"Hey! What are you guys looking at over there? Enjoying the view?"
Goku and Bulma had appeared beside them at some point. Bulma's face was dark, and her tone was unfriendly.
She was gentle only with Goku. She had little patience for anyone else.
"N-no, nothing," everyone hurriedly explained.
"Hello, sister-in-law!" Aku called out from the side.
Aku's greeting nearly short-circuited Bulma's brain. She looked at Goku in puzzlement. Who's this? He sure knows what to say. He should say more.
Seeing the look in Bulma's eyes, Goku hurried to introduce them.
"This is Aku, my newly sworn younger brother. The woman beside him is his wife, Izu."
Bulma looked at the two of them. Thanks to Aku calling her sister-in-law just now, she had a fairly good impression of them.
"Hello, Aku, Izu. My name is Bulma."
"Hello, sister-in-law," Izu said from the side.
"Hello, hello, hello! Hello, sister-in-law." Bulma couldn't help getting carried away.
Goku looked at Bulma helplessly, then pulled her into his arms and spoke softly.
"I brought you quite a few gifts this time. As for what they are, I can't give them to you just yet."
"O-okay. W-why can't you give them to me now?" Clearly caught off guard by Goku's sudden move, Bulma stammered out her reply.
"There are quite a lot of them, so it's not convenient to take them out now. I'll give them to you when we get home."
"Mm, okay."
Bulma nodded, her face red, then turned to look at everyone and found them watching her and Goku with indulgent smiles.
Bulma was so embarrassed she could have dug a three-bedroom apartment with her toes. She reached out with her slender hand and pinched the soft flesh at Goku's waist.
"Ah! Ow, what was that for?"
Goku rubbed his aching waist.
"This is all your fault! Look at how they're looking at us! How can you even ask? Hurry up and go register."
With that, Bulma escaped from Goku's arms.
"Hey, everyone, long time no see!" Goku greeted Krillin and the others as he walked over.
Goku hadn't expected nearly everyone he knew to show up this time. Even Oolong had come.
"Goku, it's been almost two years, and you've gotten a lot taller again, haven't you? You're about 180 centimeters now, right?" Krillin said, sizing Goku up.
Krillin couldn't help feeling a little sad. He was the only one still short. How was he supposed to find a girlfriend when he was this short? Of the three fellow disciples, he was the only single dog left.
That was right, Yamcha had found a girlfriend too. He had overcome his fear of girls two years ago, and ever since then, Yamcha had gotten wilder and wilder. There was no telling how many girlfriends he'd had by now.
Krillin was incredibly envious, but it was also because of this that the gap in strength between him and Yamcha had grown wider and wider.
"Haha, exactly 180, not a bit more or less. By the way, Oolong, how come you're here too?" Goku asked, a little curious.
Oolong rolled his eyes at that.
"What do you mean, 'I'm here too'? Can't I come? You weren't on Earth, so you don't know. Demon King Junior announced that he'd be taking part in this World Martial Arts Tournament. If no one can beat him, he'll use force to rule the world," Oolong said irritably.
"Haha, I see. Sorry, Oolong."
Goku hadn't expected Piccolo to do that. It was different from the original story. It seemed this was another butterfly effect he had caused, but it didn't matter. No matter what else changed, it wouldn't change the fact that Piccolo was his family's babysitter.
Goku could sense that Tien Shinhan was the strongest of the group, followed by Krillin-not counting Aku, of course.
He checked the panel and found that Tien Shinhan's Power Level was as high as 602, more than twice what it had been in the original story. Krillin's Power Level was 532.
That was no easy feat. They hadn't used anything like a gravity chamber; through hard training alone, they were more than twice as strong as in the original story. Of course, his butterfly effect had also played a part.
"Goku, I hope you can use your full strength this time and show me the gap between us." Tien Shinhan looked at Goku from among the crowd with a bitter smile.
Only after getting to know Goku and the others had he learned just how strong Goku really was. He couldn't even match Goku from six years ago, let alone Goku now.
Such an enormous gap was truly enough to make a person despair! But Tien Shinhan wasn't discouraged. A setback like this couldn't defeat his pursuit of martial arts. In martial arts, he only needed to compare himself with himself, so why should he care about others?
"Mm, I will!" Goku replied seriously. This time, he had decided to make it quick for Tien Shinhan and finish him in a single blow.
After all, knowing Tien Shinhan as he did, that was how he could truly show him respect.
"Big brother, should I enter?" Seeing that they were all taking part in the World Martial Arts Tournament, Aku couldn't help feeling tempted too.
"Sure," Goku said indifferently.
But if Aku entered, no one there except Goku would be able to beat him.
After all, at this point in time, a four-digit Power Level was enough to completely overwhelm them, let alone a five-digit one.
"Huh? He's entering too?" Krillin looked at Aku doubtfully. Aku had hidden his Ki, so Krillin couldn't sense how strong he was.
"Krillin, don't underestimate him. He's the strongest one here after me. Be careful, or he might hold a grudge against you when you get in the ring." Goku looked at Krillin with a mischievous grin while giving Aku a look. Aku immediately understood.
As for what kind of look it was, take a guess.
"Hey, Goku, don't do this to me!"
Hearing Goku say that, Krillin began to panic and looked at Aku in fear.
In response, Aku gave Krillin a somewhat unfriendly look. In an instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck Krillin. I'm done for!
Krillin was instantly crestfallen. Seeing his expression, everyone couldn't help bursting out laughing.
"All right, all right, we won't tease you anymore, Krillin. Aku isn't that petty." Feeling the joke had gone far enough, Goku spoke up to explain.
Only then did Krillin realize he'd been tricked. Everyone else had seen through it, and he was the only one who hadn't. So he was the only one left in the dark.
Thank you, Mr. Left in the Dark!
Krillin gave Goku a resentful look.
"All right, all right, let's go register together," Yamcha said from the side, smoothing things over.
Hearing Yamcha's voice, Goku finally checked him with the panel.
Goku was startled by what he saw. Yamcha didn't even have 300 points, far behind Krillin and the others.
Alas, Tea God has fallen after all! Even with me here, I still couldn't change that.
"Yamcha, you haven't been training seriously these past two years, have you?"
Goku decided to give him a reminder and see if Yamcha could change.
Hearing Goku say that, Yamcha gave an awkward laugh, scratched his head, and said:
"Yeah. Even though I worked hard, the gap just kept getting wider. Even if I put in the effort, I might not be able to beat Krillin and Tien Shinhan. I think I'll just give up. My life's pretty good now."
Hearing that, Goku shook his head and abandoned the idea of trying to persuade him further. Yamcha was beyond help.
Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Master Roshi thought the same, but they didn't push him either. After all, Yamcha's ambitions lay elsewhere.
After everyone had registered, they entered the waiting room. A smile appeared at the corner of Goku's mouth. He had sensed him: his family's babysitter had arrived.