"Six hundred billion?" Emily cried. "And you call that not much? Bulma, that's just cruel."
"It really isn't much for us," Bulma said with a light laugh. "Capsule Corporation is the richest company in the world, remember? Six hundred billion doesn't move the needle that much."
Emily stared at her.
Then Bulma smiled sweetly. "If you like it so much, I can give it to you."
Emily's heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
There she was. Her best friend. Her wonderful, generous, beautiful best friend. Emily was already one step away from throwing her arms around Bulma and kissing her cheek.
"But Ken gave it to me for my birthday," Bulma added, still smiling. "It wouldn't be right to give away his gift, would it?"
Emily's excitement deflated almost instantly, like someone had popped a balloon.
She stared at Bulma, her expression flattening into a long, unimpressed look.
That was just plain evil.
"Master Roshi!" Bulma suddenly shouted.
Master Roshi froze with one hand still on the gold mountain.
Bulma marched over and kicked him onto the grass. "You old turtle! Were you seriously trying to chip a piece off?"
"I was just checking it!" Roshi said, clutching the small bit of gold he'd managed to pry loose. "I was going to put it back!"
"Then put it back right now!"
He quickly shoved the piece of gold back into place, trying to look innocent, though he still looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"I invited you all here to admire my gold mountain," Bulma said, hands on her hips. "Not to steal from it."
She paused for a beat.
"Just admire it," she added, a little more firmly, like she was correcting herself.
Krillin kept staring at the gold, still in a daze. "Six hundred billion…"
All of a sudden, Android 21 chasing Mr. Satan for some money didn't seem like such a big deal anymore.
Android 16 looked around the yard, his concern growing. "Android 21 still hasn't returned. I offered to go with her, but she said it would be easier if she went alone."
"She'll be okay," Krillin said, though he didn't sound completely convinced. "She's strong. Even if she can't beat Buu, she should at least be able to get away."
Chi-Chi had not taken her eyes off the mountain of gold. "Ken, where did you even get this?"
"There are many planets in the universe with gold deposits like this," Ken said. "You only need to look."
Chi-Chi turned on Goku immediately. "Goku, you're always going to other planets, aren't you? Bring me back a gold mountain too. Do you have any idea how tight things are at home?"
"Uh… sure." Goku nodded. "I'll keep an eye out."
"I'm not asking for much. Ten tons would be plenty."
"Yeah, sure. Ten tons."
A moment later, Gine arrived, with Zarek carrying her down from the sky.
"Zarek!" Goten ran over and threw his arms around him.
Zarek stiffened a little. "Goten, you're not a kid anymore. Cut it out."
"Bardock…" Gine stepped toward him, her voice soft, her eyes filled with everything she'd never had the chance to say.
"Gine." Bardock met her halfway and pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed you."
Gine stayed quiet for a moment.
When they finally pulled apart, she beckoned Zarek over. "Zarek, this is your father."
Zarek flashed his most innocent smile. "Dad."
Bardock looked at him, his expression turning cold. "Zarek, I heard you were hoping I'd die in another universe."
Zarek's smile wavered.
"Who told you that? I never said anything like that. Someone's making things up."
"Come with me."
Bardock grabbed his arm and shot into the sky.
Not long after, Zarek's screams drifted back from somewhere far away.
Gine didn't try to stop him.
That boy needed a bit of discipline. His father could handle it.
Goku chuckled. "Zarek's still as energetic as ever."
Gine's attention drifted to the glittering mass in the yard, her brows knitting in confusion. "What is that? Did someone decide to build a rock garden out here?"
"It's gold," Chi-Chi said, her voice tight with barely concealed envy. "Ken gave it to Bulma for her birthday."
Gine blinked, staring harder. "All of that… is gold?"
Chi-Chi nodded. "Every bit of it."
Gine took a slow breath, still trying to process it. "Then how much is something like that even worth?"
"Over six hundred billion, from what I heard."
Gine's eyes went wide as the number sank in. "Six hundred billion?"
