Radan stood alone on the deserted island.
The wind swept across the rocky ground, carrying dust into the air.
There was no one else here.
No Trunks.
No allies.
No Androids.
Only him and the system.
Radan closed his eyes for a moment.
He remembered the original Gohan's memories clearly.
Trunks had once stood beside him.
The boy had desperately wanted to become stronger, believing that becoming a Super Saiyan would finally allow him to fight alongside his teacher.
But that future had already been destroyed.
Trunks was dead.
And Radan had no intention of pretending otherwise.
His gaze hardened.
"System."
The interface appeared before his consciousness.
He had already discovered that the system could absorb energy from his surroundings.
But there was still something he hadn't tested.
Could it absorb energy produced by combat?
More importantly...
Could it convert that energy into something useful?
Radan's eyes narrowed.
"There's only one way to find out."
He stepped backward.
Then he released his suppressed power.
A terrifying golden aura erupted around him.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
Dust and small stones were lifted into the air as golden flames surged toward the sky.
His black hair instantly turned golden.
His aura became violent for a moment before gradually stabilizing.
Super Saiyan.
His transformation was almost instantaneous.
There was no prolonged struggle.
No uncontrolled rage.
No uncertainty.
Just a single thought.
And the transformation happened.
Radan looked at his hand.
The power coursing through his body was immense.
His normal combat power was already around 12 million.
After transforming...
600 million.
That was the terrifying difference between his current level and the warriors who had once fought in this future.
He clenched his fist.
"So this is the power of Super Saiyan..."
Although he had inherited Gohan's memories, this was still the first time Radan himself had experienced this transformation after the fusion.
The feeling was completely different from simply knowing about it.
His body felt lighter.
His senses sharper.
Every movement seemed capable of tearing the surrounding air apart.
But Radan wasn't satisfied.
He knew better than anyone that raw combat power wasn't everything.
The future contained enemies far stronger than the Androids.
Cell.
Majin Buu.
Dabura.
Black.
Zamasu.
And perhaps threats that even his knowledge of Dragon Ball couldn't account for.
Six hundred million was merely the beginning.
Radan lowered his stance.
"Let's test it."
He suddenly punched forward.
BOOM!
The air exploded.
A visible shockwave tore across the island.
Rocks were sent flying.
At the same instant—
Ding!
The familiar system notification sounded inside his mind.
Radan froze.
[Ding!]
[Energy detected.]
[Automatically absorbing surrounding energy.]
[Energy conversion successful.]
[Energy Points +100,000.]
Radan's eyes widened slightly.
"...It worked?"
He immediately understood what had happened.
The system wasn't merely capable of absorbing naturally occurring energy.
It could also absorb energy released during combat.
That changed everything.
Radan's expression became thoughtful.
"Could it be because I released too much power?"
He glanced at the fractured ground beneath him.
The possibility was extremely high.
His control over his energy was already far beyond ordinary warriors.
Yet even he had released an enormous amount of energy during that single attack.
If the system could continuously harvest wasted energy...
Then perhaps his training wouldn't merely make him stronger physically.
It could also accelerate the system's development.
Radan smiled.
"Interesting."
He raised his fist again.
This time, he deliberately increased the intensity.
BOOM!
Another shockwave erupted.
The system immediately responded.
[Energy detected.]
[Energy conversion successful.]
[Energy Points +100,000.]
Radan's eyes narrowed.
"So that's how it works."
He understood.
Every battle was potentially another source of system energy.
Every explosion.
Every clash.
Every attack that released energy into the surroundings.
If he trained hard enough, he could turn his own excess power into system energy.
And if the system had additional functions that unlocked with enough energy...
Then his rate of growth could become much faster.
Radan's smile deepened.
"Then I'll just have to keep fighting."
He released more power.
His golden aura expanded.
The entire island began to tremble.
Radan continued his experiment for several minutes.
Then he suddenly stopped.
The golden flames around him disappeared.
His hair returned to black.
His breathing remained completely steady.
He looked toward the distant horizon.
There was still one more thing he wanted to test.
His fighting ability.
Radan remembered the way the original Gohan had fought.
Powerful.
Experienced.
But limited.
Years of fighting the Androids had forced him into a style focused almost entirely on survival.
He had fought alone for too long.
And with one arm missing, the weakness had become even more obvious.
Radan raised his right hand.
He slowly moved through several fighting stances.
Punch.
Elbow.
Palm strike.
Kick.
Dodge.
Counter.
Everything felt natural.
The original Gohan's memories provided the foundation.
But Radan's understanding of Dragon Ball gave him something else.
Knowledge.
He knew exactly what mattered.
Strength.
Speed.
Ki control.
Combat experience.
And most importantly...
Control.
A Super Saiyan wasn't invincible simply because he had transformed.
The transformation multiplied the power of the base body.
Therefore, the stronger the base became, the more terrifying the transformation would become.
Radan understood this better than anyone.
"If I want to truly change the future..."
He looked down at his missing arm.
"...I need to strengthen my base first."
The gravity training room would help.
The system would help.
And the Saiyan biology would help.
But none of it would be enough if he became complacent.
Radan turned his head toward the direction of Capsule Corporation.
"Bulma should be working on the gravity room now."
He had already given her the materials list.
Once the room was operational, his training speed would increase dramatically.
But before that...
He needed to solve another problem.
His missing arm.
Radan stared at the empty space where his left arm should have been.
The system had saved his life.
It had repaired almost all of his injuries.
But restoring an entire limb was beyond what it could currently accomplish.
That meant he would have to find another method.
Perhaps Bulma could help.
Perhaps the Dragon Balls—
Radan stopped.
The thought disappeared almost immediately.
The Dragon Balls of this future were no longer a reliable solution.
Everything had changed.
There was no guarantee that they even existed in usable form anymore.
Radan shook his head.
"Forget it."
He couldn't depend on miracles.
If he wanted something...
He would obtain it himself.
He looked toward the ruined world below.
Android 17 and 18 were still alive.
They probably believed that nothing had changed.
They were wrong.
The last warrior of Earth had awakened.
And this time...
He wasn't going to follow the future written for him.
Radan turned around.
"I'll return to Bulma."
The golden light flashed.
His body shot into the sky.
Behind him, the deserted island remained covered in cracks and shattered stone.
And deep within Radan's mind, the system quietly recorded the energy it had accumulated.
The experiment had succeeded.
Now...
It was time to begin the real training.