"Bulma!" Goku walked over to Bulma, who had been waiting for him.
"Hmm? Goku, what did you go off to do?"
Bulma had seen how much of a hurry Goku was in earlier and hadn't asked him properly. Now that he was back, she was going to get an answer.
"Nothing much. I played the hero and saved the Earth."
Goku was telling the truth. Without him, wouldn't King Piccolo have taken over the Earth?
"Who'd believe that? Fine, keep it from me. If you don't want to talk about it, don't."
"That's not fair! I really am telling the truth!"
Seriously, what was this? He'd told the truth, and she still didn't believe him? It was a terrible injustice.
When the plane reached West City, Bulma was shocked by the sight before her.
Thick smoke billowed from many places in West City, and people were being rescued from the flames. Bulma hurriedly flew toward her home.
"Phew, thank goodness..."
Seeing that her house was untouched, Bulma breathed a sigh of relief, though her heart still felt heavy. After all, at least several hundred thousand people had been killed or injured in West City this time.
"I told you, I went to save the Earth," Goku said, folding his arms.
"But you don't need to worry about those people. We can use the Dragon Balls to bring them back later. There's just nothing we can do about the property damage."
"Then let's go find the Dragon Balls now." Bulma really did want to bring those people back to life.
"There's no point looking now. Shenron was summoned just a little while ago, so we'll have to wait until after the new year."
After searching for the Dragon Balls so many times, Goku had noticed something interesting: the Dragon Balls actually reset by calendar year. For example, if a wish was made in December, another could be made the following January.
The wish last year had been made in December. He'd originally planned to look for the Dragon Balls after the World Martial Arts Tournament ended in May, but who could have expected this? Sigh...
In the end, he'd been careless and hadn't dodged.
Back home, Goku told Bulma what had happened. She fell silent when she heard it. How insignificant the lives of ordinary people like her must seem in the hands of those powerful beings.
In truth, Bulma was no longer weak. She had trained under Goku's guidance all these years, and according to Goku's panel, her power level had already reached 22.
At that level, ordinary firearms were no longer a threat to her.
For the better part of the next year, Goku lived a simple, unpretentious life, eating delicacies from land and sea, driving luxury cars, and living in a mansion.
Every day, he either trained on his own, trained with Bulma, or chatted with her. Sometimes, Goku thought it was nice to live such a peaceful life every day.
Ordinary and reassuring.
Half a year earlier, Goku had visited the Lookout to ask Kami to bring Shenron back to life. To his surprise, Kami had revived Shenron the very second after he was killed.
"Bulma, it's about time we went looking for the Dragon Balls."
Half a year later, Goku had reached 1.6 meters in height. Looking at Goku, who was nearly as tall as she was and growing more handsome by the day, Bulma felt her heart flutter. Her old habit of swooning over handsome boys had returned. She hadn't wasted those years for nothing.
Sure enough, Bulma had been up to no good four years ago. A child groom, was it?
Goku felt a little helpless as he watched Bulma staring blankly at him. He waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hey, Bulma, quit daydreaming. I know I'm handsome."
"W-what? What the hell do I care if you're handsome? You narcissist."
Hearing that, Bulma couldn't help blushing, yet she shamelessly sneered at Goku for being a narcissist.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a narcissist. A narcissist."
"Goku, you know what? You're really asking for a beating!"
By then, Bulma had already reached for the soft flesh at Goku's waist, a cold smile on her face.
"Wait, wait, wait! Let go, Bulma! Don't pinch me! I was wrong!" Goku hurriedly raised both hands over his head and begged for mercy.
"Hmph. Let's see if you dare do that again." Bulma let go and snorted.
"All right, Bulma, let's go find the Dragon Balls."
The two soon gathered all the Dragon Balls and summoned Shenron.
"Come forth, Shenron, and grant my wish!"
In an instant, the sky darkened, and Shenron descended once more.
"You who summoned me, speak your wish!" Shenron said, looking at Goku.
"Arise, my... ahem, I almost got my lines crossed. Shenron, please bring back everyone who died because of King Piccolo." As soon as Goku said "arise," he had nearly followed it up without missing a beat and blurted out "my beloved."
"Your wish has been granted. Farewell."
Shenron turned into seven Dragon Balls and flew off to different parts of the Earth.
With everyone who had died because of King Piccolo brought back to life, a weight had been lifted from both their hearts.
In other words, their thoughts were unburdened.
For a time, a strange scene played out all over the world.
Countless dead people crawled out of their graves and knocked on their own doors. When their families opened the doors and saw them, damn it, they thought they were seeing ghosts and were nearly scared half to death.
Of course, there were also heartwarming scenes of families reuniting.
Back in West City, Goku looked at Bulma uncertainly, not knowing how to bring it up.
"Goku, is something wrong?" Bulma noticed that he kept looking at her and was a little puzzled.
"B-Bulma, I might have to go away for another six months." Goku scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
He planned to go to King Kai's Planet to learn the Kaioken and Spirit Bomb. In the original story, Son Goku had spent nearly half of a year traveling, but Goku didn't need to. Six months would be enough.
Bulma was a little angry at first, but then she thought, What good would getting angry do? Training and growing stronger had always been Goku's hobby, and hadn't she gotten used to it over the years?
"Okay, go ahead. But we agreed, only six months."
Goku had been prepared for a scolding, but to his surprise, Bulma agreed so readily.
"That's great!" Seeing how happy Goku was, Bulma smiled too.
They weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend, yet their conversation made them sound just like a married couple.
After saying goodbye to Bulma, Goku went to the Lookout.
"Kami!" Goku found Kami as soon as he arrived.
"Goku, what brings you here this time?"
"Kami, could I ask you a favor?" Goku didn't know how to get to hell himself, so he could only ask Kami to take him.
"Go ahead, Goku. What is it?"
Over the previous year, Goku had gotten to know Kami and Mr. Popo well, so Kami was happy to help him.
"Could you take me to King Yemma?"
Goku's startling request left Kami at a loss for a moment.
"Hmm? King Yemma? Are you sure, Goku?"
"Yes." Goku nodded and spoke seriously.
"All right, then. Come with me."
Before long, Goku and Kami arrived at King Yemma's hall.
"Hmm? Kami of Earth, what are you doing here?" King Yemma looked at Kami and spoke in an unfriendly tone. After all, the Dragon Balls he had created had added quite a bit to the Underworld's workload.
"Lord Yemma, I brought this young man with me."
"Hello, Lord Yemma. My name is Son Goku. I'd like to ask King Kai to take me as his disciple."
King Yemma looked toward the voice and saw a boy.
"You mean Lord King Kai? Lord King Kai rarely takes disciples. Whether you succeed is up to you. The road over there leads to Lord King Kai's planet," King Yemma said, pointing to Snake Way.
"Thank you, Lord Yemma."
"Goodbye, Kami!" Goku waved to Kami, then flew along Snake Way toward King Kai's Planet.
"Hmm? What are you still doing here?" King Yemma had little patience for Earth's Kami.
Kami broke out in a cold sweat.
"Yes, Lord Yemma. I'll leave at once."