At night, Tang En turned on his Power Level Detector.
If anyone entered within a hundred-meter radius, the Scouter would beep—this had become Tang En's habit.
In this desert, the Scouter usually remained silent, but today it sounded.
Tang En didn't disturb Bulma or ask little Goku for help.
The power levels displayed showed he could easily handle the two approaching targets.
Tang En crept outside.
After a while, he saw two figures near the house, whispering to each other.
Changing his angle, Tang En noticed they were holding a bomb. He couldn't stay idle now and stepped forward.
The two figures bowed their heads and spoke into a walkie-talkie:
"Great King Pilaf, we've found the targets!"Just as the walkie-talkie emitted a signal to execute the mission, the two prepared to place the bomb next to the house.
Tang En, who had been watching the scene, suddenly recalled that these two were likely subordinates of King Pilaf.
Thinking about the usual antics of these three clowns, Tang En couldn't help but feel exasperated, though he still found them quite amusing.
One thing was certain—their technological prowess was not to be underestimated.
Nearby, Mai urged, "Ash, hurry up! If we get caught, how are we going to explain this to King Pilaf?"
As she spoke, she gave Ash a shove.
"Stop pushing me! Look what you've done!"
Ash twisted around and continued, "Now the bomb's stuck to my hand..."
"Ah! Get it off quickly!"
"I'm trying, but I can't move it..."
"How can you be so clumsy!"
"This is all your fault!"
Tang En: "..."
"Must be tough having a bomb stuck to your hand. Need some help?"
At that moment, Tang En stepped forward and addressed the two.
"Ah, no, thank you..."
"Eek—we've been spotted!"
Ash let out a shriek, climbed onto Mai's back, and the two bolted away at top speed, trembling uncontrollably once they stopped.
"Phew... at least it wasn't that brat with the stick..."
"Hey, if you know what's good for you, hand over the Dragon Balls now! King Pilaf might go easy on you!"
Mai mustered her courage and threatened Tang En.
Tang En remained silent. He knew these two had learned about the Dragon Balls from questioning the Turtle Hermit.
What puzzled him was when they had encountered Goku, given that Goku had been with them these past few days. But it wasn't a big deal.
Tang En quickly closed the distance, tore off the bomb, deactivated it, and destroyed it.
Then, with a swift punch each, he knocked out the trembling duo—they wouldn't be waking up until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
Clean and efficient.
"What a shame. If King Pilaf had shown up, we could've taken back that One-Star Dragon Ball."
After hauling the unconscious pair to a tree in a nearby valley, Tang En left them there and departed.
Early the next morning, Tang En and his group set off for Frypan Mountain, none the wiser about the attempted Dragon Ball heist the night before.
In a speeding car, Oolong grumbled under his breath:
"Hmph, fine! I'll just sit back and watch you all get torn to shreds and eaten by the terrifying Ox-King."
No one paid him any mind as the group raced across the desert.
Half a day later, a fiery red mountain came into view, its summit crowned by a castle engulfed in flames.
Even from a distance, the heat of the inferno was palpable.
"So this is Frypan Mountain? It lives up to its reputation."
Tang En marveled at the sight. After obtaining this Dragon Ball, only King Pilaf's remained.
Thinking this, he couldn't help but regret letting Mai and Ash go so easily.
Had he known, he could've had them lead him straight to Pilaf to reclaim the final Dragon Ball. Waiting around for others to attack was far too uncertain.
Bulma, on the other hand, seemed quite cheerful. With Tang En around, she felt utterly safe.Now Bulma was no longer obsessed with collecting the Dragon Balls, as her wish had already been fulfilled. She now treated gathering the Dragon Balls as just an interesting adventure.
"Saiyan, whether I can keep up with you depends on the Dragon Balls!"
It wasn't that Tang En lacked confidence, but his memories told him he had no reason to be confident. At this moment, Tang En clenched his fists and looked at the drowsy Goku beside him, his gaze growing resolute.
After waking Sun Wukong, Tang En pulled Bulma along and cautiously moved forward. After all, with his current strength, he definitely couldn't defeat the Ox-King, so caution was necessary.
Oolong, who noticed he was the only one left—and still in the Ox-King's territory—panicked and hurried to catch up with Tang En and the others.
"Heaven help me!"
"Heaven help me!"
