Father and Son Reunited

Night had fallen deep.

The campfire crackled as it burned.

Son Gohan hugged his sword sheath and leaned against a rock, sinking into a heavy sleep.

Jiang Ling rested his back against another rock, his hands pillowed behind his head. The star-filled Milky Way reflected in his eyes in tiny, shimmering points.

He couldn't sleep.

Maybe he still wasn't used to having just transmigrated here, or maybe he had drunk too much of tonight's tiger-whip tonic soup, leaving his blood a little restless.

Bored, Jiang Ling summoned the system in his mind.

"System, please begin your performance."

[...]

[This system is currently version 1.0. For now, it only has the sign-in function. More powerful functions will be unlocked one after another in the future.]

"Sign-in function?"

Jiang Ling's attention was successfully drawn in by the system.

He muttered to himself, "It's hard to say whether this function is any good."

In the novels he had read, systems with sign-in functions were either ridiculously overpowered or absolute trash.

Most were the latter.

He wondered what kind his system was.

[Host, this system's sign-in requires touching the target to sign in and randomly rewards one of the target's abilities.]

[This ability includes but is not limited to skills, talents, experience, and so on.]

A series of system prompts rang out.

Jiang Ling's eyes lit up.

For now, the sign-in function seemed to have potential.

"So, is there a newbie gift pack?"

[Huh, how did you know?]

"Just tell me whether there is one or not."

[Ding. The system is issuing the gift pack.]

[Saiyan Bloodline, ten Senzu Beans.]

Hearing that, Jiang Ling sat up.

Leaving aside whether the Saiyan Bloodline was powerful or not, no one would object if he said it was the most popular bloodline, right?

What Jiang Ling had wanted most when he was little was to become a Saiyan, especially that transformation. It was insanely cool!

When he was young, he had spent ages at home going "aaah, aaah, aaah," only to get brutally beaten by his father. He had been pretty chunibyo back then, and the more he got hit, the more excited he became, because at the time he thought that if he recovered from a near-death state, his strength would skyrocket like a Saiyan's.

He had even felt it wasn't painful enough and added fuel to the fire by opening his mouth. "Didn't you eat? Is that all the strength you've got?"

The result was obvious. What greeted him was another round of vicious beating...

He had spent a full week recovering in the hospital...

How nostalgic...

A nostalgic look appeared in Jiang Ling's eyes as he silently said in his heart, "Use the Saiyan Bloodline."

[Bloodline fusion in progress...]

The prompt sounded.

Jiang Ling felt an indescribable sensation spread through his entire body.

"Hiss—"

"So comfortable~~"

Jiang Ling couldn't help letting out a cry.

His face was full of enjoyment.

[Saiyan Bloodline fusion in progress...]

A brown tail grew out from behind him.

Gradually, that "comfortable" sensation continued.

Jiang Ling could no longer hold on, and his expression slowly turned pained.

This was taking way too long!!!

No normal person could endure this!!

Son Gohan, who had been sleeping nearby, was woken by the commotion on his side.

Seeing Jiang Ling like this, he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Uh..."

Jiang Ling said haltingly, "No... nothing. Don't... don't... don't mind me..."

Son Gohan had no idea how to help with something like this, so he could only worry anxiously at the side.

After who knew how long, Jiang Ling finally returned to normal.

He panted heavily.

This feeling.

How should he put it? He couldn't describe it.

In any case, it had been half an hour of comfort, yet it could also be called agony.

His stamina had dropped to rock bottom...

Right now, he was extremely weak, and could only use the last bit of strength he had to take out a Senzu Bean from the system space.

That was right.

The system came with its own space.

System: [It's standard, you know.]

After taking the Senzu Bean, Jiang Ling finally recovered.

He felt his strength return.

Full stamina!

He never wanted to experience what had just happened ever again!

Although it had been comfortable, it had been far too comfortable!!

He stood up and felt out his own strength. His power had not increased at all.

This Saiyan Bloodline had fused for absolutely nothing.

He guessed that he probably had to improve his strength through training.

After all, Son Goku also had the Saiyan Bloodline, and back then, he had climbed up from a combat power of just a few points too.

Jiang Ling thought of something and asked the system:

"System, don't Saiyans also have that passive where their combat power increases greatly after recovering from near death? My state just now should meet that requirement, right?"

[Ding. Host, this passive requires you to raise your combat power to 100 before it can be triggered.]

Jiang Ling: ...

"Are you feeling any better? Do you want to go into the city and find some medicine?"

Gohan was still standing guard beside him, concern in his eyes.

He was kind by nature, and when he encountered something like this, he would help without hesitation.

Hearing that, Jiang Ling felt a little warmth in his heart.

He smiled and said, "I'm fine. My stomach problem just acted up. I just had to endure it and it passed."

