The Antarctic ice field cracked beneath his feet with a brittle crunch that set teeth on edge.
The bitter wind swept up snowflakes like knives, trying to slice open the intruders' skin.
But to the man standing beside the glacial crevasse, the cold that could freeze an elephant to death did not even count as a tickle.
Krillin wore only a thin Hawaiian shirt and carried two steaming cups of hot cocoa.
He looked at the figure ahead, bundled up like a white rice dumpling in heavy polar protective gear, and could not help smiling.
"Hey, princess, that suit may have a temperature-control system, but you've been digging there for ten minutes."
Krillin walked over and handed a cup of hot cocoa to the white bundle.
Bulma turned around with difficulty, her eyes wide behind her goggles.
Her voice came through the loudspeaker, full of static and complaints.
"Because the Dragon Radar says it's right underneath us! This Millennium Ice Layer is five hundred meters thick. Even with my Laser Excavator, I can't get it done instantly!"
"Do you think everyone's a monster like you?"
"Calling me a monster in bed is fine, but the rest of the time, you'd better call me darling."
With a wicked grin, Krillin pressed his hand against the ice.
There was no eruption of power, no earthshaking roar.
He simply pressed his palm down gently.
Rumble...!
The ice within a hundred-meter radius seemed to be instantly swept flat by an invisible giant hand.
Under the absolute crushing force of physical laws, the ancient ice, as hard as iron, instantly became a glittering cloud of ice dust.
The seemingly bottomless crevasse vanished, replaced by an enormous hollow as smooth as a mirror.
At its very center lay an orange-red glass ball, its six stars gleaming in the refracted light from the snow.
Bulma's mouth fell open, and she nearly spilled her hot cocoa.
Though she had seen it many times, such absurd strength still stunned her.
Krillin beckoned, and the Six-Star Ball flew into his palm.
It felt peculiar.
It was not ordinary glass or resin. It felt warm and smooth as jade, its surface sleek but neither cold nor hard.
Holding it, he could feel an extremely faint pulse, like the breathing of some sleeping life-form.
"A Dragon Ball..."
Krillin rubbed the surface of the sphere.
The miraculous wish-granting object he could only see on a screen in his previous life was now truly in his hand. The reality of "breaking through the dimensional barrier" left him momentarily dazed.
"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and let me see that one!"
Bulma ran over, snatched the Six-Star Ball, and held it up to the sunlight, as excited as a child.
"With this one, we've collected four! Three more to go!"
Krillin slipped an arm around the waist of her bulky protective suit, and the next second, their surroundings abruptly changed.
The biting wind vanished, replaced by a warm, humid sea breeze and the roar of waves.
Instant Transmission.
They were on an uninhabited island on the equator.
The sun blazed, and the beach was white.
"It's so hot! So hot!"
Bulma scrambled out of her protective suit, revealing the bikini she had already put on underneath.
It was Krillin's favorite red, making her fair skin seem to glow.
"The Dragon Radar says the next one is in this island's volcanic crater."
Bulma shook out her blue-green hair and glanced at the Dragon Radar.
"But since we've come somewhere this nice, finding the ball can wait."
She tossed the Dragon Radar onto a beach towel, her gaze turning languid and dangerous as a cat's, and gently hooked a finger into Krillin's shirt collar.
"We've been flying around for days. My back's about to break. As the strongest martial artist in the universe, you must have some way to give me a little 'massage,' right?"
Krillin's Adam's apple bobbed.
The past few days had been less a search for the Dragon Balls than a shameless honeymoon trip around the world.
From deep-sea shipwrecks to the Primeval Jungle, they had left traces of their wildness everywhere.
Krillin scooped Bulma into his arms and strode toward the Treehouse deep in the coconut grove.
"A massage is no problem, of course."
Krillin lowered his head, brushing the tip of his nose over her collarbone.
"But these hands are strong. Keeping that strength in check takes skill. If I can't... you'll have to beg for mercy."
Bulma lifted her chin defiantly.
"We'll see who begs for mercy, baldy."
Three hours later.
Just as Krillin stepped out of the Treehouse feeling refreshed, ready to catch a couple of Tyrant Lobsters in the sea for lunch, several furtive figures emerged from the other end of the jungle.
They were men in tattered military uniforms, carrying old-fashioned submachine guns, with damaged Red Ribbon Army insignia still hanging on their chests.
They were clearly remnants who had fled here.
"Don't move! Hand over your valuables!"
Their leader, One-Eyed Dragon, aimed his gun at Krillin, his eyes vicious.
"And that woman too! I heard everything!"
Krillin could not even be bothered to give them a proper look.
"Hey! I'm talking to you! You, baldy!" Furious at being ignored, One-Eyed Dragon pulled the trigger.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Flames spat from the muzzle, and bullets poured down like rain.
Krillin stood where he was. Three inches in front of him, the bullets struck what seemed to be an invisible wall, crumpling into flat pieces of copper that clattered to the ground.
One-Eyed Dragon's vicious expression turned to ghost-struck terror.
"The Red Ribbon Army... now that's a name I haven't heard in a while."
Krillin picked up a deformed bullet and rubbed it lightly between his fingertips, turning the copper into powder.
"Goku probably forgot to clean up the trash. Since I'm in a good mood today, I'll send you on your way."
He raised his hand and gently flicked his index finger toward the pirate ship anchored in the bay several hundred meters away.
There was no earthshaking Kamehameha.
Only a gust of air from his finger.
Bang!
As though struck by an invisible cruise missile, the hundred-ton iron-hulled vessel instantly snapped in half and exploded into a huge fireball.
The waves kicked up by the shock wave slammed the remnant soldiers onto the beach, knocking them unconscious.
The Treehouse door opened, and Bulma stepped out wrapped in a bath towel, the flush still lingering on her face. "What a racket. Is someone setting off firecrackers out here?" she asked impatiently.
"Nothing. Just swatted a few mosquitoes."
Krillin turned and walked back into the Treehouse, closing the door behind him.
"Where were we? Oh, right. You said you wanted to try that 'Anti-Gravity Position'?"
"Oh, get lost! I said go catch some lobsters!"
"Try it after I catch the lobsters?"
"...Depends on how you do."
Before you continue