Chapter 380
Chi-Chi accepted the Senzu Beans from Immortal Korin. After accepting favors from Immortal Korin, she couldn't make things difficult for him, so she faintly smiled and told him the complete details of everyone's missions.
"Krillin is to look for a gourd in a remote mountain forest that can suck people in; Yamcha has to go to Rumble Mountain and get a crown inlaid with diamonds. As for Senior Brother Goku, it seems he has to go to a place called Mount Five Element to eliminate the center of fire."
"Eh! Mount Five Element? Isn't that her territory? Kami allowed Goku to look for her?"
Korin exclaimed in surprise. However, after recalling the level of Goku's current strength, he was not much worried.
Seeing Korin's surprised look, Chi-Chi asked, "What is so special about this Mount Five Element?"
Korin paused and said, "It's more than special. There is a powerful deity living in Mount Five Element. She has been watching over the pa.s.sage between the Underworld and the mortal world for tens of thousands of years; even Kami would have to respectfully refer to her as, senior. He wouldn't dare to carelessly offend her."
"Tens of thousands of years?" Chi-Chi was surprised as she mused, 'Who can live for so long?'
"She is the oldest deity on Earth, and she has a very good friends.h.i.+p with the King of h.e.l.l. Kami let Goku go to her place to extinguish the center of fire… The difficulty is not small," Korin said worriedly.
Korin had lived on this Korin Tower for eight hundred years, a length of time which was incomparable to the deity who had lived for tens of thousands of years. Korin looked at Chi-Chi with a heart like a mirror and mused, 'Kami is sending Chi-Chi and Goku on the most difficult missions… It seems he intends to focus on training them.'
Korin guessed that Kami was considering the issue of an inheritor.
After Chi-Chi listened to Korin's words, she patted her chest and said gladly, "It turns out that there is such a powerful person living in Mount Five Element; compared to that, the Demon Realm is much easier." Rather than facing a G.o.d who had lived for tens of thousands of years, she might as well go to the Demon Realm.
"Immortal Korin, I'll be going now."
Chi-Chi summoned the Flying Nimbus, jumped on it, and said goodbye to Korin before disappearing past the horizon.
"Hehe, this is Kami's test for her? Kami… have you really made up your mind?"
Korin muttered softly as he looked in the direction where Chi-Chi had disappeared for a while and then continued to pay attention to Satan and Yajirobe below, who kept climbing the Korin Tower.
"They should come up in a few hours…"
A cool breeze was blowing gently, and even after a heavy rain, there was still summer heat in the atmosphere.
In a huge forest surrounded by towering mountains and precipitous ridges, Krillin was wearing the dark-orange martial art suit of the Turtle School as he walked on the long and narrow mountain road, step by step. The mountain road was very steep, and often, the obstacles on the road had to be cleared to open the road. Kami had asked him to find, in this place, a gourd that could suck people into it. Krillin had been looking for a long time but still found no clues.
Suddenly, the sound of gunshots could be heard coming from the depths of the mountains, and a dense crowd of birds and beasts were startled in surprise, flying away from the forest.
"Sounds of gunshots, is somebody ahead?" Krillin muttered and went to look for the source of the gunshots. After a while, he found a few villages ahead.
In another exposed bluestone mountain, cracked and weathered mountain rocks were growing from the ground like a tree stump, forming a large stone forest made of bluestones.
Each bluestone was a pointed mountain peak, among which one of the mountain peaks was particularly tall and surrounded by rocky mountains. The peaks were several hundred meters high, and the foot of the mountain looked like it had been chopped off by a large sword. The entire mountain peak was shaved off, leaving behind an open ground of 200 square meters. In the middle of the smooth square stood a stone shrine, on top of which was enshrined a golden and dazzling crown.
Boom!
A bright white lightning bolt with a slight mix of purple descended from the dark clouds and struck the fragments of stones, immediately shattering them, and giving birth to a cold aura in the process.
