Early the next morning.
Bulma woke from her sleep and looked out at the clear sky. It was another bright, sunny day.
She stretched, yawned, and walked outside.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw a strange man training alongside Goku.
Puzzled, Bulma looked at the stranger and found him increasingly familiar.
Wasn't he the robber who had been lying on the ground yesterday with half his face swollen? His face had been swollen before, but now the swelling had gone down, so she hadn't recognized him at first.
Bulma walked up to Goku and asked quietly,
"Goku, isn't that the robber? What's going on?"
"Him? His name's Yamcha. He isn't bad at heart, so I invited him to join us, and he agreed."
Goku answered as he did push-ups.
"He joined us? Just like that? What did you promise him to make him join?"
Bulma didn't believe a few words alone could have persuaded Yamcha to join them.
"I promised to recommend him to Master Roshi, and he joined us."
"Who is Master Roshi? That martial arts master?"
Master Roshi was famous enough that even Bulma had heard of him.
"Right."
"How can you recommend him? Don't tell me you're Master Roshi's disciple?"
Considering Goku's age, Bulma could only arrive at that answer.
"That's right. So? You're not getting a bad deal having me train you, are you?"
"Yes, yes, our Master Roshi's beloved disciple," Bulma said irritably, rolling her eyes.
With that, Bulma turned to Yamcha.
"Hello, Yamcha. I'm Bulma. I look forward to getting along with you."
Normally, Bulma was quite polite and ladylike.
"H-hello."
Yamcha was a little afraid to look at Bulma. Early on, Yamcha was still very afraid of girls, unlike later, when he became such a flirt.
"Goku, you two keep training. I'll go make breakfast."
After letting them know, Bulma headed for the kitchen.
"Okay."
Goku looked at Bulma, a little puzzled. Why wasn't she swooning over Yamcha? Hadn't she swooned when she saw him in the original story?
Goku shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Bulma had already behaved differently from the original story before, so it was normal for her to be different this time too.
"Huh? Goku, you eat that much? Does being so strong have something to do with eating so much?"
After breakfast, Yamcha stared at the tall stack of plates beside Goku, his jaw dropping. The thing was, Goku was still eating.
"There's probably some connection?"
His strength had a lot to do with being a Saiyan, and Saiyans had huge appetites, so it wasn't wrong to say that.
Hearing Goku's answer, Yamcha lowered his head and started eating again. He was full, but it was all for the sake of getting stronger.
Before long, Yamcha couldn't eat another bite. But when he looked up and saw that Son Goku was still eating, he gritted his teeth.
Burn, my little universe!
Half an hour later, the RV was driving across the wilderness.
Goku was doing push-ups, while Yamcha sat on the sofa beside him, his belly sticking out and both hands holding it, looking like he wanted to die.
"Goku, you led me astray!"
"Serves you right. You chose to eat it yourself. You should know that everyone's constitution is different."
Bulma retorted mercilessly.
Two days later, Bulma and her group of five left the wilderness and arrived among a range of mountains.
"This place is so strange. It's in the north, but it's so hot. Oolong, turn on the air conditioning."
Bulma wiped the sweat from her forehead as she spoke.
"That's because Mount Frypan is just ahead. This place used to be called Mount Frypan, and it was cool even in summer. But one day ten years ago, a great fire fell from the sky, and it's been a flaming mountain ever since!"
Oolong explained as he drove.
"Look, that's Mount Frypan ahead."
Everyone looked in the direction Oolong pointed. Flames blazed on a tall mountain, but strangely enough, there were no flames at the summit, where a palace stood.
"What a huge fire! It's unscientific. It's been burning for ten years and still hasn't gone out," Bulma exclaimed.
"The Ox-King should be just ahead, but we have Goku with us, so we don't need to be afraid of him."
Oolong was still a little afraid when he thought of the stories about the Ox-King.
"Who's the Ox-King?"
Bulma hadn't actually heard Goku and Oolong discussing the Ox-King earlier, so she was a little puzzled.
"You don't know? He's the king of demons. He kills everyone who comes near Mount Frypan. He lives halfway up the mountain. The palace on the mountain was originally his home too, but he can't get back because of that fire."
"You know that much about him?"
Bulma hadn't expected Oolong to know so much.
"It's all written clearly in books."
"Then what do we do now? The Dragon Radar shows that the Dragon Ball is on Mount Frypan." Bulma was at a loss.
"On Mount Frypan? Then it should be in the palace. The Ox-King kept all the treasure he stole there."
Oolong reminded Bulma.
"Huh? What do we do? Goku, can you fly up there?" Bulma looked to Goku for help.
"Hmm... have you considered whether the Ox-King would agree to us taking the Dragon Ball?" Goku asked them in return.
"What are you afraid of? Goku, you're so strong, just snatch it."
"Yeah, exactly," Yamcha chimed in, agreeing with Oolong.
"Snatch it, my foot!"
Goku promptly rapped Oolong on the head.
"Ow, that hurts! What did you hit me for?"
Oolong immediately covered his head and rubbed it, looking at Goku in confusion.
"All you ever think about is snatching things. Have you considered helping the Ox-King put out the fire and having him give us the Dragon Ball?"
"Yeah, exactly." This time it was Bulma's turn to chime in.
"Let's wait now. The Ox-King should be coming out soon."
Goku could already sense the Ox-King's aura approaching them.
Before long, a rough voice reached their ears.
"Hey, what are you brats doing at the foot of Mount Frypan? Are you trying to steal my treasure?"
A tall, burly figure emerged from the woods, holding a giant axe and wearing a hat.
"Mr. Ox-King, you've got the wrong idea. We want to help you put out the fire," Bulma hurriedly explained.
She had no choice but to explain. Who wouldn't be scared at the sight of someone so huge?
"What? Help me put out the fire?" The Ox-King didn't register it at first.
"Wonderful! If you can put out the fire, you can choose anything you like from my treasure as your reward."
With that, the Ox-King burst out laughing.
"But how are you going to deal with such a huge fire?"
"Hm? Kid, what's that staff on your back?" The Ox-King had noticed the Power Pole on Goku's back.
"My grandpa left it to me. Did you know him?"
"Grandpa? Are you Son Gohan's grandson?"
"Yeah. My name's Son Goku, and Son Gohan is my grandpa."
"Haha, sorry for my rudeness just now. I didn't know you were Gohan's grandson. Your grandpa and I trained together under Master Roshi."
Hearing that he was Son Gohan's grandson, the Ox-King immediately grew much friendlier.
"Master Roshi? I've become his disciple too."
"That's wonderful. You must be very talented in martial arts."
"By the way, I've already sent my daughter to borrow the Bansho Fan from Master Roshi. You can just wait here. Once she brings it back, we can put out the fire. Then you can pick something from my treasure as a welcome gift."
Oolong and Yamcha exchanged a glance as they watched how friendly Goku and the Ox-King were.
They could see it in each other's eyes: they hadn't expected Goku to have connections too. Only the two of them had it rough.
Sure enough, some people were born in Rome, while others were born as mules and horses.
They looked to the sky-