Bulma: Go to Planet Namek, Bring Back Everyone Who Died

Dusk had fully fallen.

The industrial lights in the internment camp came on one by one, their glow leaking out through the floor vents like dim yellow stars.

By the time Chen Mo returned to the third underground level, Trunks was already asleep on a cot in the corner.

One year. One year inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Only a single day had passed for those outside, but Trunks's body and mind had endured twelve months of intense strain.

No matter how good a half-Saiyan's physique was, it had its limits.

He slept deeply, his breathing even. Purple hair fell across his forehead, covering his right eye.

Chen Mo did not disturb him.

He found an empty cot and sat down, taking the scouter from his backpack.

The distribution of dots on the screen had not changed much.

To the northeast, Android 17. Stationary.

To the northwest, Android 18.

She had stopped.

The dot that had been moving constantly before was now fixed in one place.

Chen Mo stared at that dot for ten seconds.

She had stopped, but she was not coming this way.

Was she resting? Or was she thinking about something else?

A line of text popped up in the system.

[Current state of emotion collection target: Calm (Medium), Contemplation (High), Possessiveness (Ongoing).]

Chen Mo turned off the scouter.

If he could not figure it out, then he would stop thinking about it.

Android 18's thought process was not something he could predict. What he needed to think about now was something else.

Base power level: fifty thousand. With the Twentyfold King Kai Fist fully activated: one million.

It sounded intimidating. But Android 18's lower limit was three hundred and fifty million. What Bulma had said earlier made him revise his estimate upward—it might be even higher.

Forget fighting her. A flick of her finger could bury him in the ground.

Android 17 was even less worth mentioning.

As long as those two remained on Earth, humanity would live under their shadow forever.

Cell had gone into outer space. But he would return. He definitely would return.

After absorbing enough extraterrestrial life, he would become even stronger.

And by then, if he successfully absorbed Android 17 or Android 18...

Chen Mo did not dare to continue that thought.

He needed more power.

But he had already exhausted every method available to him.

Master Roshi's basic training. Ultra Divine Water. The Hyperbolic Time Chamber. A year of grueling cultivation.

He was an ordinary human. He did not have the Saiyans' power boost from near-death experiences, nor did he have the Namekians' potential awakening.

A base battle power of fifty thousand might already be the ceiling of his life.

Unless some external force intervened.

What kind of external force?

He closed his eyes. Every method from the original story that could make someone stronger raced through his mind.

Old Kai's potential unlock. That required going to King Kai's Planet, and Old Kai was still sealed inside the Z Sword.

The Super Saiyan God Ritual. He was not a Saiyan, so he could not use it.

The Super Dragon Balls. Impossible.

The Namekian Dragon Balls.

Chen Mo's eyes snapped open.

The Namekian Dragon Balls.

Porunga.

Three wishes.

His mind began racing. After the Frieza incident, the Namekians had migrated to a new planet.

New Planet Namek. The Dragon Balls were still there. The Grand Elder was still there. Porunga was still there.

If he could go to New Planet Namek...

Find the Dragon Balls.

Wish back all the Earth warriors killed by the androids.

Gohan. Vegeta. Tien Shinhan. Yamcha. Chiaotzu. Piccolo.

If Piccolo came back, Earth's Dragon Balls would be restored too.

If Gohan came back...

No. Goku had died of heart disease, not at the hands of the androids. Could Porunga revive someone who had died of illness?

In the original story, after being upgraded by the Grand Elder, Porunga could revive the same person multiple times. But someone who had died of illness...

Forget Goku for now.

Gohan alone would be enough.

Before he died, Gohan had already become a Super Saiyan. Given his potential and more time, Super Saiyan 2 wasn't out of the question.

Vegeta had also been able to transform into a Super Saiyan before he died.

Two Super Saiyans, plus Trunks. Three Super Saiyans.

And Android 16.

And Piccolo's strength after being revived.

The answer to that equation would be completely different.

But the problem was...

How could they get to New Planet Namek?

"Can't sleep?"

A voice came from the stairway.

Bulma came down carrying two cups.

She had changed out of that filthy lab coat and was wearing a dark gray sleeveless tank top with black workout pants.

