I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 214 "This Dr. Groh is Too Cautious"

Dragon Ball World, West Capital.

Headquarters of Universal Capsule Company.

Inside the spacious laboratory.

Bulma, wearing a white lab coat, waved to Uchiha Hikaru with a beaming smile: "Hikaru, you're here? Oh, didn't Kikyo and the others come with you?"

"Yes, they've all gone home to take care of things. They'll come back in a while."

Uchiha Hikaru responded.

Kikyo did indeed go to handle some matters.

On Penglai Island, a group of half-demon awaited her. Although her mother, Shiori, was also on the island and could take care of the children, and Shiori and the other half-demon children, including Xiaolan, were quite self-reliant, Kikyo, who secretly adored the children, was still a little worried and planned to go back and check on them first.

As for Erii...

The girl actually wanted to come directly with Uchiha Hikaru, but she was stopped by her.

—Her trip here wasn't just to visit Bulma; she also intended to take action against the Red Ribbon Army. Some bloodshed and even considerable disturbance were likely to follow. There was no need to involve Erii and the others, who were unrelated to this matter.

In fact...

Uchiha Hikaru was a little conflicted at this moment, wondering whether he should discuss his plan with Bulma.

No matter what, this is "Bulma's world". Although the two have a good relationship, it would be a bit inappropriate for them to cause a lot of trouble without saying a word.

"...Isn't Yamato here?"

As he thought about it, Uchiha Hikaru looked to both sides.

"Yes, Mom took Yamato out shopping this morning. It seems like she was going to buy her some clothes... Dad and I have been busy with research lately and haven't had time to spend with Mom, so Yamato had to do it for her."

"……shop?"

Uchiha Hikaru was taken aback.

She was a frequent visitor to Bulma's house; whenever she came to the Dragon Ball world, she would almost always visit the Briefs first before going about her business. So she was quite familiar with Bulma's mother, Brigitte.

The latter is a full-time housewife who, in addition to doing housework every day, has many hobbies, such as beauty and makeup, raising flowers and small animals—Bulma's yard has many animals raised by the couple, researching desserts... Shopping is of course one of them.

but……

Uchiha Hikaru imagined Yamato, who was 2.6 meters tall and had a pair of demonic horns on his head, walking with Brigitte on the streets of West City, and his expression was a little strange.

Of course.

There are many bizarre races in the Dragon Ball world, such as three-eyed people, animal people, and aliens without noses... Even the Earth's king looks like a dog. Compared to them, Yamato may look a bit strange, but he's not strange enough to cause a riot; at most, he'll just make passersby stop and take a second look.

Besides, Bulma's family are celebrities in West City, and they often make headlines. In the original work, hundreds of Namekians lived here for more than half a year, and the outside residents didn't seem particularly surprised, so it wouldn't matter much to Yamato.

now.

Uchiha Hikaru turned his head to look at the inside of the factory.

There, a huge destroyer was prominently displayed.

"Is this the 'abandoned warship' you mentioned before, Bulma?"

"yes."

Bulma nodded: "I went through a lot of trouble to beg my dad to buy this from the army, and we're currently working on modifying it..."

As she spoke, the girl unfolded a huge sheet of paper and pointed to some points with her finger:

"Look, I've already designed it. This ship is 156 meters long and 21 meters wide, with a total of 9 floors. I plan to open up this area and build a small garden, where we can plant all kinds of vegetables and fruits; this area will be used as a training room... Xiao Guang, the 'gravity training room' you mentioned last time, I've almost finished researching it and it can be used here."

By the way, Xiaoguang, the "enhanced mini bracelet" you mentioned is still under development. The technology is quite complex, so it might take a little longer.

After inserting this explanation midway through, Bulma was able to continue her previous conversation at length:

"Then this area is the bathroom, this area is the cafeteria, and..."

"If we had a magic capsule, we wouldn't need to grow vegetables on a ship, would we?"

Uchiha Hikaru chimed in from the side.

"Hmm...that's different."

Bulma thought for a moment: "While the capsules do have a preservative effect, they're still not as good as fruits and vegetables picked directly from the ground... Besides, there are definitely non-combat crew members on the ship; we need to find them something to do, right?"

