"Karnel, you seemed to be still a child at that time, right? You were so young and yet you still accepted students." Bulma giggled and teased mischievously.
Karnel scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "I just thought that I had nothing to do at that time, so it wouldn't delay anything to accept two students and teach them while I practiced myself. They were both princes of the king of that planet. This machine was a gift from them."
Bulma was already circling the device, her engineer's mind working furiously as she examined the cold metal surface and intricate mechanisms. She looked up excitedly. "If this machine is designed to clone creatures, it should use samples like DNA from that creature, right?"
"Exactly," Karnel nodded. "I heard from my two students that as long as you introduce the blood of an organism into it, it will only take a little time to completely clone the organism and make it even better than the original form. I'll go find some blood from small animals for you to experiment with. I have to admit, I've never actually used it before, so I don't know how effective it really is."
Karnel flew out toward the deep mountains and old forests, caught a few small animals as humanely as possible, collected blood samples, and rushed back to find Bulma already deep in research mode.
"I got some blood samples from rabbits and deer for you to experiment with!" Karnel smiled warmly, handing the small vials of animal blood to Bulma.
Bulma was completely absorbed in her scientific trance, taking the samples with a distracted "mm-hmm" before immediately getting to work on the alien machine. Her fingers danced across the controls with the confidence of someone born to understand technology.
Karnel, who had absolutely no interest in scientific research, settled lazily into a nearby chair to watch Bulma work. He found himself admiring her brilliant mind.
"Bulma, Goku seems to be approaching. I'm going to step out for a while." He suddenly sensed a familiar Ki signature racing toward Capsule Corp. Karnel suppressed his divine aura completely and called out to Bulma before heading toward the entrance.
"Why is this guy here so suddenly instead of spending his honeymoon at home with Chi-Chi?" Karnel wondered aloud, walking outside to wait.
Sure enough, Goku came bounding up the path with his characteristic enthusiasm. As soon as he spotted Karnel standing by the door, he shouted excitedly, "Karnel! I found you! I want to have a good fight with you!"
This fighting maniac... Karnel thought with fond exasperation.
"Goku, I remember you and Chi-Chi got married not long ago, right? How come you're here so soon? You left your newlywed wife and ran away alone this quickly after your wedding? That's not what a good husband should do," Karnel said with a teasing grin.
"I already told Chi-Chi!" Goku protested, touching his forehead with a slightly guilty expression. "You were way too easy on me last time. You just fought a few rounds and then left! I've been feeling restless for days since I went back. I really want to have a proper fight with you."
When he was a kid, that head injury erased the Saiyans' natural brutality and cold-bloodedness, but their love of battle remained completely intact, Karnel mused to himself.
Goku's face lit up with that innocent, excited smile. "How about it? Let's have a real fight! I really want to see how strong you actually are, Karnel."
"It seems like if I don't have a proper spar with you, you probably won't give up anyway. Fine, let's go outside." Seeing Goku's eager enthusiasm, Karnel figured he had nothing else pressing to do, so why not indulge his friend's Saiyan nature?
The two of them quickly flew away from West City and landed in an open wilderness area, far from any populated zones.
Goku stood on the grassy ground, trying to sense even a trace of energy from Karnel. To his amazement, his opponent felt like a completely ordinary person, no detectable power level whatsoever. This was something even Goku couldn't manage; even when he suppressed his energy to the extreme, some trace of his ki could still be sensed.
Karnel's face was as calm as a still lake, his eyes looking directly at Goku from dozens of meters away with serene confidence.
Goku couldn't help but shudder slightly. What an intimidating presence. Just looking at me like this gives me the feeling of falling into an ice cave, freezing cold before he's even done anything.
We can't keep staring at each other like this. Goku's whole body surged with energy and fighting spirit, dispelling the chill that had crept into his bones. His muscles tensed, dust kicked up under his feet, and his figure disappeared without a trace.
Whoosh!
The extremely fast movement stirred up gusts of wind as a whistling fist shot toward Karnel's head.
Karnel remained completely calm and collected. He raised his hand slightly, effortlessly blocking all of Goku's rapid-fire attacks. Every collision of fists and feet produced sharp sounds that echoed across the empty landscape.
"Fight, fight, fight!" Goku called out joyfully as he attacked, using both his fists and legs in a display of rich fighting techniques honed through years of training and battle.
He could throw dozens, even hundreds of punches in a single second. Goku's hand speed was incredible, if this were Krillin or Yamcha facing him, they probably wouldn't last more than a few seconds before being overwhelmed completely.
Karnel maintained a slight smile on his face, his movements fluid and graceful as he effortlessly dodged Goku's attacks. He seemed to flow like water, in perfect harmony with the world around him and the surrounding landscape. It was almost beautiful to watch, there wasn't a single opening to be found in his defense.
"Wow! Karnel, you really are incredible!" Goku stopped his assault and stepped back, breathing hard but grinning with excitement. "I've been using all my strength, but you're still dodging everything so easily!"
Karnel waved his hand dismissively. "Goku, it seems your strength has improved tremendously since your battle with Piccolo. But this is still far from enough, use whatever techniques you have left."
Goku scratched his head. "That's about it! I've used up all the strength I gained from training in the temple for years. The only thing left is the Kamehameha that Master Roshi taught me."
"Then use your Kamehameha as well!" Karnel laughed, genuinely curious to see how the technique had evolved.
"Then I won't hold back!" Goku's expression grew more serious, though still tinged with excitement. "Although I already know that even if I use the Kamehameha, I probably can't do anything to you."
After their brief but intense battle, Goku had tried his absolute best but couldn't land a single hit on Karnel. He was beginning to understand that there was a massive difference between their power. Part of him wanted to admit defeat, but when he heard that Karnel wanted him to use the Kamehameha, he couldn't resist the opportunity.
He also desperately wanted to see what method Karnel would use to counter his signature technique!
A brilliant, unique blue-white light began condensing in Goku's cupped hands, growing brighter and more intense by the second. The energy wave that formed was nearly half a meter thick, and the shockwave alone lifted dust and debris from the ground around them.
"Ka-me-ha-me-HAAAAA!"
Karnel stood perfectly still, showing no intention of dodging or blocking. It seemed as though he planned to face the devastating energy wave head-on.
The Kamehameha struck Karnel's body directly, but there was no damage whatsoever. The entire energy wave simply split in half around him, flowing past on both sides like water around a stone before dissipating harmlessly into the air.