Deep in the ocean, Goku held his breath, his cheeks puffed out like a frog as he swam steadily toward the direction in his memories.
Schools of fish swam past him, their movements creating ripples in the water as they seemed to size up this sudden, strange visitor.
'Where is it? I remember seeing it somewhere around here.'
After swimming to the spot he remembered, Goku stopped, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
As his gaze landed on a certain direction, his eyes suddenly lit up.
'Aha! Found it! Over there!'
He thought excitedly to himself and immediately kicked toward that direction.
As he drew closer to the shimmering object, his heart filled with anticipation.
'It would be wonderful if it was Grandpa's memento!'
Ever since his grandfather passed away, the Four-Star Ball had always been by his side.
To him, the Four-Star Ball was like his grandfather, silently watching over and protecting him.
If it weren't for the fact that the Dragon Balls turned into stone after Shenron granted a wish and couldn't be detected by Bulma's radar, he would have looked for it long ago.
However, Bulma said the Dragon Balls would take a year to return to normal. Had a year passed already?
'Well, whatever. Maybe Bulma was wrong.'
With these stray thoughts, he shot through the water at high speed.
Before long, he approached the glowing object he suspected was his grandfather's memento.
'It's down there!'
Upon reaching the vicinity of the glowing object, he realized it was below him. Because of the dim light and his blurry vision, he couldn't tell for sure if it was a Dragon Ball.
He dove deeper, preparing to take a closer look.
A few seconds later, he hovered disappointedly before a sea trench about ten centimeters wide. He pulled out a piece of bright orange crystal wedged inside, his heart sinking.
'What? It's not Grandpa's memento after all.'
At that moment, behind him, a pair of eyes as large as round tables snapped open in the darkness.
The eyes were filled with pure greed for a tasty snack.
Seeing the defenseless Goku, the owner of those eyes opened its massive maw. With lightning speed, it sucked in Goku and many of the surrounding fish in a single gulp!
...
"Whoaaa!"
Inside a winding red tunnel, Goku was swept along by a powerful current, sliding forward uncontrollably.
After an unknown amount of time, the ground beneath him suddenly vanished, and he flew out of the red tunnel.
Immediately, a strong sense of weightlessness hit him. He plummeted downward and landed with a thud on a soft, springy ground.
He lay sprawled on the ground. After blinking a few times, he quickly sat up and looked around at the unfamiliar environment in confusion.
"Weird? Where is this? What just happened?"
He only remembered things going black before finding himself in a red tunnel, being carried forward by a torrent of water.
Because it happened so suddenly and the tunnel was too slippery to get any traction, he could only let himself be washed here.
Looking at the grayish-green space before him, he scratched his head, completely baffled as to where he was.
Just then, strange noises echoed from all around.
He scanned the ground and saw many two-meter-long fish flopping about desperately.
"Whoa! Huge fish! I'll catch a few and eat them with Grandpa Garp and the others!"
This thought immediately popped into his head.
But just as he targeted a large fish nearby to catch it, a drop of liquid the size of a human head fell from the ceiling, landing squarely on the fish.
In an instant, white smoke hissed from the fish's body.
In the blink of an eye, only a shiny white skeleton remained on the ground.
Not a single scrap of meat was left, and not even a trace of blood could be seen.
"Yikes!!"
Seeing this, Goku jumped back in shock.
He immediately looked up and saw another drop of the same liquid falling from directly above him, clearly targeting him!
His hair stood on end. Without time to think, he leaped away again.
Before long, he noticed another drop falling toward him, forcing him to flee his spot once more as he cried out in alarm.
"What kind of creepy place is this?! No, I have to get out of here!"
He glanced around and saw that many of the flopping fish had already turned into skeletons, strengthening his resolve.
He tried to leave through the red tunnel from before, but the entrance had vanished. He couldn't find it no matter how hard he looked.
Moreover, every corner he checked seemed completely sealed. It was an entirely enclosed space.
This was starting to give him a bit of a headache.
"How do I get out of here?"
He scratched his head for a moment before an idea struck him. He looked at the green walls and nodded.
"Since there's no exit, I'll just make one."
With that, he clenched his right fist, dashed toward the green wall, and punched it with all his might.
To his surprise, his fist sank into the wall as if he were hitting a sponge.
"Huh?"
He pulled his fist out in confusion and threw another punch, but the result was exactly the same.
Just as he was considering using a Kamehameha, the entire space began to shake violently. He lost his balance, stumbling back and forth as if the world were turning upside down.
When he finally managed to steady himself, the entire space suddenly rotated ninety degrees vertically, then ninety degrees horizontally, spinning back and forth repeatedly.
"Whoaaa!!"
Completely losing his center of gravity, he began to roll wildly around the space.
...
In the deep sea, a massive creature hidden in the darkness suddenly opened its eyes. They were no longer filled with the greed of a hunter, but with pure agony.
For some reason, its stomach felt a sharp, stabbing pain, making it wonder if it had eaten something it shouldn't have.
"Muuuu!!!"
Suddenly, a pain even more intense than before radiated from its stomach, making it howl in the depths.
Driven by the agonizing pain, it twisted its body frantically, fleeing its hunting grounds and swimming toward unknown waters like a mad thing.
...
After some time had passed, in a stretch of ocean where no islands were in sight, a massive Sea King resembling a sea serpent suddenly breached the surface. Its throat constricted, and it violently spat out a figure.
Then, it let out a very human-like sigh of relief, dove back into the sea, and quickly vanished beneath the waves.
"Whoaaa!!"
The one spat out was none other than Goku.
He traced a graceful parabola through the air before crashing heavily into the water.
Soon, Goku's small head popped up from the surface. He looked around blankly.
"Huh? Where am I?"
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