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Aeris sat there eating vanilla pudding with a little spoon, and the pink bubbles practically floating off the top of her head were more than enough to show just how much she loved the stuff.
As far as Aeris was concerned, she could give away almost anything.
But not vanilla pudding.
That was the line.
Bulma looked at the Aeris currently radiating pink bubbles and felt helpless.
Did she seriously like this kind of pudding that much?
Every time Bulma saw her, she was eating it. At this point, you could practically say pudding never left her hands.
Maybe that was just how foodies worked.
Then again, Aeris never got fat, so maybe next time Bulma could just use her as a test subject whenever she tried new dishes.
At worst, she'd just reward her with an extra vanilla pudding afterward.
"Oh, right, Bulma. In a few days I'm going off to train, so can you prepare some food for me?"
"How much?"
Bulma was a little curious. Normally, Aeris never asked her to prepare anything. It was usually Bulma stuffing things into her hands instead. If Aeris was actually asking now, then she was probably planning to be gone for a while.
"A year's worth, I guess. A year's worth for my appetite."
Aeris said that without even looking up, because she was still busy battling the pudding.
Bulma sighed, but still made the call and told people to prepare everything Aeris needed. She also had plenty of medicine packed for her.
Not that Aeris would really need it.
But better safe than sorry.
After finishing the pudding, Aeris looked at Bulma.
"Want me to bring back any local specialties from other planets?"
"Some ores or other materials Earth doesn't have, I guess. Other than that, I don't really need anything."
Bulma patted Aeris on the head, then noticed the idiot was actually counting on her fingers.
No need to ask.
She was absolutely calculating how many puddings this deal would be worth.
"Alright, alright. Bring it back, and I'll make you an extra giant vanilla pudding. Happy now? Honestly, there can't be much in that little head of yours besides fighting."
Aeris scratched her head awkwardly.
Because, well…
That was true.
She couldn't exactly argue.
Ever since coming to Earth, it felt like the part of her brain responsible for intelligence had been sealed away. And a big part of that was because Bulma existed.
Aeris's external brain: Bulma.
Thinking was Bulma's job.
Aeris's job was protecting her.
A little while later, one of the people Bulma had arranged arrived carrying a small box no bigger than a palm. Inside were over a dozen capsules.
"God, I love you, Bulma. Alright then, I'm off~"
And just like that, Aeris flew off immediately, leaving Bulma reaching after her like some tragic heroine.
"Honestly… it's not like I was even going to nag you that much. Did you really have to run off that fast?"
Bulma shook her head helplessly, then went back to her lab and resumed her work.
——————————————————————
Aeris returned to her villa, took out the Dragon Balls, then flew to a remote area and summoned Shenron.
"Come forth… Shenron…"
The moment she finished the incantation, part of the sky darkened with heavy clouds, and a massive green dragon appeared overhead.
"State your wish. No matter what it is, I can grant you one wish."
Yep.
A very classic line.
"Shenron, can you send me to the place I went last time?"
Shenron replied,
"I can. However, because this wish is very nearly beyond the limits of my power, I can only guarantee that I send you there. I cannot guarantee your safety."
Aeris shook her head and said that was enough.
Shenron answered,
"Understood… One final warning. You can only remain there for one month at most. My power is limited. That is all I can do for you."
"Thank you…"
"Then farewell."
With that, Shenron split into seven Dragon Balls and shot off into the sky. But Aeris grabbed the Four-Star Ball before it could get away.
She still had to return that one to Goku, after all.
But right then, her body had already begun glowing white.
Aeris used Instant Transmission and appeared near Goku.
"So—"
Before she could even finish saying his name, she disappeared again.
Goku looked up, confused.
What the heck was that just now?
Something flashed past and vanished in an instant.
Huh?
A wild Four-Star Dragon Ball?
Meanwhile, our dear little Aeris was having a truly miserable time.
Ever seen a spinning top?
That was basically her current state.
If you added some dramatic music, it would've been even more perfect.
Aeris felt like she was genuinely going to lose her mind.
This trip through time was even worse than the last one.
Though to be fair…
Okay, no.
They were both awful.
Someone might ask, why not just use ki flight to control your direction?
The problem was that Aeris's eyes were already spinning into spiral swirls.
She could barely tell up from down, let alone fly properly.
And if she accelerated now…
That would just turn this spinning top into a spinning top with special effects.
Aeris had no idea how long she spun like that before things finally started slowing down. After a few minutes of recovery, she could finally control her direction again.
And after who knew how much longer, she finally saw light ahead.
That had to be the exit.
Aeris put everything she had into one last burst of speed, because she was so done with this place.
A little later…
She finally made it out.
With her face.
To be fair, though, it did technically count as landing safely.
Probably.
"Ptooey, ptooey… ate a mouthful of dirt from that one. Next time—actually, no. There is no next time."
Aeris grumbled as she climbed back to her feet.
Then she looked around.
This place somehow seemed even more wrecked than before.
Or maybe this was just one of the worst-hit regions.
Whatever.
Didn't matter right now.
First, she needed to find Bulma in this timeline.
After making that decision, Aeris glanced at the sky, estimated her direction, and took off.
And yes, before anyone asks, that was why she wasn't using Instant Transmission.
Because right now, everyone was trying to survive. Naturally, that meant they'd be suppressing their ki as much as possible.
And Bulma could control ki now.
Just not very well.
After flying at high speed for about ten minutes, Aeris finally reached Capsule Corp's old location.
And yes, old was the right word.
Because at this point, Capsule Corp was so destroyed it was barely recognizable.
"Looks like she's not here… Alright. I'll search the nearby area first. Bulma probably wouldn't have gone too far. Sometimes the more dangerous a place is, the safer it becomes, so she must've found a relatively safe location nearby."
Of course, not every dangerous place was automatically safe. Anyone who kept parroting nonsense like the more dangerous the place, the safer it is clearly wasn't using their brain.
In a situation like this, nobody with common sense would hide here.
It's not like the enemy would fail to think of that.
And if the enemy were that stupid, they wouldn't have managed to wreck the whole world like this in the first place.
After finishing that train of thought, Aeris decided to stop searching manually.
Because really—
If she couldn't find them, then why not make them come find her?
With that in mind, Aeris powered up directly, pushing her base form to the maximum.
The moment she released her full ki, the surrounding earth began shaking. Anything too close was blasted into deep craters by the pressure alone.
Far away, Gohan felt Aeris's aura and shot to his feet in excitement.
...
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