Buying My Way Through the Multiverse

For the next few days, Gray systematically expanded his network. He sent shadow clones to make first contact with the remaining Virginia settlements, keeping his real body under the radar. Simultaneously, he deployed dozens of clones deep underground to begin excavating the massive railway system back to Georgia.

Thanks to Miss J’s teaching, Gray had absorbed advanced medical skills, and his next clone quickly mastered underground train infrastructure. He made sure to construct automated ventilation airways at regular intervals along the route. His Minecrafter physiology didn’t care about stuffy air, but future human passengers would have suffered without proper oxygen. In just two days of non-stop digging, his clones managed to hollow out a staggering 200 miles of tunnel.

Finally, the familiar system jingle chimed in his mind, the Training Dimension was officially back online. Without wasting a single second, Gray dispelled his real-world clones and stepped through the rift for his next 30-day simulated cycle.

Inside the void, Gray went straight to work. He summoned 10 shadow clones and assigned them to train under Kami to master the old guardian’s unique utility skills. Meanwhile, Gray used his real body to push his physical limits under heavier gravity. Having previously adapted to Raditz’s fighting style, he cranked the gravity panel higher and summoned his next opponent... Nappa.

Gray threw himself into the fight. Thanks to his {Gogeta Talent}, his combat reflexes adapted rapidly, but Nappa still gave him a brutal, bruising fight. Gray took a heavy beating, but he ultimately came out victorious. Breathing heavily, he opened his system shop, bought a single Senzu Bean, and swallowed it. The injuries vanished instantly, and a massive wave of energy flooded his Saiyan body.

An idea clicked. Gray held the single Senzu Bean against the dirt of his max-level Home Garden plot. A system notification flashed instantly.

[New healing plant detected. Add to agricultural catalog?]

[Yes] [No]

Gray tapped yes, immediately allocating all 50 available plots to cultivate the beans. He then introduced the bean to his Dimensional Farm, gaining a massive chunk of system experience and unlocking automated, bulk Senzu Bean farming.

With an infinite supply of instant healing, Gray decided to aggressively abuse his Saiyan Zenkai boosts. He opened the shop and hired three new legendary teachers: Monkey D. Garp from One Piece, along with Silver Fang (Bang) and Bomb from One Punch Man. He assigned 10 clones to Garp and another 10 to study under the martial arts brothers.

Gray then cranked the gravity past 25x. Instead of scaling up slowly, he pushed the settings up by tens. The crushing force completely tore his muscle fibers apart, but he would simply chew a Senzu Bean to instantly rebuild his body into a much stronger state. Once he comfortably adapted to 50x gravity, he summoned Vegeta. Gray completely outmatched the Saiyan Prince; between the extreme gravity training and the Senzu Bean loop, he was speed-running through the entire Dragon Ball power scale.

A week into the training, Gray had made sure to dispel his clones every four hours to prevent the massive mental feedback from damaging his health. The Garp clones already had extreme physical conditioning, so Garp focused entirely on teaching them the foundational movements of the Rokushiki (Six Powers) styles and lecturing them on Haki. Meanwhile, Bang and Bomb’s training wrapped up incredibly fast. Combining 10 clones with the {Gogeta Talent}, Gray fully mastered their Water Stream Rock Smashing and Whirlwind Iron Cutting styles in just two days.

To fill the empty teaching slots, Gray hired Silvers Rayleigh to study Haki further, wondering if he could manifest it naturally or if he would eventually need to buy a specific body adaptation from the shop. He spawned Rayleigh and sent 10 fresh clones his way. Gray then dropped back into the arena under 50x gravity, forcing himself to fight both Vegeta and Nappa at the same time to master multi-target combat.

Three days later, he dialed the panel to 70x gravity. He remembered from the anime that Goku had pushed his body from 20x to 100x gravity in just six days on his way to Namek, and Gray intended to match that pace. He also utilized his newly acquired magic from Kami, instantly manifesting heavy, weighted training clothing to work his muscles even further.

By the third week, Gray was locked in a fierce spar against Recoome of the Ginyu Force. To make the fight a genuine challenge, Gray targeted the 100x gravity field strictly onto himself, dodging every heavy kinetic strike with flawless, fluid grace. His training under Kami was completely finished, though his clones were still grinding through the lectures with Garp and Rayleigh. Gray still couldn’t naturally feel the spark of Haki, but he wasn’t let down, he wanted to fully memorize the theory and its application so that, the moment he unlocked the energy, he would already be familiar with the training method.

With Kami’s slot free, Gray purchased King Kai as his next master, assigning a squad of clones to dissect the mechanics of the Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb.

During the final week of training, Gray pushed the training dimension to a crushing 150x gravity. In a spectacular display of speed and sheer physical power, he defeated both Burter and Jeice simultaneously.

With the 30-day timer ticking down to its final minutes, Gray dispelled all of his remaining training clones. He had originally thought he would need to stay in The Walking Dead universe for a long time to build his strength, but the shadow clone strategy changed everything. Thanks to the clones, he could easily construct dozens of impenetrable, high-tech safe zones for humanity in a matter of weeks, and also made his training under new masters more than 10 times faster.

As the dimension began to fracture, Gray made up his mind. He still had a few remaining logistical plans to finish for this world, but his timeline had advanced significantly. The moment his training allowed him to fight Frieza to an absolute standstill, or beat him outright, he would officially trigger the system’s Rebirth option and move on to the next universe.

The timer hit zero, and Gray blinked back onto the stone floor of his underground facility.

As soon as Gray returned to the real world, he wasted no time. He immediately created tons of shadow clones and sent them straight deep underground to continue building the railway system. He also created another clone and sent it to the school to continue studying under Miss J, wanting to absorb as many subjects as possible.

