Early in the morning, sunlight spilled across the beach by Turtle Hermit's House, glittering on the sea like countless scattered diamonds. Zhou Zilong stood on the sand and took a deep breath of the fresh sea air. The night before, he had mastered controlling the Kamehameha at will. Now, he was ready to set off and wipe out the evil force known as the Predator Mercenary Group.
Zhou Zilong took a delicate little bottle from his pocket, gently pressed the button on top, and tossed it away.
With a "PONG," a fighter jet resembling a Saab JAS 39 appeared on the beach. He had modified it based on a fighter from his original world. It was not only highly maneuverable but also equipped with an advanced weapons system.
"Wow! Zilong, your plane is so cool!" Master Roshi came out of the house, and when he saw the fighter jet, he couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.
"Master, if you like it, I'll build you one after I deal with the Weiba Mercenary Group," Zhou Zilong replied with a smile. He knew that although Master Roshi was a formidable martial artist, deep down he was still a child, always curious about new things.
"Hahaha, I don't need a plane. But if you can make some fun things, you can give your master a few," Master Roshi said, stroking his chin, his eyes shining with anticipation.
"Sure! After I deal with the Weiba Mercenary Group, I'll make you some fun things, Master!" Zhou Zilong promised confidently.
With that, Zhou Zilong climbed into the fighter jet he had built. He skillfully pressed a few buttons, and the jet roared to life with a deep, powerful rumble. At his controls, it rose slowly into the air, then shot off like an arrow loosed from a bow, kicking up a spray of water.
As he flew, Zhou Zilong placed the mysterious object the Weiba Mercenary Group had given him on a device. It was a custom-built decoder that could crack all kinds of complex information and codes.
Before long, the device displayed a precise set of coordinates. Zhou Zilong immediately adjusted his course and flew toward them.
On his way to the Predator Mercenary Group, Zhou Zilong flew over a certain place. Inside a huge building, a fellow in a purple ninja outfit with a dog's appearance spoke to a short figure with blue skin and a small round cap. "King Pilaf, I just saw a really cool plane fly over us!"
If Zhou Zilong had been there, he would have recognized them at once. After all, those characters had clashed with Little Goku several times in the first Dragon Ball series.
Pilaf replied to the dog-like fellow, "Oh? Shu, did you get a picture of the plane?"
"Sure did. I had Mai take one!" Shu answered right away.
"Good! I'll go take a look at what it looks like. If we can, we'll build one and use it to conquer the world!" Pilaf declared.
Meanwhile, at the Predator Mercenary Group's camp, Golden was putting his men through another round of training. He showed his soldiers no mercy. Under his instruction, groups of them were sent flying, only to get back up and keep training. This brutal regimen made the soldiers tougher and braver, but it also filled them with awe and fear of Golden.
"Take ten minutes to rest, then we continue!" Golden said coldly when no one could get back to their feet. The soldiers collapsed on the ground with relief, panting hard. They knew this was only a short break; even harsher training awaited them.
Just then, a lean man in blue-and-black clothes ran in. "Instructor Golden, our sensors have detected some kind of flying vehicle heading this way at tremendous speed. The commander sent me to report it to you!" he said, out of breath.
Golden frowned, an ominous feeling rising in his heart. He looked up at the sky and indeed spotted a blurry shape rapidly approaching. He immediately realized their enemy might be here.
"Brave warriors, destroy that unidentified flying object coming our way!" Golden shouted. The soldiers immediately scrambled to their feet and grabbed their weapons, ready to fight.
Five minutes later, a group of well-equipped soldiers had taken up positions in different locations and entered a state of readiness. They stood on alert, waiting for the unidentified flying object to arrive.
Zhou Zilong still knew nothing about what was happening. He continued flying toward the Predator Mercenary Group, filled with determination to destroy them!
But after waiting ten minutes, the unidentified flying object Zhou Zilong was piloting still hadn't arrived. Some of the less patient men began to let their guard down. They set their weapons aside, sitting or lying down; some even chatted and joked, as if they had forgotten they were in the middle of a tense battlefield deployment.
When Golden came out on patrol and saw these men relaxing, he flew into a rage. He strode over and shouted, "You idiots! Where do you think you are? This is a battlefield—a fight for life and death! The battle is almost here. You can relax after it's over!"
Golden's reprimand made the men realize their mistake. They scrambled back to their feet and picked up their weapons again, restoring the tense atmosphere.
As Zhou Zilong drew closer, he sat in the cockpit and smiled faintly. He pressed a button marked with an eye symbol. A spherical object twenty centimeters in diameter shot out from beneath the left wing of the aircraft. It traced a graceful arc through the air and headed toward the Predator Mercenary Group's formation.
Before long, a screen popped up in the upper-left corner of the cockpit.
"So many of you came out to welcome me? I'll give you a little present first," Zhou Zilong muttered when he saw the scene.
"Jerry, how much longer until that unidentified flying object gets here?" Baron asked over his communicator from the Predator Mercenary Group's camp.
"Instructor Golden, the flying object heading our way is less than a kilometer away. At this rate, it'll be here in about twenty to thirty seconds!" Jerry replied from the other end.
"I hope whoever's piloting that thing has plenty of valuables. Otherwise, all this preparation will have been a waste," Golden muttered after hearing the report.
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