The man who would merge with Gohan was now in a large energy tunnel, the sight was impressive, so much beauty present in that metaphysical scenario showing how reality distorted into events that the mind could not even describe, but that mattered little to the man, well it was more as if he was not paying attention to it, his mind ran wild with the information he received just before being pushed out of the "waiting room".
The idea of merging with the character of Son Gohan, the half-Saiyan, filled him with excitement, such a strong character with frightening potential. He was disappointed with what happened to Gohan in the new sequel to Dragon Ball Super, but it made sense. He never enjoyed fighting as much as the other members of Goku's group. Likewise, he still enjoyed fighting as a sport, but not as a dominant part of his life. The old man was wondering if his memories would change that part of Gohan.
While he was immersed in thought, the journey between worlds continued. The man became even more excited to join the main Dragon Ball group and now fantasized about his future adventures in this fantasy world. At some point, he emerged from the tunnel, deprived of a scenery that would be unforgettable. Now he found himself in a translucent, spirit-like body, flying over countless high mountains with countless high peaks and vast, dense vegetation, crystal-clear rivers, and large dinosaurs that could be seen in some parts of the region.
The man marveled at the natural beauty of that place, untouched by industrialization. He engraved that image in his memory, drunk with fascination. Then a strong pull dragged him, taking him out of his torpor. He found himself flying towards the top of one of the hills, where he saw a small, rustic cabin, which he recognized as the house where Goku grew up.
'Little Gohan must be hiding there playing hide-and-seek,' the man thought, believing his reasoning was correct.
As he approached the hut, he braced himself and closed his eyes, waiting for the fusion with open arms. Little did he know that if he had kept his eyes open, he would have noticed that there was no young Saiyan in that hut, but only a short, stocky old man with a white mustache and dressed in a traditional orange and black qipao (martial arts uniform). This was Son Gohan, the human currently holding a shining sphere with four stars inside.
The spirit then joined old Gohan's body, and thus the two souls began a convergence, becoming one spirit, an exchange took place between the two, memories were seen, ideas, knowledge and experiences were added, this continued until the emergence of a common point between the two, thus the fusion began to stabilize forming a strong and brilliant soul, a new Son Gohan emerged at this moment.
Opening his eyes, Gohan displayed a complicated expression, he saw himself in the reflection of the polished Dragon Ball in his hand, an aged face, but with gentle eyes, his hand calloused from years of martial arts training slowly reached his face, feeling the touch, the old man let out a sigh.
"Looks like I was wrong, he-he..." He laughed at his mistake in believing he would be fused with Son Goku's son; he had completely forgotten that the protagonist's grandfather was also named Son Gohan. "Well, there's no point crying over it..."
Looking at the Dragon Ball in his hand, he knew what was coming. Goku hadn't reached Earth yet, which in turn left two options: either Planet Vegeta still existed or it had already been destroyed. Goku knew how to confirm this, but he didn't have the means to reach it. Gathering the balls was possible, but he was old and didn't know where the other balls were. Some, like the one in Oolong's village, with Gyumao or with his master, Muten Roshi, could be found. He knew where his master and Gyumao lived. He could go there to get them, but this would also affect the canonical history of his grandson's world.
Gohan pondered for some time, he could visit his master and confirm if he had the sphere at least, going to Gyumao or Oolong could wait, for now he needed to define what was best in the short term, with the knowledge of how to train the body and Ki as efficiently as possible would help him get his body into better shape and would help him not die to an Oozaru in the middle of the night.
"Right, training is my livelihood right now!" Gohan said loudly.
He stood up and walked to a small oratory where he placed the four-star sphere, confidently he walked to the backyard of the house while planning the training.
'My body is old, even though I'm older now than in my previous life, this body is still better than my body in the other world,' Gohan thought as he left the hut. 'It's better to start with mobility training, then move on to something more functional. Starting a plantation and building things like Master's training might be a good idea!' A plan to become stronger took shape in his mind. Now outdoors, the old martial artist watched the sun begin to set.
"Tomorrow I'll begin my physical training along with meditation. I have to learn to fly as soon as possible. This will save me a lot of travel time. By learning to fly, I can go straight to the master, and besides visiting Gyumao, I can even search for the abandoned temple where Pilaf found the Star Ball." He continued his planning. "If I can stop Pilaf from confirming the existence of the Dragon Balls, it will save me a lot of trouble when it comes to the first arc and the Red Ribbon arc. I'm not sure if this will affect Piccolo Daimao's return, much less if I'll have enough time to gather the other balls. The priority is to get the ball that Gyumao has."
As he watched the sun set between the mountains of Mount Paozu, Gohan let out a soft sigh. "Maybe I can regain my youth when I collect all the orbs. I might not have as much lower back pain as before, but who wouldn't want to be young and healthy?" Gohan muttered aloud to himself.
With the last rays of light from a Sun that had now disappeared on the horizon, Gohan made his way to his cabin so he could eat something and sleep. The day may have passed extremely quickly, but now he knew that big events were just a step away from happening, he had to prepare for them in the best way possible.
'If it's possible I could even transform into a half Saiyan, becoming a pure Saiyan would be problematic, with a ton of behavioral and biological differences' Gohan thought, his knowledge as a fanatical Dragon Ball fan was present at the moment. 'After analyzing all the original manga that Toyama-sensei published, I could see that saiyans have more difficulty feeling things, joy, love and anger appear, but it is very difficult, Goku may be a special case due to the fall, this also explains the trigger of the Super Saiyan, an intense emotion should stimulate the S cells to initiate the transformation, anger is the easiest to generate, regardless of the cause, Saiyans mixed with humans have more potential due to the ease of having strong emotions, young Son Gohan becoming stronger due to anger is also entirely feasible, humans when they have a great adrenaline rush can exhibit feats of strength slightly above the normal standard, this does not take away from the great potential of Goku's son, but it explains why hybrids have a naturally superior potential ' Gohan reasoned as he picked up some fruit and dried meat to eat.
'Well, regardless of whether I become a saiyan, I must get stronger and learn to fly first, trying to take a step bigger than my leg would only bring me trouble' Thought the old man, putting himself in order, preparing to stay alive was more important than recovering his youth or changing his own race.
Having eaten something, old Gohan changed his qipao into simple pajamas, he got under the covers in his simple but comfortable bed, he closed his eyes and let himself fall into a pleasant sleep.