The battle between Yamcha and Mary Sue had been one-sided from the very start.
None of Yamcha's attacks worked. He couldn't even brush the hem of his opponent's clothes, while she landed hit after hit, sending him spinning in every direction.
Following Zhang Wutian's advice, Yamcha hadn't underestimated his opponent. From the very beginning, he'd decided to give it everything he had against this little-known fighter.
But his attacks hadn't given him the slightest chance of winning. He was completely suppressed, with no room to counterattack.
"What's wrong, handsome? Your fists are so soft. Are you going easy on me? I never expected you to be such a gentleman."
"Quit yapping! Take this!" Yamcha's full-force punch was once again dodged with ease by Mary Sue. Though she was right in front of him, she seemed like a mirage, a reflection of flowers in a mirror or the moon on water. None of his attacks could land; they struck nothing but empty air.
"So this is what it's like? I'm being toyed with like a little baby."
"Don't underestimate me, you bastard!" The next moment, Yamcha took up the opening stance of the Wolf Fang Fist.
Like a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey, he unleashed one wave of continuous attacks after another. By using the technique, Yamcha nearly doubled the speed of his strikes, but he still couldn't hurt Mary Sue.
"It's no use," Zhang Wutian remarked from the sidelines. "I don't know how strong Master Roshi is in the original story, but there's no doubt Mary Sue is terrifyingly powerful. If she's on par with the original Master Roshi, then just how strong would King Piccolo be, when he could defeat Master Roshi so easily?"
"Or is Mary Sue even stronger than the original Master Roshi?"
As Zhang Wutian pondered, Yamcha's assault was nearly at an end.
"That's a very interesting fighting style, but I think we've seen enough. If this goes on any longer, the audience will get bored."
Mary Sue suddenly charged into Yamcha's range. She deflected his attack, then ducked and slipped inside his guard.
For the first time, Yamcha's attack had made contact with Mary Sue's body. But he didn't feel any joy. He didn't even have time to react before a tremendous force sent him flying.
Even after landing on the grass outside the ring, Yamcha was still a little dazed. His body didn't seem to be hurt at all. His opponent had pushed him out of the ring with a gentle force, but that only made Mary Sue's skill all the more impressive.
"S-so strong!" Yamcha stared dazedly at his older female opponent.
"She's amazing!" Son Wukong's eyes shone. "That lady's so strong! I really want to fight her."
"She'll be my opponent next. What should I do? I don't think I have any chance of winning." By contrast, Krillin's fighting spirit had plummeted.
"She really is strong, and she hasn't even used her true skill. She's just been playing with Yamcha the whole time. Could she really be Master Roshi? What a strange world."
The third match began. Zhang Wutian stopped pondering and jumped into the ring.
The third match was Zhang Wutian versus Nam.
Nam had come from a village suffering from a water shortage. He'd traveled thousands of miles to enter the World Martial Arts Tournament and earn the prize money, which he planned to use to buy water. So he wouldn't go easy on his opponent. As long as he didn't kill anyone, he would give the fight everything he had.
"You're full of fighting spirit. You'll make a fine opponent. Let's have a battle we can both be proud of!" With those words, Zhang Wutian indicated that he would fight fairly.
"Sorry, I have to win this battle!" Nam said solemnly, bringing his hands together.
"Begin!" At the host's command, Nam launched a fierce attack.
But his punch struck nothing but air.
"What?!" Nam gaped and quickly scanned the area for his opponent, but Zhang Wutian had vanished as if he'd merged with the air.
"So fast!" Mary Sue, watching from beside the ring, looked up.
Another person had spotted Zhang Wutian's figure as well. He looked up and shouted, "He's above you!"
"Shut it, you monkey girl!" Zhang Wutian roared from high in the air, having leaped up at some point.
Prompted by Son Wukong, Nam looked up, but all he saw was the glaring sunlight. Its white glare made it impossible for him to see what was above him.
"Where is he?" Squinting against the sunlight, Nam searched for Zhang Wutian.
