The man who would be Galactic King

The alien went pale and wet his pants in terror.

To him, Son Gohan was simply too terrifying.

Son Gohan had killed every one of his companions with a single punch, without the slightest flashy move.

His attacks were clean and decisive.

How could anyone fight someone like that?

He stammered, his mind completely blank, unable to answer Son Gohan's question.

"Talk. If your answers satisfy me, I might let you live," Son Gohan said.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

The alien's legs trembled. Urine soaked his crotch, giving off a foul stench.

Son Gohan helplessly pinched his nose and endured the alien's account and endless pleas for mercy.

According to him, he belonged to Bojack's Army. He was a scout in its advance force, responsible for searching for and investigating life planets.

After arriving on Earth a few days ago, they had begun gathering information about the planet.

At first, they discovered that Earth was a low-level planet whose human inhabitants were weaklings with power levels of only five.

Planets like this generally had scarce resources and weren't worth exploring.

But yesterday,

They had learned about the Dragon Balls from an Earthling.

Dragon Balls that could grant any wish were undeniably an enormous temptation to aliens.

They were the most enticing treasure imaginable.

And so Earth's estimated value shot through the roof.

The advance force immediately reported everything about the Dragon Balls to their superiors.

Their leader, Bojack, replied with orders to collect the Dragon Balls by any means necessary.

Anyone who gathered them all would be richly rewarded.

After receiving those orders, the advance force began interrogating Earthlings about the Dragon Balls.

But the Earthlings didn't know much.

Let alone how to collect them.

Unable to get the answers they wanted, the aliens had launched into a merciless slaughter.

They intended to force the Earthlings to reveal the Dragon Balls' locations that way.

The results were easy enough to imagine.

Son Gohan: "..."

I've got a "motherfucker" on the tip of my tongue. Should I say it?

The Dragon Balls giveth, and the Dragon Balls taketh away.

Which Earthling had such a big mouth that they blabbed about the Dragon Balls?

Maybe I ought to make a wish sometime to make the Dragon Balls less widely known.

But who exactly was this Bojack?

Son Gohan searched his memory but couldn't recall anyone by that name in the Dragon Ball world.

Still, he understood why.

From the moment he was reborn, the wheels of history had veered off course onto an entirely new track.

Son Gohan stared coldly at the alien before him. "How strong is Bojack? And when will he reach Earth?"

At the mention of Bojack, the alien's eyes lit up. He saw a chance to survive.

"Lord Bojack is incredibly powerful. You can't possibly beat him. How about this? We join forces and coordinate from inside and out. That might give us a slim chance of winning."

"What do you think? Give it some thought. This might be our only option."

"I asked when he'll arrive," Son Gohan said.

"At the speed of our lord's spaceship, he'll reach Earth in about ten hours. We don't have much time left."

"Please think it through. Working together is our only chance."

"We really don't have much time." He repeated himself.

"Oh, really?" Son Gohan smiled. "You do have a point. All right, I'll do as you suggest. Let's work together."

"I was right about you. You're a smart man." The alien smiled along with him.

Looks like my life is safe.

"Am I? Heh heh..." As Son Gohan smiled, energy suddenly burst from his fingertip and blasted the alien's head apart.

Even as he died, the alien couldn't understand why Son Gohan, who had been talking so agreeably a moment ago, had suddenly turned on him.

Son Gohan kicked the alien's corpse away, then thrust out his palm and blasted it into a bloody mist.

The alien who had thought himself so clever turned to ash and vanished into the air.

"Are you stupid, or am I? Even in the Dragon Ball world, you're cracking that lame joke about how 'Jack Ma's wealth and mine combined could shake the Asian economy.'"

After that complaint, Son Gohan took flight and headed to Videl's hiding place, where he found her.

Videl looked at Son Gohan in surprise. "You've already dealt with them?"

That was so fast! All she had heard was a series of booming explosions.

Son Gohan nodded. "Yeah. We're safe for now."

"Safe for now? What does that mean?" Videl was confused. Hadn't he dealt with all the aliens?

"I won't keep it from you. Even more terrifying aliens will reach Earth tomorrow," Son Gohan said.

"What? Really? Then what do we do?" Videl grew nervous again.

"My companions and I will fight tomorrow. If we win, everything will be fine. If we lose, Earth will return to the days when the Androids ruled over it. Actually, it might be even worse."

Videl's little face went completely pale.

"I-isn't there another way? Even if we used the Kingdom's entire military strength, we couldn't defeat tomorrow's enemies?"

"We couldn't. Let me put it this way: if I wanted to destroy Earth, all I'd need is a single energy blast," Son Gohan said.

