As for Ethan's origins, no one really thought too much about them. From their appearance, both Ethan and Launch seemed like ordinary humans, and when they first met, Ethan was just a physically fit young man.
Although his progress afterward had been astonishingly fast, no one thought much of it. After all, this was a world where one could grow stronger as long as they trained hard. It was only a matter of speed.
In this situation, Ethan did not need to "adjust" his origins, but after realizing his true mission, he found that some issues had to be dealt with in advance.
He did not need to worry about Piccolo or the resurrected Piccolo. The subsequent Saiyan invasion was something he just had to wait for. However, the larger battle on Namek that came later might not happen without a proper reason.
According to Ethan and the others' current training pace, it was not impossible for them to reach a power level of over ten thousand before the Saiyan invasion. This meant the Earth's fighters would not suffer the heavy casualties they did in the original story and would not need to rely on the Namekian Dragon Balls to be revived.
In other words, because of Ethan's influence, Krillin and the others in this world would not need to make a special trip to Namek, so they would not encounter the universe-level villain Frieza, and naturally, that battle would not occur.
Considering this situation, Ethan immediately arranged a new identity and background for himself, an alien whose home world was devastated by Frieza and his crew, who escaped to Earth and trained diligently, hoping to defeat Frieza one day and avenge his people.
Ethan did not reveal his fabricated background immediately. He still needed to find time to go over the story with Launch. So when Master Roshi "guessed" Ethan's identity, Ethan merely made a gesture telling him not to speak of it and did not continue.
"Is that so?"
An alien? It sounded incredible, but there were many strange and wonderful things in this world, and Master Roshi did not find it unacceptable.
Instead, it gave a reasonable explanation for Ethan's rapid increase in strength. An alien would naturally have a different physique from humans.
"Are you sure your power can surpass Piccolo?"
"Compared to that terrifying existence, Piccolo... doesn't even deserve the title of Great Demon King. He would be too weak even to serve as that person's minion."
"Who are you talking about?"
"It's nothing!"
Ethan stopped there and did not continue, and Master Roshi did not press him further. He guessed that Ethan must have a very powerful enemy, and only after witnessing such a terrifying foe had he trained so hard to improve his strength.
At the same time, because Ethan had seen even more frightening powerhouses, he did not take Piccolo seriously.
If this was true, then just how terrifying was Ethan's enemy...?
Master Roshi could not even imagine it, but he gained a little more understanding of Ethan's choices.
Of course, understanding was one thing. He did not completely believe everything Ethan said, and he had not changed his own plans.
As Ethan and his group moved into action, the Dragon Balls were collected one by one. During this process, Ethan even instructed Bulma to avoid one of the Dragon Balls.
"Why skip this one?"
"That's where Piccolo is..."
Piccolo had been collecting Dragon Balls before, and he already held one. The Dragon Ball Radar developed by Bulma and improved by Ethan would not tell them who was holding a Dragon Ball.
But as his power increased, and after learning how to sense and use energy, Ethan could do some incredible things through sensing energy.
For example, he could sense Piccolo's energy. He had remembered the demon race's energy from when Tambourine first appeared. As Tambourine returned to report to Piccolo, Ethan also took the opportunity to remember Piccolo's energy.
"You can sense energy from that far away?"
Krillin, Goku, and the others had also learned to sense energy, but limited by their own strength, they could not sense what was happening in places that far away.
From this alone, they could confirm that Ethan's strength was far greater than theirs.
The process of collecting the Dragon Balls went smoothly. When only one was left, everyone knew they were about to face the legendary Great Demon King.
Compared to the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere while collecting the Dragon Balls, everyone felt a little nervous at this moment, no matter how confident Ethan seemed.
Especially Master Roshi, who had secretly made many preparations. When they passed through a city earlier, he found an excuse to buy some items. Although Tien Shinhan noticed, he had promised to keep it secret, so there would not be any problems.
"Next, we're going to face that terrifying Piccolo."
"If you're just talking about his appearance, then he is a bit scary."
"..."
Ethan's relaxed expression helped everyone relax a little. Bulma adjusted the direction and flew at full speed toward that location.
As soon as they moved, Piccolo also reacted.
"Hmph, they actually collected the Dragon Balls and are coming over."
