The Red Ribbon Army (Part 2)

The expedition craft settled steadily onto the frozen earth. When the hatch opened, the frigid air rushing in collided with the warmth inside the cabin, turning into a cloud of milky white mist. Son Goku stepped out onto the snow, the thick layer beneath his feet crunching with an ear-grating creak.

Less than a hundred meters ahead of him, the Red Ribbon Army's Ninth Patrol Zone had already gone into full lockdown.

Dozens of heavy main battle tanks formed a fan-shaped encirclement, their black gun barrels gleaming with a cold metallic sheen beneath the moonlight. Searchlights swung over in unison, illuminating the snowfield as brightly as day.

"This is a core restricted zone of the Red Ribbon Army!"

The voice from the loudspeaker was torn ragged by the freezing wind, trembling with hollow bravado. "Unidentified individuals, halt immediately! Otherwise, we will open fire!"

Son Goku ignored them completely, his hands tucked into the pockets of his martial arts uniform as he walked at an even pace, as if he were measuring out his own backyard. Bulma followed close behind him, clutching the Dragon Radar in her hand. Her fingertips had turned slightly pale from the cold and tension.

"Goku, their heavy weapons have us locked on," Bulma reminded him in a low voice, her breath fogging up her vision.

"Don't worry. That stuff won't do anything to us," Son Goku replied without looking back.

"Fire!! Fire!!"

The frontline commander finally cracked under that strange, crushing pressure. He frantically waved his signal flag and let out a hoarse roar.

Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!

In an instant, dozens of tank cannons spewed fire at once. The enormous recoil blasted snow high into the air around the tanks. The torrent of steel, powerful enough to flatten a mountaintop, shrieked through the air with scorching heat and crossed the hundred-meter distance in the blink of an eye, completely swallowing Son Goku's position.

Flames erupted, and black smoke rose.

The commander stared fixedly through his binoculars at the scorched ground. Just as the corners of his mouth began to curl into a smile, his entire body froze as though he had seen a ghost.

A tall figure slowly emerged from the smoke.

The armor-piercing shells, capable of punching through several meters of steel plating, crumpled like mud the instant they struck Son Goku's body. Their warheads twisted and melted, then fell clattering to the ground like scrap metal that had lost all momentum.

Son Goku had not even unleashed a protective aura. Relying solely on his absurdly tough body, he had endured the concentrated barrage. He raised his head. There was little killing intent in his dark eyes, yet the thousand-plus soldiers across from him felt a chill rise from deep in their bones.

"My turn."

Son Goku sighed. He did not even take a stance. He merely raised his right hand and spread his fingers slightly. A blinding bright-yellow sphere of energy formed in his palm, its surface crackling with wild electric sparks.

There was no charging up and no unnecessary movement. He flicked his wrist.

Whoosh—!

The energy blast ripped through the air with an incredibly sharp whistle, crashing like a meteor into the very center of the dozens of tanks.

Boom!!

The deafening explosion drowned out the howling wind and snow. A blazing hemispherical dome of light suddenly expanded, and a violent shockwave carrying searing heat swept outward along the frozen ground.

The heavy tanks nearest the center, armor and cannon barrels alike, melted directly into glowing red molten metal under the energy blast's intense heat. The steel behemoths farther away were like plastic toys in a gale, hurled into the sky by the shockwave. They collided and broke apart in midair before crashing heavily into snowdrifts, their tracks spinning feebly in the air.

As the light faded, the position that had been an impregnable fortress moments earlier had been blasted into a scorched crater several hundred meters wide.

The soldiers at the perimeter, lucky enough not to be swept away by the shockwave, stared blankly at the crater, their minds buzzing. Someone's hand trembled, and a rifle dropped into the snow with a clatter. Then came a series of thuds. One after another, the armed soldiers' knees gave out, and they fell to their knees at the edge of the scorched earth.

As they watched the tall figure slowly approach over the wreckage of twisted steel, they did not even have the strength to run.

Before a power level above ten thousand, the armored artillery humanity took such pride in was not even as dangerous as an oversized firecracker.

Meanwhile, deep underground in the headquarters' command center.

Red Tess stared fixedly at the surveillance screen, his trembling right hand pressing his cigar into the expensive mahogany desk and leaving a charred black mark.

