Dragon Ball Human

"Haha, the weather's terrible, but my luck's still pretty good!"

Yamiru's consciousness was hazy. After noticing a pair of rain boots blocking his hands, he lifted his head slightly and looked up through the dense rain, seeing only a sharp-faced man with a crooked smile, wearing a raincoat. The man's features were blurry, but his eyes gleamed mischievously. He bent down and hoisted Yamiru onto his shoulder, humming a tune as he jogged toward the city through the pouring rain.

"...Human trafficker? Fine... I could use a break."

Carried on the man's shoulder, Yamiru was jostled with each step. It was uncomfortable, but it was better than the intense headache and the body that felt as if it had been poisoned by debilitating drugs. Yamiru passed out again, his head throbbing painfully.

When he regained consciousness, his throat felt dry as if it might catch fire, and his lips seemed cracked and swollen. His nose was so blocked it felt as though it had been sealed with cement.

"Cough, cough…"

Yamiru curled up in the corner, coughing violently, spitting blood onto the ground.

"This kid's about to die, huh?"

"Why bother saving him? He's useless."

"Bad luck!"

"Make sure to buy some medicine, don't get infected by this bastard!"

The door to the room opened, and several men glanced at Yamiru in the corner, cursing under their breath.

The light from the open door caused Yamiru to squint, but he didn't say anything. Although his throat burned with thirst, he could still endure. He figured the Senzu beans effect could keep him alive for another two or three days. But the worsening cold was nearly killing him, and he couldn't expect these obvious human traffickers to help him. So, he remained motionless, doing nothing unnecessary.

Among the group of men, the one who had carried Yamiru back, the man with the mischievous grin, was present as well.

"Even the appetizers are poisoned! Bad luck, damn bad luck!"

The leader of the traffickers cursed, slammed the door shut, and the voices of his subordinates were cut off.

In the dim room, two points of golden light appeared.

Yamiru coughed quietly, struggling to swallow the nauseating taste of blood. His Golden Veil pierced through the walls, scanning the traffickers faint, weak auras. They were much too weak, more so than even the weakest soldiers of the Red Ribbon Army. If Yamiru were in peak condition, he could easily deal with them with one hand. If he had the Sword Jiora gave him, even in his current weakened state, he could still take them all down with a single strike.

But right now, it seemed a little difficult.

Yamiru turned his head and looked at the opposite wall.

Through the wall, he could see... it should be the adjacent room. Through the sharp vision of his Golden Veil, he noticed one, two, three... a total of eleven very faint auras. Judging by their size, most of them were children around the same age as Yamiru, around eleven or twelve years old!

Yamiru clenched his fist and let out a strange laugh.

"Journey to the West, huh... cough cough... Not just to refine myself, but also to... cough... slay demons and subdue monsters, eh... hehe... Even though my body has no strength left, there's still a reason to throw a punch... This... this is making me feel... cough... suddenly full of power, surging up inside!"

He took a deep breath, adjusting his state. Slowly, beads of sweat began to form on his pale face as he struggled to stand, his hands and feet trembling.

"Excessive physical exertion... might overdraw my body... worsening my condition. Maybe I should wait, wait until I'm better before I do anything? But cough... for those unfamiliar little kids next door... cough... little brats, am I really willing to gamble my body? Do I have the courage for that?"

Yamiru chuckled softly to himself.

"Don't I?"

Slowly, Yamiru moved to the side of the door. His golden pupils gleamed brightly in the dimly lit room.

"And also, I can't suppress the urge to kill scum when I see them."

Yamiru knew that his current state wasn't fit for overexertion, but so what? If this body wasn't trained to do the things he wanted to do, then what was the point of having it? In this moment, his thoughts were calm, almost tricking his mind, giving him the illusion that his body was filled with strength.

"Bang!" He slammed his palm against the door.

Before long, an impatient voice came from outside: "What's going on?"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Yamiru didn't answer, just increased the force with which he hit the door, making as much noise as possible. Meanwhile, he felt a wave of weakness wash over him, but he pushed it aside, ignoring it. Gokunknew that continuing to use the Kaio-ken could make his body collapse, but did he hesitate? The voices outside muttered again, "Didn't they say he was already dying...?"

Yamiru didn't move.

The door creaked open with a loud sound, and the person on the other side let out an "Eh?"

With a step forward, Yamiru expressionlessly threw a punch that smashed the man's lower body to pieces. The man let out a painful gasp, bending down as Yamiru slammed both hands onto the man's head. Blood poured from his eyes, ears, and nostrils, his pupils reflecting the image of a pale-faced, emotionless boy with golden eyes. The man immediately died.

