"......"
"......"
The two locked eyes, both silent.
Yamiru squinted. The white cloth wrapped around the head, Indian style… dumpling-like round eyes, a sausage-shaped mouth, standing there with a complete lack of presence. This had to be Mr. Popo. But even when Yamiru activated his Golden Veil and looked closely, he still couldn't make out… where Mr. Popo's chin and neck were… It was really dark! So dark that the entire person blended together, completely transparent.
Mr. Popo raised a hand: "Yo."
"Yo…" Gine's soul trembled as if instinctively responding. She immediately realized that others shouldn't be able to see her. But the next moment, Mr. Popo's "vacant" gaze shifted to her, and with a slow and dazed tone, he praised, "You're very pure." Gine's soul vibrated, seeming happy, while Mr. Popo had already turned his gaze to the spirit of Bardock, commenting, "You managed to pass through the temple's magic and get here, really unexpected… Looks like you're not a bad guy after all."
Bardock: "......" Why are all these Earthlings so weird?
Yamiru quickly realized and asked, "Ah, hello, may I ask if you are Kami?"
"No, I am a servant of the Kamis," Mr. Popo replied. "My name is Mr. Popo."
"Then Mr. Popo, where are you from?" Yamiru asked casually, pretending not to understand.
"I come from the Yellow Springs, to be precise, Mr. Popo comes from Heaven," Mr. Popo said nonchalantly, "I was sent to Earth to serve the Kamis here."
Such a setup? Yamiru thought it was strange, but it seemed to explain why Mr. Popo had served multiple Kamis in the past…
Also, in the comics, Kamis cannot commit suicide, so they didn't deal with King Piccolo, but why couldn't Popo intervene? It seemed odd.
But if Mr. Popo was an emissary from the Yellow Springs, it made sense.
The fortune teller was an emissary from the world of the living to the Yellow Springs, while Mr. Popo seemed to be an emissary from the Yellow Springs to the world of the living.
So, Planet Vegeta didn't have Kamis because the Yellow Springs never sent any emissaries there?
"Then may I ask, where is the Kami?" Yamiru said honestly. "I'm just a mortal martial artist from the lower realm. I came to the temple specifically to visit the Kami. Although I'm not sure what I should do once I meet the Kami, I just wanted to see them. It would feel regretful if I didn't come by…"
His training at the Korin Temple was still ongoing. Whether the Kamis or Mr. Popo taught him didn't matter, as it didn't really affect anything.
Mr. Popo: "The Kami is not home. They went out to visit a friend."
"U fuc…" Yamiru almost couldn't hold back his sarcasm.
A visitor comes to find the old Kami, only for the attendant to say the Kami is out visiting a friend… This situation felt so strange!
Do Kamis really have casual visits with friends? That's unheard of!
Yamiru thought to himself, "Don't tell me they went to play chess with the taishang Laojun… wait a minute, don't tell me, there's really a taishang Laojun here…"
(taishang Laojun is a taoist god)
"So regrettable," Gine's soul sent a wave of emotion.
Mr. Popo turned to look at her. Then, Mr. Popo turned his attention to Bardock—suddenly, Bardock's spirit seemed to focus on the higher sky.
Gine also looked up, and Yamiru realized something was wrong. He quickly looked up.
They all saw a hazy figure floating in the air, gazing down at them.
Because it was against the unobstructed sunlight, the figure appeared unusually dark, and its features couldn't be seen. Only the white robe and cape could be seen flapping in the wind. Moreover, the eyes were chilling, with no apparent emotion in them.
Yamiru froze for a moment, then reacted and clasped his hands in a greeting: "Hello, Kami."
The white-robed figure in the sky: "......"
"Kami, you're back," Mr. Popo greeted, watching as the white-robed figure descended from the sky and flew directly to the center of the palace at the opposite end of the vast square.
Not paying attention to them? Yamiru was frustrated. What a bad temper! Could it be that Son Goku's face had such high charm?
Mr. Popo spoke to Yamiru and the others: "Well, you've seen the Kami. However, it seems the Kami doesn't plan to meet you."
Gine's soul sent out a vibration: "Such a strange person…"
Then, she suddenly noticed something strange in Bardock's soul wave. He seemed to be in some pain.
"Are you alright, Bardock?" Gine's soul hurriedly approached.
"It's fine…" Bardock's soul quickly calmed down. If he had a body, he would probably be smiling through cold sweat, "It's just that the perspective from which I looked at that person just now reminded me of some bad memories…"
When looking at the sky, it reminded Bardock of the final moments when he resisted the death energy sphere that Frieza threw to destroy Planet Vegeta…
After that, he came to the Yellow Springs and was fortunate enough to find Gine among the souls, where they both fell to Hell and suffered.
"If it were you…"
At that moment, a faint voice came from the dark corner inside the palace, likely from the aloof Kami, "Perhaps you might have a chance to become the new Kami in the future."