Although he was a little puzzled as to how they had so conveniently avoided the one he held, he had originally planned to wait for them to run into him, then directly kill that presumptuous brat and snatch the Dragon Balls they had gathered.
As a Great Demon King, he felt that even without regaining his youth, he could still crush these ant-like humans.
The only thing he feared was the Evil Containment Wave!
"As long as this guy doesn't know the Evil Containment Wave, there is nothing to worry about."
Seeing the distance between them and himself closing on the radar, Piccolo finally left his "throne" and stood on the open deck, quietly waiting for Ethan and the others to arrive.
He did not wait long before a black dot appeared on the horizon. At that moment, Bulma and the others on the opposite side also saw Piccolo.
As the distance closed, those with sharp eyesight could already see him standing on the deck. His hideous appearance, tall stature, and the intense evil aura radiating from him put immense pressure on Krillin, Chiaotzu, and the others.
Even Tien Shinhan felt a terrifying pressure from Piccolo upon seeing him in person.
"Is this... Piccolo?"
"That's right, it really is him."
Before seeing him, Master Roshi had hoped that someone was merely using Piccolo's name to commit evil deeds, and that the real Piccolo was still sealed.
He knew this possibility was very small, but he sincerely hoped so until the moment he saw him with his own eyes. He had to face the fact that Piccolo had truly returned.
"Such terrifying pressure..."
"Really? That's strange, why don't I feel it's that terrifying?"
Yamcha had not said anything. At first, he thought he was slow to sense things, but the distance was already very close, and he could clearly sense the aura from the other side. Although it was very evil, Yamcha did not feel it was that powerful.
To put it bluntly, the current Piccolo might not even be able to defeat Yamcha.
But even if Ethan said this, no one on the plane would believe him.
"Alright, let's land up ahead."
Bulma did not stop the plane. She was very brave. Otherwise, she would not have traveled the world alone looking for Dragon Balls at only sixteen years old.
"Didn't you say he's not your opponent?"
"Yeah!"
"Then what are you worried about? I also want to see up close how you defeat the Great Demon King."
"Alright... then..."
Although there was a risk of being caught in the crossfire while watching up close, there were so many people on their side that they should be able to look after one another.
Even if something unexpected happened, as long as they still had a breath left, they could be saved with a Senzu Bean. Even if they truly died, they could still be revived with the Dragon Balls, so there was really nothing to worry about.
They flew directly in front of Piccolo's airship before landing. Piccolo had not expected there to be so many humans on the opposing aircraft.
"Tch, do they think they can defeat me with numbers? How naive!"
He floated up from the deck, then slowly descended to the ground. Piccolo stood less than thirty meters away from Ethan on the opposite side.
Tambourine, who followed closely behind, reported to his master, "That's the human who said he would defeat you."
"Is that you?"
Even without Tambourine's introduction, Piccolo had already noticed Ethan, because he was holding six Dragon Balls and slowly walking out.
"It is."
"You actually collected all the Dragon Balls. Human, are you perhaps trying to pledge allegiance to me?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Pledge allegiance to trash like you?" The issue of sides had to be made clear. "The fundamental reason I collected the Dragon Balls is because you are too useless right now. I have to help you recover some strength, otherwise the fight won't be satisfying."
"..."
Piccolo, who had never been looked down on like this before, desperately wanted to kill this human, but he remembered his greatest goal and suppressed his anger.
"Hmph!"
"Alright, hand over the Dragon Ball you have!"
Piccolo's eyes suddenly narrowed, as if he understood something.
"I see. You want to use the power of the Dragon Balls to defeat me... Hmph, human, do you take me for a fool?"
"..."
Piccolo's words made Master Roshi's expression change slightly. Oolong muttered beside him, "Could Ethan really be planning that? If so, that's bad. He actually figured it out..."
Ethan knew that Shenron could not destroy Piccolo because Shenron was created by Kami, and Piccolo was considered the part separated from Kami. Killing Piccolo would be equivalent to killing Kami, which amounted to suicide, and Kami could not commit suicide.
These things were difficult to explain clearly in a short time, and besides, Piccolo would not believe him. Ethan chose a simpler, more direct method and directly threw the Dragon Balls in his hand toward Piccolo.
"Hmm?"
"Stop wasting time, hurry up and make your wish!"
(To be continued.)