Chapter 21: Placing a dangerous bet
Chapter 21
Placing a dangerous bet
"Hey! Bulma! Why aren't you asking about the dragon ball?" I asked her once we were all done.
"Have you even saw the size of him? I don't think he will part with any of his treasure" She asked, pointing towards the Ox king.
'Oh so she is afraid of him' I thought, getting an idea.
"So how are you going to get it?" I asked her
"I don't know," Bulma said with a frustrating voice.
"Ok then let me do the talking for the dragon ball. You will owe me a small favor though" I told her after some time.
"Alright" Bulma nodded after some thinking.
With that done, I started my plan
"So Ox-san, Chichi told us that your mountain was on fire. Is it true? If it is then, how did you extinguish the fire on your mountain?" I asked him once we were done. I knew the reason but I needed an opening for my plan.
"Yeah! Once the mountain was on fire but then my friend Son Gohan came some 4 years ago. He helped me and extinguished the fire. He even saved my castle from getting destroyed" He answered with some excitement.
"Son Gohan, You said Son Gohan! Are you sure?" I asked in fake excitement.
"Yeah, But why are you asking?" He asked in confusion.
"Well, our Grandpa's name was also Son Gohan. Was he a martial art expert too?" I asked in return. Only with great effort, I was able to keep my face from smiling.
"Hoho! Now that I see. That is Nyabiou correct" Ox king asked Goku pointing towards the staff with a smile.
"Yeah our Grandpa gave this to Goku" I replied with a smile.
"Hoho! So you are both Gohan's Grandsons" He asked jovially
"Hmm-hmm" We both nodded.
"This is really a great coincidence that we got to meet Master Roshi and you in just a week apart," I said.
"Oh! You met Master Roshi too?" He asked while we nodded.
"So how is Gohan? I haven't seen him in years" He asked, joy visible on his face.
At once he could see that something was wrong after seeing both of our faces fell.
"Grandpa died a year and a half ago," I said in a somber tone.
He also became a little sad "What? But he was quite healthy when I last met him" He exclaimed. With my hearing, I heard Chichi muttering "Oh! Poor Baali-Kun" but didn't give much thought.
"I don't know what happened as I was away, but Goku told me a large Ape crushed Grandpa to death," I said half lying through my teeth giving him the same answer I gave Roshi.
He was shocked before a few tears escaped his eyes. Suddenly he stood up.
"Let's toast for him, the world's best martial artist, Son Gohan" He exclaimed raising his cup.
"To Son Gohan" We chorused raising our glasses too.
….
"So are you also a martial artist too?" I asked him after some time to change back the topic and mood of the table.
"Yeah. Only second to Gohan and Master Roshi" He answered with pride and arrogance.
"Well, why don't I and Goku fight you? I wanna see if you are strong or just all talk" I asked him
"Hohoho. Are you sure young man?" He asked with an amused smile.
"Yeah" I exclaimed. "And why not let the people of the town see. They wouldn't have more chances of seeing you fight" I said to convince him.
"Well a good fight after good food sounds great" He exclaimed and ordered his servants to prepare the arena.
We decided to spar an hour from now. In the meantime, we continued to chat. From him, I got to know some other things.
I asked him about his wife as I was a little curious about her myself.
He didn't tell me about her name but he did tell us that she was a great fighter and met him while they were in competition. While she didn't win, she came pretty close. From then both were in love with each other. She also passed away while giving birth to chichi.
I was sure that Bulma had heart eyes when she heard about their love story. Chichi, Bulma, and Oolong also started crying when he talked about her passing. To change the sad topic I asked him about the fire.
Apparently, he was taking out his daughter on her 2nd birthday when his castle suddenly caught fire. For a year he tried to stop the flames but they continued. Little by little all the people living here relocated to other places.
Then some years later, thieves and other greedy people started to show up. He killed some of them who threatened his daughter or were scum. He even pleaded that he didn't know how to quiet the flames but they didn't believe him. In the end, he had to kill them.
This continued until Gohan came.
