Krillin and Bulma called out first.
"Bulma! Krillin! You've both changed so much!" Goku waved cheerfully at them as he walked over with Taro.
"You're the one who's changed the most!" Bulma teased.
"Yeah! Goku, where have you been training these past two years?" Krillin asked too.
At this moment, Goku had just returned from that ferocious beast planet. During the two years on that planet, he fought alone against more than a dozen warriors from Frieza's army, whose potential had been awakened by Taro. His fierce warrior spirit was still strong, carrying the aura of one who had fought through a savage wilderness.
Goku recalled and sighed, "It was tough training!" He scratched his head and gave a brief summary, finishing with, "There were times I felt hesitant and almost risked my life... Luckily, Kakarot fought in my place!"
He felt a little embarrassed but had no regrets about it.
Hmph! Soft-hearted... you'll never accomplish great things!
In Goku's sealed mind, Kakarot looked down on this fighting style from the bottom of his heart. To him, no matter if it was facing those fierce Frieza warriors or any opponent at all, once you fight, you must not hold back.
Gohan looked at his grandson approvingly and nodded, "Good kid, not bad. You're stronger than me now!"
Goku shook his head, "I think I'm still a bit behind Grandpa."
Gohan was blunt, "That's because you spent these two years on another planet and didn't get to train in Muken... Just right, you don't have to participate in this tournament, so use this time to enter the Virtual Earth Network and train seriously in Muken!"
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Goku smiled mischievously, full of anticipation.
After two years of bitter, life-or-death training, of course he was eager to see what level he could reach inside the Muken Tower now.
Krillin chuckled, "Good thing you're not competing this time, or the championship would be yours again!"
"Krillin, looks like you've had a hard couple of years too... You've gotten strong!" Goku's eyes sparkled as he looked at his good friend. Just as Krillin was cheerfully recounting his struggles over the past two years, Goku looked eastward thoughtfully and said, "But if you want to win the overall championship this year, it'll be tough... Tien's gotten stronger too!"
"Yeah, two years ago while traveling, he was studying how to combine Muken with his Tsuken..." Krillin analyzed, "He was sent to the Other World by his master and I heard a god helped him train... Now he should be able to use both Muken and Tsuken at the same time!"
That's great. Tien found his own martial path. But what about me?
Krillin felt a bit lost.
"You guys, enough already! Every time you meet, all you talk about is martial arts..." Bulma listened impatiently nearby. "Time's almost up, Krillin, go compete! You were last tournament's third place, just jump right into the match!"
Taro was standing with Hathaway, holding hands and whispering. Seeing that Goku and the others had finished catching up, he nodded, "Krillin, go. When the match ends, come to Bulma's house."
"Got it!" Krillin smiled, pulled down the brim of his cap, and strode off.
"Let's go, to my place!" Bulma said with a grin. Taro and Hathaway led the way. With the influence of his spiritual magic, they didn't worry about being recognized wherever they went. The phoenix followed from behind and landed on Taro's shoulder.
Gohan put on an animal mask and followed.
Goku was about to join them when he suddenly heard a crisp voice behind: "Sit down!"
He was startled and immediately recalled that two years ago, the day he left Muken Island, Bulma had said the same thing. Though he didn't know what it meant, after saying it, she "ambushed" him.
Goku turned around cautiously, suspiciously asking, "What's wrong with you?"
Bulma silently cursed how clueless he was, but after cooling off a bit, she smiled and asked, "Goku, in these past two years... did you ever think about me?"
Why would I think about you? Goku was puzzled. Over these two years, his mind was full of how to defeat those dozen enemies, running all over the planet, fighting ferocious beasts and cosmic warriors, studying martial arts, and improving his strength... no time to get distracted.
"No!" Goku answered.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bulma jumped up and gave Goku three sharp knocks on the head. She let out a "hmph," closed her eyes, crossed her arms behind her back, and walked away. As expected, she shouldn't have had any illusions—Goku, this big idiot, truly didn't understand anything at all!
