With a clear plan, the next step was systematic training.
Besides Ethan's efforts, Yoruichi was also training hard. She chose a more traditional method of improvement, striving to raise her base combat power and strengthen her control over her transformed state. Although her strength would not increase by leaps and bounds, it was steadily improving.
Over the past year, Ethan had been working hard to digest the Black Dragon's power, but this was not something that could be done all at once. It required time and gradual progress.
After a year, Ethan had only barely managed to digest the "over-dragonized" state into a normal dragonized state, the form he had taken when fighting Frieza.
His dragon horns were smaller, there were no scales on his body, his wings were smaller, and he had no tail.
At this point, he had two choices: continue tapping into the deeper Black Dragon power within his body, or continue fully digesting the current Black Dragon power before trying to tap into the deeply hidden Black Dragon energy.
After a brief period of thought, he decided to digest the current Black Dragon power first. He felt that doing so might make his body more adaptable to this power and potentially speed up the later digestion process.
While Ethan was diligently training, Goku, who had been away for a year, finally returned to Earth.
Compared to Yamcha and Tien, who had returned earlier, Goku had truly gone on a thorough trip, wandering for a full year before coming back, without returning even once to rest during that time.
As Goku and Krillin recounted their experiences, Ethan learned that Goku had encountered many things on his trip and had unexpectedly found out about Vegeta's situation.
After parting ways with Goku and the others, Vegeta constantly went looking for trouble with Frieza's subordinates. At first, everything went smoothly. Aside from not encountering enemies strong enough, or suffering serious injuries that would cause his combat power to jump sharply, Vegeta could be said to have had the best time he had enjoyed in years.
Unfortunately, good times were always short-lived. His constant harassment of Frieza's subordinates finally attracted King Cold's attention. While Vegeta was attacking a planet that had previously been under Frieza's rule, he came face-to-face with this "traitor."
Vegeta's strength was not bad, but against King Cold, who was only slightly weaker than Frieza, neither Vegeta nor Nappa had any chance to resist and were killed directly by King Cold.
"Vegeta is dead?"
"Anyway, that's what that guy said!"
Goku and the others learned about Vegeta's death because King Cold had unexpectedly gathered information about the Dragon Balls. So he brought his subordinates to Namek, intending to use the Dragon Balls to make a wish similar to the one Frieza had wanted in the original story.
King Cold had not considered reviving his son Frieza, or rather, even if he did want to revive him, he would only consider it after his own strength surpassed Frieza's.
As a result, Namek, which Ethan had thought had luckily escaped disaster, was still invaded.
However, unlike the original plot, King Cold did not get the chance to slaughter the Namekians this time, because Goku and his group were on Namek. As a result, a battle broke out between King Cold and Goku's group.
There was no suspense in the battle. King Cold's power was slightly weaker than Frieza's, and he was no match for Goku, who could already transform into a Super Saiyan and had continued training and improving his strength during his travels.
Goku's current combat power had already surpassed the level he had when he defeated Frieza in the original story. As a result, King Cold was defeated and killed by Super Saiyan Goku, and the news of Vegeta's death was mentioned by King Cold while he was boasting.
"He really died!"
Ethan rubbed his temples. He had thought that after all his interference, Vegeta would eventually end up on Earth and become an ally of the good guys. He had not expected him to die so casually in space.
Well, dead was dead. He could always be revived with the Dragon Balls. The question now was whether Goku had ever thought about reviving Vegeta.
Glancing at Goku in front of him, he noticed that neither Goku nor Raditz had any interest in reviving Vegeta. Seeing this, Ethan naturally would not suddenly suggest reviving him. He had no friendship at all with the Saiyan Prince.
"And then?"
"Then, at the invitation of the Namekian Elder, we stayed on Namek for another two months, and after that, we followed the direction King Cold had come from and cleaned up some bad guys."
The rest of what happened was fairly ordinary. Goku and the others traveled through space in a spaceship, taking in the sights of the universe while also dealing with villains and learning new things along the way.
Goku still learned Instant Transmission. Ethan immediately asked him to demonstrate it, and then, to Goku's surprise, quickly learned the technique himself.
"It took me two months to get the hang of it and half a year to fully master it. I can't believe you learned it just by watching once?"
