King Pilaf (Part 2)

Through the passage blasted open by the Kamehameha, Luo Chen took Bulma by the hand and led the weak-kneed Oolong through the ruins as if taking a leisurely stroll, effortlessly entering the very heart of the castle—the central control room.

The view suddenly opened up. Inside the spacious control room, a massive holographic screen and countless precision instruments flashed frantically with red warning lights.

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

Luo Chen released Bulma's hand, casually slipped one hand into his pocket, and calmly swept his gaze across the room.

Behind the main console, Pilaf, Shu, and Mai huddled together, trembling like quails. Looking at the fiend who had torn apart his home with his bare hands, Pilaf's little blue face turned the color of liver.

"You... don't get too cocky, brat!"

He suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing with the madness of someone driven into a corner. "I am the world's greatest genius! Since the maze couldn't hold you, then taste the ultimate power of technology!"

With that, he slammed his palm down on the conspicuous red skull button at the center of the console!

Rumble—!

The ground shook as the control room's alloy floor slid apart to either side. Amid deafening mechanical roars, three fully armed combat mechs, each five meters tall, slowly rose from underground lifts!

Seeing this, Mai and Shu seemed to have found a lifeline. They sprinted toward the cockpits of two of the mechs. As long as all three machines successfully combined, it wouldn't matter what kind of martial arts master he was—they'd all have to step aside!

"Gahahaha! These are the ultimate weapons that can level mountains!" Pilaf darted into the lead mech first, his arrogant laughter echoing from the cockpit. "Brat, surrender obediently!"

"The power of technology?"

Luo Chen looked up at the three hulking metal beasts, raising an eyebrow as an interesting thought occurred to him.

Whoosh—!

He wrapped an arm around Bulma's slender waist and pushed off fiercely. Only a blurred afterimage remained where he had stood as the two shot into the air, crossed several meters in an instant, and landed precisely atop the broad shoulder of the ostrich-shaped mech!

Shu, the dog-headed man who had been about to climb into the cockpit, only saw a blur. When he looked up, he met Luo Chen's dark eyes, brimming with killing intent. That single glance was like an invisible sledgehammer crashing brutally into his fragile heart!

"MOMMY—!!!"

Shu let out a shrill scream. His legs gave way beneath him, and he tumbled straight down the mech's shell. Scrambling and rolling, he fled to the deepest corner of the control room, clutching his head tightly and not daring to move another inch.

In the blink of an eye, the terrifying killing intent around Luo Chen vanished without a trace.

He gallantly helped Bulma into the now-vacant cockpit, seamlessly switching back to the innocent curiosity of a country boy.

"Bulma, look! This big metal thing looks like fun. Can you make it move?"

Faced with the dense control panels and the glaring red lights filling the screen to indicate a lockout, the genius girl's competitive spirit was instantly ignited.

"The operating system's firewall isn't hard to crack, but that bastard encrypted the hardware! I won't be able to hack the weapons arsenal in such a short time. I can only try to seize control of the mech at the lowest level first!"

Bulma's expression turned solemn. Her ten fingers danced across the keyboard like a blur as she shouted without looking up, "Goku! Can you buy me twenty seconds? Don't let those guys interrupt me!"

Standing proudly atop the mech, Luo Chen listened to the clear voice from within the cockpit, a reassuring smile curling across his lips.

"No problem. Leave it to me, no matter how long it takes."

"Damn it! You dare steal my mech right in front of me?! Don't get so full of yourselves!"

On the other side, Pilaf, who had already finished the startup sequence, furiously pulled down the control lever. The mech's thick arms shot up, and the black muzzles of its heavy Gatling guns instantly locked onto Luo Chen!

"Open fire! Turn those two brats into minced meat!"

Ratatatatata—!!!

The thick barrels spun madly, spewing dazzling half-meter flames! A rain of dense, specially made armor-piercing rounds poured down upon them!

"I said I'd handle it. No one's going to disturb her!"

Luo Chen's eyes sharpened. He pulled out the Power Pole from behind his back with a backhanded motion and flicked his wrist.

Bwoom—!

A piercing sonic boom erupted! In Luo Chen's hand, the Power Pole instantly became a dark-red afterimage spinning at extreme speed!

With one hand, he spun the staff. His movements were so fast they surpassed the limits of human vision, forcefully weaving an impenetrable barrier of staff shadows before him!

Clang clang clang clang—!!!

Deafening metallic collisions merged into one continuous roar as countless dazzling sparks burst wildly through the air! The armor-piercing rounds, powerful enough to easily tear through reinforced steel plates, were violently and precisely deflected and crushed the moment they struck this wall of absolute defense!

Luo Chen stood proudly amid the hail of bullets with the staff in one hand, keeping every shot sealed beyond three feet and preventing even a single stray bullet from disturbing the girl in the cockpit!

"Three... two... one!"

"I did it, Goku!"

At the exact end of the twentieth second, Bulma's exhilarated cry suddenly rang out from the cockpit!

Bwoom—!

The heavy mech, previously locked down, instantly shed its warning red glow and lit up with the azure radiance that signified full control! Its core engine released a high-pitched mechanical roar, as though a steel beast had been given a soul and awakened with a thunderous rumble!

"Impossible! So what if you forcibly started it? The highest-level weapon systems require iris authorization—you can't fire them at all!" Pilaf shrieked hysterically from his cockpit.

"Die!"

He controlled the lead mech and swung its mechanical iron fist, weighing several tons, toward the two of them, carrying a lethal gale as it smashed down!

"Idiot. Today, I'll teach you what a real 'genius' is!"

Bulma's red lips curved upward, confidence blazing in her eyes. Her hands turned into a blur as she shoved the control levers forward!

"Boom—!"

