King Pilaf (Part 1)

The roar of the engine echoed across the desolate Gobi. The spacious, luxurious RV sped steadily over the sandy, rocky ground like a steel beast, leaving Fire Mountain, now completely reduced to scorched earth, far behind.

In the driver's seat, Oolong gripped the steering wheel tightly. His pig eyes kept darting fearfully toward the rearview mirror, terrified that that horrifying old man who ripped off his clothes at the slightest disagreement might suddenly catch up. Only after making sure they were safe did he slump limply into his seat and let out a long, relieved breath.

In the rear compartment of the RV, the air conditioning was blasting, completely shutting out the scorching heat outside.

Bulma lowered her head and stroked the unscathed Six-Star Dragon Ball, then looked at the Dragon Radar, which was beeping away. Excitement shone uncontrollably in her eyes.

"Goku! The last Dragon Ball is less than two hundred kilometers away!" she cried out excitedly. Their long treasure hunt, which had lasted nearly a month, was finally about to reach its end.

"So this is the final stop..."

Luo Chen lounged comfortably on the soft sofa, but the coming major villain—King Pilaf—automatically surfaced in his mind.

"Though this guy himself is an utter weakling, he has the most advanced black technology on this planet in his hands." Luo Chen quietly calculated to himself.

"In the original story, Goku and the others suffered terribly here. First, they were left dizzy and confused by the castle maze, then they got hit by hypnotic gas. In the end, they only barely turned things around by transforming into Great Apes."

Thinking of that, Luo Chen could not help but snort.

"Knowing there's a trap waiting ahead and still stupidly jumping into it—that's just asking for trouble."

He turned his head to look at the blue-haired girl beside him, whose smile was bright and lovely. Naturally, he reached out and took her slender, soft hand in his.

Bulma's delicate body trembled slightly, and a pretty blush swiftly rose to her fair cheeks. Yet, surprisingly, she did not pull away.

Feeling the warmth and softness in his palm, Luo Chen's lips curved into a calm, confident smile.

"Don't worry, Bulma. I'll place this last Dragon Ball safely in your hands."

Two hours later.

As the RV traveled deeper in, the scenery around them began to change.

The sky darkened beneath thick clouds. Countless gigantic, mushroom-shaped odd rocks stood upon the dead, barren dark-brown earth, giving off a chilling, sinister air.

"Why does this place feel so creepy..." Bulma shuddered involuntarily.

"Boss, the place the radar's showing... it isn't some haunted house, is it?" Oolong swallowed and slowed the RV down.

"It's in that castle up ahead!" Bulma shouted, pointing at the faint outline in the distance.

Through layers of fog, a massive fortress filled with a metallic sci-fi aesthetic slowly appeared before the three of them. Its towering alloy walls and dense electric fences all proclaimed just how dangerous this castle was.

"Stop the car," Luo Chen suddenly said.

Oolong had just stepped on the brakes!

Whoosh—!!!

A piercing howl tore through the air as a tracking missile, trailing a blinding tail of flame, suddenly shot out from the shadows of the stone forest on the right and flew straight at the RV!

"Ah!!!" Bulma and Oolong went pale with fright.

"Launching hidden weapons in broad daylight? Girls can't handle being scared like that."

Luo Chen sighed, and his figure vanished from the vehicle like a ghost.

The next second, he appeared on the roof. Facing the incoming missile, Luo Chen showed no panic. He merely raised one index finger, and a faint azure glow lit up at its tip.

"Go."

A bean-sized vortex of energy shot from his fingertip, accurately meeting the missile head-on!

BOOM!!!

The missile detonated prematurely in midair more than ten meters from the RV, turning into a brilliant fireball. Luo Chen channeled his energy and waved a hand, pushing away every wave of explosive heat rushing toward them. The RV remained completely unharmed.

"Th-That's impossible?! That was a specially made high-explosive missile!"

Two distorted cries of alarm came from the stone forest below.

Following the voices, Luo Chen looked over and saw two figures, one tall and one short, hiding behind a huge boulder.

The short one was a dog-headed man in ninja attire, still holding a launcher. The taller one was a striking, cold-faced beauty in a military-green trench coat, with long black hair.

King Pilaf's right-hand men—Shu and Mai.

As Luo Chen slowly approached, these two villains, who usually threw their weight around with high-tech weapons, had legs trembling like sieves.

Luo Chen's gaze lingered on the black-haired woman for two extra seconds.

"Mai..."

A strange thought suddenly surfaced in Luo Chen's mind.

"If Vegeta and Bulma's biological older sister, Tights, really work out, wouldn't that make me Trunks's uncle-in-law?"

"By that logic, wouldn't this Mai, who dates Trunks in the future, have to serve me tea during every holiday?"

At that thought, Luo Chen's annoyance over being ambushed instantly vanished. His gaze even turned somewhat kindly.

"Y-You stay away from me!" Mai's scalp prickled under Luo Chen's strange stare. Forcing herself to remain calm, she drew her pistol.

"Relax!"

