"Are you from Earth?"
Turles and the girl blurted out the same question at the same time.
They both froze.
The girl's face lit up with delight.
"Oh my gosh! You really are from Earth!"
Turles chose not to deny it.
"Sorry, I'm a little excited. This is the first time I've ever met someone in space who looks like us Earthlings. I thought it was just a coincidence, but I never expected to actually meet someone from back home."
The girl rubbed her hands together.
She couldn't hide the joy in her voice.
Turles asked the question on his mind. "Are you with the Capsule Corporation?"
The girl nodded, unsurprised. After all, who on Earth didn't know about the Capsule Corporation?
"I'm Tights. It's nice to meet you here."
Tights smiled and held out her hand.
Tights?
Turles was slightly taken aback.
That name sounded familiar too!
He seemed to have heard it before, but he couldn't remember which character from the story she was.
Since he couldn't remember, he didn't dwell on it.
He held out his hand.
"Turles."
"Turles, what are the chances we'd meet in a place like this?"
"Are you here on vacation too?"
"No, I'm here... for work..." Turles thought for a moment before answering.
"Huh? Work? You mean a business trip?"
Tights looked puzzled.
"Sorry, I haven't been back to Earth in over ten years. Have Earth's companies expanded into space now?"
"I distinctly remember Earth's spaceflight technology being pretty far behind."
Turles frowned slightly.
She hasn't been back to Earth in over ten years?
But she only looks like a teenager, doesn't she?
Did the Capsule Corporation send her into space when she was a child?
But she had also said that Earth's spaceflight technology was very backward. Getting out of the Solar System was hard enough, let alone reaching this place.
"I don't work on Earth. Like you, I've lived in space for a long time."
"Is that so? That's amazing! Um, could I ask what kind of work you do?"
"I don't mean anything by it. I'm a novelist, and I just want to know how Earthlings live in space. I've never gathered material like that before!"
Turles looked at Tights. "How Earthlings live? Aren't you material yourself?"
"As for me... you could say I work in real estate... but I'm just an employee."
"Real estate? A real estate company? That's impressive too!" At some point, a small notebook had appeared in Tights's hand, and she was scribbling in it with a pen.
"Let's talk about something else."
Turles suddenly spoke up.
The tip of Tights's pen stopped.
"Actually, I'd like to ask you a favor."
His tone had changed from their casual chat. Tights looked up and met Turles's gaze.
"Huh? A favor?"
She tucked her pen into the notebook and tilted her head.
"What is it? Can I help?"
Turles's gaze fell on the double-C logo on her backpack.
"Actually, I didn't know any better back then, and an alien tricked me into leaving Earth too."
"Tricked you into leaving?"
Tights's pen stopped on the notebook, and she looked up.
"Yeah." Turles nodded. "It happened when I was a kid. It's a long story. Anyway, I was taken away from Earth without really understanding what was happening, and by the time I realized it, I was already in space."
He paused.
"I've wanted to go back all these years, but I don't have Earth's coordinates."
"In space, having no coordinates is like having no direction. I don't even know what corner of the universe Earth is in."
He looked at Tights.
"So I wanted to ask if you could give me Earth's coordinates."
Tights tucked her pen into the notebook.
The curiosity on her young face gradually gave way to sympathy.
"Um, Turles."
Tights spoke up. She stuffed the small notebook back into the side pocket of her backpack and rubbed her hands back and forth against the sides of her skirt.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I really can't help you."
"The truth is, I don't have Earth's coordinates either."
A sharp glint flashed in Turles's eyes.
He tried to tell from Tights's expression whether she was lying.
Asking for a planet's coordinates in space was a very sensitive matter, and even against the law.
There was a very high chance that Tights would become wary of him because of it.
While Turles was still thinking about this, Tights spoke again.
"But I have a friend who can help you."
Hearing that, Turles's gaze sharpened slightly.
"A friend?"
Tights nodded and reached up to pull her backpack straps higher on her shoulders.
"I'm much like you. I left Earth on my friend's spaceship back then. The difference is, you were tricked, while I chose to leave."
"My friend's with the Galactic Patrol. His name is Jaco."
Turles was surprised to hear that.
"You know someone from the Galactic Patrol?"
Tights nodded and patted the dust off her skirt.
"He came to Earth on a mission back then, and that's how we met. When he was leaving later, I insisted on tagging along and got on his ship."
Tights sounded a little nostalgic as she spoke of it.
Hearing this, Turles also recalled that a Galactic Patrolman had appeared in the Battle of Gods movie he had watched in his previous life.
And he seemed to be an old acquaintance of Bulma's.
Tights, too, had met a Galactic Patrolman on Earth.
Could there be some connection?
With that thought, Turles asked another question.
"By the way, can I ask what your connection to the Capsule Corporation is?"
Tights was taken aback, seemingly unsure why Turles had suddenly asked.
She hesitated for a moment, but answered anyway. "My dad founded the Capsule Corporation."
At that, Turles seemed to finally understand everything.
He finally understood why Tights's name had sounded familiar.
Tights is Bulma's older sister!
She's a character Old Bird personally added later!
He had heard about her before, but he hadn't looked into her, so he didn't have much of an impression.
"What's wrong?" Tights gave him a puzzled look.
Turles shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Let's get back to your friend. Can you get Earth's coordinates from him?"
"I've heard that the Galactic Patrol strictly forbids the circulation of planetary coordinate information."
"Huh? Really?" Tights was visibly shocked.
"There's a rule like that?"
Turles looked at Tights. She really didn't seem to know about it.
At the same time, Turles felt bewildered.
She had been wandering around space for over ten years, yet she didn't even know the most basic Galactic Law!
He didn't even know what to say about how carefree she was.
So when he had asked for her home planet's coordinates, she hadn't been on guard at all!
"But it should be okay to ask him to take you back to Earth, right?" Tights was actually giving serious thought to helping Turles return to Earth.