"Hey, Mu Yang, you've already taken the Senzu Beans. When are you going to deliver the seafood you promised?" Korin had been thinking about his deal with Mu Yang all along. Seeing that Mu Yang was no longer dwelling on what he had seen in the three water vats, he hurriedly pressed him.
Mu Yang smiled. It seemed Korin had lived atop Karin Tower for too long and cared greatly about seafood. "Karin the Immortal, rest assured. I keep my word. I'll bring the seafood over right away."
"Mm-hmm, soon is fine." Korin stroked his whiskers, no longer feeling anxious.
After resting atop Karin Tower for a while longer, Mu Yang waved goodbye to Korin. "Karin the Immortal, I'll be going down now. Wait for my good news."
With that, he stepped forward and jumped straight off Karin Tower.
A fierce wind rushed toward him. Mu Yang became like a soaring swallow, slicing through the storm as he plummeted.
Leaving Karin Tower was far easier than climbing it. The sharp wind lashed his face as Mu Yang narrowed his eyes, falling faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, he pierced layer after layer of clouds, and the curved horizon gradually flattened.
Whoosh! A black shadow broke through the atmosphere, trailing a long wake behind it. Mu Yang was nearing the ground. In less than ten minutes, the dense forest below came into clear view.
Looking at the brilliant scenery in the distance, a bold feeling of freedom filled his heart, as though the vast sky belonged to birds in flight.
It had taken four days to climb Karin Tower, yet descending took only a few short minutes.
"I can already see the forest." As he neared the ground, he slowed himself with the Sky Dance Technique, halted his descent, then made a ninety-degree turn. With a whoosh, he flew horizontally away from Karin's Holy Land.
Like all sacred places, Karin's Holy Land was exceedingly strange. Some mysterious force seemed to make climbing Karin Tower effective only from its base. Otherwise, even with advanced technology, no one could ascend the tower. Descending was much the same.
"Hey, did some shadow just fly past? Did it look like a person?"
At the edge of the holy land, the Indians guarding Karin Tower saw Mu Yang's departing figure. One of them asked in confusion.
"Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. How could a person move that fast?" his companion nearby scoffed.
"Uh, maybe I saw wrong."
The man was taken aback for a moment, then laughed.
"Hey, you two over there! Focus on practicing your hunting skills! If you still want to become guardians of the holy land, then take it twice as seriously!" An elder-like Indian saw two men whispering while hunting and shouted at them.
Guardians like them were normally scattered throughout Karin's Holy Land, living in tribes. Only the strong within each tribe, after passing selection, were qualified to guard the area near Karin Tower.
Mu Yang did not know that his passage through Karin's Holy Land had drawn the attention of the Indian tribe. By then, he had already flown beyond its borders, though he was pondering how to get seafood for Korin. It was not a difficult problem. Mu Yang could buy some at a harbor, where there were all kinds of sea fish, enough to satisfy Korin. The problem was... he did not have much money on him. Fishmongers certainly would not sell to him for free.
He could not possibly rob someone, could he?
Mu Yang knew there was an underwater treasury in the original story, filled with gold, silver, and jewels. He remembered that when Son Goku opposed the Red Ribbon Army, General Blue had once pursued him, and Son Goku had accidentally entered that treasury.
Unfortunately, Mu Yang did not know the treasure's exact location. Besides, this was still decades before that part of the story took place, so the treasure might not even exist yet.
Then inspiration struck him. He remembered Launch and Yamcha from the original story. In their early years, they had made their living through robbery.
"Maybe I can do a little robbing too." Order on Earth was stable, but in many remote corners, gangs still specialized in illegal dealings. Mu Yang would not feel the slightest unease about robbing them. "I'll consider it robbing the rich to help the poor and solve my immediate problem."
Naturally, places where bandits gathered were either remote mountain regions or vital trade routes. They also had to be primitive, desolate places beyond the police's jurisdiction.
Clearly, the latter was more likely to yield big catches than the former. With that thought, Mu Yang had an idea and began searching for places where bandits operated.
After flying for over an hour, Mu Yang arrived at a place in the middle of nowhere. It connected two cities and was a route merchants had to take. The surrounding area was also barren, making it an ideal place for robbery. He searched from the sky for a while, trying to find signs of bandits, and soon spotted an old-fashioned motorcycle speeding across the wilderness.
The rider wore a red headscarf and a dark scarf around his neck, with a patterned coat draped over his body and a large saber at his waist, as if afraid people would not know he was a bandit.
Following behind him, Mu Yang soon discovered a cave beneath a rocky ledge piled with yellow earth. A gang of bandits had gathered inside.
You're exactly the people I've been looking for!
Having finally found his targets, Mu Yang's eyes lit up. He stopped hiding and strode boldly up to the bandits.
"You people, hand over everything valuable you have."
The sudden voice startled the bandits who were drinking inside. But when they saw that the intruder was merely a young-looking boy, their shock immediately turned to mockery.
"Hahaha! I'm always the one robbing others, but today is something new. Where did this brat come from? Didn't you bother asking what kind of place this is? You actually came here looking to rob me? You must have a death wish."
The bandit leader wore a vicious expression. With a clang, he smashed the earthen bowl in his hand and drew a coldly gleaming machete. At the same time, he planted one foot on half a skull jutting from the sand and grinned savagely. "Boys, why aren't you showing this kid your weapons? When it comes to murder and theft, we're the professionals."
"Heh heh, the boss is right."
"What a fool who doesn't know his own limits!"
The other underlings revealed cruel smiles as well and drew their machetes in unison.
The bandit gang had more than twenty members, all living by the blade. In their eyes, there was no such thing as mercy. Murder and plunder were simply ordinary work, and there was no business more profitable than that! Over the years, they had killed countless innocent people. Adding this boy to the tally would not make much difference.
Mu Yang looked around and noticed many scattered bones in the cave. Seeing the bandits draw their blades and close in, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
They were all desperate criminals.
No wonder they were so bold.
But they did not seem to understand who was robbing whom today!
"Since you refuse to cooperate, don't blame me. Remember, in your next lives, don't commit such evil again."
"Haha, this kid is telling jokes..." The bandits looked at one another and burst into laughter. But very soon, they could no longer laugh.
Mu Yang gave a low snort. The next second, he exerted a little strength. Suddenly, immense force erupted beneath his feet, and countless afterimages flashed through the cave. Mu Yang seemed to transform into an asura, beginning a frenzied slaughter. The bandits had no time to react against him. Moments later, he returned to where he had been standing, as if nothing had happened.
Clang, clang! Metal struck the ground. The bandits' eyes were wide open, bloodshot and filled with disbelief. The next second, every one of them collapsed, their faces frozen in utter incredulity.
"They deserved to die." Mu Yang's voice was ice-cold as he gazed ahead indifferently.
Before you continue