Chi-Chi leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Gine, Bardock is a God of Destruction now. He manages a whole universe. He should be able to find gold like this somewhere."
Gine's eyes lit up.
No more scraping for money or careful budgeting—just one trip through space and a nice little gold mountain.
"If Goku and Bardock work together, they should find plenty," Chi-Chi said.
"You're right," Gine agreed with a firm nod. "Our family really has been short on money lately."
Android 16's unease finally got the better of him. "Krillin, call Android 21."
"Right, right, I'll call her now." Krillin pulled out his phone and dialed, but after it rang for a long time with no answer, his smile slowly faded. "She's not picking up."
"I'm going to Mr. Satan's house," Android 16 said, already preparing to leave, but before he could move, Buu descended into the yard with Mr. Satan and Videl beside him, and the mood shifted instantly.
Vegeta, Piccolo, and the others tensed at the sight of him, but with Ken right there, no one panicked; Buu didn't feel like a disaster waiting to happen.
"Buu!" Bulma walked up and greeted him warmly. "Long time no see. You've been doing well?"
"Good, good." Buu nodded, bowed to her, then went to Ken and bowed again.
Merus straightened slightly, clearly expecting the same treatment, but Buu ignored him completely, and Merus felt that one in his soul—after all, he was the one who had trained Buu, so a little respect would have been nice.
Goku looked between Bulma and Buu, baffled. "Bulma, you know Buu?"
"Of course I know him," Bulma said. "I met him ages ago. Why?"
"Nothing," Goku said with an awkward laugh. "Nothing at all."
Piccolo's face tightened with fresh pain. "So this entire thing was one giant misunderstanding."
Oolong, who had been chewing on a cucumber nearby, looked up. "Did someone call me?"
Piccolo ignored him completely, his expression tightening as if he had just swallowed something bitter.
Vegeta's anger surged back up from where it had been simmering, his jaw clenching as he spoke through his teeth. "That damn Supreme Kai… I should go back and beat him again."
The memory refused to fade. He had self-destructed against Buu, pouring everything he had into that final attack, fully prepared to die if it meant taking the monster with him. For a moment, he had truly believed that would be the end.
He had come dangerously close to death—closer than he cared to admit—and if Goku had arrived even a little later, there would have been nothing left of him at all.
And now, after all of that, it turned out that Majin Buu had known Bulma the entire time.
The sheer absurdity of it made his blood boil even more, because "ridiculous" didn't even begin to describe how infuriating the whole situation was.
"So," Bulma said slowly, already putting the pieces together, "when you all left the World Martial Arts Tournament with the Supreme Kai, you went to fight Buu?"
Goku tried to laugh it off. "Tiny misunderstanding."
Bulma pinched the bridge of her nose. "You people are unbelievable."
Goku, naturally, had already moved on. He walked up to Buu with that wide, fearless smile of his and held out a hand. "Buu, you're really strong. Once I train more, let's fight again."
Buu stared at the hand for a moment, then took it and gave it one firm shake.
That was apparently enough to settle things for Goku.
"Kale," Merus called from the side.
Kale turned away from Buu, still wary. "Merus-nii?"
Merus looked from her to Buu, then back again. "I never told you?"
"Told me what?"
"Buu was the first God of Destruction I trained."
The words cut through the yard like a dropped bomb.
Kale's eyes widened. "You trained him?"
Everyone who had been beaten into the desert suddenly found the same uncomfortable answer waiting for them. No wonder Buu had been impossible to handle. He was not some random monster who had woken up too strong. He was a God of Destruction Merus had personally raised.
That made their loss easier to swallow.
Barely.
The stranger part was that Buu had bowed to Ken, greeted Bulma politely, and treated Merus like a piece of garden furniture.
Merus felt that deep in his soul.
"Buu," Kale said, her admiration lasting only a second before her temper came back, "if Merus-nii trained you, why did you hit me that hard?"
"You hit me first," Buu said.
Kale opened her mouth, then closed it again.
So did everyone else.
That was the annoying thing about Buu. Sometimes the worst answer was also the correct one.
