Chapter 2 - Dead, Waiting, and Overthinking (Part 1)
Standing—or rather, floating—in this interminable queue of souls waiting for King Yemma's judgment has been mind-numbing. Each soul's turn takes an average of thirty minutes (yes, I've been counting) before the line starts moving again, making the line crawl at a glacial pace. Talk about a strict due process, something my country from my original world can only dream of.
Not a glimpse of King Yemma's towering figure, no gigantic mahogany table in the distance... nothing. Just an endless queue stretching far beyond sight, swallowed by the hazy expanse of Other World. How long is this queue anyway? Is there even an end to this madness? I've been dreaming of running through Snake Way to meet King Kai, but it's funny now that I couldn't even bear waiting on this relatively shorter queue.
I have no clue whose body or soul I possess in this world, nor do I have any idea of his deeds... or misdeeds? And honestly, I'd rather take the express elevator to Hell than endure this torture. Can't I just get a peek at the heavenly scoreboard or something? Management here would probably have a field day with gathering souls willing to just go to Hell immediately to get purified and reincarnate.
Turns out, souls are able to have a little chat. The soul behind me has told me how he got blasted into smithereens while fending off space pirates from invading his ship. The one in front of me... Well, he's not exactly alone. Him and all the other souls waiting in line ahead of him—all of them were caught in the destruction of their planet by the hands of "enigmatic entities adorned in elongated shoulder adornments."
It didn't take long to find out he was actually talking about Frieza's forces, considering he also described them to have donned a scouter and be capable of flying. Apparently, their planet's greatest warriors have "staunchly repudiated any notion of submission to their oppressive dominion!" Their planet probably doesn't have enough value to suitable for sale.
My gut twists. That pretty much confirms I'm indeed in Dragon Ball, giving me a sense of morbid anticipation. Then I'm reminded by the 23rd WMAT, and by how many years left I have before the start of the Saiyan invasion—5 years.
If I need to advance by leaps and bounds within that short timeframe, I need to approach King Yemma as soon as possible and try to persuade him to allow me to meet King Kai. But considering the intel about the planetary destruction and assuming the planet has the same population of that of Earth, it would take around 400,000 years to judge them all. Maybe less. Maybe more.
Goku has mentioned time running slower here compared to the realm of the living. Still, I doubt it's slow to a point that a year in the living realm would equal thousands of millennia here. How King Yemma and all his goons don't just drop dead many times over from overwork is beyond me.
More importantly—what does that leave me? Would I become just an insignificant soul on this world? Sure, I'm safe for now, but what about when the likes of Majin Buu or Janemba infiltrate Other World and eat us for nourishment?
That's probably just filler, but I can never be sure. Come to think of it, how was Goku able to meet King Yemma right after Earth's Kami took his body and soul from the battlefield after defeating Raditz? Perhaps heroes do have special privileges, and that should be the reason why they can keep their bodies as well.
Then how about Frieza's scene in Earth's Hell when Goku was recruiting him for the Tournament of Power? That surely is no filler. He's no hero and yet could still retain his body.
Is there a certain power level threshold for that? Goku's during his first death should be around 400, right?
Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask this guy behind me again, I suppose. It's worth a shot. I shift in the air, twisting my formless body around. It still amazes me how souls can maneuver like this—no limbs, just air currents pushing them along.
"What now?" The soul puts on a frown.
Right. Short-tempered.
"You know, I'm just wondering. Do you happen to know your power level?"
He rolls his eyes. "Pff. Of course, I know. What kind of fool does not know his own strength? That's standard galactic patrolman protocol."
Oh, yeah, he did mention that. So he's like Jaco—just, you know, dead. "Right. So, care to share?"
He smirks. "Hah. 500."
My face drops. His stupid smirk grows even wider, as if he just revealed an insane number. That's not why I reacted that way, but I couldn't bother to explain.
"Oh. Wow."
"Now you understand, da? What did you say your name was again?"
I don't really know my name in this world, so I just stick with my original. "Carson. Yours?"
"Know what, Carson? You talk too much. Best keep quiet and let me wait in peace. Or maybe you want trouble?"
I fight the urge to scoff. What's he gotta do? Haunt me? He's a literal soul—his punches can only go right through me. What an idiot. Still, I do not press further.
"Fair enough. Thanks."
"Name's Aleksio. Now, just do me a favor, alright?"
"Okay."
Aleksio (stupid name!) just nods and looks past me as though I just didn't have a conversation with him. What a weirdo.
Then I think about the implications of what he said. Retaining your body after death is not because of power level thresholds and certainly not about heroic merits, then what could it be? Could it be arbitrary? Just King Yemma's whims?
Even without a physical body, my soul should still have some Ki. After all, Ki is "life force"—but "life" doesn't just disappear after death. If the soul continues, then so should Ki. Otherwise, how else would Uub, a reincarnation of Majin Buu, become abnormally strong enough already before Goku found him and trained him at GT? Or even at Super during the Moro Arc. He was just a kid at that time, no less. His main strength must have come from the soul—the reincarnated essence of Majin Buu.
Getting still, I try to sense where my meridians are supposed to be.
Nothing. No flow. No pressure points. Guess that's what physical bodies are for—a medium through which Ki flows.
That should be the physical aspect of Ki, embedded in every cell of any living organism. It's the main source from which Ki users are able to draw and use. It's very straightforward, I must say, but it does not paint the whole picture.
