In the year 3123 of the Zeno Calendar, the third year after Goku's departure, Vegeta still sat every morning at the old rattan chair outside the dojo entrance. The chair beside him stood empty, with a steaming bowl of seafood porridge on it. This had never stopped in three years. The porridge was freshly made every day, but the bowl was still the one Goku had used in life.
Mount Paozu Dojo had changed considerably over the past three years. Two new wings had been added to the training hall, specifically to accommodate students arriving from Universe 12. The sixth-generation patrol cadet team completed its first independent patrol last year—the leader was the twin-tailed girl who used to lag half a lap behind during morning training. She was now a patrol officer aboard the New Turtle Hermit, second in seniority only to the veteran members of the fifth generation. The seafood porridge still went on the stove punctually every morning. Several generations of people had taken turns cooking it, but the taste had never changed. Nappa said it was because "controlling the heat is written into the Turtle Hermit School's genes," and Lapis flatly added, "You burned a hole through the pot the last time you made porridge." Nappa still refused to admit it.
Vegeta rose from his rattan chair and carried two bowls of porridge into the dojo. His white hair was whiter than it had been three years ago, but his back remained straight. The golden patterns within his deep-blue aura had grown brighter over the years. Krillin said it was because he was using his ki to maintain something—not for battle, but something deeper. Vegeta never responded to that claim. He merely paused for an extra moment each morning, his fingertips resting on the rim of the