Not far away, a short-haired young man was quietly sitting cross-legged, with a red ribbon on his head fluttering in the wind.
Suddenly, the young man opened his eyes, which shone with determination, and stared at the crown that was not far away. He took a step forward, and like a lightning snake, he shot into a distance seven or eight meters from the stone shrine. At this time, the sky's wrath seemed to have been invoked as a lightning bolt, half a zhang in thickness, penetrated the clouds and struck down.
Boom!
The young man's expression changed drastically. The surprise attack caused his attack to fail at the last minute, so he had no choice but to retreat helplessly.
"Just a little bit short. Maybe I will succeed if I try a few more times…" The young man was completely calm. His entire body suddenly shook, and an awe-inspiring aura erupted out.
In the past, he was a bandit traveling around a desolate desert. In his field of activity, he moved unhindered throughout the desert, considering himself to be the best. If it weren't for his encounter with Goku, he might not have left the desert at all, and he also wouldn't have accepted Master Ros.h.i.+ as his teacher to surpa.s.s Goku. Perhaps, throughout his life, he would have been the prodigal son of the desert.
To surpa.s.s Goku, he left the desert to learn martial arts, hoping to defeat Goku by himself one day. His current strength was much greater than it was previously, and he was still destined to grow stronger in the future. However, the disparity between him and Goku did not decrease; instead, it grew wider.
Yamcha laughed at himself and mused, 'Maybe I shouldn't compare myself with Goku at all… No, my martial arts are not so shallow!'
Yamcha's eyes were determined as they flickered with sparkling lights like lightning rays.
'Right now, I am a martial artist. I am not practicing martial arts to compete with others, but to truly surpa.s.s myself.'
At this moment, Yamcha's aura completely changed and became somewhat profound.
He stood up with a heart as calm as the surface of a river, without any waves. He once again made up his mind and walked toward the stone shrine at the center. The rumbling lightning kept flas.h.i.+ng around him, but Yamcha was completely calm as if he didn't see the ferocious and frightening lightning bolts.
Krakk!
The cyan stones shattered into powder as Yamcha stepped on the stone shrine and reached for the crown.
Mount Five Element, the top of the mountain.
The huge Furnace of Eight Divisions was suppressing the pa.s.sage between the Mortal World and the Other World. Crimson flames flew out of the Furnace of Eight Divisions, illuminating the surroundings with a bright white color.
At the bottom of the Furnace of Eight Divisions, a raging inferno was leaking out from a small crack. These flames drilled into the veins below the earth, causing the surrounding hundreds of kilometers to boil. The scorching inferno raised a wind storm, inundating the surroundings with an oppressive aura.
Goku, wearing the Weighted Clothing made by Kami, jumped down from the Flying Nimbus, causing the ground to split open and old stones to shatter due to the vibrations.
'So this is the Mount Five Element… It is really hot. Kami told me to extinguish the flames at the center, so where should I start?' Goku rested his chin on his hand and pondered.
In just two years, Goku's height rose by several tens of centimeters, like a sapling. If Bulma was here, she would only reach the level of his eyebrows. Kami sent Goku to extinguish the flames at the center of the earth. However, Kami didn't give Goku a method to extinguish the flames, causing Goku to be a bit vexed.
On the outskirts of West City…
As a cloud of sand rose, Bulma's off-road vehicle was speeding on the pebble road in the suburbs.
After graduating from college, Bulma worked for a few days at her family's corporation. The calm life couldn't tie down her courageous and adventurous heart. Finally, Bulma wasn't able to stand it anymore, so she ran away from home and began to look for the dragon b.a.l.l.s.
Bulma was wearing a cowboy hat and a travel-worn dress with light makeup on her face. She pressed the b.u.t.ton of the dragon ball radar in her hand. Besides the three dragon b.a.l.l.s that Goku left with her, the other four were on the move.
She knew that the four-star ball had always been with Goku.
