Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Li Shu was playing chase with Wukong when his nose suddenly twitched. He caught the faintest whiff of danger rapidly closing in on them.

The danger wouldn't do him much harm, but it would still hurt.

"Wukong, fly higher!" Li Shu called out, rising several hundred meters above the clouds.

Wukong didn't have Battle Nose, so he followed without understanding why. He was about to ask when he saw countless streaks of fire roar past the spot where they had been.

The shells slammed into a distant, solitary mountain with a deafening rumble, sending snow flying in all directions. The mountain shook violently, triggering an avalanche in an instant.

"Someone's attacking us!" Wukong shouted angrily.

Li Shu furrowed his brow and looked toward the direction the shells had come from.

First, he hadn't offended anyone around here.

Second, the firepower was intense. If he didn't transform into a Great Ape, he'd definitely feel it.

The sneak attack was dishonorable, and it made Li Shu furious.

"Why are they attacking me?" Li Shu wondered. After a moment, he summoned the [Holographic Dragon Radar] again and enlarged the image of the Two-Star Ball.

Unfortunately, there was no one in the image. The Two-Star Ball lay undisturbed in an exquisite box.

He tried adjusting the angle and distance. Aside from learning that it was a treasure room filled with gold and silver, he found nothing else.

"Too bad. I didn't place this eye in the right spot." Li Shu regretfully shut off the image, though he already had a rough idea.

Judging by their firepower, they were clearly an extremely well-armed force.

"Maybe I've entered their airspace?"

Li Shu's memories from more than twenty years ago were too distant for him to remember what Muscle Tower was or which group controlled it.

But judging by their dishonorable tactics, they weren't decent people.

"Could they be part of the Red Ribbon Army?" A thought suddenly struck Li Shu. As far as he could recall, the Red Ribbon Army was the only organization in the Dragon Ball world with a private force this powerful.

His memories were so old that he couldn't recall any other powerful armed groups.

The more Li Shu thought about it, the more likely it seemed. In the original story, the strongest opponents Wukong faced while gathering the Dragon Balls this time were the Red Ribbon Army.

And they clashed several times.

"Now it all makes sense. Silver must have reported my information to headquarters. Once they learned where I was headed, they must have alerted the forces stationed at Muscle Tower in the north. That's why they attacked so decisively when they saw me!"

"So the Two-Star Ball is in their hands? That makes things easy. I can just take it without a second thought."

"I can even make progress on 'Punish the Evil and Promote the Good.' Perfect."

At the thought, Li Shu grew excited. The prospect of killing two birds with one stone always gave him a boost.

"A tower that tall must have plenty of enemies in it. Surely they'll give me more than one point of progress?"

Meanwhile, at the Muscle Tower command center.

General White stared at the monitor in disbelief.

They'd actually dodged the attack?

What kind of danger sense and reflexes would it take to pull that off?

"Keep firing! I refuse to believe we can't hit them!"

At General White's command, a dense barrage of fire lit up the sky.

But to Li Shu, with his [Battle Nose], it posed no threat at all. He could always evade the attacks before danger struck.

Dodging once might have been luck, but repeatedly avoiding such a dense barrage left only one possibility.

His opponent really was as absurdly strong as that good-for-nothing Colonel Silver had claimed. Their hot weapons had no effect on them whatsoever.

After seeing it with his own eyes, General White had to admit there was a reason Silver was such a failure.

"Activate every trap in Muscle Tower. Let them come to their deaths!"

General White abandoned the useless attacks and launched a new ambush plan, intending to trap the intruders inside.

With Muscle Tower's powerful forces at his disposal, he was absolutely confident that Li Shu and Son Goku would never make it out alive!

Muscle Tower's repeated attacks finally enraged Li Shu and Wukong. They shot forward at full speed, rapidly closing the distance.

"Since they're fighting dirty, there's no need for us to give them a warning first. Wukong, we'll transform and take them down as soon as we get there."

Li Shu's expression was grim. The wind sharpened the angles of his face.

"Big brother, I want to test my limits. Fighting as a Great Ape is no fun."

Wukong didn't like one-sided battles, so he rejected Li Shu's suggestion.

Li Shu wasn't surprised. That was just Wukong's nature.

Changing someone's personality was no easier than changing someone's personality.

Thinking it over, if they steamrolled every opponent, there'd be no point in training, and they wouldn't be able to improve their own abilities.

If he remembered correctly, Tao Pai Pai, known as the world's greatest assassin, hadn't made his move yet. Then there was Demon King Piccolo, who would appear after the next World Martial Arts Tournament. Both were formidable opponents.

But they'd be easy to handle. For him and Wukong as Great Apes, they'd be nothing—hardly opponents, really, just sparring partners in their normal forms.

The real enemies were the last three Saiyans, who would arrive on Earth in a few years: Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta.

They could all transform into Great Apes, too.

But even then, they wouldn't be powerful opponents for Li Shu, who could already transform into a Super Saiyan. They'd only be advanced sparring partners.

With that in mind, Li Shu agreed to Wukong's suggestion, taking the opportunity to sharpen his own battle instincts.

To be honest, though, Li Shu preferred overwhelming his opponents. He carried Saiyan Bloodline, but he wasn't much of a fighter at heart. He could always suppress the Saiyan blood's aggressive instincts.

His current situation was just right. He could enjoy life in the world, and nobody could beat him. Frieza would probably be the first enemy who could truly be considered a worthy opponent.

At the rate his strength was growing, by the time Frieza appeared, he'd probably just be an even more advanced sparring partner.

That feeling of having a little pressure, but not too much, suited him just fine.

He only had to make the slightest effort, and he was already invincible.

Li Shu and Wukong had now reached the air above Muscle Tower. They looked down at the towering structure, and through the glass they could clearly see people inside.

A muscular man was looking up at them through a window, a mocking smile on his face.

The muscular man was General White. His voice came through a microphone and boomed from the speakers mounted outside the tower:

"Looks like Silver's failure has gone to your heads. You actually dare come here to die."

"Ding! Achievement mission triggered: 'Destroy Muscle Tower.' Mission reward: [Omnipotent Breath]!"

Li Shu's smile widened. Looks like he was about to get three birds with one stone.