Labor Pains

The pitch-black sky shrouded Planet Namek.

A beam of golden light shot into the heavens and transformed into a Shenron with thick, powerful arms, standing between heaven and earth.

Jiang Ling had summoned Shenron.

He was going to make a wish.

Because he possessed a skill that gave him mastery of the Dragon Ball Language, Jiang Ling had no trouble conversing with Shenron.

Bulma stared at Namek's Shenron in astonishment and blurted out instinctively, "So big..."

"So it wasn't just Namek's Dragon Balls that were bigger. Shenron is bigger than Earth's too..."

Namek's Shenron looked down at everyone, and a majestic voice came from his mouth.

"Warrior who has gathered the seven Dragon Balls! Speak your wish. Anything is possible, and I will grant it."

Those words were spoken in the Namekian Language. Of everyone present, aside from Piccolo and the Namekians, only Jiang Ling could understand them. The others could not understand a word.

Jiang Ling did not particularly like being looked down on. It made him feel as if the other party was standing high above him.

He flew up until he was level with Namek's Shenron's head.

He stared straight into Shenron's crimson eyes.

"Any wish at all?"

"Yes. Any wish, no matter what it is."

Being stared at like this by Jiang Ling, Namek's Shenron suddenly felt a pressure bearing down on him, and a bead of sweat ran down his enormous head.

This was the first time he had ever felt this way since becoming Shenron. It was extremely strange.

"Can you grant eternal youth and immortality?"

Jiang Ling asked.

"Uh..." Shenron wiped his sweat. "With my authority, I cannot... But I can increase your lifespan to the greatest possible extent..."

"Mm..." Jiang Ling was not surprised. He had already prepared himself for this.

That kind of wish was a bug. In the manga written by Dragon Ball's author, Akira Toriyama, no one had ever obtained that ability through the Dragon Balls.

That so-and-so Junior from the animated version was an anime-original plot and did not count. Akira Toriyama probably did not even know about it.

It was already impressive enough that the Dragon Balls could bring people back from the dead. What more could you ask for?

"How much lifespan can you add?" Jiang Ling asked.

Shenron answered, "That depends on each person's constitution."

Jiang Ling nodded, then slowly said, "Then add lifespan to Namek's Grand Elder."

He knew something about the Grand Elder's past. It would be too much of a pity for him to simply reach the end of his natural life like this.

In the past, Namek had been a technologically advanced planet. The Namekians of that era had abused technology, ultimately causing the environment to deteriorate catastrophically, and most of the population died.

The small number who remained used spaceships to send the surviving children away from Namek. Kami was one of them.

The remaining people stayed behind to fight against that great disaster.

The result was plain to see.

When the disaster finally passed, only one Namekian was left on Namek: the Grand Elder.

For him to have survived the disaster, his strength definitely could not have been low.

The Grand Elder could have left, but he did not. Instead, he shouldered the heavy responsibility of propagating his race.

After several hundred years of development, up to now, he had given birth to a total of 108 children, and his lifespan had reached its end.

Jiang Ling wanted the Grand Elder to live a few more years. It could be considered repayment for his help in unlocking their potential.

Helping Namek get rid of Frieza also counted as repayment to the Grand Elder, but Jiang Ling had his own considerations too. If they did not eliminate Frieza on Namek, then the next planet destroyed would probably be Earth, and none of them would survive either.

When Namek's Shenron heard the wish Jiang Ling spoke, he nodded.

A flash of light passed through his crimson eyes.

"Twenty years of lifespan have been added to the Grand Elder."

When Piccolo heard this wish, he raised his head and nodded to Jiang Ling.

Nail and Dende were present as well. As the Grand Elder's sons, they naturally had deep feelings for him.

At this moment, hearing that Jiang Ling's first wish was to extend the Grand Elder's life, the two said gratefully to Jiang Ling:

"Thank you for extending the Grand Elder's life. Thank you so much."

"We wanted to use the Dragon Balls to wish for the Grand Elder to live longer before too, but he refused..."

"No matter what, we truly cannot thank you enough. Not only did you resolve Namek's crisis, you even extended the Grand Elder's life!"

Hearing their words of thanks, Jiang Ling joked, "Haha, when I come to borrow the Dragon Balls from you in the future, don't refuse me."

"No problem!"

Nail and Dende swore up and down that they could guarantee it.

At that moment.

The house where the Grand Elder was suddenly shattered.

A massive figure walked out from inside.

Everyone fixed their eyes on him. Who else could it be but the Grand Elder?

At this moment, the air of decay around the Grand Elder had already vanished, replaced by a vibrant aura full of life.

Nail and Dende hurriedly went up to greet him.

"Grand Elder, you're in poor health. Why did you come out?"

"That's right, Grand Elder. Please hurry back and rest."

The Grand Elder wore a smile and waved his hand.

His complexion was rosy, and his voice rang loud and clear.

"My body is perfectly fine now."

He nodded to everyone.

Then he raised his head and looked up at Jiang Ling in the sky.

"I have received your kindness. Thank you."

Jiang Ling shook his head and smiled. "Mainly, I just felt it would be a little too much of a pity for you to leave."

The Grand Elder said, "Thank you. I've thought it through. In the end, I still can't let go of my children."

Nail, Dende: "Grand Elder..."

The Grand Elder revealed a kind smile. "Since twenty years of life have been taken away, then I can continue to witness Namek, as well as my children's growth."

"O warrior who gathered the seven Dragon Balls, please state your second wish."

Shenron looked at Jiang Ling as he spoke.

Below, Bulma and the others, who did not understand what was going on, were somewhat confused.

"Huh? Wasn't the wish already made? Why hasn't Shenron disappeared yet?"

Dende, beside them, blinked and spoke up. "Our Shenron can grant three wishes..."

"So that's how it is."

Everyone began praising Namek's Shenron for being more humane.

In the sky.

Jiang Ling turned his gaze back to Shenron.

"My second wish... restore all the environmental damage on Namek caused by the fighting to its original state!"

Shenron nodded, and another flash of light passed through his crimson eyes.

"The wish has been granted."

When the Grand Elder, Nail, Dende, and the others heard this, they could not help feeling moved, and they regarded Jiang Ling even more highly.

He clearly could have wished for something that benefited himself, but he had not done so. Instead, he had restored Namek to normal...

He really, I'm crying to death.

Jiang Ling did not know what they were thinking and began stating his third wish.

"Increase Earth's gravity by 0.5 times."

Jiang Ling believed there was a reason why the combat strength of Earth's humans was low. First and foremost, it was an issue of physical constitution.

Planet Vegeta, where the Saiyans lived, had ten times Earth's gravity, so every person living there was a warrior.

Earth's gravity was too low. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Ling casually raised the gravity a tiny bit.

After all, people needed a process to get used to it.

If it went straight to two times, three times, or five times, humanity definitely would not be able to withstand it, and there would be deaths on a massive scale.

Moreover.

Even though it had only increased by 0.5 times now, a small portion of people still died outright. Most of these people were seriously ill and on the verge of death.

They could originally have lived for a few more days, but after Jiang Ling did this, they were gone on the spot.

But Jiang Ling had no choice but to do this.

He knew that if they wanted to become strong, this had to be done.

The pain was unavoidable, but after it would come new life!

Shenron nodded, indicating that the wish had already been granted.

"All three wishes have been granted. Until next time."

After saying this, he transformed into seven round stones and fell down.

The sky also changed from night back into day.