New Gravity Chamber

In the blink of an eye, two and a half months had passed.

The once-rolling slopes of the back mountain had been flattened, and deep craters littered the ground.

In midair, Son Gohan and Son Goku were clashing fiercely.

The father and son were putting on a scene of fatherly love and filial devotion, their fists colliding again and again. Every exchange exploded with dull sonic booms, shockwaves rippling outward in expanding rings.

Son Goku had adjusted his energy level to roughly match Son Gohan's.

Son Gohan's battle power had now surpassed three million. Two and a half months of extreme training, combined with the fusion of the gifted souls from two lifetimes, had accelerated his progress to a rate even Piccolo found absurd.

As for Son Goku, after recovering from his near-death experience on Planet Namek, his performance while suppressing Future Trunks made it clear enough. His battle power in his normal state had stabilized at around five million.

At first, Son Gohan had still been able to hold out for a while.

But Son Goku had no sense of fair play. He suddenly accelerated, leaving an afterimage in the air. His right fist shot straight at him with unstoppable force—a direct collapsing punch.

The speed and power of that punch had sealed off every angle Son Gohan could use to evade.

Damn it, I can't dodge it!

Son Gohan gritted his teeth and took the heavy blow head-on.

"Bang—!"

He was blasted away like a cannonball, crashing violently into the ground. Dust shot high into the air, and another enormous crater appeared in the earth.

Son Gohan lay at the bottom of the crater, took two breaths, then pushed himself up from the ground.

I can still fight after getting up.

Just as he assumed his opening stance again, Son Goku lowered his guard and descended from the sky.

"That's enough, Gohan. We'll stop here."

Son Gohan froze for a moment, then relaxed as well.

On a nearby slope, Piccolo stood with his arms folded, silently watching the scene.

He couldn't help sighing inwardly.

The kid from the old Son family really was a monster.

Son Gohan had absorbed nearly seventy to eighty percent of the martial arts experience Son Goku had demonstrated while suppressing his normal-state strength, all within just two and a half months.

Piccolo had lived for so many years, yet he had never seen anyone learn that quickly.

Son Gohan climbed out of the crater and rolled his wrist. The force from that last punch still lingered in his bones, leaving them faintly sore, but his body had already begun repairing itself automatically.

This recovery ability really is ridiculous.

But he knew that the current training intensity was no longer enough.

Son Goku still hadn't used his Super Saiyan form. Once he transformed, the gap between them would become too great for their sparring to accomplish anything.

And this back-mountain training ground was ruined too.

As far as the eye could see, the place was a complete mess. The slopes had been leveled, and the ground was covered in craters of every size and depth, as though it had been bombed eight hundred times.

We need to change locations.

"Dad, Uncle Piccolo." Son Gohan walked over to the two of them and voiced what he had been thinking. "I think it's time we trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout."

"It's an independent space, and time flows differently from outside. One day outside is one year inside.

"We can fight without holding back in there without worrying about damaging Earth, and we can push the training intensity to the limit."

Piccolo was silent for several seconds before slowly nodding.

"That could work."

Son Goku also thought it was a good idea and gave an honest smile.

"So when are we going?"

"Let's go back and rest for a while first, and get ourselves into peak condition," Son Gohan said. "I'll let everyone know when it's time to leave."

Piccolo nodded. Without another word, he turned and flew away. His green figure quickly vanished beyond the horizon.

Son Goku and Son Gohan also erupted with white auras and flew toward Mount Paozu.

By the time they got home, Chi-Chi had already served dinner. The father and son washed their hands, sat at the table, picked up their bowls, and began wolfing down food.

As Chi-Chi refilled their bowls, she nagged, "Eat slower, don't choke," but her face was full of a caring smile.

After dinner, Son Gohan went over to the telephone and dialed Bulma's number.

"Hello, Aunt Bulma. Are you busy?"

"Gohan!" Bulma's voice came through the receiver, sounding energetic. "What is it? Got another new idea?"

Son Gohan told her that he wanted a Gravity Chamber. He put it very directly: he needed one with the highest gravity multiplier currently possible.

There was silence on the other end of the line for about two seconds.

"What a coincidence." There was a trace of pride in Bulma's tone. "I've been researching Gravity Chambers lately. The highest multiplier we can achieve with current technology is three hundred times gravity."

"But it'll still take some time to finish. I'll let you know when it's ready."

Son Gohan felt a surge of joy.

"Great, Aunt Bulma, I have another idea. I want two or three Gravity Chambers, stored in Universal Capsules."

"Then I'll put one Gravity Chamber inside another, and then another, stacking them layer upon layer."

The other end of the line fell silent again.

Bulma rapidly did the calculations in her head. One Gravity Chamber was three hundred times gravity. Put a second one inside it—three hundred times three hundred, ninety thousand times. Add a third—ninety thousand times three hundred, twenty-seven million times."

That was only the theoretical figure. In reality, gravity didn't stack through simple multiplication, but she could roughly estimate that every additional multiple would place an unimaginable burden on the body.

"Gohan, you'd better think this through." Her voice grew much more serious. "Stacking several Gravity Chambers together increases the danger exponentially."

"One layer is no big problem. But if you activate two at once, it's not two times two equals four—the multipliers multiply each other. The more layers you add, the more terrifying it becomes. Do you understand what I mean?"

"That's right. That's exactly the effect I need." Son Gohan's tone was firm, without the slightest hesitation. "Sorry to trouble you, Aunt Bulma. I knew you treated me the best."

The other end of the line was quiet for a moment.

Bulma sighed, then laughed again.

"Fine. Since you're determined to put yourself through this, I won't stop you. Come pick them up in a month."

"Thank you, Aunt Bulma!"

Son Gohan hung up and returned to the table.

Son Goku was shoveling food into his mouth. Hearing his son on the phone, he said through a mouthful of food, "Gohan, you're really smart. I never thought Gravity Chambers could be used like that."

Son Gohan glanced at his dad and chuckled.

"Dad, all you know is fighting and eating. Of course you wouldn't think of it."

Son Goku scratched the back of his head and gave an honest smile.

"Haha, true, true. Hurry up and eat!"

Outside the window, Mount Paozu lay submerged in the night, waves of insect chirps rising and falling.

The stars overhead shone brightly, illuminating the flattened back mountain at the foot of the mountain, as well as the distant direction of West City.

A month later, the Gravity Chambers would arrive.

Then, the real life-or-death training would begin.