After the excitement of the tournament faded, I went straight back to my projects. Goku told me he wanted to see the world, and honestly, I wasn't worried. There isn't much on this planet that could really hurt him now — unless some hidden demon existed somewhere without any ki for me to sense. But since I haven't detected anything, I decided it was a foolish thought and moved on.
Most of my time went into developing a stronger, more efficient battle robot. The current model — made with Dr. Brief's help — was being mass-produced and sold worldwide. According to Dr. Brief, I was already rich enough to own a city. That was… odd to hear. Wealth never mattered to me, but it did make things easier.
Still, my focus stayed on creating the next version — one strong enough to actually challenge me.
The biggest problem was always the same:
the battery.
To make a robot strong enough for my needs, it had to output power equal to a fighter. But even my best model could only match a power level of around five hundred, and its battery lasted sixty seconds. Adding a second battery only increased it to ninety seconds. I had hoped for at least two minutes.
While I worked, I heard bits and pieces about Goku running into trouble with the Red Ribbon Army, and that Bulma was visiting a fortune-teller to locate another Dragon Ball. Which confused me. She has a Dragon Radar. Why a fortune-teller?
But whatever the reason, she paused her armor project and went with Goku. I trusted them enough not to worry.
Eventually, after staring at blueprints until my eyes burned, I went to Dr. Brief for help. He suggested a nuclear battery — powerful, long-lasting… and catastrophically dangerous.
"If it malfunctions," he warned,
"the explosion could level a city."
That was enough for me to drop the idea.
Then I had an epiphany.
What if the robot could store ki and use it as energy?
It sounded brilliant. In execution, it was a nightmare.
Even with both Bulma and Dr. Brief helping, progress crawled. Months passed.
I still released upgraded versions of the robot — not stronger, but longer-lasting, safer, and more flexible. Those sold well. My money kept piling up. But the ki-battery project continued to fight me every step of the way.
By the time I finished the third generation robot and put it on the market, another World Martial Arts Tournament was around the corner. Goku asked if I wanted to participate, and I politely said no. Fighting there wasn't my goal — training was.
I did, however, teach him to fly before the tournament, and I had him train against a custom-built robot modeled after his size and proportions. It was metal, heavy, and equipped with the prototype ki generator. The generator still needed a battery to activate, but once running, it produced ki on its own.
With safety settings on, the robot mirrored Goku's power level instead of surpassing him — it was a training partner, not a threat.
By the start of the tournament, Goku's power level reached around 230.
I only produced one ki-powered robot. I didn't want to destabilize the world or risk someone using it for the wrong reasons. The last thing I needed was a criminal army with power levels in the hundreds.
Bulma, meanwhile, developed a more advanced version of her armor. It could multiply her power by five when active. When I asked why she even needed that strength if she wasn't planning to fight seriously, she just smirked.
"Because it's interesting," she said.
"And seeing you get stronger inspires me."
Her base power was around sixty now, impressive for someone who had barely begun training.
She also created a scouter based on my memories of the Saiyan device — except hers looked like stylish sunglasses with thick temples. They were powered by a small battery that recharged from the wearer's body heat. Efficient and clever. Very Bulma.
The more she learned, the faster she grew, and sometimes I wondered if she might surpass half the fighters on Earth someday… even if only with tech.
But for now, I had a robot to perfect — and a future threat to prepare for.