Bulma was so furious she was about to lose her mind.
"Idiot.
"He has a Hoi-Poi Capsule. He must have hidden in the sea, opened it, and escaped in a submarine."
Bulma's eyes reddened as Yamcha's face and voice surfaced in her mind.
"You lousy bastard. Don't let me catch you, or you'll be sorry."
Everyone shuddered.
The moment Bulma finished speaking, everyone except Goku fell to the floor.
"Unless you're willing to find me a more handsome boyfriend."
Thud!
Master Roshi's eyes spun, and his brain shut down completely.
"I—I'm handsome!"
Master Roshi shamelessly ran over and sidled up to Bulma.
He gazed at her expectantly.
"Get lost, you old bald geezer."
The plane shook again, but the sadness had eased somewhat.
Li Xing had just made up his mind.
"New opportunity detected for the host. Super Choice System activating."
"Choice One: Go to Korin Tower and train in martial arts under the Cat Hermit. Reward: Constitution +0.1.
Choice Two: Do nothing and focus on developing technology, becoming a god through science. Reward: Mental strength +0.01.
Choice Three: Gather all seven Dragon Balls and summon Shenron to obtain all the martial arts knowledge on Earth. Reward: Energy +5."
Li Xing's eyes lit up.
This was a great opportunity.
He hadn't expected the system to hand him one.
"System, I choose option three."
After making his choice, Li Xing raced back to the group's headquarters, traveling day and night.
His new battle armor had yet to be sent out, and Ashu, who hadn't passed the Martial Arts Tournament preliminaries, still hadn't returned.
Li Xing didn't bother with the unlucky Ashu.
He went straight to Pilaf.
"What? You want to look for the Dragon Balls?"
Pilaf wasn't alarmed. Instead, his eyes gleamed.
"President Li, are we going to wish to become kings?"
Li Xing rapped Pilaf on the head.
"Idiot. Have you got no ambition at all?
"Which do you think would be better: being the way you are now, or being a king?"
Seeing Pilaf deep in thought, Li Xing felt relieved.
At least these people weren't beyond saving. They weren't completely narrow-minded.
"Of course being a king."
After thinking it over, Pilaf answered seriously.
Li Xing nearly spat blood.
He waved a hand, suddenly weary.
"Forget it. I can't argue with you. Do whatever you want from now on.
"I'll live for tens of thousands of years with Xiao Wu and Ashu, while you'll die after a few decades and turn to dust. A hundred years from now, I'll bring Xiao Wu and Ashu to dance on your grave."
Li Xing couldn't be bothered with Pilaf and turned to leave.
Pilaf stood stunned for a moment, then hurried after him.
Li Xing ignored him.
Building the newest, most advanced Dragon Ball Radar was what mattered.
After all, this was the real world.
He didn't dare just take Bulma's Dragon Ball Radar and use it.
Who knew if it had some kind of tracking device?
Better to be careful.
He made his way to the martial arts training area. Seeing only a sparse handful of people there, Li Xing shook his head.
He left at once and headed for his research lab.
There were barely enough people to count.
After fighting Master Roshi, his blood was still up. Looking at these people, he didn't even feel like fighting.
Li Xing entered the lab and began his research.
He could just have people search for the Dragon Balls.
At this point in time, he should run into Sun Wukong.
Li Xing's eyes flickered, and he immersed himself in his research once more.
Training? What was the point of training?
Half a month later.
Li Xing sat in his office.
Ashu brought in a man dressed in black.
"President Li."
"So, you failed?"
Ashu shuddered.
Whenever Li Xing spoke in that tone and with that expression, someone was in for trouble.
"President Li, that..."
Li Xing didn't say anything more. He turned to the man in black.
"Are you the strongest among them?"
"That's right, boss."
Li Xing nodded.
"From now on, you'll stay by our side."
The man in black looked delighted and immediately bowed to thank him.
Ashu looked conflicted, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
Li Xing watched him.
"How many Dragon Balls do we have?"
"We have three so far, President Li."
Li Xing nodded.
He didn't blame Ashu.
Failure was inevitable.
At this point in time,
Sun Wukong was searching for the Dragon Balls, and so was the Red Ribbon Army.
Either one would be a handful for the Aurora Group, which still lacked a solid foundation.
But it didn't matter.
"I understand. Ashu, take him to my training room, and bring the Dragon Balls over while you're at it."
"Yes, President Li."
Ashu withdrew with a trembling body, while the man in black looked on in confusion.
Being the strongest fighter among them just meant he was an ordinary person.
Over the past few months, the Aurora Group had seen someone who claimed to be the strongest fighter show up every couple of weeks. In the end, they would mysteriously disappear from the group.
Every single one of them ended up in Li Xing's Training Group.
Every single one earned a high salary.
At the same time, they gained countless scars and took a beating to their pride.
But for Ashu, all of this was the biggest burden.
People, people, find more people.
He was about to go crazy.
If he couldn't find enough skilled fighters, he had to step in himself.
It was excruciating.
To make matters worse, he was also tasked with searching for the Dragon Balls.
That was urgent too, and he had to finish it as quickly as possible.
If he failed again and again, even without Li Xing punishing him, he wouldn't be able to bear the pressure.
Li Xing sat alone in his office, wondering whether he should go out and wander around.
With his battle armor, he wasn't afraid of exposing his identity.
That meant he could do whatever he wanted.
Once he'd made up his mind, Li Xing shot into the sky and left the Aurora Group.
He hadn't wasted the past half month. His research abilities had improved by leaps and bounds.
His battle armor now had a Dragon Ball search function built in, so he didn't need to go to Pilaf for a device.
It wasn't as compact as Bulma's Dragon Ball Radar.
But the Nano Battle Armor could transform in countless ways, so adding it didn't take up any extra space or require sacrificing any functions.
Southern Snowy Village.
Li Xing slowly landed in front of a castle.
As armed soldiers appeared one after another, a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
There seemed to be an Android 8 here, along with a huge robot.
If he could collect them and study them, they would surely help him a great deal.
That was also why he'd chosen to come here first.
More importantly, behind all this was the person who had created Android 8.
In the anime, it was Dr. Flappe; in the manga, it was Dr. Gero. Li Xing wanted to find out which version was true.
He wasn't hung up on the discrepancy. He simply wanted to see if he could protect the scientist.
Li Xing had never underestimated this world's technology.
Many people focused only on fighting, not realizing that science was what truly shaped this world.
Androids, various spaceships, and more aside,
even the devices that assisted in combat and the Time Machine were already incredibly tempting to Li Xing.
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