Two Four-Star Balls

Li Shu sat cross-legged on the dinosaur leg, took out the Dragon Radar to check it, then pulled out a map of the world and compared the two.

According to the map, the Dragon Ball was near Jingle Village, a place around Muscle Tower in the north.

"Muscle Tower? Jingle Village? What kind of place is that?" Li Shu murmured thoughtfully, trying hard to recall what he knew about Dragon Balls from twenty years ago.

After racking his brains for a long time, he still couldn't remember.

But he did remember one thing: judging by the plot, this was supposed to be the Red Ribbon Army arc.

The Androids Android 17 and Android 18 from the future had both been created by this army.

"I think one of the doctors in the army created the Androids. Should I kill him ahead of time? That'd definitely unlock a hidden achievement."

Li Shu fell into thought again, but soon dismissed the idea. Doing that would wipe out all the achievements related to Android 17 and Android 18. It just wasn't worth it.

"Hm? Another Dragon Ball signal just appeared."

The new signal on the Dragon Radar wasn't far from their position. It was in a small town near the wilderness.

"Wukong, turn around! There's a new Dragon Ball signal over there."

At the same time, not far from Li Shu and the others, Colonel Silver sat in a fighter plane, listening to the instructions over the radio.

"Colonel Silver, the Dragon Radar has detected a new signal. We also found that the signal we were tracking earlier is heading there too."

"The Commander-in-Chief orders you to bring back both Dragon Balls."

"Understood. Don't worry, I'll get the job done." Colonel Silver's lips curled into a confident smile.

In the wilderness town, Li Shu and Wukong landed in an unoccupied spot. Following the Dragon Ball signal, they headed for their destination.

"This is the place." Li Shu stood outside a general store and checked the signal on the Dragon Radar again. There was no doubt about it.

Just then, the shopkeeper came out and greeted them warmly.

"Sir, what can I get for you?" the shopkeeper asked with a beaming smile.

[Battle Power: 5]

Li Shu glanced at him. So he was a mere battle-power-five weakling. He got straight to the point. "Have you seen a yellow ball with a few little red stars inside?"

Since the Dragon Radar showed the signal here, the Dragon Ball had to be here.

If the shopkeeper was willing to sell it, everyone would be happy. If he tried anything underhanded, only Li Shu would be happy. He'd use whatever means it took. He was determined to get the Dragon Ball.

"You mean a Dragon Ball?" The shopkeeper thought for a moment, as if remembering something, then asked with a smile.

"Oh? You know about Dragon Balls?" The shopkeeper's answer surprised Li Shu. Not many people knew about Dragon Balls, yet this shopkeeper in a wilderness town did.

The shopkeeper kept smiling as he explained, "It's a legendary treasure. They say that if you gather all seven, you can have any wish granted. A drifter sold it to me by chance, and I paid a pretty penny for it."

"Afterward, I asked around and learned the legend of the Dragon Balls. But I just can't believe anything that magical could exist in this world."

Watching the shopkeeper ramble on, Li Shu lost patience and cut to the chase. "You just want to get a good price for it, right? So how much?"

"Heh." The shopkeeper gave a dry laugh. "Please, come inside, sir. We can talk about the price. Let's take a look at the merchandise first."

Li Shu went in without hesitation. As the shopkeeper went to fetch the Dragon Ball, he said, "The material is very unusual. I've never seen anything like it. Even without the legend, it'd be a rare treasure, which is why I bought it."

"I wasn't planning to sell it at first. I only bought it to add to my collection. But since you came all this way for it, I suppose I'll part with it."

With that, the shopkeeper carried over an exquisite box and handed it to Li Shu.

Li Shu took the box and opened it. His eyes lit up, but soon a strange look crossed his face.

Wukong leaned in curiously too, then exclaimed, "Big brother, it really is a Dragon Ball! And it's the Four-Star Ball!"

"Huh? The Four-Star Ball?" Wukong suddenly realized something and muttered, "How can there be two Four-Star Balls?"

Li Shu looked baffled. He took out his own Dragon Ball and checked it again. The radar really did show that one was here. How could there be two Four-Star Balls?

But Li Shu soon noticed something was off. This Four-Star Ball was very light, and its luster wasn't bright at all.

He felt it carefully. The texture was wrong too, like polished glass.

Most importantly, the Four-Star Ball he already had was definitely real. There was no way two of the seven Dragon Balls could be identical.

In other words, the Four-Star Ball in front of him was definitely fake. But the Dragon Radar clearly showed that there was a Dragon Ball here.

What was going on?

At that thought, Li Shu narrowed his eyes and asked casually, "How much, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper had heard Wukong's muttering. At first, he'd been a little worried and had already prepared an excuse. But when he heard what Wukong said, he immediately beamed. "Five hundred thousand. That's what I paid for it, so I'm not making a single cent."

"Five hundred thousand? That cheap?" Without another word, Li Shu took out five hundred thousand and handed it over.

The shopkeeper was stunned. He immediately regretted it. He'd asked for too little—he should've asked for more.

But it was too late to raise the price now. He could only pretend he was parting with something precious and reluctantly sell it to Li Shu.

However, once Li Shu had the ball, a smile appeared on his face. "Shopkeeper, there's a rule where I'm from: if something's fake, you pay ten times its price. I wonder if you have that rule here?"

"Huh?" The shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling. He hurriedly said, "Sir, we don't have that rule here. Once you've left the counter, we're not responsible."

"I see." Li Shu sighed, then asked, "Do you have any other Dragon Balls? I'll take them all, at the same price—five hundred thousand each."

"You'll take them all?" A flash of greed passed through the shopkeeper's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

He'd already figured out that the man in front of him was not to be messed with. He just wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

So he gave a bitter smile. "Sir, I was lucky to get this one. I really don't have any more. Why don't you try somewhere else?"

"Shopkeeper, I'd advise you not to test my patience. If I say you have more here, then you have more."

Li Shu's gaze turned cold. He smashed the fake Dragon Ball in his hand against the ground, shattering it into pieces, then turned his face slightly and said icily, "Are you going to bring them out yourself, or do I have to beat you up a few times first?"