Subduing Oolong

"Whoosh—!"

The golden Flying Nimbus dove from the sky like a meteor tearing through the air, trailing a faint tail of light. The howling wind exploded beside their ears as the clouds were effortlessly ripped apart.

Before long, a valley plain came into view. At the center of the plain lay a fairly sizable village, its houses neatly arranged and its fields orderly. It should have been a lively scene.

But the moment the two landed, they both sensed that something was wrong.

It was too quiet.

It was broad daylight, with the sun shining brightly, yet there was no cooking smoke, no children playing, no sounds of livestock. The streets were deserted, and every household had its doors and windows tightly shut.

A suffocating silence hung in the air.

Bulma shivered involuntarily and muttered softly, "This place... why does it look haunted...?"

Luo Chen said nothing. Of course he knew why, but he did not point it out, letting Bulma play out the plot herself.

Gathering her courage, Bulma walked up to the nearest house and knocked lightly on the door.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

There was no response, as if no one was home.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Bulma called out again. There seemed to be a rustling sound inside, but there was still no reply.

Just as she was about to give up—

"Creak—"

The door opened a crack, and an uneasy eye peered out through the gap, watching them warily.

"Who... are you?"

The voice was so low, as though afraid of alerting something.

Bulma quickly waved her hands. "Don't be nervous, we're just travelers passing through!"

The person hesitated for a second, then suddenly yanked the door open and dragged them both inside!

"Get in, quickly! Don't stand outside!"

"Bang!"

The door was slammed shut, then locked with three bolts. The room was dimly lit. Luo Chen swept his gaze around and saw that it was crammed full of people. Men, women, old, and young—all huddled together with terrified expressions, as though hiding from some disaster.

The air was thick with repression and despair. A white-haired old man trembled as he stepped forward.

"I'm the village chief..."

His voice shook, and his eyes were filled with deep fear.

"You two... shouldn't have come here..."

Bulma frowned. "What exactly happened?"

The old village chief's lips trembled. After mustering tremendous courage, he finally spoke.

"Near our village... there lives a demon—Oolong! He's a huge monster who comes once every so often... specifically to seize young girls! If we don't hand them over, he'll flatten the entire village!"

As he spoke, tears streamed down his aged face.

"Several girls have already been taken away... and there's nothing we can do..."

Suppressed sobbing immediately rose from the room, and the atmosphere grew unbearably heavy.

"Snatching girls?!"

Bulma's face instantly turned pale. She instinctively took several steps back and hid behind Luo Chen like a startled little rabbit, but she quickly forced herself to calm down.

"Now isn't the time to be afraid."

Taking a deep breath, she pulled a Dragon Ball from her backpack.

"Everyone, have you seen a ball like this?"

The crowd froze and exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

After quite a while, a frail old woman slowly stepped forward. She carefully took out a handkerchief from her clothes and unfolded it layer by layer. An orange ball lay quietly within it, with six red stars clearly visible on its surface.

"Is this... what you mean?"

Bulma's eyes lit up instantly.

"Six-Star Ball!!!"

She nearly jumped up. At that moment, all her fear vanished without a trace.

The old woman sighed. "My grandmother found this while gathering herbs in her youth. I've always kept it as a memento..."

Bulma knew her chance had come! She pressed her palms together and said earnestly, "Grandma, if we help you drive away that demon and rescue the girls who were taken... could you give this ball to me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone's gaze focused on her.

The old woman's eyes turned red. "As long as you can save the children... forget one ball... whatever you want, I'll agree!"

The air trembled slightly. Before Bulma could continue—

"No problem. I'll take the job."

Luo Chen's voice was crisp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. Bulma froze for a moment and turned to look at him. Luo Chen merely smiled, his gaze calm.

After asking where Oolong was, Luo Chen turned around at once. With a stomp of his foot—the Flying Nimbus shot into the sky!

"Whoosh—!"

Golden light soared into the heavens. Amid the villagers' stunned, vacant stares, his figure vanished beyond the horizon.

Ten minutes later.

Before a luxurious villa with white walls, a red roof, and exquisite carvings, no matter how one looked at it, it did not resemble a "demon's lair."

"Bang—!"

Without another word, Luo Chen raised his leg and kicked the elegant solid-wood front door to pieces!

"Roar! Who dares trespass into this king's residence? Are you courting death?!"

Accompanied by an earthshaking roar, a terrifying giant demon seven or eight meters tall, with a blue face, vicious fangs, and two horns atop its head, stomped out from the depths of the hall! Its immensely oppressive body instantly cast Luo Chen into shadow.

The giant demon opened its blood-filled maw and roared like thunder. "You little brat, get the hell out of here, or this king will swallow you whole!"

"Enough with the spooky act. You're just a piglet that hasn't even been weaned yet."

Luo Chen stood where he was without even lifting an eyelid, speaking with amused disdain.

The moment his words fell, he moved!

The bluestone slabs beneath his feet shattered with a boom as Luo Chen turned into an afterimage, instantly circling behind the giant demon!

He grabbed the short, curled tail behind the giant demon's rear.

"Up you go—!"

Luo Chen suddenly exerted force with one arm. That terrifying body, which appeared to weigh several tons, was actually swung into the air like a sledgehammer before being smashed viciously into the ground!

