...
Dragon Ball World, Earth, Age 750, July.
It had been over two months since Goku placed second at the 21st Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament, killed Tao Pai Pai, and defeated the Red Ribbon Army. After reuniting with his deceased grandfather, Son Gohan, he had set out once again on a journey of self-improvement.
For these two months, he had been training with relentless dedication. Along the way, he defeated two scoundrels calling themselves Kinkaku and Ginkaku, sparred with the martial artist Tenlong—learning the Phantom Star Fist in the process—and even ventured into the Demon Realm to rescue a princess.
"1121, 1122, 1123..."
On a steep mountain path, young Goku—whose tail had grown back—carried a massive boulder on his back. Despite the torrential rain, he gritted his teeth, performing one frog leap after another. This was one of the physical conditioning methods of the Turtle School.
Suddenly, a streak of light descended from the sky, striking Goku directly between the eyes. His vision went dark, and he collapsed unconscious.
When he woke up, he found himself in a vast, white void. Scattered throughout this space were countless glowing gates, each imprinted with symbols and text. Most of the images depicted people in various styles of clothing. He didn't recognize the characters of the writing at all, yet, strangely, he understood exactly what they meant.
"Marvel, Harry Potter, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, Inuyasha, Naruto..."
He read the names on the gates one by one until his gaze finally rested on the glowing door behind him.
"Isn't that me?"
To his surprise, the image on the door behind him was his own, and the text above it read "Dragon Ball." Curiously, he reached out and pushed the door. His mind went blank for a moment.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the rainy hillside where he had been training.
"What happened?"
Goku blinked, clearly unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
"Whatever, I won't think about it."
After pondering for less than five seconds, he abandoned the question entirely. He hoisted the giant rock back onto his shoulders and resumed his frog-leap training.
Since leaving Mount Paozu with Bulma, there had been too many things he didn't understand. It didn't matter. Understanding wasn't important… training hard to get stronger and winning the Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament in three years was what truly mattered.
By nightfall, the rain had stopped. Goku reached the summit with the boulder still on his back.
"I'm hungry!"
He set the rock down and rubbed his stomach. "I think I'll hunt a tiger for dinner today," he murmured.
With a few quick leaps, he vanished into the nearby forest. Half an hour later, he emerged dragging a saber-toothed tiger as large as a small car. An hour after that, Goku sucked the marrow from the final bone, patted his round belly, and closed his eyes in satisfaction.
In less than three seconds, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
However, three seconds after that, his body vanished from the spot.
Eight hours later, Goku opened his eyes and gave a massive stretch, ready to find some breakfast. But as he took in his surroundings, he fell back into confusion.
"Why am I here again?"
Indeed, he was back in the white space filled with glowing gates. He took a lap around the void before reaching out to touch the door with his own image again. As expected, he returned to the mountaintop where he had fallen asleep.
It was then he realized that as long as he touched the door with his picture in that white space, he could return to the place he had left.
"But how did I get there in the first place?"
Another question mark popped into his head. But Goku didn't overthink it. He went into the woods, caught a wolf for breakfast, and resumed his grueling training. Compared to the secrets of the white space, he cared far more about his progress.
That night, inside a cave, Goku fell asleep normally after a full day of training. Eight hours later, he opened his eyes and, sure enough, found himself in the white void again.
"Oh, I see. I come here whenever I sleep."
While Goku lacked a lot of common sense and didn't care for things unrelated to martial arts, it didn't mean he was slow. After two or three experiences, he quickly figured out the pattern. Sleep enters the white space… touch his own door to go back.
"Then what are these?"
This time, instead of touching his own door, he reached out toward a different glowing gate nearby. His mind blurred, and when he regained consciousness, he was standing in a strange alleyway.
"Oh! It's just like Master Korin's jars!"
Goku finally had an epiphany. Back when he was fighting Tao Pai Pai, he had climbed Korin Tower and received training from the cat hermit, Master Korin. During that time, he saw that Master Korin had several jars that could transport a person to different places in the world. He figured these doors worked the same way.
"I'm hungry, time to find food!"
Goku rubbed his stomach, preparing to leave the alley for some breakfast before continuing his training. To him, training was the same no matter where he was. Besides, since he had just woken up, he wouldn't be falling asleep to enter the white space and use the return door until nightfall.
"Gabriela, you can't run anymore!"
Just as Goku took a step, a harsh shout echoed from the entrance of the alley. Immediately after, he saw a woman clutching a young girl as she rushed into the alleyway. Behind them was a group of burly men armed with guns. The leader was the one who had shouted.
"Oh no, a dead end!"
The woman saw there was no exit and that a dazed-looking boy was standing in their path. Her face went pale as she turned to face the thugs. The men, however, looked delighted.
"Gabriela, the Commander said that if you bring X-23 back to the lab and tell us where the other test subjects are, he'll give you wealth beyond your dreams."
The lead captain ignored the strangely dressed, innocent-looking boy in the back, casting a wary glance at the girl in Gabriela's arms. That girl was Subject X-23. Gabriela had named her Laura, and she was the most dangerous mutant child in the laboratory.
"You monsters! I'll never give Laura to you!" Gabriela refused without hesitation.
She had been a nurse in Mexico City, working at a place called the Genetic Modification Research Institute. On the surface, the institute researched medicine, but in reality, they paid local Mexican women to act as surrogates for mutant children, who were then trained to be killing machines.
