A full moon hung in the sky, drenching the earth in pristine moonlight.
In a sparsely populated wilderness, a hole the size of a millstone abruptly manifested. Aomori burst out, looking slightly disheveled, clutching a vest in his hand.
After bidding farewell to the world of Detective Conan and traversing two more dungeons and three worlds, Aomori, feeling he had hit a bottleneck, finally made his decision.
Using the Heavy Training Gi Set as a directional landmark, he had arrived in the world of Dragon Ball.
"Which part of the story is it now?"
If it were the early days of Kid Goku, Aomori could walk tall without fear. But if it was the later stages, he might have to lay low for a while.
Lacking immediate intel, Aomori decided to restore himself to peak condition first. This journey had been significantly more grueling than his previous ones.
He found a secluded spot to sit down, released Absol and Darkrai to stand guard, and entered a state of deep meditation.
Before long, Absol let out a sharp cry, snapping Aomori awake. He opened his eyes and felt a figure charging toward him with an astonishing aura.
Aomori recalled Absol and focused his gaze. The figure in the air was a man with vibrant green skin. Dressed in a white cape and a matching turban, he stared down at Aomori with a hostile, murderous expression.
"Before I change my mind," the man growled, "get ten thousand miles away from here!"
Hmm, that tsundere tone... this must be Piccolo Jr. He doesn't feel terrifying right now, so I can rule out the post-Namek Saga plotlines.
As Aomori processed this, he flashed a defiant, arrogant smile. "Green-face, do you have any idea who you're talking to? A mere primitive from an uncivilized planet dares to be insolent in front of a Great Warrior from the M87 Nebula?"
When facing the Z Fighters, one must never appear weak; otherwise, it's impossible to establish presence, and one ends up as background filler like "Cannon Fodder Yamcha" or "Three-Eyes Tien."
Aomori had come with a plan: if it was post-Namek, he'd develop stealthily; if they hadn't been to Namek yet, he would unleash his full power to assert dominance. Before Goku became a total "cheat character," Aomori intended to become the leader of the Z Fighters.
"M87 Nebula? You're not an Earthling?" Piccolo frowned, scanning Aomori up and down, unable to gauge the depths of his strength.
In Dragon Ball, one generally senses an opponent's "Ki" to determine their power. Ki, in a narrow sense, refers to the energy stored within the body; in a broad sense, it encompasses life energy and mental force, including Vitality, Courage, and Righteousness.
Goku and the others' ability to use telepathy in the mid-to-late series was a high-level application of Ki. Notably, their physical durability isn't naturally high; without Ki protection, ordinary blades or guns could break their defense. Ki was the foundation of their combat.
Because Aomori was suppressing his energy, Piccolo could only vaguely sense that he wasn't weak, though the exact extent remained a mystery. Having recently dealt with the Saiyan invasion, he was deeply wary of aliens.
"Earth? So this place is called Earth? A simple and clear name." Aomori shook his head and floated up to face Piccolo. He laughed loudly. "You seem to be the strongest person on this planet. In that case, fight me. I hope you can provide some surprises."
"I'm not the strongest, but if it's a fight you want, I'll gladly oblige!" Piccolo bared his fangs. He, too, was a battle-hungry soul.
"I won't bully you. Come, I'll let you have the first move," Aomori said, crossing his arms with an air of absolute pride.
"Hmph, you're asking for death!"
Piccolo's eyes flashed with cold light. His body moved like a phantom, appearing before Aomori in an instant. His hands and feet blurred, carrying the power to shatter mountains as he unleashed a barrage.
Atatatatatata...
"Is this all you've got? I overestimated you." Aomori let out a cold laugh. Raising just a single finger, he blocked every single one of Piccolo's strikes.
"That's impossible!"
Seeing that physical attacks were futile, Piccolo retreated violently, cold sweat dripping from his brow. This guy... his Ki isn't that strong during the fight, so why did he block my moves so easily? He might be even stronger than that Saiyan.
