Meeting This World's Vegeta and Making Wishes to Shenron

"I see. You wanted to borrow the Dragon Radar to find the Dragon Balls."

"There's no need to go to all that trouble. To tell you the truth, I gathered all the Dragon Balls just a few days ago." Bulma smiled, saying that he had already collected them all.

Son Goku's eyes widened at her words. He hadn't expected Bulma to have gathered all the Dragon Balls already.

He understood why the Shadow Dragons would be born from the Dragon Balls more than ten years later.

Bulma gathered the Dragon Balls to make wishes every few days, leaving the negative energy inside them no time to dissipate. It would have been strange if the Shadow Dragons hadn't come into being.

It could be said that Bulma bore an undeniable responsibility for the birth of the Shadow Dragons.

But that was all a matter for later. After all, the Shadow Dragons had yet to be born in this world.

"Sorry for the trouble, Bulma. There are a few things I need Shenron's help with, so I'll have to use two wishes," Son Goku requested politely.

After all, Bulma was the one who had gathered the Dragon Balls, and he was using up two wishes as soon as he arrived.

Bulma was delighted by Son Goku's polite request. She couldn't help feeling that he was very different today.

He usually sounded so simple-minded when he spoke, nothing like how polite he was today.

"It's fine. The Dragon Balls can grant three wishes now, and I only need one. Wait a moment, I'll go get them." With that, Bulma turned and left.

Inside Vegeta's gravity training room.

The gravity training room was bathed in a harsh red light, and the number on the central console's display had reached a terrifying 1500G.

That meant the gravity inside the room had reached fifteen hundred times Earth's gravity!

Despite the terrifying gravity, Vegeta's agility was completely unaffected. He moved freely back and forth under the fifteen-hundredfold gravity.

Clearly, he had long since grown accustomed to fifteen hundred times gravity, and his body had been trained to an extraordinarily powerful degree.

"Fifteen hundred times gravity doesn't have much effect on me in my normal state anymore. It's time to try higher gravity." Vegeta stopped moving and turned his gaze to the gravity control console.

He was just about to increase the gravity further when he sensed Son Goku's ki, making his hand pause.

"Kakarot's ki. Why is he here?" Son Goku's sudden arrival puzzled Vegeta.

Since the battle with Majin Buu ended two years ago, they hadn't seen each other for a long time, each occupied with his own training.

Son Goku's sudden arrival now piqued Vegeta's interest.

Vegeta went to the central control unit and pressed the switch to turn off the gravity.

As the gravity device shut down, the pressure on his body vanished, and Vegeta immediately felt his whole body grow lighter.

He opened the door to the gravity training room and walked out.

After watching Bulma leave, Son Goku waited quietly where he was for her return.

Once these wishes are granted, I should avoid using the Dragon Balls unless the circumstances are exceptional.

The Shadow Dragons were born because of us, when all is said and done.

Son Goku thought to himself, unable to keep the image and power of Omega Shenron from coming to mind.

Even Super Saiyan 4 had lost, and even he had lost his life as a result.

Of course, if he had been given a little more time to fully master Super Saiyan 4, he didn't think he would have lost to Omega Shenron.

All of that was just a powerless lament after the fact. The Son Goku of that time was already dead, and now he had been reborn fourteen years earlier. He was determined to change that tragic ending.

As thoughts swirled through Son Goku's mind, his ki sense detected Vegeta's approaching ki.

Son Goku instinctively turned toward the ki and saw that Vegeta had, at some point, come within ten meters of him.

"Vegeta." A smile appeared on Son Goku's face at the sight of his friend and rival.

In that battle, Vegeta had stood beside him until the very last moment.

Come to think of it, he regretted that too. After fusing with Vegeta into Gogeta, he shouldn't have toyed with Syn Shenron. He should have just killed him and been done with it.

"We meet again, Kakarot." Vegeta was as cold as ever.

His eyes swept over Son Goku, and his keen perception immediately allowed him to notice the difference in him.

Both his muscle size and his ability to control his ki had improved tremendously, giving him an intangible air of unfathomable depth.

"Looks like you've been training pretty hard, Kakarot," Vegeta said expressionlessly, though his thoughts grew increasingly serious.

At this rate of progress, he would have to train harder if he wanted to catch up to Son Goku.

At the very least, he had to advance another step and master the Super Saiyan Third Grade transformation.

He had been stuck at Super Saiyan Second Grade for many years.

"You're not bad yourself, Vegeta. Looks like you've been training much harder than I have." Son Goku was sizing Vegeta up as well.

If his guess was right, Vegeta had already faintly touched the threshold of Super Saiyan Third Grade. He just didn't know what had kept Vegeta from breaking through.

Although he had mastered Super Saiyan Third Grade long ago, that didn't mean he could tell Vegeta how to transform into it.

They were friends, but they were also rivals. Telling Vegeta how to train for Super Saiyan Third Grade would undoubtedly be an insult to him.

"Hmph!" Vegeta snorted and met Son Goku's eyes.

Son Goku refused to back down, meeting his gaze as an intangible aura spread from him.

Vegeta deliberately unleashed the pressure of his ki at Son Goku, only for Son Goku to dispel it with ease.

Their auras collided, creating a confrontational atmosphere that looked ready to erupt at any moment.

"Son-kun, Vegeta, what are you two doing again?" Just then, Bulma came over with the seven Dragon Balls.

Seeing the confrontational atmosphere between them, Bulma couldn't help feeling a chill of fear. If the two of them fought here, not only would her estate be destroyed, but the whole of West City might be reduced to nothing.

When they saw Bulma arrive, Son Goku and Vegeta withdrew their auras in unspoken agreement.

Vegeta's attention fell on the Dragon Balls.

He understood why Son Goku had come: the Dragon Balls.

But Vegeta didn't pay it much mind. Single-mindedly pursuing great power, he had no interest in Shenron's ability to grant wishes.

He was just a little curious why Son Goku had suddenly come to use the Dragon Balls.

Seeing that the two had withdrawn their auras, Bulma placed the seven Dragon Balls on the ground and began the ritual to summon Shenron.

As she recited the incantation, the seven Dragon Balls resonated at once, and an invisible, mysterious power spread outward.