Chapter 21: Blown Up by the Daughter-in-Law
Near Pilaf's base.
Mai stood atop a giant plant.
Using her device, she detected Bulma and Goku's direction—which meant the Dragon Balls' location.
That's right—this bunch of clowns had also created a precise Dragon Ball Radar.
She picked up the communicator. "Lord Pilaf, I've detected a Dragon Ball signal at location 15. After multiple confirmations, their vehicle appears to be a golden cloud..."
"Good, that's them! Prepare for battle!"
"Understood!"
Mai ended the call and contacted Shu.
"Attention, attention. The Dragon Ball is moving at constant speed. This is our chance to intercept. Aim the missile trajectory prediction at the Dragon Ball's path and fire."
...
After passing through the Rabbit Gang's village where Goku easily dealt with the thugs under Bulma's direction without expending much energy, and with the radar showing the Dragon Ball was nearby, they continued without resting.
They aimed to obtain the final Dragon Ball before nightfall anyway, since the Flying Nimbus operated on autopilot.
Both eventually fell asleep lying on the Flying Nimbus.
Just as they were sleeping soundly, a missile struck the Flying Nimbus.
With a dull "thump," the cloud dispersed.
Bulma and Goku jolted awake to find themselves falling through the air while the pouch of Dragon Balls Bulma carried scattered everywhere.
After falling some distance, Bulma fully realized this wasn't a dream.
"Goku, save me!" she screamed.
Goku rubbed his eyes. Though his reaction was slightly delayed, he understood—their Flying Nimbus had been hit, causing them to fall. While he couldn't fly yet and had no immediate solution, the fall wouldn't kill him.
But Bulma was different.
The moment she cried for help, Goku tightly embraced her.
"Bulma! Hold on tight!"
With one hand, he drew the Power Pole and shouted: "Power Pole, extend!"
Instantly, the pole elongated downward.
By now Bulma had wrapped her limbs tightly around Goku, freeing both his hands to grip the Power Pole.
He swung it hard toward a giant mushroom-shaped plant.
"Crack!"
The massive plant split under the Power Pole's strike.
Goku achieved his goal—using the shattered plant for deceleration.
As the Power Pole struck the plant and continued downward, the fissure spread from the peak all the way to the roots, reaching ground level.
This provided sufficient cushioning for both Goku and Bulma.
Moments later, they landed safely.
Bulma's legs gave way as she sat panting heavily.
"Huff... huff... That was so dangerous! I was scared to death..." she said, still shaken.
She secretly checked herself. Well, at least she hadn't wet herself this time.
After riding the Flying Nimbus for days, her courage had grown considerably.
Goku stood up, scanning their surroundings for enemies.
A distant aircraft caught his attention, though it was rapidly moving away.
Pointing at the plane, Goku said: "Bulma, they're the ones who blew up our Flying Nimbus and made us fall. They stole the Dragon Balls too."
Startled, Bulma felt her empty pouch. Sure enough, the Dragon Balls had been taken during the fall.
"Ah! All our hard-collected Dragon Balls are really gone!"
Looking up at the aircraft, Bulma shouted: "Goku, use the Power Pole to shoot down that plane!"
But the moment she spoke, her voice trailed off in realization.
Because Bulma saw the airplane, and even more, she saw the pilot inside it.
Shu was piloting the aircraft while Mai triumphantly held the bag containing the Dragon Balls.
How could Bulma not be shocked upon seeing Mai's face?
In the future timeline, Mai was the leader of the Revolutionary Army—the one who guided the last remnants of humanity to survival, their final hope.
Trunks had battled Black Goku multiple times, and after being defeated and injured, he had been saved by Mai on several occasions.
In Bulma's eyes, Mai was practically her daughter-in-law.
But now, thinking about it, Mai was already this old.
That meant Mai was even older than Goku; she had spent her whole life following Pilaf, taking so many detours that it took her years to mature mentally.
Logically speaking, if Trunks were to marry her, her son would actually be at a disadvantage.
As Bulma was lost in thought, Goku suddenly shouted, "Power Pole, extend!"
Hearing Goku's yell, Bulma shuddered!
She quickly reached out and stopped Goku's Power Pole.
"Wait, Goku!"
Fortunately, as soon as Bulma intervened, Goku halted.
Otherwise, with that one strike, not only would the aircraft have been shattered, but Mai would have been either killed by the blow or fallen to her death from the crashing plane.
Stopped by Bulma, Goku looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong, Bulma? Why did you stop me? If they get farther away, I won't be able to hit them."
Bulma sighed in relief. "Goku, you need to learn to sympathize with the weak."
"It's just the Dragon Balls—you still have one, and without all seven, they're useless anyway."
"We have the Dragon Ball Radar; we can always track them down again."
Goku hadn't actually intended to take Mai and Shu's lives.
After all, those two clowns, along with their boss Pilaf, were purely comedic.
Even if they fulfilled their wish to rule the Earth, it wouldn't matter much.
Only those with absolute power can truly rule the planet.
Wishing on the Eternal Dragon isn't very useful—at best, you'd become a weak king.
Hearing Bulma's reasoning, Goku nodded.
"You're right. We have the Four-Star Ball, and the Dragon Ball Radar, so finding them will be easy."
Bulma placed her hands on her hips and gazed at the sky, a hint of disappointment on her face.
"What a shame—the Flying Nimbus was actually scattered by cannon fire. Now we have no transportation..."
However, she wasn't too disheartened.
In his previous life, Goku's Flying Nimbus had been dissolved by Tambourine's spit, but he later obtained it again.
It was during that time Bulma learned there were many Flying Nimbus at Korin Tower.
It's just that there are too few pure-hearted people in this world; hardly anyone can ride them.
Unexpectedly, Goku said, "Bulma, try calling the Flying Nimbus again."
"It was only scattered—it might still recover."
Bulma blinked curiously, then raised her voice and shouted.
"Flying Nimbus!"
Sure enough, with a "whoosh!", the Flying Nimbus flew over from the horizon once more.
Seeing the Flying Nimbus return completely intact, Bulma grew excited.
"Hahaha, great! You guessed right, Goku!"
"The Flying Nimbus is still here. Wonderful, we don't have to walk! Hahaha..."
As she spoke, Bulma flipped onto the Flying Nimbus.
"Goku, hurry up and get on! The Flying Nimbus is fast—let's chase that aircraft right away!"
Goku paused for a moment, then immediately jumped on.
"Coming!"