"So this is King Kai's planet," Karnel murmured, taking a few experimental steps. "First time I've been here myself. The gravity really is about ten times Earth's normal, quite intense."
He paused, puzzled by the silence behind him.
Turning around, he found Piccolo and the others still standing frozen with their eyes tightly shut, as if they were still waiting for death to claim them.
Looking at their confused faces, Karnel couldn't help but chuckle. After letting them squirm for a moment longer, he finally spoke up.
"Hey!" he called out with barely contained amusement. "I was just messing with you guys. You don't actually have to die, I can bring living people to King Kai's planet too."
What?...
Piccolo's eye twitched violently, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles went white. He trembled with barely restrained fury but said nothing. Krillin and the others promptly collapsed to the ground in relief and exasperation.
"Karnel, are you kidding me?!" Krillin struggled to his feet, his voice cracking with indignation. "If you could bring us here instantly, why did Goku have to—"
"I did it for Kakarot's own good," Karnel interrupted, turning around with a meaningful expression. "Only by experiencing life and death can someone truly understand the value of life."
The profound-sounding words from this enigmatic Saiyan left the others scratching their heads.
Tien touched his bald head thoughtfully. "Only through death can one understand life? I don't quite get it, but it sounds incredibly deep. Maybe I'm not strong enough to grasp the essence of this philosophy?"
Yamcha nodded sagely. "There's definitely some hidden wisdom here that we're missing."
Krillin, however, remained skeptical. "What does any of that philosophical stuff have to do with making Goku come here the hard way?"
"Hey, it's so heavy, ouch!"
As Karnel walked further away, Krillin hurried to catch up, but the moment he took his first step, something went terribly wrong. A crushing force slammed him face-first into the ground.
Piccolo, Yamcha, and the others looked down in alarm and instinctively tried to lift their feet.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Everyone except Piccolo, who was slightly stronger, was instantly flattened against King Kai's planet, stuck tight and unable to move. Even Piccolo struggled, his legs bent at painful angles as he fought to remain upright.
"Welcome to ten times Earth's gravity," Karnel called back with a chuckle. "Take your time getting used to it."
Babrus~!
An orangutan with both hands raised high approached them, calling out with curious eyes.
"That's Bubbles, the North Kai's pet," Karnel explained, looking around with interest.
King Kai emerged from his small round house, already covering his mouth as if he'd thought of a hilarious joke. His round body shook with barely contained laughter.
"Are you... a Saiyan? A living one?" King Kai's mirth faded to curiosity as he studied the strange visitor. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."
Every Kai possessed the ability to observe their assigned quadrant of the universe. Karnel eyed the two long antennae on King Kai's head with fascination.
"Fatty, you sure you've actually seen me before? When?" Karnel walked up and grabbed the antennae to examine them more closely.
"You rude guy! Let go of my antennae!" King Kai struggled to free himself, glaring at the barbaric Saiyan with indignation.
After adjusting his antennae, King Kai turned back with a mischievous grin. "Actually, I might have seen you before. But if you want to know, you'll have to tell me a joke that makes me laugh first."
Karnel sighed, and when he spoke, his tone was cold enough to freeze blood. "Are you sure you want to hear one of my jokes? They can be... fatal."
The overwhelming aura made King Kai take several steps back, beads of cold sweat forming on his light blue face.
"What kind of joke could actually kill people—" King Kai began, then suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. "PFFT~! HAHAHA! That's hilarious! A deadly joke! So funny!!" He rolled on the ground, clutching his sides.
This guy's sense of humor is terrifyingly low, Karnel thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. He turned his attention to a small cricket nearby.
Gregory, the cricket's name was, and he could talk with human-level intelligence.
"King Kai's house really is tiny," Karnel observed sympathetically. "If he didn't keep pets for entertainment, he'd probably go insane living here for years."
"Alright, Saiyan," King Kai said once he'd recovered from his laughing fit. "You're different from those naturally brutal Saiyans in the universe, more like that Goku from Earth. What exactly are you doing here?"
Karnel shrugged casually. "I'm from Earth too. I don't have any particular agenda. It's just that these humans desperately want to get stronger, so they asked me to bring them here for your guidance and training."
"What? More martial arts training?" King Kai's expression soured. "I don't want to teach anyone else!"
"Look, here they come now," Karnel said with a playful smile, pointing at the group slowly approaching. "They're excellent joke-tellers, by the way."
King Kai squinted at the figures moving slower than turtles. "Their potential seems pretty poor compared to Goku."
Then his tone brightened. "But if they can tell good jokes, I might give them a chance. If their jokes don't make me laugh, though, I won't teach them anything."
"Jokes? What jokes? Karnel, since when can you tell jokes?" Krillin finally reached them, collapsing on the ground and gasping for breath.
Karnel smiled mysteriously. "I'm not the one who tells jokes, you guys are the comedians here."