Yamiru pushed the body away from the door and stepped outside, lifting the corpse as he walked. Noticing a short knife hanging from the dead man's belt, Yamiru quietly drew it out and gripped it in his hand, reverse-style.

"What happened? Why are you... huh? No way!"

Yamiru heard footsteps approaching quickly, accompanied by frantic voices. The traffickers were all gathering. Despite the corpse in front of him, Yamiru's Golden Veil allowed him to see their precise positions, easily distinguishing their varying strengths.

"Stop!"

"Don't move!"

The sound of guns being cocked echoed.

Ignoring them, Yamiru used the body as a shield, charging forward. He hurled the corpse at one of the traffickers while stabbing the knife into another's ribs, slashing upward through his organs.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunshots rang out at Yamiru, but he had already anticipated it. Hiding behind two more bodies, he heard the sound of bullets sinking into flesh. As he searched through the second body, he found a handgun, and after a few attempts, he managed to remove the magazine, pulling out the yellow bullets one by one.

"Get up!"

"You bastard!"

The traffickers yelled in anger.

Yamiru didn't move. The traffickers, now enraged, fired a few more shots, but all of them were blocked by the bodies. Finally, one of them, unable to resist, approached. Yamiru silently calculated the distance, then suddenly popped his head up. With his sharp perception, he hurled a bullet into the trafficker's mouth, piercing his throat. The man turned pale, clutching his throat, coughing up blood...

"Bang! Bang! Bang," the remaining traffickers fired again, but soon, the sound of empty chambers filled the air. They had exhausted their first magazine.

Yamiru immediately charged forward.

"Damn! How is this kid so strong?"

"But didn't they say he's about to die?!"

The remaining four traffickers, having never seen such ferocity in a boy, panicked, fumbling to reload their magazines. They seemed to jump around as though the ground was burning, trying to evade Yamiru. But his speed and explosive power surpassed theirs. In a flash, he reached the nearest one, leaping into the air with his fists raised high, delivering a powerful blow to the man's skull. The sound of his skull cracking echoed loudly, and blood poured from his head. Yamiru immediately moved on to the next target.

"Help!"

"Run!"

"Call the police!"

The remaining three traffickers, terrified, fled out the door. Yamiru hadn't expected these armed men to be so cowardly. They turned and ran. As he stumbled, pain shot through his bones, especially in his back, which felt as though it might break. His head throbbed so much it felt like it would explode. He collapsed but, with bloodshot eyes and a grim smile, got back up again, clutching a bullet. With a forceful flick, he sent it flying.

The bullet hit one of the fleeing traffickers squarely in the spine, causing him to fall and convulse on the ground.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The remaining bullets were fired, hitting one of the last two in the thigh. He immediately dropped to his knees, writhing in agony.

As Yamiru passed by, he kicked the man in the temple, instantly killing him.

"Heh heh heh..." Yamiru's face was drenched in cold sweat, his expression twisted in pain. The last trafficker was about to run out of the alley and into the street. Yamiru gritted his teeth, suddenly taking a deep breath and roaring, "Come back!!"

Of course, the man wouldn't obediently turn back, but the shout was so powerful that it startled him. He couldn't help but glance back, his panicked gaze colliding with Yamiru's cold, furious golden eyes.

An invisible force surged from Yamiru's Golden Veil, transmitting through his gaze to the trafficker. In an instant, it enveloped his body, rendering him completely immobile.

"What... is happening…" The trafficker, still in the middle of running and looking back, had a look of disbelief in his eyes as he slowly collapsed to the ground. Even as he swayed on the ground, his rigid movements didn't change at all, as if he had become a statue.

"Run, then... cough... cough cough!"

Yamiru's vision blurred, coughing violently as if his organs would come out with each hack. A puff of blood mist spewed from his mouth... His legs went soft, and he collapsed to the ground. Turning onto his back, he weakly stared at the narrow strip of sky above the alley, laughing hysterically, then coughing up more blood. His chest expanded with each cough, the pain so severe that tears streamed from his eyes, his mouth filled with blood.

"Right..." Yamiru's trembling hands pushed against the ground, but in the process, he accidentally slipped, and his finger was crushed with a sharp crack. Yamiru winced but didn't show much pain. Instead, he unsteadily stood up, coldly looking at the trafficker who was still frozen in place. Without caring about him, Yamiru returned to the hideout. He opened the door to the neighboring room he had seen earlier and, as expected, found eleven frail children hiding inside, the youngest barely one or two years old!

