"Then let's go find Fortuneteller Baba right away, Brother Tien!"
Chiaotzu was a little curious about how Tien Shinhan knew so many things.
Ever since they had become Master Shen's disciples, the two had trained together almost inseparably.
Yet now, Tien Shinhan seemed to know far more than he did.
Still, in Chiaotzu's eyes, Tien Shinhan had always been utterly dependable.
So he didn't dwell on it. He just needed to follow Tien Shinhan's plan.
Besides, even if Chiaotzu seriously thought it through, he might not be able to figure it out.
After all, he was someone Krillin had stumped with addition and subtraction within ten at the World Martial Arts Tournament.
"There's no rush. Fortuneteller Baba knows almost every secret on Earth, but she's extremely greedy.
If we want her to tell our fortunes, we can't just show up penniless."
Tien Shinhan signaled for Chiaotzu not to rush. They needed to get a huge sum of money ready before going to see Fortuneteller Baba.
"Greedy? But where are we going to earn money?"
Chiaotzu was stumped for a moment. Most of his memories were of training, and he had no ideas for making money.
He had heard people say that working a job earned money. Would he and Brother Tien have to get jobs for a while first?
While Chiaotzu's thoughts wandered, Tien Shinhan had already considered everything.
"Let's go. We'll visit Bulma's house first. We should be able to trade the airship we seized after defeating King Piccolo to Bulma for quite a bit of money."
Of course, Tien Shinhan could also just ask Bulma to lend him money.
After all, with her family's wealth, it wouldn't be much of an issue.
But if he could trade something outright, that was naturally better than borrowing money.
The airship the Pilaf Gang had left behind carried a Dragon Radar, so he figured Bulma would be interested in taking it.
Even if she wasn't interested in the airship itself, she could dismantle it and use the special materials inside to make a second Dragon Radar.
Besides, keeping the airship did Tien Shinhan no good. It only took up one of his large Hoi-Poi Capsules for nothing.
Bulma's home was in a bustling metropolitan area, quite far from the wilderness and jungle surrounding the sacred grounds of Korin Tower.
Fortunately, Tien Shinhan had grown much stronger than he had been three months earlier, and his flying speed with the Flight Technique had naturally improved considerably as well.
Even with the occasional need to give Chiaotzu a hand or wait for him to rest, Tien Shinhan reached Bulma's house in only half a day.
And a fair amount of that half day had been spent finding Bulma's house among the metropolitan area's many buildings.
"Huh? Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu? Weren't you training with Goku up on Korin Tower?
Did you miss this pretty girl and come to visit? Where's Goku? Did he come too?"
Seeing Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu suddenly descend from the sky onto the lawn in her backyard, Bulma greeted them while looking around for Goku.
"Haha, we've finished training for now. Goku went straight to Kame House to see Krillin.
I came here because there's something I wanted to talk to you about, Bulma."
Tien Shinhan smiled faintly. Bulma had met Goku even earlier than Krillin had.
Naturally, the two were very close friends.
Bulma didn't mind hearing that Goku had gone straight to Kame House. She wasn't that petty a girl.
She wouldn't quibble over such things with close friends. Krillin was also Kid Goku's friend, and Bulma felt Goku could go straight to see whoever he wanted.
"I see. That Goku's still the same, with nothing but training on his mind. I bet he went to see Krillin about training too.
Anyway, Tien Shinhan, what did you want to talk to me about?
If you're here to confess your love, that's a no-go. Yamcha and I only just broke up in the last couple of days, but I'm still going to give him a chance to win me back."
Bulma and Tien Shinhan hadn't originally known each other well, but after the battle against King Piccolo, they could be considered comrades who had faced life and death together.
Even though Tien Shinhan, Goku, and the others had done all the fighting while she merely watched from the sidelines.
Still, no one could deny that she had been present at the battle where King Piccolo was killed.
Even without any achievements, she had put in the effort!
