Son Gohan suddenly jumped down from his chair and stepped close to Bulma, chuckling.
"You've already figured it out, haven't you? As you can see, Goku and I are here to conquer Earth!"
"Now that you know all our secrets, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
"Miss Bulma, you wouldn't want our secret getting out, would you?"
"Don't kill me! I've never even been in love!"
Bulma squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.
Son Gohan said nothing. He slowly reached out his right hand and moved it toward the top of Bulma's head.
"Then let me put an end to all this!"
"Ah!"
Bulma let out a scream as a little hand swiftly flicked her forehead. Then Son Gohan's triumphant laughter rang through the room.
"Hey, hey, you didn't actually believe me, did you?"
He reached out and pinched Bulma's chubby cheek.
The pain she'd expected never came. Hearing Son Gohan's smug laughter beside her, Bulma opened her eyes and touched the spot he'd flicked. It didn't hurt at all.
Then she saw Son Gohan laughing so hard he could barely stand straight. How could she not realize he'd been messing with her?
"You little brat! You tricked me! I'm gonna get you!"
Kami above, who could understand the emotional roller coaster she'd just been through?
That hateful little brat was always playing jokes.
Son Gohan saw Bulma bristling with anger and trying to beat him up, so he hurriedly backed away. Bulma gave chase, relentlessly hunting him around the room.
Only after a while, when she ran out of energy, did Bulma finally stop, panting heavily.
"Y-you little brat, stop right there! I can't take it anymore!"
"Hey, Bulma, how can a boy just stop when you tell him to?"
"That's what you get for tricking me! And then pulling a prank on me!"
Bulma had already been exhausted, but his words spurred her to straighten up and chase him for another couple of steps. Then she punched Son Gohan in the shoulder.
Son Gohan could easily have dodged, of course, but he knew that if he didn't let Bulma land a couple of hits, she wouldn't let this go easily.
Besides, she was so weak that her punches felt more like a massage.
"Uh... I think I've just realized something. Saiyans enjoy fighting this much. Could it be..."
Thinking of the way Saiyans fought each other like maniacs, then taking in how he felt right now, Son Gohan thought he might have figured something out.
"Hey, what are you laughing about?"
Bulma had given Son Gohan a thorough beating. Seeing him standing there grinning stupidly, she couldn't help shivering.
"I have a feeling he's thinking about something impolite! But he's so young... Could I be overthinking it?"
She muttered to herself, unable to make sense of it.
"Ahem. All right, let's be serious."
Seeing Bulma looking ready to devour him alive, Son Gohan called a time-out and straightened up.
"Actually, everything I told you was true, except for what I said about us invading Earth."
"Goku and I really are both aliens. My Saiyan name is Temuturs, and Goku's is Kakarot."
"What? Those names are so old-fashioned. Tomatoes and carrots!"
"Pfft!"
Son Gohan nearly choked at Bulma's comment.
He hurriedly cut her off.
"That's not important!"
"What I'm saying is, Goku and I are among the last surviving Saiyans. Apart from a few survivors, our race has practically been wiped out."
A rare solemn look crossed Son Gohan's face as he told her the truth.
"Our Planet Vegeta was destroyed by Frieza, the one I mentioned earlier."
"The real reason Goku and I came to Earth was that, before our planet was destroyed, Goku's father, Uncle Bardock, gained the ability to see the future. He sent us in advance to take shelter on this remote planet."
"So you don't need to worry about what we might do. After all, we grew up on Earth after Grandpa adopted us. Earth is practically our second home, so we'd never do anything bad to it."
He shrugged, finishing with an easygoing smile.
After hearing him out, Bulma fell silent, apparently trying to decide whether he was telling the truth.
"By the way, Uncle Bardock? So you and Goku-san aren't actually brothers?"
Out of nowhere, Bulma asked this. Son Gohan stared at her, baffled.
"What on earth are you thinking? I just told you all this incredible stuff—our race was wiped out, a whole planet was destroyed—and you're worried about our family ties?!"
Son Gohan scratched his head. He really couldn't understand women's strange way of thinking!
"So when you say you came to our remote planet to take shelter, are you calling Earth some kind of backwater world?"
Bulma ignored his question and pressed him.
"Yeah, Earth is pretty remote, and it doesn't have many valuable resources. It's not exactly a notable planet in the universe."
Son Gohan replied listlessly. This woman changed topics so quickly that he could barely keep up.
"Are you really not curious about any of this?"
Son Gohan tried to bring the subject back once more.
"He's a demon king who can blow up a planet all by himself! One Ki Blast turned Planet Vegeta into cosmic dust!"
"Oh, from the way you describe him, he sounds pretty powerful. But what does that have to do with me?"
Bulma asked, looking confused.
"It does have something to do with you. If that Great Demon King found out Earth had such amazing Dragon Balls, don't you think he might attack?"
Son Gohan gave her a hint. He hadn't forgotten Frieza's wish to grow taller.
"The Scouter I gave you belongs to his army. Its communications module also has a listening device and a tracking system inside."
"Didn't you notice I'd already tossed it into the other room before I started talking to you?"
"That's true."
Bulma thought it over carefully and realized that was exactly what he'd done.
"I'll need you to do me a favor. Find the listening module later and destroy it."
"As for payment, how about you keep that Scouter?"
"That sounds like fun!"
Bulma's eyes lit up, and she stopped dwelling on the rest.
"Then I'll try modifying it first, and afterward I'll make a saddle for riding it!"
Once she'd made her plans, she hurried into the other room, grabbed the Scouter, and began studying it closely.
Son Gohan walked over and watched her use her tools to remove the monocle, then take apart the main unit and study its wiring.
"Bulma, you really are talented when it comes to science!"
Before you continue