The Pitiful Krillin

Goku and Sun Mo held off the Red Ribbon Army, while Bulma and Krillin ventured a bit deeper into the cave.

After a few steps, they came upon a brightly lit corridor. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of white cement, dotted with evenly spaced holes.

Seeing this man-made corridor, Bulma grew suspicious.

"This path looks really weird. It's obviously some kind of trap setup."

Krillin, bold with his skills, laughed loudly. "No problem, no problem..."

With that, he stepped toward the corridor.

The moment his foot touched the floor, an arrow shot out from a hole in the side wall.

By sheer luck, it whizzed right over Krillin's head.

A chill ran down his spine, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Whoa, that scared me!"

Bulma gasped. "See? I told you, there are traps here..."

Krillin wiped his sweat and asked, "So what do we do?"

Bulma thought for a moment. "The Dragon Ball is still ahead. We have to get through this corridor to reach it.

And this is clearly a security measure to keep thieves out.

If you ask me, the people who belong here must have a safe passage.

It just can't be out in the open—it's probably hidden somewhere..."

Krillin nodded in agreement. "You're a scientist for a reason. Your brain really works!"

"Of course!" Bulma grinned smugly.

"Alright, let's search carefully for the safe route..."

The two began scouring the area.

A little while later, Sun Mo and Goku arrived.

Krillin was thrilled. "Goku, Sun Mo, you're both here!"

Goku nodded. "Yeah, Sun Mo killed the Red Ribbon Army's leader. The rest ran off..."

Sun Mo asked, "Were you two waiting for us here?"

Krillin quickly replied, "No, this corridor has traps.

Those round holes—if you step on them, arrows shoot out. Bulma and I are looking for a safe passage."

Sun Mo remembered that there was indeed a secret passage here. Originally, General Blue had used it to get through.

So he began searching intently.

Krillin said, "We've been looking for a while, but we can't find it..."

Goku, being impatient, glanced at the white corridor and asked, "It's so short—can't we just jump over it?"

"Jump over it? Are you kidding?" Bulma looked disdainful.

But without a second thought, Goku said, "I'm jumping!"

With that, he took a running start and leaped forward.

Clearing over twenty meters in one bound, Goku landed steadily on the other side of the corridor.

Bulma was stunned. "Whoa, you scared me! You actually jumped that—it's got to be over twenty meters, right?"

After landing, Goku immediately turned and waved. "You guys jump over too..."

Bulma exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Not everyone has abilities like yours!"

Goku said, "You can't jump? That's useless..."

Bulma: "..."

Sun Mo said, "Bulma, hold on. This is too dangerous for you. Let me find the secret passage, and we'll go that way..."

Bulma's eyes welled up. Touched, she said, "You actually care about me!

Adventuring with those two, they treat me like I'm not even human. Boohoo..."

Seeing Goku make the jump, Krillin silently clenched his fists.

"If Goku can do it, then I should be able to too. I'm jumping too..."

With that, Krillin backed up a few steps and took a sprinting leap.

But he jumped too high and smacked his head on the ceiling.

Two arrows shot across and pierced straight through Krillin's rear...

Luckily, momentum carried him through, and despite his injured backside, he landed on the far side of the corridor.

"Waaahhh, it hurts, it hurts so much..."

Son Goku was shocked: "Krillin, are you okay...

Hurry up and take off your pants..."

Son Goku pulled off Krillin's pants and took a look.

"Whoa, Krillin, both halves of your butt are pierced through by that arrow—that must hurt a lot, right?"

As he spoke, Son Goku even touched the arrow, trying to see if he could pull it out.

That touch jolted Krillin's nerves, and in an instant, his hair stood on end as snot, tears, and sweat all streamed down his face.

"Hiss—ah, it hurts like hell, don't, don't touch me, Wukong..."

Son Goku scratched his head and said sympathetically, "Krillin, you're really pitiful.

Your butt's injured—you'll have to go back to get it bandaged and get a shot..."

Krillin said bitterly, "Sigh, I'm still lucky—it's just my butt that's hurt!

If I'd been hit in a vital spot, I'd be dead. That was way too dangerous just now..."

Son Goku nodded and said, "Yeah, you almost died.

But I need to pull the arrow out for you before you can walk, right?"

Krillin's mouth twitched: "J-just yank it out?

That arrow has barbs—pulling it straight out will tear off a lot of flesh, and I'll die from the pain."

Son Goku scratched his head and said, "But are you going to keep moving forward with the arrow in you? That's pretty inconvenient, isn't it?"

From the other end of the corridor, Bulma heard their ridiculous conversation and immediately shouted, "Don't mess with him, Wukong—secondary injury would make it worse.

I've got a first-aid kit in my capsule—wait for me to get over there, and I can help treat him..."

Hearing that Bulma had a first-aid kit, Krillin was moved to tears and snot.

"Great, thank goodness you came, Bulma..."

Bulma put her hands on her hips and said, "Hmph, just a moment ago, someone was looking down on me—now you see how useful this young lady is, huh..."

Just then, Sun Mo found a red switch and pressed it without a second thought.

In an instant, the mechanism rumbled, and a stone wall rose up, revealing a safe little path.

Sun Mo was overjoyed: "So it was a secret passage—found it..."

Bulma also broke into a smile: "Great, I don't have to risk going over there!"

She waved at Son Goku and Krillin and said, "You two wait over there—we'll circle around."

Both of them nodded.

Sun Mo and Bulma went through the safe passage and met up with Krillin and Son Goku at the other end of the corridor.

Son Goku was too rough and had no sense of restraint. Krillin was still a kid, but his butt was injured, and Bulma was a girl, so it was awkward.

Back in elementary school, Sun Mo had practiced first aid in class, and that came in handy now.

So Sun Mo took over Bulma's first-aid kit, helped Krillin pull out the arrow, disinfected the wound, and bandaged it.

After the whole procedure, Krillin's complexion was noticeably better.

Packing up the first-aid kit, Sun Mo patted Krillin on the butt.

"All done!"

That slap made Krillin break out in cold sweat from the pain again.

"Waaah—it finally stopped hurting, and you had to slap it! You did that on purpose, didn't you..."

Son Goku looked at the bandage on Krillin's butt, then turned to Sun Mo.

Praising him, he said, "Sun Mo, when did you learn to bandage? And you even tied it into a bow..."

Sun Mo: "..."

Bulma heard the bandaging was done and turned back around.

"What's so great about tying a bow? Don't all shoes with laces have bows?"

Son Goku thought for a moment and nodded, "Yeah, I forgot about that.

When we were kids, Sun Mo used to tie my shoelaces for me..."

Sun Mo said speechlessly, "Who was as dumb as you back then, needing Grandpa's help just to put on shoes..."

Krillin leaned on Son Goku's Power Pole and stood up, then said to Son Goku, "Wukong, you'll have to carry me from now on.

My butt hurts—I really can't walk anymore..."

Son Goku didn't hesitate at all and bent down directly, saying, "Come on, I'm ready!"

Just then, Sun Mo suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Damn, how did I forget that just now?

I've already climbed Korin Tower, and I've got Senzu Beans on me..."