Chapter 24: To Planet Namek
"U-Um... ahem. In any case, I'll send everyone to Planet Namek with my power, but the problem is I can't send you immediately."
"Wh-Why not, Deity! Let's go now!"
A few seconds after being made to realize all previous discussion was pointless by Gohan's all-too-logical interruption—
Having somehow regained composure, Lizette feigned calmness and refused immediate teleportation.
Naturally she couldn't stay silent about that, so Goku objected.
"One major problem remains."
"A problem?"
"Yes... I'll speak plainly. Going to Planet Namek with everyone's current strength will only get you killed."
What Lizette said essentially meant "You're all weak"—words that gouged at pride.
But they couldn't refute it.
Defeated by Vegeta, defeated by Turles—they'd been made to fully realize their powerlessness.
They could only clench fists in frustration.
"Therefore, one month... Everyone will train as much as possible and acquire minimum combat strength. If my sensing is correct, at least Frieza and Turles won't arrive at Planet Namek for another month."
Taking the original story at face value and acting accordingly was dangerous, but Frieza's arrival time shouldn't differ much from the original.
Judging from distant Frieza's energy and movement speed, considerable time remained before reaching Namek.
Same for Turles—at least nearly 30 days were granted.
Since travel time could be reduced to zero with Heaven's Gate, not utilizing this was foolish.
"First, everyone except Goku and Piccolo will head to King Kai's Planet for training there. It might be tough, but please get as strong as possible in one month."
Speaking to there, Lizette sharpened her consciousness and tuned to King Kai's distant wavelength.
Then using telepathy, she attempted contacting King Kai.
'...So that's the situation—may I send Earth's warriors there?'
'Well, I don't mind, but what are you planning, Earth's deity? You gonna kill them and make them walk Snake Way?'
'No, that won't be necessary.'
Lizette raised her hand to the void and released energy.
Then a white "hole" opened in the sky, completing a gate leading to distant reaches.
The debut of "Heaven's Gate," developed modeling Garlic's Dead Zone.
"Eeek...!"
"So this is Heaven's Gate... Deity, passing through that will take us to King Kai's Planet?"
Krillin flinched at the gate suddenly appearing midair, while Tien asked with trembling yet eager voice.
Lizette nodded and told the warriors excluding Goku and Piccolo.
"Pass through that and you'll automatically arrive at King Kai's Planet, so receive King Kai's training there. I'll come get you after one month, so don't worry about the return trip."
"S-So unfair, you guys! I spent half a year running Snake Way! Even returning, I ran desperately! Deity, why didn't you do this back then!?"
"B-Back then the technique was still incomplete... Plus suddenly doing this at first meeting wouldn't have gotten cooperation for training... Th-this time worked because we had familiarity..."
While explaining so, Lizette thought that considering carefully, she could have gone to pick up Goku on his return.
The technique was already complete then—no need to make him run Snake Way for the return trip.
"Now everyone, if you seek strength, please pass through. However, Goku and Piccolo already have foundations established, so they'll remain on Earth and proceed to the next step."
Clapping hands to forcibly advance the conversation.
Bulma said "You dodged that..." but Lizette pretended not to hear.
Even deities make mistakes.
"We ain't going to King Kai's place?"
"Correct. You two already know Kaioken, so next let's build sturdy bodies that can withstand it. For now, the goal is mastering 10x Kaioken. Everyone else, please try to master Kaioken if possible."
While explaining, Lizette internally added: probably impossible, though.
If this were possible, Tien's group should have already mastered Kaioken in the original flow.
But ultimately no such depiction existed, and King Kai had said there were no users until Goku appeared, she recalled.
Even she took time developing Burst Limit, though an imitation.
Still, no need to specifically teach them that.
Besides, they might irregularly master it like Piccolo did.
Hearing Lizette's words, Krillin's group promptly dove into the gate, not wanting to be left behind.
Additionally, Gohan dove in shaking off Chi-Chi's restraint.
Finally as Tien tried jumping, Lizette called him back and handed him paper.
"Deity, what's this?"
"When you meet King Kai, read aloud what's written here without changing a single word. That'll pass the initial test."
"H-Huh?"
"You'll probably struggle most among them... Let's minimize time loss."
Pushing the uncomprehending Tien's back, sending him through the gate.