"Boom—!!!"

The marble floor instantly caved in and cracked apart!

With a bang, white smoke burst forth, and the horrifying giant demon vanished instantly. In the ruins, only a pink little pig wearing a green military uniform remained, lying on its back and screaming miserably.

"Spare me, hero! Spare me! I'm a good guy! Other than transforming to scare people, I haven't even killed a chicken!"

Oolong clutched his swollen pig face, rolled over, and immediately kowtowed, crying bitterly as he admitted defeat.

Luo Chen walked over, lifted him like a chick, then kicked open the back courtyard gate.

As a transmigrator familiar with the plot, he knew this perverted pig's true nature all too well. His going to the village to snatch people was purely because he lacked affection and wanted companionship. If he truly wanted to harm anyone, he neither dared nor had the ability to do so!

And after opening the back courtyard gate, the sight before him confirmed it.

In the sunny backyard, a group of young, beautiful girls in swimsuits lounged comfortably on beach chairs. Some were applying premium face masks, while others were savoring high-end French cakes.

When they saw Oolong arrive, these "victims" who had supposedly been kidnapped not only did not scream, but instead began scolding him impatiently.

"You dead pig! Where's my freshly squeezed orange juice? Why hasn't it been brought over yet?!"

"I'm sick of eating steak already. Switch to giant lobsters tomorrow, got it?!"

Dangling in midair, Oolong looked at Luo Chen with tears in his eyes. "Hero, you see it clearly now, right? How am I forcibly abducting innocent girls? I freaking invited a bunch of living ancestors back to wait on!"

Half an hour later.

When Luo Chen led the girls—well-fed and rosy-cheeked, some even complaining that "the village doesn't have air conditioning"—back to the village, the entire village fell into an eerie silence.

The farcical chaos finally came to an end.

The old woman also kept her promise, repeatedly thanking them as she handed the Six-Star Ball to Bulma.

Including Bulma's own two Dragon Balls, Luo Chen's Four-Star Ball, and Master Roshi's Three-Star Ball.

"The fifth Dragon Ball! We got it!" Bulma happily stuffed the Dragon Ball into her backpack.

Meanwhile, now that Oolong's true face had been exposed, he could no longer stay in this place. He looked at the beautiful Bulma, then at Luo Chen, whose combat power was off the charts, and his little eyes spun.

"Um... Boss Lady! Bro!" Oolong rubbed his clumsy little hands and sidled up to them with an ingratiating smile.

"I'm sick of staying in this backwater too. Aren't you guys going treasure hunting? Take me with you! I can transform, and I've got a Capsule RV. I can be your driver!"

Bulma stroked her chin thoughtfully. The road ahead would only grow more dangerous, and having a driver who could transform at any time really did sound pretty good.

"Fine! As long as you don't have any bad intentions, you'll be our exclusive driver from now on!"

Bulma made the decision on the spot.

"Boss Lady, how would I dare?!"

Then Oolong took out a Capsule from his pocket and stylishly tossed it onto an open patch of ground in the village.

"Bang!"

A spacious, comfortable giant RV appeared out of thin air!

The blazing sun hung high overhead as the RV moved steadily across the desolate plain.

Bulma slept soundly in the front compartment, while Luo Chen sprawled across the sofa in the backseat, one leg crossed over the other, a lollipop in his mouth, his eyes slightly closed.

He looked as though he were resting with his eyes shut, but deep in his mind, he was tirelessly calculating the developments to come.

Beyond this stretch of plains lay a barren desert, where they would encounter one of the important early characters in Dragon Ball—the "Desert Bandit," Yamcha.

"How should I deal with this guy..." The corner of Luo Chen's mouth curled slightly.

Should he simply suppress him by force? That was too crude. No matter what, the other man would become a comrade who fought alongside them and protected Earth in the future. If Luo Chen really slapped him to death, who knew what impact that might have on the later plot?

But if he did nothing... he knew all too well about that infuriating part of the original story—

Yamcha had sneaked into the RV at night to steal the Dragon Balls, only to run into Bulma while she was bathing and get a full view of her! Not only had he gotten a huge advantage for free, but later, he had even used that pretty-boy face of his to steal away Bulma's first love.

"Heh..."

Luo Chen let out a soft, mocking laugh, and a flash of coldness flickered through his eyes.

"The future wife I've worked so hard to protect—how could I let a bandit who can't even beat a Saibaman take advantage of her like that?"

That would never happen!

His eyes shifted slightly, and his gaze quietly settled on the pig-headed man honestly driving in the front cabin.

A somewhat unscrupulous plan for repelling wolves—and striking back—began to take shape in his mind.

"The sandstorm ahead is getting worse, and the road conditions are terrible! Sit tight, everyone! We're about to enter the desert!" Oolong called out from the driver's seat.

For some reason, the moment he finished speaking, he suddenly shivered. He failed to notice a pair of extremely ill-intentioned eyes secretly watching him.

"Alright, focus on driving!"

With a crack, Luo Chen bit through the lollipop in his mouth. His gaze passed through the window toward the horizon swallowed by yellow sand.

Yet a pure and innocent smile slowly bloomed across his face.