Chapter 12: Encounter with a Turtle

Even though John had watched the plot of Dragon Ball when he was a child, he only knew the general storyline and was not very clear about the details. However, he was aware of the key events in the Dragon Ball storyline.

Therefore, he didn't remember the details of Pilaf's men coming to steal the Dragon Balls this time. Hence, he did not make any preparations. John was confident that with him and Goku there, very few people on Earth could snatch the Dragon Balls from them.

While John, Goku, and Bulma were sleeping in the room, Mai and Shu were flying towards Dragon Valley in their plane.

Because Pilaf's Dragon Ball radar was not very accurate and only showed the general location, there were three Dragon Balls appearing in Dragon Valley. So Mai and Shu hovered their plane over Dragon Valley.

They knew that the three Dragon Balls in Dragon Valley must have been collected by someone. Otherwise, it would not be possible for three Dragon Balls to be together at the same time.

Thus, Mai and Shu just needed to find traces of people to locate the Dragon Balls.

Under the cover of the mountains on both sides, Dragon Valley was pitch black. From the high-altitude plane, Mai and Shu couldn't see the capsule house in the valley, but they couldn't fly too low either, as the engine noise would wake up those who had the Dragon Balls.

Mai landed the plane on a flat spot on the mountaintop, then said to Shu, "Let's go, we'll walk into the valley to find the Dragon Balls. Remember to bring your weapons." After saying that, she opened the plane's hatch, did a graceful backflip, and landed on the ground.

Using a rappel rope, the person and the dog descended into the valley and began searching boldly.

But not long after they started searching, pairs of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness around them, accompanied by low growls.

Mai immediately raised her submachine gun and shouted, "Who's there? Come out, or we'll shoot!"

As a ninja dog, Shu drew his sword and prepared for battle. Since becoming one of King Pilaf's henchmen, he hadn't had a chance to show his skills.

When the owners of the red eyes revealed themselves, Mai and Shu were startled. They were surrounded by a pack of wolves.

These wolves were emaciated, but their eyes showed cruelty and hunger, staring intently at Mai and Shu.

Mai said to Shu, "Tell them to let us go, tell them we took the wrong path."

Shu, feeling insulted, shouted, "They're wolves, I'm a dog, how am I supposed to talk to them?!"

Before Mai could respond, a chilling howl echoed through the valley—the wolf king signaling the pack to attack. All the wolves then charged at Mai and Shu.

Startled, the two ran towards the area without wolves, Mai firing her gun as she ran.

Eventually, after their clothes were torn to shreds and their bodies covered in bite marks, they managed to reach their plane. Before the wolf pack could catch up, they took off, leaving Dragon Valley behind.

The peaceful night quickly passed, and John and Goku were already up. Young Goku was preparing to go out and train.

John suggested, "Goku, let's spar together. We'll improve faster that way."

Goku happily accepted John's suggestion, and they went outside the capsule house together.

After warming up, they took their stances, and John attacked first. They quickly engaged in intense combat.

The sound of their sparring soon woke Bulma, who groggily emerged from the capsule house, rubbing her eyes. Seeing John and Goku sparring, she grumbled, "Two maniacs, can't they let people sleep?"

However, she only complained a little and then noticed breakfast wasn't made yet. She decided to prepare breakfast for everyone.

When Bulma finished making breakfast, she called out, "Breakfast is ready!" Only then did John and Goku end their morning training.

Both were drenched in sweat, but the feeling made them happy.

John said, "Let's go, let's have breakfast. After breakfast, we need to continue searching for the Dragon Balls."

After breakfast, they washed up. Bulma packed the capsule house, ready to set off again to continue their search.

As they were getting into the car to move on, Goku noticed a rock moving by the roadside.

Goku excitedly shouted, "John, look, the rock is moving!"

John turned and saw that the "rock" was actually a giant sea turtle. He remembered the sea turtle that was always with Master Roshi and said, "That's not a rock, it's a sea turtle."

He then told Bulma, "Bulma, stop the car."

Bulma, though puzzled, stopped the car as John asked.

The giant sea turtle, slowly crawling forward, was startled by the sound of the car stopping and retracted into its shell, not daring to move.

John approached and asked, "Mr. Turtle, do you need help?"

Hearing that they didn't want to eat him and were offering help, the sea turtle extended his head and asked, "Could you give me some saltwater? I haven't had water for two days."

"Of course, no problem," John immediately set up the capsule house and prepared a large bucket of saltwater for the turtle.

The turtle began drinking greedily. Curious, Goku watched and asked, "Mr. Turtle, does it taste good?"

The turtle generously handed the bucket to Goku. Before John could stop him, Goku took a big gulp and immediately spat it out, shouting, "It's so salty!"

Bulma, amused, gave Goku some fresh water to rinse his mouth.

When the turtle finished drinking, Bulma asked, "Mr. Turtle, where are you going?"

The turtle replied, "I want to return to the sea, go home."

"The sea? Then you're going the wrong way. The sea is 120 kilometers to the south, but you're heading north," Bulma said.

"Ah! No wonder I haven't reached the sea after so many days. I was going the wrong way." The turtle slumped to the ground, dejected.

Suddenly, the turtle had an idea and said, "My master is Master Roshi. Could you help me get to the sea? Master Roshi will thank you." He looked at them with hopeful eyes.