"Want to go faster?"
Su Ming held Bulma in his arms, smiling softly.
He had no idea just how shocked the girl in his embrace truly was.
She already knew he was strong. After all, she'd seen him shatter a tree with a single punch thanks to the Super Soldier Serum. But that strength still felt grounded within human limits.
But now… he could fly. Like a true superhero.
"Can the Super Serum really give someone the ability to fly?"
Bulma, with her genius intellect and scientific pedigree surpassing even her father Dr. Briefs, had thoroughly analyzed Su Ming's serum formula before. She knew for a fact it granted superhuman strength and agility, but definitely not flight.
"The serum can't do that on its own. Not all of my strength comes from it," Su Ming explained casually.
"This is martial arts. An application of ki."
Ki, or life energy, existed in everyone. His body had long surpassed human limits thanks to the serum, and his ki reserves were now dozens of times larger than average.
While he didn't have Master Roshi's centuries of experience, he had knowledge from another world. He knew how to tap into ki, and learning how to control it came surprisingly easy.
And flight Bukūjutsu was one of the most basic applications of ki. Even someone like Videl had learned it in a matter of weeks. For Su Ming, it was barely a challenge.
Still, Bulma wasn't interested in martial arts. Right now, she only cared about one thing: the sky.
"Faster! I want to touch the clouds! I've reached out from inside a plane before, but I've never actually flown through one!"
Like a commander charging into battle, Bulma raised her voice with excitement. Her whole face lit up.
Nearby, Goku sat cross-legged on his Flying Nimbus, eyes wide with wonder.
"Su Ming… you can fly too?!"
On a distant island...
Master Roshi, having just stepped off Turtle's back, glanced toward the sky.
"Could it be... the Crane Hermit?" he murmured.
After all, only one person he knew could fly without the Nimbus.
Su Ming and Bulma darted through the clouds, leaving sparkling trails of dew across their faces.
"Having fun?"
"It's amazing!" Bulma beamed.
Their eyes met in the air, and for a moment, time seemed to slow.
But someone had to ruin it.
"Su Ming, how did you do that? Can you teach me too?"
Goku zipped up beside them on his Nimbus, full of genuine curiosity.
Bulma's anger flared. She knew Goku didn't mean anything by it. He was just too innocent, too straightforward but still, he had the worst timing.
"Of course," Su Ming replied kindly. "You've got real talent. You could learn it in no time."
"Really?!" Goku's eyes sparkled.
After some time flying, the trio resumed their search for the Dragon Balls.
At a small village, they defeated the shape-shifting Oolong and claimed another Dragon Ball — though their group now included a talking pig.
Later, they crossed a desert, where they encountered Yamcha and Puar.
Su Ming didn't get involved in the fight. He left it all to Goku, who was more than happy to test his skills against real opponents.
Eventually, the radar led them to Fire Mountain.
Oolong, terrified, warned them about the legendary Ox-King who ruled the area with brute strength. But to Bulma, it didn't matter.
"With Su Ming protecting me," she declared proudly, "I don't care who this Ox-King is. Nobody can hurt me."
Whoosh!
Out of nowhere, a giant battle axe came flying toward them like a lightning bolt.
Su Ming stepped in front of Bulma without hesitation. His hand shot up and caught the axe mid-air, stopping it cold.
He could feel the weight and force behind the weapon.
"Not bad… strong throw."
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the axe back twice as fast.
Dozens of meters away, a massive figure over four meters tall caught the returning weapon with both hands: a fierce, middle-aged man with wild eyes and a beard like fire.
Clang!
The Ox-King brought down his axe to block, but the sheer force behind Su Ming's throw sent shockwaves up his arms. He staggered back several steps, pain radiating from his hands.
His chest tightened. He planted the axe into the ground to steady himself.
The Ox-King stared in disbelief. That boy barely half his height had almost knocked the weapon from his hands with a casual toss?
"That's the Ox-King you were scared of?" Bulma scoffed, arms crossed. "Looks pretty weak to me."
Oolong was slack-jawed. He never imagined the quiet teenager traveling with them was this powerful.
Thank the heavens he'd never tried to cross him.
"KID! ONE MORE TIME!" the Ox-King shouted, fury rising.
He stomped the ground, sending tremors through the earth, and grabbed his axe again.
Su Ming didn't respond. He calmly raised his hand.
A small, glowing ki blast formed in his palm.
The pressure it gave off was immense.
Clang!
The Ox-King dropped his axe. Then, without hesitation he dropped to his knees.
Only one person he knew could use energy blasts like that: his master, Master Roshi.
Even a small one like that could be more destructive than a tank shell.
"MERCY! PLEASE, I SURRENDER!"
He kowtowed over and over.
That's when he spotted Goku behind Su Ming his eyes widening at the sight of the Power Pole on the boy's back.
"Kid, where did you get that staff?"
"Oh, this? It's my grandpa's," Goku said innocently. "He left it to me after he died."
"And your grandpa is...?"
"Son Gohan."
The Ox-King froze — then burst into joy.
"Wonderful! I was Master Roshi's student too. Your grandfather and I were fellow disciples!"
He stood up, grinning.
"A big misunderstanding! We're practically family!"
But before he could take another step, Su Ming's expression turned cold.
"You want to die?"
The Ox-King stopped cold.
The killing intent in Su Ming's voice was unmistakable. It wasn't just a threat — it was a promise.
He slowly got back down to his knees.
Bulma didn't find Su Ming's attitude troubling. Even if he did kill the Ox-King, she wouldn't have batted an eye.
This so-called 'king' had been terrorizing Fire Mountain for years. Killing him would be doing the world a favor.
Besides, he had tried to kill them first. She didn't believe in turning the other cheek.
"If you want to live, go into your castle and bring me this kind of orb."
Su Ming held up one of the Dragon Balls, his voice cold and emotionless.
Go inside?
The entire mountain was burning. Even as a martial artist trained by Master Roshi, the Ox-King couldn't survive that kind of fire.
But Su Ming didn't care about the villagers the Ox-King had hurt. He wasn't out to play the hero.
He just believed: if you try to kill someone, you have to be ready to pay the price.