Goku's appearance bore unmistakable Saiyan traits. His hair, fixed in its distinctive shape, and the tail behind him let the Tuffles recognize him instantly.
"Are these guys our enemies?"
Krillin looked curiously at the Tuffles, feeling that they were rather different from the enemies he had concentrated on imagining earlier.
And judging by Ki Sensing, their power levels were not particularly high either, only a little above those of ordinary Earthlings.
"Probably not, but explaining things directly probably won't work in this situation. Let's make a move and get them to calm down first."
Tien Shinhan shook his head.
The opponents he was supposed to fight on this trip were the Saiyans, but seeing that these Tuffles had already raised their weapons at his group, he had no habit of sitting around waiting to die.
Whoosh-
Tien Shinhan vanished from the spot in an instant.
Meanwhile, hearing his words, Goku, Krillin, and the others also sprang into action.
But since Tien Shinhan had only said to calm them down, none of them struck to kill.
Neo Multi-Form Technique!
A moment later, Tien Shinhan, who had just vanished, suddenly reappeared.
And as he appeared, he used the Neo Multi-Form Technique he had perfected himself.
Although the name still included "Multi-Form Technique," that was only because Tien Shinhan could not be bothered to think of another name for his special move.
Under the Tuffles' disbelieving gazes, the reappearing Tien Shinhan descended from the sky.
But it was no longer one Tien Shinhan coming down, nor was it four. There were a full ten Tien Shinhans!
Clearly, the Neo Multi-Form Technique had been enhanced and refined in terms of the number of clones it produced.
He used the Neo Multi-Form Technique now not because his power level was insufficient, but because he wanted to calm the Tuffles down faster.
As for how to calm them down?
By cooling them off with his fists, of course.
Bam, bam, bam, bam!
After a string of sharp impacts, Tien Shinhan, Goku, and the others had knocked the guns and weapons from the hands of every Tuffle around them.
"What...?"
Staring at their weapons, destroyed in an instant, the Tuffles were all dumbfounded and panicked.
They had not expected this group of people who had suddenly appeared to be so formidable, especially that three-eyed bald man among them!
Just as they thought an inhuman massacre awaited them next, Tien Shinhan and the others stopped instead.
"Ah, they're too weak. With strength like that, they shouldn't be suitable enemies for us, right? Could the machine have malfunctioned?"
Goku glanced at the Tuffles who had been defeated in an instant, somewhat puzzled, thinking something had gone wrong with the Time Machine's transport.
"Now can you believe we mean no harm? If we wanted to kill you, you would already be dead."
Seeing the Tuffles look over in astonishment, Tien Shinhan knew that only now could he explain the situation.
Whether dealing with Earthlings or aliens, explaining a situation required having sufficiently powerful fists to back it up.
With powerful fists, explanations became much easier.
Originally, seeing Goku's Saiyan appearance, the Tuffles would never have believed any explanation from Tien Shinhan and the others.
After personally experiencing how easily Tien Shinhan and the others defeated them without killing them, their earlier intense hostility dissipated.
Although they still had some doubts about the group's origins and purpose, they now mostly believed that they meant no harm.
Because if Tien Shinhan and the others really had meant harm, there would have been no need to waste effort lying now. They could simply have attacked.
"All right, I believe you mean no harm.
"But he really is a Saiyan, isn't he? Although he's still a growing Saiyan, their cruel, warlike nature is always the same."
Having dealt with the Saiyans many times, the Tuffles had already seen their true nature clearly.
Although Goku still looked like a half-grown boy, they still could not completely let down their guard.
"Saiyan? Tien Shinhan, are they talking about me? I'm an Earthling, not some Saiyan!"
Seeing these Tuffles stare at him and keep talking about Saiyans from the very beginning had long left Goku puzzled.
Now that he heard them bring it up again, Goku could not help asking Tien Shinhan directly out of curiosity.
Of course, he also wanted Tien Shinhan to vouch for him and prove that he really was an Earthling.
But Tien Shinhan's answer was beyond Goku's expectations.
"Goku really is a Saiyan!"
How could that be?
Goku looked utterly incredulous at his words. Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Launch also looked stunned, all turning their gazes toward Tien Shinhan.
"But he's different from other Saiyans. Because he grew up on Earth, he isn't cruel and warlike like the other Saiyans.
"To put it simply, you could call him a kindhearted Saiyan."
Tien Shinhan chose not to hide it.
There were some things Goku and the others needed to know sooner, and this was hardly some major secret.
As for how to respond when they later asked how he knew, Tien Shinhan had already thought of a way to handle it.
Fortuneteller Baba was a handy scapegoat. Whenever he was unsure what to do, he could pin it on her.
With such a know-it-all on Earth, and with Tien Shinhan having met her before, wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable to credit her for some information from the plot?
The only risk was that Fortuneteller Baba might divine that he had pinned it on her.
But Fortuneteller Baba only cared about money and enjoyed watching martial arts matches. She would not leave her desert palace to demand an explanation over something as minor as Tien Shinhan pinning things on her.
"A Saiyan? Kindhearted? It's hard to associate those two words.
"But we have heard of Earth. It's a small, remote planet in the universe, and its creatures really aren't very aggressive.
"If he grew up on Earth, then it seems this Saiyan really might be different from the others of his kind."
The Tuffles furrowed their brows, finding it somewhat difficult to accept the strange combination of words Tien Shinhan had proposed: "a kindhearted Saiyan."
But seeing Goku staring wide-eyed, looking utterly bewildered and harmless, they still chose to believe Tien Shinhan.
"All right, it seems we misunderstood you earlier.
"But how did you suddenly appear in our city?"
With the misunderstanding between the two sides cleared up, the Tuffles voiced their question.
"We came in a Time Machine!"
Before Tien Shinhan could answer, the simple, straightforward Goku had already told the truth.
"You idiot, how could you just say it outright?"
Hearing this, Krillin hurriedly covered Goku's mouth. Unfortunately, words spoken were like spilled water, and it was clearly too late now.
Just as Krillin was worrying that the Tuffles might overreact, to his surprise, they merely nodded in apparent realization, their reaction quite ordinary.
"So a Time Machine really can be built? It seems the conjecture Dr. Lychee proposed earlier was correct.
"But is Earth's technology really that advanced?
"It seems Dr. Lychee's progress on his invention has already fallen behind Earth's scientists."
Tuffle technology was highly advanced, well ahead of Earth's in the same period.
Although they had yet to successfully build a Time Machine, Tuffle scientists had already proposed ideas concerning one.
Foremost among those scientists was the Tuffles' chief scientist, Dr. Lychee.
Speak of the devil, and he appears.
As the two sides talked, a large group of Tuffles came toward them from the distance on hovering motorcycles.
Among these Tuffles was an old man in a white lab coat, with white hair and a white beard, wearing a special eyepiece.
Tien Shinhan recognized the eyepiece as soon as he saw it. It should be the Scouter that would later become widespread in Frieza's army.
It seemed the Saiyans had seized it after wiping out the Tuffles, and Frieza had then taken a liking to it and put it into widespread use.