Videl chose that moment to step toward Gohan, cutting through the awkwardness with a smile. "Gohan. We meet again."
Gohan brightened at once. "Videl. You came too?"
Mr. Satan stood a little behind her, smiling stiffly and trying to decide what kind of face he was supposed to make. On paper, this should have been his crowd. He was the world champion. The hero. The man people begged for autographs.
Unfortunately, this yard was full of people who could blow up mountains, punch gods, and survive things that would turn normal champions into dust.
Nobody asked for an autograph.
Nobody even looked impressed.
Krillin finally walked over, but not with the expression of a fan.
"Mr. Satan."
Mr. Satan perked up anyway and produced a pen with professional speed. "Autograph?"
Krillin stared at him.
Mr. Satan's confidence wilted. "No autograph?"
"You really don't remember me?"
"I meet a lot of people," Mr. Satan said, scratching his head with a helpless laugh. "Famous life, you know how it is…"
Krillin's patience snapped thinner. "Did my wife come here?"
"Your wife?"
"The pretty woman in the patterned dress," Krillin said, each word tighter than the last. "The one from the World Martial Arts Tournament. The one asking you for money."
Mr. Satan's mouth twitched.
Krillin saw it immediately.
"You did see her." He grabbed Mr. Satan by the front of his shirt. "Where is she? What did you do to my wife?"
Mr. Satan's hands shot up. "I didn't do anything!"
"Then answer me!"
"It's complicated!"
"How is my wife missing complicated?"
Mr. Satan's eyes darted toward Buu with the desperation of a man who had just realized the truth sounded worse than any lie. "Buu! Help!"
Buu was there before Krillin could turn.
One hand caught Krillin by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground.
"Hey!" Krillin kicked in the air. "Put me down!"
Mr. Satan sagged in relief so hard he almost cried. "Buu, you're the best…"
Krillin kept struggling. "Let me go!"
"Too loud," Buu said.
His antenna flashed.
"Turn into an egg."
Purple-white light swallowed Krillin whole. A second later, the shouting stopped, and a single egg dropped neatly into Buu's palm.
Buu held it out to Bulma. "Bulma, fry this for me."
Bulma looked at the egg.
Then she looked at Buu.
"Turn him back."
Buu blinked.
"Now."
Buu glanced at Ken, and whatever he saw there made him decide not to argue. His antenna flashed again, the light wrapped around the egg, and Krillin reappeared on the grass in a heap.
He was pale, shaking, and sweating through his shirt.
Goku rushed over and hauled him up. "Krillin, you okay?"
Krillin opened his mouth, closed it, then forced out a laugh that sounded like it had been dragged through the Other World. "I've been better."
Goku turned to Buu. "Buu, you can't just turn people into food."
"No bullying Satan," Buu said, puffing out his cheeks. "He's my second-best friend."
Mr. Satan's relief suffered a visible injury.
Second-best.
Why did Buu have to say that part out loud?
Goku tilted his head. "Who's your best friend?"
"Broly," Buu said proudly.
"Oh." Goku nodded, as if that explained the entire day. "No wonder you're so strong."
Krillin's brain finally clawed its way back to the real problem. He grabbed Goku's arm. "Wait. My wife. What happened to my wife?"
Buu answered with cheerful honesty. "She wanted money from Satan, so I turned her into silicone."
Krillin went white.
Goku caught his shoulder before he could fold. "Don't panic. We'll find her." He looked at Buu. "Where's Satan's house?"
Buu pointed across the city. "That way."
Goku focused in that direction, narrowing his eyes until he found the house. It took only a few seconds, but for Krillin, those few seconds looked like a lifetime.
"Krillin," Goku said, "take my hand."
"You found her?"
"Yeah."
Krillin grabbed him.
The yard vanished.
They appeared inside Mr. Satan's house, right in the room where Android 21's silicone form lay on the floor.
Krillin stared at her.
After everything that had happened today, after Buu, the egg, the gold mountain, and Mr. Satan's useless face, this was the one thing that finally made his knees give out.
Goku caught him before he hit the floor.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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