"Confess my love? Heh, stop joking, Bulma. I came because there's something I want to sell you."
Tien Shinhan shook his head. At Bulma's age, the things on her mind were somewhat different from his own focus on improving his martial arts.
As he spoke, Tien Shinhan tossed out a Hoi-Poi Capsule.
The next moment, a massive airship appeared above Bulma's backyard.
"Sell me something?"
Bulma had initially been a little annoyed that Tien Shinhan had denied it so quickly.
Was I that bad?
It was just a joke about confessing his love. Did he have to deny it so quickly?
He really was a martial arts brute just like Goku, a hopelessly straight-laced man who didn't understand romance at all!
But those little feelings that had flashed through Bulma's mind vanished the moment she saw the airship overhead.
"Looks like you really did come to sell something."
With such a huge airship there, Bulma immediately realized that Tien Shinhan really had come specifically for this.
"The airship itself isn't important. With your abilities and wealth, Bulma, you should be able to build one easily.
What matters is that there's a radar detector in its cockpit. I think it should help you make more Dragon Radars."
Tien Shinhan didn't beat around the bush. He wasn't a salesman trying to make the airship sound perfect. Instead, he directly pointed out what should be the real reason Bulma would be interested in buying it.
"Haha, as a salesman, Tien Shinhan, you might not make the grade if you disparage your own merchandise like that.
But as a friend passing something on to another friend, you're straightforward and honest.
You're right. I'm more interested in the materials for making Dragon Radars than the airship itself.
I'll buy this airship. How much are you asking?"
Selling the airship went even more smoothly than Tien Shinhan had imagined.
After some discussion, Tien Shinhan ultimately received one billion from Bulma as payment for the airship.
"One billion should be enough to sway Fortuneteller Baba."
After successfully getting the money, Tien Shinhan immediately said goodbye to Bulma and flew straight toward the place where he remembered Fortuneteller Baba lived.
Fortuneteller Baba had built a palace in a desert on Earth, about as far from the metropolitan area as the sacred grounds of Korin Tower.
The two were simply in completely opposite directions.
After leaving Bulma's house, Tien Shinhan took less than three hours to find Fortuneteller Baba's palace.
A large palace in the desert was fairly conspicuous. He didn't need to spend extra time picking it out as he had in the metropolitan area.
"Tien Shinhan, I've already found out why you've come. You're after the Fountain of Youth, aren't you?
If you want me to divine the Fountain of Youth's location, give me one billion!"
Before long, Fortuneteller Baba, seated on her crystal ball, called Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu into the palace hall.
"One billion? I heard you charged ten million for a divination."
Tien Shinhan was a little surprised. He hadn't expected one billion to be enough for only a single divination from Fortuneteller Baba.
"Different matters have different prices. The Fountain of Youth's location is a closely guarded secret known to very few people on Earth, so the fee is higher.
More importantly, you happen to have exactly one billion, don't you?"
Hearing Fortuneteller Baba's words, Tien Shinhan immediately understood. It seemed she might have already divined his visit in advance.
She had even calculated exactly how much money he had. No wonder she had demanded such an outrageous price.
But Tien Shinhan wasn't about to simply accept being so blatantly fleeced.
"I heard that if you want a divination from Fortuneteller Baba, fighting is an alternative to paying, right?"
Tien Shinhan wasn't going to pay anymore. As a martial artist, he would settle this the martial artist's way.
What he failed to notice, however, was that Fortuneteller Baba wasn't surprised by his words at all. Instead, a trace of a smug smile appeared on her face.
Clearly, she had demanded that outrageous price precisely because she had intended to make Tien Shinhan choose to fight.
She wanted to see just what kind of exciting battle this genius Earth martial artist, who had defeated King Piccolo at such a young age, could put on for her!
After all, besides her love of money, watching other people fight was another of Fortuneteller Baba's great hobbies.
Whether Tien Shinhan chose to pay or chose to fight, she was guaranteed to come out ahead!