Luo Chen ignored the dark muzzle of the gun. He shed the silly air he had been putting on throughout the journey and, like a carefree modern youth, slipped both hands into his pockets and smiled at the two of them.

"Go back and tell your King Pilaf to stop with these dangerous welcome ceremonies. We're here to deliver the Dragon Balls. Have him open the gates and prepare some tea—we'll be there shortly!"

Feeling the strange aura around Luo Chen that made defiance impossible, Mai and Shu exchanged a glance, then scrambled and fled toward the castle.

Twenty minutes later.

In the dark, deep corridor, Luo Chen held Bulma's hand as Oolong trembled behind them, and they unhurriedly entered the steel castle brimming with hidden dangers.

"Beep beep beep... The radar shows that the last Dragon Ball is right at the center of the castle. The straight-line distance is less than two hundred meters," Bulma reported in a lowered voice, staring at the screen.

The three followed the corridor and stopped at the entrance to a spacious alloy hall. Completely off guard, Bulma lifted her leg and was about to step inside.

"Wait."

Luo Chen's eyes flickered, and he abruptly halted. Still holding Bulma's hand, he gently pulled her back and steadily drew her to his side.

"What is it?" Bulma asked blankly.

Luo Chen did not explain. His gaze merely swept over the surroundings as he flicked a scattered piece of metal scrap with the tip of his foot, sending it precisely into the center of the hall.

"Click—boom!"

The crisp sound of metal striking the floor had barely rung out when the seemingly seamless alloy floor split open down the middle! In an instant, it revealed a complex underground labyrinth below, tangled like a giant anthill!

"Ah!" Bulma went pale with fright, cold sweat instantly soaking her back. If Luo Chen had not pulled her back just now, she would likely have stepped into empty air and fallen into that pitch-black hole!

"Gah hah hah! Foolish intruders! Welcome to the 'Absolute Labyrinth' that this king so carefully prepared!"

King Pilaf's arrogant, maniacal laughter suddenly echoed from hidden speakers in the walls.

"Now that you're in my territory, no matter how strong your fists are, either obediently jump into the labyrinth and die, or... wait to be comfortably knocked out by hypnotic gas!"

At the same time, layers of metal armor descended from the ceiling, exposing several pitch-black nozzles that let out a teeth-grating hiss of leaking gas.

"Hypnotic gas?! We're doomed, Boss Lady!" Oolong cried in terror, clamping both hands over his pig snout.

"Goku, what do we do now?!" Bulma asked, shocked and anxious as she glared resentfully at the speaker overhead.

"Don't panic. I'm here!"

Luo Chen remained calm as he unhurriedly moved Bulma behind him, his gaze locking onto the seemingly indestructible metal load-bearing wall beside them.

Since their host had no intention of properly opening the door to welcome his guests, Luo Chen could not be bothered to follow the script and crawl into some damned underground maze.

"Perfect. I'll use the Kamehameha I just 'borrowed' from Master Roshi to christen this iron turtle shell of yours!" Luo Chen's lips curled into a casual smirk.

He slightly lowered his shoulders and elbows, spreading his legs into a relaxed stance. Not a hint of violent killing intent leaked from his body. With long, steady breaths, Luo Chen's hands moved like flowing clouds, slowly overlapping and drawing together at his waist.

Meanwhile, in the surveillance room deep within the castle.

Staring at Luo Chen's almost childish movements on the screen, King Pilaf disdainfully picked his nose and sneered, "What's this wild monkey doing? Striking a pose? He thinks he can punch through this king's half-meter-thick special alloy wall with his bare hands? Maybe in his next life!"

But the very next second, his mocking expression froze.

On the surveillance feed, a dense, pure azure glow rapidly gathered and took shape in Luo Chen's palms!

Luo Chen did not charge up for ages like Master Roshi, nor did he cause any earth-shaking commotion. He compressed all the destructive force to the absolute limit!

"Kamehameha—"

Luo Chen's gaze remained calm as he thrust both hands forward with lightning speed!

"Ha!"

"Shrrk—!"

Before Bulma and Oolong's still-stunned eyes, the alloy wall, which was said to withstand even missile strikes, was blasted through like a knife cutting tofu, instantly opening an incredibly smooth circular passage roughly two meters in diameter!

Moreover, after piercing through the first wall, the beam's power did not diminish as it continued boring straight inward!

The second wall... the third wall...

King Pilaf's eyes nearly popped out in the surveillance room. The alarms on the screen went wild as that blue dot carved an utterly unreasonable straight line through the steel fortress he was so proud of, forcibly blasting out a shortcut!

"Th-This is fucking impossible!!!" King Pilaf screamed, tumbling off his throne in fright.

Back in the hall, the beam faded away.

Luo Chen clapped his hands and nodded in satisfaction at the straight passage leading directly into the heart of the castle.

"A forceful breakthrough. Saves time and effort. Perfect!"

Luo Chen turned around, took Bulma's hand, and spoke lightly like an ordinary boy taking his girlfriend around a convention.

"Let's go. Now we have a path."

"King Pilaf, we're here to check your water meter!"