"Is that how stomach problems act up...?"

Son Gohan tilted his head, utterly puzzled, but still said:

"My mom used to have stomach problems too, but she got better after taking Capsule Corp Stomach Medicine. You can go buy some and try it."

Jiang Ling nodded. "Okay. I'll buy some when I get back. Thanks, Gohan."

Seeing that Jiang Ling was fine, Son Gohan relaxed, and a wave of sleepiness came over him.

He yawned and was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly caught sight of the tail swaying behind Jiang Ling, and he was very surprised.

"You have a tail too? I remember you didn't have one..."

Jiang Ling looked at his own tail and said with a perfectly serious expression, "You must be remembering wrong. I've always had a tail."

"Huh? Really?"

Gohan scratched his head and did not dwell too much on the question. "Then I probably remembered wrong."

"I used to have a tail too, but it's gone now."

At the mention of tails, Son Gohan lost all sleepiness and enthusiastically began explaining what tails could be used for.

For example, using them to scratch an itch, chasing your tail in circles, and so on.

Also, when peeing, if the recoil was too strong and you couldn't stand steady, you could brace your tail against the ground, forming a tripod with your two feet!

Then Mom would never have to worry about you not standing steady while peeing again!

Jiang Ling listened to Gohan's explanation with a smile, silently noting it down in his heart.

Tails had this many uses? That really had not occurred to him.

As Gohan kept talking, his eyelids began to droop, and sleepiness surged up again.

Jiang Ling rubbed Gohan's head.

"Go to sleep. It's late."

"Mm."

Son Gohan soon fell into a deep sleep beside him.

Jiang Ling took a deep breath.

He checked the reward he had received from taking the chance to sign in while rubbing Gohan's head just now.

[Ding, sign-in successful. Since this is the host's first sign-in, an optimized reward has been triggered: "Son Gohan's Potential."]

Joy rose in Jiang Ling's heart.

Anyone who had watched Dragon Ball knew that Son Gohan's potential was terrifyingly powerful. If he trained properly, beating Goku with his fists and kicking Vegeta around wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, he ended up becoming a scholar.

This sign-in reward was practically help sent in a snowstorm!

Jiang Ling took a deep breath and composed himself.

Then a question suddenly occurred to him. Could he still sign in one more time today?

He reached out and touched Gohan, then silently recited again in his heart.

"Sign in."

[Ding, host, you can only sign in once per day.]

Jiang Ling curled his lip.

Sure enough. He'd known it would be like this.

"Then can I sign in on Gohan again tomorrow?"

[Ding, the same target can only be signed in on again after one year.]

Jiang Ling: "..."

This system...

It was useless!

He might as well raise his own strength and smash everything apart himself.

[Host, I'll definitely work hard to update! I'll strive to provide you with better assistance. Is there anything else you need help with?]

Jiang Ling thought for a moment, then said, "Can you increase my strength?"

That request was perfectly reasonable.

After all, he was out in the wild right now, where he might run into all kinds of monsters, like giant dinosaurs and the like.

With his current combat power, if he ran into that huge tiger from before, going up to it would still just be delivering his head.

It wasn't too much to raise his strength first, right?

He couldn't possibly stay by Gohan's side forever and let a four-year-old child protect him, could he?

[Uh... host, you're dreaming too big. Strength has to be trained by you yourself. The system won't give it to you directly.]

[If I gave you immense power directly, you wouldn't be able to control it. You'd feel a kind of emptiness.]

[Only power gained through your own cultivation truly belongs to you!]

"Stop, stop, stop. Fine, don't say any more!"

Jiang Ling rubbed his temples. He finally understood—the system was trying to brainwash him!

Damn system!

The more Jiang Ling thought about it, the angrier he got, so he decided to brainwash it right back.

"System, you're my son!"

[?]

[Host, please use civilized language.]

Jiang Ling's eyes widened. "What? Am I wrong? You're my son!"

The system had a temper too, and immediately fired back.

The two sides went back and forth in a fierce war of words.

[I'm your dad!]

"You're my son!"

[I'm your dad!]

"You're my son!"

[I'm your dad!]

"Son!"

[Dad!]

"Ah~ What a good son."

[...]

Jiang Ling burst out laughing, feeling much better inside.

Then, perfectly content, he leaned against the rock and fell asleep.

On a distant mountain.

A figure sat cross-legged on the summit, his green skin blending into the forest.

His expression was cold, his head wrapped in a white turban, with a white cape draped over his body.

This person was none other than Piccolo!

Piccolo withdrew his gaze from Jiang Ling.

He fell silent in thought.

"That man's origins are unclear, but from the looks of it, he should have Saiyan blood..."

"Forget it. He's weak anyway."