Pilaf's Trap, A Glimmer of Hope in the Secret Room

The group set off to continue searching for the last Dragon Ball.

Goku practiced the Kamehameha he had just learned atop the Flying Nimbus.

Suddenly, Goku pointed into the distance.

"Hey! Look! Isn't that a castle over there?"

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a strangely shaped castle slowly drawing closer on the distant horizon.

"That's it!"

Bulma cried excitedly.

"The last Dragon Ball is inside that castle!"

A bad feeling rose in her heart.

Could he be collecting the Dragon Balls too?

At the thought of that possibility, Bulma's face immediately fell.

"Damn it! Looks like we're in for a tough fight!"

Before long, they arrived in front of the castle.

The castle gates slowly opened. The interior was brightly lit, and they could vaguely smell the enticing aroma of food.

A robot in a suit stepped out through the gates.

"Welcome, travelers from afar."

The robot spoke in a synthesized voice.

"My master, King Pilaf, has prepared a grand feast and has been awaiting your arrival for some time."

King Pilaf?

Never heard of him.

Bulma looked wary, but Goku and Oolong's stomachs had already begun growling traitorously.

"There's food?"

Goku's eyes instantly lit up.

Lin Xuan's gaze passed through the gates and settled on the depths of the castle.

Lin Xuan chuckled inwardly.

So, they had reached the comedic trio.

This was obviously a trap, but he had no intention of exposing it.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, with the perception granted by his current mental strength, along with Goku, there should be no danger.

And they would not have to keep searching themselves. The other side had come right to them, which saved them the trouble.

They might even pick up some merit for free. It was truly the best of both worlds.

"Let's go. Since our host has invited us so warmly, it would be rude to refuse."

Lin Xuan was the first to head toward the castle.

Goku and Oolong cheered and immediately followed.

Though Bulma sensed that something was off, seeing Lin Xuan's confident expression somehow dispelled more than half the unease in her heart.

With this mystic around, nothing too bad could happen anyway.

The group entered the castle, and the sight inside left them even more astonished.

A spacious hall, magnificent chandeliers, red-carpeted corridors, and a long table laden with delicacies from land and sea.

It was even more luxurious than Bulma's own home.

Inside the monitoring room deep within the castle.

A short blue-skinned man wearing a pointed green hat watched everything through the screens and let out a smug cackle.

"Ha ha ha ha! What idiots! They walked right in so easily!"

He was Pilaf, the master of this castle.

Standing beside him were his two subordinates: Shu, a dog-eared youth dressed in ninja attire, and Mai, a cold-looking woman with long blue hair.

"King Pilaf is brilliant! These fools will soon become your prisoners!"

Mai flattered him.

"Once we capture them, all seven Dragon Balls will be gathered! Then you'll be the king of the world!"

Shu excitedly waved his sword as well.

Pilaf laughed even more wildly, as though he could already see himself ruling the world.

In the hall, Goku and Oolong had already pounced on the table and were wolfing down the food.

Bulma, meanwhile, looked around curiously, deeply interested in the advanced equipment here.

Lin Xuan did not touch the food. He merely picked up a glass of water and calmly watched everything unfold.

After eating and drinking their fill, Son Goku rubbed his round belly and let out a satisfied burp.

"That was delicious! Where's that King Pilaf guy? He's such a nice person!"

The moment he finished speaking.

A piercing alarm suddenly rang throughout the entire hall.

Rumble—

The floor beneath them abruptly gave way. Caught completely off guard, everyone screamed as they fell.

It was a carefully designed trap.

Below lay a massive secret chamber constructed from specially made steel plates.

With a thunderous bang, the entrance at the top of the chamber was completely sealed by a thick steel plate.

"What's going on?"

Bulma climbed up from the ground, still unable to make sense of the situation.

Hiss—

A faint sound of gas leaking came from the ventilation vents in the corners.

A colorless, odorless sleeping gas quickly filled the entire chamber.

"So sleepy..."

Son Goku, Bulma, and the others felt their eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Before they could resist, they collapsed one after another and fell asleep.

Lin Xuan remained where he was, one brow slightly raised.

He could feel the gas trying to invade his body and numb his nerves.

A cheap trick.

He dismissed it inwardly, then slowly sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

In the surveillance room, Pilaf looked at the people sprawled across the screen and laughed so hard he bent over backward.

