Dragon Ball Roshi

As the conversation reached this point, the atmosphere became somewhat heavy—or at least Bam felt so.

On King Kai's Planet, where natural air currents were scarce, there was rarely any wind. Yet, Bam felt as if a gentle breeze was brushing past him. Even though there was no sunlight, he imagined a dim, crimson sunset sinking behind distant mountains. The scene suddenly felt desolate.

At that moment, a small sparrow cloaked in white light hopped into view. The little creature flapped its wings and wobbled over to Bam, snapping him out of his daze with a sharp peck. He couldn't help but laugh.

It was then that Taro, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. "The universe, the galaxy... King Kai, judging by your tone just now, are you saying that the so-called 'entire universe' consists of only a single 'galaxy'?"

His tone carried a hint of peculiarity, and his gaze was sharp as he stared at King Kai.

King Kai seemed puzzled by the question. "Well, of course! What else would it be?"

"...Nothing. Maybe I'm just overthinking it." Taro fell silent, turning his gaze elsewhere as he narrowed his eyes.

Although he hadn't been a scholar in his first life on Earth, he had at least basic knowledge. The notion of the universe consisting of just one "galaxy," or that "galaxy" was merely another term for "universe", was utterly absurd.

Taro's mind couldn't help but wander back to the last Dragon Ball movie he'd watched in his short-lived first life. In that movie, where Son Goku ascended to Super Saiyan God, there was a curious line spoken by Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction.

The universe, Beerus had said, consisted of "twelve" separate realms.

The universe he was currently in wasn't unique. It was referred to as the "Seventh Universe" by Beerus. Could it be that when Beerus spoke of "universes," he was actually referring to galaxies? Was the "Seventh Universe" the Milky Way, and the others different galaxies?

But even if that were the case, a total of just twelve galaxies would still seem implausibly small. Unless the other "universes," or galaxies, were vastly more expansive than this one.

When you thought about it that way...

Taro's thoughts drifted further and further as he delved into memories from his first life.

If what the God of Destruction said about the "twelve universes" could be considered a form of "parallel universes," then the Dragon Ball world had two distinct concepts of parallel universes. The first, introduced during the Android Saga through "Future Trunks"—or as fans called him, "Mirai Trunks"—was the idea of parallel universes created by divergent historical events. The second, described by Beerus, seemed to refer to universes separated by spatial distances or dimensions, making communication between them impossible.

Scientists theorized that if the total amount and types of matter in the universe were finite, then the ways in which matter could be arranged were also limited. If all these possibilities were played out, resulting in countless universes with subtle differences, eventually, a new universe would emerge identical to one that already existed. This idea represented yet another perspective on parallel universes.

"Hey!" King Kai's voice snapped Taro back to reality. "What's got you so lost in thought?"

"Nothing." Taro suppressed the chaotic notions in his mind and, after some thought, turned to Bam. "Maybe I overstepped, thinking staying alive was always the best option. That's why you've ended up like this. If you ever grow tired of it…" He hesitated, an idea forming in his mind, then asked King Kai, "King Kai, what exactly is the process of reincarnation in the afterlife?"

As he asked, faces appeared unbidden in his mind: Yumeko, Fanfan, Mutaito, Aragon... He sighed internally, shaking his head.

His question, however, was partially inspired by the original series, where Majin Buu was reincarnated as the Earthling Uub due to Goku's request.

King Kai thought for a moment before replying, "Reincarnation, huh? Well, you know that when people die, their souls remain. When those souls aren't qualified to ascend to Heaven but also don't deserve to be cast into Hell, King Yemma sends them to a 'Reincarnation Pool' in the underworld. Once inside, all memories from their previous life are erased, and…"

He adjusted his small round sunglasses. "The souls are stripped down to their purest essence, indistinguishable from one another. In the pool, they merge into a single collective entity, which then separates into smaller fragments before being sent back to the living world as new lives."

"So... there's no such thing as 'past lives' then," Taro murmured. If reincarnated souls were just fragments of countless merged and memory-erased souls, then the concept of "I was someone in a past life" was indeed impossible.

King Kai scoffed, "Of course not! If souls retained their memories before reincarnation, it would be chaos! Imagine if, over countless generations, a soul accumulated so much memory that even the Reincarnation Pool couldn't erase it. We'd end up with monsters immune to the cycle of reincarnation. Now that would be a real problem!"

Taro remained silent. It seemed that the original Dragon Ball depiction of Uub—a pure-hearted reincarnation of Majin Buu—was likely only possible because King Yemma had granted Goku's special request, ensuring that the soul retained its purity.

"And handling it this way aligns with the true intent of 'a new life', doesn't it?" King Kai sighed softly.

"But if King Yemma gave special permission, a soul could reincarnate on its own, right?" Taro asked.

"Of course," King Kai nodded. "If he wanted to, King Yemma could even allow a soul to carry some memories from its previous life into reincarnation."

"What about you?" Taro turned to Bam.

King Kai caught the meaning behind Taro's question. With his authority, persuading King Yemma to grant special permission for a mortal soul to reincarnate with its memories intact was a trivial matter. Understanding this, he also looked at Bam, ready to offer his help if the young man wished for it.

Bam, who had been quietly listening, glanced at the phoenix perched on his arm, then at the peaceful landscape of King Kai's planet. He watched Bubbles and Gregory playing on the grass nearby, their antics lightening the atmosphere. He smiled but didn't turn around. Instead, he simply said, "Muten, King Kai, if the day ever comes when I tire of 'living', let me be like everyone else—a truly 'new person.'"

"Bam is already gone. Whoever the next 'him' will be, he should have his own family, friends, and life," he murmured softly, a faint smile lingering on his lips. The phoenix on his arm suddenly flapped its wings and took off, landing gently on Taro's shoulder.

Taro remained silent for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright."

---

As they prepared to leave, King Kai reminded Taro to take his bag. It was the bundle Taro had carried with him when he left the Muten school, which Bam had been carrying for most of their journey. Before entering the Demon Realm, Bam had returned it to Taro.

King Kai held up the bag, shaking it lightly. The sound of objects bumping together inside caught his attention, and he recalled how Taro had intercepted the seven Dragon Balls on Earth after making his wish to revive everyone. With sudden understanding, King Kai asked, "The Dragon Balls are in here, aren't they? What are you planning to do with them?"