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*****
"It's getting late; I should head back, or my mom will start to worry."
As evening approached, George hovered in the air and waved goodbye to the three residents of the Lookout. "See you all tomorrow!"
Piccolo, however, stood frozen, his expression one of profound self-doubt. Dende, noticing Piccolo's dazed state, asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"I feel... as though I have nothing left to teach him," Piccolo muttered, looking up at Dende and Mr. Popo. "Telekinesis, materialization, gigantification, telepathy, cloning—even the Namekian art of regeneration... he mastered every single one of them after seeing them just once."
If George didn't look so human, Piccolo would have sworn he was a fellow Namekian. Dende and Mr. Popo exchanged looks of pure disbelief. These were innate Namekian abilities tied to their specific biological use of Ki. For a human to learn them at all—let alone in a single glance—was unheard of. Perhaps the ceiling for human potential wasn't as low as they had once thought.
Then again, given that Saiyan-human hybrids often possessed greater potential than pure-blooded Saiyans, they figured anything was possible in this strange era.
After leaving the Lookout, George used Instant Transmission to return home. Most of Piccolo's abilities were things he could already mimic with magic, so seeing them performed with Ki allowed him to instantly grasp the underlying principles. This gave him an even deeper understanding of how Ki interacted with the laws of this world.
On Sunday, George returned to the Lookout. Although he had "squeezed" Piccolo dry of techniques, the Lookout still held immense value—from the legacies of previous Guardians to the divine hierarchy of the universe.
He also set his sights on Korin Tower below. Specifically, he wanted to study the Senzu Beans. In his eyes, the Senzu Bean was the most broken item in the Dragon Ball world: one bean could sustain a person for ten days and instantly heal any wound or exhaustion. Even a Super Saiyan Blue Goku could be fully restored by one.
George suspected that with his magical expertise, he could eventually replicate the beans. If the Saiyans had an infinite supply of Senzu Beans, their "Zenkaiboost" (increasing strength after recovering from a near-death state) would make them practically invincible.
By Monday, George used a technique he learned from Piccolo to create a physical clone to attend school while his main body remained at the Lookout. Since these clones were made of Ki, they would vanish if they ran out of energy, but for a simple day of classes, it was more than enough.
Two months of peaceful training passed in a blur.
"What's wrong, Gohan? You look like you've seen a ghost," George's clone greeted Gohan on Monday morning.
Gohan held his head in his hands, looking miserable. "Videl found me out..."
It turned out that during a mission to rescue the offspring of the dragon Toto, Gohan had accidentally revealed his identity to Videl. She had cornered him that morning and threatened to expose him unless he entered the World Martial Arts Tournament in one month to face her.
"That's great news!" George encouraged him. "I heard the grand prize is ten million Zeni. If you win, Auntie Chi-Chi will be thrilled."
Gohan scratched his head nervously. "But I can't wear my helmet in the tournament. If everyone sees my face, it'll be a disaster."
"Why not ask your Auntie Bulma? The one who made the helmet," George suggested. "She might have a way to hide your identity without a helmet."
Gohan's face lit up. "You're right! Bulma will definitely have a solution! I'll go see her after school."
Up on the Lookout, George's true body opened its eyes. The World Martial Arts Tournament... the main plot is finally starting.
The tournament signaled the arrival of Babidi and Majin Buu, followed by the appearance of the Supreme Kai and the Fusion techniques. Having thoroughly researched the Lookout, George was ready to move up the divine ladder toward the Gods of Destruction, Angels, and Zeno.
That evening, Gohan arrived at the Lookout with more news. When he had asked Bulma for a new disguise, Vegeta had overheard and declared he would also enter the tournament to settle the score with Gohan. Vegeta believed that after seven years of training, he had finally surpassed the Gohan who defeated Cell.
The news traveled further. Goku, training in the Other World, sent word through King Kai that he would be granted a single day to return to Earth to compete. Upon hearing Goku was returning, Krillin and Android 18 also decided to enter—mostly for the prize money.
"Is that so? This is getting interesting," Piccolo said, a competitive fire igniting in his eyes. He hadn't slacked off in seven years and felt confident he could challenge Goku and Vegeta again. "Fine, I'm in too!"
"Popo will cheer for all of you," Mr. Popo said with a thumbs-up.
Dende turned to George. "George, will you enter as well?"
Piccolo looked over too. "I've felt your Ki growing exponentially this past month. You should try it; the experience will help your training."
In just one month, George's power level had jumped from 10,000 to over 10 million. While this was nothing compared to Piccolo's 7.5 billion or the Saiyans' heights, it already surpassed humans like Krillin and Tien. What baffled Piccolo was that George never seemed to "train" in the traditional sense; he just studied the mechanics of energy, and his power levels skyrocketed as a byproduct.
"George, come on! Join us! It'll be fun," Gohan added, hoping that if George was there, he wouldn't have to face the social fallout of being 'exposed' alone.
George smiled and nodded. "Alright, let's do it. I'm not much for fighting, but it sounds like an interesting experience."
He wasn't after the prize, but the tournament was the perfect front-row seat to the Majin Buu incident. Plus, watching the world's top fighters go all out would provide invaluable data for his research into Ki.
"One month... that should be enough to reach Sequence 1," George mused after Gohan left.
His current body had reached Sequence 3: Silver Knight, with 50% of the Genetic Lock unlocked, which is why his raw Ki sat at 10 million. Advancing further would be slower, but he estimated that by reaching Sequence 1: Hand of God and unlocking 80% of the Genetic Lock, his Ki would swell to around 10 billion.
10 billion wasn't the top tier in this universe, but combined with his magical authorities, it was more than enough to play a pivotal "support" role in the coming chaos.
At the dinner table that night:
"Mom, I'm planning to enter the World Martial Arts Tournament next month," George announced casually.
"What?!" Emma sprayed her soup across the table. George leaned back just in time, leaving the soup to splash directly onto his sister Alice's face.
"Mom!" Alice whined, looking betrayed.
Emma scrambled to wipe Alice's face with a towel, staring at George in disbelief. "George, the World Martial Arts Tournament? You mean the world-famous fighting competition? The one Mr. Satan won?"
"Yes," George explained calmly. "My martial arts teacher thinks I have a lot of talent and should give it a try. Besides, even fifth place wins a million Zeni."
"But... you've only been training for a month! Isn't that too dangerous?" Emma didn't want to crush his spirit, but she was terrified he'd get hurt.
"Mom, I haven't told you, but my teacher was actually a runner-up in a previous tournament. He's the real deal," George smiled. "Even if I don't pass the qualifiers, it's fine. Let's just treat it as a family vacation."
(End of Chapter)