Bojack and his four followers cautiously passed through the passage and returned to the living world.
The exit of the passage connecting Other World to the living world was near Fire Mountain.
As soon as they emerged, they felt the dry heat in the air.
But compared with Hell's brutally harsh weather, this place was undoubtedly the paradise of their dreams.
After the thrashings Son Gohan and Trunks had given them, they had learned that there was always someone stronger out there.
They no longer spouted nonsense about making it their mission to destroy the universe.
Death had long since ground the edges off their dreams.
Now, all they wanted was to keep a low profile, find a spaceship, and escape this hellish planet.
Keep a low profile. We have to keep a low profile.
Because they still had no idea where Son Gohan was.
What if they ran into him again and he reduced them to ashes?
They never wanted to return to that awful place called Hell.
Watching the lesser fiends swagger out of the passage, full of themselves, Bojack silently shook his head.
These little fools really have a death wish.
Just wait until that blond demon king shows up. He'll turn you all into fireworks.
"Come on. Let's get out of here."
He beckoned to his four followers and led them stealthily toward the dense forest.
Just then,
a loud shout stopped them in their tracks.
"Hey! You five shouldn't be here. Get back to Hell!"
Huh?
Startled, Bojack and the others looked up.
A green figure stood before them, almost blending into the natural surroundings.
"A Namekian?" Bojack was well-traveled enough to recognize the newcomer's race at a glance.
Indeed, it was Piccolo.
With the balance between life and death overturned in Other World, the dead returning to life, and the passage to the living world thrown open, Piccolo had come back as well.
Bojack stared at Piccolo and frowned in displeasure. "Namekian, unless I'm mistaken, you've still got a dead man's halo over your head. You just came out of Other World too, didn't you? So why are you sticking your nose into our business? Is there something wrong with you?"
Piccolo gave a cold snort and stood his ground without answering, making it perfectly clear that he meant to block their path.
Meanwhile, up in the heavens.
The old Kami and Mr. Popo stood side by side at the edge of Kami's Lookout, gazing down at the living world.
Mr. Popo turned to the old Kami and asked, "Kami, what's going on? How have you come back to life?"
The old Kami gazed down with profound eyes and said, "Mr. Popo, don't call me Kami anymore. I'm no longer Earth's guardian. I'm merely a Namekian who has suddenly returned from the dead."
"To Popo, you will always be Earth's guardian."
"This upheaval in Other World has overturned the balance between life and death, allowing me to live again. But this certainly isn't a good thing, because I was already dead."
"Please don't say that..."
At the foot of Fire Mountain,
after a brief standoff, the fighting broke out.
Piccolo had retained his body and spent all these years training in Other World, so he was reasonably strong.
But however strong he was, his overall strength was only about on par with Zangya's. Outnumbered, he was driven back again and again by Gokua and Bujin.
Zangya, Bido, and Bojack hadn't even joined the fight yet.
Seeing this, Bojack sneered. "Even if you want to play the hero, you should know your limits. With strength like that, you dare to stop all five of us by yourself? You're already dead, and you still haven't learned what death means?"
"Hmph, who said he was alone?" Just then, a hulking man charged out of the dense forest.
It was Android 16.
Android 16, who had been watching all along, knew something had gone wrong on Earth and stepped in without hesitation.
"Oh? So you've got backup? You're just asking to die."
"Zangya, Bido, get him."
"Finish this quickly. We need to hurry."
"Yes, my lord."
Zangya and Bido moved to intercept Android 16, again making it two against one.
But Android 16 was somewhat stronger than Piccolo, so he didn't struggle nearly as much.
Seeing a large man rush out to help him, Piccolo froze for a moment. A quick look told him this wasn't anyone he knew.
But in that instant of distraction, Gokua's longsword sliced off his arm.
Other World.
The battle between Frieza and his father and the Android siblings continued.
In fact, this wasn't their first fight.
When Android 17 and Android 18 had first arrived in Hell, they had fought once, and it had ended in a crushing defeat for Frieza and King Cold.
Things were much the same now, with Android 17 and Android 18 battering the father and son.
Frieza and King Cold were bruised and swollen, suffering miserably.
Vegeta watched coldly from the sidelines, clenched his fists, and sneered. "Those bastards had better kill each other."
What he failed to notice was that, after his curse, a barely perceptible crack appeared at the top of the transparent barrier.
Meanwhile, the battle between Goku and Janemba had reached a fever pitch.
After transforming into Super Saiyan 2, Goku traded blows evenly with Janemba.
But Janemba automatically healed whenever he was injured, while Goku couldn't.
After they had fought for a while, Janemba remained completely unscathed, but Goku was covered in wounds.
Goku flipped several times through the air and leaped out of Janemba's attack range. Panting, he stared at the utterly uninjured Janemba with a deep frown.
Just then, Janemba's right hand suddenly lit up, and he pressed it against the ground.
In an instant, a dense horde of little Janembas appeared.
Though they were called little Janembas, every one of them stood over two meters tall. There looked to be two or three hundred of them, all identical. Luckily, Goku didn't suffer from trypophobia, or he would already have lost.
"Janemba, Janemba..."
Calling out, the little Janembas flickered forward at incredible speed, all charging at Goku.
Thunderous crashes rang out at once.
Two or three hundred Janemba clones swallowed Goku up.
But Goku wasn't about to sit there and wait for death.
"Aaaaaah!"
Goku's prolonged roar rang out from beneath the mountain of Janemba bodies.
Then a golden light flashed. Goku's surging power blasted all the little Janembas away, and they exploded into clouds of smoke.
Powerful ki rippled outward in wave after wave, and a golden aura shot more than ten meters into the air.
Accompanied by his fierce roar, Goku's golden hair kept growing, and his face began to change.
In just a few seconds, his golden hair reached his waist. His eyebrows vanished, giving him an even fiercer appearance.
As his transformation finished, Goku's ki multiplied several times over in an instant. Fierce energy shot in every direction, lightning crackled around his body, and Janemba stared dumbfounded.
Goku clenched both fists and looked at Janemba with icy eyes. "I'm still not very familiar with this transformation, so I'll use you to get some practice."
Whoosh!
Goku vanished, and the instant he reappeared, his fist sent Janemba flying.
Meanwhile,
Vegeta looked toward Goku and Janemba's battle in shock.
"What... what's going on? Kakarot's ki suddenly got stronger. Now it's actually overpowering Janemba's? What the hell is that bastard doing?"
After a moment of indecision, Vegeta flared his aura and flew toward Goku and Janemba's battle.
"Wh-what transformation is this?" Vegeta gaped in disbelief at Goku, whose face now looked positively villainous.
Super Saiyan actually has this many forms?
Vegeta brooded, his expression shifting as he silently cursed Goku for being shameless and underhanded. Was he pretending to be weak just to catch everyone off guard?
Once Goku transformed into Super Saiyan 3, Janemba was no longer a match for him.
Goku's fists rained down, each punch crashing into Janemba's body.
Janemba's fat body was driven back again and again. He couldn't fight back at all, and spit flew everywhere.
At the sight, Vegeta seethed. "Damn you, Kakarot! You could've transformed like this right from the start, but you waited this long? Is there something wrong with you?"
Amid Vegeta's disgruntled curses, Goku soared into the sky, golden light blazing all over his body. Two enormous spheres of light appeared in his hands, and he thrust them toward Janemba.
Before Janemba could react, the Energy Blasts blew him into a heap of minced flesh.
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