Kami? Not even a dog would take the job

Seen from high above.

The hemispherical Kami's Lookout floated not far below the atmosphere.

Lush plants grew across it, and several buildings rose from its surface. Dreamlike and otherworldly, it truly lived up to its name.

Son Gohan and Trunks landed.

Trunks looked around, unable to take it all in.

His eyes wide, he bounced twice on the Lookout's floor, then jogged off, curious about everything.

As he went, he asked, "Gohan, is this really where Kami lives?"

"Yeah, it is."

Watching Trunks's excitement, Son Gohan couldn't help smiling.

He was still a child at heart, unable to hide his happiness.

Of course, Son Gohan was happy too.

At the very least, the androids hadn't attacked Kami's Lookout. Everything was still intact.

That meant the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was still usable.

I wonder if Mr. Popo is still here.

With that thought, Son Gohan followed Trunks toward the cluster of buildings.

An archway stood there. Beyond it lay the Lookout proper.

For now, they were still in the plaza at the front of the Lookout.

"Gohan, what exactly does Kami look like?" Trunks asked, looking back as he ran ahead.

"Is he really tall, really handsome, and super, super cool?"

Son Gohan pictured Piccolo and chuckled. "He is pretty tall."

Handsome, though? Not quite.

After all, calling a Namekian handsome felt rather strange.

They had no distinction between male and female.

Just then,

Son Gohan's pupils contracted.

He sensed someone emerging from the darkness at the Lookout's entrance.

Son Gohan stopped, his eyes fixed on the doorway.

"Trunks, stop."

"Huh?" Trunks stopped at his words.

Then he too noticed the figure coming out of the doorway.

The figure had no aura. He couldn't even sense any sign of life.

"What..." Trunks couldn't help taking two steps back.

What on earth is that?

The androids had no aura, but at least they still showed signs of life.

"Is that you, Mr. Popo?" Son Gohan asked, narrowing his eyes.

As he spoke, the figure finally stepped out of the darkness.

Pitch-black.

Who else could it be but Mr. Popo?

His whole body was jet-black. Apart from his clothes and trademark sausage-like lips, there wasn't another color on him.

He looked like an Indian coal miner-black upon black.

Seeing that it really was Mr. Popo, Son Gohan breathed a sigh of relief.

Mr. Popo looked at Son Gohan, then at Trunks, and said, "Mr. Gohan, you've finally come. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

His face was entirely black; trying to read an expression on it was hopeless.

There was no emotion in his voice either. He sounded a little like a robot.

"Waiting for me?" Son Gohan asked.

Mr. Popo said, "Yes. Ever since Kami died twelve years ago, not a single human has visited the Lookout. I've waited here for twelve whole years, and you've finally come, Mr. Gohan."

"I would like to ask you, Mr. Gohan: would you be willing to become Earth's new Kami?"

At those words, Trunks's eyes lit up.

Cool. So cool.

Gohan is going to become Earth's new Kami.

Nothing could be cooler than that.

But Son Gohan's next answer struck him as not cool at all.

"Sorry, Mr. Popo. I don't want to be Kami." Son Gohan shook his head.

Mr. Popo wasn't disappointed. Son Gohan's answer was what he'd expected.

Still, he asked, "Oh? Why not?"

Son Gohan answered honestly, "Because even if I became Earth's new Kami, I still wouldn't be able to defeat Android 17 and Android 18."

"Besides, as far as I know, becoming Kami comes with certain restrictions, doesn't it? Like not being allowed to go down to the world below whenever you want?"

"For over a decade, the androids have destroyed whatever they please and slaughtered people everywhere. Humanity has been living in hell, with no one to answer their cries for help."

"If I get stuck here too, am I supposed to dump the job of protecting Earth on Trunks?"

Mr. Popo fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "Ah, you have a point."

Son Gohan glanced at Mr. Popo and said with a pointed smile, "You've practically vanished all these years, Mr. Popo. I thought you'd died long ago."

Mr. Popo wasn't stupid. Naturally, he could hear the hostility in Son Gohan's tone.

Clearly, Son Gohan was deeply unhappy about his disappearance over the years.

Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Gohan. The limits of my office prevent me from interfering in mortal affairs on my own."

