After a while, Taro summoned Jarvis.
"Mr. Taro." Jarvis materialized behind him, coalescing from green data streams into the image of a scholarly-looking middle-aged man in glasses.
Without turning around, Taro said, "I'll give you a few initial conditions. I want you to simulate all possible lines of development…"
"Understood."
"First, I've been to a certain parallel timeline."
"Second, the Demon Realm King Dabura destroyed both Earth and Namek, and he possesses a technique that resembles instantaneous movement."
"Third, the evil sorcerer Babidi is scouring the universe for Majin Buu's seal. He's not powerful himself... but he has magic strong enough to control someone like Dabura."
"Fourth…" Taro paused. "When I left that parallel timeline, I vaguely sensed someone watching me. But even I couldn't detect that person's ki… You know my abilities. As for the opponent's capabilities—set that parameter as you see fit."
"Just those four conditions?"
"Yes. I'll come check on you later. Prepare the ten most likely outcomes."
Taro nodded, then turned and patted Jarvis on the shoulder.
Jarvis was a super-intelligent AI far beyond Taro's own comprehension. He was the magnum opus that Fabeli and Hathaway had spent countless years perfecting. His computational power exceeded untold quintillions of operations per second…
A "wan" is ten thousand.
Ten thousand "wan" make a "yi" (hundred million).
Ten thousand "yi" make a "zhao" (trillion).
Ten thousand "zhao" make a "jing" (quadrillion).
And even while maintaining the Virtual Earth Network using idle processing power, Jarvis could still perform calculations on the "zhao" level—countless trillions of operations every single second.
If he were to stop supporting the Virtual Earth Network, his speed would become even more terrifying—possibly reaching the "jing" tier.
Of course, it was unrealistic to halt the Virtual Earth Network.
But even so, Jarvis was vastly more efficient than Taro trying to simulate everything on his own. Taro's spiritual power, when fully focused, was slow and low in efficiency by comparison… Perhaps only someone with peak mastery of divine mental power could rival Jarvis.
"Don't interfere with the Virtual Earth Network. I'll return after the World Martial Arts Tournament ends."
Taro vanished from the 50th floor of the Muten Tower.
Jarvis dissolved once more into green data streams.
…
…
Earth, the north, a bitter cold region.
In a snowy valley surrounded by ice and mountains, a roar rang out—something like a furious beast. It was a bellow of rage, brimming with immense energy. The wild animals that dwelled in these icy mountains fled in all directions, panicked and terrified.
Once everything settled down—
Piccolo stood frowning, looking at the Babata login device in his hand. A number was displayed on it: 1085.
He muttered to himself, "So this is my power level at full strength… Hmph. If I use the Special Beam Cannon, I can probably multiply that two or threefold… Maybe around 3000 in destructive force. But it takes several minutes to charge—that's a fatal flaw!"
Thinking of how Goku and the others could multiply their power levels in combat, Piccolo couldn't help but feel irritated.
He wasn't ignorant of the outside world. The fact that he possessed this Babata device made it clear—he had visited human cities and even earned certification from the Martial Arts Association. Otherwise, he wouldn't have this device, nor would he be able to use its power level testing function.
So, Piccolo had heard plenty about the technique known to the world as Muken.
That was the peerless martial art created by the Muten himself, left within the Virtual Earth Network. Every member of the Martial Arts Association could enter to study it on their own. How much one could achieve depended solely on talent and ability—everyone was treated equally.
Even after so many years, the Muken remained unshaken as the number one divine martial art in the world. This alone was one of the main reasons all martial artists on Earth held both respect and fear toward the Muten Roshi... The Muten Tower had fifty levels, which naturally meant the Muten Roshi himself stood at the height of the fiftieth level!
They could hardly imagine what kind of terrifying power one would possess if they had mastered all fifty levels of the Muken.
And if that person happened to be the Muten himself, then it became even more unfathomable... That would surpass all known understanding. The might of the Muten truly eclipsed not just his era, but all of Earth's past and present. Never had there been a martial arts grandmaster who could match this living immortal.
"Damn it! Do I really have to cast aside the Demon King's pride and go learn this Muken?"
Piccolo was inwardly frustrated. But his frustration wasn't about swallowing his pride to study Taro's ultimate art—back when he was on Muten Island, he already didn't care about that. Rather, it was because he had once left that island thinking there was nothing more he could learn there!
When he left, he had mocked Krillin and the others, saying those two idiots were still following Taro around, already having learned everything they could, yet still not moving on to surpass him—it was the height of stupidity…
And now, to suddenly hear about this "Muken" and go crawling back to study it?
Piccolo couldn't get past that mental hurdle. It grated on him.
"Son Goku probably won't participate in this World Martial Arts Tournament… The remaining ones that are troublesome would be Tienshinhan and that bald guy…" Piccolo gazed southward, his expression a little grim. He had seen some of the coverage from other tournament divisions earlier. "I wonder how many times they've managed to multiply their Muken."
"Unless I have absolutely no choice, I really don't want to swallow my pride and go learn that art... And more than that…"
Piccolo raised his head, his expression complicated. "Even less do I want to fuse again with that old geezer… No. Unless it's a moment of life and death or utter humiliation, I doubt I'll ever rejoin with him again."
---
East City.
"Daddy, I'm done eating!" Chi-Chi said as she finished her meal in a whirlwind and put down her chopsticks.
"Haha, Chi-Chi's appetite is even better than Daddy's now… You've got some rice on your face." The massive Ox-King sat in a specially made large chair and cheerfully wiped the rice from his petite daughter's face.
Chi-Chi grinned. "That's because I've been training in martial arts!"
"Mhm! Runner-up in the East City Division! Chi-Chi, you're amazing!" The Ox-King beamed with pride. "You almost beat young Mr. Satan back then—what a shame… I didn't expect him to become so strong after all these years!"
Chi-Chi bit her lip and said, "Daddy, if you hadn't quit for my sake, you would've been way stronger than him!"
The Ox-King chuckled. "But I think, if I had trained while raising you, we wouldn't be where we are today. I feel like the me now is even stronger!" As he spoke, he playfully flexed his arm—still thick, but no longer as muscular as before. "Chi-Chi, as long as you're doing well, even if someone offered me the world champion title, I wouldn't trade it!"
"Yeah, I know!" Chi-Chi's eyes turned red as she nodded sweetly.
Unlike in the original story, without the Ox-King using the martial arts he learned from Master Roshi to cause trouble and hoard wealth to endlessly pamper Chi-Chi, her personality turned out much more well-behaved and resilient, with hardly any spoiled tendencies.
In the original, it was likely the luxurious lifestyle she had as a child that led to her drastic personality change after marriage.
There was also a recurring detail in the original: her son, Gohan, mentioned more than once that "Grandpa's savings ran out"… Ran out? Where did it all go? Most likely spent helping his daughter.