About a month had passed since Zhou Zilong began training on King Kai's Planet.
Kaioken! Zhou Zilong shouted, his body engulfed in red flames. After countless days and nights of hard training, he had finally mastered this powerful technique—the Kaioken.
At the moment, he could easily raise the Kaioken to ten times its normal power. But with every increase, his body had to endure a greater strain.
On the training ground, Zhou Zilong launched a fierce assault on the small stone mountains North Kai had set up. Every punch held astonishing power, as if it could shake the whole planet. Yet under North Kai's mysterious power, the stone mountains remained standing, making them the perfect sparring partners for Zhou Zilong's training.
Day after day, Zhou Zilong spent long years training on King Kai's Planet.
In February of Age 748, Zhou Zilong stopped training and walked over to North Kai. He said respectfully, "Lord King Kai, I've trained here long enough. I'm getting ready to head back. I came here in a bit of a hurry and didn't bring you anything. Once I'm back, I'll bring you some things from Earth!"
North Kai smiled and nodded. "Sounds good! Now that you've taught me that teleportation move, I can visit you on Earth next time!"
After North Kai finished speaking, Zhou Zilong, dressed in a tracksuit, brought the index and middle fingers of his left hand together and began drawing a circle in the air. A blue ring rapidly expanded, and a stream appeared within its inner circle.
This was a space-transmission skill Zhou Zilong had grasped through the Space Cultivation Law. He'd only done it for fun, imitating Doctor Strange from Marvel by drawing a portal.
"Goodbye, Lord King Kai!" Zhou Zilong waved at North Kai, his voice tinged with reluctance. North Kai smiled and waved back. He knew Zhou Zilong was about to set out on his own path in the Martial Way.
As Zhou Zilong stepped through the blue ring, he felt his body grow weightless. A moment later, he appeared in a scenic area.
After asking Xiao Ling when the Dragon Ball storyline began, Zhou Zilong muttered, "There's still about a year before the Dragon Ball story officially begins. I'll use the money Capsule Corporation gives me each month from my shares to set up a few businesses of my own. What can I do? My system's such a money sink!"
After leaving the scenic area, Zhou Zilong headed to a secluded spot in West City. Once he got out of there, he went to the bank, withdrew a large sum of money, and began putting his plans into action.
About half a year later, the businesses Zhou Zilong had founded were thriving, both in the local area and across the Dragon Ball World. He soon joined the ranks of the world's wealthy.
On June 22, Age 749, the sky over West City was bright and clear. Sunlight streamed through the clouds and bathed the city, lending a little extra vitality to its busy streets.
In a luxurious, high-tech office inside an upscale building in central West City, a woman in an elegant suit gently knocked on a door bearing a "CEO" sign.
A steady voice came from inside. "Come in!"
The woman opened the door and said to Zhou Zilong, who was practicing his balance by standing on his right index finger, "Mr. Zhou, Dr. Brief from Capsule Corporation wants to discuss a partnership with us. He plans to visit this afternoon!"
Zhou Zilong stopped what he was doing and looked up with a faint smile. "All right, I understand. I'll handle the partnership myself!"
The next afternoon, Zhou Zilong arrived on time at a private room his company reserved for important clients. Before long, Dr. Brief walked in with several assistants. When he saw Zhou Zilong, surprise spread across his face. "I didn't expect it to be you! I thought it was someone else with the same name!" Zhou Zilong stood up and warmly shook Dr. Brief's hand. "I didn't expect you to approach one of my companies about a partnership, either, Uncle. What's going on? Has something happened at Capsule Corporation?"
Dr. Brief shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. It's just that shortly after that online shopping platform called Kanbafang opened, Capsule Corporation joined it. Our capsule products' sales shot up several times over, and now we can barely keep up!"
Dr. Brief continued, "I wanted to find a reliable courier company to handle our deliveries. While I was in West City, I heard about a company called Lightning Delivery. It's extremely efficient, with fast delivery and guaranteed safety, so I wanted to discuss a partnership with them!"
Zhou Zilong smiled. "Uncle, there's no need to talk about a partnership. If you hadn't transferred those shares to me back then, I wouldn't have had the money to start my businesses. From now on, my company will handle all of Capsule Corporation's orders, and we won't charge you for delivery!"
Dr. Brief stared at Zhou Zilong in surprise. "How can you do that? Wouldn't you be taking a loss?"
Zhou Zilong shook his head. "Uncle, you're being too formal. I've always remembered how much you helped me. How about this: from now on, Capsule Corporation can pay just ten percent of the regular delivery fees!"
Dr. Brief was pleased. "All right, then. It's a deal!"
After seeing Dr. Brief off, Zhou Zilong asked, "By the way, how's Bulma?"
Dr. Brief sighed. "She's doing well overall. She's just been missing you ever since you left. A while ago, she set off to look for something called the Dragon Balls. She said she wanted to gather them and see you!"
Zhou Zilong froze for a moment. He remembered that in the original story, Bulma had set off on an adventure to find the Dragon Balls. Warmth welled up in his heart, and he understood how Bulma felt about him.
"I understand. I'll take care of a few things, then go find her!" Zhou Zilong took a deep breath and decided to put his affairs in order before setting out to find Bulma and Young Goku, who was still at Mount Paozu.
He knew the adventure in the Dragon Ball World was only just beginning. He couldn't miss this chance.
Dr. Brief nodded in support. "All right. I'll help you prepare some essential equipment and supplies. But be careful. This world is far more dangerous than you think!"
Zhou Zilong nodded gratefully. He knew Dr. Brief was only worried because he cared about him.
That afternoon, Zhou Zilong held several meetings in the conference rooms of his businesses to make the necessary arrangements.
Once everything was in order, Zhou Zilong changed into a black short-sleeved shirt with a dragon emblem on the chest, a white jacket, jeans, and a pair of brown combat boots. Then he set off on his journey.
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