A mix of wonder and disappointment settled over the group. The concept of the Dragon Balls was astounding, but the revelation of their uselessness here was a heavy blow.
"How many Energy Points do you have now? Are we ready to go?" Saya asked, her voice laced with hope. While they couldn't save this world, the girls were pragmatic. They weren't self-proclaimed saviors. The mere chance to escape this hellscape was a miracle in itself.
Son Goku summoned the translucent Dimensional Shuttle System interface. "Let's see… 11,053 points."
Saya's brow furrowed. "Only just over ten thousand? There are eight of us… so we're still short nearly seventy thousand."
"Nearly eighty thousand," Goku corrected, tapping the air. "Opening the gate itself costs another ten thousand."
Saeko's hand tightened around the hilt of her bokken. "Then our path is clear. We must hunt. We must collect more points."
"Tch, why bother with all that?" Goku waved a hand dismissively. "One good Kamehameha can level an entire city. Points would be trivial."
"NO!"
The objection was swift and unanimous. Saeko stepped forward, her expression uncharacteristically severe. "I do not know this 'Kamehameha,' but if it does as you say, you would annihilate every survivor in that city along with the undead. We are not monsters. We may prioritize our own survival, but we still possess human hearts. If slaughter can be avoided, it must be."
"Ah… right." Goku blinked, momentarily chastened. He'd momentarily forgotten the core morality of the women around him. Indiscriminate destruction was not an option.
"But if we don't, the efficiency will be pitiful," he argued, shrugging helplessly. "Do you have any idea how long it would take to personally eliminate nearly eighty thousand zombies?"
Minami Rika eyed him skeptically. "Let's be real. Can you actually destroy an entire city with one attack? That's… that's impossible."
"Of course I can. My battle power is well over 30,000. A city is nothing," Goku stated, puffing out his chest.
"Really? Even for you, that sounds like a boast," Rei said, her tone dubious. The other girls wore similar expressions of disbelief.
"Fine! You want proof? I'll give you proof!" Goku's competitive spirit flared. He pointed toward the smoldering ruin of the Offshore Airport. "Rika. You said there were no survivors left there, right?"
Rika frowned, considering. "…My team was the last holdout. And after that fuel depot explosion… Yes. I believe it's empty of living souls."
"Perfect!" Goku shot into the air, hovering high above the devastated complex. He cupped his hands to his mouth. "GIRLS! WATCH CLOSELY!"
He descended slightly, assumed a wide, stable stance, and brought his palms to his side. His voice dropped, each syllable resonant with gathering power. "Ka… me… ha… me…"
A searing, brilliant blue light began to swirl and condense between his palms, crackling with immense energy.
"…HA!"
A colossal beam of pure energy lanced from his hands, not a thin line but a torrential river of destruction. It struck the center of the airport with a sound like the world tearing apart.
KABOOOOOM!
The impact was cataclysmic. The beam didn't just explode; it vaporized, then sent a visible ring of apocalyptic force radiating outward. Hangars, control towers, tarmac, and every shambling figure within were consumed in an instant. The very ground was scoured clean, then punched downward. A geyser of seawater and pulverized concrete erupted skyward as a significant portion of the artificial island simply ceased to exist, collapsing into the frothing sea below. The resulting wave rocked the distant shoreline.
Goku glanced at his system interface. A faint, satisfied smile touched his lips. 58,555 points. Over forty-seven thousand zombies in one blast. Not bad.
He floated back to the stunned group on the shore.
For a long moment, there was only the sound of the receding wave and distant rumbles.
"Goku… you… you really… boomed it…" Shizuka finally breathed, her eyes as wide as saucers. She stumbled forward and threw her arms around him, trembling with a mixture of awe and residual terror. "It's gone… just… gone…"
"I knew it! Goku-niichan is Ultraman! The strongest hero!" Alice cried, latching onto his leg, her earlier trauma forgotten in the face of such impossible, world-shaking power.
"I… I take back every skeptical thing I've ever thought," Minami Rika muttered, her face pale. "You're not a pervert… you're a natural disaster."
Rei simply stared, her professional composure shattered, a new, profound respect—and something else—glittering in her eyes. Takashi adjusted her glasses, the usually stoic woman looking thoroughly flustered and impressed.
"You… you really aren't human anymore, are you?" Saya managed, her voice faint.
Yuriko, however, smiled warmly, a weight seeming to lift from her shoulders. "In that case, I believe our safety is assured. Completely."
Goku landed with a final puff of dust, striking a triumphant pose. "So? Pretty cool, right? Makes your heart race, doesn't it?"
The collective response was a synchronized, exasperated roll of eyes, breaking the tense atmosphere.
Minami Rika's expression grew serious again. "With that kind of power… you really could save more people. You could carve out safe zones, help survivors regroup…"
"Save the world?" Goku's playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a flat, pragmatic tone. "And then what? Play shepherd? Hand out rations? Build houses? I'm a fighter, not a social worker or a god. This isn't my world, and I'm leaving. My responsibility begins and ends with the people I choose to take with me."
Rika opened her mouth to retort, then closed it. The logic was cold but unassailable. The duty of an officer warred with the reality of an uncaring, broken world. She finally looked down, the fight draining out of her.
"Alright!" Goku clapped his hands, his energy returning. "Enough sightseeing. We're at 58,555 points. We just need a little over 30,000 more. Let's go find a nice, dense, uninhabited zombie hotspot and finish this job!"