"Hehe, all are moving around. Goku must have already left the Lookout. Jeez… They all came out already but didn't come over to play with me." Bulma raised her seductive lips which were like cherries filled with water.
Bulma smiled, snorted and said, "Since you are not coming to look for me, I will go look for you, and then I will teach you a good lesson!"
Bulma had a smug look as she hummed a tune; her long purple hair fluttered in the air as the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled into a faint smile.
The off-road vehicle sped along all the way, causing a long snake-like trail in the surging yellow sand. Bulma was wearing sungla.s.ses as
After Touring and adventuring along the way, Bulma entered a vast flatland a day later.
It was a desolate place void of people.
At this time, an afterimage flashed in the sky, attracting Bulma's attention. Taking off the sungla.s.ses, she looked at it in surprise. The afterimage seemed to be of a person.
"There are people who can fly without a vehicle? Is it the Sky Hovering Art used by Tien s.h.i.+nhan?" Her violet-blue eyes revealed a curious look. Bulma, who often interacted with Goku and others, could also be regarded as half a "martial artist". She quickly followed with her vehicle.
Ten minutes later, the figure landed on a towering stone and said coldly to Bulma, "Little girl, why are you following me?"
The man was wearing strange silvery-white clothes. He had noticed long ago that Bulma was following him.
At this time, Bulma also knew that she was already exposed. She raised her head to look at the person's appearance and was immediately shocked. She couldn't help but scream, "Ah, Goku, why are you… No, you are not Goku! Goku is not as mature as you…"
Bulma was amazed at the fact that the man in silvery-white clothes looked exactly like Goku, but from his facial expressions and temperament, Bulma could discern that he was not the Goku she knew.
'He looks exactly like Goku, and he is mature… Is he a relative of Goku?' Bulma's thoughts wandered around.
She knew that Goku was abandoned in a remote mountain when he was a child and that Grandpa Gohan picked him up and raised him.
"Goku?" Bardock softly muttered, and then the scenes of the future suddenly appeared in his mind. "Goku is Kakarrot's name on Earth. It seems that this girl knows Kakarrot."
Bardock looked at Bulma and suddenly discovered that she had also appeared in the scenes of the future; the scenes of Kakarrot on Planet Namek.
"You know Kakarrot?"
Bardock's voice was as gentle as possible, but his innate temperament made him look very cold and indifferent.
Bulma couldn't help but freeze. She seemed to have heard the name, Kakarrot, somewhere. 'Right! It was in Xiaya's villa. At that time, Xiaya had called Goku—Kakarrot.'
'So, Kakarrot is Goku.'
"You mean Goku?"
Suddenly, Bulma spotted the tail on Bardock's waist and exclaimed excitedly, "Ah, you also have a tail, and it looks similar to Goku's. You must be Goku's father!"
"Yes, I am Kakarrot's father."
After discerning that the girl in front of him was a good friend of his son, Bardock frowned and asked, "Girl, what are you doing by coming out here? Not afraid of danger?"
Bulma smiled and replied, "I came out to find Goku. He hasn't come to see me for a long time."
As Bardock heard this, he became dumbfounded. He suddenly thought of the scenes of the future in which they had appeared together on Planet Namek. 'If they don't have any close relations.h.i.+p, it seems unlikely that she will follow him to such a faraway place. Can it be that this girl is my future daughter-in-law?' With this guess, Bardock felt that Bulma was more pleasing to the eyes. He mused, 'With her appearance, she is a good match for my son.'
'However, her Battle Power is a little low…' Bardock shook his head at this thought. He knew that Earthlings had a low Battle Power.
"If you want to see Kakarrot, I can take you to him. He is at a place 6720km southwest," Bardock said as he pointed in a direction.
Bulma immediately took out the dragon ball radar and sure enough, she saw that there was a dragon ball signal in the direction indicated by Bardock.
"You're right, but how did you know, Uncle?"
