The sports car raced along the azure coastline, salty sea wind rushing against them.
Bulma expertly rounded a bend, and a small, charming island came into view. The most eye-catching thing on it was a house topped with a huge roof shaped like a turtle shell.
"Look! That's Kame House!"
Bulma pointed excitedly. "I hope that old pervert is home..."
As soon as the car stopped in the open space in front of the house, an old man with graying hair, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses and leaning on a cane, ambled out. He looked as if he'd just woken up.
"Oh my, we have guests?"
He pushed up his sunglasses. His voice sounded old and a little hoarse.
Bulma hopped out of the car and planted her hands on her hips. "Master Mutian! It's me, Bulma!"
"Oh! It's Bulma!"
The old man—Master Roshi, disguised as "Jackie Chun"—walked over with a chuckle. His gaze quickly slid to Lin Fan beside Bulma, and he gave him an appraising look. "And who's this?"
"This is Lin Fan, my... um... travel companion!"
Bulma introduced him. "We want to enter the World Martial Arts Tournament too, so we'd like you to take us with you!"
"The tournament, huh..."
Master Roshi stroked his fake beard and narrowed his eyes. "It's good to want to see the world. But..." He changed tack and lightly tapped his cane against the ground. "If you want this old man to lead the way, I'll have to see if you're up to it. I don't want to take two deadweights along and make a fool of myself."
"What? Deadweights?"
Bulma immediately bristled. "I'm the heiress to Capsule Corporation! And Lin Fan's really strong too!"
"You can't prove you're strong just by saying so."
Master Roshi smiled kindly, though a glint flashed in his eyes. "How about a simple little test?"
He ambled over to a beach chair, pulled a beautifully packaged little box from his pocket, and set it down. It was decorated with a picture of a sexy woman—a brand-new pinup book.
"Hmm... This one's a rare collector's edition."
He casually placed the book on the armrest, then stepped back a few paces and addressed Lin Fan and Bulma. "Here's the test: whoever can take this book away from me before I count to ten passes. Simple, right?"
"Huh? That's all?"
Bulma gave him a look that said, Are you messing with me? and immediately rushed forward to grab it.
Master Roshi chuckled and began counting at an unhurried pace. "One..."
Bulma's hand was just about to touch the book when Master Roshi casually raised his cane and lightly tapped it forward. Bulma suddenly felt her footing slip. With a yelp, she nearly fell on her backside, then hurriedly regained her balance.
"Two..."
Master Roshi kept counting. He shuffled half a step forward, seemingly unsteady, and ended up right between Bulma and the beach chair.
"Damn it!"
Bulma tried everything she could think of, darting left and right and even attempting to fool Master Roshi with a feint. But although the old man seemed to move sluggishly, he always managed to block her at just the right moment—or make her lose her balance.
The pinup book was within arm's reach, yet it felt as if an invisible wall stood between them.
"Five... Six... Come on, young people, move faster," Master Roshi teased, with time to spare.
Bulma's face flushed with anger. She planted her hands on her hips and panted. "That's not fair! You're cheating!"
Lin Fan had been quietly watching from the side.
He could tell that the old man's movements only seemed slow. In reality, they contained intricate footwork and a keen sense of anticipation beyond his understanding. His control over his ki was so precise that he could wield it at will.
There was no point trying to snatch it by force. Bulma had no chance—and even if he tried, the result would be no different.
But... the rule only said to "take it away." It never said he had to snatch it from Master Roshi.
Master Roshi was about to count to "seven" when Lin Fan moved. Rather than try to break through Master Roshi's defense like Bulma, he stepped to the side, putting a little distance between them, then reached out his right hand—not toward Master Roshi, but toward the pinup book on the armrest.
The faint wisp of True Qi inside him quickly circulated and gathered at his fingertips.
With the cultivation of the first level of Qi Refining, he could barely project True Qi any distance, let alone move something from afar.
But what he was trying to do wasn't "pull" the book in the first place. Instead...
"Seven..." Master Roshi glanced at Lin Fan with a hint of curiosity. What was this kid planning?
Lin Fan focused, and the tip of his finger gave the faintest tremble.
Telekinesis!
Even if it was only the tiniest, crudest trace of the technique!
The pinup book didn't budge. Was it still too much for him...?
A look of "just as I thought" flickered through Master Roshi's eyes. He was about to count "eight"—
Suddenly!
The pinup book resting on the smooth plastic armrest seemed to be nudged by an extremely faint breeze from the side. Or perhaps... the surface of the armrest had somehow become unusually smooth?
It slid outward ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly. Its center of gravity shifted, and then—
Plop.
The book slipped off the curved edge of the armrest and fell onto the sand below.
The whole thing happened silently, without any sign of an energy impact. It looked more like... it hadn't been placed securely and had fallen on its own.
Master Roshi: "..."
Bulma: "???"
"Eight!" Lin Fan said at once, striding forward. Before Master Roshi could react, he bent down, picked up the book from the sand, and offered it to him. "You dropped your book, sir."
The smile froze on Master Roshi's face.
He looked at the book in Lin Fan's hand, then at the beach chair. His little eyes blinked behind his sunglasses. Had that been... a coincidence? No! It had fallen far too strangely! This kid... there was something off about him! What had he done? He hadn't sensed any fluctuation in his ki at all!
Bulma was startled at first, then cheered. "Wow! It fell on the ground! That counts as taking it! You got lucky, Lin Fan! The old man counted to eight! We passed!"
Master Roshi opened his mouth. He looked at Lin Fan's innocent expression—an act—and then at the excited Bulma. After a long moment, he reluctantly took the book and muttered, "...Young people these days have no martial virtue."
He coughed and resumed his air of a worldly sage—or so he thought. "Ahem... Well, fine. Since you passed the test, I'll make an exception and take you with me. But I'll say this now: you have to do as you're told on the way!"
"Fantastic!" Bulma jumped for joy.
Master Roshi gave Lin Fan another meaningful look. The kid seemed incredibly weak, but that move just now... Could it have been some kind of special technique?
This tournament might turn out to be unexpectedly entertaining.
He turned and headed inside, waving a hand. "Get your things together. We're leaving! We're going to Papaya Island in the south, and it'll take us several days by boat!"
Before you continue