Her hair was wet. She had just washed it.

Chen Mo instinctively looked at her for a moment longer.

Then he froze.

The Bulma in anime had been a flat drawing. Two-dimensional. No matter how she was drawn, she was still just lines and blocks of color.

The Bulma before him was three-dimensional. Alive.

Her short blue hair clung to either side of her neck from the dampness, and the line of her collarbones stood out clearly beneath the light.

The neckline of her sleeveless top was neither high nor low, but when she bent over to hand him the cup, the curve at the front...

Chen Mo looked away.

It wasn't that he wanted to look. There was simply too much information, and his eyes reacted faster than his brain.

Manga Bulma could at most be called well-endowed. The woman before him had actual human proportions. Small-framed, yet far more generously proportioned than made sense where it counted.

Her waist narrowed sharply, and the length of her legs below her hips was practically absurd.

Her skin was very pale—the kind of pale that came from four years underground without sunlight.

She looked nothing like a woman who had survived four years among apocalyptic ruins on canned food and recycled water.

There was no reasoning with genetics.

"Want some?" Bulma nudged a cup toward him. "Coffee substitute. Ground from beans in the camp's stores. It doesn't taste great, but it'll keep you awake."

Chen Mo took it and had a sip. It was bitter as hell.

Bulma sat across from him. She held her own cup without drinking, turning it around and around in her palms.

"Your son is asleep," Chen Mo said.

"I know." Bulma glanced at the camp cot in the corner. "He looks eight years older than when he left."

"A year passed in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. His body grew along with it."

"I know how it works." Bulma's voice softened. "But knowing how it works and seeing the result are two different things. He left in the morning as a child. By evening, he came back a teenager."

Her finger traced a circle around the rim of her cup.

"Just like his father."

The words were very quiet.

Chen Mo didn't respond. Some things didn't need a response.

After a few seconds of silence, Bulma tucked her emotions away. She switched gears quickly.

"I need to tell you something."

"Go ahead."

Bulma stood and walked to a cabinet at the far end of the workbench. She took out a small box.

A silver metal box, palm-sized, with the Capsule Corporation logo on it.

She opened the box.

Inside lay a pale blue capsule.

"Do you know what this is?" Bulma asked.

Chen Mo looked at the capsule. The color was wrong. Ordinary Hoi-Poi Capsules were white or pale yellow. Pale blue meant it was a special model.

"A spaceship," Bulma said.

Chen Mo's hand froze.

"My father left behind the blueprints before he died. After the Namek incident, he began researching ways to miniaturize interstellar travel. The original designs were modified from the propulsion system of the Namekian spaceship."

Bulma set the capsule box on the table.

"Three years ago, I found the backup blueprints he'd hidden in the ruins of Capsule Corporation headquarters. I spent two years using every material I could scavenge from the camp to build this ship."

She tapped the capsule with her fingernail.

"One seat, two people at most if you squeeze in. A warp engine. Its theoretical top speed is six hundred times the speed of light. From Earth to New Planet Namek, using the coordinates I calculated, it'll take about thirty-four days."

Chen Mo's breathing quickened.

"Where did the coordinates come from?"

"King Kai," Bulma said. "You heard me right. King Kai."

"North King Kai?"

"That's right. Half a year ago, while Trunks was training, I successfully established a brief communication link with King Kai's Planet through an improved transmission frequency. The signal only lasted nine seconds. But that was enough. I asked one question."

"The coordinates of New Planet Namek."

"Right. North King Kai gave me the coordinates. He recited a string of universal coordinates in nine seconds." The corner of Bulma's mouth lifted. "I have a good memory."

Chen Mo stared at the capsule on the table.

A spaceship. Coordinates. New Planet Namek. The Dragon Balls.

This path was open.

"But there's one problem." Bulma's tone darkened.

"Energy."

"Energy." Bulma nodded. "The warp engine needs four thousand times the energy of a standard capsule engine. I spent two years gathering just enough power for a single trip, using all the camp's solar panels and remaining nuclear battery packs."

"A single trip."

"A single trip there." Bulma looked straight at him. "There isn't enough energy to come back."

Chen Mo took two seconds to process that.