"By sensing Ki… Kakarrot's skills are just so-so. Although they are not worth mentioning among Saiyans, at least on Earth, they are not bad." Bardock, one who knew the future, did not think that the current Goku was too weak. 'Perhaps like Sir Xiaya said, Kakarrot's breakthrough opportunity has not yet arrived, and at present, his potential is still dormant.'
"Saiyan?" Bulma mused, 'isn't this the protagonist of Tights' book?'
'Wait, aren't Goku's features similar to what a Saiyan looks like in the book? Are there Saiyans in this world?' Bulma was full of doubts.
'If there are Saiyans in the universe, does it mean that Frieza also exists? Ah, in that book, Frieza was a Universe Emperor-like-existence. If someone like him exists, it will be too frightening.'
So Bulma asked carefully, "Uncle, you just said that Goku is a Saiyan… so, is there a person in the Galaxy called Frieza?"
"You also know Frieza?" Bardock looked a little surprised, but he quickly nodded and said, "Yes, North Area used to have such a person, but he was extremely antagonistic to Saiyans."
'It's real! The stories in my sister's book are real!'
Bulma's heart couldn't help but violently skip.
'But… how does my sister know about so many things in the universe? Ahh, yes, it must be Jaco who told her; the strange guy who claims to be a member of the Galactic Patrol.'
Bulma began to think more about it. The fragmented memories in her brain were connected, and the memories of her childhood were awakened. She remembered that there was a person who claimed to be from the Galactic Patrol that had been to their home, and this person brought them to some doctor's house. 'It seems that I also repaired a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p…'
'Really, why didn't I remember all this until now?'
"Uncle, wasn't Planet Vegeta destroyed by Frieza? You wouldn't happen to be on Earth to… to bring Goku back, right?" Bulma asked nervously. She definitely couldn't let Goku go back.
Bardock glanced at Bulma in surprise and mused, 'This little girl knows quite a lot.'
Bardock replied, "I don't intend to bring Kakarrot back. The place where he grew up is Earth. I came to Earth because I feel that his martial arts are too weak. With such a weak prowess, how will he face his enemies in the future? I will train him well for a while."
"Hey, little girl, do you like Kakarrot?"
"What?" Bulma responded unconsciously, and then she stood there blankly. Her mind was blank.
"So, you have never thought about it?" Bardock laughed, but in his heart, he already viewed Bulma as his daughter-in-law. He did so because of his visions of the future. 'This girl would stick by Kakarrot's side no matter how dangerous it gets.'
Bulma stood still, and as a blush suddenly appeared on her flawless cheeks, her heart raced.
'Do I really like Goku?'
Bulma recalled the little things she knew about Goku. Five years ago, when she met Goku for the first time, he was just a young and inexperienced child, rescuing her from the mouth of a dinosaur. They went on adventures together, and in the blink of an eye, five years had pa.s.sed; the child had already grown to become a hero who saved the world.
Bulma raised her head and saw Bardock's expression which was a smile but not a smile. She opened her mouth and awkwardly said, "Uncle, you should take me to Goku first."
"Haha." Bardock laughed and nodded. Then, he took out a mask, put it on and said, "Don't inform Kakarrot of my ident.i.ty when we meet him. I don't want him to learn of his past yet.
"Why?" Bulma asked, puzzled.
Bardock didn't answer, so Bulma tactfully didn't ask again.
Bardock directly flew into the air and asked, "Do you have a faster means of transportation? It's a long way to Kakarrot's location."
"Yes."
Bulma took out a jet plane from the Hoi-Poi Capsule which could boost their speed by a lot. Soon afterward, Bardock and Bulma sped up, heading in the direction of Mount Five Elements.
Mount Five Element had lush greenery and towering forests. The sunlight formed beautiful light spots suns.h.i.+ne after pa.s.sing through the leaves of the canopy of trees.
At the Mountain's peak, Goku was busy repairing the crack above the Furnace of the Eight Divisions, and standing next to him was a beautiful giant beautiful, eating a large bowl of noodles which she held. She had two long pheasant tail feathers on top of her head.
