The wilderness roared as harsh winds whipped sand and gravel across jagged rocks.
Gohan's tiny body swayed in the gale.
He gritted his teeth, trembling before a saber-toothed tiger that snarled and lunged at him. Sweat and tears mixed on his dirt-streaked face.
Behind him, Piccolo stood with his arms crossed, watching with a cold, unmoving gaze.
"Crying and fear will only make you die faster," Piccolo's voice echoed sharply.
"Your potential is far greater than this. Force it out—or die."
Gohan trembled harder, fear and frustration knotting in his chest.
He didn't want to fight. He wanted to go home to his mother.
But the terrifying pressure behind him was even more frightening than the beast in front of him.
Thousands of kilometers away from this brutal wilderness lay a vast, shimmering ocean.
Sunlight scattered across the waves like countless golden shards, carried by a gentle, salty breeze.
Loren lay lazily on a beach chair, sunglasses resting on his nose.
His fluffy Saiyan tail extended from behind his waist, curled expertly around a fishing rod as it swayed lightly.
Beside him, chilled drinks sat inside a small ice bucket, faint mist rising from the cold bottles.
Suddenly, Loren's tail twitched.
With an effortless flick, the rod bent gracefully, and a half-meter-long fish was flung perfectly onto the grill next to him.
[Daily Quest: Fish for an afternoon on a deserted island — completed.]
[Reward: Battle Power +50.]
Warm energy surged through his body.
Loren took off his sunglasses and stretched, joints popping lightly.
He casually sensed the ki signatures in the distance—everyone was training desperately.
Piccolo and Gohan's ki had grown. And over at Kami's Lookout, Krillin, Yamcha, and the others were pushing themselves to the brink.
"Seriously… why train so hard?"
Loren muttered.
He cracked open a cold drink using the tip of his tail and gulped it down. The cool liquid washed away the afternoon heat.
This was the true meaning of life.
Kami's Lookout.
Above the white stone platform hidden among the clouds, Mr. Popo watered flowers calmly.
Kami stood at the edge, gazing at the world below with a deeply worried expression.
"Popo, do you feel it?"
"Yes, Kami," Popo replied quietly.
"They're getting stronger at an amazing rate. Their ki grows by the day."
Kami shook his head, "I'm not talking about them."
Popo paused.
"It's that mysterious strong one."
Popo immediately understood who he meant—the Saiyan who annihilated Raditz instantly.
"He doesn't seem to be doing any training," Kami said, frowning even deeper.
"His power is unfathomable. After the Raditz incident, I thought he would become Earth's new guardian, but he… does nothing."
"He just sleeps… fishes… wanders around…" Kami looked utterly baffled.
To possess unimaginable strength but use it solely to enjoy life—
This went beyond Kami's ability to comprehend.
"We can't understand him, nor can we rely on him," Kami sighed.
"In the end, Earth's future still depends on Goku and the others."
Meanwhile, Loren—whom Kami believed was "doing nothing"—was currently gnawing on grilled fish while working through extremely detailed battle calculations in his mind.
His laziness was never blind.
It was strategic.
"Nappa's Battle Power is about 4,000. Vegeta's is around 18,000," Loren thought.
"I'm at 20,870 right now, and with the daily quests, I'm just over 21,000."
"More than enough to deal with the two of them."
He took another bite of fish.
"But they're just appetizers."
"The real problem is Frieza… that overpowered universe tyrant."
"Normal Battle Power: 530,000. And that's before transformations. Final form reaches tens of millions, and full power breaks a hundred million."
Loren sighed.
"At this rate, daily quests that give +10 or +50 Battle Power… are still too little."
"Ugh. Troublesome."
Just thinking about Frieza was enough to ruin the taste of perfectly grilled fish.
[Daily Quest refreshed: Taste a rare mushroom.]
[Reward: Battle Power +80.]
Loren froze.
A mushroom quest?
"Which means I have to get up and go find it… So annoying."
Still, for 80 Battle Power, he reluctantly stood up.
He brushed the sand off himself and shot into the sky as a streak of light.
Eastern Mountains — under a dangerous cliff.
Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu were undergoing brutal training.
Tien Shinhan, shirtless, drenched in sweat, repeatedly slammed his fists into stone while practicing the New Tri-Beam.
Every strike burned through his energy.
"No… not enough…" he gasped.
At that moment, a figure descended from the sky and landed at the entrance of a nearby cave.
Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu immediately tensed.
It was Loren.
Loren didn't even look at them. He walked straight into the cave.
Minutes later, he came out with several faintly glowing blue mushrooms, looking satisfied.
"Should taste good," He muttered to himself and prepared to leave.
Glancing at the cave, he nodded.
"…Dark, damp, quiet. Good place to sleep."
He casually blasted a neat line of text into the rock wall.
"This place is suitable for training."
To Loren, sleeping and training were basically the same concept—both increased his power.
Having finished marking his future napping spot, he soared back into the sky and disappeared.
Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu approached hesitantly.
When they read the writing on the wall, their eyes widened.
The strokes were elegant yet overwhelmingly sharp—each one filled with a depth of martial insight.
"That ki… He's the mysterious powerhouse Goku mentioned!" Tien Shinhan exclaimed.
"He must have sensed our bottleneck and came to guide us!"
"This cave must hide some special cultivation secret!"
Tien Shinhan rushed inside, feeling the air shift around him.
"Chiaotzu! Training here will be twice as effective!"
Meanwhile, the "unfathomable master" had simply chosen it as a good sleeping spot.
Time passed quietly.
The Z Fighters trained desperately.
Gohan endured hellish lessons under Piccolo.
And Loren… continued his luxurious cycle of sunbathing, napping, and occasionally completing quests.
His Battle Power gradually approached 30,000.
"Ugh…" Loren sighed dramatically.
"These two cosmic couriers are taking forever."
"I can relax for a bit longer… but once they arrive, I'll have to deal with annoying things again."
He lay back down.
The countdown had begun.
The Saiyans were almost here.