Popo's Mystery

West City, underground shelter.

"Aunt Bulma, please prepare some high-calorie portable food, and enough specialized gravity suits to last two years. Pack them all into capsules. Trunks and I are going somewhere for special training."

"Special training?" Bulma froze. In this desperate world where they could be discovered and killed by the Androids at any moment, where could they go that would be safer than hiding in the basement?

"The Lookout," Son Gohan said, his eyes resolute. "There is a Hyperbolic Time Chamber there."

Bulma frowned. "The Hyperbolic Time Chamber? I know the Lookout, but how have I never heard of such a place there?"

"My father mentioned it to me before he passed." Son Gohan shifted the blame to Son Goku without hesitation. "It's a magical space inside Kami's Palace. Time is of the essence; the sooner we grow stronger, the more lives we can save from the Androids. We must leave as soon as possible."

Hearing Son Goku's name, the doubt in Bulma's eyes vanished instantly. She looked at the Son Gohan before her, whose aura felt completely different. The young man who had always carried a hint of tragedy and exhaustion now possessed a gaze filled with absolute self-confidence.

It had been too long since she had seen such a hopeful look in this broken world.

Bulma didn't waste any more words and immediately turned to rush into the laboratory. Ten minutes later, a small box of capsules was placed in Gohan's hands.

"Be careful," was all Bulma said.

"We will."

High in the sky, two trails of aura streaked across the gloomy horizon like meteors, heading straight for the Lookout above Korin Tower.

The wind howled in their ears. Trunks followed closely behind Gohan, finally unable to suppress the question in his heart: "Brother Gohan, is that Hyperbolic Time Chamber really as magical as you say?"

Gohan slowed his flight slightly, his voice cutting through the wind: "That's right. It's a space completely different from Earth. The flow of time is entirely distinct from the outside world; one day spent out there is a full year inside."

"A year?!" Trunks' eyes widened, shocked by the news.

"That's not all," Gohan continued. "The gravity inside is ten times that of Earth, the air is extremely thin, and the temperature fluctuates violently between minus forty and plus fifty degrees Celsius. It is a hell designed purely to push the human body to its limits. An ordinary person wouldn't last a minute inside."

Trunks swallowed hard, but instead of fear, a fanatical fighting spirit ignited in his eyes: "As long as I can get stronger there, I can endure even the harshest environment!"

Watching the purple-haired youth's enthusiasm, Gohan withdrew his gaze and silently calculated his training plan.

His current base combat power was around seven million.

The Super Saiyan transformation was essentially a violent amplification of the "ki" within his body. A standard Super Saiyan 1 could multiply his base power by fifty. In other words, his current limit was around 350 million.

But that was far from enough.

In the year inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he not only had to refine his Super Saiyan 1 form into a "Full Power" state that consumed no stamina, but he also had to attempt to break through the barrier to Super Saiyan 2!

The multiplier for Super Saiyan 2 was one hundred times his base, which was double that of Super Saiyan 1.

Beyond that, Super Saiyan 3 offered a four-hundred-fold increase, but that form's stamina consumption was terrifying; without the halo of a dead person or the support of Godly ki, it had little practical value in real combat.

Furthermore, he had to awaken the Legendary Super Saiyan bloodline within him.

The terror of the Legendary bloodline lay in its unreasonable growth potential and limitless expansion of ki. A normal Super Saiyan transformation was an emotional outburst, while the Legendary transformation was a pure release of wildness. Once activated, his combat power wouldn't just be a simple multiplier, but a continuous growth after the initial boost!

Even...

Gohan sketched out an incredibly crazy hypothesis in his mind.

If the theory held, based on the method of transforming into a Super Saiyan 4 in GT, was it possible to skip the Super Saiyan 2 and 3 stages and find a shortcut to the threshold of Super Saiyan 4?

The principle of Super Saiyan 4 was to regain one's sanity after transforming into a Golden Great Ape and compress that massive, wild power into a humanoid form. Broly's Legendary bloodline was already an extremely high-level Saiyan lineage; he wouldn't lose his sanity in the Great Ape form.

However, whether it would actually work remained to be seen.

After all, the Son Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball GT were old monsters who had experienced the Majin Buu arc and countless life-and-death battles over decades. It was no exaggeration to say that the Goku who successfully transformed into a Super Saiyan 4 in the GT era could rub him into the ground with one finger, even while staying in his black-haired base form.

The gap in base combat power was like a chasm.

"One bite at a time. Let's handle Super Saiyan 1 Full Power and the Legendary Super Saiyan 1 first," Gohan took a deep breath, suppressing his racing thoughts.

Before they knew it, the two had passed through the thick clouds, leaving the top of Korin Tower far below.

A massive, hemispherical palace floated silently above the clouds.

Red tiles, white architecture, and lush trees surrounding it. This was the residence of Earth's deity.

Ever since Piccolo and Kami died, this place should have been a silent ruin.

But when Gohan and Trunks landed lightly on the palace plaza, they both stopped in their tracks.

Standing silently before the steps leading to the main hall was a figure.

Black skin, a white turban, and round, unblinking eyes stared ahead, as still as an ancient statue.

Mr. Popo.

Trunks instinctively assumed a defensive stance. He had never seen this person before, and in this desperate world, any stranger was extremely dangerous.

Gohan reached out to stop Trunks, his gaze deep as he studied the seemingly harmless, stout black man.

Mysterious.

That was Gohan's only assessment of Mr. Popo. In the original Majin Buu arc, the two brats, Goten and Trunks, had transformed into Super Saiyans on the palace grounds and launched reckless attacks to spar with him. Yet, Mr. Popo had easily blocked every attack capable of destroying a city without even breaking a sweat.

That composure was very much like the Angels in the God of Destruction arc.

If he was that strong, why did he stand by and watch the Androids slaughter humanity without intervening?

The question flashed through Gohan's mind, but he instantly pushed it aside. He didn't ask, nor did he probe. The rules of this world were rigid; divine officials could not interfere with the survival of the lower realms at will. Asking would be a waste of time; it was better to get down to business.

Son Gohan stepped forward, just about to open his mouth to state his purpose.

"Son Gohan, Trunks."

Popo spoke first. His voice was ethereal, devoid of any inflection, as if it hadn't been produced by a mouth but had instead resonated directly within their minds.

Those round eyes of his held a sense of detachment that seemed to see through everything.

"I know why you have come here." Popo turned slowly, without a single wasted movement, and began walking toward the depths of the Lookout. "Follow me."

Trunks stood frozen in place, turning his head to look at Gohan. "How... how does he know my name?"

"Trunks, keep up." Gohan offered no explanation, quickening his pace to follow behind Popo.

The three of them traversed a long, dim corridor. It was so quiet that they could hear nothing but the sound of their own footsteps.

Finally, Popo stopped before an incredibly heavy wooden door carved with ancient patterns. A sense of immense age and oppression seeped through the cracks, as if the space behind the door connected to another universe.

Popo reached out with his black hand and pressed it against the door knocker.

"Once you go inside," Popo tilted his head slightly, his expressionless eyes locking onto Gohan's.

The wooden door groaned with a dull roar as it slowly swung inward.

"You must be extremely careful with time. Each person can only stay inside for two years in their lifetime; if you exceed that limit, you will never be able to come out."