A sharp, grating voice rang out.
Xiao Wu and Ashu, who had been gazing obsequiously at Li Xing, instinctively shuddered.
"Ah, King Pilaf!"
"You two idiots, where have you been?"
"You've been gone so long—it's been two months, hasn't it?"
"Bastards, do you even have any respect for me, your king?"
Xiao Wu and Ashu exchanged a glance. They both understood what the other was thinking, and nodded to each other.
They stood up in unison.
"No, we don't."
"Since you do, then why have you—two months—what?"
Pilaf was in the middle of berating them. Halfway through his sentence, he froze.
Ashu strode confidently over to Pilaf.
"Come on, take a look."
He grabbed the dazed Pilaf and led him straight to the vehicle.
"See that? What's this?"
Pilaf's eyes sparkled.
"Wow, gold, silver, and jewels—so much money! Am I dreaming? Someone, wake me up!"
Xiao Wu silently walked over to Pilaf, her long legs striding out. She raised a hand and brought it down.
Smack! Smack!
"Ow~"
"Bastard!"
Pilaf immediately flew into a rage and glared viciously at Xiao Wu.
"What are you doing?"
Xiao Wu lifted her chin. "Didn't you tell us to wake you up?"
"Idiot."
Ashu and Xiao Wu looked at each other again, confirming their decision.
"Now, Pilaf, listen up!"
Xiao Wu spoke haughtily. Not only was Pilaf dumbfounded—even Li Xing was stunned.
Had these two, who had always been loyal to Pilaf, lost their minds?
"We followed you around, chasing a pipe dream, and suffered plenty along the way," Ashu continued.
When Ashu finished, the two seemed to have planned it out in advance. Xiao Wu picked up where he left off.
"We worked ourselves to the bone and got nothing in return."
"Exactly. On top of that, you cursed us out and beat us whenever you felt like it."
"So we've made up our minds," Xiao Wu said coldly.
"We're not going to recognize you as our king anymore."
"We're going to recognize Li Xing as our king."
Ashu shuddered, forcing himself to hold back his fear of Pilaf.
"Exactly. If we follow King Li Xing, we'll have plenty to eat and drink and live a good life."
"So you're not our king anymore."
Xiao Wu and Ashu exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.
"We earned the money to build this castle, and we did all the work. You didn't lift a finger.
So get out. From now on, this place will be Lord Li Xing's home.
If we follow Lord Li Xing, we'll have plenty to eat and drink and live the good life."
The two of them looked thoroughly pleased with themselves.
They spoke with conviction, expressing their true feelings.
Pilaf stood with his mouth agape as his face kept shifting from red to green.
Then, in a fit of humiliation and rage, he stopped arguing and ran straight toward the upper part of the castle.
"Remember to clear out your things so we can invite Lord Li Xing to move in."
Seeing Ashu's smug expression, Li Xing wanted to rush over and slap him twice.
Was this guy an idiot?
Pilaf wasn't giving up. He was heading off to activate the castle's mechanisms and kill him.
Li Xing was confident he could handle them, but he wasn't going to let Pilaf do whatever he wanted and make him lose face.
Power surged through him. He darted forward like a rabbit, bounding a few times before appearing directly in Pilaf's path.
"Y-you—what are you trying to do?"
Pilaf was furious and wanted nothing more than to kill Li Xing, but he wasn't stupid.
Seeing that Li Xing had overtaken him despite starting later—and that Li Xing was bigger than him—Pilaf instinctively stepped back and confronted him.
Li Xing looked at Pilaf with a warm smile.
He understood Pilaf's intentions perfectly.
"Sorry, I didn't know about this.
"But I think they're right."
A surge of anger flushed Pilaf's face. He clenched his teeth and glared at Li Xing with a twisted expression.
"Are you trying to make a fool of me?"
Before Li Xing could answer, Xiao Wu and Ashu, who had hurried after Pilaf, spoke up first.
"Watch your mouth! Is that any way to speak to Lord Li Xing?"
"Exactly. You're a grown man, but you don't know how to behave."
Pilaf gritted his teeth in fury, but there was nothing he could do to them.
Li Xing waved a hand, and the two immediately fell silent.
Li Xing raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't done anything. Why were the two of them so obedient?
Could it be that the system had put some kind of spell on them because he'd gone so long without completing a mission?
Li Xing didn't dwell on it. He looked at Pilaf.
"How about this? I really didn't expect things to turn out this way. I'll give you a chance. Use whatever methods you think you can. If you can beat me, I'll leave."
Li Xing couldn't force Pilaf to work for him.
He still needed to research plenty of technology.
Pilaf, a genius scientist, would be very useful.
On Earth, apart from Bulma and Dr. Brief, Pilaf was the only one who could make a Dragon Ball Radar.
That guy was quite gifted when it came to science.
It was a shame he'd gone down the wrong path, fixated on becoming king.
Come to think of it, there wasn't really anything wrong with Pilaf wanting to be king.
He didn't want to enslave humanity or terrorize the region.
At least, his ultimate goal wasn't to oppress people or commit atrocities.
Funnily enough, all he wanted was to eat lots of delicious food—and throw away anything he couldn't finish.
Li Xing wasn't about to let a talent like that slip away.
He'd bring Pilaf to heel and keep him working for him.
Li Xing had seen, learned, and used plenty of those tricks for winning people over in his old world.
An orphan couldn't survive in a city at the age of fifteen, let alone rent a place and live comfortably, without more than an ordinary amount of savvy.
"Fine. You said it."
Xiao Wu and the others didn't stop him. Pilaf agreed at once.
Xiao Wu and Ashu didn't try to stop him either.
They had seen Lord Li Xing's strength for themselves, so they weren't worried.
After their contest, Pilaf was naturally still unconvinced.
Fortunately, Li Xing appealed to his emotions and reason, then finally won him over with the promise of benefits.
Pilaf wasn't evil by nature. Once Li Xing promised him what he wanted, he readily agreed to work for him as a researcher.
Li Xing's lips curled into a wide grin.
He'd been in the Dragon Ball World for almost three months.
At last, he'd built up a force of his own.
Sure, the three of them were useless at just about everything, but they were still his first followers.
As long as he put them to good use, they could accomplish surprising things.
"Good. Go on, get some rest tonight. Tomorrow morning, I'll tell you how to make a fortune."
The three of them immediately lit up and gazed at Li Xing eagerly.
This sounded promising.
Even Pilaf had put his grudge aside. He was already imagining himself sleeping on a mountain of gold and silver, with seven or eight beautiful maids attending him, eating one serving of food and throwing away another.
Li Xing hadn't expected the mission to go so smoothly. Pilaf, whom he'd thought would be the hardest to deal with, had turned out to be the easiest.
He was in a wonderful mood.
"Congratulations, Host. You have completed Option Three: Subdue the Pilaf Gang. Reward: Energy +5."
Li Xing happily checked his stats.
Lifespan: 26. Constitution: 1.4. Energy: 20. Overall combat power: 28.
Before you continue