But as soon as Nam looked up, Zhang Wutian had already landed. He aimed a punch at Nam's abdomen.
"Wh—" Nam only realized what was happening when Zhang Wutian's fist struck his body. By then, he could no longer control himself as he was knocked flying.
He landed in the grass outside the ring.
The battle had been over in a flash. Before most people, including Nam himself, could even react, it was already finished.
Having nearly knocked out his opponent with a single punch, Zhang Wutian stood in the ring and raised his fist high.
Applause erupted all around them.
"So strong! Zhang Wutian's amazing!" Son Wukong was excited again.
"He's way too strong! When did he even attack? I didn't see a thing!" Krillin was stunned once more.
"I knew he was strong, but I didn't expect him to be this strong. He could be troublesome." Mary Sue watched Zhang Wutian in the ring with a serious expression. Her earlier frivolity had vanished completely.
"I lost..." Nam stared blankly as the plight of his village came back to him, and his shoulders slumped.
"Hey, catch." As Zhang Wutian spoke, an empty Hoi-Poi Capsule flew toward Nam.
Nam caught the Hoi-Poi Capsule and looked at Zhang Wutian in confusion.
Zhang Wutian disliked tragedies. Besides, in the original story, Master Roshi had reached out to help Nam. If his own presence made Nam worse off than in the original story, that would be downright ironic.
If his appearance ended up bringing misfortune to others, Zhang Wutian's answer was no!
Bad endings could go to hell. Zhang Wutian would make sure to beat them into the ground until they were unrecognizable!
"There's plenty of water here. Even if you wanted to buy some, there'd be nowhere to do it. Just draw water from the lake or a well!"
"How do you know about my situation?"
"Why? Because fate—the original story—guided me here."
"Could you be the reincarnation of Buddha?" Nam exclaimed, stirred by his faith in Buddha.
"Obviously not." Zhang Wutian ran a hand through his short, glossy black hair and smiled.
After saying goodbye to Nam, who had eagerly rushed off to draw water, it was time for Son Wukong's match.
Just like in the original story, Son Wukong's opponent was the flying dragon that could spit out soft glue to trap its enemies. The original Son Goku had easily defeated him, and here, thanks to Zhang Wutian's interference, Son Wukong seemed even stronger than in the original story. She won with even greater ease. Faced with her overwhelming strength, Giran's glue hadn't caused her the slightest trouble before she burst free.
Against an opponent so far above him, Giran wisely surrendered, securing Son Wukong's victory.
Then the tournament entered the second round of the semifinals. First up was Krillin versus Mary Sue.
"Go, Krillin!" Son Wukong cheered on her fellow student.
"Mr. Zhang Wutian, do you have any advice for me?" Since Zhang Wutian's strength seemed unfathomable and he'd given Yamcha advice earlier, Krillin took the initiative to ask him for help.
"Your opponent is strong. Just do your best. Even if you lose, it'll still be a valuable learning experience."
"Ah... Somehow I've completely lost my motivation." Krillin trudged onto the ring, looking dejected, but the match itself wasn't hard to watch.
After a fairly impressive teaching match, Krillin was finally defeated, and Mary Sue won once again.
"She fought a teaching match against Krillin. Could she really be Master Roshi? But what's with her appearance? There's a half-height old lady and a mature woman around forty here. You can't explain that away by putting on a pair of sunglasses."
Puzzled, Zhang Wutian stepped into the ring once more.
Across from him, Son Wukong had already jumped up, barely able to contain herself.
"I can finally fight you, Zhang Wutian! When I was training under Grandma Master Roshi, I used to dream about this day all the time. Now it's finally really happening."
"In your dreams, who won?" Zhang Wutian asked.
"I don't know," Son Wukong replied with a grin. "Every time, the dream ended after we'd only traded a couple of blows."
"This time, I'll make sure you get to fight as much as you want."
"Yeah!" Son Wukong nodded emphatically.
The next moment, before the host could announce the start, the two suddenly vanished. An instant later, they clashed fiercely in the center of the ring.
A gust of wind swept up, sending the host stumbling backward.
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