Oolong clung to little Goku's arm, muttering incessantly. Goku felt extremely uncomfortable and said to Oolong, "Oolong, stop it! I can't even walk like this."
Snap!
Tang En stepped on a twig. The Power Level Detector showed that the Ox-King was right behind them, his 30 power level glaringly obvious.
Soon, the target began slowly closing in on them.
Not wanting to fail at the last hurdle, Tang En turned around and shouted, "Ox-King!"
The others were startled and quickly turned around.
Behind them stood a giant over three meters tall, gripping a massive axe, wearing a mask, and sporting a pair of menacing ox horns.
"O-Ox... King?" Oolong wished he could just play dead on the spot.
"You pesky brats! Are you here to steal my treasure? Don't you know the fearsome reputation of the Ox-King?" The Ox-King stood imposingly, glaring at them.
"So you're the Ox-King? I want to fight you!" Little Goku declared fearlessly, gripping his Power Pole and preparing to attack.
"Huh? The Power Pole? Where did you get that?"
"Huh? It's an heirloom from my grandpa."
"Who's your grandpa?"
Goku was confused, thinking this guy was really strange. Instead of fighting, he was asking about his grandpa. Still, Goku answered, "My grandpa's name is Son Gohan!"
"What?! So it really is Senior Brother Gohan! How is he doing now?"
"My grandpa's already dead."
"What?! Senior Brother Gohan is dead?!"
Hearing this, Bulma sighed in relief—after all, avoiding a fight was the best outcome.
"What's this? So we're all on the same side! I was worried for nothing. This is so frustrating!"
"My apologies. I thought you were here to steal my treasure. Good thing this young man stopped me." The Ox-King thanked Tang En.
Watching this three-meter-tall giant scratch his head and chuckle foolishly, Tang En couldn't help but find it amusing.
"Uncle Ox-King, we're here looking for a pearl like this. Do you happen to have one?" Tang En asked.
"A pearl like this... I think I might have seen one. But my treasure vault is surrounded by flames now, so I can't retrieve anything." The Ox-King examined the Dragon Ball and replied after some thought.
"Ah, what do we do then? Does that mean we'll never get the Dragon Ball?"Bulma said dejectedly.
"Don't worry, Goku. Go find Grandpa Turtle Hermit now. With his vast magical powers, he'll definitely have a solution."
Tang En spoke up from the side.
"What? You have news about Master Turtle Hermit? I haven't seen him in so long."
Ox-King immediately became excited and continued to the group:
"If the immortal comes, putting out these flames won't be a problem at all."
Bulma hadn't expected that skinny, lecherous old man to be so capable.
But out of trust in Tang En, she was willing to believe in this unreliable old man once.
"Goku, I have a daughter named Chi-Chi. I can have her accompany you to find Master Turtle Hermit."
He then told young Goku Chi-Chi's location. Hearing this, Goku happily agreed and shouted to the sky: "Flying Nimbus!"
"Then I'll go find Grandpa Turtle Hermit first! Bye!"
Goku jumped onto the Flying Nimbus, replied to everyone, and then disappeared from sight.
"Goku, remember to give my regards to Master Turtle Hermit~" Ox-King strained his voice shouting after the distant Goku.
Meanwhile, in a castle, the beeping sounds of machines rang incessantly, mixed with bursts of angry roars.
"Is the Dragon Ball radar not ready yet? Useless! Useless!"
A trembling Mai hurriedly said: "Lord Pilaf... it's almost... almost ready."
Lord Pilaf stomped his feet anxiously and said to Mai: "I don't care! I don't care! When I count to ten, I must see that Dragon Ball radar, or I'll feed you to the crocodiles!"
Mai was shocked and quickly turned back to work as Lord Pilaf began counting: "1, 2... 5"
Mai hurriedly turned around and asked Pilaf: "Lord Pilaf, what would you like for dinner?"
"Eh? Let me think, what should I eat? Hamburger with fried egg, small pudding, pizza... uh, what number was I at?"
"This humble one doesn't know either..."
"Ah... damn it, no choice but to start over. 1, 2..."
Mai turned around again and said: "Lord Pilaf, there's a super cute waitress at a shop on Eighth Road."
"Ah? Really? Is she really cute? Hehehehahaha..."
Drool dripped from Pilaf's mouth as he giggled foolishly to himself...