Light.
Nothing but light.
When Krillin's Serious Kamehameha collided with Goku's desperate shockwave, time itself seemed to freeze.
There was no immediate explosion. Even the air stopped flowing.
The spectators in the stands were frozen with their mouths hanging open. Even a fly trying to steal a bite from a child's hot dog hung motionless in mid-air.
Then came the wail of air compressed to its absolute limit.
"Buzz...!!!"
It wasn't a deafening roar, but a high-frequency vibration that drilled straight into the brain.
The stone slabs at the center of the arena vaporized instantly. They didn't shatter into rubble; they turned directly into particles.
At the point where the two forces met, a perfect black sphere formed, surrounded by blue lightning and red plasma sparks.
"Go... BACK!"
Krillin gritted his teeth as the muscles in his right arm twisted wildly like living pythons.
He was controlling it, desperately controlling it.
The power of the Saitama template was like a soda can stuffed with a nuclear bomb.
If he used even the slightest bit too much force, then not just Goku, but Papaya Island beneath them — and even half the Earth — would be reduced to cosmic dust.
"So this is... Krillin's power!"
Goku's entire body trembled.
His feet braced against the terrifying force pushing back at him. The soles of his shoes had long since worn away, and his bare feet scraped through the air, producing a scorched smell.
There was no fear in those pure eyes.
Only the ecstasy of witnessing a new world.
But he had reached his limit.
The Saiyan's potential was indeed burning wildly at that moment, allowing him to briefly touch a level of power more than ten times greater than his own.
But in the face of absolute overwhelming force, willpower alone could not hold on forever.
Krillin saw Goku's health bar flashing red wildly in his vision and knew he couldn't drag this out any longer.
If this continued, Goku's body would collapse first.
"It's over, Goku!"
Krillin's right arm jolted.
The power he had been suppressing was released by just a fraction... only a tiny fraction.
But that one ten-thousandth was the final mountain that broke the camel's back.
Rumble...!!!
The black energy sphere completely lost balance, swallowing Goku's Ki wave with unstoppable force like a runaway train smashing through a straw dummy.
A massive mushroom cloud rose above the sea, and a shockwave expanded outward in a giant ring.
If Kami had not expanded a transparent protective barrier at the critical moment to shield the stands, the hundreds of spectators in the front rows would probably have been blown to the other side of the planet.
Even so, the entire World Martial Arts Tournament arena looked as if it had been hit by a category twelve typhoon.
The Announcer, along with his microphone, was blown onto the top of a coconut tree, and his toupee flew off sadly toward the sunset.
The seawater was forced apart, revealing a seabed full of mud and strange rocks. Seconds later, it came roaring back, kicking up waves over a hundred meters high.
When the dust finally settled, the arena that had witnessed countless battles was completely gone.
In its place was a crater more than five hundred meters wide, already filling with seawater.
Krillin floated in mid-air. Aside from a scorched section of his pant leg, he didn't even have a scratch on him.
He shook his slightly numb right hand and looked toward a reef at the edge of the crater.
There, Goku lay sprawled out, white smoke rising from his body like a freshly baked sweet potato.
"Cough, cough..."
Goku spat out a mouthful of seawater and laboriously raised one hand in a thumbs-up.
"Krillin... you're... really a monster."
After saying that, his hand dropped, and he passed out completely.
[Ding! Mission complete!]
[Successfully defeated Goku and obtained the championship of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament.]
[Rating: Perfect (S+). You demonstrated overwhelming power without killing your opponent or destroying the Earth.]
[Calculating rewards...]
In Krillin's mind, the system notifications chimed nonstop like a casino slot machine.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the S-Rank Talent — "Goku's Battle Instinct (Plundered Version)".]
[Congratulations, Host. All attributes have been raised to the limit of the current story arc.]
[Congratulations, Host. Charisma increased by 5 points. Obtained the title "Strongest Bald Head on Earth".]
Krillin didn't rush to check the rewards. Instead, he landed beside Goku.
He pulled out a Senzu Bean from his robe — he had asked Korin for it backstage earlier.
He pried Goku's mouth open and popped the Senzu Bean inside.
"Crunch."
A few seconds later, the half-dead Goku suddenly opened his eyes and sprang to his feet in one motion.
"Ow, ow, ow... Huh? It doesn't hurt anymore?"
