CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 459: "DAD, YOU’RE SO USELESS!"

A night in a city drowning in decadence.

A bar filled with all sorts of riffraff.

A few lowlifes circled around a girl with wavy blue hair, a red headband, dressed young and bright, with a stunning figure, innocent and vulnerable in expression... Normally, any man capable would step forward to help.

But was Vegeta just any man?

He glanced once, then looked away, uninterested.

However, as he took a step forward, pain from his injuries flared up.

Kakarot had beaten him mercilessly—of course, without mercy. Kakarot had no reason to hold back; he didn’t when he thrashed Krillin, so why would he show mercy to Vegeta? Kakarot was full of resentment and anger, and with his already bad temper, once given the chance to smash someone without Goku’s control, he wouldn’t hold back.

Vegeta’s injuries were severe.

"Heh heh, he knows when to back off!" One of the thugs sneered. He noticed the short, spiky black-haired figure—Vegeta—watching from the shadows. Seeing Vegeta wisely choose not to intervene, he was satisfied.

"Come on, it’s not like we won’t pay, right?" Another thug surrounded the blue-haired girl, chuckling weirdly, "Don’t pretend—everyone’s here to have fun. Still wanna act like a good girl?"

Strangely, though surrounded and groped, the blue-haired girl seemed soft and a bit panicked, but she didn’t scream or cry out, and there was no look of despair in her eyes.

Suddenly, she sneezed forcefully!

Ah-choo!

With that sneeze, the blue-haired girl instantly transformed before their eyes into a blonde girl, her aura shifting dramatically!

The thugs were stunned: "What the...?"

"You guys... were looking for me, huh?" the blonde girl, Launch, sneered.

She seemed familiar with the situation—waking up surrounded by thugs near a bar was no surprise. She no longer looked soft or timid like before. Instead, she held her head high, straightened her spine, clenched her fists, and her eyes flashed with fierce light!

"Oh?" Vegeta, clutching his broken bones as he was about to step into the bar, stopped and looked toward Launch again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

The blonde Launch moved with incredible agility, weaving among the thugs. Her slender, fair arms held surprising strength—though she looked fragile, she was skilled in martial arts!

Before long, the thugs were knocked down by Launch!

Then... she started extorting them!

She rifled through the pockets of the fallen thugs, taking all their valuables... her practiced routine clearly showed this was no first time!

"Heh heh, easy money~" Launch grinned widely, counting a thick wad of loose cash, clearly pleased.

She divided the cash evenly into two piles. One half she slipped into the left side of her black tank top, humming, "This is yours~" Then she tucked the other half into the inner bra on her right side, happily humming, "This is mine~"

"You, you... playing dirty?!" The thugs moaned on the ground, one angrily glaring at Launch.

"Tch, the Martial Arts Association doesn’t control this place, but who said every martial artist has to belong to them?" Launch tossed her golden hair, which shimmered charmingly under the neon night lights, and smiled wickedly, "Those guys have their rules, but I don’t~ Besides, I was just a hero saving a beauty, you know? Oh, what did I do wrong?"

But with a slight difference... I’m saving "myself"!

She laughed and nonchalantly patted her hot pants, about to turn and leave.

A cold gun barrel pressed against the back of Launch’s head.

"Bitch, been watching you for a long time..." A cold voice came from behind the barrel. "So what if you learned some martial arts? You’re just a little bitch. Think you’re some queen? I don’t know martial arts, but I’ve got a gun!"

"Don’t know who you unlucky bastard are, but if you really pull that trigger, you won’t have a good ending." Launch calmly raised her hands and spoke firmly. But she waited a long time, with no further movement behind her; even the gun seemed no longer aimed at her.

Blond Launch was puzzled. She turned around and saw a black-haired man choking the neck of the gunman behind her, his face turning red as he struggled with flailing legs — only then did Launch realize that the black-haired man’s feet were suspended in midair!

He could fly!

Launch’s eyes lit up. This was a true expert!

Bang! Vegeta casually threw the gunman like a ragdoll dozens of meters away, then turned back and stared coldly at Launch. "If you don’t want to die, come with me. I have some questions for you."

Watching Vegeta’s back, blond Launch licked her lips and whispered, "Not bad... pretty cool, and strong too... What do you think, Launch? Heh heh..." Saying that, she followed after him.

Not far away, hidden in the shadows of the night, two elders of roughly the same age appeared — Tsuru and Son Gohan.

"I thought he was going in," Gohan said.

"He’s going in standing, but he’ll come out lying down!" the Crane Hermit snorted.

Gohan laughed, "Not necessarily. Wouldn’t Crane Master intervene?"

Tsuru sneered, "You think I’m your teacher? Taking care of apprentices like a nanny? If my disciple gets beaten to death or crippled, it just means he’s not ready!" He said coldly, "Tienshinhan was sent to be an assassin very early on."

Gohan said, "This guy’s killed more people than Tienshinhan, and he counts planets as his units." He shook his head, then added, "A man like that, after death, can only go to hell. Unless, in his lifetime, he accumulates immense merit."

Tsuru rolled his eyes, "Whether he goes to heaven or hell after death is none of my damn business."

Gohan asked, "Are you really going to take him as your disciple?"

Tsuru pondered slowly, "Take him as a disciple? That’s not exactly right. This kid coming from a wild bunch in the universe..." He shook his head, clicking his tongue, "He’s got good talent, really good, not worse than your grandson, but it’s a shame, his path is so twisted, twisted too far... a waste!"

"Tienshinhan was actually pretty good."

"Yeah, he was good, really good. But the problem is, Goku is just too abnormal! You think I didn’t notice the commotion a month ago? His upgrade on Muten Island — how much stronger did he get at once? Ten times? Or even dozens of times? Is that something a person can do? His race’s natural talent is just too overwhelming... it’s infuriating!"

Gohan laughed heartily, "So that’s why you took an interest in this Goku fellow. To surpass my teacher, you’re going to have your work cut out for you!"

After saying that, Gohan leapt into the air and left, stepping lightly on the moonlight.

"Surpass him? Heh heh heh... Old man here just likes to keep busy!" Tsuru’s eyes flickered as he murmured quietly, then he too gradually vanished into the dark night.

---

Frieza’s army invasion countdown: 29 days!

West City, the new home of Son Goku and Bulma.

In a brightly lit room, Son Goku was holding his son, little Son Gosen, in his arms. Both had an earring on their ear — a login device for Earth’s virtual network. Goku and his son were entering the Earth Defense Battle online game mode, clumsily playing through a few levels, with Goku constantly holding his son back.

Son Gohan was decked out in divine gear, maxed out with god-level skills (Bulma set him up since the online mode was just for fun), sighing like a little grown-up in a baby voice: "Dad, you’re so bad at this~"

"Sorry, sorry! Dad doesn’t know how to play this stuff!" Goku laughed heartily, rubbing Gohan’s little head. Like a child trying to please his own son, he said, "Gohan, I’ll have Jarvis keep you company here. Let me try the martial Path mode, okay?"