After several days of travel.
Bulma, Goku, Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong returned to Mount Paozu and met Gine and Son Gohan.
For Bulma and Goku, this was nothing special.
But for Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong, they were extremely excited.
Of course, it wasn’t because they saw Gine, but because they saw Son Gohan.
After all, for people on Earth—especially someone like Yamcha, who wasn’t a formally recognized martial artist, as well as characters like Oolong and Puar—masters of martial arts were highly respected.
Unlike in later generations, where as times changed, martial arts gradually faded from the sight of ordinary people and was even replaced by the so-called wrestling.
After some conversation, Bulma explained the situation to Gine and Son Gohan.
Upon learning the details and finding out that Shenron said Talot and the others were now training on King Kai’s Planet in the Other World, Gine and Son Gohan were not surprised at all.
Because they had known from the beginning.
A few years ago, when Talot and the others went to North Kai’s Planet to formally receive training under North Kai, it was done with Gine’s approval.
Through the combined explanation of Gine and Son Gohan, they finally clarified the situation, which also helped Bulma and Goku shake off their previous sadness.
In the end, it turned out they had been kept in the dark and completely wasted this wish-granting opportunity.
What they didn’t know was that Gine and Son Gohan were simply following Talot’s instructions from back then—to at least not reveal their whereabouts to Goku so as not to interfere with his future growth.
Who would have thought that things would backfire and Bulma would make such a wish?
Gine and Son Gohan had always thought Bulma was smart, but now they couldn’t help but label her as a silly girl.
“This is so infuriating! A once-a-year wish making opportunity was completely wasted like this!” Bulma held her head in agony, feeling even more distressed.
She suddenly felt like Shenron did it on purpose—giving her no chance to reconsider, just answering the question immediately and completing the wish.
“But in any case, it’s great that big brother and the others are all safe, right, Bulma?” Goku’s innocent and simple words made it sound like he didn’t understand anything at all, but what he said was absolutely right.
“Although I don’t fully understand what’s going on, it’s good news that the loved ones you and Goku were searching for are safe, Bulma—even if we couldn’t make a proper wish this time.” Yamcha was quite considerate, and his words earned him a lot of goodwill.
In the original work, this was how he gradually won over Bulma’s heart.
But this isn’t the original work, and Bulma isn’t the original work’s Bulma either. Due to Talot and the others’ arrival, she had already changed, even developing an obsession with Talot.
At this point, there was no use dwelling on it any further.
Since Bulma had no way to go to the Other World, she had no choice but to temporarily return to West City and wait for Talot and the others to come back.
After spending time together, Oolong and Puar had gotten into the habit of clinging to Bulma.
And Yamcha?
Since he wasn’t in a relationship with Bulma, he felt too embarrassed to just follow her home as a guest. So, he decided to use his wits and took the initiative to ask Son Gohan to be his master, hoping to learn martial arts and become stronger.
Basically, Goku’s strength had deeply affected him, making him realize that there were always stronger people out there, and he didn’t want to remain stagnant.
However, Son Gohan rejected his request.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to teach him, but his body had been deteriorating over the years. Although he was still quite powerful, age had caught up with him, and his physical abilities had declined.
Yamcha felt disappointed, yet unwilling to give up.
Son Gohan, not wanting to discourage a young man’s passion for martial arts, recommended that Yamcha seek out his master, the Turtle Hermit, for training.
His title Master of Martial Arts was well-known in the martial arts world, and during this dragon ball-searching adventure, Yamcha had indeed met Turtle Hermit.
To be honest, it was precisely because of this encounter that Yamcha decided to turn over a new leaf.
However, when it came to becoming the Turtle Hermit’s disciple, Yamcha lacked confidence.
Would a legendary master of martial arts even consider taking him as a student?
As he hesitated, Goku stepped up and enthusiastically suggested that they go find the Turtle Hermit and train together.
Although Goku didn’t have any particular thoughts about Yamcha’s strength, it was precisely because he had no opinion on it that he didn’t look down on Yamcha.
With Goku joining in, Yamcha’s fighting spirit was instantly ignited.
Even though the gap between them was huge, with Goku accompanying him, there was a chance it might actually work out.
Besides, back then, he had clearly heard that the Turtle Hermit was genuinely interested in taking Goku as a disciple.
After making his decision, Son Gohan fully supported it because, even if Goku stayed with him, there wasn’t much more he could teach him.
Gine had no objections either, as she had always maintained her stance of not taking the initiative to train her younger son in combat.
Of course, the real reason she agreed so readily was that Talot had once given the Turtle Hermit very high praise, and back then, Talot had consulted him more than once about training methods.
When it came to teaching others how to grow stronger, Gine felt she wasn’t even as good as Son Gohan, let alone the Turtle Hermit.
As Talot had once said, their strength was indeed far greater than that of Earthlings, but that didn’t mean Earth’s martial arts knowledge was worthless—on the contrary, it was something they lacked.
Due to changes in the storyline, Earth’s future was also becoming very different.
Especially when Goku and Yamcha arrived at Kame House to become Turtle Hermit’s disciple—not only did the Turtle Hermit immediately accept Goku as a disciple, but he also accepted Yamcha on the spot.
Perhaps taking in Yamcha was just an afterthought, but it had to be said that the Turtle Hermit had a keen eye for people.
He could see that Yamcha wasn’t on Goku’s level, but he also recognized that Yamcha had enormous potential.
After accepting both of them as disciples, Krillin finally arrived late.
Compared to how easily he took in Goku and Yamcha, the Turtle Hermit was much stricter with Krillin.
Perhaps it was a test, but the Turtle Hermit’s demands were undeniably excessive.
Sending a ten-year-old child to bring back a beautiful young woman—wasn’t that ridiculous?
So, Yamcha and Goku couldn’t just stand by and watch; they teamed up to help Krillin complete the task.
Naturally, the woman they brought back was Launch, but unlike in the original work, things didn’t take so many twists and turns—probably because of Yamcha’s involvement.
……
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