Gather the Dragon Balls!

After leaving Kami's Lookout once more, Kairos and Mr. Popo split up.

In terms of speed, Mr. Popo was naturally far inferior to Kairos.

Kairos went to find Master Roshi, Ox-King, and Son Gohan one by one again. After explaining that he needed to borrow the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron and make a wish, he easily took the Three-Star Ball, Seven-Star Ball, and Four-Star Ball from them.

After using those three Dragon Balls, Kairos still intended to return them. Otherwise, it would affect the future development of the plot.

Even though the plot had already changed somewhat, Kairos still had no intention of ruining the main storyline.

As for the other Dragon Balls, aside from the Two-Star Ball in the Briefs household, Kairos had no way to return the rest to their original locations because he did not know exactly where they were.

In truth, Kairos did not care much about the One-Star Ball, Six-Star Ball, or Five-Star Ball.

Even with his current strength, he could burst forth over an extremely short period and intercept all seven Dragon Balls.

But the One-Star Ball and Six-Star Ball among them had originally been found by the Pilaf Gang. Kairos believed that even if they were moved elsewhere, they would still be found.

Kairos believed that this world possessed an invisible force constantly correcting the course of history. Unless some major change occurred, minor alterations would not affect the bigger picture.

As for the Five-Star Ball, Bulma had found it in a mountain valley deep in the wilderness before meeting Kakarot.

Kairos could also intercept the Five-Star Ball along the way and toss it into a mountain valley deep in the wilderness not far from Mount Paozu. Then Bulma could find the Five-Star Dragon Ball smoothly, just as in the original story, follow the Dragon Radar's guidance to Mount Paozu, and meet Kakarot.

In fact, even without that one, it would not matter much.

After all, that Dragon Ball was not connected to anyone particularly important.

The early search for the Dragon Balls was merely a setup for Kakarot, allowing him to leave Mount Paozu, join the Turtle School, and even form a bond with Ox-King's daughter.

Speaking of Ox-King's daughter, Chi-Chi, one had to mention Ox-King's wife.

When Kairos found Ox-King, it happened to be when Ox-King's wife was giving birth to Chi-Chi.

In the original story, Ox-King's wife died after giving birth to Chi-Chi.

Kairos happened to arrive in time and used a Senzu Bean to help Ox-King's wife recover.

Not only did it allow her to give birth to Chi-Chi safely, it also prevented her life from being endangered by severe blood loss.

Honestly, aside from being unable to cure illnesses or neutralize poison, Senzu Beans were practically conceptual-level recovery items.

What Kairos had not expected was that Ox-King's wife in the Dragon Ball world was also named Iron Fan.

It was just that she did not possess the Bashosen Fan. After all, the Bashosen Fan had originally been obtained and kept by Master Roshi. Later, thinking it was useless, Master Roshi used it as a pot mat. Eventually, because it became too filthy, he threw it onto the beach, where it was picked up by a woman passing by the shore.

Although Kakarot and Chi-Chi eventually found it together, the Bashosen Fan seemed to have remained with Anin at Mount Five Elements in the end.

It had little connection with Chi-Chi's mother, Iron Fan.

Worth mentioning was that Chi-Chi's mother had a personality almost identical to Chi-Chi's.

In this era, she was considered the daughter of a wealthy and influential family—the daughter of the lord who ruled the region around Mount Fry-Pan—and was known as Princess Iron Fan.

She admired Ox-King's strength, so she married him.

Kairos did not know whether this change was good or bad.

In any case, Kakarot could deal with it himself in the future.

As for whether he had any thoughts about Chi-Chi?

Although Chi-Chi during the Twenty-Third World Martial Arts Tournament had been very cute and beautiful, the current Chi-Chi had just been born. If he were already thinking about her, that would be far too beastly.

After all, Kairos did not have the slightest improper thought toward either Bulma or Tights right now.

He was merely building good relationships with them in advance for the sake of the future.

By the time Kairos returned to the Briefs home in West City, it was exactly noon.

He had only been gone for ten days, which did not seem like long, but to Bulma and Tights, it felt as though a very, very long time had passed.

After all, to children, a single day could feel incredibly long.

Unlike in the adult world, where time passed in the blink of an eye—a day gone in a flash, a month gone in a daze, and after closing and reopening one's eyes, a year had already passed...

The moment he returned, Kairos was met with Tights' furious barrage, born from her bad mood.

Kairos had not expected his departure to affect her so deeply, nor had he expected this girl, only ten years old, to have so many little thoughts.

No wonder she would soon run away from home with Jaco and barely return after leaving Earth.

There was no helping it. Faced with Tights' behavior, Kairos could only play the role of a warm and caring older brother, consoling her again and again in the hope of putting the matter behind them.

Bulma was the same way, of course. The two sisters had similar personalities.

Still, compared with Tights, Bulma was much more rational.

Perhaps that was the greatest difference between the two sisters.

Bulma truly possessed a sense of responsibility that Tights lacked.

Fortunately, Kairos remembered what he had promised Bulma. Before returning, he had prepared some gifts for both of them, and only then did he manage to muddle through.

Only after shaking off Tights and Bulma could Kairos speak with Briefs about serious matters.

He took out the Dragon Ball for Briefs to identify, then asked whether he had a similar ball at home.

Briefs had a deep impression of the Dragon Balls.

That was because one had been sitting in his home ever since he was a child. He had no idea what it was for and had never paid much attention to researching it.

The reason it had left such an impression was that he used to play with it as a child, though he lost interest after growing up.

When he learned that these balls were called Dragon Balls and that there were seven of them, Briefs was astonished.

Afterward, upon learning that gathering all seven Dragon Balls would allow one to summon Shenron and Make a Wish, he was utterly shocked.

After all, it was simply too unbelievable.

If it had not come from Kairos, and if he had not said it so seriously, Briefs would have suspected it was a joke.

As a successful man and one of Earth's foremost scientists, Briefs was interested in anything unknown.

Kairos did not object to Briefs wanting to research the Dragon Balls.

If he wanted to study them, then study them. Wasn't the Dragon Radar created only because Bulma had researched the Dragon Balls?

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kairos also imparted some new knowledge to Briefs. For instance, although the Dragon Balls had been created by Earth's Kami, they were not actually native to Earth.

After obtaining the Two-Star Dragon Ball, Kairos returned to Kami's Lookout once more.

Mr. Popo had yet to return, but Kairos was in no hurry.

Mr. Popo would be back soon enough anyway.

Although the Magic Carpet could not match Kairos's flying speed, it was comparable to the Flying Nimbus.

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