"...That makes sense."

If we're talking about non-combat personnel in the chat group, the first one that comes to mind is undoubtedly Bulma herself.

Although she had learned a little about the Three Body Technique and spiritual power from Uchiha Hikaru and Kikyo during this time, she only scratched the surface.

no way.

Bulma's interests weren't in training to begin with. In the original storyline, she was surrounded by several Super Saiyans and didn't really get involved in any training-related matters. Now, at least she has the Imperial Arm "Earth Shaking" given to her by Uchiha Hikaru, so if she really encounters any danger, she at least has some ability to protect herself.

The other non-combatant was Yotsuya Miko.

However, Miko is still a high school student, and she doesn't have time to be a crew member unless it's during winter or summer vacation.

Have you decided who you want to invite onto the ship?

"certainly!"

In response to Uchiha Hikaru's question, Bulma smiled and continued, "Once the 'Blue Planet' is built, I'll be the captain, Hikaru will be the first mate, Yamato will be the boatswain, and Kikyo will be the ship's doctor..."

For other positions, I'll post a recruitment notice in the group chat later. Anyone who wants to join is welcome to come and have fun with us anytime.

Bulma paused for a moment, then added, "But it seems we're still missing a navigator and a cook... That guy Sanji seems pretty good at cooking, should we invite him to join the crew?"

"?"

Uchiha Hikaru was slightly taken aback.

Although she hasn't been to the world of One Piece yet, it's estimated that Luffy hasn't set sail yet at this point. Zoro, Sanji, and the others are most likely still working as pirate hunters and cooks. Theoretically, Bulma could indeed bring Sanji onto the crew first.

but……

"We'll see."

Bulma scratched her head: "Anyway, the ship will take some time to build. We can find people after we get to the pirate world. Maybe a few chefs will join the group in a few days..."

"Um."

Uchiha Hikaru nodded, then carefully chose his tone and began to bring up the topic of the Red Ribbon Army.

"The Red Ribbon Army?"

Bulma was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized: "Hikaru, you really intend to attack them?"

"I went to Kame House a few days ago to visit Goku and the others. Master Roshi, that lecherous old man, said that the World Martial Arts Tournament is in two weeks. According to the Dragon Ball manga you showed me last time, after the tournament, the Red Ribbon Army will start searching for the Dragon Balls, which will lead to their encounter with Goku... So I guess, Hikaru, you're here now because you're planning to take action against them."

"...I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

Uchiha Hikaru let out a sigh and chuckled, "I do intend to deal with the Red Ribbon Army, and also see if I can persuade Dr. Gero to stop his evil deeds... If I fail, I'll take this opportunity to get rid of him to avoid future disasters."

Speaking of which...

Even from the perspective of the Dragon Ball world, Dr. Gero is a very eccentric scientific genius.

His original intention in studying androids was to deal with Wukong and avenge the latter's destruction of the Red Ribbon Army in the early part of the story.

To accomplish this, Dr. Gero spent over a decade secretly observing Goku's every battle, collecting his blood and cells to meticulously study the android. He only ceased his investigations after Goku's final battle with Vegeta, concluding that at his age, his strength would not increase significantly.

then……

With Goku, who only had a power level of 9000 during his final battle with Vegeta, as the hypothetical enemy.

Dr. Gero actually created four androids whose strength was comparable to that of a Super Saiyan—

Androids 16, 17, and 18, plus Cell, who can continuously evolve.

That's...outrageous.

All I can say is that Dr. Groh was overly cautious.

"...Indeed, although I haven't met that guy named Dr. Gro, I have to admit that his research level is really amazing, maybe even better than mine and my dad's. If left unchecked, it will cause quite a few problems in the future."

Bulma seemed to have thought of something and suddenly became a little annoyed: "Honestly, everyone knows that the androids will destroy the world in three years, yet Goku and the others still don't care... That shorty Vegeta even threatened to kill me, he's hopelessly stupid!"

"……what?"

