"By the way, Gohan, who's this lady?"
Krillin looked curiously at Ling An. He didn't remember anyone like her, and she looked quite similar to Android 18, except one had short hair and the other had long hair. Therefore, he was somewhat imaginative.
"This is my friend, Ling An. It's also thanks to her help that I was able to defeat the Androids."
Gohan turned to look at Ling An and smiled at Krillin.
"Eh!!!"
Krillin widened his eyes again: "Is that so!? Does that mean Miss Ling An, you're also a Saiyan?"
Krillin was quite surprised. After all, according to Gohan, Ling An should have immense power. In fact, in all his training, the most powerful female he had encountered was only Android 18, and even though Cell was now a more powerful being, he had not forgotten the power of those two Androids.
They were beings that even a Super Saiyan couldn't defeat, and in his mind, a Super Saiyan was already unbelievably strong.
"Mr. Krillin, you're mistaken this time. I'm a pure Earthling, not a Saiyan as you might think." Ling An, standing beside Gohan, smiled at Krillin.
"An Earthling? Can an Earthling really possess power greater than the Androids?" Krillin was somewhat incredulous.
"Saiyans rely on the power of their bloodline, and the Androids rely on the power of technology. It's naturally impossible for a regular Earthling to become strong. In a sense, Mr. Krillin, you're already constantly surpassing the limits of an Earthling. As for me, I have other ways of becoming stronger."
"I see."
Hearing this, Krillin nodded, understanding.
Ling An made it clear that simply relying on the potential of an Earthling wouldn't lead to great power. However, just as Saiyans and Androids relied on external forces or bloodlines to gain strength, Earthlings could also gain strength through external means. Ling An was the same. As for what external force Ling An had acquired, Krillin was wise enough not to ask.
After all, how could such a thing be revealed to others?
In a way, Krillin had also experienced the help of external forces. He received the Grand Elder's potential unlock on Namek, which allowed him to break through the limits of an Earthling time and again. Although he couldn't keep up with Saiyans and Androids now, he was an absolute powerhouse on Earth.
Yamcha, in the later stages of the original story, praised Krillin as the strongest human. In fact, at this point in time, that statement still held true.
Gohan, hearing this, also understood something. He had been wondering for quite some time why Ling An could progress so rapidly. It was clear that before the Androids were defeated, her strength was inferior to Trunks when he first transformed into a Super Saiyan. However, after the Androids were eliminated, her power skyrocketed, and now she had reached a level that even he couldn't match.
The most frustrating part was that he had achieved his current strength through constant training, while Ling An? He had hardly ever seen her train.
Now he understood that Ling An also had her own advantage. Upon hearing this, Gohan wasn't discouraged or jealous; instead, he felt a stronger desire to become even more powerful, until one day he could reach, or even surpass, Ling An!
"That's Vegeta, right, Uncle Krillin? Put Vegeta down first; I'll have Ling An help him recover," Gohan said, pointing at Vegeta, who Krillin was carrying.
"Eh? Miss Ling An has this ability?"
Krillin looked at Ling An with some surprise, then placed Vegeta on the ground and said to Ling An, "In that case, we can save this Senzu Bean. I'll trouble you, Miss Ling An."
"No problem."
Ling An gently waved her hand, then squatted down and placed her hand on Vegeta. With a flash of light, Vegeta, who had been unconscious, slowly opened his eyes.
"..." Vegeta, who had opened his eyes, suddenly sat up, but the feeling of weakness quickly made him frown. He looked up and met Krillin's eyes: "Did you give me a Senzu Bean that was tampered with? Why did it only heal my injuries and not restore my stamina?"
Good, very Vegeta.
Seeing that Vegeta showed no gratitude but instead blamed Krillin, Ling An exchanged a glance with Gohan. Their eyes both flashed with a look of "as expected." They thought, even if Trunks was mentally prepared, seeing this kind of father would still make him question his life, right?
Before Krillin could answer, Vegeta had already noticed Gohan and Ling An. When he saw Gohan, his pupils suddenly shrank: "Kakarot?! No... you're not Kakarot, who exactly are you?"
