Lan Qi Makes Her Entrance

"Mission guaranteed!"

Krillin answered at once, then prepared to jump onto the Flying Nimbus.

"Hey, Goku, don't grab me this time. Can't I get on by myself? (°ー°〃)"

"But only good kids can ride this cloud. Are you a good kid?"

Son Goku asked, looking curious.

"Of course! I'm definitely a good kid! I'm the most respectful student there is!"

Krillin thumped his chest as he promised.

"Then hurry up and get on!"

Son Goku looked at him expectantly.

"Whoosh!"

"Thud!"

"..."

Everyone stared at Krillin lying on the ground. No one knew who started it, but a wave of laughter suddenly swept through the crowd.

"Looks like you haven't purified your six senses, little monk!"

Son Gohan teased him.

"I-I'm not a monk! I shaved my head to practice martial arts!"

Krillin hurriedly protested. The martial arts world frowned on students who had already learned from another master before joining a new school, and he had worked hard to become Master Roshi's student.

"You've still got the tonsure scars on your head, kid. Why are you pretending to be such a big shot?"

"No one here cares about that. You don't need to cling to those petty concerns. Martial Arts cultivate the mind. If your heart isn't sincere, how can you keep improving?"

Son Gohan waved his hand. It was only the first day, but he was already starting to act like an older student.

"Yes, sir!"

Krillin's thoughts churned, but in the end, he obediently bowed and admitted his mistake.

Master Roshi silently watched everything from the side, nodding his head.

"Not bad, not bad!"

It was unclear whose performance he was praising.

Before long, Son Goku carried Krillin out from the peninsula to a desolate Gobi Desert.

"I wonder if we'll find a girl. It doesn't look like anyone lives around here!"

Son Goku shaded his eyes with one hand and looked toward Krillin.

"We can only search as hard as we can. Goku, there's a little town over there! Let's go!"

As he replied, he suddenly spotted a rundown town on the edge of the desert.

"It looks like there's a lot going on over there!"

Even from far away, they could hear a commotion. Before they got close, a burst of gunfire rang out.

Before long, they saw a graceful blonde woman riding a hover motorcycle toward them. In the blink of an eye, she drifted past on the road beneath them.

"Oh, that woman!"

Krillin's eyes lit up.

"Blonde hair and blue eyes, beautiful face—and, most importantly, that incredible figure!"

"Master Roshi will definitely like her. She's the one, Goku! Let's catch up and help her deal with those pursuers!"

He urged Goku on impatiently, afraid they'd lose sight of her.

"Mm-hmm!"

Son Goku responded and urged the Flying Nimbus after her.

The beauty was fierce. Even while fleeing, she kept turning around to fire bursts from her gun, and every so often she tossed out a grenade. Before long, she had blown the pursuers behind her to pieces.

Just as only two or three men remained able to chase her, a gust of hot air blew past, stirring her hair.

"Achoo!"

She suddenly sneezed. The next second, her entire demeanor changed, a soft, timid air emerging as her long blonde hair miraculously turned blue.

"Ah, no!"

"Don't come any closer! I'm scared!"

Seeing the three men closing in around her, she fearfully wrapped her arms around herself.

"Hey, how can you bully a girl like that?"

Son Goku and Krillin hurried over on the cloud to stop them.

Krillin hesitated when he saw the guns in their hands. But then he remembered what Son Gohan had said before they left, gritted his teeth, and managed not to blurt out, "This has nothing to do with me!"

He quietly took up a position on the other side of Son Goku, ready to back him up.

"Where'd you little brats come from? If you don't want to go to hell and meet King Yama, get lost! The guns we're holding aren't for show!"

The situation had been tense, so they hadn't noticed where the two brats had come from.

"You've messed with the Wildfire Gang! We'll make you regret it!"

He wore a vicious grin and looked imposing.

"All right, here we go!"

Son Goku knew that getting hit by those weapons would really hurt, so he took things especially seriously.

He drew a deep breath and took the Ruyi Staff from his back.

"Ha! Hah!"

With a quick step, Son Goku moved too fast for an ordinary person to react. He struck one man with his staff, then immediately swept it across, and all three men sprawled on the ground.

"Done!"

He dusted off his hands and put the Ruyi Staff back on his back.

"Are you a monster?"

Krillin stared at Goku in shock. He had thought that even if he lost, his opponent would at least have put in their full effort. But now it seemed the other guy had been playing with him the whole time.

It dealt a blow to his confidence.

"Thank you, thank you for saving me!"

"My name's Lan Qi. Nice to meet you! *(๑•₃•๑)*"

With the danger gone, the girl walked up to them.

"By the way, why were they surrounding you?"

Son Goku scratched his head.

"Well, um..."

"Maybe I have some kind of grudge against them."

She looked uneasy.

"...Maybe?!"

Krillin frowned in confusion.

"Your hair changed color just now!"

"You were super brave when your hair was blonde!"

Krillin couldn't forget the valiant woman he'd seen earlier.

"Um, whenever I sneeze, another personality comes out. I don't know why, either."

She scratched her head, looking embarrassed.

"Is there somewhere you need to go? Why don't you come stay with us for a while?"

Thinking of Master Roshi's request and seeing that it was getting late, Krillin invited her along.

"Really? Thank you so much!"

Krillin had only taken a chance, but Lan Qi happened to have nowhere to go, so she immediately accepted his invitation.

"That's great!"

"Goku, let's hurry back!"

Calling out, Krillin jumped onto the cloud first. Then it suddenly occurred to him to ask, "Why don't you try getting on?"

Son Goku lowered the Flying Nimbus, and Lan Qi scrambled aboard.

Krillin stared blankly at the sight.

Son Goku, on the other hand, looked rather excited (ღ˘︶˘ღ).

"Krillin, see? She's a good kid! ε=(´ο｀*)))"

"..."

Krillin didn't want to talk. Krillin just wanted some peace and quiet.

Silence fell over Cambridge that night.

"Then, off we go!"

A streak of yellow flashed as the Flying Nimbus soared into the sky.

"We're back!"

Just as the setting sun was about to sink beneath the sea, Son Goku and the others returned to the island in the last of the daylight.

"Master Roshi, we found a cute girl!"

Krillin spoke up first, eager to claim credit.