Age 736

By the time Doris came out of the room, Jiang Nan had packed all the documents on the workbench into boxes. He was now wiping down the cleared bench with a towel, looking almost eager to please.

Doris had changed into a white T-shirt, gray denim shorts, and a pair of sandals. Her long, wavy blond hair spilled over her shoulders, and the languid look on her face left Jiang Nan dazed for a few seconds.

But he quickly came to his senses and bent his head to keep wiping the table. It was not that he possessed exceptional self-control; as a married man, he had long since developed the habit of keeping his eyes to himself.

Doris did not mind. She was used to people staring. Jiang Nan's efficiency pleased her, and it seemed taking him under her wing really had been the right decision.

"Put down your work and come have dinner with me." With that, Doris walked out of the lounge first, with Jiang Nan close behind.

The institute's cafeteria was on the second floor, and all the food was self-service. Jiang Nan carried a tray and followed Doris as she picked out her meal.

The food here was not much different from that of his original world. The wide selection of dishes whetted the already ravenous Jiang Nan's appetite.

Quite a few employees pointed and whispered in their direction as they came to eat. Doris ignored them and led Jiang Nan to an empty table, while he kept his head down to avoid drawing attention.

"Doris, what a coincidence!" Fett, the assistant, approached with a tray of his own. He frowned at Jiang Nan. "Go eat in the corner. You think someone wearing a dog collar deserves to sit here?"

You fat bastard, Jiang Nan cursed inwardly. Revenge can wait. Just you wait.

Despite his inward curses, Jiang Nan obediently stood up to leave.

Suddenly, a crackling, numbing pain shot through his neck. An electric current surged through his entire body, and the tremendous pain sent him collapsing back into his chair.

"That's the price of acting without my permission!" Doris's icy voice rang beside his ear. Apparently, she was responsible for this shock.

So this bitch isn't a good person either! Jiang Nan thought bitterly, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Fett, however, understood that Doris was really taking a jab at him. Having made a fool of himself, he snorted and left.

"That wasn't aimed at you," Doris said quietly. "But let it be a lesson, too. From now on, don't listen to anyone except me and Dr. Gero."

Then Doris picked up a piece of meat and placed it on Jiang Nan's plate. He finally understood. So you two were fighting, and I was the poor bastard caught in the crossfire!

Jiang Nan had often encountered similar situations at work. When leaders needed a way to back down during their power struggles, their subordinates often made convenient stepping stones. He had only been promoted to team leader because he had voluntarily taken the blame for his boss.

But taking the blame at work meant little more than getting scolded, or at worst losing some performance pay. Here, they shocked him until he went limp!

After dinner, there was no more work for the evening, so Doris told Jiang Nan to return to his own lounge and rest.

As they passed his lounge, Jiang Nan could not help speaking up before they parted. "Lady Doris!"

"Speak."

Jiang Nan hesitated. "It's nothing."

"I'm leaving, then."

Jiang Nan had wanted to ask Doris what year it was. Knowing the current date would let him work out how events would unfold, but he held back just as the words reached his lips.

Reason told Jiang Nan he could not trust anyone, especially a clever woman like Doris. She might have acted as though she truly considered him one of her own, but that electric shock had shown him her ruthless side.

Jiang Nan reminded himself that the gratitude he felt toward Doris after narrowly escaping death was merely his hormones at work. In another world, he could not carelessly reveal his secrets. Right now, the most important thing was to keep his head down and survive.

Only by surviving would he have a chance to take control.

As for what year it was, he would have plenty of opportunities to find out later.

The next day, Doris assigned Jiang Nan no further tasks and allowed him to move around freely. Even the guards at the institute's entrance ignored him when they saw the collar around his neck. After testing the waters several times, Jiang Nan stepped outside the institute.

Dr. Gero's institute was located in a city. Jiang Nan knew the Dragon Ball world had five major cities and dozens of secondary cities. The five major cities were East City, West City, South City, North City, and Central City. The major cities administered the secondary cities, which in turn administered smaller towns. Jiang Nan was currently in West City.

Looking around, Jiang Nan saw West City's towering buildings standing like giants against the clouds. Roads wound through the city, with traffic flowing endlessly along them. A shopping district lay near the institute, and plenty of pedestrians walked the streets, most of them white people with blond hair and blue eyes.

Jiang Nan knew that West City was the technological and economic center of the Dragon Ball world. It was several times larger than the international metropolises of his previous life.

The passing vehicles were not much different from those in his original world. They still had four wheels, so apparently those wheelless, hovering vehicles had not been invented yet.

