Retch-
King Piccolo knew he could no longer turn things around. He could only squeeze out the last of his life force and pour it all into an egg he spat out.
But because he had so little strength left, the egg was only the size of an ordinary chicken egg.
Whoosh-
Using the last of his strength, King Piccolo sent the newly spat-out egg shooting away, vanishing from everyone's sight in an instant.
If Tien Shinhan wanted to pursue it, he could naturally have caught up to the egg now that his strength had recovered.
But he merely watched in silence, showing no intention of chasing it.
Kid Goku, on the other hand, was about to jump onto the Flying Nimbus and give chase.
"No need to chase it. That's your Son family's future babysitter!"
Tien Shinhan stopped Kid Goku with a smile.
"Babysitter?"
Goku scratched his head, a little puzzled.
Tien Shinhan offered no explanation, instead turning his gaze back to King Piccolo in the enormous crater.
Only King Piccolo's upper body remained, and it looked as though he had died of exhaustion after spitting out that egg.
But Tien Shinhan wasn't about to leave him alone just like that.
He gathered his power again, concentrating more than half his strength to unleash a Tri-Beam at King Piccolo's corpse in the crater.
Boom!
After that Tri-Beam blast, even King Piccolo's corpse had been completely pulverized. He couldn't have been any deader.
The battle was over!
King Piccolo, once as terrifying as a nightmare, had actually been blasted to death just like that when Tien Shinhan used the Evil Containment Wave as a feint to create an opening.
Master Roshi silently marveled.
"Both brave and resourceful. Tien Shinhan, you've already become an outstanding martial artist!"
"And Goku, you've done very well too. Both of you have bright futures ahead!"
As an acknowledged martial arts master on Earth, Master Roshi generously praised the two with gratification.
"Haha, what about me? Grandpa Roshi, how did I do?"
Seeing that King Piccolo was finally dead beyond all doubt, Krillin could at last stop worrying.
He was happy about the praise Tien Shinhan and Goku received, and he also looked expectantly at Master Roshi, asking for an assessment of his own.
"You? You still need to train hard!"
Master Roshi gave it two seconds of serious thought before answering.
"Huh? I knew it!
But I won't give up! Goku, Tien Shinhan, I'll catch up to you soon!"
Having watched the earlier battle, Krillin had also realized the gap between himself and Tien Shinhan and Goku.
But that gap wasn't enough to make him lose heart.
Besides, no matter how he looked at it, his performance in the World Martial Arts Tournament had been much better than Yamcha's.
"Although King Piccolo has been defeated, that egg he spat out before dying could very well be his offspring.
To keep Earth from falling into danger again, Tien Shinhan, Goku, Krillin, you mustn't slack off in your training.
What do you say? Would you like to come back to Kame House and train with me?"
At the mention of the egg King Piccolo spat out before his death, Master Roshi's gratified smile faded, and he invited all three of them to train.
"Yes, absolutely! More training! At the next World Martial Arts Tournament, I'll place even higher. Even becoming champion isn't impossible!"
Krillin immediately nodded in agreement. He felt his training was still lacking.
Goku, however, hesitated. He looked at Korin Tower behind him, then at the excited Krillin, uncertain whether he should go back and train with Krillin or simply stay at Korin Tower to train.
"Master Roshi, thank you for the invitation.
But I heard Goku trained at Korin Tower before, and we happen to be here now.
Since we're already here, I'd like to stay and train at Korin Tower for a while first."
Tien Shinhan's choice was much clearer.
Master Roshi's special moves, such as the Kamehameha, were good, but back when Tien Shinhan was in the Crane School, he had already studied the Turtle School's special moves quite thoroughly.
He had even created a special move specifically to counter the Kamehameha.
So for Tien Shinhan, training at Korin Tower would clearly be more effective.
Staying at Korin Tower to train was also something Tien Shinhan had already planned.
With the first step of defeating King Piccolo complete, he naturally wouldn't readily disrupt the rest of his training plan to grow stronger.
"I see. That's fine too. Korin Tower really is a sacred training ground. I trained there for a while myself.
How about this, Krillin? Once you've trained with me and met the requirements, you can come challenge Korin Tower's training too."
Master Roshi nodded, respecting Tien Shinhan's decision.
In terms of martial arts talent alone, Tien Shinhan, who had already devised original special moves such as the Multi-Form Technique at such a young age, surpassed even the equally outstanding Goku.
And given the teaching methods of his junior fellow disciple, Master Shen, what Tien Shinhan currently lacked was probably a foundation in martial arts matters such as ki and training.
In that respect, Master Roshi felt that for Tien Shinhan, who had already turned over a new leaf, there wasn't much difference between training at Korin Tower and training with him.
"Krillin will be coming here later too?
Grandpa Roshi, then I'll stay here at Korin Tower and train for a while first too."
Hearing that Krillin would eventually come to Korin Tower to train, and that Tien Shinhan, the opponent who had been his equal at the World Martial Arts Tournament, would be staying here, Kid Goku no longer hesitated.
"All right, it's settled, then."
Master Roshi nodded in agreement.
Just then, Tien Shinhan suddenly took out the Dragon Radar and checked it.
On the Dragon Radar's screen, aside from the Dragon Balls he and Goku carried, the other five Dragon Balls were all gathered together not far away.
Tien Shinhan immediately rose into the air using the Flight Technique and looked in the direction indicated by the Dragon Radar.
In the distant sky, a giant airship was turning around. It had clearly noticed how the battle here had gone and was now preparing to flee.
"What's wrong, Tien Shinhan?"
Everyone asked curiously.
"Nothing. King Piccolo just brought the remaining Dragon Balls over, and I happen to have a wish to make."
At his words, everyone understood, finally remembering that King Piccolo's goal had also been to collect the Dragon Balls.
But this time, he had failed to collect them and instead delivered the remaining Dragon Balls himself.
Whoosh-
The three kilometers between Tien Shinhan and the airship vanished in just two short minutes.
The Pilaf Gang was frantically operating the airship, hurrying to turn it around. But they had only just changed course and flown for a moment when they felt an oppressive presence behind them.
"You have three seconds. Leave the airship and Dragon Balls. You can get lost!"
Tien Shinhan spoke in a bluntly commanding tone.
The Pilaf Gang had seen perfectly clearly from the airship how Tien Shinhan had just blasted King Piccolo into nothing with three Tri-Beams.
They knew very well that this three-eyed fellow was ruthless!
So after hearing Tien Shinhan's command, however unwilling they felt, they didn't dare offer the slightest resistance or try any tricks.
After swiftly leaving all five Dragon Balls behind, the three members of the Pilaf Gang each strapped on a parachute and jumped out of the airship.
They embarked on an impromptu round of extreme skydiving.
Tien Shinhan nodded in satisfaction at the sight, quickly gathered all five Dragon Balls, then put the airship away in a special high-capacity Hoi-Poi Capsule.
A short while later, he returned to Kid Goku's side with six Dragon Balls in total.
"Goku, sorry for the trouble, but could you lend me the remaining Four-Star Dragon Ball too?"
Tien Shinhan arranged the other six Dragon Balls in the clearing between everyone, then asked Goku.
"Haha, if you want to make a wish, Tien Shinhan, just take it! No need to talk about borrowing. Here you go!"
Although the Four-Star Dragon Ball was a memento of Kid Goku's grandfather, Goku readily contributed it when he heard that Tien Shinhan wanted to make a wish.
All seven Dragon Balls were gathered!
"Come forth, Shenron!"
Filled with excitement, Tien Shinhan spoke the words he had longed to say since childhood in his merged memories.