"Don't talk nonsense… Who would be thinking about him…" Han Yue's cheeks flushed as she glared at the girls in front of her. Her shy expression betrayed the fluster of someone whose heart had just been seen through.
"Heavens! Don't tell me it's true? Our goddess—lofty as the moon in the sky—has actually been moved?"
"A hero rescuing a beauty… so romantic… and more than once, too. If a boy as exceptional as Senior Goku saved me like that, I'd definitely pledge myself to him."
"I'm not wasting breath on you lovestruck girls. I'm going out for a walk." Overwhelmed by their teasing, Han Yue tossed down the words and headed out of the pavilion.
By a cliffside, she gazed at the clouds on the horizon, letting the gentle breeze brush her face. Scenes of her encounters with Goku replayed in her mind—
That peerless, godlike bearing; those rescues when she had been on the brink of despair; and, finally, that distant back as he left without a word… In the end, she could only sigh. "Maybe… we'll never meet again…"
"Who is it you'll never see again?" A familiar voice sounded behind her.
Han Yue's body trembled. She turned slowly and stared at the familiar figure, dazed for a heartbeat. Surprise flickered across her face, but it couldn't hide the joy welling up. "Senior Goku? Why are you back at the Inner Court?"
"I'm about to leave this world, so I came to see a friend," Goku said with a smile. He could clearly sense Han Yue's feelings at that moment.
"What? Leave this world? Did you suffer some incurable injury?" Han Yue's expression changed at once; she hurriedly checked him over in a panic.
Goku nearly toppled. "Could you not jinx me? Hey—enough poking around. I'm not hurt."
"Uh… then why would you say something like that…" Han Yue's face flamed red.
"When I said I was leaving this world, I meant…"
Goku patiently explained it all to Han Yue.
Watching her widen her eyes in shock, he smiled faintly. "That's how it is."
"Someone… from another world…? How is that possible… Then you came to say goodbye?" Though shaken, Han Yue quickly steadied herself, a reluctant note in her voice.
"More or less. But if you're curious about other worlds, you could come with me."
"You… want me to go with you?" Han Yue met his gaze directly.
"That's exactly why I came," Goku replied, smiling.
"Is that so?" The tension and worry on Han Yue's delicate face blossomed into a radiant smile that seemed to outshine even the moon at the horizon. "You leave me no choice… Since you've said so, I'll go with you."
Their eyes met, and they both smiled.
"However, I have to go home first and tell my family."
"No problem at all."
Han Yue's family lived in a Central Plains city called Tian Bei. From the Inner Court to Tian Bei City would normally take more than a month—but for Goku, it was only an instant.
Standing before the Han family's gate, Goku said, "Spend a few days with your family. Three days from now, I'll come for you."
"Won't you come in and sit for a while?" Han Yue asked.
"I'll pass. Meeting the parents is the scariest part." He waved a hand. "That's that. I'll pick you up in three days." With that, Goku vanished.
"'Meeting the parents,' he says… This guy…" Face warming, Han Yue stepped through the Han family's gate.
Three days later, the farewells were made, and the time to leave this realm finally arrived.
In the Han family courtyard, Goku glanced at the young woman beside Han Yue—her resemblance striking—and looked back to Han Yue.
"What's this about?"
"She's my younger sister, Han Xue. Uh… well, a lot happened…"
Before Han Yue could finish, Han Xue cut in. "So you're Goku, my future brother-in-law? Hmph. I won't hand my sister over to someone I don't understand. I'm coming along this time to keep an eye on you… to see whether you're truly someone worthy of her for life."
"I told you, it's not what you think…" Han Yue's face turned scarlet. For her sister to say such things right to Goku's face—she wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Hmph! You're already planning to run off with him, aren't you?" Han Xue sniffed, then, for some reason, her own face reddened. "Don't forget the vow we made when we were little. Naturally, I need to judge his character properly."
Han Yue blinked, dazed. Fragments of childhood returned to her—
"Big Sis, let's always stay together and never be apart, okay?"
"Silly girl… how could that be… When we grow up, we're bound to marry."
"Then we'll marry the same person, and we won't be separated."
'No way… Did she really take that childhood promise seriously?' Han Yue stared at Han Xue, momentarily at a loss.
"I see. Then it's trouble for you," Goku said with an easy smile. "For now, both of you should enter my inner world. There are quite a few people there you'll find familiar."
"Your… world?" While the sisters were still puzzled, Goku willed it so; in an instant, he placed them into the world he had created. With a flicker, he moved to a deserted place and opened a dimensional gate.
The long-missed, seven-colored portal bloomed before his eyes.
[Returning to the Main World will cost 1,000,000 energy points. Confirm?]
"One million? Wasn't it only ten thousand?" Goku frowned. Since there was no additional charge for bringing the women along, he relaxed.
"Whatever. I've got more energy points than I can count anyway." He tapped confirm and stepped into the gate, vanishing in a flash.
Just before he disappeared, his quiet murmur drifted out: "Feels like this dimensional shuttle has developed a mind of its own…"
---
Dragon Ball World, the Lookout plaza.
A seven-colored portal flared, and Goku stepped out slowly.
He took in the familiar scene and frowned. Surprise flickered in his eyes. "This is… the Lookout? Why am I here? Shouldn't I have arrived at Bulma's place?"
It was the same Lookout—yet the aura felt subtly different.
"What exactly is off?" He searched his memory, but couldn't pin it down.
A nearby door swung open. A young Namekian stepped out. Seeing Goku, he froze—then, overjoyed, he rushed forward, visibly excited.
"Lord Goku? Is it really you? It is—you're exactly the same as you were thirty years ago, not a trace of change… Of course—your body is ageless and undying."
"Uh… you're… Dende? When I met you on Planet Namek, you were just a little kid. You've grown fast… Did you spend time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? And how did you get back to Earth…?" Goku suddenly thought of something; shock spread across his face. "Wait—did you say thirty years?!"
"Yes! You vanished and were gone for thirty years—we couldn't sense your ki at all. Where did you go?" Dende's voice trembled with feeling. "You don't know—Krillin and the others have been looking for you this whole time!"
"Thirty years? What the Fuck! How could the time difference be that huge? At most it should've been under a year… What on earth happened?"
Even Goku lost his composure, letting slip a curse. Something about this was very wrong.
"Is something matter?" Dende asked, puzzled.
Goku waved him off, sinking into thought. He recalled the faint, elusive aura he'd felt the instant he stepped into the portal, and his brows knit tight.
"So I wasn't mistaken… The dimensional shuttle really does have a will of its own. Is it the culprit behind all this?"
An ill premonition rose in his heart—as if everything had been arranged by someone else. The sense that his fate was being manipulated was infuriating, stoking a spark of anger within him.
He summoned the shuttle's interface and probed it carefully—yet found nothing amiss. His frown deepened. Being toyed with like this only fueled his ire.
"Still hiding some unspeakable secret, are you? You sent me to a Dragon Ball world thirty years in the future—what are you playing at?"
Unleashing his fearsome soul sense, Goku scrutinized the shuttle. Finding no flaws, he simply shut it down, a cold smile curving his lips.
"Hmph. Hide all you like. Whatever your aim, against absolute power, your petty tricks mean nothing. But if I catch even a hint of your scheme… you'll regret it."
__
T/N:
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