Orochimaru had gotten excited the moment he heard Lín Xuán mention that this Son Goku possessed some kind of exceptionally powerful bloodline. His gaze towards Son Goku now was practically like looking at a fascinating specimen!
One had to admit, Orochimaru's excited habit of licking his lips with his long tongue made him look decidedly untrustworthy. This wasn't just uncomfortable for the people from the Dragon Ball world; many in the Ninja Association felt the same way. But, Orochimaru had always been like this, so they couldn't very well say anything.
Fortunately, Orochimaru knew he shouldn't scare his potential research subject outright. He quickly reined himself in and offered an explanation. "My apologies. I get like this when I see a powerful individual. I hope I didn't startle you?"
Son Goku scratched his head. Being rather thick-skinned, he hadn't paid much mind to Orochimaru's strange behavior, merely finding it peculiar. "Nah. Are you also entering the tournament, mister?"
Orochimaru nodded. "That's correct. I hope we have a chance to cross paths later." Son Goku readily agreed, "Sure! Let's see if we meet in the matches!"
Son Goku quickly forgot about the incident. However, one person hiding within the crowd of applicants did not.
This person was Kami, who had possessed an ordinary human body, adopted the name 'Shen', and come personally to deal with Piccolo!
Orochimaru's bizarre demeanor only deepened Kami's suspicion that Lín Xuán and his group were problematic, fueling his anxiety. But his primary concern remained Piccolo's son, who had also arrived at the scene!
The group soon went their separate ways, with Son Goku and the others queuing to register.
To Lín Xuán's surprise, following the original storyline, the Turtle Hermit had not participated in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. But seeing Lín Xuán and the others all sign up, the Turtle Hermit felt his fingers itching. After gritting his teeth, he decided to register as well. If these guys are all joining, I have no reason not to. I might even get to spar with them. The thought filled him with anticipation.
As for Son Goku, Tien Shinhan, and the others, who had come specifically for the tournament, they naturally all registered.
Meanwhile, other members of the Ninja Association also arrived one after another to sign up.
The registration process for the World Martial Arts Tournament was simple. Applicants only needed to provide basic information at the registration desk; they didn't even need to use their real names. Soon, everyone was registered.
Lín Xuán had already arranged for Whitebeard—whom he had inquired about earlier—to come to this world during their sightseeing tour over the past two days. He'd had Whitebeard enter Sabaody Archipelago, get sealed by Sarutobi Hiruzen, and then sent over via the 'red envelope' function!
However, Whitebeard hadn't arrived yet, as he lacked the sea-surface running skill possessed by the ninjas. Lín Xuán registered for him in advance; he just needed to arrive by tomorrow to compete.
After everyone finished registering, they prepared to leave. Lín Xuán also noticed a figure in the crowd with a white turban and a white cape—Piccolo, who was sneering coldly at Son Goku, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
Seeing this, Lín Xuán's lips curled into a slight smile.
If I reveal his identity during the match and then utterly crush him, how much prestige points would that earn me? Lín Xuán pondered, increasingly convinced the plan was feasible.
Previously, King Piccolo and his minions had thrown the people of Earth into a state of panic. If everyone learned Piccolo's identity now, wouldn't they be shocked? Leveraging this properly could surely net him a significant amount of prestige points.
But he needed to plan carefully how to maximize the gains.
Nearby, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, seeing the smile on Lín Xuán's face, couldn't help but mutter to themselves: Is this guy scheming something bad again?
They had moved to a corner to chat, looking quite engrossed in their conversation. Suddenly, they saw Lín Xuán's eyes light up before he walked over to the Turtle Hermit's group and approached a blue-haired girl.
They were taken aback. Didn't Lín Xuán say he came to this world just for the tournament? Is he trying to pick up girls now?
They also noticed Yamcha, who had clashed with Lín Xuán earlier. Seeing this scene, Yamcha's face seemed to darken further before he turned and stormed off!
Suddenly, they understood the reason for the earlier conflict between Lín Xuán and Yamcha.
However, they were clearly misunderstanding Lín Xuán.
Lín Xuán sought out Bulma not for any romantic entanglement, but to ask for her help in contacting the media in this world!
Currently, the number of people on Earth in the Dragon Ball world paying attention to the World Martial Arts Tournament wasn't particularly high, which wasn't conducive to Lín Xuán's goal of earning prestige points. Lín Xuán himself wasn't familiar with the various industries in this world, so he could only turn to the wealthy Bulma for assistance.
Thus, due to Lín Xuán's interference, the scale of this World Martial Arts Tournament expanded significantly. With Bulma's help, reporters from various television stations swarmed in, scrambling to set up live broadcast equipment on-site.
Therefore, this edition of the World Martial Arts Tournament was poised to achieve the largest viewership in history, far surpassing all previous ones!
This was also the first significant change Lín Xuán and his group brought to this world since their arrival.
Just as the TV reporters, enticed by the hefty fees, were hastily setting up their live broadcast equipment for the global broadcast, Lín Xuán received an invitation from the tournament's host.
The reason? The幕后大老板 (behind-the-scenes boss) of the World Martial Arts Tournament wanted to meet Lín Xuán.
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T/N:
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