Inside a villa somewhere on the Crane School Dojo grounds.
Master Shen was elegantly swirling a glass of red wine, maintaining the air of a master in front of his disciples, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu.
Suddenly, his wrist jerked, and the expensive wine spilled out, staining the fine carpet red.
His face turned deathly pale in an instant. The glass slipped from his hand, hit the floor with a clatter, and shattered.
"Ma... Master?"
Tien Shinhan stared at Master Shen in alarm. He, too, could feel that soul-quaking presence, and his expression grew grave.
Master Shen's lips trembled. He struggled to swallow, then looked at Tien Shinhan with unprecedented fear in his eyes.
"Ti... Tien Shinhan... this presence... it's terrifying! Next time... next time there's a World Martial Arts Tournament... maybe we... maybe we shouldn't enter?"
For the first time, he began to doubt his own ambition. The one behind that presence was beyond anything a human could fight!
Tien Shinhan clenched his fists. The pressure from that presence made it difficult to breathe, but the pride of a Crane School martial artist and his fixation on the Turtle Hermit Style burned within him.
He raised his head sharply, defiance flashing in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Master! I still want to enter! I'll prove with my strength that the Crane School is absolutely superior to the Turtle Hermit Style! No matter who our opponent is!"
His words were resolute, carrying the determination of someone with nothing left to lose.
Master Shen watched the fire in his disciple's eyes. He hesitated for a long moment, then sighed and slowly nodded. "Very well... If you've made up your mind... then you must win the championship! By any means necessary!"
His final words held a hint of ruthless desperation.
"Yes, Master!" Tien Shinhan replied gravely, his entire body radiating a sharp, blade-like aura.
At his side, Chiaotzu tilted his little face up to gaze at Tien Shinhan's resolute profile. His small eyes filled with sparkling admiration, and he murmured to himself, "Tien... so cool..."
In a forest somewhere near Korin Tower, Goku was locked in a fierce battle with Mercenary Tao, the man who claimed to be the world's greatest assassin.
Mercenary Tao's attacks were vicious and tricky, while Goku relied on his nimble movements and steadily improving martial arts to hold his own.
Just as Goku spotted an opening and prepared to counterattack, that violent presence struck his senses like a sledgehammer!
Goku's body suddenly froze!
"Now's my chance!"
How could the seasoned Mercenary Tao let such a fleeting opportunity slip by? A murderous glint flashed in his eyes as he shouted, "Dodon Ray!"
His long-charged killing technique shot forth with a sharp whoosh, aimed straight at Goku's vital points!
At the last possible moment, Goku instinctively snapped back to attention and used the Power Pole to block!
Thud! The tremendous force sent Goku stumbling back several steps, his arm numb.
He quickly regained his stance and blinked. As he looked at Mercenary Tao, who had successfully caught him off guard and was now sneering, confusion filled his mind.
That feeling just now... was it Vitelli? Strange... why would I sense Vitelli?
Goku hadn't yet learned how to sense other people's ki, but if nothing unexpected happened, the opportunity meant for him was about to arrive.
On the Lookout's plaza, the golden light of the transformation began to slowly draw inward.
Vitelli, who had successfully transformed into a Super Saiyan, hovered in midair. He stared in disbelief at his hands, wreathed in golden flames, and felt the terrifying power surging through him like an ocean—dozens of times stronger than his normal state, at the very least!
But after the euphoria came an intense, almost uncontrollable urge toward violence, rising from deep within him.
It was as if a bloodthirsty beast inside him had awakened, making him crave destruction and battle!
The golden flames around him flickered uncontrollably. His immense aura crashed in waves against the Lookout's protective barrier, making it hum ominously.
"No..."
Vitelli suppressed the turmoil within him, his brow furrowing. "I still can't control this power perfectly! And too much of my aura is leaking out!"
He knew that if he returned to the ground in this state, the aura spilling from him alone would be enough to cause a disaster.
He promptly descended onto the Lookout's now-ruined plaza and sat cross-legged.
His golden hair remained upright, but his emerald eyes shone with a calm light.
He closed his eyes and focused, trying to bring the raging power under control and quiet the turbulence within him.
With Mr. Popo's help, Kami struggled closer.
