Even Ants Have a Way of Living

Chen Mo's expression turned serious.

"Dr. Gero had been collecting data on the Z Fighters for a long time. He didn't start when the Saiyans invaded—he started earlier. He sent miniature tracking robots to follow Goku, recording him ever since Goku was a child."

"I shot one down while scavenging supplies in the ruins of West City. That thing was only the size of a fingernail, but its storage chip contained a huge amount of data. I took it apart and looked through some of it."

Yajirobe's smile vanished completely.

"You're saying that old bastard Dr. Gero monitored Goku his whole life?"

"Not just Goku. He had records on everyone who came into contact with Goku. You, Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Master Roshi, Bulma—all of you. Even when you ate, slept, trained, argued—he recorded everything."

Yajirobe's expression darkened.

"So the androids know every one of our fighting styles."

"That's right. Android 17 and Android 18 had all of your combat data, habits, and weaknesses entered into their databases. You couldn't beat them not just because of the difference in strength. It was because they knew everything about you, while you knew nothing about them."

Yajirobe was silent for a long time.

He lowered his head and looked at his sword.

"No wonder," he said. "Gohan told me that every time he fought the androids, it felt like they already knew what move he was going to use. He thought it was because he wasn't strong enough."

"That wasn't all of it," Chen Mo said. "Gohan really wasn't strong enough yet, but the information gap was one of the reasons too."

Yajirobe raised his head. There was something in his small eyes that Chen Mo could not make out.

"What else did you see in that tracking robot?"

"A lot," Chen Mo said. "Like why Dr. Gero created the androids. Like Cell's complete design blueprints. Like..." He paused. "Like how the androids' energy works."

"Android 17 and Android 18's energy functions like a perpetual-motion machine. Unlike ki, it isn't consumed and doesn't weaken. That's why you can't sense them with a scouter. They have no ki."

"But Bulma can," Yajirobe suddenly said.

Chen Mo froze.

Yajirobe fished something out from beneath the blanket.

It was a palm-sized, circular device.

Its casing was metal, but it had clearly been modified.

Several extra circuit boards had been soldered onto its once-smooth surface, and a short antenna protruded from its side.

Its screen was green, like an old-fashioned radar display.

"What is this?"

"A detector." Yajirobe smacked the device twice, and the screen lit up. "Bulma modified it. It isn't an ordinary scouter."

He handed the device to Chen Mo.

"You're right. Android 17 and Android 18 have no ki, so ordinary detectors can't pick them up. This one is different. Bulma added an energy-band scanning module to it."

"No matter how well an android's perpetual-motion engine hides itself, it produces electromagnetic waves at a specific frequency when operating. This thing detects that frequency band."

Chen Mo accepted it and looked at the screen.

The green radar was sweeping, with several faint points of light on the display.

"Are there any signals within range right now?"

"See those two points in the lower left corner? They're to the south. They're too far away, so the signals are weak. If they're androids, they're at least two hundred kilometers away."

Not Android 18. She was in the northern mountains.

"What other functions does it have?"

"Basic ki detection." Yajirobe pointed to a row of numbers at the top of the screen. "Look here. It shows the energy readings of living beings in this area. That 5 next to you is you."

Chen Mo stared at the number.

5.

A power level of 5.

The same level as a farmer at the village entrance.

"Don't complain that it's low." Yajirobe glanced at him. "That 2200 next to you is me."

"Your power level is 2200?"

"Think that's too little?" Yajirobe rolled his eyes. "It's enough. Cutting off a tail doesn't require a power level of a hundred thousand. It requires guts and a fast enough blade."

"Besides, when I power up, my power level shoots up like crazy. This device can only measure my normal state, so don't let it fool you."

Chen Mo turned the detector over and examined its back. Several lines had been scrawled there in marker.

"This is...?"

"Coordinates," Yajirobe said. "Bulma wrote them. The top line is the coordinates for Korin Tower. The middle line is Kami's Lookout. And the bottom one..."

"Kame House Island," Chen Mo read aloud.

"Yeah." Yajirobe took the device from his hand, glanced at it, then handed it back.

"Bulma made three of them back then. She kept one herself, but it was later blown up by the androids. She gave one to Trunks; no idea where he took it. This one went to Korin, and Korin told me to bring it down the mountain with me."

"You're giving this to me?"

"Lending it to you." Yajirobe stressed the wording. "Give it back when you're done. The Cat Hermit only has this one."

He paused.

"If you want to find Master Roshi and learn martial arts, you need to know where the island is. If you just wander around on foot, you won't find it until next year."

