The Blue Star Person of Bun Mountain

3:00 a.m., Blue Star.

In a remote southern county, shrouded in continuous overcast rain, inside a cramped and narrow rental unit within an old, dilapidated apartment building.

A yellowed monitor emitted a cold, blue light, illuminating a face that was somewhat delicate yet repeatedly crushed by the weight of life.

Luo Chen, thirty-two years old. In an era where academic credentials were frantically inflated, a junior college diploma didn't even count as a stepping stone. Relying on the favors his family had scraped together, he finally squeezed into a local state-owned enterprise, only to end up as a temp.

He lingered at the bottom of the social ladder, doing the hardest labor and taking the heaviest blame, all while receiving the thinnest of paychecks.

Life never left him any breathing room—once the rent was deducted, most of his money was gone, and what remained was barely enough to keep from starving. So-called daily life was nothing more than gritting his teeth and enduring one day after another.

With no exit visible in the real world, his only spiritual sustenance was the anime that had accompanied his entire youth—Dragon Ball.

"Sshh-la—"

Cracking open a can of flat cola, Luo Chen tilted his head back and took a large gulp, the cloyingly sweet taste crashing down his throat and into his stomach.

On the screen, the most classic, tear-jerking scene from Dragon Ball Z was playing: in order to save the Earth, Son Goku grabbed the self-destructing Cell and used Instant Transmission, perishing together with him.

The screen was flooded with frantically scrolling comments: [Tears!][This is a true hero!][Goku is so great!]

"Bang!"

Luo Chen slammed a palm onto the table, making the cup of instant noodles jump. His eyes were bloodshot, and his fingers flew across the keyboard:

"Great, my ass!"

"He could have easily crushed him by turning Super Saiyan 2, but he had to show off! Showing off until he was backed into a corner and had to sacrifice himself? You call this hot-blooded? I call it brain-dead!"

"If it were me, I would have rewritten the plot long ago! Not only would I crush him, but I'd live the good life—the protagonist has to have it easy for the audience to enjoy it!"

He then hit the enter key with a look of resentment and sent the message!

"Boom—!"

A sudden, abnormal change occurred!

A sharp pain exploded in his chest! It felt like a cold, giant claw had tightly gripped his heart and squeezed it with all its might!

"Ugh—!"

Luo Chen's pupils contracted violently. His hands clawed at his chest, and before he could even let out a cry for help, he hit the ash-covered keyboard with a heavy "thud."

Darkness gradually swallowed everything.

"Sss... it hurts!!"

He didn't know how much time had passed, but a pain that felt like it was tearing his soul apart jolted Luo Chen awake!

He gasped, his eyes snapping open.

There was no moldy ceiling, no cramped rental unit. What greeted his eyes was a vast, azure sky and a lush, primordial forest!

Before he could react, an old man wearing a green-orange skullcap and sporting a white handlebar mustache suddenly leaned in close.

"Thank heavens! Goku! You're finally awake! You fell off that cliff just now, you scared your grandfather to death..."

The old man's voice trembled, his eyes rimmed with red as he pulled him into an embrace.

Luo Chen's body stiffened, as if struck by lightning.

Goku? Grandfather? What was going on?

He looked down and saw not the large hands of an adult, but a pair of fair, small child's arms, clad in a worn-out blue martial arts uniform with a slanted collar.

What was worse—at his tailbone, a furry tail was uncontrollably swaying in the air!

"..."

Transmigrated?! And a soul transmigration at that?!

In that moment, the materialist worldview Luo Chen had held for over thirty years shattered instantly. However, as a long-time reader of web novels, he soon accepted the premise.

This was the exact moment when young Goku had accidentally fallen off a cliff, damaged his brain, and lost the naturally violent nature of a Saiyan!

In other words, the original "Kakarot" was gone. This body, flowing with the blood of the strongest warrior race, now belonged to him!

"Hehehe... Hahahahaha!"

Luo Chen lowered his head, his lips curling upward involuntarily. The comment he had typed before dying echoed frantically in his mind.

"God, since you've really let me live another life, don't blame me for giving the protagonist a different way to live!"

That trope from the original work of recklessly courting death to become stronger, only to survive by the skin of his teeth? Goodbye! Never again! The protagonist will only live a life of ease!

But soon, Luo Chen thought of something and frowned.

To live comfortably, he had to snuff out all threats! There was one problem right now that needed to be solved immediately—the Great Ape transformation!

In the original work, because of the Saiyan tail, Goku had accidentally witnessed the full moon one night and transformed into an irrational, rampaging Great Ape, eventually trampling his own adoptive grandfather to death.

"A ticking time bomb like this must be removed! Because Son Gohan is not only my savior, but also the top disciple of the 'God of Martial Arts,' Master Roshi. Training systematically under him is worlds apart from the blind fumbling in the original story. Therefore, he must not die—at least, not before the story of Dragon Ball truly begins!"

He broke free from Son Gohan's embrace, tilting up his chubby, baby-faced head. His large eyes pooled with water, perfectly portraying "innocence" and "lingering fear."

"Grandpa... don't cry, I'm okay! But... I don't like this tail!" He pointed to the restless tail behind him, pouting aggrievedly. "It just got caught on a tree branch, and that's why I fell off the cliff! I want to be a normal person like you. Will you help me cut it off?"