However, Piccolo was not one to admit defeat easily. With a grim expression, he tossed aside his turban and cape. The heavy clothing hit the ground with a thunderous boom, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"I admit you're strong, so I'm going all out. Hah!"
He placed his hands at his waist and let out a roar, forcing out all his hidden latent power. The sheer impact transformed into a gale, blowing away the surrounding dust.
"Oh, now you look the part." Aomori felt a secret sense of relief. If this was Piccolo's full power, he could win this battle handsomely.
"I hope you can still smile in a moment." Piccolo aimed his palms at Aomori, firing a relentless stream of small energy blasts like a machine gun, blanketing a patch of the sky.
Aomori wanted to test the power of these energy waves. Instead of using teleportation to dodge, he stayed put and deployed a thick psychokinetic shield. The blasts detonated against the shield, creating ripples, but the barrier held firm.
"Did I get him?" Piccolo panted, squinting through the thick smoke. He had intended for that to be an opening move to force Aomori to show a weakness, but the man hadn't moved. In his senses, Aomori's Ki remained stationary, without a hint of decline.
His Ki hasn't dropped? Piccolo was horrified, clenching his fists. Damn, is he another monster?
As the dust settled, Aomori stood unscathed, his clothes not even singed.
"Stop using these pathetic moves. You should have one or two trump cards left. Show them to me. If you can't surprise me, don't blame me for being heartless," Aomori said, looking down at Piccolo.
"Arrogant alien, you'll pay for that!" Feeling the sting of humiliation from his lack of strength once again, Piccolo gritted his teeth. He pressed his index and middle fingers together against his forehead.
Aha, so he is using that move? Aomori watched Piccolo intently, observing the flow of Ki within him.
As time passed, a massive amount of Ki gathered at Piccolo's fingertips. Since the situation wasn't urgent, he squeezed out every drop of Ki to settle the matter in one strike. Finally, the technique was complete. Piccolo thrust his fingers toward Aomori.
"Take this! My full power! Special Beam Cannon!"
A super-powerful beam of energy, wrapped in a rotating spiral, shot from his fingers. The world brightened instantly, making the moon seem dim.
Aomori's eyes lit up. Mimicking Piccolo's movements, he pressed his own two fingers together, thrust them forward, and fired an identical spiral light wave.
"This..." Under Piccolo's shocked gaze, the two energy beams collided.
A world-shaking explosion erupted in the air. The destructive aura of the aftershocks rippled out across the distant lands.
…
In the Lookout floating high in the sky, a man who looked remarkably like Piccolo gazed toward the direction of the fight. The difference was that his face was covered in wrinkles. Behind him, several people were training hard.
"Kami-sama, what's wrong?" Mr. Popo, the dark-skinned attendant, noticed the grim look on Kami's face.
"Another powerful foreign warrior has appeared on Earth. Even Piccolo is no match for him."
Kami's calm voice hit the group like a thunderclap.
"How is that possible? Aren't the Saiyans supposed to arrive in a year?" Krillin, his bald head gleaming, cried out in shock.
"It's not a Saiyan," Kami replied.
"Oh, it's not a Saiyan? That's a relief," Krillin sighed.
"But he is even more unfathomable than the Saiyans from before."
"EH?!"
"What should we do then?" Tien Shinhan said in a deep voice. "Even Goku is... if that guy Piccolo can't win, the rest of us are even more useless."
"Dammit! Why do these aliens always want to come to Earth to cause trouble!" Yamcha said, frustrated as he felt himself becoming irrelevant.
The atmosphere turned stagnant.
"Stay calm. Perhaps things aren't as bad as we imagine. Let's figure out his objective first." Kami turned back to look down at the world below.
…
Cough, cough...
Piccolo, caught in the explosion's aftermath, struggled to crawl out of the rubble. He felt a shadow loom over him. He looked up at the uninjured Aomori and fell silent.
"That last move was quite good. You've managed to pique a bit of my interest. Congratulations, you've earned the right to live. Not only that, I'm going to train you ruthlessly to make you stronger." Aomori wore an excited smile.
