Krillin returned to the training room and saw that Goku had already finished showering. Goku was sitting cross-legged on a mat on the floor, wearing only a pair of white shorts. His upper body was bare, looking like a mass of stacked rocks—ferocious and imposing—with numerous scars scattered across his skin. Since his injuries weren't serious, Goku hadn't used Senzu beans to heal them, so the scars remained.
Around his neck hung a necklace, which Goku put back on after returning.
Krillin smiled and sat down beside him. He also put on the necklace that Jarvis had given him. Krillin calmed his mind and closed his eyes. The necklace on his chest flickered twice, and the next moment, his consciousness was pulled into another space—a different world, another Earth.
The Virtual Earth Network.
"It's been two years since I last came here… huh?"
Krillin's figure formed from streams of green data and appeared above the Floating Island Manor in the Muten capital city, specially reserved by Jarvis for them. Just as he was about to take it all in, he was surprised by what he saw—
It wasn't just Goku here as he had thought; Tien and Chiaotzu were also present.
"You've gotten stronger," Goku said, looking at Tien.
"Too bad I can't fight you this time," Tien shook his head regretfully.
Krillin happily walked over, hands on hips, waving, "Tien! Chiaotzu! Long time no see!"
"Krillin!" Chiaotzu smiled faintly, his usually pale face brightening. The four of them had once wandered Earth together, training in hardship, so their bond was naturally very deep.
"What are you talking about?" Krillin asked curiously.
"Tien's regretting that he can't fight Goku…" Chiaotzu whispered. "Tien has been training hard in the underworld, successfully merging the Muken with Tsuken…"
"He really merged them?!" Krillin admired him deeply.
To Krillin, the techniques of Tsuken and Muken conflicted fundamentally. The former required gathering life energy and steadily increasing internal ki, while the latter demanded precise control of the body's ki to release it explosively multiple times—one dynamic and uncertain, the other precise and static. How could they be compatible?
Tien said, "It's a real shame I couldn't snatch the championship from Goku!"
Krillin was annoyed, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't ignore me! I was competing too, you know!"
Tien smiled but said no more, carrying a strong confidence of his own.
"Seriously…" Krillin rubbed his forehead but didn't take it to heart. Instead, he smiled and said, "Looks like you guys don't follow the news much… especially not the Virtual Earth Network news! But I know that if you two want to have a real fight, there's a chance!"
"Really?"
Goku was the first to speak, surprised. He had thought he wouldn't have a chance to officially fight Tien again. Like Tien, he felt regret. He sensed Tien had grown much stronger and wanted to witness the power of the fusion between Muken and Tsuken.
"Seriously, are you old relics? Just open your panel and ask Jarvis yourself!" Krillin said helplessly.
"Yeah!" Goku suddenly understood, but the moment he opened his panel screen, the constant "beep beep beep" notification sounds made his head spin. When he checked again, the "Guidance" section was packed with requests, apparently more than 999 from all over the world.
Goku scratched his head, "I haven't handled these in two years, what a pain… whatever, forget it!" He skipped past them and, looking at the complex screen interface, said, "Jarvis, just tell me directly—what does Krillin mean?"
Their virtual assistants—all Jarvis's personal creations—responded.
At the same time, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu each opened their own panels. They all had numerous "Guidance" requests piled up, with Krillin having the most, Tien slightly fewer, and Chiaotzu the least. Not to mention, Krillin was no weakling in the Muten Tower—just being the direct disciple of the Muten Roshi attracted many martial artists.
Jarvis's voice sounded simultaneously on all four of their panels:
"What Krillin means is that the Muten capital city on the Virtual Earth Network has organized a tournament for several years. It recently passed final approval and was officially set as the Virtual Muten Tournament. This competition is open to everyone, regardless of martial arts association membership. Contestants' bodies will be specially simulated by me to perfectly match their real-world counterparts. There are no restrictions on weapons or techniques, and the contest is fought to the death. After a victory, I will adjust the winner's physical condition back to its initial state."
"Since public opinion regards this as a stage for the outstanding within the Muten Tower, the tournament was named the 'Muten Tournament.' Multiple media outlets within the Virtual Earth Network will broadcast the matches live…"
Jarvis gradually explained the details of the Muten Tournament.
Goku's eyes brightened, asking, "Tsuken needs to gather life energy as the source ki. Jarvis, can you simulate that too?"
