The sunglasses-wearing referee swallowed hard, hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded in understanding.
Although he was also terrified by Goku's background, having witnessed Goku's growth since his first World Martial Arts Tournament, and being one of the few Earthlings who knew he was the hero who defeated King Piccolo, the referee firmly believed Goku would never destroy Earth.
"All registered contestants, please enter the ring according to your numbers!"
However, when the referee made this announcement, no one stepped forward.
After all this mess, who was still in the mood for a tournament?
The referee scratched his head awkwardly, his gaze sweeping over the remaining contestants.
After a moment's thought, he said:
"Uh... it seems there's no need for preliminary matches. Let's proceed directly to the elimination rounds."
Normally, the World Martial Arts Tournament held preliminary matches backstage first.
Then the top eight winners would advance to the elimination rounds.
But now, the number of remaining contestants was clearly under ten.
So why bother with preliminaries? They should just start.
"Please draw lots, contestants."
The referee quickly brought over a box and ran up to Goku and the others.
Normally, he wouldn't handle the lottery drawing.
But now, all the tournament staff had run away, so he has to do this himself.
Soon, the draw results were out-
Goku vs Unnamed Black-Haired Girl
Tien vs Yamcha
Krillin vs Ma Junior
Chiaotzu vs Shen
…
When the first-round contestants, Goku and a delicate, pretty girl about his age, stepped onto the stage.
Lott revealed a meaningful smile and said:
"This will be interesting."
Hearing this, Genos and Saeko also became intrigued.
…
Because Chi-Chi hadn't given her name, the referee, who also served as the announcer, could only refer to her as the 'Mysterious Girl'.
In the ring, the two faced each other.
Chi-Chi glared fiercely at Son Goku opposite her, as if she wanted to chop him into pieces and chew him up bite by bite.
"Cough... Are both contestants ready? Then... the first match, beg- Huh!?"
Before the referee could finish the word 'begin', Chi-Chi shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
She unleashed a rapid flurry of punches and kicks at Goku.
A confused Goku didn't counterattack at all.
He just dodged while asking her:
"Have we met before? Are you mistaking me for someone else?"
The girl's slender arms didn't pack much power.
But her nimble movements and agile footwork made the fight quite visually appealing.
She was probably around mid to lower-tier A-Class Hero level.
However, what's more intriguing to viewers across the universe than Chi-Chi's attacks were the angry words she muttered under her breath while fighting:
"It's because you forgot everything! That's why I'm so angry!"
Chi-Chi's attacks grew more frequent.
"You don't understand a girl's heart at all! You even forgot our promise, didn't you!?"
Many of the male members in the chat room hadn't caught on yet.
But Saeko standing beside Lott, Chika and Yui who had just returned home from the shelter, along with young women like Kanae from the Planet Demon and Inoue Orihime from the Planet Shinigami, had vaguely guessed what was going on.
Yet, in the footage, Goku still looked utterly confused.
"A promise? What promise? Between you and me?"
Chi-Chi trembled with rage, her eyebrow twitching several times before she gritted her teeth and spat out the words:
"You forgot completely, huh? Then I'll tell you... you promised me that when I grew up…"
Here, Chi-Chi took a deep breath and shouted through gritted teeth:
"You would marry me!!!"
For a moment, the entire universe fell into an eerie silence.
For the top-tier powerhouses, the fight between Goku and Chi-Chi might be less entertaining than a fight between elderly folks in a nursing home.
But for young women like Saeko, Chika, and Hyuga Hinata-
The impact of Chi-Chi's words was no less shocking than the earlier displays from Lott and Vegeta's trio.
It was perhaps even greater.
As for dignitaries like Prime Minister Fujiwara, Senzaemon, and Mrs. Yukinoshita-
Their eyes lit up, as if a new world had opened before them, a moment of revelation.
'So that's an option.'
'If you can't beat the Saiyan, you can marry the Saiyan!'
'Even if you want to destroy the planet, you'd have to show some mercy to your in-laws, right?'
At this moment, gathered at the Hero Association under Prime Minister Fujiwara's call, Senzaemon, Mrs. Yukinoshita, Shinomiya Seiryu, and others-
Suddenly felt incredibly clever.
But they seemed to not realize that the people sitting next to them had the same idea.