The Briefs family's estate in West City covered a vast area. The Capsule Corp logo was emblazoned on the yellow dome of the main building, which was surrounded by buildings of all different styles.
This was where the world's richest man lived—a place that felt like one enormous technological amusement park.
Bulma's mother was watering flowers in the garden when a large shadow suddenly blocked the sun overhead. She looked up.
"It's Goku."
Panchy looked barely twenty. She spoke softly, her eyes narrowed in a gentle smile.
Son Gohan and Son Goku had brought two spaceships and landed on the grounds. Fortunately, the Briefs estate was spacious enough.
Piccolo and the others had already gone home. Dr. Brief needed time to modify the gravity room, and Son Gohan planned to let everyone know when it was ready.
"Is this Gohan? He's grown so much." Panchy crouched and patted Son Gohan's head.
"Hello, Grandma Panchy."
Son Gohan felt that she looked less like Bulma's mother and more like her sister. Money really did wonders.
Dr. Brief was quite the cradle robber.
"Mrs. Brief, is Dr. Brief here? I'd like to ask him to modify these two spaceships." Seeing that no one else was around, Son Goku asked.
"He's in the courtyard. I'll take you there."
The three of them crossed a large garden and reached the courtyard, where they found Dr. Brief repairing some kind of machine.
"Honey, Goku and Gohan are here!"
Panchy called out, then turned to them. "I'll go get you something to drink."
"Goku, what are you holding up there?" A black cat perched on Dr. Brief's shoulder, and he had a cigarette in his mouth.
"Well, here's what happened..."
Son Gohan explained the whole story. He wanted Dr. Brief to modify the two spaceships and install artificial gravity systems.
He also hoped Dr. Brief could build a gravity room on the ground, large enough for several people to train in.
"Saiyan technology—what a precious treasure!" Dr. Brief walked up to one of the spaceships and tapped it with his hand.
"Don't worry. I can finish the modifications within ten days."
"Thank you. We'll leave it to you!"
After getting Dr. Brief's answer, Son Gohan and Son Goku left the Briefs estate. They stopped by Kame House to pick up Chi-Chi, then the family of three returned to Mount Paozu.
Over the next ten days, the Z Fighters finally had a chance to relax and enjoy their lives.
The afternoon sun streamed into a small wooden cabin on Mount Paozu. Son Gohan bent over his exam paper, writing without a pause.
Chi-Chi and the private tutor beside him both looked tense.
Since Son Goku's family lived far from civilization, they had hired private tutors to teach Son Gohan before he started high school.
"I'm finished." Son Gohan handed the completed paper to the tutor, looking relaxed and at ease.
The tutor swallowed and took the paper. As he looked it over, his mind went blank with a sudden buzz.
"Teacher, how did Gohan do?" Chi-Chi asked nervously.
"Every... every answer is correct..." The tutor froze in place, his glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose, nearly falling off. He didn't even notice.
The questions on the paper were all carefully selected high school problems, including difficult topics like trigonometric functions and solid geometry.
Some even covered advanced mathematics that wasn't taught until the first year of university.
A five-year-old had gotten every single one right, with clear, rigorous working.
Even graduates from some of the best-known high schools couldn't reach this level.
"That's wonderful, Gohan!"
Chi-Chi leaped up and hugged Son Gohan tightly, trembling with excitement as tears streamed down her face.
A few days earlier, after they'd returned to Mount Paozu, Chi-Chi had hired a tutor to teach Son Gohan as usual.
Half an hour later, the tutor had shaken his head and left their home without even taking his fee.
He told Chi-Chi he couldn't teach the boy. He'd never even heard of a genius like him.
Chi-Chi had been skeptical, so she hired four or five more tutors. Every one of them said the same thing.
In the end, she asked Bulma to bring a renowned teacher from West City, armed with a challenging exam to test Son Gohan.
And that was how they'd ended up here.
"Actually, the limit-based derivation I used here is a little complicated. It'd be simpler to use a Taylor expansion."
Son Gohan picked up his pen and swiftly wrote out a much more concise derivation.
The tutor finally lost his composure and collapsed into a chair, wiping away cold sweat. "I'm terribly sorry, but I can't teach this child either."
After saying that, the tutor grabbed his bag and fled Mount Paozu. He'd been teaching all his life, but he'd never suffered such a crushing blow.
"Gohan, you're going to become the greatest scholar in the world."
Overjoyed, Chi-Chi immediately got up and called Bulma, hoping she could find a university for Son Gohan where professors could teach him.
"Sorry, Chi-Chi, but universities don't accept children this young. We'll have to wait until Gohan is a few years older," Bulma replied.
"How can that be?" Chi-Chi slumped into her chair, deeply disappointed.
Seeing Chi-Chi's reaction, Son Gohan let a small smile curl his lips. At last, he wouldn't have to be forced to study anymore.
He had taught Bulma exactly how to turn them down, so he could devote himself to training.
In his previous life, he'd been an ordinary university student majoring in mathematics and had worked through these problems countless times. Still, seeing him solve them at five years old was astonishing.
"Gohan, let's go fishing!" Son Goku slung his fishing gear over his back and laughed cheerfully.
"Let's go, Dad! We'll see who catches more!"
Son Gohan picked up a fishing rod he'd made himself and some loaches he'd caught by hand. He looked every bit the little fishing enthusiast.
"Hey, Goku, Gohan. We've been waiting for you." Yamcha and the others appeared outside. They'd arranged this outing in advance.
"Uncle Piccolo, aren't you bringing a fishing rod?" Son Gohan asked, noticing Piccolo's empty hands.
"Why not just boil all the water away?" Piccolo didn't understand why they needed to fish. He didn't even need to eat.
"What a boring Namekian," Krillin teased.
Everyone burst out laughing and flew toward a large lake.
Hearing their conversation, Chi-Chi instinctively wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words before they could leave her mouth and could only watch helplessly as the others departed.
Ten days later, Dr. Brief called to tell everyone that the spaceships had been modified and the gravity room at the Briefs estate was ready too.
Son Gohan and the others hurried to West City, eager to begin training.
"These gravity systems can increase the force up to a hundred times normal gravity. Be careful when you use them."
"You can use either the gravity room here or the systems aboard the spaceships. Divide them up however you like."
Since everyone had different fighting strengths, they could handle different levels of gravity.
In the end, Son Gohan trained alone in the gravity room, while Son Goku and Piccolo trained together aboard one spaceship.
Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and Krillin shared the gravity system aboard the other spaceship.
And so the days passed, while the Z Fighters' strength grew by leaps and bounds.
On a planet ruled by the Frieza Force, Vegeta was listening to the latest intelligence.
"We've confirmed signs of life on Namek. Should we send someone to conquer it?"
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