"Of course. I've said before, all my data simulations are based on Mr. Taro's parameters. As long as it doesn't exceed Mr. Taro's abilities, I can simulate it precisely."
Krillin nodded quietly. Of course, no matter how strong Tien became, he couldn't surpass his master.
---
In the past few days, Krillin and Goku stayed at Bulma's house, training daily without rest.
Bulma insisted they release their true power so she could examine their precise values with her single-lens glasses. Krillin joked that Goku had no precise values since he got stronger as he fought, with no fixed standard. After Bulma gave them a thorough pounding, Krillin obediently followed instructions—
Krillin: about 980.
Goku: about 1900!
"You two are way too exaggerated!!" Bulma shouted at once.
Ever since the Martial Arts Association people added and updated the battle power testing module in the login device, a battle power leaderboard had quietly appeared on the Virtual Earth Network, recording the battle power values of many martial artists from the association willing to make theirs public!
The highest one was barely over three hundred!
And Krillin, that little bald guy, actually had nearly one thousand? That's triple the world's top level? And Goku was even more insane, almost hitting two thousand—double Krillin's! But knowing Goku came from the universe's warrior race, Bulma could somewhat understand.
"Goku, you should be the strongest person on Earth besides Grandpa Taro..." Bulma said in amazement.
"No, my grandpa is stronger than me!" Goku replied.
"Really?" Bulma doubted. In her mind, Goku's battle power nearing two thousand was already the highest. It was hard to imagine Gohan being even more absurd than Goku... "Is the human limit so easy to break?" Bulma asked.
Krillin chuckled, "Limit? You mean Goku? That's not even his limit."
He glanced at Goku, who grinned and didn't deny it.
"As for Old Man Gohan... his foundational skill might not match this mutant Goku, but his mastery of Muken is definitely beyond us..." Krillin thought for a moment. Back then, Gohan's Muken reached a terrifying 33 times multiplier. "He's still far from that now..."
Bulma was speechless for a long time. "You guys really are monsters..."
Before, she never thought so. But when data like this was compared, it became painfully obvious that Goku and the others weren't even on the same dimensional level as ordinary people... An average adult has a battle power of around five, but Goku neared two thousand! Probably just by twitching a finger, he could defeat a whole group of normal Earthlings.
---
This time, Taro didn't pay much attention to this year's World's Strongest Martial Artist Tournament, nor did he plan to watch it live.
After all, it wasn't Krillin and the others' first time competing... When Gohan first competed, Taro only personally showed up once for the initial round, and after that never cared: the contest was predictable, one viewing was enough.
Meanwhile—
On the Virtual Earth Network, at the Muten City, the Muten Tower.
If the tower were painted completely black, the first floor would have many points of light, the second floor even more densely packed, and on the third floor the points would begin to decrease... the higher the floor, the sparser the lights. Above the eighth floor, the lights were scattered like stars, and above the tenth floor, almost none.
At this moment, on the fiftieth floor.
A stream of green data appeared, coalescing into Taro's humanoid figure. He appeared here.
His authority was of the highest level. In this virtual Earth network, there was nowhere he could not appear, nor anything he could not accomplish. He could even modify the rules at will.
According to the Muten Tower's system, the second floor corresponds to a 2.0 to 2.9 times multiplier of battle data simulation; by the time one reaches the forty-ninth floor and the tenth gate, one must have mastered a fiftyfold Muken to succeed and enter the fiftieth floor.
Therefore, the fiftieth floor should represent battle power exceeding fiftyfold Muken.
But in fact, this place was empty—completely void.
"When will someone finally reach here?" Taro gazed at the fiftieth Muten Stele in front of him. It was empty, no lines, just an ordinary stone tablet simulated by Jarvis.
"Who will be the one to inscribe words on this stone?"
He glanced downward. Green data streams flowed through his eyes, piercing the tower's space, and he saw Goku and Krillin, reunited after two years, returning to train at the Muten Tower. This stirred a wave of discussion, and he smiled faintly.
Then, his gaze returned, landing on the thirty-fourth floor, recently illuminated by Gohan. With Gohan's talent and intelligence, after training up to the thirty-third floor, he had fallen into a quagmire and made no progress for many years.
Until two years ago on Muten Island, Taro gave Gohan part of his knowledge, which contained a fragment of his natural truth. Because of that, Gohan not only improved his physical power significantly, but also painstakingly took the crucial step to reach the thirty-fourth floor.
Taro stood alone on the fiftieth floor.