Early the next morning.
Tang En woke up on time and immediately turned over to check if the Dragon Ball under his bed was still there.
Seeing it still in place, he couldn't help but chuckle foolishly, picking up the five-star Dragon Ball and wiping it with his hand.
The Dragon Ball was smooth and cool to the touch. Tang En weighed it in his hand before starting his training for the day.
Meanwhile, that genius girl had finally discovered the Dragon Ball in her family's warehouse. After studying it, she began preparing to create a Dragon Ball radar.
Three months later.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Is anyone home?"
A girl with light-purple hair tied in a scorpion-tail braid knocked on Tang En's door, holding a round device in her other hand as she called out.
Tang En, who was in the middle of weighted training, took a deep breath and muttered to himself:
"She's here!"
Due to his constant training, the money Tang En earned from daily manual labor was barely enough to feed himself.
So after leaving the martial arts school, he moved to the outskirts of West City, which conveniently allowed him to train alone.
There was no one living near Tang En's place, so there was no doubt that the person looking for him was Bulma.
"Come in! The door's unlocked."
Tang En removed the turtle shell from his back, rinsed off casually, put on some clothes, and walked into his living room, where the girl was looking around curiously.
"It's really her," Tang En thought to himself.
Bulma soon noticed Tang En. The moment she saw him, she froze, her face turning bright red, her eyes practically turning into heart shapes.
"You, you, you..."
Then she turned away, covering her face as she began squealing excitedly to herself.
"Oh my, how did you know I was coming? You even took a shower specially—how embarrassing!"
"I'm not ready yet! Should I reject him later, or pretend to reject him before accepting?"
...
Tang En froze. Seeing it in person was truly different from just hearing about it—early Bulma really was as boy-crazy as in the comics.
"Miss, you are...?"
Although Tang En already knew, he still felt he should ask.
"Oh, just call me Bulma! And what should I call you, handsome?"
Bulma turned back, clasping her hands together and tilting her head to the side as she spoke to Tang En.
"Call me Tang En."
Bulma immediately jumped next to Tang En, squeezing his arm excitedly before exclaiming loudly.
"Wow, real muscles! So, Mr. Tang En, do you have a girlfriend?"
So hyperactive—completely different from her genius scientist persona.
Seeing Bulma react like this confirmed that his charm was indeed significant. This feeling—well, it wasn't bad at all."Miss Bulma, may I ask what brings you here?"
Tang En quickly changed the subject. He had long wanted to collect the Dragon Balls to make a wish, so he immediately inquired.
"Oh, it's like this. I found this ball in our family's warehouse."
"According to my research, there should be seven of these balls in total. If you gather all seven, you can summon the Eternal Dragon and have any wish granted."
With that, she took out her Two-Star Dragon Ball to show Tang En.
"By the way, Mr. Tang En, do you have any of these balls here? My radar shows that another Dragon Ball should be nearby."
Tang En silently criticized Bulma's character setting—despite being incredibly smart, she immediately blurted out the secret of the Dragon Balls.
Fortunately, neither the original Goku nor himself were the type to kill and rob, or else Bulma would have been done for right at the start.
Setting aside these random thoughts, Tang En quickly replied.
"A ball like this? I do have one, but can this thing really grant any wish?"
"What do you mean? Are you doubting the judgment of a genius girl like me?"
Bulma put her hands on her hips and glared at Tang En indignantly, as if she had been deeply insulted.
Tang En hastily shook his head and said to Bulma:
"Miss Bulma, I'm not doubting you. It's just... I'd like to ask you for a favor. As payment, I'll give you this Dragon Ball. How about it?"
"Then you've come to the right person! Go ahead and ask! I can handle anything!"
"I want you to make me a Power Level Detector—a device that can measure an enemy's strength and location. The more compact, the better.
The baseline unit should be set at five for an average adult male... This shouldn't be too hard for you, right...?"
To be honest, Tang En wasn't sure if Bulma at this point could actually create such a device.
"A Power Level Detector, huh... I've never heard of something like this before, but I'm confident I can make it."
Bulma thought seriously for a moment and found the project intriguing, so she agreed to Tang En's request without hesitation.
"But, if I do make this Scouter, besides the Dragon Ball, you'll have to agree to one more request from me.
You have to protect me while I search for the remaining five Dragon Balls. After all, you wouldn't want to see a helpless girl like me running around all alone, would you?"
Bulma widened her eyes and spoke pitifully.
Tang En was delighted—this was exactly what he wanted. He immediately agreed to Bulma's request.
Capsule Corporation
Tang En followed Bulma to her home. This time, with the young lady of Capsule Corporation vouching for him, the robots outside didn't stop them.
Bulma even set up an access authorization for Tang En, meaning from that day onward, he could freely enter and leave Capsule Corporation.
"Ohohoho, we have a handsome young man at home! Would you like to go on a date with this auntie?"
"Mom! Tang En is a guest! How can you say that?!"
Bulma fumed.
"Ohoho, is little Bulma angry? What a shame. Handsome, I guess our date will have to wait for next time."
Tang En stood to the side. Bulma's mom—just like every NPC in transmigration stories—would say this to anyone.
And so, Tang En settled down at Capsule Corporation. Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Bulma saw Tang En's weighted training and even specially crafted an adjustable-weight suit for him.
"Ta-da! Look, Tang En, I made it! Your Power Level Detector!"
Overjoyed, Tang En hurried over to examine the exquisite device.
"Bulma, you truly are a genius girl! You actually made it!"Seeing Tang En praise her, Bulma was very happy and looked as if it was only natural.
Tang En tried turning the device on Bulma. After a series of beeps, the screen displayed a "2." Tang En nodded—seemed like the unit was correct.
Next, Tang En pointed it at himself. As the dial fluctuated, the numbers quickly jumped to double digits before settling at 14.
"Wow, it's as high as 14! Tang En, you're amazing!"
When Bulma first finished making this device, she had checked some creatures. The largest dinosaur in their family only had a combat power of 9. Now, Bulma wasn't worried about the journey ahead at all.
To be honest, Tang En wasn't satisfied with his current strength. After all, he had been training with all his might over the years, yet his power level was only 14.
Indeed, having a teacher was crucial.
If he knew where the Turtle Hermit was, Tang En would have sought him out long ago.
However, thinking that Goku's current strength was only around 10, Tang En couldn't help but feel a little smug—at least he was stronger than Goku now.
Over the past half month, Tang En and Bulma had become good friends.
After all, Bulma was the typical rich, beautiful, and talented girl. Aside from being a bit boy-crazy, she had no other flaws, making it hard for anyone to dislike her.
Truth be told, like most people, Tang En had determination but lacked perseverance.
If this were an unknown world, Tang En doubted he could train day after day for two years.
Only by having expectations—knowing that through training, one could achieve anything in this world—did Tang En unleash perseverance far beyond that of ordinary people here.
So, any normal person wouldn't suffer for the sake of so-called "plot."
If a beautiful girl—a genius scientist, the world's richest, and a bit boy-crazy—fell from the sky, only a fool would refuse.
At this moment, Tang En just wanted to say, "Sorry, Vegeta. You'll have to keep being the tragic one."