"Wuneng, aren't you coming too?"
After cheering for a while, Son Goku looked at Wuneng in confusion.
"Ahem. You two are enough to hunt, and besides, it wouldn't be safe to leave a girl alone out here in the wilderness."
Son Gohan explained.
Bulma heard him and felt warmth bloom in her heart.
"Son-kun is just so sweet!"
"Stupid Goku, acting like a little kid. You're so annoying!"
"Lord Son, please climb onto my back!"
After hesitating for a moment, Ribut lowered himself to let Son Goku climb aboard.
"Just call me Goku!"
He happily leaped onto the back of Ribut's neck and settled there, arms around Ribut's neck.
"Let's go!"
With a cheer, Ribut carried Goku far away, flying north.
Son Gohan and Bulma stood watching for a long while. At last, Bulma reluctantly looked away.
"I'm so jealous. I've only ever gone up in an airplane, and I've always wondered what it feels like to ride a dragon!"
She sighed.
"Don't be jealous. We can all ride tomorrow when we set out. But we should make something like a saddle, or we'll fall off easily."
Son Gohan stroked his chin thoughtfully.
That gave Bulma a new idea.
"You really do think things through!"
She thought of something and hurried back to the little house. From the box she carried with her, she took out a Hoi-Poi Capsule and casually tossed it to the ground.
With a bang, a workbench appeared right in front of Bulma.
Son Gohan followed her back and took a careful look. The bench had every kind of mold and tool.
"I have to say, Bulma, you're full of surprises. You even have one of these!"
After saying that, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look for the bundle Goku had left in the corner.
Bulma watched curiously as he rummaged around for a while before pulling out a device that looked like a monocle.
"Found it!"
Son Gohan walked over to Bulma.
"Could you take a look at this for me? It has a monitoring device inside. See if you can take it apart."
He had found it aboard the spaceship that had brought them to Earth. Before they set off, Son Gohan had packed it in the bundle, hoping Bulma might be able to modify it.
Though she was still young, Son Gohan hadn't expected much.
"The material is quite unusual. This monocle—what is it for?"
Bulma took the Battle Scanner and turned it over in her hands, examining it with curiosity.
"Hmm..."
"On Earth, you could call it a toy."
Son Gohan thought for a moment before giving his opinion.
"On a cosmic scale, it's a combat-assistance tool that can measure the energy contained in a target's body."
"Usually, you just wear it over your ear and press the scan button to get the target's battle-power reading."
"Normally, you can compare your strength with your opponent's just by measuring it. With this, you can tell whether you should fight or retreat when you face an enemy."
Bulma was taken aback by what Son Gohan had told her.
She asked curiously,
"The universe?"
"Are there really other planets with life beyond Earth?"
Son Gohan sat down in the chair beside them and replied,
"Of course. The universe is vast beyond measure. Even in the North Galaxy where we live, there are countless planets with life."
"Huh? Really? By the way, Son-kun, how do you know all this when you're so young?"
Bulma had been curious about exploring the world since she was little, so she couldn't help asking.
Son Goku took the scanner from Bulma and put it in another room. Then he returned and answered,
"Actually, Goku and I are aliens."
Son Gohan considered it for a moment, then decided to tell her outright. There was nothing to hide. At least, Raditz already knew they were on Earth, and they wouldn't be able to keep it secret for long.
"(՞•Ꙫ•՞)ﾉ???? Huh!?"
Bulma's mouth slowly fell open.
"You're kidding!"
Bulma felt the worldview she'd built over the past decade being shaken. She looked unconvinced.
"It's true. Goku and I are both from a planet called Vegeta in the North Galaxy."
"Our race is called the Saiyans. We're a warrior race known throughout the universe for fighting!"
"Our tails are the mark of our people."
As he explained, he swished the tail wrapped around his waist back and forth behind him. Bulma stared, wide-eyed.
"ε=(´ο｀*))) Huh? Son-kun, you have a tail too? I thought Son Goku had just stuck a fake tail on his butt!"
"So it's real!"
"Of course it's real. Having this tail greatly improves our ability to survive."
"Whenever the Saiyans invade a planet and encounter a danger they can't resist, the leader creates a full-moon light wave. If we look directly at it, we transform into Giant Apes. At that point, our battle power increases tenfold!"
"Inva... invade planets?!"
"Mm. The Saiyans are a combative race. Most of them live for battle, so our entire race once served under the emperor of the universe, Frieza, and invaded planets with life throughout the universe for him."
"In return, we Saiyans got the battles we craved, along with all kinds of resources to survive. The Frieza Force got prime planets to sell to the universe's wealthy."
"Even from the perspective of the wider universe, our race could be considered evil."
Son Gohan spoke about it calmly.
"Th-then, Son-kun, you and Goku are...?"
Thinking of the brothers' terrifying, almost monstrous skills, Bulma trembled. Now that she'd learned such a huge secret, would they kill her to silence her?
"Goku and me?"
Son Gohan saw Bulma starting to shake and felt a sudden urge to tease her.
"So you figured it out after all!"
His expression suddenly darkened.
"In our race, every child's battle power is tested at birth. The elite born with high battle power usually undergo years of strict training before joining the combat force."
"Those born with very low battle power are given their ancestral memories and then sent off to some low-level planet to fend for themselves!"
"Whether they conquer the planet or die in the end, either outcome is acceptable. At least it puts the waste to some use, doesn't it?"
Bulma watched Son Gohan's expression grow more and more somber. His voice had turned extremely grave, and the fear inside her reached its peak.
"You—you two and Goku..."
She had almost no strength left. Only a broken, voiceless sentence squeezed through her teeth.
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