The Lost Old Turtle, I'm Definitely Earning This Merit!

The car jolted along the mountain road.

The atmosphere inside was strange.

Son Goku had long since lost interest. Bored out of his mind, he pressed against the window and watched the trees fly backward outside.

He kept muttering about how hungry he was.

Bulma, who was driving, had a lot on her mind.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly. Those blue eyes of hers kept sneaking glances through the rearview mirror at the man in the back seat.

That man had his eyes closed.

This guy named Lin Xuan was far too strange.

Everything he said and did shook the worldview she had built over more than a decade.

It felt like a cat was clawing at Bulma's heart, leaving her irritated and curious.

She really wanted to drag this man into her laboratory and scan him from head to toe with the most advanced equipment.

Just to see what exactly his brain was made of.

Just then, there was a screech.

Bulma slammed on the brakes, and the tires carved two long tracks into the dirt road.

"What the hell?"

She stuck her head out, her temper flaring at once.

A huge shadow was slowly crawling across the middle of the road.

It was a turtle.

A very large old sea turtle.

It had probably gotten lost. Under the blazing sun, it paddled its limbs blankly through deep mountains far from the sea.

"What a huge turtle!"

Son Goku's eyes lit up. He shoved open the car door, jumped out, and curiously circled the old turtle.

The old turtle suddenly spoke.

"I'm terribly thirsty. Could you give me some water, then take me back to the seaside?"

Son Goku was not surprised.

"A talking turtle! That's amazing!"

"It looks so pitiful."

Son Goku poured it some water, then patted the old turtle's rough shell and called back into the car.

"Let's help it! Let's take it back to the sea!"

When Bulma heard that, she nearly snapped the steering wheel in half.

"Are you kidding me? We're looking for the Dragon Balls! Who has time to meddle in a turtle's business?"

She shouted at Son Goku, feeling her head swell.

"This will slow us down! Do you even know how to spell efficiency?"

Son Goku pointed at the old turtle and looked seriously at Bulma.

"But the sea is so far away. If we don't help it, it'll definitely die here."

"So what? That's the law of nature!"

Bulma tried to reason with this savage using science, but it was useless.

Son Goku did not understand. He just kept shaking his head.

"No! My grandpa said that when you see someone in trouble, you should help them!"

Just as the two were about to start arguing, the back door opened.

Lin Xuan got out.

He still looked the same, as though the argument outside had nothing to do with him.

When Bulma saw him, she immediately complained.

"Lin Xuan, come judge this! Goku wants to waste our time over a turtle! Our goal is to gather all seven Dragon Balls!"

Lin Xuan ignored her and walked straight over to the old turtle.

He crouched down and looked at the lost creature. More merit to pick up—wasn't this far easier than grinding for it himself?

After a while, he stood and swept his gaze over the anxious Son Goku and the fuming Bulma.

He spoke.

His voice was not loud, yet the surroundings fell silent at once.

"We're not in a hurry."

A faint smile played at the corners of Lin Xuan's mouth.

"Since we came across it, it must be fate. Let nature take its course—perhaps there'll be an unexpected reward."

He added another sentence.

"Heaven's will is unfathomable. Sometimes, an act of kindness that seems meaningless is precisely the shortcut to the outcome."

Bulma's mind buzzed.

That same mystical nonsense again.

It was exactly like when he had predicted Son Goku's future.

Reason told her it was all coincidence, just this guy's bluffing tactics.

But when she thought of what had happened before, her scientific worldview began to waver again.

Could helping this turtle really bring something good?

As she looked into Lin Xuan's deep eyes, the irritation in her heart inexplicably faded by half.

An intense curiosity overwhelmed her pursuit of efficiency.

She wanted to see whether Lin Xuan's prediction would be accurate this time.

"Fine! I'd like to see what kind of unexpected reward there could be!"

Gritting her teeth, Bulma agreed.

But another problem arose.

The old turtle was too big to fit inside the car.

"See? I told you it'd be trouble!"

Bulma spread her hands.

But Son Goku did not take it seriously at all. He walked over to the old turtle and patted his chest.

"It's okay, I'll carry it!"

With a heave, he actually lifted the old turtle, which weighed several hundred pounds, onto his back.

And he stood perfectly steady.

Bulma's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

What kind of monster was this kid?

Thus, a strange sight appeared on the mountain road.

A little car crawled slowly along in front.

Behind it followed a boy carrying a gigantic sea turtle. His steps were light and brisk, and he even had the leisure to look around.

Lin Xuan sat in the car, gazing at the scenery outside the window. His face was calm, but inwardly, he was overjoyed.

Just then, that golden scroll had appeared in his mind again.

text
[Assisted a lost living being, resolved a deadly calamity, merit +0.8]

Not bad, not bad.

This had definitely been worth it.

Getting some merit without any danger—this felt amazing.

With Bulma's navigation and Son Goku's legwork, they finally reached the seaside at dusk after spending most of the day traveling.

Along the way, they had even encountered a tiger demon, which little Goku had easily taken care of.

The salty sea breeze blew in, carrying the scent of freedom.

Son Goku carefully set the old turtle down on the beach, then pushed its back to help it crawl toward the sea.

The moment the old turtle touched the seawater, it immediately came to life, happily swimming about in the shallows.

Bulma curled her lip.

"We finally got it here. What a waste of a whole day."

The moment she finished speaking, the old turtle poked its head out of the water and began to speak.

"Kind benefactors, thank you so much."

The old turtle looked at them gently.

"To repay you, please wait a moment. I'll go invite an expert to bring you a gift of thanks."

After saying that, it glanced at the three of them, dove into the deep sea, and vanished.

On the beach, only the dumbfounded Bulma, the excited Son Goku, and the ever-smiling Lin Xuan remained.

"An expert? A gift of thanks?"

Bulma felt as though her worldview had been crushed several times over today.

"This can't be real. I must be so tired that I'm hallucinating."

She muttered to herself while staring at the calm sea, half-convinced and half-doubtful.

Time passed bit by bit.

Just as Bulma was running out of patience and about to say that this was merely a bragging turtle—

Son Goku suddenly pointed at the distant sea and shouted.

"Hey! Look! What's that?"

Bulma and Lin Xuan looked in the direction he was pointing.

At some point, a bald old man in a floral shirt and sunglasses had appeared on the sea, standing atop the old turtle as it headed toward them, waving vigorously in their direction.