Chapter 50: Woolong
The small village, made up of rows of semicircular bunker houses, was deserted. When Franklin extended his spiritual awareness, the condition of the village appeared in his mind as clearly as a holographic projection.
Seeing the fear plainly visible on the villagers' faces, Franklin couldn't, for the moment, recall what had happened here to make them so terrified.
"Bulma, the Dragon Radar only detects that a Dragon Ball is somewhere in this village — can't it pinpoint the exact location?"
Bulma shook her head helplessly. "If it could determine the exact spot, that would be easy. We wouldn't have to go to all this trouble."
"No choice — we'll just ask around."
They picked a random house; Franklin knocked directly on the door. "Hello? Is anyone home? If possible, could I ask what exactly happened here?"
There was no response. Under his spiritual observation, he saw the homeowner inside so frightened that he had grabbed an axe and looked prepared to fight desperately at any moment.
"Franklin—I'll go."
Startled from his thoughts, Franklin looked at Goku in puzzlement. "You?"
"Yeah — leave it to me."
As he spoke, Goku stepped forward, charged up a punch, and the lock was sent flying. A gaping hole was punched through the door so fast Franklin didn't even have time to stop him.
"You're being way too hasty. That kind of violent method is unacceptable — don't do it again."
"Oh."
Goku scratched his head with an innocent look. "I thought you couldn't open the door, Franklin, so I figured I'd help."
As he spoke, Goku pushed the door open and went inside. The next moment, an axe came crashing down toward his head. Goku's face stiffened instantly; he casually parried the axe aimed at his head with one hand, while his other hand launched a punch at the man.
Fortunately Franklin had anticipated this and grabbed Goku's shoulder, yanking him back, but the force of Goku's punch still forced the man back several steps.
"Didn't I tell you to be mindful of your force? Have you considered the consequences of that punch?"
"Sorry, Franklin. I forgot. I'll be careful next time."
Seeing Goku's troubled, innocent expression, Franklin couldn't really reprimand him further.
Turning his attention back to the man inside, Franklin gave a friendly smile. "Hello — may I ask what exactly happened here? You all look very shaken."
Only then did the homeowner relax his guard a little. He looked at Franklin nervously. "Are you outsiders?"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
When he saw Bulma standing beside Franklin, the man sighed and let the axe fall limply to the ground.
"Young man, your girlfriend is very beautiful. I advise you to leave this village quickly. Our village has been targeted by a big monster named Woolong. He comes to the village from time to time and takes away pretty young women. With your girlfriend being so beautiful, she'll surely be targeted."
The name Woolong sounded vaguely familiar to Franklin, but no matter how he thought about it he couldn't figure out who it referred to.
Bulma flushed instantly and bashfully waved a hand. "Sir, don't talk nonsense. I'm not his girlfriend. We're just adventuring together."
"All the dangers along the way were handled by the two of them. As for that big monster Woolong the gentleman mentioned, he couldn't even land a single hit on this guy."
At Bulma's words, house doors throughout the village flew open and countless residents gathered.
"The young girl is joking. That Woolong is as big as a small mountain and looks terrifying. These two young men are small and weak — they're definitely no match. You should leave quickly to avoid being dragged into trouble."
Hearing Franklin belittled like that, Bulma pouted, glaring angrily at the well-meaning old man.
"You haven't seen them fight — how do you know they can't—"
Bulma was about to continue, but Franklin reached out to stop her from babbling. "Sorry — my girlfriend has a bit of a temper, don't mind her. Bulma, take that bead out."
At Franklin calling her his girlfriend, Bulma flushed immediately and fell silent. Seeing her completely flustered, Franklin had no choice but to take a ball out of her backpack himself.
"Has anyone seen this kind of bead? I'm here looking for beads like this. If you have one, I'll prove I can easily defeat the Woolong you speak of."
At Franklin's words, no one in the village spoke. After two minutes of silence, an elderly woman stepped forward. She reached into her clothing and produced a six-star bead.
"Young man, is this the kind of bead you mean?"
Seeing the six-star bead indeed in the village, Franklin nodded.
"Watch closely."
As he spoke, Franklin formed hand seals with both hands; in an instant the ground trembled and shook. The earth beneath everyone's feet roiled, countless vines burst through the soil and bound and lifted all the villagers into midair, then dropped them back down; the vines retracted into the ground, and all traces of the earth being pierced disappeared. Seeing that everyone was still lost in stunned amazement, Franklin cleared his throat twice to draw their attention.
"Everyone, this is only one of my many abilities. Do you think this ability could handle the Woolong you speak of?"
"Alright, alright, young man. If you can deal with that Woolong and capture it, this bead will be given to you as a reward."
The intended effect had been achieved; Franklin nodded satisfactorily. "Tell me, where is this Woolong you speak of? I can bring him here right now."
After the question was asked, everyone in the village fell silent.
"What's the matter — you don't know, or are you afraid to tell?"
The man who had spoken first stepped forward again. "We don't know where Woolong usually lives, nor do we dare to find out. But he said a couple of days ago that he would come to the village at noon today to take my daughter away as his bride. By the look of it, the time should be almost up."
"Okay, I understand. Sir, you would risk death to protect your daughter — you're a real man. This noon we'll deal with Woolong. All of you stay in your rooms and don't come out. By the way, your daughter is about the same age as Goku, right? Bring a set of her clothes so Goku can temporarily pretend to be her — that will save you worry."
"Is that okay?"
"What's not okay about it? You tell me, Goku."
"Leave it to me — catch that monster. If it's edible, Brother Franklin, could you cook it for me?"
Franklin helplessly rubbed his forehead. Goku really had been turned into a foodie. "Don't think about food all the time. Go change clothes."
"All right."
As everyone returned to their homes, Franklin finally looked at Bulma. After a glance between them, Bulma took out her phone.
"It's 11:30 — half an hour to go."
Franklin nodded and waited quietly for Goku to finish changing. The next step was to capture Woolong alive. At this moment Franklin had already pictured Woolong's appearance; its mysterious transformation ability made him genuinely curious.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. Goku crouched at the man's doorstep, waiting silently for Woolong to arrive. "I hope it's a monster we can eat — I'm really getting hungry."
With the ground trembling, from a distance Franklin saw a hulking monster approaching — two horns sprouting from its head, skin deep red, standing four to five meters tall.
As it stepped into the village and came up behind Goku, Franklin's spiritual awareness completely enveloped it. Upon closer inspection, Franklin discovered that the monster before him was indeed real — its flesh and blood were genuine.
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