"This is bad… if this keeps up, our village will be destroyed!" The villagers blanched in terror.
"I can resolve this disaster for you," Goku said evenly to the bride, "but in return, that 'glass' orb on your chest comes with me."
"I… I agree. As long as you can save us, you can have whatever you want," the woman answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Xun'er—your turn," Goku smiled, looking to his side.
"Me? Alright!" Xun'er paused, then nodded and flew toward the volcano's crater.
With a thought, a tiny crimson figure appeared on her shoulder—no bigger than a palm, delicate and radiant. This was the spirit of the Heavenly Flames, born after Xun'er refined all different fires; at this point, Xun'er was the sovereign of flame itself. All fire in the world answered to her.
"Xiao Hong, I'm counting on you," Xun'er said, smiling down at the crater.
"No problem!" Xiao Hong giggled, dove straight into the volcanic mouth, and blazed with an eerie red glow. As if tamed by a sovereign, the erupting volcano gradually subsided; the surging lava even seemed to grow a will of its own and flowed back down. In moments, all was calm again.
"Done!" Xiao Hong shot back up and perched on Xun'er's fragrant shoulder, grinning.
"Good work." Xun'er stroked her tiny head and flew back to Goku and the others.
"It's settled. Hand it over," Goku said to the bride with a gentle smile.
"O-okay…" She hurried to unfasten the pendant and passed the Dragon Ball to him.
"The Six-Star Ball is ours as well." Goku smiled faintly, declined the villagers' invitations to stay, summoned the ship, and lifted off from the planet—continuing the journey to collect all seven Dragon Balls.
---
"Look! That planet looks like a beehive!" Alice pressed against the viewport, staring at a world riddled with holes.
"No—those are insect burrows," Karin shot back. "And there are a lot of big things living in there… strong ones."
"From my experience, it really does look like a hive," Zi Yan said. "But if Karin senses it, then they're burrows. I trust her."
Goku slipped out of Saeko's arms and followed the little ones' gaze. Not far off drifted a small, pockmarked rocky planetoid—more a large asteroid than a planet.
Goku probed carefully. He sensed no "ki," but there was vigorous life force within—clearly, formidable creatures adept at hiding their auras lived there. Searching his memory, he placed it at last: in the original tale, this was the home of those giant "magic horses"—the monstrous insects.
"Stop! Stop! Ship ahead—do you hear us? If you don't halt, we open fire!" a voice barked from behind. A saucer-shaped craft with a… protruding "handle" below it streaked after them, lasers lancing toward Goku's ship.
Bulma popped open a display. Seeing the pursuer firing on them, she smirked. "You've got nerve. Attacking us? Let me show you some real firepower."
She flipped open a hidden panel; a control board slid up. Two hatches on their ship opened and a pair of gun barrels extended. Tongues of flame roared as they spat a furious barrage back at the strange craft.
"Whoa, a real space warship! So fun! My turn!" Alice's eyes sparkled as she dashed over.
"Bulma-nee, let me try!"
"Kids shouldn't touch this," Bulma said, shooing her away.
"Goku-nii…" Alice's big eyes fluttered at him. The cute act lasted all of two seconds before Goku surrendered. "Bulma, let her try a little."
"You spoil her too much! This is a spaceship. One mistake and we all go boom," Bulma snapped, glaring at Goku.
"You heard her," Goku told Alice with a shrug. "Not that I don't want to help—this really isn't the time." Standing next to Alice—now a head taller than him—he felt a pang of chagrin.
"Who are they, anyway? Why attack us out of nowhere?" Yuriko frowned at the raging dogfight. None of the women seemed tense; with Goku aboard, even a wreck wouldn't mean real danger.
"Who cares who they are? If they dare attack, we answer in kind." Goku watched the tactical screen, voice calm. "Bulma, stop trading fire. We've got a ship full of people." Black flames rose in his eyes; in the next instant, the enemy vessel was engulfed by an onyx blaze, burning furiously.
"Ah! Bon Para, bad news—our ship's on fire!"
"Don't panic, Son Para, I'm thinking—"
"That black fire is too strong! It's eating through the hull—she's going down!"
"Damn it, I didn't think they'd be this strong… Don Para! Son Para! Move—get off the ship before we're ash!"
Light flashed under the faltering craft; three figures in red suits—simian-faced, masked at mouth and nose, oxygen tanks on their backs—beamed into open space.
Watching Goku's ship recede, the biggest of the three, Bon Para, groaned. "They got away… This is bad. We failed to seize the Dragon Balls. How do we explain this when we get back?"
"Bon Para… our problem now is… how are we getting back at all?"
"…"
Goku clicked his tongue as the trio vanished into the void. "Tch. Our ship's too fast—let them slip away."
"Go after them with Instant Transmission and take them out!" Zi Yan egged him on.
"Forget it. Just three small fry—more trouble than they're worth," Goku said with a dismissive wave.
"Still—who are they? Why attack us without cause?" Ruolin asked, puzzled.
"What else? The Dragon Balls," Goku replied blandly. "Looks like they tracked us from the last planet." He'd basically placed their identities already.
Bon Para, Don Para , Son Para—these three had stolen the Dragon Balls from the heroes in the original story. But facing today's Goku… they were the unlucky ones: ship destroyed, drifting in deep space, prospects uncertain.
"So apart from us, others are hunting the Dragon Balls too?" Cai Lin said coolly, brows knitting.
"Seems that way," Goku said. It made him think of that "doctor" who built powerful robots…
'Looks like the road ahead won't be dull,' he added, a spark of anticipation tugging at his lips. It had been a long time since he'd met a worthy opponent. A real fight might be close at hand.
"Beep—beep—beep!"
"Hey, the radar's reacting!" Bulma lit up, checked the display, and grinned. "Goku, look—two Dragon Balls are together! Just like you said, someone else is collecting them!"
"Hm?" Goku blinked. That didn't happen in the original… then again, his presence had already scrambled the script. "Set course. Whoever it is, the Dragon Balls end up with me."
"On it." Bulma locked in the heading and the ship surged toward the signal.
Watching the starfield blur past, Goku frowned. He had a feeling this wouldn't be as simple as before.
Dark clouds seemed to press on his mind—an unprecedented foe waited ahead.
"Looks like something formidable is coming. Perfect," he murmured.
Saeko and the others sensed the shift in his aura. Exchanging glances, they read the same thing in each other's eyes.
"Goku's picked up on it… the next opponent won't be ordinary."
"Right. Anyone who can stir that kind of fighting will in him won't be simple."
__
T/N:
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