With his clones handling the labor, Gray used his Jumper ability to teleport high into the open sky. He wanted to test the absolute upper limits of his current strength. Floating in the clouds, he started elevating his Ki as much as he could. He hadn’t completely mastered the Kaioken during his brief time with King Kai, but he could feel the threshold... he estimated he would need only about two more days in the training dimension to fully lock down the technique. Gray pushed his energy further, letting his aura flare outward. The sheer volume of his Ki became so great that the ground beneath began to tremble, making the earth shake across the region.

As he powered up, he recalled the lore from Dragon Ball Super regarding the Universe 6 Saiyans. Unlike Goku and Vegeta, characters like Cabba, Caulifla, and Kale didn’t necessarily require an intense emotional tragedy to trigger their transformations... they could focus their energy into a tingling sensation in their backs to unlock the power. Gray focused his massive Ki reservoir, trying to force a Super Saiyan transformation right there in the sky, but he wasn’t successful. The golden form remained just out of reach. Realizing his body wasn’t entirely ready for the breakthrough, Gray finally calmed his energy down, letting his aura fade away.

He teleported back down to the surface of the Virginia base. Walking through the courtyard, he noticed a few residents standing outside their lofts, looking around nervously after feeling sudden tremors. Apologizing to them in his mind for the brief scare, he walked quietly back to his private quarters.

Over the past few days, the Virginia base had experienced a massive population spike. The survivors from the Hilltop had already completely relocated within the stone walls, escaping Gregory’s leadership. Even the residents of Oceanside were locked in a deep debate, weighing whether to pack up and move into the fortress too. Gray had also used his free time to look for the Saviors, flying over their future factory base, but his radar hadn’t flagged anyone living at the sanctuary plant just yet.

The next morning, Gray decided to aggressively accelerate his cleanup timeline. Merle would probably get upset with him for stealing all the targets, but knowing that he was no longer planning to stick around this universe for the full two years made him act much sooner on his grand plans. He wanted to secure this world completely before he triggered his Rebirth.

Gray launched himself back into the air and began systematically erasing every single walker he encountered across the entire territory. To ensure the new base ran smoothly while he was away, he had used his system to grant both Maggie and Oscar the Sin Vision ability, allowing them to accurately screen and judge any new survivors who stumbled across the gates on their own.

While his shadow clones continuously dug out the train tunnels below, Gray monitored his maxed-out world map from the sky. Suddenly, his radar flagged a tight cluster of about 15 dots gathering inside an abandoned bar, located not too far from the suburban neighborhood where Negan used to live. Gray suspected this might be the hostile bandit group from the show, the ones who originally tried to rob the medical caravan.

He flew down toward the location to get a closer look. Activating his Sin Vision, the entire group inside the building lit up in a deep, malicious crimson. They were a certified pack of killers and rapists.

Gray didn’t even bother hiding his powers or drawing a weapon this time. He landed smoothly outside the bar and stepped through the entrance. Having completely adapted his body to 150x gravity, his baseline speed in the real world was entirely supernatural. Before any of the bandits could even register the front door opening, Gray blurred forward, moving far faster than the human eye could see.

He simply punched his way through the room. The sheer kinetic force of his Saiyan strength was catastrophic. With a single casual punch for each target, Gray completely shattered them. Every single one of the 15 bandits had their heads explode into a million pieces before they could even pull a trigger or let out a scream, leaving the bar completely silent in a matter of seconds.

Gray simply fired a casual Ki blast over his shoulder, instantly incinerating the entire bar and everything inside it. With the bandits completely erased, he took off into the air to explore the surrounding area. He wanted to locate the medical caravan from the show and extend the same relocation offer he had given to the other settlements.

Gray flew grid loops for about an hour before his maxed-out map finally flagged their position. He landed smoothly a few hundred feet away from their campsite and walked up to them, already holding a high-tech laptop in his hands. As he approached, the caravan members visibly grew nervous, their hands drifting toward their weapons.

”Hold on, I’m not here to fight,” Gray said, keeping his hands to the side. ”I know you guys are medics, and honestly, you’re exposed to a lot of danger out here without proper security.”

The leader of the caravan looked at him warily, still keeping a tight grip on his rifle. ”Who are you? What do you want with us?”

”I run a settlement a few miles from here,” Gray explained, stepping forward and extending the laptop toward them. ”It’s got stone walls, electricity, running water, and fully stocked supplies. If you guys want a genuinely safe place where you can actually do some good without constantly looking over your shoulders, you’re welcome to join us. I’ll leave this laptop and a map with you so you can see what I’m offering. If you want a better life, the doors are open.”

The leader hesitantly took the laptop, staring at the screen. Gray simply gave them a short nod, turned around, and casually walked away. The moment he was completely out of their sight, he launched himself back into the skies to continue his aggressive real-world walker cleanup.

As he flew, the shadow clone he had sent to convince Alexandria suddenly dispelled, sending its memories and experiences rushing directly into his mind. According to the clone’s intel, the sheltered people of Alexandria were still completely convinced they were safe within their current walls. Because they hadn’t faced any real horrors yet, several of them still felt incredibly entitled to the social power and wealth they held before the virus spread.

To be completely fair, their sense of safety wasn’t entirely wrong. Since Gray had been systematically flying around and slaughtering thousands of walkers across the state, the pressure on Alexandria’s walls had dropped to almost nothing.

Processing the information, Gray simply shrugged as he soared through the clouds. ”If they think they can just keep playing house behind those walls, I’m not going to waste my breath trying to change their minds,” he muttered to himself. He made a mental note that if they ended up running into severe danger or a massive threat in the future, he was just going to let them handle it entirely by themselves.