"A one-way trip."

"Not exactly a one-way trip," Bulma said. "Namek has the technology. If you make it there, the Grand Elder or Namekian scientists can help replenish the energy. But that only matters after you arrive. When you leave Earth, all you'll have is a one-way ticket."

Chen Mo looked at the pale blue capsule.

Something the size of a thumb. Inside it was a spaceship. Inside that spaceship was all of Earth's hope.

"Who were you planning to send?" Chen Mo asked.

"Originally, Trunks," Bulma said. "But after he came back today, I changed my mind."

"Why?"

"Because he's grown stronger." Bulma's gaze was clear. "Trunks is currently the strongest fighter on humanity's side on Earth. If he leaves, and Cell or Broly comes back, Earth won't have anyone who can fight."

"What about Android 16?"

"I trust him. But not enough to entrust the entire Earth to him alone," Bulma said. "He's completely mechanical. What if he malfunctions? What if Cell finds a weakness to exploit? Trunks has to stay as the last line of insurance."

"So you want me to go."

Bulma did not deny it.

"Your combat power isn't high enough, but your brain works," Bulma said. "Do you know the Namekian language? No. But you know Namekian customs. You know the Grand Elder. You know the rules for using the Dragon Balls. You know about Porunga's three wishes."

"You know far too much." Bulma tapped the table with a finger. "Enough that it isn't normal. But right now, I don't care why you know all this. I only care whether you can use those three wishes correctly."

Chen Mo was silent for ten seconds.

He looked at the capsule.

Then he reached out.

"I'll go."

Bulma's shoulders relaxed. It was subtle, but they did.

"But I'm taking Trunks," Chen Mo added.

"No. I just explained why."

"Let me finish." Chen Mo raised his head. "Going to Namek isn't just a matter of talking. What if we run into space pirates on the way? What if there are remnants of Frieza's forces near Namek? What if Porunga's guardian refuses to cooperate? My combat power alone isn't enough to deal with any unexpected situation."

"Trunks is at 150 million in his Super Saiyan state. With him here, there aren't many people in the entire North Galaxy who can stop us."

Bulma opened her mouth.

"Android 16 will stay behind to guard Earth," Chen Mo said. "He can defeat Cell in his first form. Android 17 and Android 18 won't actively attack the concentration camp. Broly has already chased Cell into outer space. Earth is safe for the time being."

"And your time machine is still being built. If something happens when we go to Planet Namek and we can't come back, you'll still have the time machine as a backup."

Bulma stared at him for a long time.

"You really are annoying," she said.

"Because I make sense?"

"Because you make too much sense." Bulma rubbed her brow. "I can't find a single point to argue against."

She pushed the silver box toward Chen Mo.

"Thirty-four days to Planet Namek. Add the time spent finding the Dragon Balls and making the wish there. At the most optimistic estimate, you'll need forty to fifty days."

"Can Earth hold out for fifty days?"

"It held out for four years before," Bulma said. "Another fifty days won't be a problem. The question is whether you can make it there alive—and come back alive."

Chen Mo put the capsule case into his inner pocket.

Close to his body.

"I'll go talk to Trunks." Chen Mo stood up.

"No need," Bulma said. "I'll tell him myself. He's my son. I should be the one to tell him he's going far away."

Chen Mo nodded.

He took two steps toward the stairs, then stopped.

"Bulma."

"Yeah?"

"You've been down here alone, building this spaceship. For two years." Chen Mo did not turn around. "How did you know someone would definitely come to use it?"

Bulma did not answer immediately.

Three seconds passed.

"Because I'm Bulma." Her voice was quiet but steady. "I didn't know who would come. But I knew someone definitely would. So I built it."

Chen Mo said nothing more. He went up the stairs.

Three in the morning.

Chen Mo carried out a final supply check in the open area above the concentration camp. Scouters, emergency rations, water canteens, spare batteries. Bulma had also given them two extra tool capsules and a set of space suits.

Trunks was already awake. Bulma had talked with him for an hour. When he came up from underground, his eyes were slightly red, but his expression was calm.

"When do we leave?" Trunks asked.

"At dawn," Chen Mo said. "Before then, I need to explain a few things to Android 16."

