Ultra Divine Water? Korin: That stuff is poison, are you sure?

Korin Tower was even thinner than he had imagined.

Chen Mo flew level past it from an altitude of five hundred meters, and only after getting closer did he see the pillar's actual thickness.

He estimated its diameter to be no more than three meters.

The entire tower had no windows, no external structures—just a bare white pillar thrusting straight into the clouds.

Its top was invisible.

The cloud layer was too thick.

Chen Mo climbed higher and passed through the clouds.

Moisture hit him head-on, and visibility instantly dropped to zero.

Using the faint dot on his detector to orient himself, he continued upward.

The moment he broke through the clouds, his vision exploded open.

Sunlight.

It had been a long time since he had seen clean sunlight.

The sky over the ruins was always gray, or red.

The sky here was blue. The clouds spread beneath his feet, brilliantly white.

The top of Korin Tower appeared.

A hemispherical platform.

Plants grew on it. Green vines climbed along the tower's body.

A massive tree stood at the center of the platform, with several fruits hanging from its branches.

The Senzu Bean tree.

Chen Mo landed at the edge of the platform. The instant his feet touched down, a cane jabbed forward and stopped directly against his Adam's apple.

"Stop."

Chen Mo lowered his gaze.

A white cat stood on two hind legs, its front paws gripping a wooden cane whose tip pressed against his throat.

The cat was not large, around sixty centimeters tall.

Its fur was pure white, its eyes narrowed, its expression impossible to read.

Korin.

"Who are you?" The cat's voice was deeper than Chen Mo had expected.

"Chen Mo. Master Roshi's disciple."

Korin's eyes narrowed further. The cane did not move.

"Master Roshi is still alive?"

"He is. On Kame House Island."

"That old bastard." Korin's tone was somewhat complicated. He finally withdrew the cane from Chen Mo's neck.

The cat turned around and hobbled toward the center of the tower with his cane. "Master Roshi's disciple, and you flew up here? He taught you Flight?"

"He did. Along with Kamehameha, Afterimage Fist, and Solar Flare."

Korin glanced back at him.

"What's your battle power?"

"One hundred."

Korin said nothing and kept walking.

Chen Mo followed. After two steps, he noticed the condition of the Senzu Bean tree.

Its leaves had yellowed, and dry cracks ran along its trunk. Only three fruits remained. Three Senzu Beans hung from the highest branch, their colors dull, not yet ripe.

"The Senzu Beans are almost gone," Chen Mo said.

"Almost gone." Korin stood beneath the tree, looking up at the three beans. "This tree hasn't borne fruit properly in three years. The climate changed. The androids blasted several holes in the atmosphere, tripling ultraviolet radiation. The Senzu Bean tree couldn't take it."

"Yajirobe said supplies here were running low too."

Korin turned his head.

"You've met Yajirobe?"

"I have. He even gave me a Senzu Bean."

"That little punk." Korin's whiskers twitched. "He stole three of my last Senzu Beans. The three still on the tree aren't ripe yet."

"He only gave me one. He kept the other two for himself."

"Typical Yajirobe." Leaning on his cane, Korin sighed. He walked over to a stone platform in the corner, hopped onto it, and sat down with the cane laid across his knees.

"Go on. What did you come up here for? Master Roshi's disciple didn't come all the way to Korin Tower to admire the scenery."

"I want to drink the Ultra Divine Water."

Korin froze.

Silence.

Wind blew up from beneath the clouds, rustling the dead leaves of the Senzu Bean tree.

Korin stared at him. His perpetually narrowed eyes opened slightly.

"What did you say?"

"Ultra Divine Water. I know you have some here."

Korin's expression changed.

"Who told you?"

"Master Roshi."

"That old fool couldn't keep his mouth shut." Korin's tail flicked. "Kid, do you know what Ultra Divine Water is?"

"I do. Drinking it unlocks all your potential."

"Then do you know the death rate after drinking it?"

"Ninety-three percent. My master told me."

Korin hopped down from the stone platform and walked over with his staff, craning his head up at him.

A cat looking up at a person should have been adorable.

But there was nothing adorable about Korin's gaze.

"Ultra Divine Water isn't some miracle elixir," Korin said. "Put simply, that stuff is poison."

"Poison?"

"A lethal toxin. Once you drink it, the poison attacks every cell in your body. Your heart, liver, kidneys, brain—everything. Your body will desperately fight the toxin to survive. In that process, your potential is forced out."

"Those who survive are reborn. Those who don't..." Korin paused. "There won't even be a corpse left. The toxin dissolves you from the inside out."

Chen Mo's throat bobbed.

"Fourteen people have drunk the Ultra Divine Water, as far as I remember. Only one survived."

"Goku."

Korin gave him another look.

"You even know that."

"I know a lot," Chen Mo said. "For example, the Ultra Divine Water isn't at the top of the tower. It's beneath a jar. Under that jar is a passage to another space. Whoever wants the water has to enter it to get it."

