Gravity Body Tempering Realm Ascends Together, Demon Den Conspires, Bear Fetus Secretly Forms

Before dawn the next day, Turtle Hermit Island's training had already entered a new rhythm.

The four sets of gravity training suits Bulma had modified overnight were lined up neatly on the beach. Matte black all over, they had pale blue energy-regulation modules embedded at the joints. She pressed the remote, and a faint gleam flashed over their surfaces. "They can stack up to five times gravity. By increasing it gradually, we can squeeze out your bodies' potential to the fullest. Start by adapting to twice gravity."

Goku was the first to grab one and put it on. The moment he stood steady, his body sank, both feet plunging deep into the sand. He tried to lift a leg and take a step, moving several times slower than usual, but his face was full of excitement. "So heavy! It feels like my whole body's being pressed down!"

Krillin and Yamcha put theirs on as well. After only two steps, they were already panting. Under twice gravity, the island run they normally completed with ease now made every step feel like they were treading on blocks of lead. Their muscles, bones, and skin all endured continuous crushing pressure.

"From today onward, you'll wear the gravity suits throughout your daily training." Master Roshi stood nearby with his cane, his expression stern. "Not just endurance—your punches, kicks, breathing exercises, and sparring must all be done under gravity. You'll only count as beginners once you can move freely under three times gravity."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them charged off against the crushing force. Their heavy footsteps pounded across the beach, leaving deep prints in the sand as sweat quickly soaked through their clothes.

At the top of the cliff, Qi Tian was not wearing a gravity suit. Black-gold divine essence flowed slowly around him. The internal pressure formed by his own blood and divine essence had long surpassed several times gravity. His eyes were half-closed as his divine sense spread out in full, covering a thousand kilometers around him.

After killing Android No. 7 yesterday, he had sensed movement from that cold, sinister demonic aura deep in the mountains as it headed toward the western desert. Piccolo had taken the initiative to seek out Dr. Gero. It surprised him, yet it also made sense.

One was a remnant of the demon race consumed by vengeance; the other was an obsessive, mad scientist. Their meeting could only spark something even more dangerous.

[Ding! Detected that the host is sensing the world's energy at the cliff summit of Turtle Hermit Island. Weekly sign-in triggered.]

[Sign in?]

The system notification suddenly rang in Qi Tian's mind. His gaze shifted slightly as he silently confirmed.

[Ding! Sign-in complete. Rewards issued.]

[1. Permanent combat power +1200. Current base combat power: 17200.]

[2. Divine-tier Body Tempering Art—fourth-stage threshold unlocked: Blood and Qi Transform into Force. The physical body nourishes divine essence, and strength becomes inexhaustible.]

[3. Divine Sense Expansion: Perception range doubled. Can penetrate rock layers and energy barriers to inspect internal structures.]

A warm current far denser than before surged from his sea of qi, rushing through his meridians and washing over his entire body. His black-gold divine essence grew increasingly viscous, faintly showing signs of liquefying. Fine crackling sounds came from his muscles and bones as his physical strength rose to another level.

More importantly, his divine sense had expanded. With a thought, Qi Tian's divine sense instantly stretched westward, piercing through layers of rock beneath the desert and plunging straight into the secret laboratory deep underground.

Inside the vast, dim laboratory, Dr. Gero stood before the control console, his face deathly pale as he stared at the black figure floating before him. Black qi churned around Piccolo, and his crimson eyes held undisguised killing intent. His cold gaze swept across the incubation chambers and precision instruments.

"You're Dr. Gero?" Piccolo's voice was low, carrying the peculiar chill of the demon race.

Dr. Gero forced himself to remain calm, his fingers tightening around his lab pen. "Who are you? How did you find this place?" His laboratory was hidden so thoroughly that even satellites could not detect it, yet someone had infiltrated it without a sound.

"Who I am isn't important." Piccolo raised a hand, and a wisp of black qi wrapped around a mechanical arm beside him. With a light squeeze, it turned into iron filings. "I know you're creating androids, and I know you want to deal with the people on Turtle Hermit Island. We have a common enemy."

Dr. Gero's pupils contracted, then a calculating gleam flashed through his eyes. He studied the black qi roiling around Piccolo and that powerful, frigid life energy. His breathing gradually quickened.

A demon-race creature! A lifeform far beyond Earth's humans, containing unimaginable genetic potential!

Suppressing the frenzy in his heart, he asked in a deep voice, "You want to cooperate?"

"Not cooperate. Make a deal." Piccolo's tone was arrogant. "I'll provide my cells and energy data to help you improve your androids. In exchange, you'll use your biological enhancement technology to temper my demon body and accelerate my awakening of power."

Dr. Gero agreed almost immediately. He had studied human modification for years and had long reached a bottleneck. If he could incorporate demon-race genes, his androids would surely undergo a qualitative leap in strength. As for tempering the other party's body, that was merely a convenient extra—and it would let him collect complete biological data on the demon race.

"Deal."

The two immediately reached an agreement, each harboring their own schemes. Piccolo needed the power of technology to break through his cultivation bottleneck, while Dr. Gero needed demon-race genes to create the ultimate android. In the dark laboratory, cold machinery intertwined with sinister demonic qi, and a far more perilous conspiracy quietly took shape.

Qi Tian withdrew his divine sense, his brows drawing together slightly.