First, he didn't recognize him but after getting beat up he recognized him. Gohan also put out the flames destroying the mountain and putting out the fire. He also saved his castle. By reading between the lines, I realized his Kame-ha-me-ha didn't even destroy the castle, like Roshi's Kamehameha did. I had to say that the castle was amazing and it would have been a waste if it had been destroyed.
He promised Gohan he will change his life for the better. And I could see that he did. From then it has become a prosperous town.
My grandfather came here before going to the World Budokai tournament and winning it. At least that confirmed my doubt. It also gave me a reason to know about the tournament which I did by asking him.
Once he told me about it, I proclaimed that I was going to fight and win in the next tournament to win. Seeing that, Goku was also fired up and proclaimed about participating too.
He then asked me about our life with Gohan to which I told some stories with Goku pitching in between. Though most of my story was at the expense of Goku, he didn't mind. I could see he was just happy that he got to talk to someone other than me who knew Gohan. I was quite happy to see him giving his real, naïve, and innocent smile in a long time. I also realized he also missed Grandpa but couldn't express it.
He also asked me about how I saved her daughter to which I told the story. I could also see Chichi blushing when I got to the part where I rescued her.
Speaking of that T-Rex, I am sure that it would serve me for 2 days, 3 if I rationed it. I also got to know the reason as to why she was there in the first place. Apparently today she decided to bring food on her own by hunting some fruits but that T-Rex found her.
Just then a servant came and informed us that everything is prepared.
With that done, he got up and led us outside the castle.
On route, Bulma came to my side and asked "What the hell are you doing Baali? How are we going to get the dragon ball by fighting him?"
I just smirked and said nothing. Seeing my smirk and non-committal answer, Bulma got frustrated but said nothing. Still, I think it was time to perform the next step of the plan.
"Ox king san, what do you say we bet something on the fight to make it interesting," I asked after coming to his side to which he nodded.
I know I could have just asked for the dragon ball and he would have given it easily. But, I wanted to fight him. Just thinking of fighting a stronger opponent, made my blood boil with excitement. No wonder Saiyans were a bloodthirsty race if even I could feel the Saiyan genes manipulating my mind.
"Have you seen a dragon ball in your castle? We have been searching for one and our gadget told us that it is inside your castle" I asked him.
"Huh? Dragon ball..?" Ox-King wondered.
Seeing that he didn't know, we showed him a dragon ball. I also added "If we win, you give us that dragon ball"
"Oh now that you mention it, I remember seeing one in treasury room. Sure, no problem! You can have it. Anything for Gohan's grandson" He said in an uncaring voice.
Hearing this, Bulma and me high-fived. Then Ox-King had to destroy my moment of triumph.
"But if I win you have chichi as a bride. Chichi even told me that she likes you" He said
I blanched. I even heard Chichi exclaiming "Papa" while Oolong muttered "lucky bastard". Still, I recovered easily as I was already thinking about it.
"Err… sure but there is a condition. I will only marry the woman who can match or defeat me in a fight" I said in a firm tone.
Seeing Chichi's sad expression I hastily added "Till then we can court and date each other if it's no problem with you"
Whew dodged a bullet there. Now don't judge me. I had full intention of tasting Chichi once she is older but marrying only 1 woman is not an option and it's not like she would be able to defeat me. Even if she starts training, she would be only a little stronger than her canon part. I remember that she had the battle power of 97 at the last of Dragon ball. So max to the max, she will be able to 120 -150 till then while I hoped to at least match Goku who had the power level of 400.
Chichi had a determined look on her face when I mentioned my condition though she became shy about the prospect of dating. With my superhuman hearing, I could clearly hear what she was muttering under her breath.
"I have read this before in a weekly magazine. People who love each other do something called 'dating'. They hold hands and then…." She said.
Wow! Just wow. I have nothing to say. She is so innocent. And to think just in a decade she will become that harpy.
Seeing we had an accord, we parted ways as he had to go to the armory to get his armor and weapon. Chichi also went away seeing as she was quite shy.
Once they were out of our view, I rounded on Bulma.
