Earth.
West City, the backyard of Bulma's house.
The light of the Dragon Balls gradually dimmed. Namek's divine dragon, Porunga, who had revived everyone, turned into seven stones after granting the final two wishes and flew off into the distance once more.
"Lord King Kai, are you saying... the two of them are really still alive?!"
Krillin wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and urgently communicated with King Kai in his mind. Having gone through life and death himself, he valued life and the bonds between companions more than anyone.
"Ah... even I was startled by the force of that explosion at the time. But that fellow named Chen He—I don't know what strange technique he's been cultivating—was actually able to survive in the airless vacuum of space. At the very last moment, he scooped up the exhausted Goku and forcibly stuffed him into a single-person spaceship that originally belonged to the Ginyu Force."
Sitting on his ancient little planet, King Kai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sighed with lingering fear.
"Because the ship was set to an automatic course, they're now drifting toward some unknown coordinates deep in the galaxy. They're too far away, and both of them are moving, so I can't pinpoint their location accurately for you. But don't worry. Their ki is still fairly steady."
Hearing this, everyone present let out a long breath of relief. A long-lost smile finally appeared on Gohan's slightly childish face, while Piccolo, off to the side, folded his arms, closed his eyes, and snorted coldly. Yet the tight line of his mouth had clearly relaxed as well.
Only Vegeta stood beneath the shade of a tree, his face so dark it looked as if water might drip from it.
"Kakarot... and Chen He." Vegeta