The appearance of the Red Ribbon Army surprised Ethan a little.
In the original story, when the Red Ribbon Army found Korin Tower, they were quickly defeated by Bora. In the end, they tried to use Bora's son, Upa, as a hostage to exchange for the Dragon Ball in Bora's possession, but they were defeated by Goku, who happened to arrive at that moment.
Now the Red Ribbon Army had appeared, but where was Goku?
No one knew about Ethan's confusion. Yamcha, who knew the reputation of the Red Ribbon Army, was shocked by their appearance. Looking at the fully armed soldiers surrounding them, Yamcha felt a bit intimidated.
Bora, however, did not take the Red Ribbon Army seriously and decisively killed these arrogant soldiers. Just like in the original story, their tiger headed leader then tried to kidnap Upa to negotiate with Bora.
Unfortunately, this time Ethan and the others were standing nearby. Because they had not made a move during the previous fight, the tiger headed leader, Colonel Yellow, overlooked Ethan's group.
Having made a fatal mistake, Colonel Yellow failed to kidnap Upa. Ethan directly dragged him out of the plane, then casually added a punch to knock him out before throwing him to Bora.
"Thank you."
After casually dealing with Colonel Yellow, Bora, as the guardian of the sacred land, did not show any mercy to these people. After handling the last enemy, he kindly dug a pit and buried them, not leaving their bodies exposed in the wilderness.
After finishing all this, Bora began talking with Ethan.
"Are you martial artists who came to challenge Korin Tower?"
"Yes."
"I have guarded this place for many years, and I have never seen anyone succeed in my lifetime. I hope you can succeed."
Bora had challenged it once before, but failed and never tried again.
"Thank you."
Without bringing up the Dragon Balls, Ethan could see that Bora was wary of them. After all, they were different from Goku. Goku was a child, which made him easier to trust.
Ethan looked around, remembering that Mercenary Tao would arrive soon after Colonel Yellow died. But where had Goku gone?
Of course, even if Goku were here, he would not be a match for Mercenary Tao right now, and neither would they.
Should they climb the tower quickly before Mercenary Tao arrived? If they did not encounter him, should they pretend not to know and deal with him later?
It seemed like a good option. From a rational perspective, this would be the most appropriate choice.
Or should they persuade Bora to take his son and hide somewhere for a while to avoid Mercenary Tao? But Bora, as the guardian of the sacred land, would definitely not agree.
After thinking about it, Ethan felt that it would be better if Mercenary Tao showed up now, because then he would not have to think about what the correct choice was.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
He looked toward the horizon again, still not seeing any sign of Mercenary Tao. Ethan suddenly realized that the Red Ribbon Army had hired Mercenary Tao to kill Goku, so Goku was his primary target. Moreover, Goku should have already collected several Dragon Balls, which would be more important than the single one here.
"Looks like we will not run into that guy for a while."
Turning back to look at Korin Tower, since he did not have to face the world's greatest assassin, Ethan refocused his attention on the tower. This was the purpose of his visit.
At this time, Yamcha was still troubled by the Red Ribbon Army. From what those soldiers said earlier, he learned that their target was also the Dragon Balls.
"These guys are after the Dragon Balls too. Will Goku be in danger?"
Goku was also searching for the Dragon Balls, although his target was only the Four Star Dragon Ball left by his grandfather. However, the Dragon Radar could not distinguish how many stars a Dragon Ball had, so Goku had to search one by one until he found the one he wanted.
Before finding the Four Star Dragon Ball, no one knew whether Goku would encounter the Red Ribbon Army, who were also searching for the Dragon Balls.
Even if Goku was lucky enough to find the Four Star Dragon Ball immediately and stopped searching, since the Red Ribbon Army wanted the Dragon Balls, they would eventually go after him.
"Those guys are the most infamous evil army in the world."
The Red Ribbon Army was extremely famous and had a terrifying reputation. No individual or force in the world dared to provoke this powerful military organization.
However, Ethan knew that the Red Ribbon Army was nothing in front of Goku. If they angered him, their base would be destroyed in minutes.
