Pilaf's castle.
Mai and Shu bowed deeply.
"Sorry, Lord Pilaf!"
"If we'd counted them, this wouldn't have happened!"
Pilaf stared at the radar, wearing a carefree grin.
"Doesn't matter. The radar says the last Dragon Ball is coming straight at us.
Looks like they're chasing us."
"What?!"
"So fast?"
Mai and Shu stared at the screen in disbelief.
"It's true… Their cloud got repaired already?
How are they here that fast?"
Shu sighed. "Not only that, they're coming exactly this way.
No surprise—they've got a Dragon Radar too!"
Mai nodded. "Yeah. Without a radar they never could've gathered six balls.
They're so annoying—
they hid one ball separately on purpose!
That's why we were still missing one. So hateful."
Pilaf cackled. "Hee-hee-hee, who cares?
We're about to collect all seven anyway.
Hah…
How lonely!
After endless trials, I, Lord Pilaf, will finally rule the world!
Hahahahahaha!"
Suddenly Mai froze, staring at the radar.
"Lord Pilaf, look… they turned around?"
Pilaf: "What? Why?"
Shu: "Maybe they saw our castle is so majestic that they got scared?"
Pilaf's eyes sparkled.
"Shu has a point.
Can't help it—my power and foundation are just too overwhelming.
Even when I try to hide it, I can't.
I scared the prey away. What a shame…
Ahahahaha!"
Mai asked, "Then what do we do, Lord Pilaf?"
"You two take the robots and chase them. We must get those Dragon Balls!"
"Yes, Lord!"
They dashed for the robot hangar.
…
On Nimbus, Goku and Bulma spotted Pilaf's castle.
They hovered in the air not far from it.
Bulma sighed. "I can't believe it's this close. We reached their castle without even catching up."
Goku turned to her.
"What now? We break in, or I blow up the castle with a Kamehameha?"
Bulma nearly choked.
If Goku blew up the castle, they'd all die.
They stole Dragon Balls, sure—but that didn't deserve death!
Bulma checked the surroundings, glanced at the castle, then looked up.
The sun had set.
Night was about to fall.
A full moon hung in the sky, half-veiled by gauzy clouds.
Seeing that, Bulma's heart jolted.
History had changed a little, but somehow it was still eerily similar.
In her previous life, on the night they searched for the final Dragon Ball, many of them were trapped in Pilaf's castle.
In desperation, Goku saw the full moon, transformed into a giant ape, and destroyed the castle.
Only after Puar transformed into scissors and cut off Goku's tail did the crisis end.
Now the full moon was rising again, and Goku still had his tail.
This was dangerous.
She said immediately, "Goku, don't worry about the Dragon Balls yet.
It's dangerous here. Let's leave for a while."
She steered Nimbus away, flying in the opposite direction.
Goku looked baffled.
"But we were this close to the Dragon Balls. Why leave?
Are you worried I can't beat them?"
Bulma quickly tore a strip of cloth from her clothes.
"Goku, want to play a game?"
She asked in a playful tone.
Goku stared at the cloth, even more confused.
"What game?"
"Don't resist. Close your eyes. Do what I say."
"Oh!"
Goku trusted Bulma completely.
He let her tie the cloth over his eyes.
"What next?" he asked.
The moment he said it, Goku suddenly realized what she was doing, and cold sweat almost broke out.
Counting the days… it was the full moon.
Did Bulma know that he turned into a giant ape when he saw it?
Doubt flickered through his mind.
He dug into his memory of leaving Mount Paozu with Bulma.
Back then, Grandpa Gohan had pulled Bulma aside and told her a lot of things.
Goku had thought it was just "please take care of my grandson."
But now… it might've been about his transformations.
After living with Grandpa for over ten years, even if Goku tried to avoid the full moon, accidents happened.
A spark hit him.
He remembered that year his tail grew back.
He definitely turned into a giant ape.
He didn't remember what he'd done—
but he remembered waking up to a wrecked house, a badly damaged mountainside, and Grandpa claiming a storm had destroyed the house, then taking him to buy a Capsule House.
They didn't have enough money, so they went back and rebuilt with lumber.
Now he knew.
There was no storm.
That time, he had transformed, and Grandpa had discovered his secret.
After that, besides Goku avoiding full moons himself, Grandpa had quietly cooperated—never taking him out on moonlit nights.
So when Bulma and he left the mountain, Grandpa must've told her too.
Goku let out a long breath, the chain of cause and effect finally clear.
They'd been searching for Dragon Balls these days, and he'd forgotten all about the full moon.
He'd almost caused a disaster.
Good thing Bulma was more careful than he was.
Then—
Goku suddenly felt something warm and soft on his cheek.
He flinched.
His nose was sharp. He smelled Bulma's scent.
It was a kiss.
"Bulma, what are you doing?" he blurted.
Bulma said, "I just remembered something.
When we fell off Nimbus earlier, you saved my life.
So congratulations—you've earned a beautiful girl's kiss!"