Soon, Xu Shangqi and Xu Xialing boarded the plane heading to the Dragon Ball Battle. Since Xu Shangqi had come to New York alone, he didn't bring any spectators.
After all, he didn't have many close friends, and the one he did have was in San Francisco. He didn't want to drag that friend into this mess.
Xu Xialing, on the other hand, brought a full group of ten subordinates from the Golden Dagger Club. As for their father, neither sibling mentioned inviting him.
Meanwhile, for Tony's invitation, it was Melina and Yelena who arrived. Seeing it wasn't Smith Dole, Tony joked:
"I thought it would be Smith Dole himself. Didn't expect he'd send you two instead."
Melina replied with a smile, "Tony-san, the boss is currently handling matters at the tournament site and couldn't make it."
Tony just waved it off. "OK, OK."
"So I can bring spectators, right? Happy, Pepper, let's go enjoy one of Smith Dole's famous parties."
"Be sure to cheer for your boss."
"Happy, don't forget to bring the case."
Tony himself boarded the plane in his latest Mark-series armor, with Happy and Pepper following behind.
At that moment, all contestants, each carrying their respective Dragon Ball, boarded planes headed for the competition site. That's when staff from the League of Assassins appeared before each Dragon Ball holder to announce the tournament rules.
"Everyone, I will now explain the rules of the first Dragon Ball Battle."
One of the staff members pulled out a detailed map of the island and began:
"The battle will take place on an uninhabited island in the Pacific. This location is within international waters and has been purchased by the League of Assassins."
"In other words, your battles on the island will not affect civilians, so feel free to go all out."
"There are five participants in this tournament. Each of you will land at one of five different points on the island and engage in a free-for-all to seize each other's entry tickets."
"Anyone who collects three tickets qualifies for the final round at the center of the island."
Bruce Banner raised his hand. "Excuse me, if there are only five participants and five tickets, how do you get two finalists?"
The Mechanic answered, "Among the contestants, some hold more than one Dragon Ball. Each Dragon Ball represents one ticket."
"And in each battle, you may only take one ticket from your opponent."
This detail was passed along to the others, and Mr. X handed Selene a second ticket.
"Of course, once a contestant loses a ticket, our staff will escort them off the island. If someone has no tickets left, they are eliminated."
"If you surrender and hand over your ticket, you may not continue to fight."
"Once two contestants remain with tickets, the final battle will begin."
"The winner of that final battle will be granted the opportunity to make a wish to Shenron."
"As for the Dragon Balls in your possession, we will collect and safeguard them for now."
With the rules now clear, everyone understood how this would play out. It was a chaotic scramble for tickets—each ticket was essentially a life.
There were five contestants and seven Dragon Balls—meaning someone held two. Since the requirement was to seize tickets, no one had more than two. Only two people had double tickets.
Tony then asked, "So five people, seven Dragon Balls, and six tickets in play… what happened to the last one?"
Yelena and the staff on the plane responded, "There are only six tickets in total for this match."
Hearing that, everyone grew thoughtful—it seemed one of the Dragon Balls was in the hands of the League of Assassins.
Next, the staff member took out a special watch and explained:
"Each contestant must wear this watch."
"It contains a map of the island and will update every 30 minutes with the locations and headcounts of the contestants."
Bruce looked at the device and asked, "When I transform, my body size increases dramatically. Won't the strap break?"
The Mechanic replied, "No need to worry, Banner-san. The strap is made of a special material that stretches according to your body size. It won't break or fall off."
Bruce was pleasantly surprised. "If you could make a whole outfit with that stuff, I'd be all set."
"I really like this material."
The staff continued:
"As for the spectators, we'll be transporting them to the summit where we've built a viewing area. You'll be able to watch each contestant's performance clearly from there."
…
Elsewhere—
General Ross was in a military operations room conducting a briefing.
"The FBI has been monitoring his phone, credit cards, and Banner's online accounts."
"The local police are on alert. We'll be notified the moment he moves."
Ross responded grimly, "He won't show himself that easily. For the last five years, he's traveled the globe without leaving a trace. He doesn't use credit cards."
"If he intended to run, he'd have done it already."
"No—he came back to the U.S. for a reason."
"He's looking for help. That's our opportunity to catch him."
"We all know he's been trying to fix himself. We also know he's kept in touch with someone."
"You've all got a copy of his communication records. The aliases 'Mr. Green' and 'Mr. Blue' are already in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database."
"If they contact each other, we'll find him."
"We'll know what he's up to, and we'll capture him at his weakest moment."
At that point, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent attending the meeting—Sylvette—spoke up:
"Based on our intelligence, the object Banner threw during that recent fight was a Dragon Ball."
"It was released by Smith Dole, chairman of Capsule Corporation. We're unsure what their connection is, if any."
Ross shook his head. "I had someone investigate afterward, but we still don't know what the item does. All we know is Banner threw it away."
"Also, during that battle, Smith Dole himself appeared and stopped Banner from doing more damage."
In a rare moment of fairness, Ross actually spoke up in Smith Dole's defense.
…
(End of Chapter)
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