Korin fell silent for several seconds.

"Master Roshi couldn't possibly know those details. He never drank it."

"Master Roshi didn't tell me."

"Then who did?"

"It's a long story." Chen Mo said, "Lord Korin, I don't have time to explain it slowly. Cell is heading south. The androids are fighting a Super Saiyan. Everything on this timeline is accelerating toward collapse. My battle power is only one hundred. One hundred can't do anything."

"I need the Ultra Divine Water."

Korin was silent.

The wind blew past. A dead leaf fell from the Senzu Bean tree, drifted to the edge of the platform, and dropped into the clouds.

"You said Cell." Korin's voice lowered. "That thing Dr. Gero created?"

"Yes. He's getting closer."

"The androids are fighting a Super Saiyan? Where did a Super Saiyan come from?"

"From space. Long story short."

Leaning on his staff, Korin circled Chen Mo once.

"Are you afraid of death?"

"I am," Chen Mo said. "Very afraid. But if I don't drink the Ultra Divine Water, I'll die even sooner."

"What about the poison? A ninety-nine percent death rate. What are you going to use to endure it?"

Chen Mo closed his eyes briefly.

The system had told him something on the way here.

More precisely, three minutes after he flew away from Android 18's battlefield, the system had displayed a message.

[Infinite King Kai Fist passive effect: While King Kai Fist is active, the host's body cells enter an overclocked metabolic state. In this state, external toxins will be broken down and expelled through the cells' accelerated metabolic process.]

[Simply put: with Infinite King Kai Fist active, poison can't kill you. However, the pain caused by the toxins will not be reduced.]

The system's Infinite King Kai Fist could even offset the overload of King Kai Fist itself, let alone the Ultra Divine Water.

Chen Mo opened his eyes.

"I have a way to resist the toxin."

"What way?"

"I have an ability. Once activated, it greatly speeds up my cells' metabolism. Any toxin that enters my body will be broken down."

Korin stared at him.

"Are you sure?"

"I... I'm sure."

Korin's gaze lingered on him for a long time.

"The toxins may be metabolized, but the pain won't lessen," Korin said. "Do you know how painful that is? When Goku drank it back then, he rolled on the ground in agony for three days and three nights. He was a Saiyan. His physical constitution was dozens of times stronger than an Earthling's."

"You have the constitution of an ordinary person. Even if the poison doesn't kill you, the pain alone could shatter your mind."

"You could go insane. Or your heart could stop from the pain."

Chen Mo clenched his fist.

"Lord Korin," he said, "there's something outside called Cell. Once he reaches Perfect Form, he can destroy the solar system. Two androids are running rampant across Earth. And a Legendary Super Saiyan from another universe is currently on a rampage. Any one of them could crush me ten thousand times over."

"If I don't drink the Ultra Divine Water, I won't survive this month."

"If I do drink it, at least I'll have a sliver of a chance."

Korin said nothing.

Leaning on his staff, he walked to the other side of the platform. There stood a stone rack with several ceramic jars on it, each a different size and color.

Korin hopped onto the rack and pushed aside the two jars in front, revealing a black ceramic jar behind them.

The jar was not large, roughly the size of a basketball. It was pitch-black all over, without a single pattern. A stone slab covered its mouth.

Korin pushed the slab aside.

Chen Mo walked over and looked inside.

The jar was empty.

There was no bottom to it.

What he saw was not the bottom of the jar.

It was a vast, dim expanse of space stretching downward from the mouth of the jar, bottomless and unfathomable.

It resembled a vertical shaft, but deeper than any shaft could possibly be. Light vanished the moment it entered.

"The Ultra Divine Water is down there," Korin said, standing beside the jar. "Goku went down through here back then as well."

"What's down there?"

"What each person encounters is different," Korin said. "The Ultra Divine Water's trial isn't just about drinking poison. That space below reads your consciousness and creates the opponent most threatening to you. You have to defeat that opponent while the toxins are ravaging you before you can obtain the Ultra Divine Water."

"What did Goku encounter back then?"

"He encountered a fake Master Roshi and fought him." Korin thought back for a moment. "He was still a child then, and Master Roshi was the person he respected most. Having to fight the person he respected most was his greatest psychological obstacle."

"What will I encounter?"

"I don't know." Korin looked at him. "It differs from person to person. It could be what you fear most. It could be what you care about most. Or it could be something you would never expect."

Chen Mo looked at the mouth of the black jar.

The abyss lay below.

"How do I come back after going down?"

"Once you obtain the Ultra Divine Water and drink it, the trial will end, and you'll return naturally." Korin paused. "If you fail to obtain it, your consciousness will remain down there forever. Your body will stay here and become an empty shell."

"...Pretty eco-friendly."

"You're still in the mood to joke."

Chen Mo took a deep breath.

He took off his backpack and set it on the platform. The scouter, the capsules, and the Senzu Bean Yajirobe had given him—he left them all outside.

