Korin

Roland had read plenty of Dragon Ball fanfiction. In them, the protagonists racked their brains trying to get Senzu Beans from Korin. Some traded fresh fish, some resorted to outright deception, and others tried to move Korin with heartfelt pleas and sincere emotion.

After considering whether any of those methods might work, he reached a conclusion.

They were all nonsense.

Early in the story, Senzu Beans were just a way to fill your stomach, but they were still something Korin had painstakingly cultivated. They weren't that easy to get. Korin might be a cat, but he was no ordinary cat—he was a transcendent sage, free of base desires. How could a few fish possibly sway him?

As for deception, that was even more ridiculous. Korin had guarded Korin Tower for over eight hundred years. Did anyone really think he was no wiser than an ordinary person?

Was Roland supposed to do what Yajirobe had done and shamelessly stick around at the top of Korin Tower?

After turning it over in his mind, Roland rejected every one of those approaches!

He was a Saiyan. He ought to handle things with a little more force.

He sped up as he climbed, and the whirlwind in his wake swept away the clouds around the tower. Judging by its altitude, he should have already passed beyond the atmosphere, yet blue skies and white clouds still surrounded him. The tower's summit was nowhere in sight.

"Korin Tower is strange. The space around it seems to be bolstered by some mysterious force. The tower shouldn't actually be this tall."

After marveling at Korin Tower's wonder, Roland flew faster toward the top.

Meanwhile, inside the flattened, spherical structure at the top of Korin Tower,

Korin leaned on his staff, his expression grave as he watched Roland's ascent through a water basin.

In fact, the moment Roland entered Korin's Sacred Land, the immense energy within him had caught Korin's attention. Compared with the martial artists on Earth, Roland's energy was astonishingly abundant. Since he didn't know how to suppress it, he was like a spotlight in the dark, constantly giving away his tremendous power.

"Oh dear, where on earth did this monster come from? He's so young, yet he has such terrifying power."

Korin had met countless people, but he had never encountered a monster this powerful.

If Roland decided to cause trouble, Korin wouldn't be able to stop him with his own strength. Korin paced back and forth beside the water basin, cold sweat beading on his forehead as unease stirred in his heart.

Before long, a gusting vortex reached the top of the tower, and a violent storm roared in their ears.

"He's here!"

Korin's heart tightened. He turned away from the basin and saw a small figure floating outside the structure at the top of Korin Tower. The child looked only four or five years old, his face still round with youth.

Feeling the energy radiating from Roland at such close range, Korin suddenly shuddered.

"What a terrifying child. He made it through Korin Tower's trial so quickly." Korin stared at Roland in shock, but with a guest at the door, he could only steel himself and step forward.

Kami was surely watching, too, but that did little to make him feel safe.

Roland was also sizing up the white, fat cat leaning on a staff. He looked just as chubby as in the anime! He was supposedly over eight hundred years old. Roland wondered what breed he was.

In the Dragon Ball world, cats were a truly mysterious species.

"May I ask what brings you here? If you've come to challenge Korin Tower, there's no need. Someone with your strength doesn't need to do that," Korin asked cautiously.

"Whether there's a need or not, I'm very interested in what you have here."

Roland narrowed his eyes as he sized up Korin. To Korin, that expression was frightening; it felt as if something terrible were about to happen.

Ignoring Korin, the host, Roland sauntered around the first level of Korin Tower as if he were at home. From time to time, he tapped on the objects scattered about and commented on them. When he reached the water basins, he lifted a lid and peered inside. Supposedly, the three basins represented the past, present, and future, but Roland couldn't see a thing in them. He guessed you needed some special technique to make them work.

Korin stood nearby, watching helplessly.

Roland was too powerful. There was nothing he could do.

After a while, Roland had gotten a general sense of Korin Tower. "I heard you have something called Senzu Beans here. One bean can keep you from needing to eat for ten days. Give them to me."

"We do have those, but they're meant for martial artists who challenge Korin Tower..." Korin said.

There wasn't any extra food at the top of Korin Tower. In the past, martial artists who climbed the tower relied on Senzu Beans to stave off hunger. But few people had managed to reach the top in the past few centuries, so quite a lot of beans had piled up.

"Heh..."

A glint flashed in Roland's eyes. His power surged, and he abruptly hurled an energy ball down past Korin Tower.

With a thunderous boom, a violent blast rang out below the tower. Korin rushed to the railing and peered through the clouds, where he could just make out a blood-red mushroom cloud.

A huge swath of the towering mountains at the edge of Korin's Sacred Land had been wiped out.

"See? You'd be better off handing over the Senzu Beans..." Roland smiled at Korin, while conjuring another energy ball and tossing it playfully from hand to hand.

The energy ball flashed with dazzling light, and Korin broke out in a cold sweat.

This guy hadn't come to reason with him.

"Gulp." Korin swallowed and shuddered. "Wait! I can give you the Senzu Beans. Please don't fire another Ki Blast."

Roland burst out laughing. "That's more like it. Bring me the beans."

"I'll need a little time to look for them. I haven't used Senzu Beans in years," Korin sighed.

"Make it quick."

"..."

This guy was far too powerful. Maybe even Kami couldn't beat him. Korin had no idea where such a monster had come from.

But then, given Roland's current battle power, it was hardly surprising that he seemed so incredible to Korin, who had never encountered a powerful warrior from outer space and had no idea such strength existed. The shock was like the world collapsing around him.

Earth's power levels were relatively low. Ordinary people had battle powers of no more than 5, so martial artists with battle powers in the dozens were considered strong. Those like Master Roshi, who had trained for hundreds of years to reach a battle power of over 100, were exceedingly rare. He could easily be called a legendary martial artist.

In a world like that, for a monster with a battle power of 460 to suddenly appear was unthinkable. No one had ever seen, or even heard of, anything so terrifying.

He was so strong it was suffocating.

Sighing, Korin rummaged through the tower from one end to the other. At last, among a pile of odds and ends, he found a clay jar.

The red characters "Senzu Beans" were written on it. When he opened it, he found nothing but dry, shriveled green beans.