Android 16 was not far away.

Beneath a dead tree. He had not moved all night, like a red pillar nailed into the darkness.

Chen Mo walked up to him.

"Android 16. Trunks and I are leaving Earth for a while."

"Where?"

"Planet Namek. To find the Dragon Balls and revive the fallen warriors."

Android 16 looked at him. His blue eyes gave off a faint glow in the dark. It came from the optical sensors in his pupils.

"If you leave, Android 18 won't be able to find you," Android 16 said.

Chen Mo paused.

"She'll be angry." Android 16's tone did not change. "An angry Android 18 will hurt more people."

"That's why I need you to stay here," Chen Mo said. "Android 17 and Android 18 won't come to the concentration camp on their own. But if something unexpected happens, you'll be the last line of defense."

"I don't like fighting."

"I know."

"But I will protect the people here." After saying that, Android 16 turned back to look at the empty bird's nest in the dead tree.

Four-thirty in the morning. A streak of gray-white appeared along the horizon.

Bulma stood at the iron gates of the concentration camp.

As she stuffed the spaceship capsule's instruction manual into Trunks's hands, she pulled him into a tight hug. It did not last long, but she held him tightly.

"Come back," she said.

"Yeah." Trunks's voice was muffled against her shoulder.

Chen Mo stood nearby and waited. He did not urge them.

Ten seconds later, Bulma let go. She took a step back, looked at her son, then at Chen Mo.

"After the spaceship deploys, the engines need fifteen minutes to warm up. Find an open area to deploy it. The coordinates have already been preset. Once you enter warp, don't touch the navigation panel randomly."

"Understood."

"One more thing." Bulma's voice paused. "Don't die."

Chen Mo smiled. "I'll do my best."

He turned around.

And headed toward the open ground outside the camp with Trunks.

Once they passed through the iron gate, gravel crunched beneath their boots in the open lot. Chen Mo took out a capsule, pressed the button on top, and threw it ahead.

Bang.

A cloud of white smoke burst open.

When the smoke cleared, a silver spaceship roughly ten meters long stood in the ruined clearing.

It was streamlined, with four landing struts beneath it. The hatch opened automatically, orange light spilling out from within.

Chen Mo was just about to step aboard.

The detector in his pocket began vibrating wildly.

His movements froze.

He pulled it out.

The dot on the screen—the one to the northwest that had remained still this whole time—

was moving.

Extremely fast.

Its direction: due south.

Straight toward the concentration camp.

The system displayed a message.

[Warning.]

[The emotion collection target is rapidly approaching.]

[Estimated arrival time: 90 seconds.]

[Target's current emotional state: excitement (extremely high), possessiveness (extremely strong), pleasure (abnormal).]

A layer of cold sweat immediately seeped across Chen Mo's back.

"Trunks."

"I feel it too." Trunks's voice suddenly dropped. His hair had already begun to turn gold.

On the horizon.

The dawn in the southeast had just torn open its first streak of light.

And in the northwestern sky, a streamlined white afterimage was approaching at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Sixty seconds.

Forty seconds.

Twenty seconds.

A figure stopped fifty meters above the concentration camp.

Short golden hair. Ice-blue eyes. Black thigh-high socks and a denim miniskirt.

The wind lifted her hair, exposing her fair neck.

Android 18 looked down at the ground.

At the spaceship.

At Chen Mo.

She tilted her head slightly.

The corner of her lips curled up.

"Heading out?"

Her tone was light. Casual. Like she was asking a neighbor whether they were going to the supermarket today.

But Chen Mo heard it clearly.

What lay suppressed beneath that tone.

The system displayed one final line.

[The emotion collection target's total emotions have exceeded the collection limit.]

[New emotion category detected: jealousy (target: spaceship/possibility of escape).]

[Suggestion: Do not run.]

Chen Mo slowly raised his head.

He looked at the backlit silhouette in the sky.

Android 18 slowly descended from the air. Her boots touched down on the gravel without making a sound.

She stood between the spaceship and Chen Mo.

She extended one finger and tapped the spaceship's silver hull.

"You were going to leave without telling me."

She smiled.

"Is that it?"