Chapter 22: The Kiss of a Beautiful Girl
Pilaf's Castle.
Mai and Shu both bowed in apology.
"We're sorry, Lord Pilaf!"
"If only we had counted them back then!"
Pilaf glanced at the radar, a casual smile playing on his lips.
"It doesn't matter. The radar shows the last Dragon Ball is coming toward us."
"Looks like they've caught up with us."
"What?"
"So soon?"
Mai and Shu stared at the radar in surprise.
"It's true! Could they have fixed their cloud already? That fast?"
Shu marveled, "Not only that, but they're heading precisely in our direction."
"No doubt about it—they must have a Dragon Ball Radar too!"
Mai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, without a radar, they couldn't have gathered six Dragon Balls."
"But they're so sneaky, keeping one Dragon Ball separate."
"Now we're still missing one. How annoying."
Pilaf laughed heartily. "Hehehe, it doesn't matter."
"We're about to collect all seven Dragon Balls anyway. Sigh~"
"How lonely it is!"
"After all the hardships, I, the great King Pilaf, can finally rule the world!"
"Bwahahahaha…"
Suddenly, Mai froze, staring intently at the Dragon Ball Radar.
"Lord Pilaf, look—they seem to be turning back."
Pilaf: "What? What's going on?"
Shu: "Could it be that they're scared after seeing how magnificent our castle is?"
Pilaf's eyes lit up.
"Shu makes a good point."
"What can I do? My power is immense, my foundation unshakable—I can't even hide it!"
"To think we scared off our prey... what a pity…"
"AHAHAHAHA…"
Mai asked, "Then, King Pilaf, what should we do?"
"You two, take the robot and chase them. We must get that Dragon Ball!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
With that, the two hurried off toward the robot room.
...
On the Flying Nimbus, Goku and Bulma both spotted Pilaf's castle.
They hovered in the air not far from the castle.
Bulma sighed. "I didn't realize we were so close. We caught up to them before even reaching their castle."
Goku turned to look at Bulma.
"What should we do? Charge in, or should I blast the castle with a Kamehameha?"
Kidding—if Goku blew up the castle, they'd all die.
Even if they stole the Dragon Balls, they didn't deserve that!
Bulma surveyed the surroundings, glancing at the castle and then up at the sky.
By now, the sun had set, and darkness was soon to fall.
A full moon hung in the sky, half-hidden behind wispy, veil-like clouds.
Seeing this, Bulma suddenly remembered.
Though history had some differences, it was strikingly similar.
On that night in her past life when they were searching for the last Dragon Ball, many of them had been trapped in Pilaf's castle.
In their desperate situation, Goku saw the full moon, transformed into a Great Ape, and destroyed Pilaf's castle.
It was only when Puar transformed into scissors and cut off Goku's tail that the crisis was averted.
Now the full moon was about to appear, and Goku still had his tail—it was a dangerous situation!
She immediately said, "Goku, let's not rush to find the Dragon Ball right now."
"This place is dangerous. Let's leave for a bit."
As she spoke, Bulma steered the Flying Nimbus away, flying off in the opposite direction.
Goku looked puzzled.
"Bulma, we're about to find our Dragon Ball. Why are we leaving?"
"Are you worried I can't beat them?"
Bulma quickly tore a strip of cloth from her clothes.
"Goku, how about we play a game?"
Bulma suggested in a playful tone.
Goku looked at the cloth strip, even more puzzled. "What game?"
"Don't resist, close your eyes, and do as I say."
"Okay!"
Goku trusted Bulma completely, allowing her to blindfold him with a cloth strip.
"What's next?"
Goku asked.
As soon as he spoke, Goku suddenly realized Bulma's intention and nearly broke out in a cold sweat.
Counting the days roughly, the night of the full moon had arrived.
Did Bulma know about his transformation into the Great Ape when he saw the full moon?
Doubt arose in Goku's mind.
He immediately tried hard to recall the scene when he left Mount Paozu with Bulma.
When they left Mount Paozu together, Grandpa had pulled Bulma aside and privately instructed her about many things.
At first, Goku thought it was about telling Bulma to take care of him.
But now, upon second thought, it might have been related to his transformation on the night of the full moon.
Having lived with Grandpa Gohan for over ten years, even though he deliberately avoided the moon, there were still moments of carelessness that were hard to avoid.
A flash of insight crossed Goku's mind.
Goku remembered—that year, when his tail grew back after being cut off, he had definitely transformed into the Great Ape.
Although he couldn't remember what he had done, he recalled that after waking up, not only was the house damaged, but many parts of the mountain terrain had been destroyed as well.
Moreover, that day after waking up, Grandpa said a storm had damaged the house at night, and during the day, he even took him to buy a Capsule House.
Unfortunately, they didn't have enough money, so they returned to the mountain to cut trees and build the house themselves.
Thinking back now, it definitely wasn't a storm!
That time, it must have been his own transformation, and Grandpa had discovered his secret.
After that, aside from Goku deliberately avoiding the full moon nights, Grandpa also cooperated with him, never taking him out to play on full moon nights.
So, when Bulma and Goku left Mount Paozu, Grandpa must have told Bulma this secret.
Goku let out a deep sigh of relief.
It was as if he had finally figured out the cause and effect.
These past few days, he had been so focused on searching for the Dragon Balls that he had forgotten about his ability to transform, nearly causing a disaster.
Luckily, Bulma was more careful than him and remembered it for him.
Just at that moment, Goku suddenly felt a gentle, warm touch on his face.
Goku was startled.
His sense of smell was exceptionally sharp—he clearly detected Bulma's scent. It was Bulma's kiss.
"Bulma, what are you doing?"
Bulma said, "Goku, I just remembered something."
"When we fell from the Flying Nimbus earlier, you saved my life."
"So, congratulations—you've earned a kiss from a beautiful girl!"