His deep-set eyes fixed on Vitelli's current appearance—the golden flames, the emerald eyes, the cold and powerful pressure... Shock and disbelief unlike anything he had ever felt showed on his wrinkled face. He kept murmuring under his breath.
"This power... it's... it's so immense! What... what is he?"
Just as Vitelli concentrated on controlling his power, yet found the violent feeling clinging to him like a parasite, a calm voice sounded beside him.
"Your heart is too unsettled."
Vitelli's emerald eyes flew open. Startled, he looked at Mr. Popo, who had appeared in front of him without him noticing.
Mr. Popo still looked as he always did, his entire body dark and his expression blank, as if the astonishing transformation had not affected him in the slightest.
Ignoring Vitelli's surprise, Mr. Popo continued in the same flat tone.
"You've already tried to understand nature on your own, but that isn't nearly enough. Your mind isn't truly clear. You have too many distractions."
He paused, as if observing the flow of Vitelli's aura.
"The ki inside you seems vast, but it's like a wild horse. It hasn't truly become one with you, or reached the point where you can direct it as easily as your own arm. After your power reached a bottleneck, you didn't calm down and carefully refine yourself, or strengthen your foundation. Instead, you impatiently pursued greater power and a new form of power. Your foundation is like a building set on sand. It's unstable."
"Huh?"
Mr. Popo's incisive assessment left Vitelli speechless for a moment. Surprise continued to well up inside him.
Mr. Popo, who had barely registered in the original Dragon Ball story and seemed little more than a background character... actually had the insight to spot the weakness in Vitelli's entire power system at a glance?
Was... was this for real?
"Who... are you, really?"
Vitelli couldn't help asking again, his emerald eyes full of suspicion.
"I'm Mr. Popo," he answered simply, his tone still utterly calm. "I'm Kami's attendant."
Vitelli was speechless. Yeah, right! How could an attendant to Earth's Kami have this kind of insight and understanding?
But at the moment, he couldn't be bothered to dig into Mr. Popo's identity.
Mr. Popo's words had been like a sudden revelation, instantly bringing him to his senses. He really had been too focused on increasing his power and had neglected to settle his mind and learn to control it.
He hadn't read all those cultivation novels in his previous life for nothing. Without hesitation, he immediately cast aside his distractions and followed the unspoken guidance in Mr. Popo's words, trying to empty his mind completely.
Rather than stubbornly suppressing the raging power, he tried to reach a strange resonance with it.
He imagined his mind as a calm lake, reflecting the sky and all things. The golden power passed over it like a gentle breeze, stirring no ripples.
Gradually, a mysterious feeling rose within him. It was as though he had truly become one with the ten-thousand-meter-high sky, with the clouds drifting around him, with the blue planet beneath his feet...
He was no longer a vessel for violent power. He had become part of nature.
In this strange state of "Natural Unity," the violent golden flames around him began to soften and recede, finally dying away like the ebbing tide.
His dazzling golden hair, too, faded like a receding sheen of gold, returning to its deep black.
Vitelli's aura settled completely. It was even more restrained than before he transformed.
He sat there, and three days passed without him realizing it.
He was completely unaware of time passing as day and night turned on the Lookout and the sea of clouds surged around it. Three days slipped quietly by.
At Brief Manor in West City, the atmosphere was a world away from the Lookout's tranquility, thick with anxiety.
Bulma paced back and forth in the living room, restless. Her beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot, with dark shadows under them.
Three days! Three whole days had passed, and there was still no word from Vitelli!
"Vitelli, you jerk! You good-for-nothing! Where on earth did you run off to?! What... happened to you?!"
She snatched up an empty glass from the table, ready to throw it, but remembered that she and Vitelli had bought it together. Unable to bring herself to smash it, she set it back down hard with a clatter.
She had already mobilized every resource at Capsule Corp! Countless drones had been sent out like a swarm of locusts, searching a vast area thousands of kilometers across, centered on Korin Tower.
All the major television and radio stations were broadcasting missing-person notices on repeat, with a reward so high it was jaw-dropping. Missing-person posts were flooding the internet, too.
Yet every report came back the same: "No target found."
Bulma picked up her phone again and nervously opened the latest drone patrol report. The glaring words "No matching target found" made her feel dizzy, and her eyes reddened instantly.
"Vitelli..."
