The original plan was for Ling An to let Videl and Son Gohan get to know each other, hoping they might spark a romance.
However, everything went beyond her control, and yet, it seemed she had inadvertently brought it about.
Son Gohan, after hearing about Super Saiyan 2, trained day and night, hoping to reach that level as soon as possible.
And Videl? She had lived for over twenty years and discovered for the first time that she possessed such immense power, she just hadn't known how to use it before. Therefore, she was like a sponge, soaking up all sorts of martial arts knowledge.
Now, Videl had learned Bukujutsu and the Kamehameha. Although her combat strength wasn't that different from before, she was certain that she could easily defeat her former self now!
It could be said that following Ling An's training had opened a new world for her. In this situation, how could she possibly spark a romance with anyone? For her, training was the most important thing.
Moreover, she had realized her own shortcomings. She had witnessed Son Gohan's battles with Trunks. Just the aura they unleashed during their fights made her hair stand on end. From this, she understood that her current strength was quite strong in the eyes of ordinary people, but in front of Son Gohan and the others, she was no different from an ordinary person.
Videl had once asked Ling An if she had a chance to reach the level of Trunks and Son Gohan. To this question, Ling An had frankly said that there was no possibility, and explained the gap between them.
When Videl heard that her battle power was still under a hundred, while the weakest Trunks already had a battle power of over a billion, she felt dizzy and couldn't even imagine the strength of such power.
"So, Teacher Ling'an, did you really eliminate the Androids?" After hearing the difference between her and Trunks, Videl didn't feel despair. The gap was so vast that despair didn't even exist; she just felt it was unreal.
At this moment, she thought about the anti-government comrades who had speculated that the Androids were eliminated. Thinking that the Androids hadn't appeared for more than half a year, she asked with anticipation.
"Yes, Son Gohan eliminated the Androids more than half a year ago." Ling'an nodded. There was nothing to hide. Or rather, if there was a way to quickly get all the surviving humans to believe that the Androids had been eliminated, Ling'an would be very happy to do so, but it was obviously a difficult thing to accomplish.
However, Videl, who knew how powerful Ling'an and Son Gohan were, had no doubts. She slightly bent over, clenching her fists, with an incredibly happy smile on her face: "That's great! The Androids are finally eliminated. As expected, only strong people like you, Teacher, could defeat such terrifying Androids!"
"You should train hard. Although it's basically impossible to reach the level of Son Gohan and Trunks, or even a tenth of it, as an Earthling, it's still possible to have a battle power of one hundred thousand to a million. And such power, in the entire Universe, is considered to be among the top-tier experts."
Although Videl had skipped despair due to the huge gap, she was still somewhat disappointed. Seeing this, Ling'an comforted her.
"Videl, you should correctly recognize one thing, that is, someone like you is already considered a genius. Most of the martial arts geniuses in this Universe are like you; this is the normal situation. Son Gohan and Trunks, on the other hand, are the abnormal ones."
Ling An was telling the truth. The power disparity in the Dragon Ball world was extreme. Powerhouses like Son Goku and Vegeta could even reach the realm of Gods. Yet, weaker Saiyans from Vegeta's planet at the beginning of the story, with a mere few tens of thousands of power, could serve Frieza and conquer countless planets.
And it should be known that Frieza, even in his final form, had over 100 million power. But under normal circumstances, he only used a few hundred thousand. Even with that level of power, he could dominate the galaxy.
Don't let the fact that Son Goku and the others constantly faced terrifying enemies fool you. That was a battle of the strong against the strong, and it had nothing to do with the rest of the Universe. Currently, aside from Buu, who was still sealed, the chances of anyone stronger than Son Gohan and the others existing below the level of Gods were incredibly low.
Videl, who wasn't feeling despair to begin with, felt much better after Ling An's reassurance. She understood that it wasn't that she was too weak; it was simply that Son Gohan and Trunks weren't human.
Videl once again entered a state of training. While she couldn't reach the level of Son Gohan and the others, she hoped to gain the power Ling An mentioned, reaching a power level of 100,000, or even a million.
According to Ling An, a power level below 100,000 could easily destroy a planet. Although she wouldn't actually destroy a planet, having that kind of power would be pretty amazing.
Ling An was quite optimistic about Videl's growth. Videl's talent wasn't bad. In the main timeline, she was stronger than her father, Hercule, at a young age through self-study. Later, when Son Gohan taught her how to sense Ki to fly, she was able to do it.