Then restraining Chi-Chi who tried diving through the gate pursuing Gohan, she turned back toward Goku and Piccolo.
"Now, let's go to the heavenly realm. Both of you, follow me."
Taking Goku and Piccolo, heading to the heavenly realm.
What she'd use for training this time was the gravity chamber purchased from Bulma previously and used continuously since.
For now, Lizette's idea was having these two overcome 100x gravity.
Additionally, if they grew stronger, they could simultaneously become her training partners—such expectation existed too.
Anyway, within this month, have them become capable of scattering at least the Ginyu Force.
Otherwise, defeating Frieza remained a pipe dream.
★
"A boiled egg! A boiled grandson!"
Meanwhile, King Kai's Planet opened with Tien launching a dad joke.
He wasn't originally this kind of character.
Not this character... but since that's what the paper from the deity said, it couldn't be helped.
Surely this was a password, code, or something like that—spouting the dad joke without much question.
A joke anyone could think of, with no originality.
But its effect was tremendous.
King Kai collapsed on the ground as if devastated, writhing and roaring with laughter.
"Th-The booger's secret, I'll quietly snot-tell you!"
Next Yamcha launched a dad joke, competing with something.
Then King Kai even showed tears, laughing harder while clutching his stomach even more painfully.
"An aluminum can on top of a mandarin!"
"I heard the neighbor's fence got a new enclosure. Hey, cool!"
Further, the bald duo Krillin and Nappa slammed in puns as follow-up.
There, Chiaotzu and Monster Carrot mercilessly pursued.
"Apparently there was a new one!"
"Was it hard to say you bought a good toupee!?"
"You... why do you know I bought a toupee..."
"!?"
With the furious four-hit combo, King Kai was nearly KO'd.
Naturally, these were stupid puns. Not worth laughing at.
But usually living on this small planet lacking stimulation, experiencing joy and sorrow over slight events—King Kai's laughter threshold was infinitely low.
So even low-level gags like these hit his funny bone.
And for some reason Nappa was pressing Monster Carrot, but that probably didn't matter.
"After mowing grass, it stank!"
There, Gohan delivered the finishing blow.
King Kai arched backward as if receiving impact and collapsed to the ground.
Obvious breathing difficulty, fallen into oxygen deprivation from excessive laughter.
Writhing for several seconds... eventually he convulsed, blowing foam from his mouth and stopped moving.
"Splendid gags. I nearly died for real."
Several minutes later.
Somehow recovered, Krillin's group sat formally before King Kai.
They'd nearly committed the unthinkable great sin—killing the galaxy's deity with gags—though not even a joke.
True, Lizette gave Tien the paper with gags, but the subsequent escalation was their own doing.
But King Kai wasn't angry—rather, he smiled happily.
"Indeed, all of you pass without complaint. I'll take you as disciples."
Though nearly dying from gags, all of them splendidly achieved the apprenticeship condition of making King Kai laugh.
Preemptively launching gags before he presented conditions seemed questionable, but having been made to laugh so magnificently, no complaints emerged, King Kai thought.
"Then first, please successfully catch Bubbles and Gregory."
Thus Krillin's group successfully became King Kai's disciples and began training.
Around the same time, Goku and Piccolo also began training against Lizette, increasing their combat power.
—And one month later.
★
At Earth's Capsule Corporation, the warriors assembled after one month.
Krillin's group overcame King Kai's training, Goku and Piccolo conquered gravity training.
Everyone had increased abilities far beyond one month prior, faces filled with confidence that nothing remained to fear.
During this month, no troubles occurring was fortunate for Lizette.
Frieza, Vegeta, and Turles's energy hadn't yet arrived at Namek, and no particular external enemies appeared on Earth either.
She'd fully expected Slug or someone to come...
He probably existed. Until several days ago, Lizette had indeed sensed Slug-like energy approaching Earth.
But for some reason, that energy suddenly changed course and headed toward another planet.
Its destination: Planet Namek.
...Felt like troublesome matters again.
"Come on, let's go, Deity."
Ignorant of Lizette's worries, Goku spoke without suppressing his bouncing voice.
Opponents to test the ability he'd grown this month, yet opponents still out of reach.
He truly wished for and looked forward to that encounter.
"Wait. Let me measure your combat powers before departure. A new model further improving the Scouters the Saiyans used."
Bulma said so, attaching a Scouter to her eye.
