In an old-style residential building on the edge of the city, the lights were dim and yellowish, and outside the window were sporadic traffic and neon lights.
Inside a somewhat rundown room, the aroma of instant noodles permeated the air, delivery boxes were piled in the corner, and an office computer and half a pack of smoked cigarettes were placed on the table.
Neo lay flat on his bed with a cigarette in his mouth and his legs crossed. Amidst exhaling puffs of smoke, he looked at his 1,800-yuan phone in his hand, which was playing the classic scene from the first part of dragon ball where Tao Paipei flew on a pillar.
"Hey ~ You gotta admit! Everyone says flying on a sword is cool, but flying on a pillar is also maxed out in terms of badassery!"
Neo couldn't help exclaiming in admiration as he watched. Because he was so engrossed, he didn't even notice that his phone was gradually getting hot.
Until ——
"Bzzzt ——!"
A harsh buzzing sound of electricity exploded, and the phone abruptly burst open with a "bang". The screen shattered, flames and black smoke rose, and even the data cable started smoking with a 'hiss' sound.
"Damn! What kind of lousy phone is this, it can even explode while charging?!" Neo was startled instantly and instinctively tried to fling the phone away, but failed to do so. At the same time, he sat up abruptly, feeling a burning pain in his right hand, followed by a sensation of numbness spreading from his hand. His body spasmed while his ears rang continuously.
He wanted to shake off the smoking phone in his hand, but that lousy phone seemed glued to his hand and just wouldn't come off. Within a dozen seconds, he felt his body growing heavier and heavier, his consciousness feeling as if it were being sucked into a bottomless black hole. At the very last moment, he stared at the smoking phone in his hand, with only a single thought remaining in his mind: "Motherfucker, am I really going to kick the bucket just like this?"
Then, his consciousness completely plunged into darkness.
I don't know how much time had passed...
Dragon Ball World, Mount Paozu.
The night wind was slightly chilly, blowing across the overlapping mountain forests and making a rustling sound. Moonlight like silver spilled onto the winding mountain path, reflecting a lonely figure.
Neo slowly regained consciousness, his head buzzing as if it had been hit by an iron hammer.
He was lying on an old mountain path, with the cold muddy stone road beneath him. Ancient trees towered all around, their branches and leaves intertwining to block out the sky. In the distance, the low roars of beasts and the murmuring of stream water faintly drifted over.
"Ugh..." Neo groaned with a frown, raised a hand to rub his temples, and felt a sore yet tingling sensation all over his body as if his bones were about to fall apart.
He tried to slowly sit up and looked around, his gaze shifting from confusion to shock, and finally to complete bewilderment: "Where the hell did this throw me?"
His exclamation echoed in the silent mountain forest.
He looked down at himself: his clothes were still that old vest, his pants hadn't changed either, and he was barefoot. Subconsciously, he felt around in his pants pockets, but didn't find the phone he had imagined.
"What is going on?" Neo calmed down and carefully recalled: "I remember... wasn't I lying on the bed watching dragon ball? How did I get brought here?"
A flash of inspiration hit his mind, and he suddenly remembered, slapping his thigh fiercely: "Ah ——! I remember now! When I was watching dragon ball, that lousy phone seemed to have exploded?!!"
For a moment, his eyes widened in utter shock: "No way? Am I dreaming? Or... did I transmigrate?!"
As a minor web novel author, he had read and written quite a few transmigration stories. Faced with this kind of situation, the first thing that came to his mind was either dreaming or transmigrating; it seemed he had been deeply poisoned by transmigration fiction.
To confirm whether he was in a dream, Neo reached out and pinched his thigh fiercely ——
"Hisss ——!!!" Neo instantly drew in a sharp breath, tears almost welling up. This pinch of his truly used up all his strength: "F*ck! So painful! It's not a dream? Did I really transmigrate?"
He stood up abruptly, looking left and right with an accelerated heartbeat: "If I transmigrated? Then where is the system? Didn't they say that a system is the standard equipment for transmigrators? System! Are you there?"
Right at this moment, a crisp and pleasant voice sounded in Neo's mind: "I am here, Host. The Invincible Binding System is at your service wholeheartedly."
"Holy sh*t! There really is one? I really transmigrated?!" While being startled, Neo was also overjoyed: "Invincible Binding System? What kind of functions does it have? Tell me about it in detail."
"The Invincible Binding System, as the name implies —— you only need to designate a binding target to synchronously obtain all abilities, combat power, and even bloodline power of the binding target, and grow synchronously with them."
"Holy sh*t! Is it that awesome?" Neo blurted out a curse in pleasant surprise: "Then what are you waiting for, hurry up and bind me to the Heavenly Dao!"
"..." The system was directly struck silent for two seconds before replying: "Apologies, the Host's strength is too low, this system cannot directly bind to the Heavenly Dao."
"Binding targets also have to be tied to my strength? System, you're not much use either!" Neo immediately complained: "Then tell me, what can I bind to right now?"
"Any person or object whose strength is not overly excessive is acceptable."
"Fine then, tell me now, where am I currently?"
"The Host's current location is the Mount Paozu region of the Dragon Ball World, and the timeline is during the youth of Son Goku, before the Red Ribbon Army has been wiped out."
"Mount Paozu?! Dragon Ball World?!" Neo's eyes suddenly widened: "No way, how did I get thrown into the Dragon Ball World? And it's Earth which can explode at any moment! Isn't this totally screwed?! Huh? No, wait! I have a binding system, so if I bind to Son Goku or Broly, wouldn't I also be able to transform into a Super Saiyan or Legendary Super Saiyan?"
"Yes, Host!"
"Then what are you waiting for, hurry up and bind me to Omni-King!"
"..." The system was once again struck silent by Neo for two seconds: "Shouldn't you bind to Son Goku or Broly?"
"You're an idiot! As handsome as Super Saiyan is, how can it compare to how awesome Omni-King is!"
"We apologize, Host. Your strength is too weak; you cannot bind to Omni-King at the current stage."
"Does that mean I can do it in the future?" Neo wasn't discouraged; this was within his expectations since binding to the Heavenly Dao had failed as well: "Just tell me, given my current conditions, who can I bind to?"
"Either young Son Goku or Broly is fine."
"Then bind me to Broly."
"Apologies, Host. To bind a character, the designated character must be face-to-face."
"I —— are you messing with me, right?" Neo almost cursed out loud.
"Absolutely not, you are my dearest Host after all."
Neo calmed his mood and said: "Speaking of which, in what form does your system exist? Can you turn into a great beauty and appear?"
"This system is not the kind of system with life; rather, it is a lifeless auxiliary system equivalent to an AI, already bound to the Host's soul. If the Host dies, this system will also disappear."
Hearing this, Neo immediately thought of something and asked: "Speaking of disappearing, if the character I bound to dies, will the abilities and bloodline I obtained also disappear along with them?"
"No. Once bound, the obtained abilities and bloodline will be permanently preserved. When the bound character dies, you will only lose the abilities gained synchronously from upgrading with the bound character; you can just change to another bound character."