Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of wood tapping against the floor echoed as the old master slowly made his way back to his room.
"Tang En, what brings you here?"
Old Master Muer pushed open the door, leaning on his cane as he looked at Tang En inside.
Seeing the old master return, Tang En spoke up.
"Grandpa, I came to say goodbye. I'll be leaving the dojo today."
"I might even leave West City soon. Thank you for all your kindness these past years. I'll definitely come back to visit you."
The old master shuffled further into the room, cane in hand.
"Leaving, huh... It's already been two years since you came here. Time flies."The old curator set down his cane and slowly sat in his chair.
"Yes, thanks to Grandpa's guidance over these past two years, I now have the ability to do some of the things I want to do."
The old curator smiled, his expression very kind.
"Good, it's good to go out. Young people should go out and explore."
"Grandpa, I have a request."
Tang En said to the old curator:
"Grandpa, could you give me this bead? I really need it."
"Oh? This bead... I remember picking it up a long time ago. It would glow from time to time, so I hung it on the chandelier."
"If you want it, take it. To me, it's just a decoration."
Tang En was overjoyed and quickly expressed his gratitude.
"Thank you, Grandpa! I'll definitely come visit you when I have time!"
The old curator, Muer, had one leg that couldn't move, reportedly due to tissue necrosis from an impact.
Tang En resolved that once he obtained a Senzu Bean, he would give one to the old curator to heal him, as repayment for the two years of meals.
...
Tang En returned to his rented room. The inheritance left by this body's parents had been nearly spent by now, but fortunately, it had been enough.
Tang En moved a table aside and lifted a hidden compartment he had made beneath it. Opening it, he took out a Capsule Corp. capsule.
Inside the capsule were two notebooks. One was written in the simplified Chinese characters of his past life, recording various plot points of the Dragon Ball world—things Tang En had jotted down for fear of forgetting. The other was a simple plan he had drafted over the past two years.
Tang En opened the planner. Over these two years, he had spent his free time racking his brains to devise his development path.
First, he had given himself a clear position:
He was no match for Sun Wukong. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how to use an Earthling's body to overpower the various Super Saiyans in the later stages.
Perhaps the Earth's Dragon Balls could help, but Tang En didn't believe they could solve everything.
The Super Dragon Balls? Well, he'd have to obtain them first.
In his notebook, Tang En listed two things he wanted: one was immense combat power, and the other was an exciting life.
Combat power went without saying—who wouldn't want the strength to destroy planets with a flick of their wrist in this world? If possible, Tang En would certainly want to face off against the future big bosses.
The second was what Tang En truly yearned for. Compared to that, he wasn't too fixated on becoming the strongest in the universe or the like.
He wasn't a Saiyan, hot-blooded and combative. He didn't want to exhaust himself trying to surpass Goku just to solve all of Earth's disasters.
Even if he could do it, he might not do it as well as Goku, so why obsess over it?
Moreover, in a world as miraculous as Dragon Ball, there were countless paths to becoming strong—but where was the end of that road?
After Supreme Kai came the God of Destruction, after the God of Destruction came the Angel, then the Grand Minister, and Zen-Oh... Who knew what came after that?
Tang En believed that having a group of companions who cared for him, who would go to great lengths to revive him if he died—wasn't that a wonderful thing?Tang En had read many Dragon Ball novels in his previous life. He believed that even if he had a cheat ability—let alone not having one—and was a Saiyan, given his current level of wisdom, he still wouldn't have complete confidence in surpassing Sun Wukong.
Unless that cheat was so overpowered it was hard to look at...
Still, in the early stages, the gap between Earthlings and Saiyans wasn't impossible to bridge.
Tang En made up his mind—at the very least, before Raditz arrived on Earth, he had to be in the first tier of the Z Fighters.
After all... compared to the others, Tang En's greatest advantage was his unique perspective. He could use the Dragon Balls to benefit himself.
However, the other Z Fighters would absolutely disdain using external means to enhance themselves, especially someone with a personality like Tenshinhan.
Thus, Tang En's first plan for rising to power was to use the Eternal Dragon to alter his bloodline and turn himself into a Saiyan. Beyond that, he also considered Majin bloodline, Frost Demon bloodline, and Android bloodline.
But this was just speculation. After all, the barriers between races weren't something that could be easily broken, and he wasn't even sure if the Eternal Dragon had that capability.
The second plan was Tang En's own conjecture.
In Dragon Ball, the reason Goku always stayed one step ahead of Vegeta—aside from protagonist plot armor—was largely because Goku had a lifetime of top-tier mentors and an abundance of techniques.
From early teachers like Son Gohan, Turtle Hermit, Korin, and Popo, to later ones like Kami, King Kai, the Yardratians, and even Whis—all of them had trained Sun Wukong.
In the end, Goku's ability to master Ultra Instinct was likely tied to this solid foundation.
So, the second point was to seek out the strongest teacher in the universe—Whis—and see if he could break his own limiter.
Though it sounded difficult to get an Angel to train him, considering the personalities of the experts in the Dragon Ball world, it wasn't entirely impossible.
The third point was the Super Dragon Balls... which needed no further explanation.
After that, he listed several more paths to power, all originating from mysterious places like Fire Mountain, the Demon Realm, the Underworld, and various other locations.
But all of them would require testing, as they were just Tang En's own guesses based on the wild theories of internet users from his past life. He had no idea if they were feasible.
However, one thing was certain—if he took things seriously, becoming one of the strongest Earthlings was absolutely achievable.
On top of that, getting to know the main cast would be even better.
And this was exactly what Tang En wanted. He had always loved the characters in Dragon Ball.
People like Sun Wukong, Bulma, Vegeta, and Krillin were all characters he adored.
He had even thought that if he ended up as a minor character like Tenshinhan or Yamcha, he might as well marry a beauty like Bulma or Android 18 and live a carefree life—at least then his transmigration wouldn't be in vain...
And given the unscientific nature of this world, none of this was beyond reach.
Tang En looked at his reflection—his 178 cm height, well-proportioned and muscular physique, and bright, handsome face. Aside from a bit of lingering youthful immaturity, he was undeniably a looker...
At least, in Tang En's eyes, he had rarely seen anyone more handsome than himself in the past two years.It's important to note that Tang En is only fifteen years old now, and who knows what he'll be like in a few years. Not to mention others, but that genius (and boy-crazy) girl is exactly into this type.
"I should at least get Bulma to give me a flying car..." Tang En thought to himself.
First, daily training must not be forgotten. Then, after finding Bulma, he needed to figure out a way to have her make a Power Level Detector—this item was absolutely essential, undoubtedly a game-changer in the early stages when the concept of Energy wasn't yet established.
Next would be to join Bulma in searching for the Dragon Balls and finally use the Eternal Dragon to make a wish. This was crucial, as it concerned his entire early-stage development while also preventing the wish from being wasted by Oolong.
Tang En lay on his bed, continuously pondering his future direction.
...