Bulma nodded. "Just watch. I really wish the people watching TV could see it too—it's about to move."
As she spoke, she tapped the keyboard.
Suddenly—BOOM!
Everyone thought the TV had exploded. When they recovered, they realized it wasn't the TV at all.
It was the space pod on the broadcast—there had been a violent explosion. Flames roared up, and the entire lab was engulfed in fire.
Creed shrugged, helpless. "I really shouldn't have trusted you."
"No way!" Bulma cried. "Did I hit the self-destruct button?! What are we supposed to do now? Without that ship, we can't get to Namek at all!"
Korin was still throwing cold remarks from the sidelines. "Our last hope… you destroyed it completely."
Creed frowned slightly. Not going to Namek was one thing—if Vegeta or Frieza came attacking, he could personally beat them back.
But if they didn't meet Namek's guardian, then Earth's guardian—and Krillin and the others—would have no way to be revived.
Goku said, "There's nothing we can do… Even Flying Nimbus can't reach a place like that."
Bulma paced anxiously back and forth. The spaceship had already exploded—there was no way she could build another one. After thinking and thinking, she started blaming them instead.
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't picked up that remote, none of this would've happened!"
Goku blinked. "But you're the one who pressed buttons randomly…"
"That's because…" Bulma went speechless.
Creed tilted his chin, gesturing for her to look behind.
Bulma turned around instinctively—and saw Mr. Popo standing outside the window.
He smiled. "Send someone with me. I'll take you to a spaceship."
"You have a spaceship?" Goku said in shock. "Is that true, Mr. Popo?"
Master Roshi asked, "Who's that?"
Goku explained, "That's Mr. Popo. He's with Kami. Kami said he lived in the Lookout even before Kami became the guardian. By the way—where is this spaceship you're talking about?"
Mr. Popo thought for a moment. "Actually… I don't know where it is. But send someone with me to look. I'm willing to lead the way."
Goku scratched his head. "Bulma, you go. You're the only one who understands spaceships."
Bulma stared at Mr. Popo's dark skin and big round eyes. She felt uneasy, hugged her shoulders, and said shakily, "Is this really okay? Don't you think this guy looks kind of dangerous?"
"Huh?" Goku blinked. No matter how he looked at it, Mr. Popo seemed very kind.
Creed patted Bulma on the shoulder. "No need to be scared. He's with Kami, after all. Hurry up—only you can handle the spaceship stuff."
Bulma hesitated for a long time, but under everyone's hopeful gaze, she finally worked up the courage and stepped onto Mr. Popo's magic carpet.
The instant she did, the two of them vanished from everyone's sight.
…
At the same time, Mr. Popo brought Bulma to a distant stretch of plains. With no mountains around, the wind blew constantly. In an unfamiliar place, next to an unfamiliar person, Bulma shivered.
"Where are we?" she couldn't help asking.
Mr. Popo hopped down from the carpet. "This is Yunzebite Highlands."
"What?!" Bulma exclaimed. "This is the edge of the Earth! I just blinked—and we're this far away?!"
Mr. Popo said, "I don't know where the spaceship was stored. But my feeling tells me… it should be here."
As he spoke, he walked forward. Bulma hurried to follow.
"Your feeling? Are you lying to us? Say something! You're not trying to—trying to assault me, so you brought me out to somewhere this remote, right?!"
Mr. Popo didn't respond. He continued forward at an unhurried pace, always keeping some distance from her.
When he reached the edge of what looked like a cliff, he suddenly stopped and looked down.
"The spaceship you're looking for should be this."
The cliff wasn't high. Below it sat a green spaceship.
Bulma froze for a moment, then said, "I don't know if it's this one. I'll have to check."
She carefully climbed down and knocked on the surface. There wasn't any metallic clang at all.
Confused, she asked, "What's going on? Can you explain this?"
Mr. Popo looked at her. After a long while, he finally spoke.
"Hundreds of years ago, Kami told me his past. It was an unbelievable story. When Kami was a child, he lived here. Back then, I asked him—Yunzebite is so remote, why live in a place like this?"
Bulma asked reflexively, "Why?"
Mr. Popo said, "He said he didn't know either. Maybe it was because he'd taken a blow to the head—he couldn't remember anything from before. He only remembered a letter, telling him to wait here for someone."
Bulma listened, more and more baffled, covering her mouth. "What are you even talking about? That doesn't sound like a story at all!"
Mr. Popo continued, "When Kami was young, he waited here for his parents. He didn't know what had happened, so he kept waiting. His home was in Yunzebite, so he believed his parents would come back one day."
"But no matter how long he waited, not a single person came. There was no food either. Decades later, Kami finally gave up, left that 'house' behind, and left Yunzebite."
Bulma frowned. "What does Kami's story have to do with a spaceship?"
"Don't rush. The important part starts now," Mr. Popo said slowly. "Kami once said that 'house' was strange. After coming to the human world, he realized it wasn't a house at all."
"It was round, with four legs—like an insect. No windows, no doors. But if you spoke, the door would open on its own."
Bulma finally understood. "Spoke what?"
Mr. Popo said a few words in a strange language—muffled and impossible to make out.
The moment he finished, the hatch on the spaceship opened.
The two of them jumped inside.
From the outside it looked battered, but the interior was pristine—spacious enough for a hundred people. Even stranger, despite nobody visiting for so many years, there wasn't a speck of dust. The pink walls were spotless, almost shining.
Mr. Popo said, "Look carefully. Is this the spaceship you need?"
Bulma stared at the control system up front, and realization struck.
"I get it now… Kami is a Namekian!"
…
(End of Chapter)
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