Seeking the Dragon Ball

"Whoosh!"

Emerging from the seawater through a long, pitch-black tunnel, Roland entered the interior of the treasure vault. It was an enclosed underwater space, and based on his memories, he knew an ambush awaited; Goku and General Blue had endured quite a struggle when they passed through here.

However, these were no match for him. Easily bypassing the layers of traps and robotic guards, Roland soon arrived before the secret chamber where the treasures were stored.

With a deafening "boom," the thick metal protective door collapsed.

Breaking through the final obstacle, Roland walked into the vault with a wide grin on his face.

The vault was piled high with vast amounts of gold, silver, and jewels. The glittering colors were enough to blind a person. The treasures were stacked like mountains, as tall as a man—all the most valuable gold and silver artifacts, diamonds, and gemstones. These were the spoils the pirates had accumulated over many years, but now, they all belonged to Roland.

Taking out a box of Hoi-Poi Capsules, he opened them to reveal empty, large crates, and Roland chuckled as he shoveled the treasures into them by the armful.

Before long, he had emptied the entire vault. Roland didn't leave a single gold coin for anyone else; he was truly the type to pluck a feather from every passing goose, leaving nothing behind.

If those pirates were to return and see their "treasure vault" completely bare, they would likely shed tears of sorrow.

Among these treasures, Roland did not find the Dragon Ball that Goku and General Blue were looking for. But that made sense; that Dragon Ball was only discovered when Goku went to search for the Four-Star Ball again after completing his first collection. At this point, the pirates hadn't found it or brought it into the depths yet.

"Time to go!"

Happily stowing away the treasures, Roland retraced his steps. He then sought out a large-scale gold and silver exchange in the city, fearing that a smaller shop wouldn't be able to handle his haul. Yet, when Roland brought out only a portion of his loot, the staff was still shocked.

It wasn't actually much—only the size of a single wooden crate, less than one-tenth of the total.

The clerk initially didn't believe a child was there to sell goods, but upon seeing the entire crate of gold and silver, sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Could this kid have raided a bank vault?

The reality was close to what the clerk imagined; Roland hadn't raided a bank, but he had emptied the pirates' savings of many years.

Watching the entire staff of the exchange frantically counting the haul, Roland lounged comfortably in the VIP room, sipping a drink.

This brought to mind the social order of the Dragon Ball world: here, if you dared to present it, they dared to accept it. It wouldn't trigger the police, because martial arts were prevalent in this world and robbery was a common occurrence. Even if you saw someone charging into a bank with firearms, it was no surprise—you just handed over the money obediently.

That was exactly how the blonde Launch did it in the original story.

After waiting in the VIP room for about an hour, the staff finally wiped their sweat and carefully handed a bag of cash and a bank card to Roland.

Roland took a sip of his drink, hopped off the sofa, and smiled as he checked the cash and the card. There was 300,000 in cash, and the bank card held 250 million Earth currency. Since it was unregistered, it could be withdrawn from any bank.

He would no longer have to worry about money from now on.

"Well, I am very satisfied with your service."

"If you have business like this in the future, please consider our company."

"I will."

Roland swaggered out. With this massive fortune, he could stylishly buy anything he wanted.

Arriving at the large Hoi-Poi Capsule sales district in the city, Roland prepared to purchase some tools for wilderness living. The sales area displayed high-tech products developed by the subsidiary of Bulma's family; the tiny capsules contained motorcycles, cars, planes, and even houses.

He simply purchased a two-story house, a refrigerator, a color TV, an air conditioner, and other electrical appliances. Additionally, he prepared a camper for travel, a motorcycle, and a yacht. In one go, he spent nearly half the money on his bank card, making him sigh at how quickly money could disappear.

With everything prepared, Roland felt he could live quite comfortably on Earth. Now, it was time to train.

Yes, he would start by searching for the Dragon Balls, training while he searched.

He had finally arrived on Earth, and he hadn't even seen a Dragon Ball yet!

Having set this plan, Roland rested briefly before setting off on his journey to find the Dragon Balls without delay. Of course, he wasn't in a hurry; there was no one else on Earth competing with him for them right now.

His first stop was Mount Paozu.

There was a Dragon Ball there that Roland knew about.

On Earth, the locations of two Dragon Balls were the most certain: Son Gohan's Four-Star Ball and Master Roshi's Three-Star Ball. They had held onto the Dragon Balls for a long time, especially the one Master Roshi had found while swimming in the ocean over a hundred years ago. Comparatively, Roland was more interested in meeting the old man who would eventually adopt Goku.

Once he found the first Dragon Ball, he would head to West City to find Bulma's father, Dr. Brief, and ask him to manufacture a Dragon Radar.

Dr. Brief was a genius who could even research the "black technology" of Hoi-Poi Capsules. In the original story, he had even modified Goku's spacecraft in just a few days; there was no reason he couldn't make a device to detect Dragon Ball signals. As for the possibility of Dr. Brief refusing him, Roland wasn't worried, because a great scientist like Dr. Brief should be interested in the unknown.

He turned on his Scouter and scanned in the direction of Mount Paozu.

With a "beep," a power level of 142 appeared on the screen—that was Son Gohan's signal.

"It's only 1,000 kilometers away. If I flew, it would only take an hour, but there's no rush. I'll take the motorcycle and go slowly."

This type of motorcycle with a glass canopy was very convenient to drive. As long as he kept his balance, even someone of Roland's small stature could ride it.

With a flick of his tail, Roland sat on the motorcycle, started the engine, and set off leisurely.

Put-put-put~

A cloud of yellow sand rose as the motorcycle kicked up dust, charging recklessly along the gravel road in the suburbs.

The technological development of the Dragon Ball world was extremely uneven. As soon as he left the city, the road gradually changed from gravel to a muddy dirt path.