Further and Further Off Course, Li Xing's Dead End

After one of the crewmen finished speaking, he stared at Piccolo.

"Give me the power to surpass you."

As soon as he said that, all the crewmen stared at him in shock.

Seriously, man, how did you even have the nerve to make such a bold demand?

Were you really not afraid of dying?

Piccolo was a little dumbfounded, too.

He'd only been gone for a few hundred years.

Were people this outrageous now?

"What? Can't you grant any wish?

If you can't, then stop running your mouth. We still have fish to catch."

"You're all the same. You don't even think things through, and just want something for nothing.

If you've got that kind of idea, you'd be better off going to Aurora Group headquarters, setting out a bowl at their door, and putting a QR code beside it.

That'd be a lot better than making a wish to this green, ugly, shriveled-up freak.

A piece of trash like him could barely make a name for himself in the city tournament at the Martial Arts Peak Tournament.

He wouldn't even qualify for the regional or championship rounds.

And you actually believe this trash.

Are you stupid?"

The crewmen looked thoughtful.

King Piccolo's veins bulged.

What the hell.

A clear-headed one?

A Mongolian?

"Kid, you're asking for it."

The man who had spoken sneered at Piccolo.

"I know you're a demon. You can kill one honest man, but there are thousands upon thousands more honest people.

You can kill me, but can you silence the whole world?

With your measly strength, killing us would be easy, sure. But why not go after Aurora Group, the company running the Aurora Martial Arts Peak Tournament?

If you can slaughter your way through that group, the whole world will be yours.

You can do whatever you want, and you won't have to worry about a weakling like me.

If you kill me now to vent your anger, all you'll do is vent your anger. You still won't be able to rule the world."

King Piccolo stared blankly at the crewman who'd spoken.

"Wait, how do you know I want to rule the whole world?"

The crewman sneered at King Piccolo.

"Heh. Do you think everyone's as stupid as you?

The look on your face gave you away."

Piccolo gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering.

"Fine. You're right. I'll listen to you for now."

With that, Piccolo flew away.

Flew away.

The entire crew stared in astonishment.

They looked at Piccolo flying off, then glanced at their companion, who was slumped on the deck.

"Seriously, man, what just happened? I don't get it."

The crewman on the deck glared at his crewmates in exasperation.

"Are you all stupid? We were this close—this close—to getting our heads chopped off."

"Wait, I still don't get it. How were we going to get our heads chopped off?"

The crewman who'd advised Piccolo shakily got to his feet.

He looked at the rest of the crew as if they were beyond help.

"You really are stupid.

Was that thing that came out the Guardian?

And you still wanted to make a deal with him.

Do you think he could really grant your wishes?

Haven't you heard that a shot fired years ago can come back to hit you in the head years later?"

"You idiots.

How can you be so stupid? Huh?"

"Didn't you even consider whether you might die?"

The crewmen were still completely baffled. They didn't really understand what their companion meant.

But they were too embarrassed to ask.

That monster could fly. He obviously wasn't a good person.

They'd been blinded by greed earlier, or they wouldn't have been so eager to ask the monster to grant their wishes.

At least things were fine now. They felt more at ease like this.

"But why did that guy fly away?"

The crewman gave them a mysterious look.

"Think about it. Really think about it."

The others had no choice. They couldn't figure out why, no matter how hard they tried.

Piccolo, who'd left of his own accord, was just as baffled.

After flying for a while, King Piccolo finally came to his senses.

"Why did I fly away? I was just talking to them. What got into me?"

Piccolo frowned.

That guy who sounded like a philosopher had said something off. Very off.

"Forget it. I'll find out what era this is first, then decide what to do."

And so the great demon king, Piccolo,

left the sea, still in a daze.

Inside a mysterious cave.

Li Xing had just taken off his Black Armor.

"Engineer."

Li Xing's eyes shifted.

Aside from giving him missions, Wisdom rarely contacted him on its own.

"What is it?"

"Following your instructions, the Global Eye detected King Piccolo's emergence. I'm notifying you."

Li Xing narrowed his eyes.

So King Piccolo had still appeared?

"What happened?"

Everything that had taken place on the sea appeared clearly on the big screen.

After watching it, Li Xing looked conflicted.

Just...

Damn.

Ridiculous!

Was this King Piccolo, or King Idiot?

He'd just wandered off in a daze. He didn't even kill anyone to celebrate?

Li Xing thought for a moment.

"Wisdom, send the latest Android over to play with our King Piccolo."

"Understood, Engineer."

Li Xing rubbed his chin.

He'd already changed so many things.

Pilaf and the others hadn't even freed King Piccolo.

And yet the guy had still appeared.

He could only say it was fate.

But what should he do next?

King Piccolo was pretty strong at this point in time, but he was no longer at the top.

If Sun Wukong put in enough effort, he could take King Piccolo down.

If King Piccolo hadn't regained his strength, could he still leave behind a child?

What about Piccolo Jr., then?

"Heh, why bother with Piccolo Jr.? Why not just recruit the original Piccolo?

The Kyrieloid would make a perfect excuse, wouldn't he?

Sure, it'd be a crossover, but if it worked, who cared about the rest?"

Li Xing muttered to himself and looked around.

"It's just that the environment here is lousy. I'll need to give it a proper makeover.

Also, the Piccolo of the future can't find out about this place. He'll have to get in some other way."

Li Xing's gaze shifted as he carefully considered the possibilities with the technology available.

Before Vegeta and the others arrived.

Or, rather, before Piccolo fused with Nail, Li Xing didn't take Piccolo's strength seriously at all.

As long as he put in a little effort to upgrade his equipment, Piccolo wouldn't be able to figure out what he was up to.

"Damn, things are getting more and more complicated.

It'd be best if I could organize it all into a series, then find a planet to use as a base.

I could build up my technology there."

Just thinking about how he'd have to do all of that in secret, behind everyone's backs, made Li Xing's scalp tingle.

Dr. Gero, on the other hand, could be put to good use.

As long as he captured him, he could use computer technology to thoroughly harvest Dr. Gero's knowledge. That wouldn't be a problem at all.

"Settled, then. First I'll recruit Piccolo, then capture Dr. Gero, and finally find a planet."

"Damn that useless Shenron on Earth. He can't even handle something this simple. Instant Transmission, Instant Transmission!"

Li Xing was so angry he was about to lose it, but there was nothing he could do.

"Wisdom, with these hundred experiments, can we speed up the progress on quantum transmission?"

"Yes, Engineer. Wisdom has already compiled the data. You can examine it and make improvements."