(Unnamed neutron star, months later)

In a distant area of the galaxy, Gohan hovered above a strange celestial body and thought about the last few months. The gang had separated, each warrior engaged in his own training. They had all mastered Freeza's ki control techniques to the point where they didn't need Bulma's isolation chambers anymore, and then continued to train on their own. Once every few weeks they would meet and spar, their mock combat taking place high up in the atmosphere to avoid collateral damage.

Goku found himself unable to recover the ultra-instinct state, and went to Bulma for help. The blue-haired scientist ran some tests and discovered Goku had actual nerve damage in his back. His Saiyan biology somehow healed around the damaged nerves, but without them Goku's body couldn't go back to what it once was. This caused quite a stir, and Bulma suggested trying to fix the issue with surgery. Goku and Chi Chi considered it for a while, but eventually decided to try and wish the damage away.

Eventually the namekian dragon balls became active again, and Gohan, Goku and Piccolo returned to New Namek, together with Dende. Goku asked the dragon to repair his damaged nerves, and Gohan asked Porunga to bring back the galactic capital. The three warriors left the third wish for the namekians, and when Gohan and Piccolo asked Goku if he could use ultra instinct again, Goku only smiled and said maybe.

Gohan and his father returned to Earth to continue their training, while Piccolo and Dende remained on new namek. Weeks later the powerful namekian contacted Gohan telepathically to tell him they were ready, and Gohan asked his father to bring Piccolo and Dende back to Earth. Gohan also flew to the galactic capital and back just to make sure everything was alright, and it turned out the galactic patrol had closed off the entire system. The normally confrontational patrolmen were too stunned by the sudden appearance of the planet to argue with Gohan when he arrived. The young half-saiyan simply told them they could not use their apocalyptic weapons anymore, and that a guardian will arrive soon to watch over their worlds.

It was then that Gohan began looking for the star he was currently hovering above. It took him a few hours of research to pinpoint its location, and a few more to reach its actual location. The gravity here was extreme, far beyond anything that could be produced by Bulma's gravity chamber. Even Shenron's wish couldn't protect him from the cosmic fury of a neutron star, and Gohan had to rely on his own ki to stay alive, even at a considerable distance away from the star itself. His first training session there lasted less than five minutes, after which he was forced to fly back to Earth, slightly humbled, and come back with a bag of Korin's senzu beans.

After a week of shadow sparring in the chaotic environment, he was finally strong enough to fly down to the neutron star's surface. Sight had no meaning here, the gravity was so powerful it curved light itself and made everything look like a confused jumble of colors. Gohan had to rely on his ki senses, and even those were stretched to their limit. Fighting back the horrendous gravity that threatened to tear his body apart, Gohan hovered a few feet above the surface and meditated.

Tien had nicknamed Freeza's ki exercise "herding the mist serpent", and the name stuck. The mist serpent represented the tiny amount of ki controlled by the warrior, and was a theoretical snake made entirely out of of mist. The mist serpent only lived in mist, representing ki. Those unfamiliar with it could never see it, unless all the surrounding mist was removed. And even then it was a tiny, delicate thing, barely even there. Without extreme focus one couldn't even detect it, and the slightest mistake or moment of carelessness caused it to evaporate.

Now, hovering above the unimaginably alien surface of a neutron star, Gohan fought to visualize the elusive mist serpent in his mind. It was an extremely difficult task. He didn't need the isolation chamber anymore, that was true, but this hellish environment demanded his full concentration simply to survive.

After an entire week of meditating on the surface, Gohan was down to the last Senzu bean and still couldn't summon the mist serpent. Then came a telepathic contact from Piccolo, and Gohan nearly dropped his ki shield in surprise. The resulting pain forced him to focus, but the sudden restoration of his shield took too much out of him. It was all he could do to pop the last senzu in his mouth and hold back the deadly gravity while his energy regenerated. Deciding that enough was enough, Gohan flew far away into space, finally relaxing in the mercifully empty and mostly gravity-less vacuum.

