In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and the World Martial Arts Tournament officially began. The scale and influence of the tournament were far greater than in the past—it had become a global event!
The theme of this year's conference was "The Strongest Man on Earth," a title that alone captured the imagination of countless people.
The King of the World personally delivered a televised address to the conference, wishing the event a smooth run. The prize money had been increased dozens of times over, attracting competitors from every corner of the globe.
In addition to the main arena, several sub-venues were set up to accommodate the massive number of contestants and spectators. Overwhelming displays of colorful flags created a jubilant atmosphere. Street vendors sold collectible cards; Mr. Satan was an "S-level" character, while Master Roshi was a rare "Z-level" character.
Without the participation of Raditz and the others, the power level of the competition was greatly reduced, yet the intensity wasn't diminished at all. It was precisely because the fighters were at a similar level that they could clash and create genuine excitement. The intervention of characters who were too powerful would only ruin the competition for the spectators.
But Android 18 still went. Raditz didn't know when she'd developed such a love for money, but she was going purely for the grand prize.
Gohan also attended, invited by Videl to be in the audience and cheer for her. Even Rukon clamored to see the event, wanting to visit with Goten and Trunks.
Raditz had originally planned to go and observe if he had nothing else to do, but a message from the Supreme Kai interrupted his plans.
Instead, Raditz immediately flew to the Supreme Kai's Realm.
"You called me so anxiously, what happened?" he asked.
Under the large, mystical tree, the Supreme Kai and Kibito looked grim. When they saw Raditz, the Supreme Kai immediately cried out, "Raditz, you're here! Something is wrong!"
"Don't worry, don't worry, it's not certain yet," the Elder Kai said, sounding calmer. He held a massive crystal ball in his hands.
"What is it?" Raditz pressed.
"Majin Buu... Majin Buu is gone!"
"What do you mean?" Raditz frowned in confusion. For the past few years, the Supreme Kai and his attendants had focused on searching for the wizard Babidi and guarding the location of Majin Buu's sealed egg, while Raditz concentrated on improving his own strength.
Timing-wise, it was now the moment for Babidi to try and summon Majin Buu. That meant the World Martial Arts Tournament was likely the time for Babidi's men to make their move! But the Supreme Kai sadly explained, "We've been paying attention to Babidi's whereabouts, searching for him piece by piece through the movements in the Demon Realm. We finally tracked Babidi down! But... but he has already found Majin Buu's egg!"
The Supreme Kai's voice trembled, and his eyes were wide with horror.
"Wait, wasn't Majin Buu's egg on Earth?"
"We did place it on Earth once, but after so many years and changes, we didn't know its precise location. Babidi should never have been to Earth, so the fact that he got the Majin Buu egg is too surprising."
"So how do you know this now?" Raditz asked.
The Elder Kai pointed to his crystal ball. Since his fusion with the old witch, he possessed a special magical ability, allowing him to use the crystal ball to view specific places. But now the crystal ball was empty; no image was displayed.
"The Ancestor used his crystal ball to search for a long time and finally found Babidi's trail. We saw the sealed Majin Buu egg, and then we realized it! It's just that Babidi seemed to notice us observing him and used his magic to block the Ancestor's scrying."
The Supreme Kai carefully explained, sending Raditz into deep thought.
Babidi was a powerful sorcerer who could use a magic barrier to survive Vegeta's self-destruction, so his energy was obvious. It made sense that he could block the Elder Kai, but the fact that he could spirit away the Majin Buu egg without anyone noticing was appalling.
There were so many fighters on Earth, including Raditz himself; it was impossible that Babidi and his subordinates could have snuck onto the planet without being detected.
Furthermore, the surveillance satellites deployed by the Galactic Justice League outside of Earth were constantly watching movements in space. Babidi and his crew used spaceships for travel, so they would surely have been detected.
Then... Raditz suddenly recalled something: "Wait, I understand!"
"What is it?" The three of them leaned in and looked at Raditz suspiciously.
"The Earth was once destroyed by Boundless, who wiped out the whole planet. Later, we used the Dragon Balls to restore the Earth and resurrect the people who were killed. Maybe his egg survived the blast and was simply tossed somewhere else."
"No! Impossible!" The Supreme Kai immediately denied it. "If Majin Buu suffers an excessive energy impact, he would likely wake up early..."
"Hold on," Raditz interrupted the Supreme Kai. "You know what level Majin Buu is, right?"
Hearing Raditz's words, the Supreme Kai and Kibito were stunned. The wind blew through their hair and clothes, and they suddenly felt a chill run through their bodies.
Yes, it was only likely that he would wake up early; it was hard to say whether the power of the explosion had reached the specific energy limit. They knew the horror of Majin Buu best; their very lives were remnants of his terror. Raditz's explanation was, in fact, the more plausible one!
The Elder Kai cleared his throat twice. "Alright, no matter what, Babidi's first step has been realized. Now we need to find him and stop him from resurrecting Majin Buu."
"Yes, the Ancestor is right. I invited Raditz here precisely for this reason. It's just... time is extremely urgent!"
"Time is not the problem," Raditz said. "Babidi needs a huge amount of energy to revive Majin Buu. It will take him a long time to collect that from other planets. The key is that if even you can't find his location, there's no way I can stop him."
"Dragon Balls," the Supreme Kai said immediately. "It can be solved with the Dragon Balls."
Dragon Balls could truly solve many problems, but the Elder Kai was highly reluctant to use them. The use of Dragon Balls more or less broke the natural laws of the universe, so he didn't advocate for it.
But faced with a major universal crisis, the Elder Kai had no choice but to compromise, so he remained silent.
Raditz nodded. "I'll need to use Rukon's Dragon Balls this time. I'll head to the Saiyan Homeworld."
"Excellent! If you can, bring them with you. One more person will help," the Supreme Kai said, his anxiety evident. He and Kibito couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat just mentioning Majin Buu. Naturally, the more powerful people they had standing by, the better—it would at least give him some courage.
Seeing the Supreme Kai clenching his fists to cheer himself up, Raditz thought the god looked a bit pathetic. It wasn't easy for the majestic Supreme Kai to be so terrified. Ultimately, it was all due to the lingering shadow of his youth.
Raditz shook his head helplessly and then instantly teleported to the Saiyan Homeworld.