After stashing the Super Dragon Ball, Raditz teleported straight back to Goku. The energy it took to move something the size of a planet was unimaginable, and he was still breathing hard.
This was only possible because even though the Super Dragon Ball was huge, it didn't weigh much. If it had Earth's density, there's no way Raditz could've moved it.
Seeing how tired Raditz looked, Goku was a bit surprised. "Brother, where'd you go?"
"Had some personal business to take care of. I'll tell you later."
Vegeta shot Raditz a cold look, obviously used to his way of doing things by now, and didn't say anything. Piccolo, on the other hand, gave Raditz a knowing stare, like he'd figured something out.
Raditz ignored Piccolo's gaze and looked around. The planet's surface was totally wrecked—craters everywhere and endless flames burning. This world was done for and would fall apart sooner or later.
At their power level, destroying planets was way too easy. If you didn't control yourself properly, it'd be a disaster. Sometimes destruction was just unavoidable.
After double-checking that the sealed bottle was still intact, Raditz let out a long breath. "Alright, let's head back."
"Back where?" Piccolo had no idea what return trip he was talking about.
"Earth."
Raditz didn't give him a chance to argue. He instantly moved to Piccolo's side, grabbed him, then connected with Goku and Vegeta, and all four teleported to the Lookout together.
Whoosh!
The four beat-up fighters appeared in front of Tien and Zangya, surprising everyone.
"Piccolo!" Kami was the first to let out a hoarse, shocked cry. He and Piccolo had a slight connection and could vaguely sense changes in Piccolo, but couldn't confirm anything.
Now seeing Piccolo in person and clearly sensing that intense evil aura, Kami was stunned.
It was stronger than Piccolo's evil spirit had ever been before.
"Mr. Piccolo!" Zangya had also met Piccolo on Tumat, and later heard some stories about Namek from Raditz, so she knew him pretty well.
Faced with both their exclamations, Piccolo gritted his teeth and held back the malice in his heart, looking depressed and pained. Especially facing Kami—it was something he really didn't want to do, but with Raditz there, he was powerless to act on any impulses.
"Raditz, what do you want from me?"
"Simple. Go back to your old job and train Goku's son, Gohan."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed this time.
Having Piccolo train Gohan was way too dangerous, right? Raditz was being way too bold.
But Raditz acted like it was no big deal. "Goku, think I could get Chi-Chi to let Gohan have a day off?" Raditz said, counting on his fingers. "Just one day. I'm planning to use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to help Gohan break through to the next level. His potential is huge, and he's the only one who can make that breakthrough right now."
"One day shouldn't be a problem, but..." Goku hesitated, frowning. "Chi-Chi's gonna flip if she finds out Gohan's training with Piccolo."
Goku was being honest as usual. Raditz sighed quietly and patted his chest. "Leave it to me." As he spoke, he teleported to Goku's house and used topics like "famous tutoring" and "free educational lectures" to convince Chi-Chi to hand Gohan over.
Raditz figured he could help with homework sometime anyway. Besides, Piccolo was famously a strict teacher, so he wasn't exactly lying. After all, he never said what kind of famous teacher.
Feeling pretty pleased with himself, Raditz brought Gohan straight to the Lookout and handed him over to Piccolo personally. Gohan was super excited to see Piccolo again, his little face lighting up as he kept calling "Uncle Piccolo! Uncle Piccolo!"
Piccolo's expression was kind of weird, like he was holding back some restlessness he couldn't let out.
Raditz was trying to use Piccolo to train Gohan while also counting on Gohan to influence Piccolo. The bond between those two might produce some amazing results.
After explaining everything to Gohan, the kid agreed happily. Even though everyone was worried, Raditz promised that Gohan would be absolutely safe.
They walked up to the door, and Mr. Popo opened it for them.
Piccolo suddenly stopped. "Aren't you afraid I'll kill him? I've got a hostage now. If you kill Kami, the Dragon Balls disappear and you won't be able to revive him."
"Please, don't spell out your evil plans—it just makes you look dumb. Listen, if you try that, I'll just blow up the Time Chamber door first. You know that once that door's destroyed, you can never get out again. Then I'll just use the Namek Dragon Balls to revive Gohan and bring him back, and you—with your immortal body—get to stay in nothingness forever... which sounds boring as hell." Raditz shook his head helplessly.
When Piccolo heard this, it suddenly clicked, and he immediately prepared to strike first, stretching out his arms to grab Gohan.
"Nice try." Raditz had been ready for this. He raised his hand and fired a ki blast, hitting Piccolo at lightning speed and sending him spinning into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
Right after Gohan went in, Mr. Popo slammed the door shut with a loud clack.
"Done!" Raditz clapped his hands, feeling like he'd just solved another problem.
Vegeta wasn't interested in Piccolo stuff. He looked at Raditz, turned around, jumped off the Lookout casually, and flew straight to Bulma's place. Only one thought filled his mind now: getting stronger!
Meanwhile, Goku paced back and forth anxiously. "The senzu beans are all gone. When Chi-Chi sees I'm hurt, she's gonna worry again." Goku wasn't afraid of anyone, but Chi-Chi still scared him a little. If you had to name the strongest person in the universe, it'd definitely be a Saiyan's wife.
After struggling with it for a while, Goku decided to head home, so he said goodbye to Raditz and flew away.
"Let's go too." Raditz put his arm around Zangya, said goodbye to Kami, and the two headed home together. As soon as they landed, Raditz collapsed by the pool, looking completely exhausted.
Zangya quickly asked, "What's wrong? You seemed fine just now."
"I got hurt too. Broly was so powerful we almost got killed together. Look at my body—it's covered in scars..." Raditz opened his eyes and started making stuff up, pointing to the tiny scratches on his body and calling them his "blood and tears history."
Hearing this, Zangya got nervous and asked softly, "Then... what should we do?"
"Just stay with me for a while." Raditz stretched out his tail, hooked it around Zangya's slender waist, and pulled her down onto him with a gentle tug. They both fell into the swimming pool, their thin clothes getting soaked and clinging to their bodies.
Zangya blushed, already feeling the heated energy coming from Raditz's body, and had a pretty good idea what was coming next.
"I'm wounded, you know. Exercise helps with recovery."
"Here... right here... we..."
"The pool's perfect." Raditz said, his tail already getting frisky, which made Zangya blush even more.
Suddenly, Raditz made a huge splash, and the two of them disappeared into the churning white waves...
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