"Gohan!" Piccolo's telepathic voice was worried. "Are you alright?!"

"Yes, I'm fine." Gohan looked back at the deceptively tiny star he left behind. "Had a little incident there, but I'm okay. How about you?"

"I've... put into practice what I learned on New Namek. Come back to Earth, meet me at the mountain pool I told you about."

"Sure! I had enough training for now anyway," Gohan stretched his sore limbs. "See you in a few hours."

(Earth, mountain pool, late morning)

Gohan made it back to Earth and returned home. After a quick shower and a meal with Videl and Pan, he headed out towards Piccolo's ki signature. A few minutes later he arrived at a clear mountain pool, peaceful and surrounded by trees. Despite being relatively close to the hot springs below, the area was completely pristine.

"Piccolo, hey!" Gohan saw Piccolo on the ground, standing near the pool's edge. He landed gently next to the tall namekian.

"Gohan," Piccolo nodded.

"So..." Gohan looked around. "What's this about? You wanted to spar?"

"No," Piccolo shook his head. "I wanted to introduce you to my offspring."

"What? Really?! Congratulations, Piccolo! Wait until I tell Videl about this!"

"Gohan!" Piccolo raised his voice. "Stop, please. Don't tell anyone for now."

"Oh," said the surprised Gohan. "Well, sure. Where is the baby, anyway?"

"Baby..." Piccolo said disapprovingly. "There is no baby."

Responding to Piccolo's telepathic message, a young namekian stepped out from behind a tree and approached the two warriors. He wore Piccolo's signature purple gi and weighted white cape, but no turban. Gohan stared at the tall, slender youth in shock. Piccolo's offspring was only slightly shorter than Videl. And beyond his height, Gohan couldn't feel him at all when he arrived, which meant the young namekian already had full control of his ki and could suppress his energy! Now that Gohan was aware of his presence, he could sense a deep, powerful well of ki inside the child. Piccolo was right, this was no baby.

The young namekian stood there and looked at Piccolo. "Go ahead," Piccolo nodded, "introduce yourself."

"Hello, sir," the youngling said with steady tone and bowed politely. "My name is Chell, and I am the offspring of Elder Piccolo."

"Elder, eh? Well, nice to meet you, Chell," Gohan smiled and bowed as well. "How old are you?"

Chell looked at Piccolo again, who nodded. "I was born two days ago, sir."

"What?" the stunned Gohan looked at Piccolo. "How can he be so young? He looks older than Goten!"

Piccolo smiled at Gohan's reaction. With some pride, he said "the way namekians create offspring is more like a ki technique than a... biological function. I have perfected that technique."

"That's amazing," Gohan turned back to Chell. "Your ki control is great, kid. Good job."

"Thanks!" Chell's seriousness broke for a moment as he smiled at the compliment, but the child quickly went back to imitating his father. "Err... I mean, thank you, sir."

Gohan laughed. "Please don't call me sir, Gohan is fine."

"Very well, s... I mean, Gohan." Chell said, slightly embarassed.

Gohan looked at Piccolo curiously. "How strong is he, Piccolo?"

Piccolo smirked. "He's stronger than Freeza was when your father used the spirit bomb back on Namek, but I don't know by how much."

"Wow..." Gohan eyes were wide open. "I had no idea namekians could be this powerful, other than you."

"So did I. There's a lot we don't know about namekians. A lot that was forgotten."

Gohan nodded and thought for a few moments. "Piccolo, lets introduce Chell to Videl. I don't think you should keep him a secret, and the moment he powers up everyone will notice him anyway."

Piccolo sighed. "Alright. Lets go to your house, then. But please don't invite any of the others."

"No problem," Gohan nodded and turned to Chell. "Do you know how to fly?"

Chell nodded. "Yes, Gohan."

"Great. Lets go!"

The three rose up and sped away.