"Earthlings are far too weak. Even the nuclear strikes recognized as the Kingdom's strongest attacks would barely tickle people like us. They'd have no effect at all."

"If I was on guard, even carpet-bombing the place with nukes couldn't leave a scratch on me."

Son Gohan's words shocked Videl into silence.

It was the first time she had learned that a human's power could reach such heights.

It was also the first time she had realized just how terrifying the Son Gohan standing before her was.

From what he said, the danger posed by tomorrow's enemies was still unknown.

But one thing was certain: they could easily destroy the entire Earth.

How could they avert a crisis like that?

Did they really have no choice but to rely on Son Gohan?

Could Earthlings only sit and wait to die?

Videl's mind was a jumble.

She stood there in a daze, not knowing what to say.

Just as Son Gohan had said, the Kingdom's strength was far too insignificant.

It couldn't influence the outcome of the battle at all.

The Androids' decade-plus reign of terror was the best proof of that.

Before absolute power, the Kingdom's strength was no more than a firefly's glow.

Insignificant, weak, and helpless.

Son Gohan glanced at her. "All right, I should get going. Goodbye."

"Son Gohan!"

Videl suddenly called his name.

"What is it?" Son Gohan turned back just as he was about to soar into the sky.

"Be careful tomorrow. I still want you to teach me the Flight Technique," Videl said.

"Yeah, all right."

Son Gohan nodded, shot into the sky, and flew toward Kami's Lookout.

He wanted to check on Trunks's progress and ask North Kai who exactly this Bojack was.

Knowing his opponent was much better than going in blind.

Just then,

North Kai's voice rang out in Son Gohan's mind.

"Gohan! Son Gohan! Can you hear me? It's North Kai."

Son Gohan was a little surprised. North Kai had actually contacted him first?

That was nothing short of a miracle.

The Androids' rampage had lasted more than ten years, and North Kai hadn't contacted him once.

What was going on now?

Son Gohan stopped and stood above the clouds. "King Kai, I'm here."

North Kai's voice rang out again. "Here's the situation, Son Gohan. I'll keep it brief. A terrifying fellow is approaching Earth right now. He should arrive tomorrow, so you need to prepare to fight."

Son Gohan was rather surprised.

Before he'd even asked, North Kai had brought it up himself.

It seemed there was something significant about Bojack's identity.

He definitely wasn't some nobody.

Otherwise, North Kai wouldn't have been so nervous.

"If you're talking about Bojack, King Kai, I've already encountered his advance force," Son Gohan said.

North Kai was briefly taken aback. "Yes, it is Bojack. I didn't expect you to know already."

"I've wiped out his entire advance force. King Kai, I'd like to ask where exactly this Bojack came from."

North Kai fell silent for a moment, recalling the past, then began his account:

"Bojack... That's a name from a very long time ago."

"Roughly a thousand years ago, a powerful evil force emerged in the Milky Way Galaxy. They committed every imaginable atrocity, and their goal was nothing less than the destruction of the Four Galaxies."

"Back then, this evil force led by Bojack was immensely powerful and unstoppable. Wherever they went, living beings were slaughtered. Countless life planets became dead worlds at their hands. Almost no one in the Four Galaxies could stand against them."

"The Milky Way Galaxy faced an enormous catastrophe and teetered on the brink of destruction."

"Later, the Grand Kai taught the four of us Kais a sealing method."

"We four Kais, who governed the northern, southern, eastern, and western regions of the Four Galaxies, joined forces and finally sealed Bojack at the far end of the universe. Peace at last returned to the Four Galaxies."

"More than a thousand years passed."

"But not long ago, South Kai was killed by an ambitious fellow."

"With South Kai dead, the seal we had created together could no longer hold. Bojack broke free and began wreaking havoc across the galaxy once again."

Even the mighty South Kai got killed? That's seriously wild.

Son Gohan held back that remark and continued asking, "I didn't expect him to be some relic from a thousand years ago. How strong is he, exactly? How does he compare to the Androids?"

North Kai thought for a moment before answering. "He's far stronger than the Androids. Otherwise, he couldn't have terrorized the galaxy for so many years."

"Then there's something I don't understand. If Bojack is that strong, how did you four Kais manage to seal him?"

What Son Gohan meant was that all four Kais were weaklings in terms of fighting power. How could they possibly seal someone that strong?

North Kai had lived for countless years and was far too shrewd not to catch the meaning behind Son Gohan's words.

He coughed, trying to cover his embarrassment. "It was mainly thanks to the sealing method. Unfortunately, with South Kai dead, we can no longer recreate the seal we used back then. The galaxy will be thrown into chaos again. Sigh."

Son Gohan: "..."