Recently, the institute's research had made a breakthrough, creating even more powerful subjects. Consequently, they decided to kill all the uncooperative mutant children.
After accidentally discovering the truth, she had risked everything to help the children escape. However, they had become separated during the flight. She had to get Laura to the rendezvous point to meet the others.
"In that case, don't blame us for being ruthless!"
The captain gestured to his men, who immediately aimed their weapons at the little girl as Gabriela set her down. Gabriela was just an ordinary nurse and posed no threat… the real danger was X-23.
"The Commander said if you won't cooperate, we can just bring back your corpses."
At that moment, two Adamantium claws slowly slid out from each of the girl's hands, her eyes filled with murderous intent. Just as the battle was about to erupt, the boy in the back suddenly leaped in front of Gabriela and Laura.
"Stop! What do you think you're doing?"
Goku questioned the group of thugs. They gave him a feeling very similar to the wicked Red Ribbon Army he had wiped out.
"Little boy, it's dangerous! Get out of the way!"
Seeing the boy trying to protect them, Gabriela became frantic. These armed men from the institute were cold-blooded monsters who wouldn't care if their target was a child.
"Get lost, brat!"
As expected, the captain didn't hesitate. He raised his gun and fired directly at Goku's head.
*BANG!*
The bullet whistled through the air, aimed straight for the space between Goku's eyes. But in the next second, every face in the alley was masked in disbelief.
"What?!"
"I guess you guys really are bad people," Goku said.
He tossed the bullet he was holding onto the ground and dropped into the Turtle School's fighting stance. Faced with the bullet, he had simply reached out and caught it.
Back when he first left Mount Paozu, he wouldn't have been able to catch a bullet with his bare hands—he would have had to tank it with his body. Getting hit by a bullet back then still stung a little. But after his adventures, his training with Grandpa Roshi, the Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournament, and his battle with Tao Pai Pai, his strength had grown immensely.
"Captain, look behind him… is that a tail?"
Regaining his composure, one of the men pointed at the tail twitching behind Goku.
"I see!" The captain's expression turned to one of realization. "I didn't think there were any wild mutants left. Kill him too."
If he saw a boy with a tail on the street, he would have assumed it was just a costume accessory. Thanks to the institute's years of "effort," wild mutants had practically vanished from the world.
None of the escaped test subjects had tails, either. However, since this boy could catch a bullet, he had to be a mutant. Who else but a mutant could do that?
Still, he wasn't too worried. Catching a bullet wasn't everything… plenty of mutants could do that. He had hunted all sorts of mutants alongside the Commander. So what if he could catch one? Can he catch two? Three? A hundred? Not everyone was a freak like Magneto.
Normal mutants, if they lacked numbers or combat experience, were no match for them. As long as they were carbon-based lifeforms, they couldn't withstand modern weaponry—mutants were no exception.
However, the moment the words left his mouth, he realized the boy had vanished.
"Where is he?"
In the next instant, he felt an unbearable blow to his abdomen. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious. As for the rest of the team, they saw the boy rush toward their captain like he was teleporting.
With just a simple punch, their battle-hardened leader was down. Before they could even turn their guns to aim, they all followed suit. Their eyes couldn't even track his movements.
"They're as weak as the Red Ribbon Army guys," Goku said.
Looking at the heap of unconscious thugs, Goku clapped his hands and turned to the stunned Gabriela with a smile. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
"I... I'm okay."
The shock in Gabriela's eyes was no less than that of the men Goku had just floored. She never expected to encounter a wild mutant child here, let alone one this powerful.
"Quick, we have to leave!"
Snapping out of it, she scooped up the little girl, grabbed Goku's hand, and ran out of the alley. That squad must have reported to the Commander before they were taken out.
If they stayed, a full mercenary force specialized in hunting mutants would arrive with submachine guns, snipers, and rockets. No matter how good the boy was at fighting, it wouldn't be enough.
Running out of the alley, she found her car, shoved Goku and Laura into the back seat, and slammed the gas toward her home in the west of the city.
"Where are we going?" Goku asked from the back, tilting his head. Since he didn't sense any malice from Gabriela, he hadn't resisted when she pulled him along.
"We're going to the west side. What's your name, little boy? Where do you live? I'll take you home first." Gabriela breathed a sigh of relief as they left the area.
Goku replied, "My name is Son Goku. I live at Mount Paozu. You don't need to take me home, I'm out on a training journey."
"Mount Paozu? Training?" Gabriela looked confused. She had never heard of a place called Mount Paozu, and "training"... what does an eleven or twelve-year-old boy need to train for?
"Then where are your parents? Do you have their phone number?"
The boy had just saved them, so even though their situation was dire, she intended to get him home safely. She also needed to warn his parents to leave the city before the institute found them.
"I don't have parents. My Grandpa found me and raised me," Goku answered honestly.
Gabriela glanced back at him, her eyes filled with pity. This child must have been abandoned by his parents because he was born with a tail.
"Then where is your Grandpa? Do you have his number?"
"Grandpa? Grandpa passed away. He lives in the Other World now."
Goku remembered the last time he saw his Grandpa at Fortuneteller Baba's place. Grandpa had said he was happy in the Other World and didn't want to be brought back with the Dragon Balls.
"I'm so hungry..." At that moment, his stomach let out a loud growl. He still hadn't had breakfast today.
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