Son Gohan was clearly stunned. Cutting off a part of one's own body sounded absurd. But meeting his grandson's crystal-clear, pleading gaze, the old man's guilt and affection overwhelmed everything else. The child had just walked through the gates of hell and now only wanted to sever a burden that brought bad luck to be a normal person; how could he, as a grandfather, have the heart to refuse?

"Alright, child! Since it has caused you so much suffering, Grandpa will help you remove it!"

Then, Son Gohan's aura shifted abruptly! Exuding the sharpness of a martial artist, he held his fingers together like a blade, with faint currents of energy swirling around his fingertips.

"Hold on, it might hurt a little!" He told Luo Chen to prepare himself.

"Grandpa, I'm ready, do it!" Luo Chen held his breath and gritted his teeth hard.

"Crack—!"

With a swift, clean strike, the hand fell!

The tail, which contained the Great Ape genes of the Saiyans, went flying and landed on the ground!

"Whew—"

The moment the tail was severed, it was accompanied by a brief, sharp pain and weakness, but at the same time, Luo Chen clearly felt that the violent, bloodthirsty genetic shackle deep within his soul had been completely broken!

In an instant, his mind was clear, and his thoughts were lucid.

The greatest hidden danger in this body had been completely eliminated on the very first day of his transmigration in the simplest and most brutal way.

Time flew like an arrow, the sun and moon shifting rapidly.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Halfway up Bun Mountain, on a giant boulder hanging over a cliff.

Fourteen-year-old Luo Chen sat cross-legged, his upper body bare, revealing perfectly streamlined muscles.

"Inhale—exhale—"

Over these years, he hadn't just spent his time pounding away at brute strength across the mountains like in the original work. Possessing an adult's soul, he knew all too well what kind of immense power could erupt from combining knowledge with technique, not to mention that his mind was filled with countless brilliant cultivation systems from the web novels of his past life!

"The 'ki' in the Dragon Ball world certainly has explosive power, but its early application is too crude. To put it bluntly, it's purely overdrawing and burning one's life force."

Luo Chen pondered to himself. After several years of painstaking exploration, he had carved out a new path of cultivation in this world. As long as his martial energy gradually circulated through the corresponding meridians to form a complete cycle, he might become the first person in this world to "cultivate immortality."

Luo Chen slowly raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together, sinking his consciousness into his body to start guiding his internal energy outward.

As the circulation accelerated, strands of extremely refined "ki" surged up along his meridians, gathering at his fingertips like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.

"Hum—!"

There was no astonishing momentum, nor any blinding light. A transparent vortex of energy, only the size of a marble, quietly took shape at his fingertip, spinning silently.

In the Dragon Ball world, a newborn low-class Saiyan had a combat power of only 1; a normal adult Earthling with a double-barreled shotgun had only 5; even the peak of Earth's martial arts—Master Roshi—only had a base combat power of 139; and the Piccolo Daimao who had plunged the entire Earth into fear was only 260.

Luo Chen's current combat power of 120 could be considered to have stepped into the top tier of the current world.

Just then, Son Gohan's voice came from the direction of the wooden cabin.

"Goku, come here for a moment!"

Luo Chen retracted the vortex at his fingertip and leaped down from the dozen-meter-high boulder, landing as lightly as a falling leaf without kicking up a speck of dust.

Inside the cabin, the white-haired Son Gohan looked solemn, holding two things in his hands.

A short, dark red staff, and an orange sphere with four red stars inside.

"The Power Pole and the Four-Star Ball!" Luo Chen's pupils contracted, his heart beating slightly faster.

"Goku, Grandpa is very gratified to see your diligent training over the years, and your talent is simply born for martial arts!" Son Gohan handed over the dark red staff. "This is the Power Pole, a weapon passed down to me by my master, Master Roshi. It can extend infinitely according to your will. Today, I pass it on to you."

Then, he solemnly placed the Four-Star Ball into Luo Chen's palm.

"I obtained this sphere by chance in my early years. Grandpa is old and cannot stay with you forever. The outside world is your future. Take it with you, as if Grandpa is accompanying you."

Luo Chen felt the heavy weight in his palm and silently accepted the inheritance in his heart. This was not only a god-tier starter item for a newbie, but also the nurturing and hope this old man had poured into him for years.

"Don't worry, Grandpa!" Luo Chen nodded earnestly, a confident smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "The outside world will definitely be incredibly brilliant because of my arrival!"

He turned his head, his gaze crossing the lush Bun Mountain to look toward the distant horizon.

Calculating the time, according to the original story's timeline, that top-tier rich girl who drove a jeep, carried a Dragon Radar, and changed the fate of the entire universe single-handedly—Bulma—was about to intrude into this primordial forest.

Luo Chen toyed with the Four-Star Ball in his hand, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

"In the original work, Goku went on adventures everywhere with this top-tier rich woman, enjoying every advantage, only to end up muddled, marrying Chi-Chi and returning to the countryside to suffer through farming."

Luo Chen shook his head, his figure darting into the jungle like a leopard, leaving behind a whisper that only he could hear.

"I'm not doing that! Isn't living the easy life better!"