"I've just come across many similar techniques. Once I understood the trick, I could use it. If I had been learning this skill without any prior foundation, it definitely would have taken me much longer than you."
"Even so, that's still amazing!"
While the group was chatting, Chi-Chi had already tidied up the rooms that had not been lived in for a long time.
Although someone cleaned them regularly, rooms that had been unoccupied for too long always felt like they lacked warmth. After Chi-Chi busied herself inside, it was still the same house, but it now had more of a homey atmosphere. She also took the chance to prepare a large table full of delicious food.
Everyone gathered around the long table in the yard, eating and chatting about their various experiences in the universe.
Of course, this did not include Goku and Gohan, the two Saiyans. The two of them were eating heartily with their heads down. Everyone was already used to the appetite of this father and son, so no one paid much attention to it. Instead, they were listening to Krillin recount some of the details.
By the time they had finished talking about their experiences over the past year, Goku and Gohan had also finished eating. Just as they were about to ask what had happened on Earth during the past year, they suddenly sensed a powerful energy approaching West City.
"Whose powerful energy is this?"
The group exchanged glances. Yamcha and Tien shook their heads one after another. Although they had returned earlier than Goku and the others, this energy was not someone they knew. In the end, everyone's eyes landed on Ethan and Night.
"I don't recognize this energy either."
Ethan had a guess in his heart and estimated that the timing was about right. However, it was not convenient for him to say it out loud, so he simply pretended not to recognize it.
Everyone looked at each other and realized that none of them recognized this energy. Goku stood up and said he would go take a look.
The path of this energy was clearly headed toward West City. Without knowing whether the other party was friend or foe, he did not want them arriving directly within West City's boundaries.
He had already made his home here, and the neighbors were all familiar faces. He did not want a battle to break out here.
"Let's go together!"
Although the martial arts scene on Earth had become increasingly popular because of their influence, the status of martial artists was constantly rising, and the overall strength of the planet was far beyond what it had once been, those who could reach the level of this energy were basically all within their circle. When a powerful unfamiliar energy suddenly appeared, everyone's first reaction was that an alien had arrived on Earth.
Although there had never been any formal agreement, everyone present, including Yamcha, regarded defending Earth as their responsibility. When a powerful stranger appeared, it was only natural for them to go and find out what was going on.
So, one after another, they put down their chopsticks and bowls, flew directly into the air, and after releasing their energy to an appropriate degree, flew together toward the outskirts of West City.
They did this to attract the attention of that powerful individual and also to determine whether this person was heading for them.
If the person was coming for them, everything would become simple. Whether friend or foe, they would first lure them to a secluded area.
If the person was coming for West City, things would be a little more troublesome, though only a little. No one present believed this stranger could truly threaten Earth's safety. After all, both Goku and Ethan were top-tier powerhouses. Even the Emperor of the Universe and his son had both died at their hands one after another. Could an even stronger alien really appear?
The group flew together toward the outskirts of West City, deliberately choosing an angle that did not lead directly toward the unfamiliar energy in order to test the other party's reaction.
They found that after releasing their energy, the unfamiliar energy really did adjust its direction and fly toward them.
"Looks like they're coming for us!"
"That makes things easier. Let's fly farther away. This is still too close to West City."
Looking at West City not far away, they knew that if a battle broke out nearby, given the power of Goku and Ethan, even the aftershocks alone could bring terrible disaster to ordinary people. So if they were going to fight, the farther the battlefield was from the city, the better.
As they moved, they kept monitoring that energy, making sure the other party kept following them and did not suddenly change direction.
They flew far enough to reach a desolate Gobi desert, and only then did everyone land and quietly wait for the stranger to appear.
"What kind of guy will it be?"
Everyone here had been to space, seen how vast the universe was, and encountered all kinds of intelligent life-forms. So when the unfamiliar energy appeared before them in the form of an ordinary human, no one was surprised. There were many races in the universe similar to humans from Earth.
What truly surprised everyone was that this man, or rather, this boy who looked very young, was wearing clothes with the Capsule Corporation logo on them.
"Hello!"
The young man with light purple hair was very polite. After landing, he greeted everyone, and then his gaze settled on Goku.
Seeing that he kept staring at Goku, everyone wondered whether they had overreacted. Perhaps this was just a young man who wanted to challenge Goku.
"Can I talk to you alone, Mr. Goku?"
(To be continued.)