After finishing these words, the conversation fell into silence, as the speaker firmly maintained an air of indifference.
However, the people who heard this looked at each other, confused. Who exactly was kami referring to?
Bardock believed there were only two living beings here, one of whom claimed to have come from the underworld, leaving only Yamiru as the living person. It was clear Kami must have been talking to him.
However, Mr. Popo looked at Gine's soul, sweating, and said, "If you could have a physical body, you might really become the next immortal."
"Eh?" Gine's soul flew into a cold sweat as she responded, "Was that about me?"
Yamiru secretly thought, "What kind of nonsense is this? Goku's mom is supposed to become the Earth's Kami? Old short flute, are you going to step down and perish together with you brothers in the rice cooker…?"
However… he thought carefully, and he realized that most of his purpose for coming to the temple had already been accomplished.
First, when Mr. Popo met them, he immediately commented that Bardock's soul could pass through the temple's barrier, proving his inherent goodness. Although Yamiru suspected that it might be the power of the Dragon Balls that kept Bardock's soul here beside him…
Additionally, there was Gine, whose situation was even clearer—Kami had already decided that she would be the next Earth immortal.
I just came here to enjoy the view, to tour this sacred place, and now they're making a Saiyan the Earth's Kami? Yamiru rubbed his forehead.
But Bardock had no thoughts on the matter, and Gine didn't find it strange either. Everything would have to wait until they restored their physical bodies and truly resurrected. Whether it was Kami or meeting Kakarot/Goku… who knew?
Also…
Bardock's soul glanced at the sky, silently.
With that, Yamiru decided it was time to leave.
The power of the Dragon Balls would be restored in a few months, and he needed to go to West City to keep an eye on the Dragon Radar to ensure he could collect them as soon as possible.
Additionally, according to Master Korin, someone with a complex mind like Yamiru, who often overthinks things, wasn't suited to training in a place as isolated from the world as the Korin Tower. Therefore, the temple, even more isolated than Korin Tower, was clearly not suitable for him. His path might lie in the mundane world…
Yamiru leapt from the edge of the temple…
Then, he suddenly stopped mid-air and silently flew back to the temple's base, grabbing the Power Pole.
"Power Pole, shrink!" he whispered.
There was no shame in this… After all, even Goku, who trained in the temple, had mastered the art of flight and still carried the Power Pole to the Martial Arts Tournament, right? It proved that even he carried the Power Pole!
The Power Pole rapidly shrank, taking Yamiru far away from the temple.
Bardock and Gine's souls followed closely behind…
On the edge of the temple, Mr. Popo looked down for a moment, then paced back into the palace, where Kami was resting with his eyes closed.
"Has that great one fallen asleep?" Mr. Popo asked.
"Mm," Kami tightened his grip on his staff, softly muttering, "Supreme Elderly Lord Annin said that this should be his final sleep…"
---
The departure was hurried, and the return was equally swift.
Master Korin was still groggy when he heard a commotion above him. Rubbing his eyes, he muttered, "Really, what's with all the noise…?"
Licking his paws, he heard thundering footsteps above him. Then, he saw a figure leap down from above.
It was Yamiru.
"Goodbye, Korin! I'll be back when I think it's time to graduate!" Yamiru hovered outside the railing, clasping his hands together in a respectful salute to Master Korin.
Gine and Bardock's souls circled around him.
"Go on, go on~" Master Korin waved his hand, grabbed a bag of Senzu Beans, and tossed them to Yamiru. "A gift for you~"
"Thanks!" Yamiru smiled in mid-air as he caught the beans.
Then, with a thought, he stopped using the flight technique and immediately fell straight down with gravity's pull.
Whoosh—
Yamiru fell like a rock, smashing through the Flying Nimbuss.
Bardock's soul followed without any hindrance: "…"
Gine's soul bounced off the Flying Nimbuss with a thud, unable to pass through… She flew into a cold sweat, circled around, and hurriedly chased after Bardock and Yamiru.
"Haha… Bardock, you can't ride the Nimbus either~"
Yamiru, with his back to the Earth, looked at the sky, free-falling in a wide spread, laughing as he spoke to Bardock's soul.
"…" Bardock didn't want to respond.
"Haha…" Yamiru looked at the Flying Nimbuss fading into the distance and Gine's pure soul chasing after him through the clouds. Suddenly, he mumbled, "Pure things… the Nimbus carries pure things…" His eyes widened as he instinctively used the flight technique, halting his rapid descent.
Yamiru stared intensely at the Flying Nimbuss, his mind calling out, "Genki Dama! That's right, this feels so familiar—it's the Genki Dama!"
A flash of inspiration struck Yamiru's mind—indeed, Goku had once said that the Genki Dama wouldn't attack those without evil intent, and Sun Gohan had indeed managed to push the Genki Dama away!
This mechanism, similar to the judgment of good and evil, was so similar to the Flying Nimbus, wasn't it?