Her voice broke as she sank weakly onto the sofa. "Where are you...? Don't scare me..."
Nearby, Mrs. Brief held an elegant teapot and leisurely poured red tea into a cup at just the right temperature.
Watching her daughter's distraught state, she sighed helplessly and comforted her in a gentle voice.
"All right, my little Bulma, don't worry so much. Vitelli is so strong. He even won that World Martial Arts Tournament championship with ease. What could possibly happen to him? He must have run into something unusual and can't get away for a while. Maybe..."
She picked up her teacup and gently blew on it, speaking with the confidence of someone who had been there before. "In a little while, he'll just zip right back on his own, won't he? You have to have faith in him."
Bulma lifted her head and looked at her ever-composed, elegant mother through tear-filled eyes. Her voice caught in her throat. "How could he, Mom?! He's been gone for three days! We've searched for so long and still haven't found a single clue! How could he suddenly come ba—"
"I'm back, Bulma!"
Before Bulma could finish speaking through her tears, a voice more familiar than any other rang out above her!
The next moment, a figure appeared as if by teleportation, **whoosh**ing down from above and landing firmly on the living-room carpet in front of Bulma!
It was Vitelli, missing for three days!
Bulma froze, staring in disbelief at the man before her, travel-worn but completely unharmed. Everything around her seemed like a dream.
The next second!
"Vitelli!!!"
A piercing shriek filled the living room, brimming with hurt, worry, and joy.
Bulma sprang from the sofa like a rabbit, launched herself into the air with tremendous force, and crashed straight into Vitelli's arms!
The impact made Vitelli sway slightly, but he immediately wrapped his strong arms around the girl.
Bulma clung to him like an octopus, burying her face in his chest. Her shoulders shook violently as the worry she had suppressed for three days finally burst out.
"You jerk! You idiot! Where the hell have you been for the past three days?! I thought... I thought you didn't want me anymore... Sob..."
She accused him incoherently, weakly pounding his back with her fists. Her tears poured down like a broken string of pearls, instantly soaking the front of Vitelli's shirt.
Feeling the girl trembling in his arms, her tears hot against his chest, Vitelli's heart clenched painfully.
He tightened his arms around her, holding her even closer, and gently rested his chin on the crown of her head. His voice was filled with guilt and concern as he apologized softly over and over.
"I'm sorry... Bulma... I'm sorry... I made you worry... I went to Kami's Lookout to train and try to master a new power... But I didn't expect to enter a special state. It only felt like a little while, but when I opened my eyes again, three days had passed... I'm really sorry... I was careless..."
His voice was low and gentle, tinged with caution as he softly comforted her.
He gently patted Bulma's back, letting her vent her emotions in his arms.
Nearby, Mrs. Brief took an elegant sip of the red tea she had just blown cool. Watching this heartfelt, dramatic reunion, she smiled with satisfaction.
She looked as if she were watching an extraordinarily captivating television show.
"My, my,"
she murmured, delight sparkling in her eyes. "This is an even more exciting and wonderful show than anything on prime-time television."
Chapter 15: Goku Arrives, and Fate Takes a Turn
A week had quietly passed since Vitelli returned from the Lookout.
Over the course of that week, the atmosphere at Brief Manor had subtly changed.
Perhaps trying to make up for his three-day disappearance, Vitelli spent nearly all his time with Bulma, aside from his unwavering morning training in the Gravity Chamber.
Like any ordinary couple in the throes of love, they held hands and went to the cinema to watch the latest science-fiction blockbuster, exchanged thoughtfully chosen little gifts, and drove to scenic mountaintops to watch the sunrise and sunset in each other's arms.
In the evenings, Bulma would even pull Vitelli out onto the terrace she had carefully decorated at the manor, where they enjoyed romantic candlelit dinners.
It was sweet and cozy, all right, but after a week of doing nothing but going on dates—and, on top of that, spending half the night with Bulma after every date...
"Whew..."
Vitelli woke early the next morning and carefully pushed himself up from the warm, comfortable bed, taking care not to disturb Bulma, still fast asleep beside him.
The girl's blue hair was spread across the pillow, and her sleeping face looked peaceful.
He tiptoed out of bed, got into his Battle Suit as quietly as possible, and then crept out of the bedroom like a thief.