"Mr. Popo, please guide me in the future."
Since he was new, Dende didn't actually call him by his name, showing respect by addressing Popo as 'Mr.'
"Lord Guardian, please follow me. I will take you to inherit the position of Guardian."
"Mr. Gohan, please wait here for a moment."
Mr. Popo said.
"Mhm, alright." Gohan and the others nodded.
Afterward, Mr. Popo led Dende into the inner chamber to complete the inheritance ritual.
Only Gohan, Bulma, and Trunks remained on the Lookout's plaza.
Gohan broke the silence by asking about Cell: "Have you found Dr. Gero's laboratory yet?"
Hearing this question, Trunks, who had been trying to touch Gohan's tail, immediately stopped what he was doing.
Bulma replied:
"We haven't found it yet. Dr. Gero is truly worthy of being a remnant of the Red Ribbon Army; his counter-surveillance methods are highly sophisticated."
"I checked a huge amount of data on the Red Ribbon Army and Dr. Gero online, theorizing many possible construction sites for a secret lab, but none of them panned out."
"After that, I offered a massive reward for clues, but the number of people who provided useful information was surprisingly low."
Gohan asked: "Did you get any useful information at all?"
Bulma said: "Yes, I filtered out a few promising leads, and we are currently checking them one by one."
"Mhm, good. Let's investigate these leads first. If we still can't find anything, we can always ask Shenron to help us search." Gohan nodded.
"Mhm." Bulma nodded.
Trunks couldn't contain his curiosity and asked: "Gohan, is Shenron really that amazing? Did your arm grow back because of Shenron's help?"
Trunks often heard legends about Shenron, but having never seen the Dragon Balls or the dragon itself, his curiosity had reached its peak.
Gohan said: "Yes, Shenron helped restore my arm. Shenron can fulfill the vast majority of wishes, provided they are within its power limits."
Trunks continued his inquisitive questioning: "So, what exactly are Shenron's power limits? And how vast is this 'vast majority'?"
Gohan gave Trunks a thoughtful look, deciding the boy had the potential to become a professional nitpicker.
What exactly occupies the mind of a thirteen-year-old?
Gohan said: "It's difficult to explain exactly, but just try not to make any bizarre or outlandish wishes."
"Is that true, Mom?" Trunks looked at Bulma.
"Yeah, pretty much." Bulma nodded.
The three continued chatting for about ten minutes.
Mr. Popo emerged from the inner chamber of the Lookout with Dende.
Compared to earlier, Dende was now wearing an additional cape.
His entire aura also seemed much more composed.
"It's finished already?" Gohan asked.
Mr. Popo replied: "Yes, it's actually a very simple ceremony that doesn't take much time. The fact that the new Guardian is so talented also played a part."
"See? I told you, Dende, you are absolutely capable of handling the position of Guardian." Gohan chuckled.
Dende scratched his head sheepishly, lacking any trace of the dignity expected of a Guardian.
Gohan continued: "In that case, Dende, when can you start activating the Dragon Balls?"
"I can do it right now," Dende said.
He then looked at Mr. Popo and said: "Mr. Popo, do you happen to have a model of Shenron? Please find one for me; I need a Shenron model to use as a medium to activate the Dragon Balls."
Mr. Popo said: "Oh, yes, I can. I carved a model of Shenron when I was bored once. It's currently in the inner chamber. I never expected it to come in handy."
"Please wait a moment."
He said this, then turned and hurried back into the inner chamber.
After a short wait, he emerged carrying a wooden carving of Shenron.
"Guardian, will this work?" Mr. Popo held the wooden carving up in front of Dende.
The carving he held was incredibly lifelike, depicting the exact image of the Eastern Divine Dragon.
This was the model Mr. Popo had carved based on Shenron's appearance during a moment of boredom.
"Of course, Mr. Popo. Please place it on the ground," Dende instructed.
"Yes, Lord Guardian." Mr. Popo nodded respectfully and carefully placed the wooden Shenron carving on the ground nearby.
Dende walked up to the carving and squatted down beside it.
The others, including Gohan, had never witnessed a scene like this before, and expressions of curiosity appeared on their faces.
They remained silent, staring intently at Dende and the wooden Shenron, not daring to blink.
Dende placed his hands over the carving, muttering an obscure and difficult-to-understand language—or perhaps, a spell.
This language was neither the common universal language nor Namekian.
Instead, it belonged to the language of the Dragon Clan.
It was said to be the mysterious incantation left in this world by the Dragon God Zalama.
It was truly wondrous.
As Dende's chanting grew faster, a faint golden light enveloped his hands.
The golden light intensified until it eventually enveloped the Shenron model completely.
Immediately following that, a blinding flash of light erupted.
It was like a miniature sun had exploded before them, causing everyone to instinctively narrow their eyes.
Right when the light was at its brightest, a thick golden pillar of light shot toward the sky, then transformed into seven streaks of light that pierced the atmosphere and vanished.
Everyone watched the pillar of light in the sky until it completely vanished.
When they finally lowered their gaze, they noticed that the wooden Shenron carving in front of Dende had vanished.
Dende wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, stood up, and announced: "It's done. The Dragon Balls have been activated. Now, all you need to do is gather the seven balls to make a wish."
"And regarding the wishes? How many can we make?" Gohan asked.
Dende replied: "I based them on Namek's Porunga, so they can also grant three wishes. However, their power is slightly weaker than Namek's Porunga, because Elder Moori is a more exceptional member of the Dragon Clan than I am."
Gohan burst into laughter and patted Dende's shoulder: "Haha, that's already incredibly impressive! Thank you, Dende."
"You're welcome," Dende replied. A few moments later, Gohan and the others bid farewell and returned to West City.
West City, at Bulma's house.
Bulma was currently calibrating the Dragon Radar.
Since it hadn't been used for over ten years, the Dragon Radar had developed a minor glitch and needed recalibration to function correctly.
Gohan and Trunks watched from the sidelines.
Trunks stared intently at the Dragon Radar, his face radiating excitement, his eyes sparkling.
Seeing Trunks' comical appearance, Gohan couldn't resist teasing him:
"Trunks, are you holding your bladder? Don't hold it—go quickly."
Trunks blushed: "Of course not!"
He then quickly added: "Gohan, leave the task of collecting the Dragon Balls to me. Don't try to steal it from me, okay?"
"Uh, alright, I won't fight you for it."
"Good! Promise me you won't go back on your word." Trunks raised his hand, wanting to seal the oath with a high-five.
Gohan reluctantly gave him a high-five.
It's just collecting Dragon Balls; what's the big deal about fighting over it?
Since Trunks was so keen, Gohan figured he should let him go.
"It's finally fixed," Bulma said, holding up the Dragon Radar in her hand.
"Here you go, Trunks." She then handed the Dragon Radar to him.
Trunks took the Dragon Radar and shivered, feeling as if he had just been electrocuted.
"Then… I'm off." His breathing was ragged with excitement.
"Go ahead, and be quick about it." Bulma couldn't help but smile faintly.
"Mhm mhm." Trunks nodded, grabbed the Dragon Radar, and left the house at lightning speed.
That boy—are all his cells made of curiosity?
Gohan watched the direction Trunks had left, thinking to himself.
Just then, Bulma spoke: "Gohan, come over here. I want to show you some of the leads I've collected."
"Oh, okay, I'm coming."
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