After three more hours of training, Yamcha returned to his home.
His home was carved inside a massive rock, divided into three levels. The top served as a lookout, the middle was his bedroom, and the bottom was the living area. Even in the desert, he had made some simple renovations, and all the basic furniture for daily life was there.
Yamcha sat on a stool, wiped the sweat from his body, and picked up a bottle of water, drinking it quickly.
Just then, Puar, who was scanning the horizon with binoculars from a high point in the house, shouted excitedly, "Master Yamcha! A target has appeared!"
"Oh?"
Yamcha smiled. In this desert with few resources and no way to earn money, he had taken over the original owner's "job" to solve his livelihood problems: banditry.
But Yamcha, coming from a more civilized world, had principles. He never harmed anyone and only took some of their valuables. He had become known among locals as the "Desert Bandit." As his reputation grew, fewer people dared to cross this stretch of desert. Still, he had no plans to leave. He was waiting for the right person.
Whenever outsiders came, it was an opportunity to improve his life.
Immediately, Yamcha stood up, leaped over ten meters to the upper level, took the binoculars from Puar, and looked in the indicated direction.
About ten kilometers away, three figures appeared, walking unsteadily.
A little boy carrying a staff, a humanoid pig, and a teenage girl of about fifteen or sixteen followed behind.
Yamcha recognized the trio right away. Weren't they the ones he had been waiting for?
According to the story's progression, they should be heading to Frypan Mountain, hundreds of kilometers away. The three were Goku, Bulma, and Oolong.
The reason they were crossing this harsh desert was that while crossing a river, Bulma, caught up in the moment, had lost her Capsule case. Since Oolong refused to use his own capsules, the three had no choice but to take the shortest route, which went straight through this tough desert. Although it was the quickest path, it was also the hardest to travel, with only Yamcha and countless wolf packs around.
"You've finally arrived," Yamcha said with a delighted smile. "It's time for me to leave seclusion and see the true face of this world."
Puar, standing nearby, felt dejected upon hearing that Yamcha was leaving the desert. After enjoying a few years of peace, it seemed they were about to start wandering again.
Noticing Puar's expression, Yamcha touched the little blue creature floating by his shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Master Yamcha... are you leaving the desert to abandon me?" Puar said quietly, sounding upset.
"What are you thinking? Of course you're coming with me," Yamcha laughed.
Puar immediately soared through the air, filled with joy at the thought of joining him.
"Let's go meet our new friends."
With that, Yamcha jumped down and began running toward Goku and the others.
---
At that moment, Bulma and Oolong, who had been hiking in the desert for half a day, were both thirsty and hungry. Only Goku, in great shape, seemed unfazed.
Bulma walked with a limp, relying on a tall tree branch as if each step took all her energy. "I'm... going... to die... wahhhh..." she weakly exclaimed as she walked. "It's so hard... I'm almost out of strength."
Oolong shared her feelings.
Goku, walking ahead, turned around and complained to the two with an irritated look, "You two are really useless. I even got down to walk with you, but you still can't keep up."
Goku had the Flying Nimbus, so getting around was easy for him. But since only those with a pure heart could ride it, Oolong and Bulma naturally could not. To avoid upsetting his friends, Goku had gotten down to walk with them.
Hearing Goku's complaint, Bulma immediately bristled and replied, "I'm a rich young lady! How could I be like a savage like you?"
Arguing with a woman was not something Goku could handle; he fell silent.
After walking a bit further, Bulma sighed again. "Where are we? Why isn't there a city yet? I'm not going anywhere." Looking at the endless desert, she saw no hope of escape.
As she spoke, her frustration grew. She threw down the stick and rolled on the ground, losing her usual ladylike demeanor and not caring about the sand. Feeling the burning heat from the ground, she quickly scampered to the shade of a rock to rest and soon fell fast asleep—she was simply too tired.
This was the third time Bulma had thrown a tantrum and refused to move.
Having grown up in the city, Bulma had never faced such hardship. She had been excited at the start of her journey. Seeing countless skyscrapers and dense jungles, the stunning desert landscape initially filled her with a sense of adventure. However, after just a few hours of walking, she couldn't take it anymore and had been resting frequently since. In half a day, they had only covered a little over ten kilometers.
Seeing Bulma hiding to rest, Oolong complained, "This woman is so stubborn. At this rate, when will we ever get out of this desert?" After saying that, he collapsed onto the sand.
"What right do you have to talk about her? You're just like her!" Goku responded bluntly. At that moment, he still lacked the composure he would later have; he was just a child with straightforward innocence.
"Fine! You're right. I'm going to sleep too," Oolong stopped arguing. He took off his hat and covered his face to block the sun.
Seeing that both of them had started to rest, Goku stopped as well.
As he relaxed, his stomach began to growl. Although Goku had good stamina, he hadn't eaten for half a day and needed a lot of food. Now, his stomach was starting to rebel.