Twin Guardian Animals

South, on a certain island.

Bulma hadn't brought a submarine, so she couldn't search underwater.

So Goku stripped off his clothes, grabbed the Radar, and dove into the sea to find the Dragon Balls.

Bulma waited for him on the shore.

"What rotten luck, bringing the wrong Hoi-Poi Capsule..."

Bulma glanced around. On the ground were some animal droppings and traces of a campfire.

She immediately deduced that someone lived on this island.

"Looks like this island might be inhabited. If only I could buy a Hoi-Poi Capsule..."

Bulma started searching around.

Suddenly, two helicopters appeared in the sky.

Bulma immediately waved to get their attention.

But without a word, the two helicopters opened fire on her.

Bulma panicked and fled in a scramble.

Hearing the gunfire, a few beasts leaped past Bulma and bolted into the distance.

Among the fleeing animals were even Dinosaurs...

Bulma had no time to mind those beasts; she kept running.

"Waaah, what's going on..."

After just a few steps, Bulma was fully exposed in the helicopters' line of sight.

"It's over, it's over, I'm gonna die. I never should've come..."

Yet even though Bulma was out in the open, making her an easy target, the helicopters' fire stopped.

A voice immediately called out from one of the helicopters.

"Wrong one, that's not the kid, it's a woman..."

"A mistake? Then let's go down and check. Maybe we can ask something..."

Soon, the two helicopters landed, and two pilots stepped out to apologize to Bulma.

"Ah, sorry about that. We were chasing a kid and mistook you for him..."

Seeing them apologize, Bulma immediately grew bold.

"You guys are way too reckless! I almost died just now!"

"Sorry, sorry! It's our fault!"

Bulma snorted and said, "Hmph, fine, I'll let it slide.

Anyway, I wanted to ask—are there any capsule shops around here?"

"Capsules?"

"This island is uninhabited. There's nothing like that..."

Bulma frowned.

"Nothing?"

She looked around the surroundings and said firmly, "You're not locals, are you?

This island looks like someone lives here!"

"Really? We hadn't noticed!"

The other pilot said, "The lady's right!

We're just here on a mission, so we're definitely not locals..."

"I knew it..."

Just then, the plumper pilot eyed Bulma with a lecherous glint.

"Still, miss, you're pretty cute..."

The other pilot caught on and started chuckling too.

"Little lady, want to have some fun with us?"

Bulma jolted and immediately grew wary. "Y-you guys aren't thinking of... assaulting me, are you?"

"Hahaha, that's right, you guessed it!"

The two pilots lunged at Bulma.

Bulma screamed, "Whoa! Goku, save me! There are perverts!"

Just as Bulma was scrambling to escape, a crisp child's voice rang out.

"Poachers are here, hurry..."

"Coming!"

Right after, a black-haired boy and a blonde girl burst out of the woods.

The boy charged straight at the thinner pilot, kicked him square in the knee, and sent him sprawling face-first.

The girl lunged at the fatter pilot, landing a flying side kick, knocking him tumbling backward to crash awkwardly onto the ground.

Bulma, well-traveled as she was, could size up their strength at a glance.

Not overwhelmingly powerful, but both had martial arts training—more than enough to handle those two ordinary men.

Bulma patted her chest and said, "Saved!"

She walked over to the two kids who had rescued her.

"You two just saved me—thank you so much!"

But the children ignored her thanks and headed straight for the injured pilots.

The black-haired boy gave them a cold glare and snapped, "Poachers, you were the ones hurting my animals, weren't you?"

"What animals? I didn't see any!" the fat pilot scrambled up, defending himself hastily.

The skinny one added, "No, we're not poachers either..."

The girl planted her hands on her hips and fumed, "Still saying you're not poachers?

I already checked—the fawn I raised has been shot lame...

And Big Guy got so scared he trampled several rabbits to death while running off! You bad people!"

"We, we didn't mean to! We're really not poachers..."

The boy's eyes sharpened, and he barked, "Enough talk!

You hurt the animals we protect, so you'll pay the price!"

With that, he rolled up his sleeves.

"Lazuli, we'll each take one, deal?"

The girl rolled up hers too and said, "No problem—I'm getting revenge for my fawn!"

What followed left Bulma dumbfounded.

The two seemingly young kids rained punches and kicks down on the pilots, hitting only painful spots that wouldn't kill, clearly seasoned at this.

The pilots tried to fight back at first, but they were no match, ending up bruised and bawling.

"Mercy! Mercy! We're sorry, we won't do it again!"

They curled up on the ground, clutching their heads and begging nonstop.

The boy and girl exchanged a glance and stopped.

The boy snorted, "Get lost. Don't let us catch you in this forest again!"

The pilots, pardoned as if by grace, scrambled and crawled toward the helicopter.

"You two really saved me back there—I could've been in trouble..."

Bulma finally got a chance to thank the kids.

The girl shot Bulma a glance and said dismissively, "This place is full of fierce animals.

You don't know a lick of martial arts, yet you barged in here. I don't know how you've survived this long..."

Bulma was at a loss for words.

Then she remembered Goku, scratched her head awkwardly, and said, "Actually, I have a companion. He's a great fighter.

But he just went into the water to look for something and hasn't come up yet..."

The blonde girl frowned. "Went into the water to look for something?"

Bulma nodded.

"Yeah!"

The girl looked at Bulma like she was an idiot and said, "Are you stupid? This is the Ocean—bottomless!

Anything that falls in is practically impossible to get back..."

Bulma started to explain, when suddenly two helicopters flew overhead.

Then they swung their noses around, training their mounted guns coldly on Bulma and the two kids below.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat..."

Without any warning, a hail of bullets blasted toward Bulma and the children.

"Watch out, run, they're back!" Bulma screamed.

Torrents of bullets poured down like a storm, kicking up dust from the ground and snapping branches off the trees.

Bulma and the two children scrambled to take cover behind nearby rocks and bushes.

"Dammit, we shouldn't have let them off earlier!"

The black-haired boy hid behind a rock, slamming his fist into the ground in fury.

The gunfire crept closer, pinning all three of them down, unable to lift their heads.

The blonde girl clenched her teeth, her face twisted with regret. "They never learn.

If I'd known, I'd have broken his leg back then..."

Just then, a sharp sound cut through the air.

"Whoosh--!"

The three of them looked up sharply.

A handsome figure came flying in on a log, riding the air.

The girl gasped. "Who's that..."

Bulma's face lit up with joy. "It's Sun Mo! We're saved!"

She immediately stood up and waved. "Sun Mo, I'm over here..."