Tien Shinhan and the other young disciples of the school are busy with their morning exercise...
The students are running, making rounds, circling the island, along sandy ocean shores.
They are wearing heavy metal hats, boots, and other eccentric clothing used almost exclusively by the Crane School. The training method itself isn't exclusive, but the clothing style certainly is... For instance, the Turtle School of Master Roshi uses heavy turtle shells instead of heavy hats.
"Oi! Violet and Blue, you too! Why aren't the two of you wearing the hats like Senior Namu told us to?" Silver, the boy with contrasting red hair, questions his peers, who are both running together side by side with him.
"Why do you care so much?" Blue says, throwing a question right back at Silver. "Look, I, for one, am still hanging it on my back. That's good enough, isn't it?" The boy's hat is strapped to his back with a rope; it seems he has made some modifications to the training.
To that, Silver lacks any replies or rebuttals. So, for now, he turns around, yet not ceaselessly.
The girl Violet, noticing his eyes land on her this time, is forced to speak up. "What do you want? Of course, I'm not wearing that junk as we were instructed. Doing it like Senior said may very well lead to baldness."
She explains how, if the metal hat excessively rubs against her head, all her hair may fall off. So instead, she is wearing some heavier clothes, increasing the weight to balance things out for not wearing the hat.
"But that's not the proper method!" Silver says. Yet, although he acts moody like this, internally, he is already convinced by the explanation... albeit partially.
"Stubborn, stuck-up..." Violet plainly states.
This remark by the girl hits some kind of sore spot in the boy, as, for some unspecified reason, he becomes unusually quiet after this. Nevertheless, he is still adamant in his belief: 'There must be some sort of important reasoning for wearing the hat the proper way'—poor boy, unaware it's nothing but a stylistic choice.
Tien Shinhan, the youngest, who has been following closely behind the three all this time and has been listening to their fruitless arguments, sighs! .. exhausted at the behavior of his so-called seniors...
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.
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At the school's newly built pagoda itself... Taking the elevator from the lowest floor of the pagoda, if one gazes from the balcony of the 10th floor toward the eastern direction, a single-story garage-like building can be seen some 300 meters across.. (A/N- Yeah, I just wanted to add more words..)
This conspicuous building functions as the training hall of one man.
Shen, leader of this school, is busy in the gravity chamber, which was built at a relatively safe location away from the sensitive areas of the island, particularly the pagoda... This has been done in case any malfunction or accident occurs in the machinery.
Inside the gravity chamber... "998.. 999.. 1000!!" Shen falls face-flat on the ground after a round of grueling push-ups... Exhausted, he couldn't go any further than 1000.
'A 100X gravity is nothing to sneeze at, ahugh!! It hurts! My every muscle has turned into mush...' The man goes on, muttering in a low voice, "Damn Vegeta and Goku, who could do this while being weaker than me. Their recovery is really something to be jealous of..."
Shen then starts to crawl toward the gravity machine situated at the center of the room. He could have stopped the machine with his voice, yet he has rather chosen to squeeze in some small bits of training, even at the very last second.
The machine has stopped. The man's body is leaning on the cylindrical machine, resting... Nonetheless, a few moments later, although his body was screaming to its maximum, he still manages to steady himself and walk a few steps...
Heavily breathing, "Open the shutter," he says to the AI system.
The shutter mechanically rolls open as Shen takes in the long-awaited fresh air from outside—salty and earthy because of the surrounding ocean.
After a while, Namu arrives at the place. "So, your morning training is over, Master Shen!?"
Not replying, merely looking at his disciple, Shen exits the building...
"Well, as you can see," Shen exclaims, obviousness written on his face... Following with, "Forget about me... So, Namu, what happened with contacting Dr. Brief's oldest daughter, Tights? What's the lead? Have we got her whereabouts?"
"Well, as per your request, we have contacted Ms. Tights. What do you plan to do now, Teacher? Are you really going to meet with the people of this so-called Galactic Patrol? Should I inform Launch-san of this news? She would surely help if, for any sort of reason, the situation goes south with them."
Namu wants to prepare for all unforeseeable situations, however...
"No! Don't let her know of this at any cost."
"But why?"
"Her being there will just overcomplicate things for me..." Saying so, Shen leaves his disciple's company... Without an exact destination in mind, he starts wandering around the island.
Near the ocean, above the beach, Shen dazedly hovers... Below, the school's disciples call his name, yet the Crane Hermit isn't very aware of his surroundings.
'That Namu... He is turning out to be a capable butler of sorts. He also guides the younger generation. Now that I think about it, the guy is more of a teacher for those kids than me... Tien, Blue, Silver, Violet may forget I am their true master if this goes on...'
