"Haaah…"
Gohan's gray-white hair and beard flowed as his ki surged all around him. With a tremor of his body, his muscles suddenly bulged, nearly tearing through his clothes. Not only did his physique become robust and burly, but it also seemed as if he had grown taller midair.
Shhhhhh—
A spherical spacecraft streaked through the sky, leaving behind a sharp white trail. Like a meteor hurtling toward Earth, it crashed down toward a small mountain peak. Its speed was so great that it generated shockwaves all around it, buzzing and rumbling ominously. Even before hitting the ground, the sheer momentum disturbed the wildlife in the forests of Martial Immortal Island below.
A thousand miles in an instant!
In the blink of an eye, the spherical ship plummeted from the sky, aiming straight for a dark silhouette floating not far above the mountaintop. Any outside observer would have surely imagined the same outcome—that the silhouette would be reduced to a bloody mist, crushed like dust, while the spacecraft continued unscathed.
"Muken... Tenfold!"
Gohan narrowed his eyes and shouted lowly. Ki surged endlessly around him, and under the guidance of his will through Muken, tenfold power erupted in layered waves from his arms. He didn't dodge. White, roaring ki blazed around his palms, unyielding and condensed, as he reached directly for the blazing fireball falling from the sky!
Boom!
The spacecraft's momentum halted abruptly. Yet, the immense impact still forced Gohan to slide downwards in midair, inch by inch.
Boom!
Boom!
At the point where Gohan's ki-wrapped hands met the spacecraft, the ki flared like it was boiling. With every drop, Gohan skillfully redirected a portion of the force to the surroundings, lessening the pressure on himself.
Finally, his feet landed on the ground. Gohan now stood firmly, holding the alien spacecraft aloft in both hands, thin wisps of smoke curling around it.
"Phew... almost lost my grip, haha."
Exhaling a long stream of hot breath, Gohan's massive form suddenly shrank back into the elder with white hair and a youthful face. He chuckled and shook his head. Originally, he intended to just toss the sphere aside, but at the last moment, a faint, rhythmic breath caught his senses from within the craft. Someone—or something—was still alive inside. Carefully, he lowered it to the ground.
---
"...Who... is it... again... these people... someone else... strange... flying from... where... who... am... I... who... am I...?"
---
"Not bad. You've made some progress with your force redirection technique," said Taro, walking up from behind. "What level have you reached in Muken?"
With his discerning eyes, it was obvious to him that Gohan hadn't used his full strength just now.
And that was only natural. Taro himself never used full power while honing his skills—this wasn't a tournament match. Appropriate force was enough; the point of training was martial arts, not raw ki output. Still, even without going all out, it had taken most of Gohan's power to catch the craft unharmed.
"Shamefully, Master," Gohan replied with a sigh, "I've practiced Muken tirelessly every day for seventy years... and I've only reached eighteenth. Compared to the fiftieth you once spoke of, I'm still leagues away." He rubbed his temples. "And not only that… the deeper I delve into Muken, the more I feel my energy struggling to keep up. It's manageable during personal training, but in actual combat, I fear I won't be able to keep up both with the enemy and the demands of Muken at the same time."
It wasn't often he had a chance to see his master. So Gohan took the opportunity to voice his doubts in martial arts.
"Mmm, not bad. Honestly, I didn't expect you to start struggling only at the eighteenth layer…" Taro nodded. "How about this? I'll teach you a mental meditat—"
Just as Taro was about to give some guidance, Hathaway interjected, "You two can talk shop later. Didn't we come here for a reason?" She gestured toward the still-smoking spacecraft resting peacefully at Gohan's feet.
Truthfully, it had been most illogical to let Gohan intercept the craft. Had Taro done it himself, not even a wisp of smoke would've been visible—he could've caught it from where he stood, using an immense, detached ki field to absorb its energy and bring it to a gentle stop, like a stone vanishing into the ocean. Even if he hadn't, he could've simply let it land on the mountaintop—at worst it'd create a crater, which he could later fill in with magic if needed.
But Gohan had gotten excited—eager to test his own strength.
The two of them realized that as well.
Taro clapped Gohan on the shoulder. Gohan looked back, and Taro gestured toward the spacecraft, signaling him to open the hatch. Gohan pointed at himself, then the orb. Taro nodded. Gohan walked over, and just as he reached out, click—the hatch opened on its own.
Shhhh, a jet of pressurized steam burst from the interior, carrying a peculiar smell. Hathaway sniffed and murmured, "Probably nutrient mist used for life support…"
From within the spherical craft, Gohan gently lifted out a naked baby boy. Taro watched silently, his eyes narrowing. As if witnessing a scene from long ago, a flicker of nostalgia crossed his face—but it vanished just as quickly. The story now was already a different one entirely.
Hathaway also looked closely at the baby in Gohan's arms. Just as expected... on the boy's backside was a furry brown tail, identical to what Taro had described months ago.
---
At the house, near the foot of the mountain.
"Master… this child…"
Gohan sat on the sofa, holding the baby with wild, crab-like hair. Though still sound asleep and completely silent, Gohan wasn't quite sure what to do. What exactly was this situation? Especially with the way his master was acting… did he actually expect Gohan to raise the child?
"An alien. Exceptionally gifted," Taro said flatly.
"An alien?"
Gohan wasn't too surprised. He had, after all, personally witnessed the baby crash-land from space. Still… thinking back to how Taro had the Phoenix summon him a few days ago, and now this child's sudden arrival—it all felt a bit too coincidental. He couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "Master, don't tell me… you planned all this just to make me raise this child?"
"You expect me and your mistress, at our age, to raise a baby?" Taro shot Gohan a dangerously sharp look.