Goku rubbed his head and said, "What was that for…"
At the same time, he felt puzzled that he hadn't even dodged Bulma's three knocks. Seems like his martial arts still need improving!
Could it be that Bulma was trying to warn him about this?
Looking back at Bulma, who had knocked on his head three times and was now walking away with her arms behind her back, Goku thought she really meant well. After a moment's thought, he followed her.
---
There wasn't much to say about the regional preliminaries of the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament. Without Goku's "interference", Krillin easily took the championship in the West Capital region, successfully qualifying for the world finals in Sayuan City.
These days, Goku, Gohan, and Krillin all stayed at Bulma's house.
Gohan was very interested in the training experiences of Goku and Krillin over the past two years and often asked questions, gaining many insights.
Krillin lived at Bulma's place, eating all kinds of hometown Earth delicacies, and was moved to tears. On that planet of white rabbits and white eagles, everything was fine, and in the end, he even earned the title of a heroic savior, but the food was so strange it almost drove him crazy. His rigorous training and self-control helped sharpen his martial mindset and led to a breakthrough.
Being able to eat familiar hometown food was naturally a great joy.
Goku didn't have such worries. For him, eating enough was the most important; whether it tasted good or not was secondary. Although the meat of various large monsters on the vicious beast planet wasn't very good, he got used to it and didn't mind.
In these days, Goku and Krillin also resumed their training in the Muten Tower inside the virtual Earth network.
The accumulation of their two years of effort suddenly unleashed, resulting in rapid progress.
"As expected, Piccolo is still the champion of the North Capital region. This guy really likes that freezing cold place, huh? I just don't get it... Tsk, Tienshinhan is the champion of the Central Capital region, and he's actually competing there? Haha... Chiaotzu is runner-up in the Central Capital region. Everyone's really strong!"
Krillin, sweating profusely from training in the huge practice room Bulma specially built at her home, took a shower, wrapped himself in a big white towel, grabbed a sports drink, and casually picked up a tablet Bulma had left on the coffee table, browsing through the news.
"The champion of the East Capital region is someone named Satan. What a strange name…"
At that moment, Krillin suddenly thought of Yamcha and sighed inwardly. Why was he so unmotivated, enjoying an easy life, just staying on that island and refusing to leave? Well, everyone lives their own way. He wished Yamcha well.
Suddenly, Krillin's finger paused as he swiped on the tablet.
"Huh, this girl named Chi-Chi…"
Krillin looked thoughtful, pinched to zoom in on the photo, studying this slender, spirited girl with a black single ponytail and martial arts outfit.
He thought, "Isn't 'Chi-Chi' the girl Kakarot once saved… also the girl Yajirobe secretly cares about… She's competing too? And even took second place in the East Capital region?"
Shaking his head, Krillin continued browsing the news, reading the public comments. Especially when he reached the West Capital region section, there was a flood of praise for this Muten disciple who followed Goku, which made him secretly delighted and euphoric. Drinking his iced beverage, it was pure bliss.
When he flipped the page to the South Capital region—
"Haha, now this gets interesting. Yajirobe is the champion of the South Capital region? Tsk, I wonder what he'll think when he sees this Chi-Chi at the finals?" Krillin smiled as he looked at a series of photos captured by a high-speed camera during a match.
Yajirobe was seen drawing and sheathing his (note: competition wooden sword) in a blur of afterimages. His opponent barely reacted before being struck by the back of his sword, numb all over, collapsing weakly to the ground.
Krillin grinned, "This guy's really slimmed down! And with that flowing black hair, so cool. Aside from being about my height, he's pretty attractive…"
Sure enough, scrolling down to the comments section, the chubby kid from back then now had a lot of fangirls supporting him. The charm of a cold, skilled swordsman was not to be underestimated!
"I wonder if he can attract his beloved Chi-Chi… Geez, I also want a girl I like! And maybe even get married someday... I really want that too!"
At that moment, Goku's voice came from the practice room: "Krillin, I'm going to train in the Muten Tower. Want to come?"
"Yeah, I'm coming!" Krillin put down the tablet, tossed aside the white towel, and strode off.