Chapter 16: The Small Town

After agreeing to John Doe's request, Master Roshi bid farewell to Bulma and Son Goku and rode his sea turtle back into the deep sea.

Bulma was puzzled as to why Master Roshi had left without giving John Doe a gift.

"He did give me a gift, a promise," John Doe explained.

"A promise? What promise?" Bulma asked curiously.

"He agreed to take me as his disciple after we summon Shenron," John Doe replied.

"What? You want to become that perverted old man's disciple?" Bulma exclaimed in surprise. "John, I must warn you. It's fine to become his disciple, but you mustn't learn his perverted habits. Otherwise, we can't even be friends."

Seeing Bulma's agitation, John Doe felt embarrassed. "Bulma, Master Roshi is just a bit playful because he's lived for so long. It was just a joke. Don't take it to heart."

"Hmph, I don't care what he's like. I just hope you don't turn bad," Bulma said. She then took out a car capsule and released a car.

John Doe didn't mind Bulma's anger, as he knew that their fates would be intertwined in the future.

"Goku, let's go!" John Doe called out to Son Goku, who was still playing with the Flying Nimbus in the distance.

Hearing John Doe's voice, Son Goku flew down from the cloud.

"It's fine. You guys drive the car, and I'll follow behind on the Flying Nimbus," Son Goku suggested.

Bulma had been annoyed earlier when Son Goku rode the Flying Nimbus, and now she was even more irritated. She grabbed Son Goku from the cloud and said, "No, we'll all go together. No special treatment. We're driving the car, and you're not allowed to ride the Flying Nimbus."

Bulma opened the car door and pushed Son Goku inside.

Son Goku, unaware of what was happening, found himself in the car.

John Doe got into the driver's seat, started the car, and drove towards the location of the fifth Dragon Ball, following Bulma's directions.

The next morning, the three of them arrived at the location of the fifth Dragon Ball in a small town.

However, strangely, there wasn't a single person in sight, and all the doors and windows of the houses were tightly shut.

"Why is there no one around? Where did everyone go?" Bulma wondered.

Son Goku walked up to a door and listened with his ears. He immediately heard sounds coming from behind the door.

Without waiting for John Doe or Bulma to stop him, Son Goku excitedly shouted, "Ha! I've caught you!"

He punched the door, shattering it, and walked in.

But instead of finding a person, a sharp axe flew towards Son Goku's head.

The axe shattered, and a large bump appeared on Son Goku's head.

Seeing that their axe had broken, but the boy's head only suffered a painful bump, the people inside the house immediately knelt before Son Goku and pleaded, "Lord Oolong, please spare us! We won't dare to do it again!"

This scene shocked both Bulma and Son Goku, but John Doe calmly said to the villagers, "Hello, we are good people. We just passed by your town, and we're not the Lord Oolong you're referring to. You've mistaken us for someone else."

Realizing that there were three of them, the villagers believed that they weren't Lord Oolong, as he always acted alone and had no companions.

Bulma took a cold towel and placed it on Son Goku's bump, then asked the villagers, "Can you tell us about Lord Oolong?"

One of the villagers stepped forward and explained, "Lord Oolong is a powerful monster from the mountains. He changes his appearance every time he appears, and each time, he looks terrifying."

"What bad things has he done to make you so afraid of him?" John Doe asked.

The villager continued, "Aside from extorting money from us, the worst thing he does is force marriages. The brides he takes are never seen again, and we don't know if they're still alive or if he's eaten them."

"Today is the day Lord Oolong comes to force a marriage, so we're all hiding in our homes. When this young man attacked our door, we thought it was Lord Oolong, so we attacked him."

By this time, Son Goku's bump had disappeared, and he had regained his energy. This was the first time he had seen so many people, aside from John Doe, Bulma, and Master Roshi.

He curiously examined the people, looking at one person and then another. Everyone smiled at him, thinking he was just a child.

Son Goku walked up to an old lady and carefully observed her. Suddenly, he reached out to touch her private area, but John Doe quickly stopped him.

Bulma, who had been talking to the villagers, was startled and quickly apologized. Then, she grabbed Son Goku's ear and scolded him, "Your behavior just now was very rude!"

Son Goku innocently replied, "I just wanted to confirm if she was a girl. John told me that girls don't have..."

Bulma's face turned red, and she glared at John Doe. "How dare you teach him such things!"

John Doe was speechless. He had only intended to teach Son Goku some common sense to prevent him from saying the wrong things, but he never expected that Son Goku would try to determine a person's gender by touching them.

Bulma didn't dwell on the topic, as it would only lead to more confusion. Instead, she took out a Dragon Ball and asked the villagers, "Have any of you seen a ball like this before?"

Seeing the Dragon Ball in Bulma's hand, an old lady who had almost been insulted by Son Goku earlier walked forward with a Dragon Ball in her hand. "Is this the ball you're looking for?"

The Dragon Ball in the old lady's hand began to glow as it resonated with the one in Bulma's hand. It was clearly authentic. Bulma happily counted the stars inside the ball and confirmed it was the six-star Dragon Ball.

The old lady realized that the glass ball in her hand was what Bulma was looking for.

The old lady's wrinkled face broke into a smile as she said, "I can give you this ball, but it's a family heirloom passed down for generations!"