Since they couldn't fire their weapons, they would settle this with a pure, primal brawl!

The thrusters beneath the Ostrich Mech suddenly erupted with dazzling blue flames! The massive mechanical body executed a perfect sliding sidestep with astonishing agility, narrowly brushing past Pilaf's devastating punch!

"Such mobility! How is that possible?!" Pilaf's face changed drastically. Having missed his strike, he hurriedly tried to regain his balance and shift into defense.

But how could Bulma, now in battle mode, possibly give him room to breathe?!

"Take this—Miss Bulma's Rising Dragon Punch!"

Bulma's fingers danced over the controls as she directly disabled the safety limiters, instantly cranking the output of the mech's right-arm hydraulic system to maximum overload! The thick right arm bent like a fully drawn bow, and amid the ear-piercing shriek of hydraulic pumps, it swung upward in a crescent arc and slammed solidly into the Pilaf mech's chin!

"Clang—!!!"

A deafening crash of shattering metal rang out as blinding sparks sprayed everywhere!

Pilaf's once-arrogant flagship mech was actually knocked clean off the ground by that uppercut! The huge machine completely lost its balance in midair and toppled straight backward like a collapsing skyscraper!

"Damn it! It's not over yet!" Pilaf was shaken senseless inside the cockpit, desperately yanking at the controls as he tried to recover his balance.

"It's already over!"

Bulma's gaze was sharp, and she didn't hesitate for a second! She rapidly keyed in the final set of commands, sending the Ostrich Mech soaring from the ground. In midair, it unleashed a wild axe-style knee strike, and with crushing force from above, that deadly steel knee landed precisely on the Pilaf mech's chest power core!

"Crack—Boom!"

The thick specialized armor caved in and split apart as though it were paper, while the core circuitry inside snapped on the spot and burst into brilliant blue electrical sparks! The heavy mech that had looked so imposing a moment ago had its power center completely smashed apart by Bulma's absurd combo, black smoke pouring from its entire body as it became nothing more than a heap of scrap metal.

"D-Don't... don't hit me anymore! This Great King surrenders!"

The hatch was kicked away with a bang, and a filthy, disheveled Pilaf crawled out of the ruined cockpit. All his earlier arrogance was gone. Tears and snot covered his face as he raised both hands above his head without the slightest shred of dignity.

"Hmph! Now you know how awesome I am, right!"

Bulma proudly lifted her chin and cut the engine power. She deftly opened the hatch and lightly jumped down from the cockpit.

However, the intense battle had drained too much of her energy. The moment she relaxed, her heel suddenly gave way as she landed, and her delicate body pitched uncontrollably forward.

Just as she thought she was about to make a complete fool of herself in front of everyone, a strong arm steadily caught her by the arm.

"Be careful, my genius girl!"

At some point, Luo Chen had already put away the Power Pole. He stood tall at her side, his voice as gentle as a March breeze.

Bulma looked up, and her gaze met Luo Chen's deep, tender eyes. They were so close that she could feel his breath. Luo Chen naturally raised his other hand and gently wiped away a smudge of oil on her cheek with his sleeve.

"You did great. That combo just now was seriously cool!"

The warmth of the young man's knuckles seeped through the thin fabric. Bulma's breath caught slightly, and her heart shamelessly skipped a beat. An indescribable sweetness bubbled uncontrollably in her chest like a shaken bottle of orange soda.

She hurriedly turned her face away, but the tips of her fair ears had already quietly turned crimson. Still stubbornly putting on a brave front, she said, "O-Of course! A clunky oversized toy like that? Miss Bulma could make it dance with her eyes closed!"

Luo Chen saw through her but said nothing. He let go of her arm, turned, and slowly walked over to Pilaf. Looking down at him, he held out his hand.

"Hand it over."

Pilaf didn't dare utter a single word of nonsense. Trembling, he pulled the One-Star Dragon Ball from his clothes and respectfully offered it up as though it were a burning hot potato.

Luo Chen took the Dragon Ball, casually tossed it twice in his hand, then threw it back to Bulma without even looking behind him.

"The seventh one. We have them all."

As those casual words fell, the One-Star Dragon Ball landed steadily in Bulma's palm. The other six Dragon Balls sleeping in her backpack seemed to sense some fated summons. They resonated in unison, bursting forth with dazzling golden light!

"Rumble—Crack!"

A sudden change erupted! From deep within the control room's dome came a dull sound of metal breaking. The ferocious Kamehameha, combined with the heavy mechs' brutal brawl, had long since shattered the load-bearing structure of this steel fortress.

Amid violent tremors that shook the earth and mountains, the incomparably thick alloy dome finally reached its limit and came crashing down!

Countless chunks of rubble and steel reinforcement bars rained down. Yet as the dome was completely torn open, a cool night wind poured in from the surface, sweeping away all the choking smoke and dust within the control room.

At some point, the heavy, gloomy clouds that had always blanketed the castle had quietly dispersed. A bright moon, clear as water, hung high in the heavens, while the vast and glittering starry sky unfolded above their heads without reservation like an exquisite painting slowly being unrolled.

The clouds had parted to reveal the moon. At last, they had reached the summit.

This long adventure, which had lasted a month and spanned more than half the Earth, had finally reached its grandest finale.

Bulma stared blankly at that boundless sea of stars as the night breeze gently stirred her sky-blue hair. After a long while, she turned and looked deeply at the boy who had protected her from beginning to end. A radiantly beautiful smile bloomed on her lips.

"Goku."

Bulma took a deep breath and bent down, arranging the seven scorching Dragon Balls neatly at the center of the ruins beneath the silver moonlight. Golden radiance shot into the sky, bathing the two of them in shining light.

"We can—summon Shenron now!"