LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 14: The Lookout
Leaving the Kame House, Shen travels to Mount Paozu, where Gohan lives. At the moment, the old man happens to be at home.
Gohan, sensing someone's presence, cautiously walks outside.
As the front door creaks! open, Shen is slightly astonished. "Hooo! During this short time we didn't meet, you have become even more robust. Look at those muscles, ho! ho! Haven't you been doing well?"
Shen greets Gohan in his own peculiar way, praising the old man for having improved by leaps and bounds in such a short timeframe.
Gohan, on the other hand, is very confused. He doesn't understand who this young man is. 'Why does he talk as if we are old friends... Do I know him? He does seem somewhat familiar.'
"Do I know you, young man?"
"Right! You wouldn't recognize me..." Shen scans Gohan's curious face and smirks a little. "I am, of course, Frieza... Emperor of the universe."
"Frieza? Universe? Are you by chance an alien?"
"No, I am Shen, you brat. That was a joke."
When Shen calls him a brat, Gohan is understandably a little baffled. Then, as his brain tries to process it, 'Who would call me a brat? Wait, did he just say Shen?' He figures it out.
"Master Shen, is that really you?"
Nodding, Shen calmly explains the recent events to Gohan, who keenly listens as the man speaks.
At first, it sounds rather absurd, hard to believe, but knowing the man's recent actions and the present situation, it's hard to denounce his words.
Shen; The man's presence is incomparably heavier than before. Last time, when they were at Korin Tower, Shen was stronger than Gohan, but not by a big margin. The young age is one thing, but this is even more unimaginable.
Gohan is shocked, to say the least. 'Although I can't exactly estimate how much this monstrous man has grown, I know for sure such a drastic transformation is unheard of...'
He is right to be confused; it would be even stranger if he were not. Martial artists like him devote their whole lives to this...
Shen has become strong, incomparably so, at least by Earth's standards. He has had two big power-ups in just the last year or so.
Compared to when Shen's soul merged with his new body's original soul, his power level had a relatively small increase following his wish from Shenron—less than 100—totaling his power level at around 850.
"Now then, let me tell you why I came here." Shen gives a mocking smile, knowing Gohan was struggling to gauge his strength. "I have a new place to take you. This one is even better than the last one... So, you want to meet God?!"
The last sentence is more of a statement than a question. A little bewildered, Gohan replies, "Ok!" The two men then hop into a car and drive off to their destination.
Along the way, they discuss some important topics, including how Gohan obtained immortality through the help of Master Roshi.
Shen also recommended that Gohan use the Dragon Balls to turn younger, as he had tried to convince Roshi, but like last time, both of his attempts turned out to be futile.
He only got a single reply from both: "I am not so shameless."
"I am old; naturally, I have no lingering desires." It was blasphemous for them to say this, especially Roshi, but they said it to his face as if it was an irrefutable truth.
Apparently, unlike him, they actually have a conscience. 'Ooh, jealousy' he thought. 'Did they think I was trying to seduce young women with my handsome appearance?' He wasn't sure.
Hearing such statements hurt his 30-year-old self. Although he is currently 300 years old in body, he is still young at heart, but who is going to explain that to those smug old geezers? He can't just reveal that he is not actually the Shen they knew and didn't love.
...
It took no longer than a quarter of a day to reach their destination. The sun hadn't even gone down yet. Unlike last time, they didn't have the problem of actually finding their destination.
Fairly simple, actually. Although To yet another surprise for Gohan, the destination turned out to be just the Korin Tower... The man can't catch a break; he has been surprised a little too often recently.
They climb the tower, and it takes the two just an hour to reach the top. Shen could have easily flown up, but he decided not to, as Gohan doesn't have the ability to fly. Along the way, Shen instructs Gohan to learn it. The old man also agrees to do so later, when he has the time.
In the pagoda-like structure at the top, they meet Korin. The drastic increase in Shen's power didn't go unnoticed by the old cat, expectedly so.
He has always felt weird about Shen from the day they met, especially because he was unable to figure out what the other party was thinking...
Normally, he is able to know the intentions and nature of people from just their first interaction, but in the case of Shen, the man has become a huge mystery to Korin. He couldn't read his mind at all.
"We want to meet God," Shen casually states.
Korin literally jumps at this. "How do you know that I can let you meet God?" Korin asks in shock.
"I have my methods," Shen replies with a grin. "You should be able to let us meet him, shouldn't you?"
The cat deeply thinks about it. "I guess it was bound to happen sooner rather than later."
"How so, Korin-sama?" Gohan curiously asks.
Korin takes out something from his fur—who knows where he was hiding it.
"You see, God has given me this bell to give to anyone who wishes to meet him. He probably meant one person, but I don't think he would really mind. After all, the original premise was to send worthy warriors to Kami's Lookout."
Korin proceeds to elaborate further about the Lookout, mainly the method to reach the place.