After eating and drinking their fill, Zhang Wutian had spent almost all of his prize money. At last, it was time for everyone to go their separate ways.
"What are you all planning to do next?" Miss Bulma asked.
"I'm going to find my grandpa's Four-Star Ball," Son Wukong said, raising her hand.
"The Dragon Balls, huh." Zhang Wutian considered it.
If he talked it over with Son Wukong, given how close they were, she would probably be willing to let him use the Dragon Balls to make a wish.
But by now, he had grown used to life here, and the desire to go home had gradually faded. Zhang Wutian realized that he didn't have any particular wish he wanted to make.
He could use Body Change to replace his blood and wish to become a Saiyan... But when he thought it over, there didn't seem to be any need. His cheat, which made him stronger whenever he fought an opponent stronger than himself, still hadn't hit its limit. It seemed he could keep growing without bounds as long as he met the conditions. In that case, Saiyan blood was little more than a useless extra.
As for other wishes, like immortality, Zhang Wutian didn't think he needed them right now. He could reconsider if he ever had a use for them.
Without desire, there was no drive. Zhang Wutian wasn't particularly interested in the Dragon Balls. If he happened to run into them, he wouldn't mind making a wish for something like a Häagen-Dazs, but he couldn't be bothered to go looking for them himself.
He'd be better off using that time to polish his finishing moves.
Just then, Son Wukong suddenly asked, "Zhang Wutian, would you come with me to look for the Dragon Balls?"
"Huh?"
"Come travel with me." Son Wukong seemed to think it was a great idea. Excitedly, she added, "We can train along the way, too. Traveling together would be fun!"
"A world for two, huh..."
"Little Wukong actually made the first move. You really can't judge by appearances."
Ignoring Bulma and the others whispering among themselves, Zhang Wutian thought it over before replying, "I have other things to take care of, so I can't go with you just yet. But I do have an idea."
Turning to Bulma, he said, "Miss Bulma, we're all going our separate ways now, and it'll be a hassle to keep in touch. Could you make each of us a communicator we can carry around? If everyone has one, we can contact each other anytime, anywhere."
"Oh, right! I hadn't thought of that." The Dragon Ball World didn't have mobile phones. Zhang Wutian's suggestion made Bulma see the light. For her, making a simple device like that was as easy as a school craft project. All she needed was enough materials, and she could whip them up right away.
"It'd be best to add location tracking, too. That way, we could easily find each other. It could really come in handy at a crucial moment. Of course, to protect our privacy, we should be able to turn off our location whenever we want," Zhang Wutian added.
"Hehe, I see how it is. You've got a real knack for this." Miss Bulma gave Zhang Wutian a mischievous grin and nudged him with her elbow. He was baffled; he had no idea why she was looking at him like that.
Bulma had been quite boy-crazy early in the manga, so Zhang Wutian chalked her behavior up to that. He had no idea that, in Bulma's eyes, he had become a creepy stalker with a serious need for control, trying to keep tabs on Son Wukong's every move.
Leaving aside Bulma's misunderstanding, Zhang Wutian's request did contain a small bit of self-interest.
He knew what Son Wukong would encounter on this journey, and he was very interested in a certain place she would visit...
Since Bulma had to make the communication devices, they all went together to her home in West City.
One of the Dragon Ball World's biggest cheats, Miss Bulma whipped up a mobile phone in no time. At Zhang Wutian's request, she engraved a bitten tomato on its casing. And so, the Dragon Ball World's first mobile communication device, the Tomato Phone, was born.
"Come on, one for everyone. Here, take yours."
Bulma handed out the phones to everyone. Having gotten a full taste of the rich life at Bulma's home, they accepted Miss Bulma's gifts with the utmost respect.
Taking his phone, Zhang Wutian said pointedly to Yamcha, "Miss Bulma is beautiful, talented, and comes from a wealthy family. She really is the perfect girl..."