Demon-race genes combined with Dr. Gero's android technology—the next androids would likely be even more troublesome than expected. Piccolo's move was both risky and ruthless.

He looked down at the beach below. Under three times gravity, Goku and the other two had already completed fifty laps. Sweat poured from all of them, yet not one called for a stop. Goku was even accelerating, throwing punches against the gravity. Though his fist winds were sluggish, they grew increasingly condensed.

"They're growing pretty quickly," Qi Tian murmured.

But it was still not enough. Against androids infused with demon-race genes, and against the Saiyans arriving in a little over half a year, this level of strength was nowhere near enough.

He leaped from the cliff and landed before the three of them.

"Starting today, we'll spar every day. I'll suppress my combat power and give you practical combat training."

Goku's eyes immediately lit up. "Really? Great!"

Krillin and Yamcha also looked delighted. Qi Tian's strength was unfathomable. Sparring with him would let them improve far faster than training alone.

Qi Tian raised a hand and restrained his aura, releasing only combat power close to Goku's. "Come on. All of you at once."

Before his words had even faded, Goku charged first. Under three times gravity, he was much slower, but his fist carried even heavier force. Krillin and Yamcha followed close behind, attacking from the left and right in a coordinated pincer. Their moves linked seamlessly, leaving no openings.

Qi Tian moved with ease, calmly dissolving the three men's attacks as he advanced and retreated. He did not attack proactively, only precisely pointing out the flaws in their techniques.

"Goku, your center of gravity is too far forward. If that strike misses, you leave yourself wide open."

"Krillin, you pull back your qi too slowly. You leave a sliver of space between your consecutive attacks."

"Yamcha, your footwork is too soft and lacks killing force. When it matters, you don't have the power to break through."

Every word struck at the heart of the matter. Combined with perfectly timed blocks and redirections, they let the three clearly feel their own shortcomings. Fist winds howled across the beach and qi forces collided. Tempered by the dual pressure of gravity and combat, their techniques, footwork, and control over their qi improved at a rapid pace.

The days passed swiftly amid this nearly self-abusive training.

Half a month later, all four of them had adapted to three times gravity. Their daily movements were as natural as before, and they could even freely release qi force under the gravitational pressure. Goku's Kamehameha became even more compressed, its power surging; Krillin developed a style of consecutive short-range force, granting him astonishing burst power at close range; Yamcha incorporated fiercer techniques into his Wolf Fang Fist, making his offense and defense more balanced.

Qi Tian's divine-tier Body Tempering Art also advanced steadily. The threshold of the fourth stage grew clearer and clearer as his physical body and divine essence began forming a cycle. His blood and qi nourished his divine essence, while his divine essence fed back into his body, granting him endless strength. His base combat power steadily broke through 18,000, and his divine sense could now cover most of Earth.

One afternoon, Bulma suddenly rushed over with a computer in her hands, her expression grave. "Something happened. Three towns in the west have been attacked one after another. The attackers were androids, and their methods are exactly like the Red Ribbon Army's. They're not just stealing supplies—they're also capturing martial artists, saying they're taking them back to the laboratory as specimens."

She pulled up news footage showing ruined streets, collapsed homes, and several unfamiliar-looking androids wreaking havoc. Ordinary police officers were completely powerless to stop them.

"Dr. Gero has begun collecting samples on a large scale," Master Roshi said gravely. "With Piccolo's demon clan data, his research and development will only progress faster. Capturing cultivators is most likely meant to supplement his collection of human martial arts genes."

Goku clenched his fists. "Let's go take them down! We can't let them keep hurting people!"

"That's right. If we keep letting this go, who knows how many more people will suffer?" Krillin nodded in agreement.

Qi Tian looked toward the western desert, his divine sense faintly detecting the formidable presence taking shape within the laboratory. Android 8 was nearly complete.

"We can go, but be careful," he warned. "Since Dr. Gero dared to send people out so openly, he may be trying to lure us over. These androids are only bait. The real killing move is still waiting behind them."

"What's there to be afraid of? If one comes, we beat one!" Goku grinned without the slightest fear.

Everyone quickly finished preparing. Bulma handed out upgraded energy detectors, then adjusted the settings on their gravity suits. "This is the emergency release button. If you run into danger, it can instantly remove the gravity, letting you unleash your full speed and strength. Be careful."

The capsule spaceship rose into the air and sped westward.

Beneath the clouds, the ground rushed backward. Qi Tian stood by the porthole as black-gold divine essence quietly gathered at his fingertips.

He knew this would no longer be a simple test. After Piccolo and Dr. Gero joined forces, the first true wave of attacks was about to begin.

In the underground laboratory beneath the desert, Dr. Gero watched the combat data from various towns continuously appear on the screen, a cold smile curling across his lips. He turned toward the largest incubation chamber behind him. The figure inside slowly opened its eyes, revealing scarlet pupils that carried both the chill of the demon clan and the coldness of machinery.

"Number Eight, it's almost time. Very soon, you'll get to taste the blood of the strong."

Beside the incubation chamber, Piccolo floated cross-legged amid black mist, demonic markings flickering across his skin. After half a month of biotech tempering, his demonic body had grown vastly stronger, and his aura had become even more unfathomable.

Sensing the approaching spaceship, a sinister curve formed at the corner of his mouth.

The prey had finally taken the bait.

The spaceship passed through the clouds and flew toward the town hit hardest by the disaster.

A deadly game of chess centered around androids and the demon clan had officially begun.