Goku rubbed his chest with a blank expression, and then his stomach let out a thunderous roar.
"Grrrroooowl..."
He suddenly looked at Krillin, his eyes glowing green.
"Krillin! What about the roasted dinosaur you promised?"
Looking at this guy whose mind was filled with nothing but food, Krillin couldn't help laughing out loud.
The world-ending tension from a moment ago vanished instantly.
"Don't worry, you'll get it."
Krillin patted Goku on the shoulder, feeling the firm muscles beneath his palm, now full of life again.
"But first we have to collect the prize money. Otherwise, who's paying for the dinosaur?"
At that moment, the Announcer hanging from the tree finally regained his senses.
He struggled to poke his head out from the coconut leaves and, using what remained of his microphone, roared at the top of his lungs:
"The... the match is over! The arena has disappeared!"
"Although contestant Goku has regained consciousness, he clearly lost the ability to fight just now!"
"The champion of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament is — Krillin!!!"
The entire venue fell silent for a second.
Then cheers erupted loudly enough to flip the sky upside down.
It wasn't just because Krillin had won, but because they had witnessed a miracle far beyond the realm of ordinary humans.
That bald head.
That small guy who used to be just a supporting character in previous tournaments.
Now he had become something like a god.
"Krillin! Krillin! Krillin!"
Amid the tsunami-like roar of the crowd, Krillin opened his attribute panel.
This time, even though he had been mentally prepared, the numbers on the screen still made his pupils shrink slightly.
[Host: Krillin]
[Current Template: Saitama (One-Punch Man)]
[Fusion: 25% (Reached the threshold for the current stage)]
[Strength: 250 (MAX - Earth Arc Limit)]
[Speed: 250 (MAX - Earth Arc Limit)]
[Physique: 250 (MAX - Earth Arc Limit)]
[Spirit: 250 (MAX - Earth Arc Limit)]
[Skill Slots:]
Serious Series (Passive/Active): Includes Serious Punch, Serious Side Hops, etc.
Muscle Control (Grandmaster): Perfect control over every ounce of strength, achieving total mastery over power.
Genius Intellect (S-Rank): Photographic memory, processing power comparable to a supercomputer.
Beast Intuition (S-Rank): The body moves before the brain.
Goku's Battle Instinct (S-Rank · New): Evolves during battle, grows stronger against stronger opponents, learning ability MAX.
Flight, Kamehameha, Solar Flare, Destructo Disc (Incomplete)...
[System Notification: Detected that the Host's attributes have reached the capacity limit of the "Earth Arc" and can no longer be improved through daily training. To continue increasing Fusion and attribute limits, you must complete random system missions, begin the "Saiyan Invasion" arc, or travel to a higher-level planet.]
"So it's capped now?"
Krillin rubbed his bald head, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Two hundred and fifty points in strength. If that translates directly into battle power, then it has doubled?"
"If I remember correctly, Raditz only had a battle power a little over one thousand when he arrived on Earth."
"So what does that make me? A max-level account slaughtering the starter village?"
That was exactly what he wanted.
He didn't want to become the Krillin from the original story, the one who faded into the background again and again and eventually got blown into fireworks as a sacrifice.
This time, whether it was the Saiyans or Frieza, whoever dared to run wild on Earth would learn exactly what the Bald Great Demon King could do.
"Hey, Krillin! What are you spacing out for?"
Goku waved a hand in front of his face.
"That Announcer in sunglasses is calling you to get your prize."
Krillin snapped back to reality. He looked at the Announcer in the distance holding the massive gold trophy, then at the blue-haired girl on the second-floor balcony covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
A trophy?
What use was something like that other than taking up space?
"Goku, you go collect the trophy for me."
"Huh? Why? That's the championship trophy!"
Goku looked confused.
"Because I have a more important reward to collect."
After saying that, Krillin bent his knees slightly.
Bang!
A ring of air exploded beneath him, and he shot forward like a golden meteor, ignoring the Announcer's shouts and everyone's stares as he flew straight toward the second-floor balcony.
...
Author's Note 📢
Part 1 of the fanfic Dragon Ball: I, Gohan, Grow Stronger by Doing Push-Ups (More 100 chapters) is now available on Patreon!
🔗 patreon.com/Shadow_demon_007
Thank you all for your support and love for this story 💙