"Gohan, your grandson is much more powerful than you," The beautiful woman said to an old man, with a greyish-white beard, who stood beside her as she put down the bowl and shrunk to the size of a normal human. This old man was Goku's grandfather, Gohan.
After Grandpa Gohan's death, he was tasked with looking after the Furnace of the Eight Divisions in Annin's place. The reason why Ox King's Fire Mountain and Mount Five Element were so hot was due to the crack on the Furnace of the Eight Divisions.
After hearing Annin praise Goku, Grandpa Gohan chuckled and calmly said, "Goku, this child is now training at The Lookout; his achievements will not be small in the future."
"There is nothing great about those Kami's, but your grandson is really good…"
Annin didn't express any opinion, but she did not deny Goku's achievements while belittling Kami's achievements. She thought to herself, 'Son Gohan's grandson's strength is not much weaker than mine. Who would have thought that this mortal world's Kami would be so lucky!'
"Grandpa, I have fixed the crack on the Furnace of Eight Divisions."
While Gohan and Annin were chatting, Goku repaired the Furnace of Eight Divisions. To repair the crack, Goku had to find the eggsh.e.l.l of the Hikui Bird. After a hectic work, Goku finally stopped the fire.
"Good!" Grandpa Gohan stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
Annin was also very happy because she could once again cook noodles with the strongest fire of the Furnace of Eight Divisions.
Suddenly, a powerful aura approached Mount Five Element. Goku, Annin and Grandpa Gohan sensed it, causing their expressions to become grave.
Annin opened her mouth and said in shock, "Unexpectedly, there is such an expert in the human world. He is coming towards Mount Five Element."
"This place is located at the junction of the Mortal World and the Other World… shouldn't it be difficult for people to find it?" Grandpa Gohan asked; he was a little bit surprised.
"It's hard to say…"
"It's such a powerful Ki… It would be good if I could do battle with him." Goku, however, looked very excited at this moment. In his heart, Goku was itching to fight. His eyes were erupting a strong fighting intent.
"You must not fight."
"Goku, you are not his opponent."
When Annin and Grandpa Gohan saw his expression, they rushed to stop him. At the moment, it was unknown if the newcomer was a friend or foe, so it wouldn't be good to rashly offend them.
Annin's beautiful eyes were rotating as she thought of various countermeasures. Just as Annin and the others were feeling anxious and fearful, Bardock brought along Bulma and entered the boundary of Mount Five Element.
"Not good… That person has entered the Dimensional boundary." Annin's countenance abruptly changed. Her phoenix eyes slightly rose, and the aura around her body condensed.
Like the Heavenly realm's Lookout, Mount Five Element is a very special place. Ordinary people can't enter this place. Annin can be sure that the other person is rus.h.i.+ng towards the Mount Five Element.
"That person has arrived!"
The enchantment protecting Mount Five Element suddenly fell like broken gla.s.s.
Immediately, a suffocating aura—like surging yellow sand—poured in, and the substance-like aura turned into a Ki wave. The peak of Mount Five Element shook as if it had met a strong storm, blowing everything around it away.
Goku and the others were more sensitive to Ki, so it felt like a huge mountain was pressed against their chest, making it hard to breathe.
"Such a frightening aura!" Goku's heart crazily jumped. His fighting intent completely disappeared after experiencing the oppressive aura. Goku knew that he was not a match for the newcomer.
"Goku!"
Suddenly, a crisp and pleasant voice was heard, and shortly afterward, Goku saw Bulma—who wore skin-tight cowboy clothes—waving her hands. She ran towards them, causing her long light-purple hair to flutter.
"Bulma, why are you here?" Goku was astonished. He didn't expect to find Bulma here.
"Why? I can't come to look for you?" Bulma smiled, tightly hugged Goku, and then stared at him with dissatisfaction.
"It's not that. Also, can you let me go, you are making me uncomfortable." Goku said, feeling uncomfortable.
