West City
"What?! A gravity chamber three hundred times heavier than your own body weight, and you want it to stack multiplicatively?!"
Bulma's eyes widened in disbelief. "You weigh, what, about fifty jin right now? At double gravity, that's a hundred jin about two of you. Triple that? Three hundred jin. Quadruple that… my god, the numbers just keep multiplying! There's no way Earth has any material strong enough to handle something like that. It'd be impossible to find anything that could withstand such insane gravity!"
(She even muttered to herself, math isn't my strong suit… someone in the comments, go calculate that!).
"Leave the material problem to me," Gohan said. "I just need to know, if I find something that can withstand it, can you build the gravity chamber I'm asking for?"
"Who do you think I am? I'm Bulma, the very definition of genius! If you bring me the material, forget three hundred times, I could make it five hundred!" she declared, rising to the challenge instantly.
"Good. It's a deal. I'll go find the material and come back. See you, beautiful Ms. Bulma!"
His feet barely left the ground before he shot off in a blur, vanishing from sight.
Bulma stood there shaking her head. "This kid… as if such material exists on Earth. What, is he going to look on another planet?"
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind made her flinch.
"Cough, sorry. Can I borrow the Dragon Radar, Ms. Bulma?"
Bulma nearly jumped out of her skin. "Weren't you gone?! Wait, Dragon Radar? You're going to wish for the material from Shenron?"
She guessed his plan immediately.
But to her surprise, Gohan shook his head. "It's related, but I'm not wishing for it directly."
"…Alright. Wait here. I'll go find it."
Bulma dug through her lab for nearly an hour before finally producing the device.
"Ah, out of power. Give me a second to change the battery."
She unscrewed the back with a screwdriver, swapped in a new battery.
Beep-beep-beep! Bzzzt!
"Huh? Why's it picking up a signal already? Has it gone faulty from being unused so long?"
Gohan held up the Four-Star Ball he carried. "I've got one on me."
Bulma nodded. "Makes sense."
…
Following the radar's guidance, Gohan quickly gathered all seven Dragon Balls.
But instead of summoning Shenron, he returned to Mount Paozu not home, but to search for the spaceship Goku had arrived on as a baby.
After training here for so long, he knew the terrain like the back of his hand, every canyon, cliff, and crater.
It didn't take long. In the fourteenth crater he searched, he spotted the spherical ship, completely buried under thick weeds.
He raised one palm.
Fwoosh!
A wave of ki blasted the vegetation away, revealing the ship's gleaming surface.
Even after more than twenty years exposed to the elements, it bore no rust, its metallic sheen as sharp as ever.
"If this ship can handle it, I can save myself a wish," Gohan murmured, already mapping out his plan.
He focused, lifting the craft with a wave of energy, and carried it through the air toward Bulma's home.
West City
"Gohan? You're saying this is the ship your dad came to Earth in? So Son Goku's an alien? No wonder he's so freakishly strong, he's even got…"
Bulma caught herself before saying "a tail," but her gaze had already drifted to the furry appendage swaying behind Gohan.
"Don't worry, Aunt Bulma. My family goes to bed early, we never look at the moon." He waved it off.
"You know?" Bulma blinked.
"Mm."
That only made her more curious about this mysterious boy.
"Does Goku know he's an alien?"
"I'd like you to keep it to yourself for now. When the time's right, I'll tell him," Gohan said.
"…Alright. I'll run some material tests. Wait here."
Bulma removed a piece of the ship's hull and disappeared into her lab.
Fifteen minutes later, she emerged slowly.
"Well?" Gohan asked, stiffening at her lack of enthusiasm.
"It's tougher than anything on Earth, but still not enough for your original specs. At best, it could handle a normal three-hundred-times setting meaning each multiplier builds off your base weight, not doubling and doubling again. My explanation's clunky, but I think you get it?"
"I get it. That's about what I expected. Go ahead and start with the basic build. I'll keep looking for something stronger. The normal multiplier setting won't do me much good," Gohan said.
"Alright. I can build the frame for now and upgrade it later."
"Thanks. I'll be off, then."
…
Twenty minutes later, Gohan stood at the base of Korin Tower, gazing up at its cloud-piercing height.
"Damn, it's tall. I wonder if the Ultra Divine Water will work on me."
He rose from the ground, soaring straight upward until he reached the platform at the top.
The white-furred Korin approached, leaning on his staff. "Son Goku's boy… with talent that surpasses even his father."
"Hello, Korin. Just as Dad said, you really can see everything on Earth from up here, huh?"
Korin waved a paw modestly. "Not exactly. That's just a tiny skill I learned from Kami and Mr. Popo."Still, there was a touch of pride in his tone.
"Korin, I'm here to try the Ultra Divine Water," Gohan said plainly.
"Hey! Goku's kid!"
The voice came from Yajirobe, slouched against the wall. "You can't see a big guy like me? Your dad and I are brothers-in-arms you should be calling me 'uncle!'"
Gohan chuckled. "Heh, Uncle Yajirobe. You've wasted more than a few Senzu Beans over the years. Korin, need me to help you take out the trash?"
Whoosh!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop! I was kidding! Put me down!"
Ignoring his protests, Gohan grabbed Yajirobe by the collar and lifted him into the air, dangling him off the edge of the platform.
Truth be told, Gohan despised freeloaders like him.
Sure, in the original timeline Yajirobe had a few clutch moments, but he was also the reason there were barely any Senzu Beans left in most battles, forcing the Z Fighters to fight without recovery.
Even in the Vegeta saga, Goku had been bedridden for a month because there were no beans left to heal him.
"Alright, Gohan, let him go. He might be a parasite, but without him, this place would be lonely," Korin said, coming to his defense.
"Fine. But from now on, not a single Senzu gets wasted, got it?" Even in his small frame, Gohan's voice carried a crushing aura, eyes flashing with killing intent.
"I got it! I'll never eat one again!" Yajirobe stammered.
"Korin, if you're going to let him stay here, at least make him earn his keep. Dad told me his grilled fish is delicious have him bring you small fish every day." Gohan smirked.
"Small fish?" Korin's eyes lit up, and he actually drooled.
"Yajirobe, you hear that? Three meals a day no, four small fish. Or I'll have Gohan toss you off this tower. You can't fly, can you?" Korin added, half-threatening.
"No problem! Easy!" Yajirobe agreed instantly.