Therefore, Videl's talent might not be worse than Krillin's. However, Videl didn't continue her training after marrying Gohan. Of course, Son Gohan didn't train much either. It could be said that the two of them lived their own little lives, teaching, studying, and taking care of their child.
If Videl had continued training, her future achievements might not have matched Krillin's, but they certainly wouldn't have been poor. After all, Krillin had been training with Master Roshi alongside Son Goku since childhood, building a solid foundation. Later, the Grand Elder of Namek had unlocked his potential, allowing him to become the strongest Earthling on Earth.
Without those factors, even with good talent, Krillin would likely have ended up like Videl, becoming a martial artist of modest accomplishment. Furthermore, Videl's determination in martial arts was much stronger than Krillin's, which actually compensated for the gap between them.
Ling An was very optimistic about Videl. Although her original intention was to help her get closer to Son Gohan, since both were now dedicated to training, and Videl had also come here under her guidance, she didn't ignore Videl just because her initial plan had failed.
Instead, she followed Master Roshi's example and gave Videl a very rigorous training regimen. Later, she even had Videl enter the Gravity Training Room for training, but only increased the gravity by a few times. Any higher and she wouldn't be able to handle it. Training was necessary, but she couldn't let Videl damage her body.
Day after day, the training continued.
Trunks's strength slowly increased, and so did Videl's. Son Gohan, however, was still struggling to find the key to breaking through to Super Saiyan 2. Ling An couldn't really help with this, as she didn't know the specifics of how it worked. It was something Son Gohan had to figure out himself.
Fortunately, Son Gohan wasn't discouraged; instead, he studied it enthusiastically every day. Although researching Super Saiyan 2 led to limited gains in strength, it did improve his control over his own power, and he was just one step away from breaking through to Super Saiyan 2.
It was just that one step, and it wasn't known how long it would take to get there.
That day, Trunks and Videl were diligently training as usual, while Son Gohan sat alone on the lawn meditating. Ling An was lounging in a chair, lazily soaking up the sun. Autumn was passing, and the weather was gradually getting colder, making sunbathing quite comfortable.
While everyone was occupied with their own activities, Bulma suddenly ran out, looking excited. She looked at Ling An, who was the only one free, and said enthusiastically, "Ling An-chan, I finally did it! The Time Machine is finally complete!"
"Really? That's great, Aunt Bulma!"
Hearing this, Ling An jumped up from the chair, also very excited. After all, the successful development of the Time Machine meant they could go back to the past and use the Dragon Balls. Of course, as a Dragon Ball fan, Ling An was very interested in being able to participate in the original story, or rather, to see the original story with her own eyes.
Hearing their conversation, Son Gohan, who was meditating, opened his eyes and flashed over to their side. He smiled slightly and said, "Congratulations, Aunt Bulma. I didn't expect you to actually build the Time Machine."
"Hehe, come on, I'll take you to see the Time Machine I built!" Bulma beckoned to the two of them and headed towards the back of the house.
After a while, they arrived in front of the Time Machine. Seeing the machine before them, Ling An's face lit up with a smile. Sure enough, it was very similar to the Time Machine she had imagined. Bulma had started the design and blueprints for the Time Machine a long time ago, but it hadn't been built due to various limitations. So, what Ling An saw was basically the same as the Time Machine from the original story.
"Tada! This is the Time Machine I've built. With it, you can travel through time. Just get in and travel to the past, and you can obtain the coordinates of New Namek using the Dragon Balls from that time."
Bulma stood with her hands on her hips, an expression of immense pride on her face. She had every right to be proud, having created such a device. Son Gohan, standing nearby, asked, "Aunt Bulma, is the Time Machine ready to use now?"
He was rather impatient, as he desperately hoped to restore Earth to its former state.
"Ahem…" Bulma thought for a moment, then said, "I need a few days to adjust it and set the time of the jump. The time of the appearance on New Namek was more than half a year after returning to Earth, and it needs to be set before Piccolo was killed. This is the first time using it, the first practical test, so I hope nothing goes wrong. You don't need to worry about safety, the main concern is if there are any issues with the timeline. So, let me adjust it for a few days, and I'll let you know when it's ready." Bulma explained. Both Son Gohan and Ling An nodded in understanding.
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