"What did you do to my mecha?" Compared with Mai and Shu, Pilaf had a trace more curiosity amid his panic and actually blurted out the question.
Wuchen didn't answer. Instead, he demanded, "I believe I warned you—this is your last chance!"
Faced with Wuchen's question, laced with murderous intent, all three felt a chill run down their backs and collapsed to the ground in fright.
But a moment later, they seemed to find their nerve.
"We didn't do anything bad!"
"Exactly! Those awful people were the ones who stole the Dragon Ball we paid for! They even captured us!"
"That's right! We didn't provoke you this time!" The three talked over one another, growing more and more aggrieved as they explained.
"Enough!" Wuchen waved them quiet, then pointed at Mai, who had kept her promise and handed him the Dragon Ball last time. "You. Tell me everything, clearly, from beginning to end."
When Wuchen asked Mai to speak alone, she suddenly couldn't bring herself to say a word. But under his increasingly impatient gaze, she finally stammered:
"Here's what happened. A year ago..."
"Stop! Tell me what's happening now. What's going on with this Dragon Ball?"
"Y-yes. About a month ago, we suddenly discovered that the Dragon Ball signal, which had disappeared for a year, had appeared again. The nearest one was in that town over there."
"So the three of us came to look for it. We eventually bought it from the owner of a general store."
"But then those people showed up—the ones you defeated. They were looking for the Dragon Ball too. They turned the whole town upside down to find it and even killed a lot of people."
"We tried to escape... I mean, retreat, but they captured us and took the Dragon Ball."
"That's what happened. We didn't do anything bad, so please don't kill us..." After getting it all out in one breath, Mai collapsed again, as if she couldn't catch her breath.
She doesn't seem to be lying. Wuchen had paid close attention to Mai's expression and breathing, and neither suggested she was making anything up.
"So you're looking for the Dragon Balls again?" Though he no longer felt murderous, Wuchen still decided to put the three of them in their place.
"Yes... Ah, no, no, no..." All three shrank back, then suddenly felt something was off.
"Wait a minute. You never said we couldn't look for the Dragon Balls. Besides, we gave you the Dragon Ball last time, and you've already made your wish, right? It should be our turn now! The Dragon Balls don't belong to you alone." The three grew indignant again.
This time, Wuchen didn't pressure Mai or Shu. Instead, he stared straight at Pilaf, making him squirm.
After a moment, Wuchen said coolly, "As I recall, your wish was to rule the world. So you want to rule me, do you?"
"I... No... I didn't..." Pilaf stammered, trying to explain, but Wuchen cut him off.
"This is the second time I've let you go, and that's only because of Iron Ox. If you dare go after the Dragon Balls again, don't expect me to show mercy." Wuchen patted the mecha, its surface covered in inscriptions, and spoke coldly.
Iron Ox, as he called it, must have been the Inscription Mecha.
Wuchen put Iron Ox back into a Hoi-Poi Capsule, then chased after Goku in the direction he had gone.
"Ah... My Dragon Ball..." Pilaf was on the verge of tears.
Before long, Wuchen ran into Goku, who was coming back.
"Big brother, it's the Four-Star Ball! Grandpa's Four-Star Ball!" Goku was thrilled as he held up the two Dragon Balls in his hands.
"Goku, where is he? Did you take him out?" Seeing Goku return alone, Wuchen hurriedly asked.
"No. I stopped him. He couldn't beat me, so I told him to hand over the Dragon Ball, then let him go."
Hearing the urgency in Wuchen's voice, Goku looked puzzled, then asked, "What's wrong, big brother? Won't that man turn into a good person, like Oolong and Yamcha?"
"..." Wuchen was at a loss for words. He had hoped Goku's kind nature would let him bring back a prisoner alive.
After all, anyone who could escape with a Dragon Ball was probably important. They would know more than the grunts, and might have some useful information.
He hadn't expected Goku to let the man go.
"It's fine. Let him go, then. Give me the radar." Wuchen had no intention of blaming him. Everything had happened so suddenly, and Wuchen himself hadn't explained clearly.
"Hm?" But when he saw the Dragon Ball signals on the Dragon Radar, Wuchen furrowed his brow.
Aside from the two Dragon Balls in his hands and the three that seemed to be in the hideout of some organization, one of the remaining two Dragon Balls was barely moving. The other was moving quickly.
"Did those people find another one? No, that's the wrong direction." The Dragon Ball wasn't moving toward the three clustered together.
"It's not in the direction of Pilaf and the others, either. Is there a fourth group searching for the Dragon Balls?" Things seemed to be growing more complicated. After thinking for a moment, Wuchen realized there was no time to explain.
He had Goku summon the Flying Nimbus, and the brothers headed straight for the moving Dragon Ball.
Meanwhile, at the site where the three Dragon Balls were gathered, the earlier battle involving Iron Ox was playing on a monitor, over and over.
"Dr. Gero, can you make anything of this?" A short, stocky man with slicked-back red hair, one eye, and a broad mouth reclined in his chair, puffing on a thick cigar as he questioned an elderly man with white hair and a white beard.
He was none other than Commander Red, leader of the Red Ribbon Army.
A meter away stood an exceptionally tall, dark-skinned man with pink lips, dressed in a suit and standing ramrod straight without saying a word.
"I'm afraid I can't, Commander," the old man, Dr. Gero, replied with a shake of his head.
The footage sent back by the bionic reconnaissance device was blurry and limited. He couldn't even identify the mecha's material, so what could he possibly figure out?
"If we could get one to take apart and study, we might be able to mass-produce them." Whether out of concern for his research funding or curiosity about the mecha, Dr. Gero thought it best to add that.
"Black, go bring General Blue and Violet here," Commander Red said to the big man instead of answering Dr. Gero.
"Yes, sir." The big man, Officer Black, promptly acknowledged the order and left through the door.
"Commander, I'll take my leave." Dr. Gero tactfully withdrew.
By the time Black returned, he had brought two people with him.
One was a handsome, fair-skinned man; the other was a woman in a fitted purple outfit. The former was General Blue, the latter Colonel Violet.
"You should already know that Silver and the Fourth Armored Division under his command have been wiped out, and the Dragon Ball they obtained has been stolen."
At this, Commander Red paused and looked at Black. Black understood and quickly switched the monitor to the Dragon Radar display.
"Do you see those two Dragon Ball signals? They're in the hands of the people who defeated Silver, and they're heading for the third Dragon Ball now."
"I want you to retrieve all three Dragon Balls, along with one of their combat mecha. Bring the mecha back as intact as possible."
"Blue, take the Third, Fifth, and Sixth Divisions. Violet, lead the Special Operations Squad. Use whatever means necessary to bring me everything I want! I'll send you the information about the combat mecha shortly."
"Now, move out at once!"
"Yes, sir!" The two acknowledged his orders, then withdrew to gather their respective forces.
"Black, notify Colonel Yellow to retrieve the last Dragon Ball. And contact Tao Pai Pai!"
"The world's greatest assassin, Tao Pai Pai!" Black's eyes widened slightly. Tao Pai Pai's fees were notoriously steep. The Commander must be determined to get the Dragon Balls if he was willing to hire him!
Black grew excited at the thought. Once they gathered all seven Dragon Balls, the Red Ribbon Army's wish to rule the world would surely come true!
Still excited, Black promptly answered, "Yes, sir!" Then he thought of something and stepped closer, bowing as he asked, "Commander, Colonel Silver..."
But even as he bent over, Black's raised butt was a whole head higher than Commander Red.
Commander Red cut him off. "He'd better be dead! And don't stand so close to me again!"
Before you continue