After the battle ended, Vegeta entered the Secret Realm once again.
"Is he not planning to go back? The attitude he showed when he just came out made it obvious he wanted to see Son Goku immediately."
However, Xie Yi did not bother to ask. After all, doing so would be redundant; Vegeta was the type of person who would speak if he felt like it, and put on airs if he didn't.
In the time that followed, Xie Yi continued to study the skills of Instant Transmission and Forced Spirit Fission.
Before long, a full year had passed since Xie Yi arrived in the universe, which was a little over a year and a few weeks in the Dragon Ball World.
There were still two years left before the appearance of the Androids.
On Earth.
At a place on the edge of a vast expanse of yellow sand where an oasis could finally be seen, Dr. Gero's laboratory was hidden deep inside a large mountain. The outermost layer featured a massive door painted the exact color of the mountain, which was why no one had ever discovered it despite him being there for many years.
Looking at the Cell embryo—which had obtained the cells from the battle between Vegeta and Xie Yi on Earth—Dr. Gero's wrinkled face bloomed with a look of delight.
He caressed the culture tank containing Cell's embryo as if he were stroking his own child.
"Cell, you are a creature synthesized from the cells of every martial artist on Earth. The moment you are born, you will surely fulfill my grand ambition."
"Android 17, Android 18, wait just two more years. Originally, I intended to weaken your strength, but now it seems that won't be necessary."
"In fact, I'll even have to strengthen you a bit. After all, the current Cell has a precise time when he will awaken; if the two of you are too weak, my Perfect Cell won't be able to accept it."
After muttering to himself, the doctor set to work.
Mount Paozu.
Seeing Son Goku return carrying a massive pile of ingredients, Chi-Chi wept tears of joy.
"Goku! My Goku! You've finally come back home to stay. This has truly been the happiest year of my life."
Ever since Son Goku mastered the Super Saiyan 3 transformation and achieved its Full Power state, he had decided to spend plenty of time accompanying Chi-Chi before the Androids appeared.
In his previous life, he had always let Chi-Chi make the long journey to distant cities alone to buy the food that he and Gohan needed.
In this lifetime, Goku went along with Chi-Chi to the market and back together. Occasionally, when he went to buy ingredients by himself, he even learned to use his martial arts to earn a source of income, funding Chi-Chi's purchases of cosmetics and other favorite items of hers.
On weekends when Gohan didn't need to study, Goku would take the whole family to visit his father-in-law, the Ox-King, and sometimes they would all go sightseeing at various attractions in the city.
Scratching the back of his head, Son Goku smiled and said, "Chi-Chi, from now on, whenever I finish my training, I'll come straight back to stay with you. I'll also look for work to make money. Don't worry, the me now values our family's happiness much more."
Gohan watched his parents happily from the side.
"That's wonderful! Father is even more perfect now, and I'll work hard for my dream of becoming a great scholar."
That's right—even though he had been reborn for another lifetime, Son Goku did not let the lessons of his past life prevent Gohan from pursuing his dream of becoming a scholar.
Son Goku's reasoning was that, having learned in this lifetime the ultimate evolutionary direction of the Saiyans, combined with his own bloodline mutation, he had transformed into a state similar to Broly's—one where he didn't need to train to increase his battle power, yet his battle power continuously grew during combat.
Although he couldn't transform into the green-haired Full Power Legendary Super Saiyan, his talent was far stronger than in his previous life, giving him even greater confidence to face Ashalon.
In West City, at Capsule Corporation, Bulma was patrolling the workplace with two-year-old Trunks, though in truth, she was simply bored.
Bulma thought about how that jerk Vegeta hadn't returned in a full year; though her mouth never stopped complaining, her heart was filled with longing.
"Vegeta! You irresponsible Saiyan Prince, how could you bear to leave a wife gifted with both beauty and brains all alone at home?"
"The next time you come back, I'm definitely going to bring our son and give you the cold shoulder. When you return, I won't even give you anything to eat, just to see if you'll finally realize your mistake in abandoning your peerless wife to go gallivanting out in the world alone."