Chen Mo held the detector in his hand.

The palm-sized device was light, but in this apocalypse, it might have been worth more than a truckload of compressed biscuits.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. Just bring two extra packs of biscuits when you return it." Yajirobe lay back down and pulled the blanket over himself. "Go to sleep. If you bang into the wall again, I'll smack you with the back of my knife."

Chen Mo said nothing else. He slipped the detector into the inner pocket of his hoodie and zipped it up.

The device lay against his chest, cold.

He closed his eyes.

He started calculating the route in his head.

Kame House Island's coordinates lay eastward in the South Sea.

Starting from the Route 44 intersection, he would follow the coastline.

With the detector, he could confirm his direction at any time. He wouldn't need to cling rigidly to the coast.

More importantly, the detector could warn him in advance of the androids' locations.

As long as there was android activity within a two-hundred-kilometer radius, he could avoid them ahead of time.

He wouldn't end up getting split in half by Android 18's energy blast while walking along.

There was another function he cared about.

Ki detection.

Battle power 5. That was his current starting point.

Master Roshi's battle power was 139.

If he could train under Master Roshi until he reached even 50, then with the threefold King Kai Fist, he would reach 150.

A battle power of 150 was still insignificant before the androids.

But at least he could survive three moves against someone like Tao Pai Pai.

Daybreak came.

Yajirobe got up even earlier than Chen Mo.

He folded the blanket and placed it in the corner, tucked his knife at his waist, and packed the divided biscuits into a cloth bag.

"Let's go."

The two of them squeezed out through the crack.

The morning air was cold. On the distant horizon, there were still thin gray-white columns of smoke left by yesterday's fire, like several vertical lines drawn across the sky.

Yajirobe led Chen Mo for a while, heading north by northeast.

"The Route 44 intersection is about twelve kilometers straight from here," Yajirobe said as they walked. "Once you reach the intersection, turn south and follow the road. If the road cuts off, follow the detector's direction. Don't stray."

"Got it."

"One more thing." Yajirobe stopped.

The two stood in the shadow of a collapsed apartment building.

Morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the broken floor slabs, drawing several bright streaks across the ground.

Yajirobe turned to look at Chen Mo.

"When you use that King Kai Fist of yours, watch your body. Three times is already the limit for your current body. Don't try to act tough and use a higher multiplier."

"I know."

"No, you don't." Yajirobe's expression became unusually serious. "Back when Goku used the King Kai Fist against Vegeta, he went up to four times. Afterward, half the bones in his body were shattered."

"Goku was a Saiyan. His body was dozens of times stronger than a human's, and he still got hurt like that. You're an ordinary person with a battle power of 5. Using three times is already gambling with your life."

Chen Mo nodded once. "I'll remember."

Yajirobe looked at him for two seconds, as if confirming whether he truly would.

Then he turned around and continued walking.

They parted beneath a broken overpass.

The Route 44 sign leaned crookedly by the roadside, white letters on a green background reading, "South—Capital City Direction." The arrow pointed south.

"From here on, you're on your own." Yajirobe stood beside one of the overpass pillars. "I'm heading north, back to Korin Tower."

"Alright." Chen Mo tightened the strap of his canvas bag.

Yajirobe had already turned and taken two steps before stopping again.

"Oh, right."

He fished a small item out of his sack and tossed it to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo caught it. A bean.

Green, no bigger than a fingernail, with a faint sheen on its surface.

"A Senzu Bean?"

"The last one." Yajirobe said without looking back. "Don't waste it. Only eat it when you're about to die."

He waved a hand, his round figure heading north beneath the shadow of the overpass.

After walking about thirty meters, Yajirobe's voice drifted back.

"Remember to return the scanner!"

Chen Mo carefully placed the Senzu Bean in the deepest pocket of his hoodie and zipped it shut.

He turned south.

The highway was in ruins. The asphalt had cracked into pieces, and entire stretches had collapsed underground.

Chen Mo took out the scanner and turned on the screen.

The green radar swept the area.

There were no android energy signals within fifty kilometers.

Two hundred kilometers south, there was an extremely faint dot of life energy. Its power level read 139.

Master Roshi.

Chen Mo slipped the scanner back into his pocket, pulled his hood lower, and started walking south.

After about a kilometer, he looked back.

The overpass had already shrunk into a line in the distance.

Yajirobe's figure had long since vanished from sight.

Chen Mo turned back and kept walking.

The road was long.

The wind blew in from the south, carrying a hint of salt.

The direction of the sea.