"You owe me a big favor instead of a single small favor" I spit out.
"But…" She tried to speak but I cut her in between
"1 big favor and nothing less," I said in a firm voice.
Seeing that, Bulma sighed and agreed. On the outside, I may have appeared that I didn't like this but on the inside, I was quite happy. I just didn't wanna show that.
Just then Goku opened his mouth "What is a bride?"
I would be lying if I said that I didn't expect that from him but Bulma and Oolong sure didn't. Fortunately, we didn't have to answer as we reached there.
It looked like the whole of the village gathered to see our fight. I was wrong. This was already a town judging by the number of people who came to watch. I could sense about 750 people in total. On further thinking, I realized that some people would have been at work in the fields and my sensing range wouldn't have covered them. They probably left their work to see the match.
I knew that there was probably a betting pool going on. I have no doubt most of them were hoping I would lose, no doubt to get the money they bet on the Ox-king multiply.
Seeing that, I had an idea.
"Bulma how much money can I get for a normal favor?" I asked her.
She narrowed her eyes and said in a clipped tone "1 million Zennies."
"That is more than enough. Be a dear and place them on Ox king not winning and that means it includes the match being ended up in a draw" I said.
She nodded and went away with Oolong. Seeing that we would be fighting, we decided to warm up.
I also tried my hand again at Wolf Fang Fist again seeing as our opponent was still not there. Getting an idea, I started to use closed punches and kicks like an ape and what do you know, it worked perfectly. Instead of a wolf, the silhouette came as an ape. No surprises there, considering I was a Saiyan.
I named this technique Kong style. I was sure that my attack power level would be quite a bit higher when I will use this technique. With this, the chances of our victory just went up.
Suddenly I detected a killing intent. When I turned to the source, I was pleasantly surprised by seeing Yamcha and Puar in the crowd. On seeing me looking at them, they hid behind a tree but I already saw them.
'Yamcha probably leaked a bit of killing intent when he saw me using his technique' I thought
I breathed a size of relief. I don't know how they reached here, but I was a little relieved to see them. In the meanwhile, Bulma came and told me that they only accepted 10 thousand zennies as it was the highest one could bet. I just nodded and asked her to keep the remaining amount to herself. In the case I lost the match, I would decrease that normal favor to a small favor.
I couldn't think more about it as the ground shook a little. I saw the reason – Ox king coming to battle.
I was really excited to fight him. Ox king came with proper battle attire with his ax. His ax alone was about my size. I have no doubt that 1 hit from it would cut me up. Even then my urge to let loose was increasing.
Guess I will just fight Ox king to satisfy my battle urge. I know he was at 65 battle power in canon but that was just his battle prowess. If we mix his physical strength, his battle power would definitely increase.
On the other hand, I was definitely a solid 45, maybe even 50. All the training in the form of running and swimming I did for the last 5 days would have increased my battle power definitely. And even if I lose against him, my battle power will increase due to 'Zenkai' though I wasn't sure as it was not a life deathmatch.
I knew by myself I couldn't defeat him. But with Goku, I hoped I could defeat him. By sensing his KI, I would say he was around 1 and half of Goku but with his extra strength, I have no doubt he was more like my x 1.5 so making him around 70+ in power level.
Knowing that ax could cut me in half, I proposed a fight with bare hands. By most, we would only suffer broken bones instead of cuts and gashes. Thankfully he agreed. I put down my sword while Goku put down his staff.
…
7:50 am: I challenged him to a fight.
8:40 am: We all went to the courtyard where the match was about to begin.
..
Power levels:
Bulma, Oolong, Puar: 04
Goku: 43+; Oozaru Form: Height and Power x10 (431)
Baali: 49.5; Oozaru Form: Height and Power x10 (495); Wolf Fang Fist: 54+ (10% increase); Kong Fist: 57+ (15% increase)
Yamcha: 34 Wolf Fang Fist: 39 (15% increase)
Chichi: 10;
Ox-King: 75 (due to higher physical power otherwise it would be just 65-70).
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone