Shoot!! A childish voice echoes in the wilderness.

Shots are fired. Shooo!! Shooo!! Shooo!! Three streaks of light emerge from the bushes, targeting a deer-like creature a few meters away.

With a thud! A row of three deer collapse simultaneously, each with a gaping hole on the side of their head.

"Good!" exclaims Granola. The childish voice that gave the order belonged to this boy—an average-looking kid, not very tall, not very short. His appearance tells of a haughty troublemaker who is always more than likely up to no good.

"We will eat good today."

Saliva drips from his mouth, which he comically rubs clean with his elbow. Their food situation doesn't have much variety right now, so he is very pleased with himself for finding these deer, known for their juicy meat.

Quickly handling the excitement, he turns to his friends. "Let's go, we have to return home before noon."

Reminded of the time by Granola, the two boys beside him shiver a little, imagining how angry their moms would be if they are even a little bit late.

The boys quickly rush to their home, each carrying a deer on their shoulder. Their strength is not to be underestimated, it seems.

Arriving at the main road of the city that diverges into multiple other roads, the trio hops onto a train-like transportation vehicle that runs along a fixed line. The upper section of this train has glass windows, so they are able to fully take in the outside view.

The city has architecture resembling that of Earth. Its main discerning feature is the extensive use of white marble and stone, giving it a posh vibe, though most of the structures are still under construction.

After exiting the train, Granolah and his friends say their goodbyes and quickly run to their homes.

At his home, a relatively large building located in a secure and affluent neighborhood, his mom is standing on the doorstep with her hands on her hips—clearly not happy. All this time, Muezli has been waiting for her unruly son.

"Granolah, how many times do I have to tell you not to wander around in the forest like that? We haven't completely scouted those areas yet. This time, when Flyak gets home tonight, I will tell him all about your disobedient behavior. Only your father can discipline you, it seems."

"But that is my training, Mom. I want to help Father protect our planet. Isn't he going to join the Galactic Patrol that Mr. Shen talked about? I also want to follow him. This place is so boring. Look, I can hunt deer without them noticing, and even this is nothing—didn't I also injure that big lizard we saw the other day?"

However, Muezli was having none of it. She grabs Granolah by the ears and sharply pulls on them. "As if you are strong enough to join a dangerous force like the Galactic Patrol. Now Come inside."

. . . . . .

The sun gradually settles as the last light of dusk follows with it.

Overlooking the planet from space, a bright patch of light can be seen in a certain region. This is, of course, the bustling new city of the Cerealians.

Paying even closer attention to the opposite side of the planet from the Cerealian city, another, much smaller settlement can be spotted.

Steadily, a village is taking shape near a conspicuous coastline of the same supercontinent.

Although not easily visible during the day, it just might be possible to locate this place during the dark of night with the abundant artificial light, lit during the nighttime.

The source of these transformation is the Saiyans. They have already started adjusting to their new realities.

Launch and Shen have helped in this endeavor. While Launch was busy helping with the actual construction of the village using her psychic powers, Shen was providing assistance by facilitating indirect transit for them to trade with the Cerealians. The trade commodities consisted of heavy machinery and other modern equipment, which they lacked.

The Saiyans paid for those items in the form of rare, unprocessed metals and other raw materials they extracted from the surrounding areas. It is mutually beneficial for both parties.

Though to even find those metal reserves, they had to get some assistance from the Cerealians, who, although technologically behind the Saiyans, are nonetheless an industrial society. They could at least provide complex parts used to make more advanced devices.

The Cerealians were happy to oblige to the wants of Shen, through whom those requests were made.

And why would they, He is the man who saved their entire race—a debt that can never be repaid. Still, some were reluctant upon finding out whose hands those parts were going to fall into. Even so, they wouldn't refuse the man.

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Till now, other than those sporadic trade dealings, there has been no formal interaction between the Saiyans and the Cerealians, but signs are undoubtedly there.

Actually, some of the Saiyan children have started to wander off near the new Cerealian city. Their childhood innocence makes them insusceptible to the biases and considerations that adults are normally posed with.

These children, with low power levels, don't pose much of a threat to the Cerealians, so they have largely been left to their own devices. The Cerealians aren't a weak race in any sense, with the power level of an average adult ranging from 400 to 600, and fighters having levels of around 1000. The strongest of them all, Flyak, has a power level of more than 4000.

Eventually, with the precedent set by the young ones, opening up possibilities for the establishment of mutual cooperation, perhaps the gradual integration of Saiyan and Cerealian societies and their way of life may not be a far-fetched speculation.

Currently, Shen is preparing to leave this unnamed planet for the time being. After all, He has unfinished business back on Earth.