"Hold onto these for me."

Korin looked at him.

"If I don't come back," Chen Mo said, "give these things to Yajirobe. The scouter can track the androids and Cell. The capsules contain a jet car and a set of camping gear."

"You won't reconsider?"

"If I think about it too long, I'll chicken out."

Chen Mo walked to the mouth of the jar and braced both hands against its rim.

The black space lay below. There was no sound, no light. Like an open mouth.

"Kaio-ken."

A red aura flared around him. Double Kaio-ken. He couldn't use too high a multiplier; he needed to save some strength. There would still be a battle below.

Red light shone into the mouth of the jar.

It was swallowed.

The light disappeared about a meter in, like water poured into sand.

"After I go in, can the King Kai Fist keep operating?" Chen Mo asked.

"It can," Korin said. "What lies below is a consciousness space, but your bodily functions are real. The King Kai Fist's effects on your body will be preserved in full."

"Including accelerated metabolism?"

"Including that."

Chen Mo nodded.

He turned over. His legs went in first, dangling over the rim of the jar. His body hung suspended in the darkness.

"Lord Korin."

"Hmm?"

"How long did Goku stay down there back then?"

"Three days."

"I'll try to be quick."

Chen Mo let go.

Darkness swallowed him.

The sensation of falling lasted about five seconds.

Then it vanished.

Chen Mo's feet touched the ground.

There was ground. Solid, like stone.

He crouched and touched it. Rough rock, cool to the touch.

He stood and walked forward.

Red light illuminated the path beneath his feet. The ground was flat, like a corridor.

There were no walls on either side. Or rather, the darkness itself was the walls.

He walked about thirty steps.

Light appeared ahead.

Not red light. White light. Very faint, like the thin line on the horizon before dawn.

Chen Mo quickened his pace.

The white light drew closer. The space began to change. The darkness receded, revealing an open area.

It was a plaza.

Circular, roughly fifty meters across. The ground was paved with neat white stone tiles.

At the center of the plaza stood a stone platform. A small bottle rested on top of it.

Ultra Divine Water.

That bottle was right there in the middle.

Chen Mo did not rush toward it.

Too easy. He had walked thirty steps after entering and already found the target? Korin had said Goku stayed in here for three days.

He stood at the edge of the plaza and swept his gaze around.

Empty. There was no one.

Then he heard a sound.

Footsteps.

They came from the other side of the plaza.

Very light, like a child's footsteps.

A figure emerged from the edge of the white light.

Short. About one-point-three meters tall. He wore an orange martial arts uniform, with a blue sash tied around his waist.

His black hair spiked upward, just as absurdly as every Saiyan's hairstyle.

Nothing hung around his neck. He wore blue cloth shoes.

He was a child.

Chen Mo's mind went blank for a second.

The child raised his head.

Round face. Big eyes. Features exactly like those in the manga.

But there was something wrong with his gaze.

Those eyes were black. Pure black. There was no distinction between pupil and iris.

His entire eyeballs were black, like two black glass beads set into a child's face.

The corners of his mouth curled up. He was smiling.

But it was not a child's smile.

"Hello."

The child spoke.

The voice was Goku's.

The clear, clean voice of a young Goku.

"You came for the Ultra Divine Water, right?"

Chen Mo stared at him.

This was the trial.

Korin had said that this space would read his consciousness and create the most threatening opponent.

Goku.

The most threatening image the space had read from his mind was Goku.

But why was it Goku as a child?

And why did he look like this?

Black eyes. That unsettling smile.

"You're not Goku," Chen Mo said.

The child tilted his head, the motion identical to Android 18's.

"I am," he said. "I'm Son Goku."

He took a step forward. His orange gi was immaculate, without a single wrinkle.

"The Son Goku in your mind."

He took another step.

"The version of Son Goku you know best."

One more step.

"The Son Goku you fear most."

The child stopped beside the stone platform. One hand rested on the bottle of Ultra Divine Water, his black eyes fixed directly on Chen Mo.

"Come take it," he said.

"Beat me, and I'll give it to you."

Chen Mo's heartbeat accelerated.

He knew the rules of the Ultra Divine Water trial. Defeat the opponent, then take the water.

But his opponent was Goku.

Even as a child, he was still the Goku who had competed in the World Martial Arts Tournament.

The Goku who had torn through Red Ribbon Army headquarters.

The Goku whose power had soared after drinking the Ultra Divine Water, allowing him to defeat King Piccolo.

And this Goku—

Was the Goku in his mind.

How much data did he have on Goku in his head?

He had read every Dragon Ball manga, watched every anime, every movie.

Stored in his mind was every battle Goku had fought from childhood to adulthood, every technique, every transformation.

Those black eyes remained motionless beneath the white light.

The child's lips moved again.

"You're overthinking it," he said. "Right now, I'm only in a child's state."

"Come on."