The chubby North Kai shook his head. "Goku has grown up? So he became like this? I truly cannot understand it."
When Ino said he had grown up, it was definitely just a polite embellishment. In reality, she guessed it was probably due to pressure.
Son Goku's mental age had always been very low. During his young Goku phase, his mental age was roughly that of a three or four-year-old. After marriage, his mental age probably grew to that of a ten-year-old. But after his heart disease, his mind suddenly matured! It grew to the level of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old.
Marriage, making money, supporting a family, being a father—these adult pressures were thrown at him all at once without any buffer. He became lost and didn't know what he should do.
At this time, Son Gohan gradually grew up. As a hybrid between Saiyans and Earthlings, Son Gohan's strength, intellect, potential, and worldly wisdom all seemed stronger than Son Goku's. The father was filled with a sense of frustration, and consequently, he simply yielded the stage to the young man.
In the original timeline, he was killed by Cell's self-destruction.
When his second son, Son Goten, was born—such an important event—he didn't even come back to take a look. This was mostly due to fear. Fear of family, fear of the future, allowed this Saiyan warrior to use "I am already dead" as an excuse to hide far away.
Now, although he wasn't dead, his mindset was still more or less the same. At most, his ability to make money had slightly reduced the heavy burden that family responsibilities brought him.
"We can't really help much with this matter. I'll go ask his friends about it," Ino said. She felt this was the most crucial issue. In comparison, Bojack was a minor matter.
Teleporting to Earth, Ino pondered for a moment. Her friendship with Son Goku was quite average, so she shouldn't overstep into his personal life.
Whose life was ever completely smooth sailing? Having a few bumps and hurdles was very normal.
She prepared to find Bulma to ask about it. All the stories started with Bulma; she should be considered someone who understood Son Goku relatively well and had enough wisdom to resolve this matter.
But upon arriving at Capsule Corporation, Ino hid her presence and discovered that the problem was even more severe than she had anticipated.
Vegeta's mindset also had a bit of a problem.
Although the Saiyan Prince had a face full of impatience, he was still nimbly changing little Trunks's diaper.
Ino went to the gravity room to take a look and found that its most recent usage was already 18 hours ago.
Previously, Vegeta wished he could eat and sleep in the gravity room. Going 18 hours without training was completely unimaginable.
This also proved from a side angle that after Son Goku died in the original timeline, Vegeta lost his goal to chase after and fell into a state of confusion. Between Cell and Majin Buu, over a full eight years, his battle power barely surpassed the level of Super Saiyan 2 by just a little bit.
Realizing that Bulma probably wouldn't have any good solutions either, Ino left West City and went to Kami's Lookout.
After Piccolo and Kami fused, he became increasingly steady. His mindset, willpower, and execution remained at their peak. He advanced steadily; no matter when one came to look, they would find his ki had slightly increased. It wasn't as rapid as a Super Saiyan's improvement, but it was constantly rising. If he and those few Saiyans could all live to a thousand years old, Piccolo would definitely surpass Son Goku and the others.
Ino spoke of her purpose for coming.
"...And that's how it is. I don't have the time to provide psychological counseling, nor is it very appropriate for me to intervene. The future world still needs the power of the Saiyans. Son Gohan is excellent, but he is far from enough. We must find a way for Son Goku to pull himself together and bring out the vigor he had when he fought Vegeta back in the day."
Piccolo asked, "Then, Lord Supreme Kai, what do you plan to do?"
Ino planned to use this incident as an opportunity. "Your relationship with Son Gohan is quite good, right? During this time, a villain named Bojack will appear in the universe. From our observations, that guy seems to be heading to Earth. You and Son Gohan will go out to fight him. Let Son Gohan sustain some injuries and see if we can guide Son Goku's fighting spirit out again."
In the original timeline, Son Goku tried to provoke Son Gohan through self-sacrifice. Now, Ino's move was a reverse provocation.
As for the specific effect, they would only know after trying it out.
Piccolo curled his lips. This matter sounded unreliable right off the bat, but he didn't have much room to refuse.
"Alright. I only have one request: do not hurt Gohan," he said firmly.
Good heavens, Gohan's real father, Piccolo, had finally come online!
Ino nodded. "I promise you."
...
The stage was set on Earth, with a slew of self-injury ruses, chain stratagems, and plots within plots prepared.
However, despite breaking the seal early, Bojack's invasion was not as swift as everyone anticipated. On the contrary, he had been dawdling at the outermost edges of the universe, occasionally revealing his tracks, then disappearing for dozens of days. Once their guard was down, signs of his imminent intrusion would appear once more.
Ino had too many things on her plate and couldn't keep an eye on him 24 hours a day. She simply handed the matter entirely over to Piccolo and left behind her communication talisman, telling him to call her the moment they encountered a situation they couldn't match.
She had finally seen clearly: the Earth warriors were a bunch of goofballs, and among them, Piccolo was the most reliable.
To deal with the impending appearance of Bojack, Piccolo stationed himself at Kami's Lookout during this time. Dende felt he was a bit too tense. "Uncle Piccolo, we've made a comprehensive plan. Even if Bojack causes some casualties on Earth, the Dragon Balls will revive the victims."
Piccolo gently shook his head. He couldn't articulate where his worries stemmed from. He just felt that something—something far surpassing Bojack, far surpassing the limits of Ino's and his own expectations—was slowly awakening.
...
The deepest part of the Demon Realm was filled with the most evil energy in the entire multiverse: "Dark Power".
The "Dark Power" could erode the minds of intelligent lifeforms, infinitely triggering the malice within their souls. It was also equivalent to unleashing potential to a certain extent. The "Dark Power" was the source of all magic within the Demon Realm.
A doddering old man in luxurious clothes floated in mid-air. He looked up at the dark red sky.
Over ten figures stood below. Their gazes held worship, greed, and excitement as they all looked at the old man in the sky. The female Celestial Mage who had broken Bojack's seal earlier was impressively among them.
Many Supreme Kais and Destroyers knew that the current Demon Realm King was Dabura, a sinister and cunning powerhouse who possessed both formidable strength and profound magic.
But what they didn't know was that in the extremely distant past, the Demon Realm had a true master. That was one of the creators of the Demon Realm—the Demon Realm Supreme Kai!
Unlike Dabura, a "King" who had self-proclaimed his title based on his power, the elderly Demon Realm Supreme Kai dressed exactly like a Supreme Kai. He even wore Potara Earrings, and their color was green.
He was considered a Supreme Kai acknowledged by the universe.
________________________________________
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