"Hm... what a peculiar material."
In Dr. Brief's private laboratory, Yamiru, Goku, Bulma, and Dr. Brief were gathered.
The remark came from Dr. Brief as he analyzed the material structure and unique electromagnetic waves emitted by the Four-Star and Seven-Star Dragon Balls using various instruments and ray devices.
Bulma, clad in a white lab coat, wearing oversized protective goggles, and perched on a high stool, nodded in agreement. "It's over 90% similar to clay-like rock, yet it exhibits a crystalline effect. It has contradictory physical properties — it's so strange!"
Yamiru listened with interest.
He knew the set of seven Dragon Balls had been created by the green-skinned Kami at Earth's lookout, who molded a Shenron model out of clay and imbued it with the unique magical powers of the Namekian Dragon Clan. The orbs scattered into seven translucent Dragon Balls.
In essence, calling these Dragon Balls hardened clay or stone wasn't incorrect. Their crystalline appearance was due to the Namekian magic infused into them — or more precisely, divine power borrowed from the Super Dragon Balls and the Dragon God Zalama.
When a wish was made, and the divine power temporarily dissipated for a year, the Dragon Balls would revert to their original form: ordinary white stones resembling hardened clay.
"Would it be difficult to create a radar that can detect similar signals from the Dragon Balls?"
Yamiru asked politely.
Dr. Brief replied, "Not particularly, but you two might have to wait a bit."
Yamiru nodded.
Dr. Brief got to work on crafting the radar.
Bulma hopped off the stool. A project of this scale didn't require both her and her father.
She walked over to Goku, who stood next to Yamiru, and asked, "Are you bored?"
"A little," Goku admitted honestly. "There's nothing to do."
"How about letting me draw some of your blood?" Bulma suggested. She noticed how much Goku had grown — just two years ago, he'd been so small, and now he was nearly as tall as her. However, she didn't realize that Goku would remain this height for a long time, stuck in his short stature.
Goku looked puzzled, not understanding what she meant.
Yamiru also found it strange. "What do you need his blood for?"
Bulma explained, "Dad ran a physical on him two years ago. I saw the report and noticed his cells are really unique."
Yamiru considered her request. "I'll let you compare it with the old results, but only if you agree to destroy all samples after your analysis. Do you promise?"
Given Bulma's high intelligence, Yamiru treated her as an equal despite her being only six or seven years old.
"Fine," Bulma agreed readily. She wasn't particularly interested in biology — she just found the Saiyan's cells intriguing. Her talents and ambitions lay in mechanics and energy, much like her father's.
Goku was led off by Yamiru and Bulma to have his blood drawn.
As the needle approached his arm, Goku instinctively tensed up, goosebumps rising on his skin.
"Yamiru, why am I scared?" he asked pitifully.
"It's just your imagination," Yamiru reassured him, holding his arm steady. "You let me throw you around by your feet without a single complaint. There's no way a little needle prick could scare you. It's obviously less painful than my wrestling moves, right?"
"That makes sense." Goku mulled over Yamiru's words, and before he knew it, Bulma had swiftly inserted the needle, drawn the blood, and pulled it out. "All done." Goku didn't even have time to react.
"See? Nothing to be afraid of," Yamiru said, releasing him.
Goku's pupils shrank as he quickly stepped back several paces, clutching his arm in fear. "This is scary."
The sensation of cold metal piercing his skin was deeply uncomfortable. Compared to that, he would have gladly let Yamiru or Grandpa Gohan toss him around for an hour. The feeling of fists landing on his body was something he actually enjoyed.
Bulma eagerly took the blood sample to her lab for analysis.
Time seemed to crawl as they waited.
Eventually, Yamiru and Goku grew bored and began sparring in the yard.
Finally, Dr. Brief appeared, tossing a warm, freshly made Dragon Radar to Yamiru, who was exchanging moves with Goku in the garden.
"Catch."
Yamiru caught it mid-air.
Because he had described the radar's design in detail, the device Dr. Brief crafted looked exactly like the one Bulma had made in the manga.
It fit perfectly in the palm of his hand, comfortable and compact.
Click.
Yamiru pressed the button on top. The radar's dark green screen lit up with a red dot at the center, marking his current location.
Click.
Yamiru pressed the button again, and on the dark green screen's grid, a flashing golden light spot appeared almost overlapping with the red marker at the center.
