Near Pilaf's base—
Mai stood atop a gigantic plant. Using her instrument, she detected Bulma and Goku's route—meaning the Dragon Balls' route.
That's right. Those goofballs had built a precise Dragon Radar too.
She raised the communicator. "Lord Pilaf, I've detected a Dragon Ball signal at Point 15. After multiple confirmations, their vehicle appears to be a golden cloud…"
"Good. It's them. Prepare for combat!"
"Yes, understood!"
Mai hung up and contacted Shu.
"Attention, attention. The Dragon Balls are moving at a constant speed.
Intercept them here and now.
Calculate the trajectory, lock the missiles on the predicted path, and fire."
…
Goku and Bulma passed through the rabbit gang's town.
Under Bulma's direction, Goku easily dealt with the rabbit gang without wasting much energy. The radar showed the Dragon Ball was close.
So they didn't rest and kept going, aiming to get the last Dragon Ball before dark.
After all, the Flying Nimbus was on auto-cruise.
At that moment, both of them were lying on Nimbus, asleep.
Just as they slept soundly, a missile struck the cloud.
Boom! Nimbus scattered apart.
Bulma and Son Goku jolted awake—only to find they were falling.
At the same time, Bulma's pouch of Dragon Balls spilled everywhere.
After falling a short distance, Bulma snapped fully awake. This wasn't a dream.
"Goku, save me!" she screamed.
Goku rubbed his eyes. His brain was a beat slow, but he understood what happened.
Their Nimbus had been hit, so they were dropping.
But he still couldn't fly, so for the moment he had no solution.
Even if he hit the ground, he wouldn't die.
Bulma, though, absolutely would.
The instant Bulma cried out, Goku grabbed her in a tight hug.
"Bulma! Hold on to me!"
He pulled out the Power Pole with one hand and shouted, "Power Pole—extend!"
In a flash, the pole shot downward.
Bulma had already locked her legs and arms around Goku.
With both hands free, Goku gripped the Power Pole and swung hard at a massive mushroom-shaped plant below.
Crack! Crack!
The giant plant split open under the blow.
But that was exactly what Goku wanted—he used the plant's destruction to slow their fall.
One end of the pole carved through the plant from the top straight down, ripping it open all the way to its thick roots at ground level.
Only then did it stop.
Because of that, Goku and Bulma got enough cushioning.
A moment later, they landed safely.
Bulma's legs went soft. She collapsed on the ground, panting.
"Haah… haah…
That was so dangerous. I thought I was dead…"
She checked herself on instinct.
Yeah. No peeing her pants this time.
After days on Nimbus, her courage had grown a lot.
Goku stood up and scanned the area for enemies.
Not far away, a plane came into view—
but it was already pulling farther and farther away.
He pointed at it. "Bulma, that's them. They blew up Nimbus, and that's why we fell. They stole our Dragon Balls."
Bulma gasped and patted her pouch.
Sure enough—the Dragon Balls were gone.
"Ah! The Dragon Balls we worked so hard for!"
She looked up at the plane and yelled, "Goku, use the Power Pole and knock it down!"
But the moment she said it, she froze.
Because she saw the plane—and more importantly, she saw who was inside.
Shu was piloting, and Mai was smirking triumphantly while holding Bulma's Dragon Ball pouch.
How could Bulma not be shocked by Mai's face?
In the future timeline, Mai was the leader of the resistance, the one who led the last humans to survival—the last hope of humanity.
Trunks had fought Black Goku many times, and after every defeat, Mai had saved him more than once.
To Bulma, Mai was her daughter-in-law.
But now… thinking about it, Mai was already this old at this point.
Which meant Mai was older than Goku. She'd followed Pilaf her whole life, taken countless detours, and only matured after so many years.
If Trunks ever married her, honestly, her son would be the one getting the short end of the stick—
While Bulma was thinking that, Goku shouted, "Power Pole—extend!"
Bulma's whole body shivered.
She lunged forward and grabbed the Pole to stop him.
"Wait, Goku!"
Thankfully, Goku stopped.
Otherwise, one swing would've shattered the plane—and Mai would have died, either smashed outright or by falling.
Goku looked at her, confused.
"What's wrong, Bulma? Why stop me?
They're getting away. If they go farther, I can't hit them."
Bulma let out a breath. "Goku, you have to show sympathy to the weak.
It's just Dragon Balls. You still have one. They can't collect all seven anyway.
We have the radar. We can just find them again."
Truthfully, Goku hadn't wanted to kill Mai and Shu either.
Those two goofballs, plus their boss Pilaf, were basically comic relief.
Even if they wished to rule Earth, whatever.
Only absolute strength could truly rule the planet.
Wishing on Shenron wouldn't make you a real king—at most, a soft, powerless one.
Hearing Bulma's logic, Goku nodded.
"You're right. We've got the Four-Star Ball
and the Dragon Radar. Finding them will be easy."
Bulma crossed her arms and stared at the sky, a little disappointed.
"Too bad Nimbus got blown apart. We don't have transportation now…"
But she wasn't heartbroken.
In her previous life, Nimbus had once been dissolved by Tambourine's spit, and later Goku got another one.
That's how Bulma learned there were many Nimbus clouds at Korin Tower.
It was just that pure people were too rare now—almost nobody could ride one.
Then Goku said, "Bulma, call Nimbus again.
It was scattered, but maybe it can recover."
Bulma blinked, curious, then cupped her hands and yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Nimbus!"
Sure enough—whoosh! Nimbus flew back from the horizon.
Seeing it return intact, Bulma lit up.
"Hahaha! Yes!
Goku, you were right. Nimbus is still here!
Great—we don't have to walk! Hahahaha!"
She sprang up onto Nimbus.
"Goku, get on! Nimbus is fast. Let's chase the plane!"
Goku blinked, then jumped up.
"Coming!"