"Have you still not caught him? Where are Adjutant Green and General Blue? Send them all out!" Red Tess shrieked. Overwhelmed by fear, his short frame looked even more ridiculous in the oversized command chair. "Use poison gas! Use missiles! We absolutely cannot let him enter the inner city!"

Black Advisor stood quietly beside him, his gaze never leaving Son Goku on the screen. Unlike Red Tess's panicked state, his eyes held the clarity of someone who had already seen the ending.

"Commander, ordinary troops are meaningless now," Black Advisor said heavily. "That is a monster humanity cannot fight."

"Shut up! I don't need you boosting the enemy's morale!" Red Tess suddenly turned around, his features twisting with rage and fear. "I am the ruler of this world! I possess the strongest army! Hurry, pack up the Dragon Balls in the vault. If we can't stop him, I'll take them and retreat through the secret exit!"

Black Advisor's pupils contracted slightly.

He had followed Red Tess for many years and devoted himself heart and soul to the army. He had always believed that Red Tess's so-called conquest of the world was some grand political ideal, even if the path was stained with blood.

"Commander," Black Advisor said, his voice unusually calm.

"Did you really collect the Dragon Balls to conquer the world?"

Red Tess was busy entering the password into the safe. Without looking back, he snorted coldly. "Conquering the world can be done anytime. What I need most urgently right now... is this!"

He yanked several blueprints from the safe, a sickly fervor gleaming in his eyes. "As long as Shenron appears, I can wish to become taller! Damn it, this short body has plagued me my whole life! I want to grow fifteen centimeters taller! I want to look down on everyone!"

The air fell into an awkward silence.

Black Advisor looked at the short man dancing excitedly in front of the safe and felt something he had held onto deep inside for more than a decade shatter into dust.

For a short man's wish to grow taller, thousands upon thousands of soldiers were dying outside?

For fifteen centimeters of height, the Red Ribbon Army he had painstakingly built was about to be completely dismantled by some boy who had come out of nowhere?

"So... it was just to get taller."

Black Advisor closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was nothing but ash-gray despair in them. So all these years of fighting were for nothing.

"What did you say?" Red Tess finally sensed that something was wrong. Hugging the safe to his chest, he turned around with a dark expression.

"Are you planning to betray me, Black Advisor?!"

"No, Commander." Black Advisor stepped forward, and the killing intent he had accumulated over the years made Red Tess instinctively take a step back.

"I just think the Red Ribbon Army's dignity shouldn't be buried beneath the heel of your dress shoe."

He drew the pistol from his waist.

"What are you doing? I'm the Commander! Without me, you're nothing!" Red Tess shrieked in terror.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, and a bloody hole appeared between Red Tess's brows.

This arrogant war maniac still had an absurd look of incomprehension in his eyes even as he died. His short body collapsed onto the carpet, blood staining the entrance to the vault red.

Black Advisor stepped coldly over the corpse and holstered his pistol without sparing the piles of treasure a glance. He turned to look at the command room's door, which had been violently kicked open.

Through the swirling dust, Son Goku led Bulma inside at an unhurried pace.

"Nice shooting." Son Goku glanced at Red Tess's body, then shifted his gaze to Black Advisor.

Black Advisor gave a bitter laugh and casually tossed the pistol to the floor. He seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. "Sorry you had to see that. A madman who wanted to destroy the world just to grow taller really isn't worth continuing to serve."

He turned sideways and pointed toward the massive open vault behind him.

"The Dragon Balls are all inside. In exchange, I only ask for a dignified ending. There are still tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers in this fortress who don't know the truth. They shouldn't have to be buried with that madman."

Son Goku nodded.

"Bulma, go get them."

Bulma carefully stepped around the corpse and entered the vault. A moment later, she came out carrying five bright orange Dragon Balls and let out a long breath.

"Goku, all five are here. Not one is missing."

Son Goku looked at Black Advisor. "Dismiss your soldiers. I'm tearing this fortress down in a little while, but I don't kill unarmed people."

Black Advisor stood at attention and gave a perfect military salute before turning and walking into the darkness deeper inside.

Son Goku took Bulma's hand and walked out of the command tower. Behind him, the Red Ribbon Army's steel city, a symbol of violence and greed, was already on the verge of collapse from the aftereffects of the battle.

Out on the snowfield, the wind and snow seemed to have grown fiercer.

Son Goku stopped and looked toward some hidden place beneath the fortress. He couldn't help grinning.

"The Dragon Balls are in hand. Next... we need to go meet someone."