Locking Onto the Target

After finishing their training, Zhang Wutian and his group arrived at the Red Ribbon Army headquarters aboard an airship summoned by Krillin.

"I never imagined I'd enter this place in such a manner."

Zhang Wutian remarked with a sigh, "I thought I'd have to fight my way in."

"Shh, stop spouting nonsense! This is our headquarters, after all!"

Noticing the hostile glares from those around them who had overheard Zhang Wutian's comment, Krillin quickly interjected.

"Angry already? What fragile hearts. No wonder Dr. Gero was still obsessed with taking revenge on Son Goku so many years after the Red Ribbon Army was wiped out. With his talent, he could have achieved so much more if he'd done anything else."

"Oh, is that the future that belongs to our Red Ribbon Army in another world?" Sitting on a throne-like dais, flanked by officers named after colors, a middle-aged man in a white coat—who looked a bit younger but was unmistakably Dr. Gero—watched Zhang Wutian and Son Wukong enter the room with a cold gaze before speaking.

"I'm genuinely surprised. I expected to see the short Commander and the black General here."

"Are you talking about those two useless wastes? In peacetime, I would have let them stand at the front as puppets, but these are extraordinary times. Only by taking the field myself can I maximize the power of the entire Red Ribbon Army."

"Welcome to my organization, traveler from another world. As you can see, I am the Commander of the Red Ribbon Army, Dr. Gero. I hope you can provide me with some new ideas."

"Full of confidence, aren't you, Dr. Gero? Let me give you some good news: in this world, at least two people are capable of building a time machine."

Dr. Gero's momentum faltered abruptly. Zhang Wutian's tone was clearly provocative, and the implication wasn't hard to guess. Furthermore, something as unscientific as a time machine was a bit beyond even a genius like him. He frowned and said slowly, "Is one of them Dr. Brief?"

"Heh, who knows?" After getting under Dr. Gero's skin, Zhang Wutian said, "We didn't come to this world to talk about that. Tell me where that guy is."

Stung by Zhang Wutian's jab and having lost some of his composure, Dr. Gero pressed a few buttons, and the screen displayed the target's location.

"It's not very far. Let's go and meet him."

"Wait!" Dr. Gero stopped Zhang Wutian's movement. "The safety of this world is at stake; I must make my decisions carefully. Before I allow you to make contact with him, I must test your strength."

Following Dr. Gero's signal, the woman known in the original story as Colonel Violet stepped out and stood before Zhang Wutian and his companions.

"This is my latest creation, Android 12. If you can defeat her, I will allow you to make contact with him."

"Is that guy your pet? Does contacting him require your permission? And when he destroys cities and kills people, does he have your permission for that, too?"

"Fool! If you rashly make contact with him and provoke him into a frenzy, causing him to destroy cities, can you bear that sin?"

Zhang Wutian paused, scratched his head, and said, "I'm actually convinced. Fine, let's make this quick."

A moment later, a massive explosion rocked the Red Ribbon Army base. With a deafening crash, a giant hole was punched through the fortress's reinforced outer wall.

In the room where Dr. Gero had been, the modified Colonel Violet was nowhere to be seen. The gaping hole in the wall and the cold wind blowing through told the story of what had just occurred.

"Oops, I actually meant to go easy on her, but I've grown so accustomed to 4x gravity that I didn't adjust in time for a fight under normal gravity..."

Dr. Gero looked at Zhang Wutian, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably.

But as the leader of this vast organization, he pulled himself together and announced loudly, "From this moment on, I will arrange for the entire Red Ribbon Army to move out with you! Soldiers of the Red Ribbon Army, the final moment has arrived! This will be the ultimate battle. Let us destroy that monster, save this world, and write a future that belongs to us all!"

Dr. Gero's voice echoed throughout the base via the loudspeakers.

"Ooooooh!!!" All the soldiers erupted in fervor. This world had been suppressed for too long; humanity needed to vent its pent-up rage.

Once the general mobilization order was issued, the entire military base descended into an orderly, frantic bustle.

"I never thought I'd see the day I'd fight side-by-side with the Red Ribbon Army. This is bad—if I go back and face the Red Ribbon Army from our world, what if I can't bring myself to attack them?"

"Why would we fight the Red Ribbon Army? I think everyone here is a good person," Son Wukong said, confused by Zhang Wutian's words.

"I don't think I can explain it to you," Zhang Wutian replied.

"You're calling me stupid again!!" Son Wukong pouted, looking at Zhang Wutian with dissatisfaction.

"You actually figured it out?! Impossible! My Wukong couldn't possibly be that smart!!"

"I'm going to bite you!!" Gritting her teeth, Son Wukong lunged at Zhang Wutian and sank her teeth into his arm.

"You already bit me! You cannibal monkey! Let go already!!"

"Are we really supposed to trust these two..." Watching their antics on the monitor, Dr. Gero covered his forehead in resignation.

"Believe in them. At the very least, they are strong," Tien Shinhan said from beside him.

After the commotion, the ultimate weapon—a giant airship, a behemoth equipped with thousands of beam cannons and a massive main gun—floated into the sky and flew toward the target's location.

"I think that instead of wasting resources building such a huge target, it would be more useful to build a thousand small airships. At least the latter wouldn't be blown up by a single Shockwave." Zhang Wutian offered his critique.

"A thousand small airships couldn't produce an attack capable of destroying a city. Even that guy couldn't withstand a shot from this fortress's main gun," Dr. Gero said dismissively.

"That's assuming he stands there and lets you hit him," Zhang Wutian countered.

"Hmph!" Dr. Gero snorted and said no more.

Seeing that Dr. Gero had stopped responding, Zhang Wutian fell into a brief silence.

"Although I've heard of all his great achievements, this is the first time I've had to make contact with him since arriving in this world."

"I'm super excited. My blood is boiling!"

Meanwhile, on a half-destroyed street, although almost all the shops had ceased operations, one restaurant remained open to serve customers.

"Is the food not ready yet? If you keep dragging your feet, I'll kill the lot of you!"

Wrapped in a haphazard collection of stolen clothes, with a furry tail dragging behind him and hair spiked like a crab, the disheveled young man sat before a pile of bowls. He shoveled the remaining food into his mouth with his hands while issuing impatient threats.

"Im... immediately!" From the waiters to the chefs, everyone appeared terrified. A few moments later, a waitress tremblingly pushed a cart laden with food before the young man.

"Yo... your meal."

"So slow. Do you have any idea how hungry you've made me?!"

The young man waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away a fly. The waitress's waist was instantly shattered, her body torn in two. Her upper and lower torso, accompanied by a spray of gore, flew straight into the corner of the room.

The reluctance and terror in her emerald green pupils gradually faded, eventually settling into the stillness of death.

The others didn't even dare to scream, for fear of provoking this monster. They could only tremble and weep, clamping their hands tightly over their mouths, praying to the heavens for salvation.

"So weak. This bunch of trash—is there really no one even remotely decent left in this world?" Licking the blood from his palm, the tailed young man grinned hideously and resumed his gluttonous feast.