In the case of the Saiyans—or more accurately, Son Goku's mother, Gine—Shen has reassured the woman, promising her that Bardock will return to her without fail. She is the kindest Saiyan there is, so the man feels sad seeing her depressed face.

Shen believes Bardock has most likely been sent back in time through some sort of space rift just before the destruction of Planet Vegeta. This same thing had happened in an old TV special of the DBZ series that aired during the Saiyan saga.

He speculates some sort of rare phenomenon may have occurred due to the concentration of such a huge amount of energy, though it's just a theory.

Shen's words had somewhat alleviated the woman's despair. Bardock's team was also delighted to hear the new piece of information.

They have been appointed to temporarily lead the Saiyans, as in the current scenario, they are the strongest faction remaining.. previously being part of an elite team led by Bardock.

Before Shen announced his departure, he hadn't forgotten to warn the Saiyans against acting up. He also made sure the Cerealians understood the same.

.

.

.

Earth...

Shen and Launch have returned to their own planet. Currently they are with Namu, hovering above the newly completed pagoda of Crane School, spectating the building.

"What do you think, Teacher? Is the new school to your liking?" Namu asks.

"You all have done a great job. This is a fine masterpiece." Shen proclaims.

"Thank you. But the one who worked the hardest was Brother Giran, not me."

"I know. Where is he right now?" Shen asks, he had wanted to praise his disciple for his efforts but he hasn't seen Giran at-all.

this time, instead of Namu, Launch answers the question.

The blondie, with arms crossed, amusingly says, "He is probably at Lady Annin's place right now. Before we left the planet, he had asked me to tell him her location. Seems like he wanted to become stronger."

"Heh!" She snickers, adding, "The fighters at the tower are probably starting to catch up to him. Although he is a weakling, losing wouldn't be good for the reputation of the So-called Legendary Dragon of the Tower. He had said he would learn more about mystical magic from Lady Annin. He was very interested in gigantification in particular."

"Hmm... It is good that the tower has made him so motivated," Shen expresses with a nod. Moving on, he asks about the other disciples, after which he goes in search of the actual matter for which he had made a return journey to Earth.

Goku. The main character of the Dragon Ball franchise.

On his way to Mount Paozu, Son Gohan's home, Shen thinks, 'I wonder if he has actually safely arrived on Earth. My interference may have caused something to go wrong. I just hope nothing bad has occurred and everything is fine.'

In a while, he quickly reaches Gohan's small wooden cottage. 'If nothing went wrong, Goku should be here. After all, this week marks exactly seven months since I left Earth. If his ship hasn't already landed on earth, it's a lost cause.'

This uncertainty is the reason the man had decided to not bring Gine, with him.. A false hope is wore than a lack there of..

Shen slowly approaches the home in both anticipation and worry.

As his ki is suppressed, Gohan hasn't noticed him, even though he stands right infront of the door

Shen is about to knock, when suddenly as if interrupting his action, a playful giggling of a child comes from the house.

Hearing the voice, his curiosity gets the best of him.

Unable to wait any longer, the man directly opens the door, causing the poor thing to detach from its frame due to the excessive force.

His sudden presence almost gives old Gohan a heart attack. "Master Shen!" he exclaims. "Why are you here so suddenly? You frightened me."

"Sorry for that," Shen awkwardly apologizes. "But forget about that right now. More importantly, the child—did you find this kid from somewhere?" He points at the curious kid standing barefoot on the carpet.

"How could you tell?" Gohan asks.

"Of course, I can tell. How else would you have a child in your lonely home?" Shen says, while internally thinking, 'No doubt it's Son Goku. That monkey tail, that fiery hair, and that standard Saiyan armor hanging on the wall at the back.'

Somehow, the unnecessary "lonely" remark from Shen had dispirited old Gohan. Silently, he resumes what he was previously doing... Rubbing Goku's wet hair with a dry cloth.

Then he starts to speak again "I had just finished bathing him, but as I don't have any spare clothes for children, he is just wrapped in a towel.. It's very cloudy today, so drying him under the sun is out of the question."

"You really are a lousy caretaker. How could you bathe a kid who doesn't look much older than 3 years old in this cold weather?.. what if he catches cold?"

Realizing his mistake, Gohan hangs his head down in shame. But can the old man really be blamed? After all, he has never taken care of children before in his entire life.

"When did you find him?" Shen asks with a sigh.

"I found him two months ago. Back then, he was very rowdy and would fight me at every occasion. Must say, those punches were very strong for a child. I don't know how old he is, so I have decided to count his age from the day I found him." Gohan says with a warm smile.

"Oh!" He then point to a certain spot on the wall "Can you help me dry that armor back there?.. it's already washed!.. It is what I had found Goku wearing... By the way, I named this boy Son Goku. My Grandson—grandson of Son Gohan!"