Planet Yardrat

After settling the still-unconscious Jaco, Son Goku and Bulma were ready to set off as well.

In front of the hangar bay, Tights waved her electronic notepad, her eyes gleaming with anticipation for the perfect source material.

"Goku, don't forget what you promised me! If you really run into him, make sure you find a way to let me know! He's the man I'm counting on for the male lead of my new book!" Tights shouted at the two of them on the boarding ramp, too lazy to even ask about her sister's safety.

Bulma helplessly held her forehead and shot her older sister an annoyed look. "Try not to cause trouble out in space. The important thing is to make time to go back to Earth and see Mom and Dad!"

With that, she pulled Son Goku through the hatch.

With the soft hiss of the airlock sealing shut, a dim blue halo lit up beneath the Water Drop Ship. The ship rose lightly into the air, broke away from Wanderer Space Station, and plunged headfirst into the vast sea of stars.

Inside the cockpit, Bulma entered Planet Yardrat's coordinates and pressed the jump activation button.

The view beyond the portholes changed dramatically. The dark curtain dotted with stars was swiftly stretched into a dazzling hyperspace tunnel.

"Goku, Planet Yardrat is way too remote." Bulma looked at the interstellar navigation map and sighed. "And the magnetic fields around it are a complete mess, so we can't cut straight through. At our current route, we'll still be traveling through space for several months."

Son Goku leaned back in the copilot's seat. Seeing her worried expression, he smiled.

"No rush." His tone was gentle. "We haven't properly explored the stars yet. Let's treat it like a vacation."

Over the following days, the Water Drop Ship truly did not keep charging ahead like an ascetic.

Son Goku knew very well that training required balance, and relationships needed nurturing too. He had brought his wife along, so he couldn't have her staring blankly outside the gravity chamber every day. Thus, this journey turned into an interstellar honeymoon in advance.

The ship often left the jump corridor and made brief stops in unfamiliar star systems along the way.

They docked near a binary star system in Lyra, sitting side by side beneath the ship's transparent observation dome. They poured themselves red wine and admired the purple aurora stretching for millions of kilometers.

A few days later, the ship landed on a planet made entirely of water. Son Goku dove straight into the deep sea, caught a gigantic glowing sea beast, and grilled seafood for Bulma on the beach.

When they got bored, they would even pilot the ship into a diamond meteor belt, weaving through stellar debris as if they were playing a treasure hunt.

With Son Goku by her side, Bulma completely gave free rein to her girlish nature. She witnessed countless wonders she would never have dared imagine on Earth, and her unease toward the unknown transformed into anticipation every morning when she woke up.

Of course, Son Goku did not neglect his daily training amid all the sightseeing.

Inside the gravity chamber, the environmental settings remained steadily at three hundred times gravity. He did not raise it any further. At this stage, his Saiyan body had already been developed to its limit; continuing to squeeze it with pressure alone would only bring diminishing returns.

Rather than tearing his muscles apart, he now focused entirely on refining himself from within.

He sat cross-legged, cast aside all stray thoughts, and began to meditate. With calmness and reason, he gradually smoothed away the violence and bloodlust carried in his Saiyan blood.

"Exiting the jump corridor. Switching to conventional engines."

Several months later, when the alert sounded, the ship gave a faint tremor, and the streams of light outside the portholes receded like a withdrawing tide.

Directly ahead of the ship, a planet radiating a pink-blue glow floated silently in the void.

"We're here!" Bulma pulled up the scan and furrowed her brow slightly. "This place is really desolate. The surface is covered in bizarre stone pillars, and the pink gas is causing intense magnetic interference."

"Bulma, find an open highland to land on." Son Goku looked at the planet.

The ship passed through the clouds and landed smoothly atop a massive rock pillar, weathered into sharp, axe-hewn forms.

The hatch opened.

Dry sand and dust rode the wind, and the gravity was nearly identical to Earth's. Yet the spatial structure of this planet gave off a peculiar sensation, as though the air were filled with invisible threads of energy.

