As the sun slowly set, John and his companions drew closer to the location of the Dragon Ball. Suddenly, a missile shot from a distant mountain, aimed directly at their car.
John punched through the car's roof, pulling Bulma out of the vehicle, while Goku jumped out with Oolong.
After they exited the car, a robot leaped down from the mountain and swiftly approached their vehicle, stealing all six Dragon Balls that were inside. The robot then retreated to a nearby aircraft and took off toward Pilaf's castle.
Despite the theft of the Dragon Balls, John and his friends showed no signs of panic, as if they had anticipated this situation.
Bulma turned to John and asked, "Is this part of your plan? We worked hard to collect six Dragon Balls, only for the enemy to steal them. What's your plan?"
John smiled and replied, "Don't worry. Let's board the plane, and I'll explain while we fly."
He then took out a capsule and transformed it into an aircraft.
At that moment, Oolong realized they had brought a capsule plane along and curiously asked, "If you have a plane, why did we drive here instead of using it?"
John explained, "Because we didn't know what kind of enemies we would encounter while collecting the Dragon Balls. If we were attacked in the air, how would we land safely?"
"But now we don't have to worry; there's only one enemy left. Besides, they've already gathered all seven Dragon Balls, so they won't be on guard against us anymore. We can chase them in the plane."
Just as they were about to board the aircraft, Yamcha rushed over with Puar and shouted loudly, "Are you guys stupid? You finally collected six Dragon Balls only to let the enemy steal them!"
Seeing the handsome and wild Yamcha made Bulma's eyes sparkle. She suddenly felt that she wouldn't need to collect Dragon Balls to fulfill her wish anymore; she had a target right in front of her.
Thinking this way, Bulma enthusiastically linked her arm with Yamcha's and pulled him toward the plane. "Don't worry! John has a plan. But hey, handsome, do you want to make a wish with the Dragon Balls? Can you tell me what wish you have in mind?"
"I'll tell you this: even if I can't make my wish this time, it's okay because next year I can wish again! So there's no need to worry too much."
Yamcha had initially rushed over in a panic because he was upset about not being able to fulfill his wish due to the Dragon Balls being stolen. He hadn't considered Bulma's presence at all.
Now that she had grabbed him, he felt stiff all over and blushed deeply as he awkwardly followed Bulma onto the plane.
Puar trailed behind them, watching Yamcha's awkward demeanor with concern.
However, Yamcha's fear of girls was just a psychological issue; with more interaction with girls, he would easily overcome it. So as John piloted the plane into the air, it wasn't long before Yamcha began to relax under Bulma's enthusiastic conversation.
Once Bulma noticed that Yamcha was no longer so tense around her, she turned back to John and asked, "So John, what's your plan? Why did you intentionally let them steal our Dragon Balls?"
Everyone turned their attention toward John.
John calmly asked them: "Is there any difference between having six Dragon Balls and having one?"
After thinking for a moment, Yamcha replied: "No difference. As long as we don't have all seven Dragon Balls together, we can't summon Shenron."
"But now because of you guys' actions, they have collected all seven!" Bulma exclaimed anxiously.
John continued explaining: "While we've gathered six Dragon Balls, it's clear that the last one is in possession of another group that is also collecting them."
"And since they are protecting it within their castle or base, if we want to take that last Dragon Ball from them, we need to breach their carefully designed defenses."
"It's obvious that neither Goku nor I—plus Yamcha—are invincible; there are too many ways for them to defeat us and take back our collected Dragon Balls."
"Given this situation, if we want to eliminate their home advantage while also gathering all seven Dragon Balls again, what should we do?"
Upon hearing John's words, everyone began contemplating except for Goku who was cluelessly looking around.
Bulma hesitantly suggested: "Are you thinking about letting them gather all seven Dragon Balls outside and summon Shenron?"
John nodded appreciatively at Bulma's insight: "Exactly! To summon Shenron, they must leave their castle. At that moment we can defeat them and make our wish directly."
Everyone understood John's reasoning; this strategy would indeed help avoid fighting on their turf while allowing the enemies to summon Shenron for them.
Yamcha asked hesitantly: "But how can we be sure we can defeat them?"
John laughed confidently: "If they were really strong enough to stop us from gathering six Dragon Balls in the first place!"
Hearing John's words helped Yamcha grasp this point better and he relaxed considerably.
Then Yamcha suddenly thought of another issue: "But Shenron can only grant one wish; who will get it?"
Bulma replied: "We plan to give our wish to John since he needs it most. Besides, Shenron can grant wishes once every year; none of us are in a hurry."
"What about you? What wish do you want?" Bulma asked Yamcha.
Feeling his face flush red at Bulma's question, Yamcha shyly muttered: "I want to wish for Shenron to help me not be afraid when I see girls anymore."
"Huh?!" Bulma was taken aback by Yamcha's wish.
At that moment John said: "Yamcha! Your shyness around girls is a psychological issue that Shenron can't solve because it's part of your character. If Shenron changes your personality completely, you won't be Yamcha anymore."
Bulma added: "Yeah! You just need more time interacting with girls; eventually you'll get over it—like me!" The last few words were said with an extremely shy expression on her face.