Son Gohan rolled his eyes.

Bullshit!

He remembered perfectly well how Mr. Popo had gone down to find the old Kami's spaceship.

Why couldn't he do it afterward?

Did he crash like a computer the moment the old Kami died?

Originally, there had been many things he hadn't known.

But merging with another soul had given him a new, all-seeing perspective.

As a result, he now knew there had actually been quite a few ways to save Earth.

But what good were those options?

No one had bothered.

All these years, no one had paid Earth any attention.

They had dumped a shattered world full of despair squarely onto a nine-year-old child's shoulders.

This world had become utterly forgotten.

Who could possibly know how Son Gohan had survived the past decade and more?

No one had saved him. He'd only had his own desperate struggle to survive.

If even one person had lent a hand, Earth wouldn't have ended up like this.

For example, if Mr. Popo had come down, brought him to the Lookout, trained him, and told him the secret of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Son Gohan felt he could have made something work. At least things wouldn't have been this miserable.

Or, when the disaster first began, King Kai could have contacted him and told him where New Namek was.

Then he could have taken a spaceship to Planet Namek, gathered the Dragon Balls, and brought all his friends back to life.

But no. Nothing of the sort had happened.

Now, more than a decade later, no one had so much as asked after them.

All of them seemed to have forgotten Earth.

Even if he found New Namek now, his old friends probably couldn't be revived anymore.

Even more baffling were those dead friends themselves.

Had they all had enough of living?

Didn't they want to come back?

King Kai could claim he'd forgotten Earth because he had too many planets to manage. (In reality, he spent every day on King Kai's Planet reading joke books and taking his little car out for a spin.)

But what about his friends?

Unless something unexpected had happened, they should have kept their bodies and been training in the afterlife or on King Kai's Planet.

How had they managed to spend over a decade without checking in once?

Was it because death had freed them of all worldly attachments?

Or was there some other reason?

At that thought, Son Gohan couldn't help clenching his fists. He was already considering how much strength he should use to beat up those dear elders of his when the time came.

It would be wrong not to beat them up-no, not to spar with them.

Heh. Just you wait.

If they don't give me a reasonable explanation, I might have to ask them for a few extra lessons.

Those were the thoughts running through his mind.

Outwardly, however, he waved a hand at Mr. Popo and said, "The limits of your office? No interfering in mortal affairs? With that many rules, I'd rather pass on being Kami. I'm really not suited for it."

For a moment, Mr. Popo had no idea what to say.

After a few breaths of silence, he finally asked, "If you didn't come to become Kami, then what brings you here, Mr. Gohan?"

Son Gohan stopped wasting words and said directly, "We want to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Can we?"

"Ah, so you know about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Mr. Gohan. Of course, that's no problem. Please follow me, both of you." Mr. Popo gestured for them to follow, then turned and walked into the Lookout.

Trunks looked at Son Gohan.

"What are you looking at? Follow him." Son Gohan gave him a meaningful look.

"Oh." Trunks immediately followed.

Son Gohan strode inside too.

"Gohan, are you really not going to be Kami?" Trunks asked, looking back as they walked.

Son Gohan grinned. "Kami? Not even a dog would take the job."

"Whoa..."

At the head of the group, Mr. Popo's face darkened with exasperation.

Mr. Gohan clearly had a lot of pent-up anger. His words certainly weren't pleasant.

After walking for a while, the three stopped in front of a large door.

Son Gohan looked up.

A clock hung directly above the door.

A huge hourglass stood to one side.

Mr. Popo said, "Mr. Gohan, this is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

"Time flows differently inside. A year in there is only a single day outside."

"However, each person can only use it for two days in their entire lifetime, so you'll need to watch the time yourself, Mr. Gohan. Once you exceed the limit, the door will vanish on its own, and you won't be able to get out."

Son Gohan nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

Mr. Popo said, "Though I'm probably worrying needlessly. No one could possibly stay in there for two years. Heh, Mr. Goku ran out after less than a few months back then."

Son Gohan: "..."

"All right, go in." As he spoke, Mr. Popo pushed open the Hyperbolic Time Chamber's door.

Could such an incredible place really exist in this world?

Trunks poked his head inside and found an unknown world of endless white.

Plan two: ✔