Gohan looked quite similar to Goku, but not entirely. A quick glance might make you think they were the same person, but a careful look wouldn't allow you to mistake them. Therefore, Vegeta immediately questioned him.
"Be... Vegeta, this is Gohan, and his friend Miss Ling An; they also came from the future," Krillin was a little panicked after being glared at by Vegeta. Hearing his words, he immediately explained.
"Gohan from the future? Didn't Trunks say that you were already dead in the future?" Vegeta's face also showed disbelief.
"Uncle Vegeta, it's been a long time!" Gohan greeted him, then repeated what he'd told Krillin earlier.
"Hmph, Kakarot's son actually eliminated the Androids? I didn't expect that," Vegeta said, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
Even though he now possessed power surpassing those two Androids, he was well aware of their strength. Gohan managing to defeat them must have come at a significant cost.
"So, in your world, Trunks and Bulma are still alive, right?" Vegeta's gaze drifted, and he asked the question casually, arms crossed.
Gohan exchanged a surprised look with Ling An, then smiled. "Aunt Bulma and Trunks are both alive. We were able to travel back to this time thanks to the Time Machine Aunt Bulma built. As for Trunks, even though he's only around ten years old, he already has the power to easily defeat the Androids. He's amazing; when I was his age, I didn't even know how to transform into a Super Saiyan."
"Hmph, the son of a Saiyan Prince is certainly no ordinary person."
Vegeta then turned his gaze toward Trunks, who was battling Cell. Everyone followed his gaze.
Krillin glanced at Vegeta with some concern, worried that Trunks's display of power might upset him. But it clearly didn't, so he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Trunks is incredibly strong now, too. He can fight Cell like that, perhaps he really can defeat him!"
"..."
Krillin had thought that his words would be met with agreement from Gohan and the others, but unexpectedly, no one spoke after he finished, and they fell into silence.
After a moment, Gohan said calmly, "It's not that simple. If we divide Super Saiyan into four stages, then Uncle Vegeta just used the Super Saiyan Second Stage. His power reached an extreme, and it hardly affected his speed. Also, although the burden on his body is still significant, it's within a tolerable range."
"After the Second Stage comes the Third Stage, which is the state Trunks is currently in while fighting Cell. In this state, one's power will experience an incredible surge, but it places a huge strain on the body. Meanwhile, due to the expansion of the body's muscles, speed is sacrificed. In this situation, even though the Super Saiyan Third Stage is far stronger than the Second Stage, overall, it's far inferior." Speaking, Gohan looked at Vegeta, who was frowning and silent, and said with a smile, "Uncle Vegeta should also be aware of the shortcomings of this form and has mastered it, but he didn't use it when fighting Cell, right?"
"If that's the case, isn't Trunks going to lose?!" Krillin's face showed a bad expression. Even though Trunks and Cell were currently trading blows, he suddenly felt that Trunks would be defeated in the next moment.
Vegeta didn't pay attention to the worried Krillin. He looked at Gohan and said in a low voice, "Kakarot's son, you said there are four stages of Super Saiyan, so you must have reached the fourth stage, right?"
Although Vegeta knew about the Second and Third Stages as Gohan had said, he didn't know how to proceed beyond the Super Saiyan transformations. Therefore, the Super Saiyan four-stage concept that Gohan proposed attracted his attention.
"That's right, Gohan, according to what you said, you should already know," Krillin looked at Gohan with some anticipation.
Under their gaze, Gohan smiled slightly and said, "Indeed, I've already mastered the Super Saiyan Fourth Stage. The reason I say there are four stages of Super Saiyan is because the fourth stage is also known as Super Saiyan Full Power!"
As he spoke, Gohan's hair flashed, instantly changing from black to yellow. Seeing Gohan transform in this way, both Vegeta and Krillin wore expressions of disbelief.
In their memory, once a Super Saiyan transformed, it meant a wild outpouring of power. But as for the current Gohan, they didn't feel even a hint of that wild energy. He still felt the same as when he hadn't transformed, as if he hadn't used his ki. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have dared imagine that Gohan had already become a Super Saiyan.
Gohan looked at Vegeta with his emerald eyes and said softly, "It's possible to fully unleash the power of Super Saiyan without almost any burden on the body. This is Super Saiyan Full Power!"
....
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