On Planet Namek.
The commotion gradually died down, and the world returned to peace. Son Goku and Piccolo, Krillin and Son Gohan, one after another, emerged from the aftermath and caught their breath.
As for Ron, he was no longer there.
He was now high in the sky, hundreds of miles from the battlefield.
He wasn't alone, either. He had a blue-haired woman in his arms.
It was none other than Bulma.
Just as the Spirit Bomb struck Frieza and swallowed him up, on the verge of exploding, Ron sensed the faint aura of a human coming from Bulma while he watched the scene unfold.
The reason he detected her was that from the very beginning, he had remembered Bulma was also on Planet Namek, so he had been searching for her aura the whole time.
To be honest, in the original story, if Bulma hadn't been lucky, she wouldn't have survived long enough to be rescued by Son Gohan, who arrived at the very end.
Ron could identify her because after spending twenty-five years on the Primitive Planet, he had developed the ability to use someone's aura to approximate their shape and appearance.
To him, the auras of animals and humans were clearly distinct.
So once he confirmed it was Bulma, he immediately used Instant Transmission without hesitation.
Feeling the softness in his arms and looking at the stunning beauty who had been scared out of her wits, Ron's lips curled into a slight smile. He teased, "That was a close one. If I'd been just two or three seconds later, you'd have been buried alive under that pile of rocks."
Hearing Ron's words, Bulma finally came back to her senses.
Her heart had lurched, thinking she was about to die, but then she'd suddenly found herself in someone's arms.
Still, she worried that she'd fallen into the hands of some villain, and her heart was full of unease.
But the moment she saw Ron's face, her eyes lit up. She had completely forgotten her fear.
She hadn't expected the person who saved her to be an incredibly handsome man.
That build, that physique—they made her feel completely safe.
[What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? Mom, I think I'm in love again. Who is he? An Earthling? A Saiyan? He's exactly my type.]
Bulma tried her hardest to rein in her infatuation.
"You're so scared you can't even speak, huh?" Ron kept holding her, catching a whiff of her distinctive fragrance.
Ron didn't immediately find a place to set her down.
This was such a good chance to get close to Bulma. If he let it slip by, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.
Bulma was now at her most vulnerable, with no one to rely on and her guard at its lowest.
She had come to Planet Namek only to be left behind and ignored by Krillin and Son Gohan. The fact that she'd managed to survive on an alien planet until now meant she'd already endured immense pressure.
That was exactly what Ron was counting on.
He'd been reincarnated into this world for a second life. Knowing Bulma was a treasure of a woman and still letting her slip away would make him a failure as a transmigrator.
She was the most brilliant woman in the Dragon Ball world, and one countless transmigrators wanted to marry.
So what if Bulma and Yamcha had once been together?
What era was this, anyway?
And as for his goddess, Android 18...
Ron was greedy. In a world where might made right, he wanted both Bulma and Android 18!
"Th-thank you for saving me. A-are you a Saiyan too?" Bulma's voice was soft and gentle.
Seeing her flushed cheeks and hearing her ask if he was a Saiyan, Ron wasn't surprised. He smiled.
Looks like he didn't need to go out of his way to cultivate an image—his face alone had already won Bulma's favor.
Being handsome sure had its perks.
In both his previous and present lives, he'd had nothing to complain about when it came to his looks.
In his previous life, he'd been incredibly handsome too, and plenty of women had pursued him.
But he'd been too focused on becoming stronger and hadn't been very interested in romance back then.
Things were different now.
"I'm a Saiyan. Saving you was no trouble at all, so there's no need to thank me... You're an Earthling too, right? Did you come to Planet Namek with Krillin and Son Gohan?" Ron asked, striking up a conversation with Bulma.
Even though he knew everything, he couldn't let Bulma know that he knew.
This was also a way to gradually open her heart. First, they'd get acquainted, then they'd get to know each other, and then they'd learn more about one another...
In short, he would slowly get Bulma to lower her guard.
"You know Krillin and Gohan? Do you know where they are?" As soon as Bulma heard about Krillin and Son Gohan, she grew excited.
Her excitement made Ron all the more aware of her soft body against his.
He'd lived three lives, and in this one especially, he'd been pent up for a full twenty-eight years.
Of course, even so, Ron wouldn't do anything that shameless.
"I'll take you to them now. But you'd better not move around, or if you fall, I might not get lucky enough to save you again."
Only a fool would pass up a chance to enjoy a perk.
Frieza had just been stunned by the Spirit Bomb and would need some time to recover.
Ron didn't use Instant Transmission. He flew instead.
Ron's words startled Bulma, and when he took off using his flight technique, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist.
The wind stung her eyes a little, but Bulma didn't complain. She just squirmed, shifted position, and buried her whole face against Ron's chest.
Pressed so close, she could clearly hear Ron's strong heartbeat. Her own heart began to race, and her cheeks flushed even redder.
The thrill of such intimate contact made it hard for her to resist.
Especially with Ron's well-defined muscles and incredible physique—how could she not be dazed?
Though Ron was flying, he could clearly feel Bulma's warm breath against his chest.
Ron kept flying at a slow, steady pace. It took him three minutes to bring Bulma to the center of the explosion.
Hovering in midair, Ron didn't speak right away. After a moment, he teased Bulma, "All right, we're here. You can lift your head and look now."
As he spoke, Ron's lips curled upward. He thought he'd managed a sincere, friendly smile.
At least, that was what Ron thought.
He didn't realize his smile had a playful edge to it, making him look a little wicked.
Hearing Ron's words, Bulma came to her senses. She looked at his face, but the moment their eyes met, her heart raced. She hurriedly looked elsewhere, trying to distract herself.
The scene before her left her stunned, too, and she sucked in a sharp breath.
Her flushed cheeks turned deathly pale in an instant.
"Wh-what happened here? How could this place have been destroyed like this?" Her terrified words came out as her body shuddered.
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