"?" Piccolo was baffled. "Why? What is your goal?"
"To cultivate someone who can defeat me, of course." Aomori's eyes held an obsessive fervor. "I am simply too strong, so strong that no one on my home planet can even stir a desire for battle in me. That is why I left my home planet to wander the universe, searching for someone who can give me a real fight! Unfortunately, such people are few and far between."
"Your strength is a bit lacking, but to grow this strong on such a primitive planet means your talent isn't bad. Under my training, you should eventually be able to fight me."
"Hehe, HAHAHAHA!" Piccolo suddenly burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?"
Piccolo stopped laughing and said coldly, "I thought you were some impressive figure, but you're just an ignorant alien. Have you heard of the Saiyans?"
"The warrior race, the Saiyans? Naturally, I've heard of them. But I heard they were wiped out and became legends."
"No, there are still a few survivors. I killed one just a few days ago."
"Heh, if you could kill him, then this warrior race is nothing special."
"The one I killed was merely the weakest among them." Piccolo stood up and looked Aomori in the eye without fear. "In one year, two Saiyans many times stronger than him will arrive on Earth. Do you dare to fight them?"
I've been waiting for you to say that! From Piccolo's words, Aomori finally understood exactly where he was in the timeline.
Goku had just died along with his older brother, Raditz, and the Z Fighters were preparing for the arrival of the Saiyan Prince, Vegeta. This plotline marked the beginning of the power-scaling explosion in Dragon Ball.
In just one year, everyone's power level would leap from the hundreds to the thousands, nearly a tenfold increase. It was as if Kami had fed them "super fertilizer." Goku, who had struggled for every bit of progress with the Ultra Divine Water, could basically leave the chat.
Even more impressive was Piccolo; through solo training, he went from around 400 to over 3,000, progressing far more in one year than in the previous eight. It was practically a cheat code.
Dismissing his stray thoughts, Aomori let out a light laugh and glanced at Piccolo. "They're coming for revenge, aren't they? You want to use my strength to stop them? You've got some nerve."
This guy... he's as battle-hungry as Son Goku, but he's far smarter, Piccolo thought, lowering his gaze and revealing his teeth.
"However, I don't care about that. As long as there's a fight, it's fine! Saiyans, so what?!" Aomori excitedly erupted with the small amount of energy he had left.
The terrifying aura instantly sent the weakened Piccolo flying. He smashed through four or five stone pillars before being embedded into a massive rock face.
Such powerful Ki... far stronger than Raditz! Piccolo raised a trembling arm to wipe the purple blood from his lip.
…
At that moment, in a house ten thousand miles away, a woman with a good figure looked at the beeping monocle on the table. She put it on and immediately let out a scream.
"Power level... 8,200?! How is that possible?! It must be a malfunction. Ugh, let me tinker with it some more."
…
After successfully intimidating Piccolo, Aomori cracked his neck and feigned dissatisfaction. "Dammit, if I hadn't lost so much energy before coming to Earth, it wouldn't have been this weak. I was hoping to knock you unconscious with the shockwave."
He's not even at full strength? Piccolo sucked in a cold breath, his evaluation of Aomori rising even higher. Perhaps he alone can solve the crisis a year from now. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
Just as his mind was in a whirl, he sensed another powerful aura erupting nearby, and this aura was steadily rising.
"That direction is... could it be that brat?!"
Just as Piccolo moved to fly over and investigate, he heard Aomori's excited voice: "So there really is someone on Earth even stronger than you! Interesting, very interesting!"
With that, Aomori erupted into a blinding light and shot off like a missile.
"Wait! Dammit!" Piccolo struggled to his feet, gathered his remaining Ki, and slowly gave chase.
After flying for a few dozen seconds, a Great Ape as large as a small mountain appeared in Aomori's field of vision.
"Heh, it really is you, Nobi-Gohan."
TN: Nobi-Gohan here refers to Gohan's lowest point in the series. They compared him to Nobita, a useless and weak boy.