Bulma Suddenly Wakes Up, I'm Dead, I'm Truly Dead

"Stop nagging. Let's get the Dragon Ball situation sorted first. Bulma has a radar, so they'll definitely catch up. By then, they'll surely be suspicious of me."

Li Xing remained extremely calm. If Sun Wukong and the others tracked him down, he wouldn't be able to clear his name. Getting away early and developing his strength in secret was the only way to go.

"It's already useless; just throw it away."

Li Xing choked on a mouthful of water, nearly dying of anger. He felt his lungs filling with such stifling frustration that he felt lightheaded. He let go of everything, ignoring the consequences, and mocked the system.

"I risked my life to snatch that Dragon Ball, and you say it's useless? You even want me to throw it away? Are you messing with me?"

"The system is a product of the rules; it does not mess with you. You may choose not to throw it away and keep the ball for yourself."

Li Xing took a deep breath, preparing to snap back, but a single sentence from the system made his soul nearly leave his body.

"Friendly reminder: the Devour ability consumes stamina, which is your Constitution. If your Constitution drops below 1, you will easily fall into a deep slumber."

Hearing this, Li Xing didn't even think; he instantly retracted his Devour power. As the ability vanished, the comfortable environment around him dissolved as well. The surging impact of the water slammed into him without mercy. He spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"I'll star your star*..."

Before losing consciousness, Li Xing mustered his last shred of awareness and exhausted his final bit of strength to fish the Four-Star Dragon Ball from his pocket, letting it drift away with the river current. As for the status panel, cursing the system, or what to do next—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 water, drifting further and further away from Li Xing along the turbulent current. Li Xing himself rolled his eyes back and passed out, completely unconscious. His clothes snagged on a sharp rock, tearing a piece off, and his body drifted downstream, battered by the raging river.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Bulma was in a state of utter panic.

"Where is your Dragon Ball?"

A shrill scream pierced the sky, echoing along the road and bouncing off the cliffs, spreading in all directions. Sun Wukong looked equally anxious, frantically patting his chest and pockets, filled with self-reproach.

"Oh no, my Dragon Ball must have fallen into the river."

Bulma stomped her feet, grinding her teeth in frustration. "No, it must have been that guy from before. He definitely did it on purpose just to steal the Dragon Ball."

Sun Wukong, still searching, heard this and pointed at Bulma indignantly. "Shut up! You are not allowed to slander that person. He is a good man."

Sun Wukong bared his teeth, citing examples as he continued to rebuke Bulma. "To avoid dragging me into trouble, he gave up his own chance at survival, yet you dare to slander him like this!"

Bulma glared at Sun Wukong with disdain. "You little brat, what do you know? I guarantee you, that guy was definitely after the Four-Star Dragon Ball. Wait, I bet he saw how strong you were and realized he couldn't beat you, so he staged this whole act."

Bulma clapped her hands together, suddenly enlightened.

Sun Wukong remained unhappy, huffing as he walked forward along the road. "That's not true! He's a good person; he wouldn't do something like that. You're just slandering him."

Bulma stomped her foot, hissing through her teeth. "I'll prove it to you."

After speaking, she took out the Dragon Ball Radar with a smug look on her face.

"Heh heh, this girl is a genius. That guy would never guess I had this trick up my sleeve. The Dragon Ball Radar can track the energy fluctuations of the Dragon Balls; did he really think he could just snatch it away?"

"Trying to steal this lady's Dragon Ball? Just wait and see how I deal with you."

Bulma didn't hold back, sneering to herself as if she could eat Li Xing alive.

With Sun Wukong, that super fighter, standing right beside her, she had no reason to fear Li Xing.

Not to mention, as a genius girl, she had plenty of good things stashed away.

Bulma's words irritated Sun Wukong once again; he turned around abruptly and stared at her intently.

"Hey, that's my grandpa. It's mine, not yours."

Bulma froze for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively.

"Right, right, it's yours, it's yours. I'm going to help you find your grandpa now."

She only needed to use the Dragon Balls to summon the Eternal Dragon; as for what happened afterward, she didn't care.

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up, filled with joy.

"Really? You can really find my grandpa? I was just about to go down there and look for him."

Bulma laughed wildly again, pulled out a Hoi-Poi Capsule, and produced another motorcycle.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a circular device.

She pressed the button on the top.

Glowing dots immediately appeared on the screen.

One of them was quite close, but it was gradually moving further away.

Bulma flashed a wicked grin, pointed at the dot on the radar, and showed it to Sun Wukong.

"Ohoho, look, this is your Dragon Ball. It's several hundred meters away and still moving; it must be that guy. Let's go after him!"

Sun Wukong looked excited and took off running.

Bulma looked flustered, snapped back to reality, and hurriedly got on the bike.

It might look like a few hundred meters, but with these cliffs and steep walls, they had to get down the mountain and follow the river upstream, which would take quite a while.

To avoid any complications, they naturally needed to get down there as soon as possible.

She started the bike and picked up Sun Wukong along the way.

The two sped toward the bottom of the mountain like a whirlwind.

An hour later.

Bulma stared at a scrap of fabric not far away, her expression turning grim.

She recognized it instantly as part of the clothing worn by the guy who had suddenly rushed out.

With this piece of clothing left behind, that guy was likely in grave danger.

Sun Wukong climbed up, completely naked, clutching a small pouch.

"Look, the Four-Star Dragon Ball, I found it."

A happy expression appeared on his face as he held up the pouch to show off to Bulma.

After saying that, his mood dampened.

"But I didn't find that person."

Bulma's eyes turned red as she looked at the scrap of fabric drifting in an eddy.

"I'm such a fool!"

Sun Wukong stared at Bulma, completely confused.

"Huh?"

Bulma didn't answer Sun Wukong.

"Let's go, we'll keep looking, we have to find him if we can."

The two began searching the upper and lower reaches of the river for Li Xing.

In the middle of the night, inside the villa Bulma had released from a capsule.

Bulma, who had been fast asleep, suddenly sat up and slapped herself hard across the face.

"I'm such a fool!"

"I'm such a fool!"

"I actually wronged him."

Her tone was heavy with endless regret and remorse.

A dilapidated village.

The sound of barking dogs roused most of the villagers.

Several men followed the noise to the riverbank, where they immediately spotted Li Xing lying motionless like a corpse.

After a moment of hesitation and inner conflict, they ultimately decided to fish him out to see if he was still alive.

And just like that, Li Xing, possessing the protagonist's halo and clinging to his final breath, narrowly managed to save his own skin.

By the time he drifted back to consciousness, it was already past ten o'clock the next morning.

He shook his head, trying to ease his weakness.

After surveying his surroundings, Li Xing gradually felt at ease.

Not bad at all. Surviving a fall from a cliff is a protagonist's exclusive privilege; this turn of events is acceptable.

As for any other possibility, Li Xing subconsciously ignored it.

With a transmigration and a system, what else could he be if not the protagonist?

"For now, I've managed to shake off Sun Wukong and the others. Next, I need to carefully plan how to improve myself. The Dragon Ball World is truly too dangerous; with these scrawny limbs, I'd be done for if I ran into Yamcha."

"First, I need to figure out where I am."

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the door.