Mount Paozu, near the Gravity Chamber.
Two figures tore through the night and rushed toward the ground. Gohan landed at the edge of the training field, his heartbeat still not settled—not because of the flight, but because of everything in that abyss.
"We're back." Goku's voice came from up ahead.
Gohan looked up and saw his dad and Piccolo standing at the entrance to the Gravity Chamber. Moonlight fell across their faces. Goku's expression was calm, but there was scrutiny in his eyes.
"How did it go?" Goku asked.
Vegeta landed beside Gohan and said nothing. His expression looked even worse than when he had left.
"Not great." Gohan took a deep breath and told them everything from the abyss.
The cultivation device. Cell taking shape. The energy climb to 300%. The 72-hour countdown. And the evolution time being cut from 72 hours to 48.
With every sentence, Piccolo's brow tightened further. Goku listened quietly, his expression barely changing.
"There's one more thing." Gohan's voice paused. "When that thing opened its eyes... it smiled."
"Smiled?" Piccolo frowned.
"When it looked at me." Gohan's gaze sharpened. "Like it was looking at an old friend."
The air suddenly grew heavy.
Gohan inwardly complained, An old friend? I don't want to be friends with a pot of meat soup.
"It knows you," Vegeta finally said, his voice cold and hard. "Or rather... it knows 'you.'"
He bit down hard on the word "you."
"Leave that aside for now." Goku suddenly spoke, cutting through the silence. "Forty-eight hours. Is that enough?"
Gohan froze for a moment. His dad's tone was too calm.
"Barely," Gohan said, choosing his words carefully. "But the main node's strength is far beyond what we expected. If it has Super Saiyan 2-level combat power—"
"Then my Super Saiyan 2 is