"Success! It worked! The world is mine now! Hahahaha!"

He swept out a hand, full of high spirits.

"Take all seven Dragon Balls to the wishing platform! This king wants to make his wish immediately!"

No one knew how much time had passed.

Inside the chamber, Bulma and the others slowly woke up.

"My head hurts... Where are we?"

Bulma shook her groggy head and took in her surroundings.

Cold steel walls surrounded them on all sides, fitted together without a single gap. Not even a sliver of light could enter.

"It's a trap! We've been locked up!"

She immediately realized what had happened and cried out.

"Damn it!"

Son Goku sprang to his feet and punched the wall.

Clang!

The wall did not budge in the slightest. Instead, the impact left his fist throbbing with pain.

"It's so hard!"

He tried again with more strength, but the result was the same.

The steel plates of this chamber seemed sturdier than anything he had ever encountered before.

Oolong had already curled up in the corner, trembling as he muttered, "It's over... We're going to die in here."

Bulma forced herself to calm down and began taking out all kinds of tools from her Hoi-Poi Capsules.

Laser cutter. High-explosive grenades. Strong acid spray.

She used every invention she had kept in reserve.

Yet the indestructible wall did not even receive a scratch.

"How can this be... What kind of metal is this..."

Bulma's confidence was gradually worn away, eventually turning into deep despair.

Even the technology she was proudest of was completely useless.

They were trapped here to die.

"What do we do... We can't get out..."

Bulma slumped weakly to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.

Just as everyone sank into despair, the figure who had been sitting cross-legged and motionless from beginning to end finally moved.

Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes.

His voice remained calm, like a sedative that instantly soothed everyone's panic.

"Why panic?"

"All things in this world restrain one another. Nothing is absolutely indestructible."

Bulma raised her tear-streaked face to look at Lin Xuan, her voice still choked with sobs.

"But... we've tried every method..."

Lin Xuan did not answer her.

He merely closed his eyes as the power of his divine soul silently spread out from within him.

His "sight" pierced through the thick steel plates, taking in the entire structure of the secret chamber at a glance.

He could "see" the thickness of every steel plate, "hear" the minute differences in the arrangement of atoms within the metal, and "feel" the distribution of stress at every weld and every screw.

His divine soul was like an ultra-high-precision 3D scanner, frantically analyzing every detail of this steel prison in search of that single "flaw."

Time passed second by second.

Suddenly, Lin Xuan's brow twitched.

He had found it.

At a corner of the chamber's ceiling, there was a weld where one steel plate joined the others.

Due to a minute flaw in the workmanship, the structural strength of that point was 3.7 percent weaker than elsewhere.

Though negligible, it was enough.

Lin Xuan abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

He stood and walked over to Son Goku.

"Goku."

"Brother Lin Xuan!"

Son Goku looked as though he had found someone to lean on.

"Do you want to get out?"

"Yes!"

"Then do as I say."

Lin Xuan pointed at that corner of the ceiling.

"Do you see that spot? Use your Kamehameha."

"But... the old man said the Kamehameha would destroy the whole castle!"

Son Goku hesitated.

"Don't worry."

Lin Xuan smiled faintly.

"Your strength is just right."

"Imagine all your power becoming a needle."

"A needle that can pierce through anything."

"Concentrate all your strength on that one point. Don't let even a trace of it scatter."

Son Goku nodded as if he only half understood, but he chose to trust him unconditionally.

He walked beneath the spot Lin Xuan had indicated, took a deep breath, and slowly raised his hands into a stance at his waist.

"Haa..."

Blue light began gathering in his palms.

At the same time, at the top floor of the castle.

Pilaf and the other two had already arranged the seven Dragon Balls atop a specially made altar.

The seven Dragon Balls radiated brilliant light, illuminating the entire room as brightly as day.

"Finally... the moment has finally come!"

Pilaf trembled with excitement as he prepared to summon Shenron in a shaking voice.

Inside the secret chamber, Son Goku's energy had also gathered to its peak.

"—Hah!"

He shouted explosively and thrust both hands forward!

A blue beam of energy compressed to the utmost, as thin as an optical fiber, tore through the air with a piercing shriek and struck the weak point in the ceiling with flawless precision.