"Cut the crap.
Let's deal with the Dragon Balls first.
Bulma has a Dragon Radar. They'll definitely catch up.
And then they'll suspect me."
Li Xing was perfectly calm.
If Sun Wukong and the others came looking for him, he'd never be able to explain himself.
The sooner he got away, the better. Laying low and growing stronger was the way to go.
"It's useless now. Just toss it away."
Li Xing choked on a mouthful of water. He was about ready to die of anger.
He felt as if his lungs were filled with pent-up rage, and he was practically floating out of his body.
He let go of everything and mocked the system without holding back.
"I nearly died getting that Dragon Ball, and you're telling me it's useless and I should toss it?
What the hell are you playing at?"
"The system is a product of the rules. It doesn't play games with you.
You don't have to throw it away. Keep it and polish your balls with it."
Li Xing took a deep breath and was about to fire back, but the system's next words nearly scared him out of his wits.
"Friendly reminder: the Devour Ability consumes stamina, which is to say, constitution. If your constitution falls below 1, you may fall asleep."
Hearing that, Li Xing immediately withdrew his Devour Ability without a second thought.
The Devour Ability disappeared, and with it, the comfortable surroundings.
The surging force slammed into Li Xing from all sides without mercy.
He spat out a huge mouthful of blood.
"I'm gonna—"
Before passing out, Li Xing summoned the last of his awareness and strength, fished the Dragon Ball out of his pocket, and let the current carry it away.
As for the status panel, cursing out the system, and what to do afterward—
To hell with all of it.
He didn't have the energy for any of that right now.
The Four-Star Dragon Ball entered the river and drifted farther and farther away with the turbulent current.
Li Xing rolled his eyes back and passed out, completely unconscious.
His clothes snagged on a sharp rock and tore. The surging river carried him downstream as well.
Meanwhile,
Bulma was in a complete panic.
"Where's your Dragon Ball?"
A piercing shriek split the air, echoing off the cliffs before spreading in all directions.
Sun Wukong looked just as anxious. He rummaged frantically through his clothes, overcome with guilt.
"Oh no, my Dragon Ball must've fallen into the river."
Bulma stamped her foot, gritting her teeth in fury.
"No, that guy must've taken it! He definitely did it on purpose, just to steal the Dragon Ball."
Sun Wukong was still searching. When he heard Bulma say that, he angrily pointed at her.
"Shut up! You're not allowed to accuse him. He's a good person."
Sun Wukong bared his teeth and cited an example as he continued to scold Bulma.
"He gave up his chance to survive so I wouldn't get dragged into it, and you're still accusing him like this."
Bulma stared at Sun Wukong with disdain.
"You little brat, what do you know? I guarantee that guy was after the Four-Star Dragon Ball.
Besides, I think he saw how strong you were and knew he couldn't beat you, so he put on that act on purpose."
Bulma clapped her hands together.
She spoke as if she'd suddenly figured it all out.
Sun Wukong was still unhappy. He huffed and walked ahead along the road.
"No way. He's a good person. He wouldn't do something like that. You're the one accusing him."
Bulma stamped her foot, grinding her teeth in frustration.
"I'll prove it to you."
With that, she smugly pulled out the Dragon Ball Radar.
"Heh heh, I'm a genius, you know. That guy would never guess I had another trick up my sleeve.
The Dragon Ball Radar can detect Dragon Ball energy. Did you think stealing it was enough?"
"You stole my Dragon Ball. Just wait until I get my hands on you."
Bulma laughed coldly, muttering without a care. She looked as if she wanted to eat Li Xing alive.
With Sun Wukong, her super-strong bodyguard, right there beside her, she had no reason to fear Li Xing.
Besides, as a genius girl, she had plenty of useful gadgets on her.
Bulma's words made Sun Wukong angry again. He spun around and stared at her seriously.
"Hey, that's my grandpa! He belongs to me, not you."
Bulma froze for a moment, then waved dismissively.
"Right, right, he's yours. I'm going to help you find your grandpa now."
She only needed to use the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron. What happened after that wasn't her problem.
Sun Wukong's eyes lit up. He was overjoyed.
"Really? You can find my grandpa? I was going to go around the bottom and look for him."
Bulma burst into laughter again. She took out a Hoi-Poi Capsule and summoned another motorcycle.
Then she reached into her clothes and pulled out a round device.
She pressed the button on top.
A series of sparkling lights appeared inside.
One of them was quite close to them, but it was gradually moving farther away.
Bulma gave a sinister smile and pointed to the light on the radar, showing it to Sun Wukong.
"Whoa-ho-ho! Look, that's your Dragon Ball. It's several hundred meters away, and it's still moving. It has to be that guy.
Let's hurry after him."
Sun Wukong looked thrilled and took off running.
Bulma stood there in a daze. When she came to her senses, she hurried onto the motorcycle.
It might've been only a few hundred meters away, but the area was full of sheer cliffs. They'd have to go down the mountain and then follow the river upstream, which would take quite a while.
To avoid complications, they had to get down there as soon as possible.
She got on the motorcycle, started it up, and picked up Sun Wukong along the way.
The two of them sped down the mountain.
An hour later.
Bulma stared at a torn piece of cloth nearby, her expression dark.
She recognized it immediately as part of the clothes worn by the guy who'd suddenly appeared.
With this piece of clothing there, that guy was probably in serious trouble.
Sun Wukong came climbing up, stark naked except for his pants, clutching a small pouch.
"Look, the Four-Star Dragon Ball! I found it."
His face lit up with joy as he held the pouch up to Bulma, showing it off.
Then his mood sank.
"But I couldn't find that guy."
Bulma's eyes were red as she watched the torn piece of cloth drifting in an eddy.
"I'm truly awful!"
Sun Wukong stared at Bulma, completely confused.
"What?"
Bulma didn't answer him.
"Come on, let's keep looking. We should try to find him if we can."
The two of them began searching for Li Xing both upstream and downstream.
In the middle of the night,
Inside the villa Bulma had summoned with a Capsule,
Bulma suddenly sat up in her sleep and slapped herself hard across the face.
"I'm truly awful!"
"I'm truly awful!"
"I accused him when he was innocent."
Her voice was full of remorse and regret.
A rundown village.
The barking of dogs woke most of the villagers.
Several of the men followed the sound to the riverbank, where they spotted Li Xing lying there like a corpse.
After hesitating for a while, they decided to pull him out and take a look.
And so, Li Xing, who had a protagonist's luck and was still clinging to life, narrowly managed to survive.
By the time he slowly woke up, it was already past ten the next morning.
He shook his head, trying to ease his weakness.
He took in his surroundings, and gradually felt at ease.
"Not bad. Surviving a fall off a cliff is a perk reserved for protagonists. That worked out pretty well."
As for the other possibility, Li Xing subconsciously ignored it.
He'd transmigrated and had a system. What else could he be but the protagonist?
"From the looks of things, I've gotten away from Sun Wukong and the others. Now I need to think carefully about how to get stronger.
The Dragon Ball World is just too dangerous. With these skinny arms and legs, I'd die if I ran into Yamcha."
"First, I need to figure out where I am."
Suddenly, a noise came from outside the door.
Before you continue