A question mark appeared on Uchiha Hikaru's face, then she realized that she was referring to the plot of the original Dragon Ball manga—

In the Android Saga, when Bulma learns from Future Trunks that the Androids will destroy the world in three years, she immediately suggests killing Dr. Gero to prevent a potential crisis.

However, this was met with unanimous opposition from everyone except Klin.

Vegeta, who hadn't fully redeemed himself at the time, even threatened to kill Bulma if she said another word.

Ok……

Judging from Bulma's current state, Trunks probably won't have a chance to reappear. Even whether Vegeta can join the Z Fighters is uncertain.

"Bulma, do you have any information about the Red Ribbon Army?"

"no."

Bulma shook her head decisively: "Before reading the Dragon Ball manga, I had never heard of this army at all... The manga doesn't seem to mention where its headquarters is, only that it's in the western part of the Earth, but the locations of a few branches seem to be clearly stated."

"...Has the Dragon Ball Radar been responding lately?"

Uchiha Hikaru thought for a moment and then asked.

In the original work, the Red Ribbon Army began searching for the Dragon Balls before Goku.

Logically, even if they witnessed Shenron appearing during the first year's wish, thus confirming the existence of the Dragon Balls, they would still need to wait for the Dragon Balls' one-year cooldown period to end before they could begin searching for them. Furthermore, by studying these balls, they would need to invent a detector similar to the Dragon Ball radar to conduct a worldwide search...

This process will take a considerable amount of time, at least half a month to a month is normal.

and so.

If the Dragon Ball radar hasn't reacted yet, it means the Red Ribbon Army's activities haven't started.

"no."

Bulma shook her head again, took a brand-new Dragon Ball radar from another experimental table next to her, turned it on, and handed it to Uchiha Hikaru.

"Here, this is the Dragon Ball radar I recently improved. You can take it. As long as the power of the Dragon Balls is restored and energy fluctuations reappear, it can be detected by the radar."

Bulma paused, then her expression turned worried again: "By the way, Hikari, don't you need to wait and go with Goku? It'll be safer if Goku helps."

From Bulma's perspective, the Red Ribbon Army is still in great danger.

Do not……

To be precise, the Red Silk Army was very dangerous.

They possessed a number of incredibly powerful military weapons, and even several strangely shaped mechs, which the Black Lieutenant had once used to deal with Little Wukong.

Even more troublesome than these are those few experts with special abilities—

For example, there's General Blue, who can use his superpowers to manipulate ropes and bind Master Roshi and the others. If he could bind Master Roshi and Goku, it means he could also bind Uchiha Hikaru.

Also, there's Tao Pai Pai, who was employed by the Red Ribbon Army and once nearly killed Goku.

This one is supposedly even more powerful than Master Roshi.

Although Uchiha Hikaru is quite strong, if he were to face these vicious thugs all by himself...

There is still a risk of things going wrong.

"Don't worry, I brought Esdeath with me this time. She will fight the Red Ribbon Army with me."

Uchiha Hikaru smiled and said, "Besides, I'm not going there right now; I need to gather some information about them first..."

Master Roshi definitely knew about the Red Ribbon Army, but he probably didn't pay special attention to it, so the information wasn't very detailed.

In addition...

The Cat Sage may have also witnessed the Red Ribbon Army's actions through the large jars inside the Kalin Tower.

Therefore, we need to visit these two places first.

present.

Hikaru Uchiha released Esdeath from her seal and handed her over to Bulma.

"Xiao Ai, I have to go out for a while. I'll be back in a day or two at the latest. You stay here and don't move around. If you need anything, you can talk to Bulma."

Esdeath and Bulma are acquaintances; they met once before in the Akame ga Kill! world and had a brief exchange.

Even without the connection to Uchiha Hikaru, given her personality, she wouldn't have attacked Bulma, who was just an ordinary person.

Even if Uchiha Hikaru leaves, he can still stay informed about what's happening here through the chat group.

"Well then, I'll go to Korin Tower to see Tanjiro first, and then we can go to Kame-no-Shima together later."

After giving Bulma a few instructions, Uchiha Hikaru activated "Shangri-La" and teleported himself to the Sacred Land of Korin.

(End of this chapter)