Drawing from the logic in the cultivation world, visualizing meridian systems is akin to meditation, as it puts the user to a state that can allow its manipulation. That is how Videl learned how to fly when she sat cross-legged with Gohan.
For Saiyans, though? They don't need that as their bodies are already biologically predisposed to allow the body to tap into the energy from the cells at an instinctive level.
Still, Ki is also spiritual, and I reckon it all boils down to the mind—consciousness! From the moment one is born, all the internal energy reserves should have already been felt and observed by the body with the help of the subconscious as it flows through the meridians, waiting for its conscious manipulation.
Since I'm now in my soul body, and assuming souls do have Ki (really, how else can we float or even move?), then I should try accessing it.
I close my eyes, feeling for any warm pulse deep deep within the ectoplasm. It's faint, but unmistakable—a subtle pulse coursing through my soul body.
My eyes scrunch, the tail on my soul tense as a pole as I try to will it to my command.
It wouldn't budge!
Just as I thought. Our subconscious is not familiar with the Ki present in the soul and thus couldn't directly control it, with or without its own system of energy pathways. Almost as if the energy within me is foreign.
Wait—
Isn't there a technique like that? Goku's Spirit Bomb operates on that principle. Every living thing—trees, rivers, even microbes—has its own Ki. Heck, even inanimate objects are no exception!
But how did Goku do it? He didn't just pull it in by force when he fought Vegeta or Frieza, right? He called upon it, declaring his intent, and requesting the energies to receive them.
That way, he must actually have been intentionally synchronizing with all the energy around him in the process, tuning into the frequency of various Ki sources. That must be the reason why King Kai said only those with pure hearts can do it. Maybe not because of morality, but compatibility?
In any case, biology wouldn't actually matter at the spiritual level. Even if I were a Saiyan or an Arcosian, where energy control is already instinctive, it wouldn't matter if your subconscious isn't familiar with the Ki. The conscious would also need to impress upon the subconscious its familiarity with the Ki.
Of course, direct transfer from one Ki user to the next or direct absorption through magic or technology can be possible, but that requires direct contact, but that's probably a different principle altogether.
Regardless, I can try harnessing the energy within my soul body first. Even without a clear energy pathway for me to visualize on to facilitate the process, I can still try using Goku's requesting method as a way to tune into the frequencies and see if there's movement.
In that respect, I close my eyes again.
"I call upon the energy residing within me. Please, allow me to control you," I think, rather embarrassed of how needy I sound. I need to somehow listen to its response. Communicate with it. Tune my thoughts, intentions, and will to its rhythm.
So far, no movement.
Maybe I need some level of quiet. After all, how could I even observe movement with all the chattering souls around me. Those souls in front of me couldn't even keep their mouths shut. What are they even talking about?
If there's one thing I know about myself during my two years in the cultivation world, it's that I can barely cultivate when there are a lot of distractions! To be able to channel my energy on Papaya Island, even as the ground itself shook, was a testament to how much control over the physical body I had cultivated over time.
Fuming, I approach that last in line among Frieza's goons' victims, intending to tap on his shoulder before remembering I don't have hands.
"Hey, what are you guys even talking about?"
He and the other one in front of him stare at me, their heads swiveled at an unnatural 180-degree turn. Souls are weird.
"Ah, yes! We were but uttering the sacred name, a certain seed of some kind—no mere kernel, mind you, but a celestial germ whose unfathomable energies ripple through the firmament itself, shaking the heavens and the earth!" the last-in-line said, his floating body bobbing up and down in exaggerated reverence, his tail vibrating. He turns to the one he's been talking to. "Andrez, pray tell, what was the hallowed appellation of this divine germ?"
Okay, seems interesting.
Andrez tilts, eyes wrinkled in thought, floating sideways. Then with a calm flourish, he looks at both of us. "Unfortunately, the specifics of its nomenclature elude me, but one thing is certain: this sacrosanct seed holds the essence of ascension, elevating mortals who consume it into ones with divine stature, rendering them gods among men."
I blink. "I have no idea what you guys are on about. Does that kind of seed even exist?"
"Such impudence! You dare cast doubt upon our veracity? I, Rodriguez, one of the heirs of the Universal Scroll-Keepers, along with the rest of my peers, have traversed even the most uncharted territories in this universe, keeping records of the arcane and curating the rarest and most obscure relics. Nothing, and I mean nothing, remains unknown to us."
Let me test that claim then. "If you're so knowledgeable, then do, uh, pray tell, are you aware of the mysterious orbs on Namek?" Their speech pattern sure is contagious.
"Why yes—"
Andrez raises his voice, cutting him off. "Ahah! You must surely be referring to the fabled Dragon Balls of Planet Namek! Those seven ancient orbs, imbued with the essence of the gods, hold the power to conjure the majestic Porunga, the Dragon of Dreams. Gather them, and Porunga shall graciously bestow... three wishes!"
Now they're just glaring daggers at each other.
"Wow, you guys are legit."
Rodriguez relents first. "Reactions such as yours are... commonplace, I assure you. The uninitiated often struggle with awe."
Andrez adds, "Indeed. So, tell us, have you more curiosities left to quench?
"About the seed, where do they come from?"
Power Levels:
Carson - 10
Aleksio - 500
Rodriguez - 250
Andrez - 240