a moment's thought. "Oh, I want Shenron to make my tail grow back."
"Oh, and Vegeta's wish is the same as mine."
"Tarble wants to get taller."
"Hey, Tarble, how tall do you want to be?"
Seeing how carefree he was, Tarble pursed his lips, then smiled slightly at Mulin.
"I want to be 188 centimeters tall."
"Sorry for the trouble, Grand Elder Mulin."
Needless to say, his unusual wish made Mulin and the other Namekians stare at him.
It was the first time anyone had asked for such a trivial wish.
Only after hearing Tarble's words did Mulin snap out of his daze.
"N-no problem."
"Mr. Tarble, that's quite an unusual wish."
Tarble smiled and played along. "That's true. It is pretty unusual."
Seeing that he didn't react in any particular way, a flicker of surprise passed through Mulin's eyes, but he said, "Then I'll have them grant all three of your wishes."
Before long.
Porunga was successfully summoned.
Looking up at the mighty Porunga, with his bulging muscles and thick, sharp horns, Tarble couldn't help marveling to himself.
Huge!
Tall and imposing!
He looked like trouble... Ah, forget it. He was probably just like Earth Shenron—all show and no substance. Even King Piccolo, with a battle power of only two or three hundred, could destroy him with a single Energy Wave!
So much for imposing. He was just big!
Mm!
Really big!
As Tarble marveled to himself, Mulin stood at the front of the crowd, speaking loudly to Porunga in a language he couldn't understand at all.
He couldn't make out a single word!
It was the Namekians' native language.
Two seconds later, he noticed that Son Goku had suddenly grown a brown tail.
At the same time, Son Goku sensed that something was different and quickly turned to look behind him.
Seeing his tail swish playfully a few times, he cried out, "That's great!"
"My tail's back!"
As he shouted, he stroked his tail, as if reminiscing.
Seeing this, Tarble nodded to himself.
That was more like it!
How could someone named Son Goku not have a tail?
He'd just finished judging the situation when he suddenly realized his viewpoint had risen considerably.
He turned to look around and only then realized that he'd grown taller!
At that moment, he towered above the crowd, able to look down on everyone.
For some reason, his mood suddenly lifted.
This was a much more comfortable view!
Before, he'd always had to look up at everyone else. His neck had nearly developed a chronic strain!
Just then, Son Goku noticed that something was different about Tarble and let out another cry of surprise.
"Whoa!"
"Tarble, you got so tall all of a sudden!"
"I'm almost a whole head shorter than you now, haha!"
Before you continue