Not knowing when she'd recovered and improved it, but regarding her, accepting "anything goes" was the only option.
Machine sounds measuring combat power echoed as Bulma checked each person's numbers.
"Wow, everyone's amazing! Krillin, 16,400. Yamcha, 16,200. Tien, 17,500. Chiaotzu, 14,000. Gohan, 18,000. Monster Carrot, 15,800. Nappa, 24,000."
First setting Scouters on the group returned from King Kai's Planet, praising their dramatic power increases.
Still not reaching even the Ginyu Force—except Nappa, not even Dodoria or Zarbon—but with potential unlocking this would manage somehow.
For now, they cleared Lizette's desired bare minimum line?
"Um, this side is... yikes. P-Piccolo, 75,500. Goku, 95,000. ...Deity... 240,000."
Incidentally, though Bulma couldn't know, Piccolo wore heavy clothes, actually reaching 94,400 combat power.
Lizette wore even heavier clothes and spirit seals than Piccolo, so actual combat power already reached 900,000.
But the warriors' growth besides Lizette should be surprising.
Numerically Lizette remained overwhelming, but one month ago the power difference wasn't this proportional.
Primarily because Lizette had actually only grown roughly 2x stronger, whereas Piccolo achieved 10x+ power-up.
The other members also became roughly 3x stronger—could only laugh.
Fearsome were the original cast members.
Lizette had tried various things like simultaneously facing Goku and Piccolo, bringing Korin into the gravity chamber to fluff him, creating a scratching post for Korin from heavenly stone—but growth rates differed.
Still, even so, considering past performance, Lizette had leaped forward.
Doubling combat power in just one month never happened for previous Lizette.
Surely absorbing Tree of Might energy to her limit in the previous battle influenced this.
That experience let Lizette overcome one wall.
Plus, gains from that battle existed elsewhere.
All energy absorbed from the Tree of Might was returned to Earth. So that incident didn't increase Lizette's combat power or anything.
But how to say it... she felt her internal vessel had clearly grown larger than before.
For instance, Burst Limit.
Until now, 20x was barely the limit, but since that incident, 20x stopped being burdensome.
Now maybe 30x... as combat power increased, even 40x might work.
When processing the Tree of Might, Lizette had temporarily—though pseudo-temporarily—stepped into Super Saiyan-class worlds.
Though energy was returned to Earth, her body remembered the experience of growing stronger.
Therefore, even forceful combat power increases via Burst Limit became acceptable to current Lizette.
"How about it, Deity—still insufficient?"
To confident Yamcha's words, Lizette shook her head.
Current them, depending on fighting methods, could battle even Dodoria and Zarbon level.
At least, before Ginyu Force arrival, they wouldn't easily fall.
And adding Grand Elder's potential unlock on top, surely Goku and Piccolo could even defeat Turles.
Regarding Frieza, though awkward to say, relying on Goku from the start.
Primarily because those numbers were strange.
Stagnating at several million units then suddenly jumping to hundreds of millions—too absurd to even comment.
Lizette herself might reach that realm depending on Grand Elder's potential unlock, but seeking certainty, Goku's Super Saiyan transformation was better.
So regarding this, she'd never expected Yamcha's group to reach this realm from the start.
Rather, demanding they reach it was unreasonable.
"No, sufficient. Everyone, you've grown remarkably strong."
Only Chiaotzu had worrying combat power, but well, he could probably beat Guldo at least.
Anyway, not everyone but most cleared Lizette's desired conditions.
And timing-wise, Frieza should arrive at Namek soon, with no time to spare.
Meaning they had no choice but to charge in with this combat strength.
Just in case, she'd given Piccolo a Hoi-Poi Capsuled spaceship, securing escape route for emergencies.
No guarantee nothing would happen to Earth during absence, but then Korin or Mr. Popo would inform via telepathy, plus Krillin held an Earth communicator, so it should be fine.
"Now, everyone gather. I'm opening the path to Planet Namek."
The initial teleportation destination was already decided.
The village where Dende lived. First fly near there and rescue Dende.
Afterward, take Dende via Heaven's Gate to Grand Elder's place and have everyone's potential unlocked.
Lizette thought not involving Frieza's forces except during Dende's rescue was best.
Then they'd skirmish with Vegeta or someone for a while.
Now, the Dragon Ball scramble on Planet Namek begins.
***
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