Holding a detector modified from a miniature Dragon Radar, Bulma had barely stepped off the boarding ramp before she sighed helplessly. "No good. The magnetic field here is too strange. Every frequency band is completely blocked, and the screen is full of gibberish."

She raised her head, looked over the endless labyrinth of stone pillars around them, and anxiously tugged on Son Goku's sleeve. "We don't even have a direction. Where are we supposed to find the Instant Transmission you want? We can't just fly the ship around blindly, can we?"

"Wandering around blindly would be such a hassle." Son Goku chuckled, tossed his towel back into the ship, and walked to the edge of the rock pillar.

"Since we can't find the door, we'll knock ourselves and have them come welcome us."

"Knock? Where's the door?" Bulma looked utterly confused.

Son Goku merely smiled without answering and slowly closed his eyes.

The next second, a low rumble erupted from within his body, which had been as still as dead water.

Bzzzz!

Blinding light flared alongside a violent aura as Son Goku abruptly unleashed the million battle power that had lain dormant within him for months, channeling it through this planet's peculiar spatial magnetic field.

It was like dropping a massive bomb into a tranquil lake—

The thick clouds overhead seemed forcibly pushed apart by an invisible giant hand, rapidly scattering in every direction. Beneath his feet, the sturdy rock pillar let out an overburdened crack, fractures spreading from under his soles.

This immense ki became an irresistible storm, instantly sweeping across all of Planet Yardrat.

To the Yardratians living here, this energy was like a blazing sun crashing directly onto their heads—deafening and overwhelming.

"Goku! That much energy could probably crush straight through the planet's crust!" Watching the sand and dust around them surge backward like an inverted waterfall, Bulma knew exactly how enormous a commotion he had caused.

"Don't worry, Bulma. I'm holding back!" Son Goku smiled faintly and cut off the ki he had released.

The wind and sand stopped, and the clouds gathered again.

Less than half a minute later.

Ripples suddenly spread through the air like waves on water.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sharp bursts of wind followed in rapid succession. Five or six aliens, only as tall as Son Goku's waist, with large heads, round eyes, and strange patterned robes, appeared out of thin air on the rock pillar platform.

The moment they appeared, their legs went weak and trembled. Every one of them was drenched in sweat, staring at him with the terror of people facing the end of the world.

Then the air rippled once more.

A middle-aged Yardratian in a loose robe, dressed like a leader, teleported in front of them. His face was deathly pale, and he immediately lowered his head in humble submission.

"Powerful one from afar..."

He did not speak aloud, but a fearful, reverent voice echoed directly in both their minds. "Planet Yardrat is a peace-loving people. We have never taken the initiative to involve ourselves in interstellar conflicts. If you have come to conquer us, we are willing to submit. Please spare my people..."

"Relax, Chief Supa. We're not space pirates, and we certainly didn't come here to cause trouble."

Hearing Son Goku call his name directly, Supa abruptly lifted his head, his round eyes filled with shock.

In this universe, not even the Frieza Force knew the name of the leader of this remote planet!

Son Goku took in Supa's astonishment, but offered no explanation. That mysterious sense of omniscience was precisely the weapon he needed to intimidate them.

"My name is Son Goku, and this is my girlfriend, Bulma." He gave a slight bow, his tone calm. "I didn't mean anything by startling everyone like that. I want to learn your secret techniques, but I didn't know where to find you."

"L-Learn... our secret techniques?"

Supa wiped the bead-sized drops of cold sweat from his forehead and gave a bitter laugh. The last of his mental defenses crumbled once again.

"Your Excellency possesses power as vast as a sea of stars, and you can even foresee the future... With this little skill of mine, I can barely breathe standing before you. How could I possibly be qualified to teach you?"

"However," Supa swallowed and hurriedly added, afraid of angering this terrifying being.

"Our people have a true sage—the Grand Elder Pybara. Perhaps he can answer your questions."