Miss Bulma, You'll Have to Squeeze in with Soro

"Really?" Son Goku was both surprised and delighted. His eyes lit up. "Is that really possible?"

"Thank you, Soro." Krillin was overcome with excitement, his hands clenched into fists in front of him.

"Thank you for the huge help, Soro." Son Goku hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

"It's nothing." Soro smiled faintly and waved a hand. "I just told you what I knew."

"That's great!" Krillin rubbed his hands together, his fingers brushing against each other. A look of eager anticipation spread across his face. "Then maybe Chiaotzu can be brought back to life!"

"Honestly!" Bulma sighed softly and shook her head, arms folded across her chest. "Amateurs really are so naive! How could that possibly work?"

"Why do you say that, Miss Bulma?" Krillin asked in confusion, tilting his head.

"Krillin, let me ask you something first." Bulma turned to him, looking him right in the eye. "Do you know where Namek is?"

"Huh?" Krillin was momentarily at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, then shut it again.

"It's all right." Soro chuckled, his tone casual. "I know! My spaceship has Namek's coordinates."

"Oh? Really?" Bulma got excited too, her eyes lighting up.

"But... Soro." Krillin remembered how small Soro's spaceship was and hurriedly asked, frowning. "Can it only carry one person?"

"We could just barely squeeze two people in!" Soro mused, tapping his chin with a finger.

"That's great!" Krillin's eyes lit up, and he immediately made a suggestion, an excited smile on his face. "Miss Bulma, why don't you squeeze in with Soro and take a trip to Namek?"

Bulma: "..."

Bulma's face turned bright red, from her neck all the way to her ears. Her lips parted, then pressed shut again.

Soro gave Krillin a long look.

His gaze lingered on Krillin's face for two seconds.

This kid's got nerve!

He wants me to squeeze in with Bulma in that cramped spaceship?

At that ship's speed, it'll take at least a week to reach Namek.

What should Bulma and I do aboard that ship for a whole week?

The corners of Soro's mouth lifted slightly, then quickly settled back down.

At that moment, Soro even found himself missing the hundred cat-eared beauties on Atlantis Planet.

What are they doing now?

Do they miss me?

"What are you talking about?!" Bulma stamped her foot in anger, making a loud thunk against the metal floor.

She glared at Krillin, so furious that fire seemed ready to shoot from her eyes.

"There's no other way." Krillin sighed and spread his hands. "We can't just send Soro alone. Our friend died... it wouldn't be right."

He paused, his gaze moving between Bulma and Soro twice.

"So having Miss Bulma go with Soro would be absolutely perfect."

"I want to see Namek too!" Son Goku scratched his head, looking eager, his eyes sparkling.

"If we're going to Namek," Piccolo said solemnly, folding his arms across his chest, his gaze resolute, "I'm going too!"

"That spaceship..." Krillin rubbed his bald head, scratching at his scalp with a finger. "It can't fit that many people, can it?"

Bulma took a deep breath, calming herself down.

She looked at Soro with a gentle expression and softly suggested, "Soro, can your spaceship be modified? After the modifications, I think there'll be no problem taking all of us. It'll only take two months to finish!"

"Sure, no problem." Soro nodded and agreed readily, a smile on his face.

"Bulma," Son Goku asked hurriedly, "since we're modifying the spaceship, can you add a gravity-training device for me?"

"Gravity training?" Bulma asked, tilting her head.

"Simply put, it lets you adjust the gravity." Son Goku explained, gesturing with his hands. "I trained under King Kai, and the gravity on his planet was ten times Earth's. That's why my strength improved so much."

He paused, his gaze growing resolute.

"It should take a long time to fly from here to Namek, right? I can't just sit around the whole time. I want to get stronger!"

"Soro," Krillin asked, "do you know how long it takes to get from here to Namek?"

"About seven days," Soro replied calmly.

"Can you add gravity training?" Son Goku asked eagerly, his eyes shining.

"How much gravity do you want?" Bulma asked, tapping her chin with a finger.

"At least one hundred times Earth's gravity!" Son Goku thought it over, then stated his requirement, clenching his fist.

"One hundred times Earth's gravity!" Bulma nodded, her expression turning serious. "All right! That shouldn't be a problem!"

Twenty minutes later.

The airship landed in the courtyard of Bulma's house.

Clunk!

The hatch opened, and white vapor billowed out through the gap.

Earlier, Bulma had already called her parents and asked them to prepare a sumptuous meal.

Soro stepped out of the hatch and onto the soft grass.

He took a deep breath. The air was filled with the scent of flowers and fresh grass.

Bulma's home was enormous, more magnificent than the palace he'd had on Atlantis Planet.

The lawn was neatly trimmed, and the fountain shimmered gold in the setting sun.

"This way!" Bulma walked ahead with a light step, then turned and waved Soro over.

The group crossed the courtyard and entered the dining room.

The table was laden with all kinds of dishes.

Roast meat, stews, salads, soup, fruit, desserts... the entire table was covered.

Steam rose from the food, and its aroma filled the room.

Soro didn't stand on ceremony. He joined the others and happily dug in.

After a few bites of Earth food, Soro's eyes immediately welled up with tears.

Two streams of tears slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the table.

Son Goku jumped in surprise. With half a chicken drumstick still in his mouth, he asked indistinctly, "Soro? What's wrong?"

Krillin froze too, his chopsticks suspended in midair.

Bulma put down her bowl and looked at Soro with concern.

"It's nothing." Soro sniffed and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. His voice trembled slightly. "It's so delicious."

Atlantis Planet was a little smaller than Earth, only about the size of Mars.

Its crops and other produce were scarce.

They didn't even have potatoes or sweet potatoes, let alone tomatoes.

They also had no cumin or chili peppers.

Even when he ate barbecue, Soro could never truly enjoy it.

After living there for twenty-five years, he'd almost forgotten what those flavors were like.

That was actually one of the reasons he resented Vegeta and Nappa.

The planet was lovely, but it lacked many of the foods it should have had.

The one thing the planet had plenty of was seafood.

All kinds of hairy crabs, prawns, abalone, sea cucumbers, and more...

But eating seafood every day would definitely get old.

Especially abalone. Soro had certainly eaten his fill of that.