Chapter 83 – Assault on the Pirate Base
Inside the Flaming Mountain Base.
On one side, a few scattered soldiers of the Red Ribbon Army patrolled lazily and absentmindedly. On the other, small groups chatted and played cards.
This kind of scenario was pretty much standard across all Black Ribbon Army bases.
They were used to a lax and undisciplined lifestyle.
"Did you hear?" a tiger-headed beastman whispered mysteriously to his comrade.
And then… nothing. After a long pause, he still hadn't said what it was.
"Heard what? Spit it out already!"
His companion looked at him in exasperation—he absolutely hated people who started a sentence like a riddle and never finished it.
Finally, feeling the murderous glares of those around him, the tiger beastman relented and spoke.
"Major Brown…"
He lowered his voice, as if afraid others might hear. But the moment he said that name, all the surrounding soldiers held their breath. In the Flaming Mountain Base, if there was a legendary figure, it had to be Major Brown.
"That man has finally started recruiting subordinates."
Silence. Utter silence.
Until—
"Pfft, I thought it was something big."
Another Black Ribbon soldier rolled his eyes and said grumpily, "Yeah, we've all heard that. The problem is, his requirements are way too strict."
"What, your squad's not interested?" the tiger beastman asked. "The man is generous. He's offering a sky-high salary of 30,000 per month!"
In the world of Dragon Ball, money still held real value—unlike in the world of Hunter x Hunter, where "Jenny" is equivalent to yen. A monthly salary of 30,000 in the Red Ribbon Army was something only a team captain could dream of.
"Thinking about it isn't enough," the previous soldier said. "With how slack our squad is, we'd never make the cut."
"Even if we did, we probably wouldn't survive it. A friend of a brother of a cousin of someone I know managed to get in—and that guy trains his men like he's trying to kill them."
"They say the last group of recruits all quit within three days."
Yamcha sat cold-faced, casually dumping a pile of resumes into the trash can.
"Not a single qualified one."
It had been a month since he returned from the world of Under One Person. In that time, aside from his usual training, Yamcha had been focused on selecting soldiers who met his standards.
Though he was currently in the Red Ribbon Army, he knew it was necessary to form a power base of his own. After all, he couldn't do everything personally.
Just look at the Frieza Force—Frieza was the only real powerhouse, but he couldn't possibly handle every little task himself.
Competent subordinates make life a lot easier.
Time is precious.
Unfortunately, after an entire month, Yamcha still hadn't found a single satisfactory recruit—not even one that barely qualified.
In terms of military discipline, the Red Ribbon Army was by far the worst Yamcha had ever seen.
The phrase "a mob of rabble" described them perfectly.
It made sense, though. In the main story, once Commander Black was killed and Officer Black was defeated, Goku single-handedly wiped out the Red Ribbon HQ. All the remnants scattered and fled without a second thought.
In the end, only Dr. Gero remained, obsessed with revenge. As for the other generals and colonels? They never showed up again.
Back when Yamcha watched the anime, he just thought it was funny. But now that he had to deal with them himself…
It was like being stuck with a team of useless pigs who only dragged him down.
They were only useful in early Dragon Ball. Later on, they were nothing but dead weight.
And yet they still dared call themselves the most powerful and fearsome army in the world?
He couldn't even imagine how pathetic the Kingdom's army must be to be defeated by this lot.
"Major Brown, your requirements are simply too high. No one could possibly survive that kind of training," one officer said to him.
"No normal person could survive it?"
Yamcha was silent for a moment before replying, "That's only half the training I did when I was six."
Forget it. He'd look elsewhere to find reliable subordinates. Other than Dr. Gero, the Red Ribbon Army didn't seem to have anyone useful.
For now, he'd just make do with what he had.
His communicator buzzed. Yamcha picked it up and placed it to his ear.
"Major, Unit B has spotted pirate activity near the west coast."
"Got it."
Yamcha nodded, put the communicator down, and gave his command:
"Full mobilization."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The stench of cheap gunpowder filled the underwater cavern. Yamcha, leading a bunch of Red Ribbon grunts, effortlessly took down an even weaker pirate base.
"As expected of Major Brown!"
"Ha! I've hated these 'bottom-feeder' pirates for a while now. Under Major Brown's brilliant leadership, they fell without a fight! Long live the Red Ribbon Army! Long live Major Brown!"
"Long live Major Brown!" (xN)
Ignoring the cheering soldiers, Yamcha ordered them to search the massive undersea base and loot anything of value.
After being with the Red Ribbon Army this long, it was about time he made some noise.
But Yamcha wasn't into bullying civilians. What money did they even have to squeeze out of? Nor did he have any interest in fighting the Kingdom's Royal Army.
So he took a different route—
Robbing the robbers.
These pirates weren't as famous as the Black Ribbon Army, but they were still local powers in their own right.
And picking on pirates? That didn't bother his conscience one bit. Plus, these guys were loaded.
Yamcha didn't need the money—but others did.
DA-DA-DA-DA!
The sound of a machine gun rang out nearby. A robot—its head like a skull, its body encased in heavy armor, resembling an alien—burst into the scene. This was the base's strongest guard.
It immediately unleashed a barrage on the Black Ribbon grunts, sending them running and screaming in all directions like frightened kids.
Useless rabble.
Yamcha stood on a high platform, unable to even watch.
If the soldiers had stood their ground and fought back, the robot wouldn't have lasted under the Red Ribbon Army's firepower.
This army wasn't short on heavy weapons like grenades and RPGs—taking out a single robot should've been easy.
And yet, here they were, getting stomped.
The gap between theory and actual combat was painfully clear.
Finally, Yamcha couldn't take it anymore.
A flash of white light burst from his fingertip. In an instant, it pierced the robot's skull and destroyed its central processor. The blood-red glow in its eyes faded, and it collapsed to the ground.
Yamcha had just used the Crane School's secret technique—
"Dodon Ray!"
A guaranteed hit. A one-shot kill.
(End of Chapter)