While pondering along these lines, he dives under the ocean... Lost in thought, somehow, he finds himself at the underwater hideout, almost like his body was on autopilot.
Emerging from the underground lake, he takes in the view, complimenting, "They have renovated this place nicely... White tiles, escalators, robots, and automated machines handling different activities. It looks like a top-class hospital. It's impressive how fast they have turned this place into a super-advanced research facility..."
Gradually, Shen starts walking toward the place where some faint metallic noise is coming from. "If I am right, about now, the doctor should be busy with his brand-new research... This time, the field being aeronautics..." A sense of anticipation is palpable...
Sure enough, the development process is going smoothly, largely thanks to certain individuals. They are the space pirates who had tried and failed to rob Shen and Launch the first time they had left for outer space.
Naturally, The pair of Earthlings had, swiftly and decisively dealt with the hooligans. Since then, locked up in the same old Namekian ship that Shen and the girl were traveling in, with their own ship confiscated, the trio has been freeloading at the Earthlings' expense—at least, that was Shen's view, disregarding the fact that it was he himself who had forced that position upon them.
Although, to somewhat make up for their uselessness, they did prove indispensable during the construction of the new homes for the Saiyans...
These brothers, being a group of pirates who, until recently, were roaming the universe with altogether just three men onboard, unsurprisingly would have had to develop a wide range of skill sets. Apparently, expertise in technical fields was a need they couldn't do without...
Right now, those very pirates are working alongside Dr. Flappe and Dr. Brief, helping the old guys understand the alien ship that Shen had stolen—more appropriately, confiscated from the pirates themselves.
"Oh, it's them," Shen exclaims, seeing the three guys busy with a few advanced-looking machines placed on a work table before them.
having been invited by Shen, Bulma's father is also tirelessly working alongside them. He was the one who had previously repaired the old Namekian Ship that belonged to kami, therefore a ever-curious scientist he could have never willingly missed this learning opportunity.
"So that was how it was... You needed such a combination to create this high-level energy source. No wonder I got confused and mixed Nobitron + 2-Suzukasium element with Doracium," the man exclaims, amazed, having resolved the long-standing confusion.
"Hehe! They do behave similarly in certain conditions... You have to react it..." The shortest and the smartest of the three brothers is explaining everything to the human.
This Being a fresh domain, even for him, Dr. Brief absorbs ideas like a thirsty sponge. The aliens seem to be fine with this arrangement. They are willingly cooperating, sharing their own expertise and knowledge.
Throughout their run as pirates, these three brothers haven't really achieved any sort of sufficiently decent success. "Maybe that career option never even suited them in the first place..." Shen, speaking to himself, "By capturing them, I may have very well done them a favor." he nonchalantly states.
". . . Hmmm!!! That's a thing to think about, I guess... Well, whatever the case, right now, I better not disturb the diligent atmosphere here with my unnecessary presence."
Shen moves on... Nothing could be rushed infinitely... First, understanding the ship, then improving and making additions to it—all of this was surely going to take appropriate time.
Additionally, and more importantly, as far as Shen's priorities are concerned... leaving aside the spaceship, a short-term goal, the man has also been thinking of a different matter.
Actually, besides the three brothers, Dr. Brief is really the only one who has truly involved himself in the spaceship's study. Dr. Flappe, in contrast, hardly puts his nose into the ship's business, as unlike his fellow Earth scientist, he has little to no affinity for the topic. His sole focus is on a different scientific endeavor, no less important...
"Dr. Flappe, what's the progress with Project Tppx-v2? How is Tao Pai-Pai's upgrade going? There aren't any complications, right?"
"Nothing to worry about; he is perfectly fine... We are learning new things that were, until recently, shrouded in mystery... Besides, nothing can realistically be done regarding the snail-paced progress. Cybernetics of this caliber is essentially uncharted territory; hardly anyone has ever had more expertise in this subject than we presently do.
"From all I can surmise, an exception to this is probably the renowned scientist Dr. Gero. I am ashamed to say, even our own research is largely based off his prior findings... Android 8 seems to have been a prototype of his, created years ago. By now, that mad scientist has likely reached unsurpassable heights."
"His talent is enviable indeed," Shen remarks, with his hand on his chin.
"Yes, you are absolutely right, Mr. Shen," the scientist agrees.
Shen worriedly looks at Dr. Flappe, fully aware of the doctor's inferiority complex due to his perceived lack of talent compared to his well-established peers, geniuses such as Dr. Brief and Dr. Gero... Yet, strangely, what he sees is not the face of a defeated man but one filled with competitive vigor and radiating confidence.
This puts a smile on Shen's face. He stops himself from saying anything further. 'Guess nothing needs to be said... It appears everyone has changed... They have grown in one way or another.'
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New Chapters coming soon
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