"Sorry, but this perfect girl already belongs to someone." As he spoke, Yamcha put an arm around Bulma's shoulders. She lowered her head and leaned against him like a shy little bird.
Zhang Wutian smiled, then fiddled with his phone.
With Bulma's guidance, even Son Wukong, who knew nothing about machines, learned how to use the phone. After she and Zhang Wutian had called each other and learned how to locate one another, it was finally time to part.
"Are you really not coming with me?" Son Wukong seemed reluctant to leave.
"I can't ride the Flying Nimbus, so I can't travel with you."
"You could follow me in a plane."
Forget planes—Zhang Wutian hadn't even driven a car in this world.
Though she was reluctant, Son Wukong was a free spirit. She felt a little wistful, then prepared to leave.
After all, all she had to do was find her grandpa's Four-Star Ball. It wouldn't take long, and then she could come back to see Zhang Wutian.
"Oh, right." Zhang Wutian suddenly said, "If you come across a place called Penguin Village on your travels, remember to contact me."
"Penguin Village? What kind of place is that?"
"A small town near the border, I guess." Zhang Wutian shrugged. "I'm a little curious about it."
It had rules and a worldview completely unlike those of this world. Even the sun was a living being. Yet it could blend seamlessly into this world and appear in the Dragon Ball World. To say Zhang Wutian wasn't curious about Penguin Village would be a lie.
Son Wukong didn't think much of it. She nodded and agreed to his request.
After saying goodbye to everyone, they all went their separate ways, while Zhang Wutian returned to the World Martial Arts Tournament venue.
Now that he had decided to stay in this world, Zhang Wutian planned to find a way to make a living. He couldn't very well follow Son Goku's example from the original story and farm while driving a tractor.
After luckily finding the host in the black suit, Zhang Wutian explained why he had come.
"Mr. Zhang Wutian, you want to borrow money from us and use your title as World Martial Arts Tournament champion to establish your own martial arts school?"
"I hope to work with you to build up the World Martial Arts Tournament brand while expanding its influence."
It was clearly a win-win arrangement. At first glance, it seemed the tournament's organizers would be paying and doing all the work, as if they were building Zhang Wutian's business for him. But in the previous tournaments, they hadn't had a single fighter as strong as Zhang Wutian or Mary Sue. Zhang Wutian was practically a monopoly resource in his own right. If they played their cards well, he could become the tournament's very own golden brand.
After negotiating with the people behind the tournament, they agreed to provide the money and labor to build Zhang Wutian his own martial arts school. In return, as the reigning World Martial Arts Tournament champion, Zhang Wutian had to promote the tournament and compete in at least the next three tournaments. If he failed to defend his title, the organizers would withdraw their support. At that point, Zhang Wutian would have to sell a kidney to pay them back.
If he resorted to violence, it would have been easy for Zhang Wutian to make these weaklings do as he pleased. He could have made them pay and do the work, or even kneel and call him Daddy. But Zhang Wutian chose to follow the rules.
Since he had benefited from the rules of this world, he had a duty to uphold them in return. Zhang Wutian thought that was the most basic principle of being a decent person.
People who followed their whims and broke the rules were generally called criminals. The more formidable ones were called demon kings. Zhang Wutian had no interest in either profession, so he signed his name on the contract.
Besides opening a martial arts school, Zhang Wutian had a better way to make money: he could use Miss Bulma's new mobile communication devices to start the world's first phone company in a world without phones. Making a fortune and becoming the Apple of the Dragon Ball World wasn't out of the question.
But it wasn't his area of expertise, and he wasn't interested. He thought that, since he had been transported to the Dragon Ball World, he should do something that suited it. Becoming Zhang Jobs or something like that was out of the question. It would be far too weird.
"So I have to win the next three tournaments? In other words, I'll have to keep Tien Shinhan and King Piccolo in check for at least the next few years. And, of course, that monkey girl, Son Wukong..."
Thinking that, Zhang Wutian grinned excitedly.
"Sounds fun. Let's do it!"
Before you continue