Yamiru clicked rapidly, zooming in on the map. The flashing golden spot began to move away from the red marker, growing further from it and heading toward the location where Dr. Brief was standing. Yamiru looked toward the doctor, who was waving two resonating Dragon Balls in his hand. Realizing that Yamiru had completed the check, Dr. Brief walked over with a smile and handed the Dragon Balls back to him.
"Thanks, Doctor." Yamiru stored the radar and passed the Dragon Balls to Goku.
"No problem," Dr. Brief said, glancing at Goku. "By the way, Bulma seems to have found something unexpected in her blood test of Son Goku. Do you want to go take a look?"
Yamiru was surprised. "Unexpected findings? Alright, let's go take a look."
He was a bit puzzled. Goku hadn't shown any major changes. Becoming a Super Saiyan was still far off. Could it be because of his tail? When Goku had his physical exam two years ago, he still had a tail, but now it was gone.
The three returned to the lab.
Bulma, wearing a white lab coat, was standing on a high stool, examining a cell sample on a glass slide under the microscope.
"Doctor, there are plenty of evil genius scientists on Earth," Yamiru felt the need to warn him again, "Saiyans are a peculiar fighting race, so all of Goku's cells should be thoroughly cleaned after each test. If there's a need for research, Goku can always provide samples, but it's better not to leave any behind."
Although someone like Dr. Gero might try to steal Goku's cells, not even a deity could stop him, but it was still better to take precautions in case an unexpected enemy showed up.
"Don't worry about it." Dr. Brief was a kind man and didn't mind at all.
As they entered, Bulma moved away from the microscope and switched to a nearby monitor. The screen displayed Goku's cells under the microscope, along with several charts showing comparisons with images from two years ago.
Goku found it uninteresting and didn't understand, so he sat aside and entertained himself.
Dr. Brief examined the two sets of cell images while Yamiru listened attentively to Bulma's explanation, as he didn't understand the charts.
"So, you're saying that there's a special type of cell in Goku's body that was originally quite rare, but after two years, its quantity has increased significantly?" Yamiru asked, surprised after hearing her explanation.
"The overall number of cells hasn't changed, but the proportion of these special cells has increased," Yamiru added. "Did the regular cells turn into these special cells?"
Bulma used a small black stick to point at the image, circling the small area of special cells in the two-year-old sample, then drawing a much larger circle around the active special cells in Goku's current sample.
"Exactly. These cells are a transformed version of the original ones. They are essentially an upgraded form of the regular cells, but the aggressiveness of the original cells has significantly decreased."
The three of them looked toward Goku, who was sitting quietly as if nothing were happening.
The Saiyan race was truly a peculiar one, and no wonder they were called a warrior race. This was the thought shared by Dr. Brief and his daughter.
But for Yamiru, he suddenly recalled a piece of information he had seen in his previous life. It was from an interview with Akira Toriyama about Dragon Ball Super, which added a lot of details about the Saiyan race.
Among the details was the reason why Saiyans could transform into Super Saiyans.
Saiyans were born with a special cell called the S-cell.
Only when the S-cell reaches a certain level and is combined with the Saiyan's strong combat power, could they potentially transform into a Super Saiyan.
The increase of S-cells could only occur under one condition: maintaining a calm heart.
Traditional Saiyans weren't good at keeping a calm mind, and most of them didn't have high combat power. Because they didn't meet the necessary conditions, it was naturally difficult for them to transform into Super Saiyans.
Goku, on the other hand, had a base combat power of 300,000 when he transformed on Namek. Furthermore, growing up on Earth and practicing Turtle School martial arts, he had a calm and steady mind far beyond any normal Saiyan. This meant that Goku's S-cells had already surpassed even those of Vegeta, a royal - blooded Saiyan.
This, by chance, was what allowed Goku to become the first Super Saiyan of the new era.
"...So this bizarre setting is actually true," Yamiru murmured. "And this kid's S-cells have been proliferating since he was very young."
In a few years, if Goku was directly infused with high amounts of energy, would he be able to transform into a Super Saiyan?
"The Genki Dama could also be absorved by its user..." Yamiru wondered if Goku could transform into a Super Saiyan by using the Genki Dama. He realized he was thinking a bit too much and it was rather unrealistic, so he snapped back to reality.
"What?" Bulma asked, having overheard Yamiru's mumbling.
"I was just thinking," Yamiru smiled, "since you say this special cell seems like Goku's original cells evolving, how about we just call this transformed cell 'S-cell'? What do you think?"
"S-cell..." Bulma understood right away. "Does it mean 'Super cell'? Alright."
No, it meant "Super Saiyan Cells."
Yamiru smiled inwardly.