After leaving the virtual Earth network, Goku, Krillin, and the other two immediately tried practicing the meditation method they had just learned. Sure enough, after training, their spirits felt lighter and their minds much clearer.
"Amazing!" Goku blinked in surprise.
"Indeed. I also noticed that when using the Muken in battle, you have to focus both on your opponent and on controlling the technique. It's like multitasking… I can imagine that as the Muken reaches a higher level, it must put a heavy burden on the spirit!" Krillin pondered for a moment, stroking his chin.
Goku then wondered, "Did my grandpa ever learn this technique too?"
Krillin said, "Definitely! Haven't you noticed? The highest illuminated floor of the Muten Tower right now is the thirty-third floor! And the record holder is your grandpa, Gohan!"
"Whoa, really?" Goku was startled. "Thirty-three floors, my grandpa's amazing!"
"Thanks for telling me he's amazing!" Krillin rolled his eyes in frustration and held his forehead. "What exactly have you been doing in the Muten Tower that you never noticed this?"
"Clearing the levels!"
"There are so many people on every floor; you've never heard about this?"
"Every floor?"
After some back-and-forth, Krillin realized that Goku had only stayed in the first floor's Muten Monument space. He hadn't lingered in the second or third floors' monument spaces. Every time he entered the tower, he went straight to the trial spaces.
"You don't study the Muten Monument?"
Krillin didn't always enter with Goku, so he wasn't aware.
"Isn't it the same as the bottom floor? I've already looked at that!" Goku was puzzled.
"You idiot! They're completely different!" Krillin was dumbfounded. Could it be that Goku had relied solely on insights from the first floor's monument to fight all the way up to the final challenge on the thirty-third floor? No wonder he was stuck at the last level. Turns out he was still relying on the profound wisdom recorded on the first floor's monument!
Tien, listening nearby, broke out in a cold sweat…
After their usual stops, sparring, practice, and exchanges, the four set off on their journey again. Although their temporary destination was the Korin Tower, they didn't rush. The Dragon Balls were right there and wouldn't run away, so they wouldn't sacrifice their training along the way just to speed up the travel. They wouldn't lose the forest for the trees.
At night, Goku, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu sat cross-legged around a campfire, meditating together. After several days of practice, they discovered that when all four meditated simultaneously, a resonance could occur — their spirits merged in one place, allowing them to spar and exchange techniques in the spiritual world.
Later, Jarvis told them this training method was like the "dueling arena" in the virtual Earth network.
The dueling arena was originally created exclusively for members of the martial arts association in the Muten main city to spar and guide each other. But over time, users from the other nine main cities on the surface grew a bit dissatisfied. Gradually, the nine lower cities also gained access to open many "dueling arenas" in an entertainment format.
Normally, users' bodies in the virtual Earth network had uniform strength. But in the dueling arena, they could possess the exact strength they had in reality. Thanks to Jarvis' computational power, perfectly replicating everyone's real physical condition was easy. The main reason to use a uniform body for most users was to prevent unnecessary conflicts — after all, the real world was full of people looking for trouble.
In the future… once people no longer resist Jarvis "suppressing criminal impulses in the thinking stage," everyone will be able to have a body in the virtual Earth network identical to their real one.
Back to Goku and the others.
During this spiritual meditation spar, Kakarot's sneak attack ended with the four of them being wiped out.
"Phew!" The four gasped in unison, breaking free from the spiritual world.
Krillin complained, "What the heck, that Kakarot guy is messing around!"
Goku indignantly agreed, "Yeah, that was so dirty! A sneak attack!"
"That's because you didn't watch him properly!" Krillin sighed. Goku was too unaware, or maybe just naturally carefree. Even toward Kakarot, he didn't have much suspicion.
Tien watched this scene, feeling it was quite surreal.
"Forget it, let's train at the Muten Tower…" Krillin closed his eyes. Goku nodded, and they entered together.
As soon as Goku's consciousness entered the Virtual Earth Network, his eyes snapped open again! But the innocence and kindness once in them were gone, replaced by a sharp, fierce killing intent... Tien knew that the person before him was no longer the Goku he once knew, but another personality called Kakarot.
"Hey, you're not bad yourself, Three-Eyed Man!" Kakarot grinned, sitting up from the ground. He glanced up; the moonlight was dim.
"Hmph…" Tien didn't like this guy.
Chiaotzu clung to Tien's vest nervously. Since Kakarot had taken over Goku, the aura around him had changed. Qi is the reflection of the heart, and with evil occupying his body, his aura turned sinister—no longer Goku's balanced and peaceful presence. That made Chiaotzu uneasy.
Kakarot rolled his eyes and sneered, "Boring guy! Weakling!"
"You!" Tien was furious. This Kakarot was a real jerk; except for Master Taro, he looked down on everyone. Tien had seen more than once how Kakarot showed no mercy even to Goku's main personality.
Ever since Taro taught them the spiritual meditation technique, Kakarot would come out for some air whenever Goku trained in the Muten Tower. Every time he showed up, Tien got insulted by him. At first, their disagreements sometimes erupted into fights.
The result was obvious: Kakarot had all of Goku's physical fighting power. He was not just a pure Saiyan warrior but also someone who had climbed the Muten Tower. Tien was no match for him at all.
Kakarot was too lazy to bother with the Three-Eyed Man and strode off to wander nearby.
They were in a primeval forest, but Tien wasn't worried that Kakarot wouldn't return. Though arrogant and overbearing, Kakarot wouldn't dare run away. After all, this was still Earth—where else could he flee?
Could he escape the grasp of the Muten Roshi? Kakarot knew that better than Tien.
So after venting some anger, Tien entered the Virtual Earth Network himself.
Meanwhile, Kakarot was walking alone through the primeval forest, his face full of murderous intent. Within several hundred meters, nocturnal hunters instinctively sensed his unusual aura; none dared approach.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He pulled out the Dragon Radar from his pocket, thoughtfully staring at it... then clicked it on with a "click."
"Beep! Beep!"
The radar screen lit up, showing two light points. One was himself, the other... nearby, rapidly darting past?
"What the hell? What careless furry bird ate the Dragon Ball?" Kakarot raised an eyebrow and shoved the Dragon Radar back into his pocket. He could feel the rapidly moving energy from the Dragon Ball's direction—it wasn't a bird!
An evil grin crossed his face, bloodthirsty and excited as he whispered, "Who could it be…? I hope you're not a good guy!"
Laughing loudly, Kakarot vanished into the hazy night, chasing after the rapidly moving energy in the air.
His speed was astonishing—he became a blur of darkness streaking through the primeval forest... Suddenly, he sensed another energy. It was not strong, but very sharp, like a sword unsheathed!
"Interesting... he's also chasing this Dragon Ball?" Kakarot's expression turned intrigued. Changing direction, he zigzagged swiftly. As a Saiyan, his eyesight was excellent; even in the dark, he faintly saw a human figure moving toward that energy.
Surprisingly, it was a fat man!
The fat man had two knives at his waist, sweat pouring from his face, looking exhausted and anxious, desperately chasing after the Dragon Ball that Kakarot had noticed just moments ago... He looked pitiful—his clothes were torn, stained with blood, and he seemed to have been chasing for a long distance through hardships. Now he was barely holding on by sheer willpower.
"Damn the Red Ribbon Army, they actually kidnapped Chi-Chi..." Yajirobe felt his body losing feeling; he was running by instinct, filled with despair. This was probably the end—the beautiful girl was gone.