It was utterly infuriating! Yamiru slammed his hand on the doorframe, causing another finger to break.

"I'm so cold..." Yamiru shivered, his clothes drenched in cold sweat.

"Lazuli..." In the corner of the room, the youngest black-haired boy held the hand of a blonde girl.

The blonde girl whispered, "Don't be scared, Lapis." Soon, the abducted children heard the boy at the door tell them.

"Let's go... cough... cough... go find the police... I..."

Yamiru collapsed.

---

When he woke up again, everyone was gone. Struggling to get up, he found the blonde girl and the black-haired boy squatting nearby. The two children stared blankly at him, looking a little dazed. Yamiru reached out to them, but neither child flinched. He asked, "You... cough... cough... forget it, stay away from me... cough..."

Yamiru covered his mouth, and another cough left a smear of blood in his palm. He felt like his throat had rotted away.

Getting to his feet, Yamiru stumbled out. The body by the door was still there, and the trafficker who had been frozen in place at the alley's entrance still maintained a pose like a toppled statue. As Yamiru passed, the man's eyes filled with terror, and when Yamiru stepped toward him, his eyelids rolled back, and he fainted... But Yamiru simply stepped over him, his body weak as he swayed and left.

"He's really stupid. The police will be here soon." The blonde girl stood at the door, watching the boy who saved them leave.

"You waited for him to wake up. Why didn't you tell him?" the black-haired boy asked.

The blonde girl, looking only about two or three years old, spoke coldly, scolding her brother, "Lapis, don't do anything unnecessary, or you'll just get abducted again."

The black-haired boy replied, "But it was you who got abducted... I was just sticking with you, out of loyalty…"

The blonde girl glared at him.

Not long after Yamiru left, rain began to fall over the city once again.

With each step, Yamiru felt like it was his last in this Dragon Ball world... His steps were unsteady, his mind drifting, as if he had ascended to immortality. Everything before him—the flow of traffic, pedestrians, the streets, the lights—was like a heavy layer of shadows, and the sounds around him alternated between distant and close... Yamiru didn't even know where he was or where he was going. He couldn't even be sure if he was still thinking... In a haze, stumbling and staggering, it seemed like he collapsed at a street corner.

"Ah! Help!" A girl screamed.

Bang! A figure collided with Yamiru, angrily shouting, "Damn brat, get out of the way!"

A kick was aimed at Yamiru, intending to quickly push him away so he could drag the woman into a nearby alley to have his way with her... But the next second, the man realized that the boy he kicked was somehow stuck to his leg.

"What—?!" The thug, one hand holding a blonde-haired girl hostage, the other holding a gun, tried to shake the boy off his leg. "Get off, idiot!"

He raised his gun, intending to shoot the unfortunate kid.

But Yamiru lifted his head, his face sickly, with a twisted, maddened grin. He chuckled lightly, disregarding the gun, releasing his grip and stepping forward.

"You want to kill me?" he asked, grinning with bloodstains on his teeth, his forehead pressed against the black muzzle of the gun.

"Crazy!" The thug fired, but somehow, the boy's head jerked to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding the bullet.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The thug fired four shots, but the sickly boy with golden eyes just laughed, sleepily swaying his head from side to side, dodging every bullet.

"Impossible! At such close range!"

Not only did the thug think this, but even the blonde-haired girl held captive couldn't believe it.

"You really want to kill me... cough, cough..." Yamiru's consciousness was slipping away. He couldn't even clearly see the person in front of him; he just found them irritating, terrifying, and unbearable. He cried, "Please don't kill me, please... cough, cough... please don't kill me..."

Bang! He punched the thug in the stomach.

"Ugh!" The thug's eyes nearly popped out. This boy, on the verge of death... where did he get such strength from?!

"I don't want to die... I really don't want to die..." Yamiru moved like someone in a dream—punching, kicking, throwing wild, uncontrolled blows that made the thug clutch his head, crying out in pain. But Yamiru kept sobbing, muttering, "I'm not willing... I... ugh! I'm not... not yet..." Yamiru vomited a puddle of yellow-green liquid mixed with dark red blood, and as his fist weakened, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Tights blinked beside him, wanting to ask what kind of development this was. The transition seemed so abrupt! She crouched down, poking at the boy's body—was he dead? Hearing him mumbling incomprehensively about "not yet" and "Son Goku," she realized he wasn't quite dead yet.

Tights frowned. "He seems really sick... sigh..."