Marshal Black smiled as he watched Yamcha leave, then turned with a serious expression to the young Black officer beside him.
"Lieutenant Black, I'm giving you six months. Drop everything else and build a device."
"You have full access to all the resources of the Red Ribbon Army to complete this task."
"From this moment on, this is the number one top priority for the Red Ribbon Army. Understood? My lieutenant?"
He placed special emphasis on those last words: my lieutenant.
"Yes sir, Marshal! I will complete the mission!"
Lieutenant Black bowed his head repeatedly, but no one saw the expression on his face at that moment.
After the lieutenant left, Marshal Black muttered to himself alone in the room:
"That Colonel Brown is truly a lucky star for me. To think he'd bring such great news."
"The Dragon Balls… all seven of them will be mine!"
"Decades of dreaming will finally come true. Hahahahaha... hehehehehe... sob sob sob…"
The villain's signature laugh echoed through the room, which eventually turned into strange sobs.
———
On the other side, Yamcha had gone to the Ref Ribbon Army's weapons development division to collect the equipment he needed—lots of weapons, various types of flight gear, and the latest capsule robots.
These robots were potato-shaped, with transparent glass cockpits in the center, arms and legs, and loaded with artillery.
Unfortunately, he did not get to meet the legendary creator of androids, Dr. Gero.
As the chief scientist, it made sense that he wouldn't be hanging around the weapons division.
Even with a major's rank, getting an audience with the top scientist wasn't so easy.
Now that he had official orders from headquarters and access to high-tech weaponry, it was only natural to form an elite squad.
After all, his subordinates couldn't just be a bunch of random weaklings, right?
'The moon looks so full tonight… is it a full moon?'
It was already dusk when Yamcha left Red Ribbon headquarters, and now a massive moon silently hung in the sky.
Suddenly, Yamcha sensed a powerful energy appearing out of nowhere nearby.
There had been no signs or warnings—just a sudden surge.
'A full moon… don't tell me... could it really be that coincidental?'
A strange thought crossed Yamcha's mind.
And very soon, it was confirmed.
A giant ape, like King Kong descending from the heavens, appeared in Yamcha's view. Unlike Kong, however, this creature's eyes had no pupils—just a sea of blood-red fury and madness.
"ROAR!"
The giant ape beat its chest and howled at the sky.
The deafening roar shook the skies, and even Yamcha's state-of-the-art Black Ribbon aircraft trembled in the air.
Nearby, Yamcha felt another energy—a weakening one.
It was an old man in traditional Chinese garb, badly injured, desperately fending off the ape's attacks. At best, he had ten minutes left to live.
How convenient.
The ape was clearly a Saiyan who had transformed under the full moon. Whether it was Goku or someone else was unclear, since in this world—based not only on the original Dragon Ball but also spin-offs like Dragon Ball Sai—anything was possible.
As for the old man in traditional robes, it was undoubtedly Grandpa Gohan, or Son Gohan the First, since Goku's son was also named Son Gohan.
"So this is Mount Paozu?"
Mount Paozu was the home of Dragon Ball's protagonist, Goku. The name came from Grandpa Gohan, and it didn't even appear on the Red Ribbon Army's maps—likely a remote mountain area. Otherwise, Yamcha would've checked it out long ago.
"Goku, Goku, snap out of it, I'm—" Before Grandpa Gohan could finish speaking, the transformed Goku unleashed a mouth blast.
Although it was a low-level energy technique, its sheer power far exceeded the badly wounded Grandpa Gohan. Even a full-power Kamehameha wouldn't have been enough to block it.
'Oh no!'
Just as the mouth blast was about to end Grandpa Gohan, he suddenly found himself elsewhere—rescued in the nick of time.
A crater several meters deep remained where he had just been.
Grandpa Gohan weakly looked up at his savior:
"Y-You are?"
"This isn't the time for chit-chat. We'll talk later. Here, take this Senzu Bean—it'll heal your body."
Yamcha handed over a half bean.
Then, he turned his gaze to the giant ape. After firing the mouth blast, it seemed drained and sluggish.
'Assuming Goku's base power is 10, and the Great Ape form multiplies it by 10, this puts the giant ape's power at 100.'
'Time to test my current strength.'
Yamcha didn't have a clear sense of his own power level, but since he'd defeated King Chapa and won the 20th World Martial Arts Tournament, he figured it had to be at least in the dozens.
Besides, the ape still had the Saiyan tail weakness. This was the perfect chance to try out his skills.
Yamcha used the Bukujutsu (Flight Technique), flew up to the giant ape, and taunted it with a finger curl.
The ape was instantly enraged, pounding its chest and lunging at him.
But due to its bulky frame, it couldn't even touch a hair on Yamcha.
Switching strategies, the ape let out a roar to distract Yamcha, while its furry palms slowly crept in to clap together—hoping to trap him.
When there was no movement and Yamcha was nowhere to be seen, the ape peeked between its palms… only to find nothing.
"You grabbing air, you big dumb monkey?"
Yamcha's mocking voice rang in its ears.
Even though Great Apes lose most of their reason, they retain a bit of intelligence—and it definitely understood the insult. Enraged, it went wild, swiping at Yamcha furiously.
Turns out, being big isn't always an advantage—especially in a world where battles are decided by power level.
"He can fly?"
Grandpa Gohan, now somewhat recovered, looked up at the airborne Yamcha playing with the giant ape. He remembered his master, Master Roshi, telling him there was another martial school besides the Turtle School—the Crane School—and their specialty was flight.
Could this boy be one of those legendary Crane School disciples?
Well, Master Roshi was right. Yamcha was from the Crane School.
But he wasn't just that—he was also a passing Stand user, the senior brother of Water Flowing Rock Shatter Fist, an unremarkable Nen user, a one-in-a-million Ripple warrior, and the personal disciple of the old Taoist master from Mount Dragon-Tiger.
(End of Chapter)