Small aircraft occasionally flew past at low altitude, leaving Jiang Nan marveling. They even appeared to be jets, though he could not understand how such bulky fuselages managed to fly. What happened to aerodynamics?

Jiang Nan dared not go too far, afraid of exceeding the collar's thousand-meter distance limit from Doris. He only made a circuit around the institute. Just as he was about to return, he spotted a convenience store. An idea struck him, and he went inside.

Just as he had expected, the food packaging in this world's convenience stores also carried expiration dates. By comparing the expiration dates on different products, Jiang Nan worked out the current date.

September, Age 736!

Invincible! I'm going to be absolutely invincible!

Age 737 was the year Goku, the protagonist of Dragon Ball, was born. That meant this year was the year his life began in the womb. Now it made sense: with Goku's arrival, this Dragon Ball world had only just formed, and Jiang Nan had transmigrated at precisely this point in time.

(Note: Goku was born in November, Age 737, according to the official timeline released by Akira Toriyama's studio.)

Jiang Nan did the calculations in his head. Goku's journey in Dragon Ball officially began in Age 748, when he was eleven years old and had a power level of just 10. A power level of 10 was enough to easily withstand attacks from firearms such as pistols, while Jiang Nan should have a power level of over twenty thousand by then.

If the timeline remained unchanged, a few years later, King Piccolo-restored to youth, terrifying the entire world with his brutal methods, and boasting a power level of 260-would face Jiang Nan with a power level of 320,000.

By the time Frieza delivered his overwhelmingly intimidating line on Planet Namek, "My power level is 530,000," Jiang Nan's power level would already have crossed the Super Saiyan threshold.

"Great, just great!" Overjoyed, Jiang Nan called out inwardly, System!

"Here."

Activate the Power Level Detection System! Jiang Nan commanded.

Immediately, something new appeared in Jiang Nan's vision. He looked toward a group of people, and sure enough, numbers appeared above everyone's heads.

Most pedestrians had power levels between 2 and 5. Only one or two particularly large men reached 6.

The numbers also appeared in different colors depending on their power levels. Those lower than Jiang Nan's were green, those equal to his own level of 5 were yellow, and those above 5 were red. Apparently, the system categorized risks as well.

In high spirits, Jiang Nan hummed a tune as he walked back to the institute. Passing through the entrance, he noticed the guard's gun and grew puzzled. System, why is this guard's power level still 5? Don't weapons increase someone's power level?

"I can only detect a living being's own power level," the system replied.

Jiang Nan asked again, What about androids and robots?

"Anything with an independent consciousness and a life cycle can be considered a living being," the system explained.

So that was how it worked. With this detection function, Jiang Nan would be able to avoid a great deal of danger.

Just as he reached the door to his lounge, the clicking of high heels reached his ears. There were very few women in the institute, and at least in this area, Doris was the only one who would show up.

"I found you a Nanoscale Cold-Weather Suit. We're going to North City tomorrow. It's very cold there." It was indeed Doris's voice.

Jiang Nan turned toward Doris, about to answer, but the moment he looked up, he froze as though struck by lightning. A glaring red number hovered above her head.

97!

What the hell?

Wasn't Doris an academic researcher? Wasn't she supposed to win people over through reason? How did she know how to fight, too? Jiang Nan could not help imagining Doris losing her temper during an academic debate, rolling up her sleeves, and beating the opposing debater to a pulp.

"What are you staring at?" Doris frowned.

Jiang Nan snapped out of it, lowered his head, and hurriedly covered for himself. "I'm sorry, Lady Doris. Your beauty is simply breathtaking. I couldn't help losing myself for a moment."

Women liked being called beautiful. Doris knew she was attractive, but few of the people she usually dealt with praised her so directly to her face. For a moment, she was at a loss. She shoved the cold-weather suit into Jiang Nan's hands and hurried away.

A power level of 97 was no small feat. It was even slightly higher than Goku's during his first World Martial Arts Tournament, before he climbed Korin Tower and drank the Ultra Divine Water. Jiang Nan had never expected this seemingly decorative beauty to be not only an accomplished scholar but also such a formidable fighter.

Under the system's rule of doubling his power level every year, Jiang Nan would need five years to surpass Doris.

Five years. Do you have any idea what those five years will be like for me?

Did he really have to wait five years to regain his freedom? Jiang Nan's good mood vanished in an instant.

Jiang Nan remembered what Doris had just said. They were going to North City? It seemed Dr. Gero had already made contact with the Red Ribbon Army. North City was a bitterly cold, sparsely populated region. Once he got there, would he still have a chance to escape and regain his freedom?