The Red Ribbon Army's Nightmare

Kapok City greeted the morning after the martial arts tournament amid ruins and clamor.

Chen He changed into a clean black training outfit and stood at the edge of the scorched arena with his hands in his pockets. Not far away, Krillin was miserably helping the organizers move rubble, while Son Goku lay sprawled in Bulma's Capsule House, sleeping like the dead as his stomach occasionally let out thunderous growls.

"Here." Bulma walked over in high heels and slapped a shiny silver black card, along with the repaired Dragon Radar, into Chen He's hand.

"This is your championship prize money, and... I also took the liberty of increasing the radar's precision by two bands." Bulma folded her arms and haughtily turned her head aside. "You were pretty badly hurt last night, weren't you? Yet you're fine again in the blink of an eye. You're really a monster."

Chen He took the radar, running a fingertip over its cold screen as he looked at the red dots that had once again scattered across the world. A cold curve touched his lips.

"Thanks. Also, has Yamcha woken up?"

"He woke up, but your Afterimage Fist hit him so hard he's questioning his entire life. He took Puar back to the desert for special training early this morning. He didn't even dare say goodbye to you." Bulma giggled.

Chen He snorted and said nothing. Someone on Yamcha's level had never been worth his notice. Now that the Dragon Balls had reset, his top priority was to use the next wave of plot rewards to completely unlock the shop's Level 2 access.

[Ding! A change to the main storyline has been detected. The "Red Ribbon Army Arc" has begun!]

[Main quest issued: Destroy every Red Ribbon Army branch and collect the Dragon Balls. Current progress: 0/7.]

[For every core base destroyed, reward points: +1000! Complete the final annihilation to receive the purchase right for a mysterious Level 2 shop bloodline!]

"Level 2 shop bloodline..." A burning fighting spirit that only a Saiyan could understand flashed through Chen He's eyes. A power level of over eight hundred was certainly enough to dominate Earth, but it was still far too distant from the gulf represented by Frieza and Super Saiyans—figures measured in the hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of millions. He had to be practical. He had to squeeze every resource out of this territory as quickly as possible.

"Goku!" Chen He walked up to the Capsule House and kicked the front door open.

Goku, who had still been drooling, jolted awake and sprang to his feet. "Huh? Is breakfast ready, Chen He?!"

"Pack up. Bulma is going back to West City. You're coming with me." Chen He turned away, his silhouette looking somewhat cold beneath the sunlight. "I'm taking you somewhere you can fight to your heart's content—and where they'll feed you until you're full."

"Awesome!" Goku did not even ask where they were going. He grabbed his Power Pole and excitedly leaped onto the Flying Nimbus.

Half a day later, in the freezing northern snowfields.

The Red Ribbon Army's White Squadron branch base—Muscle Tower.

The towering steel structure loomed through the blizzard like an iron beast. Inside the surveillance room, General White held a cup of hot coffee as he gloomily watched the screen.

"Reporting, sir! The radar shows two high-energy signatures rapidly approaching! One is riding a golden cloud, while the other... the other is sprinting across the snow! He has already surpassed the speed of our interceptor missiles!"

"What are you panicking for? We have heavy forces guarding this place, as well as the newly modified Android 8 and a martial arts master." General White snorted. "Deploy the snowfield combat vehicles. Blast them into mincemeat!"

Rumble—!

More than a dozen specially modified armored vehicles roared out from the base gates. Dense artillery fire and lasers instantly blanketed the snowfield ahead, blasting ice shards high into the air.

Within the blizzard, two figures instantly tore through the sea of fire.

"Ha ha! Bring it on!" Goku shouted, leaping into the air with the Power Pole in hand and smashing an armed helicopter into scrap metal.

Meanwhile, the commander of the armored unit did not even see anything unusual. He only felt the air before him distort slightly—an afterimage still lingering in place!

"The target disappeared?!"

"Looking for me?"

An ice-cold voice suddenly rang out above the roof of the lead vehicle. Chen He stood there with his arms crossed, letting the savage wind whip his black hair about. He had already set his Hundredfold Gravity Vest to five times gravity, yet beneath the freezing cold and crushing pressure, his gaze remained as sharp as a blade.

There was no pointless talk and not a single unnecessary movement.

Chen He held two fingers together like a blade and lightly drew them along a seam in the vehicle's armor. His highly condensed ki took the form of a tangible sharp edge. With a ripping screech, the entire heavy armored vehicle was sliced in half like tofu, exploding violently across the snow!

"M-Monster! Retreat, now!"

"Decisive in slaughter, ruthless in action"—that was Chen He's trademark. Since they were a notorious military organization, he had no habit of leaving survivors.

Whoosh!

His figure left streaks of blinding white light across the snowfield. Every flicker was accompanied by the destruction of another armored vehicle and the screams of Red Ribbon Army soldiers. In less than three minutes, the once-arrogant snowfield force had been reduced to a field of burning wreckage.

[Ding! Elite Red Ribbon Army vanguard eliminated. Points obtained: +300!]

Chen He stepped over blackened snowflakes and slowly approached Muscle Tower's reinforced steel gates. He brushed the ice chips from his hands and looked up at the five-story defensive fortress.

"Goku, keep up. We're going up to get our first Dragon Ball."

His gaze was calm. The Red Ribbon Army believed itself to be the ruler of this world, but in Chen He's eyes, it was nothing more than an arrogant army that had never seen the world—and in the end, it would only become his stepping stone.