Bulma also reacted and quickly released Goku. Her violet starry pupils watched Goku, and after a while, she exclaimed in surprise, her little hand gesticulating, "Goku, how come you have become so tall?! Look, I can only reach your eyebrows."
"Yeah, now I am taller than you!" Goku replied with a grin.
At this time, the masked Bardock stepped forward and sized up his son who had looks very similar to his: "Kakarrot, let me test your skills."
Since Bardock had already hidden his tail in the Battle Armor, Goku didn't know the ident.i.ty of the person in front of him, but his intuition was nagging him that the person in front of him was more powerful than he thought.
Bulma knew Bardock's ident.i.ty and understood that he won't hurt Goku, so she quietly retreated to one side, leaving the s.p.a.ce for Goku and Bardock.
"This person is very powerful! it is impossible for there to be such a strong person on Earth," Annin said with certainty.
"Yeah." Grandpa Gohan nodded.
The battle between Goku and Bardock was not even a little suspenseful. Their naked eyes couldn't even register it before Goku was defeated in an instant.
"Your strength is still not enough. Leave with me, and let me properly train you," Bardock sounded calm as he said.
Goku's expression was one of disbelief. He repeatedly thought about the reason he lost, but he couldn't understand it at all. Nonetheless, after hearing from Bardock that he was willing to give him pointers, Goku grew excited.
"Bulma, who is this person? He is so powerful!" Goku asked Bulma in a low voice.
"Hee hee, can't tell you." Bulma gave him a white eye, not saying anything.
Bardock didn't react much to the intimacy between the two people. He indifferently looked at Annin and Grandpa Gohan to the side. His eyes didn't have much emotion and were full of indifference, causing Annin and Grandpa Gohan to feel a slight chill run down their spine. After Bardock and the others left, Annin and Grandpa Gohan took a deep breath.
"Frightening, who would have thought there are also experts like this on Earth."
At this time, in another place on Earth.
Seaside, the powerful wind caused the sea waves to sway.
Xiaya calmly looked at the direction of Mount Five Element. He had returned to Earth for some time. From the aura that had just erupted out, he knew that Bardock had already met Goku.
"I don't know what kind of strength Goku can achieve under Bardock's training, but it makes me look forward to it!" Thinking of Raditz and Vegeta who would come to Earth many years later. They would discover that Kakarrot, who was once a low-level warrior in their heart, had unexpectedly become so powerful.
"But, If this happens, the disparity between Piccolo and Goku would increase. Tsk tsk, I'll have to see the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament."
At this time, Xiaya was like a spectator watching the script in his heart come true little by little, waiting for something unexpected to happen. A mischievous interest couldn't help but emerge in his heart.
At this moment, the purple ring on his hand flickered a few times. Xiaya raised his finger in surprise, as the youthful voice of the Supreme Kai of Time came from the ring.
"Hey, Xiaya, are you free now?"
"What's the matter?" asked Xiaya.
"Just now, when I used the book of Time and s.p.a.ce to check on Universe 7, I found that the planet you are on has suddenly divided into a small fragmented world. This should have been done by the Demon Realm's people; since you are on Earth, please go and check it out."
"A fragmented world has appeared on Earth?" Xiaya was a little surprised.
He knew that changing the timeline could cause a whole set of multiverse dimensions to appear, but a fragmented world would only appear if the local and delicate operations were appropriate; such a world's size would be very different. Some were as huge as galaxies, and some were as small as dust; however, there was no doubt that such a world wouldn't appear naturally.
Then, someone must be manipulating it.
The Supreme Kai of Time's job was to record and investigate these fragmented worlds. When a fragmented world has been confirmed to be harmful, it needs to be dealt with or even destroyed as soon as possible.
"Umm, the source of the fragmented world should be the Demon Realm on Earth, so you can start from there. However, Earth's Demon Realm is connected to the main Demon Realm of Universe 7, so you have to be careful if you encounter the experts of the main Demon Realm."