"You do not need to worry about Goku. If he really gets into trouble, he can contact us through the communicator. Did you forget that the multifunctional tool I made has a communication function?"
Yamcha glanced at the watch on his wrist, then remembered that Goku was carrying the same item and would definitely contact them if he encountered trouble.
"What we need to do now is train hard and improve our strength. If Goku really gets into trouble, only if we are strong enough can we help him. Otherwise, even if he is in trouble, we will not be able to help."
"You are right."
Yamcha nodded, and at the same time quietly brought up the Dragon Balls with Ethan. After a brief explanation, Ethan finally focused his attention back on the towering pillar in front of him.
It stretched straight into the sky, and standing at the bottom, you could not see the end.
"This... is this really a tower?" Yamcha looked up for a while, and the thought of climbing it made him feel dizzy. "Do we have to climb it? Can we not take a plane?"
"Since the legend says you can only gain great power by climbing it, perhaps climbing this tower is the test given by Korin."
Ethan knew that this was not just a test, but also a form of training. So failing did not matter. As long as one kept challenging it, they would eventually reach the top, and by then, their strength would have improved significantly.
"Let us start while it is still early."
Touching his wristband, Ethan decided not to remove his weighted gear.
Since climbing itself was training, there was no need to remove the weights.
Yamcha originally wanted to take off his weights, but when he saw Ethan climbing with them still on, Yamcha, who had been with him for over a year, immediately understood his intention.
"That is crazy."
The wristband that was halfway removed was put back in place. Yamcha did not want to be surpassed so easily. He also had his pride.
"Master Yamcha."
Puar was worried about Yamcha's decision. After looking up for a long time, he felt that climbing Korin Tower was too dangerous, and with the added weight, the difficulty increased even more, making accidents likely.
"It is fine, I will not be outdone by Ethan."
Yamcha's voice was not loud, but Yoruichi, who was not far away, still heard it. In response, she silently praised him. He has ambition.
Then she mourned for him for a few seconds. Poor young man, she hoped he would not cry when he learned the truth in the future.
The three began climbing Korin Tower. Although Puar could fly, he could not reach that height, so he stayed below with Bora and Upa, watching the three figures climb upward with curiosity.
At first, with their stamina still full, they climbed very quickly. Before long, they became small dots when viewed from the ground, and soon after, they completely disappeared from sight.
Bora waited for a while and did not see anyone fall, so he invited Puar to rest at his house. Puar appeared harmless, so there was no need to be wary.
"It seems they have a good chance of succeeding. Even if they fail, they will not fall anytime soon. Come wait at my house."
As for what would happen if no one caught them when they fell and they died? That was impossible. In the Dragon Ball world, people do not die from falling. This was practically an unspoken rule that no one could change.
In reality, it was because their physical abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people. Their bodies were extremely strong, so even if they fell, they would at most suffer some injuries and would not die from it.
Just as Bora expected, Yoruichi fell early the next morning. She was only sore all over from the fall and did not suffer any serious injuries.
Soon after, Ethan and Yamcha also fell. Their situations were similar. They climbed until they were exhausted and sleepy, then fell while resting against the tower. None of them had Goku's ability to cling to the tower and sleep, so they fell as soon as they relaxed slightly.
"We failed, huh? But we lasted this long, so we should be close to the top, right?"
"I do not know. I did not see the top at all."
They rested for a while and ate the food Bora had prepared to replenish their strength. After eating their fill, they continued resting to recover.
"Are you going to continue the challenge?"
"Rest for one night, and we will start climbing again at dawn tomorrow."
It seemed that the first climb really needed to be completed in one attempt, with no stopping. In this situation, once you relaxed, it meant failure, with no chance to recover midway.
Ethan was certain that if he removed the weights, there was a high chance he could reach the top in one attempt. Although his main goal was the Senzu Beans, he did not want to miss the opportunity to improve his strength along the way.
This method effectively trained the muscles throughout his body, allowing him to better control how he exerted force, and also improved his balance. If he attempted this kind of training after becoming stronger, the results might not be as good.
"You have a strong mindset. Many people choose to give up after failing."
That included Bora himself. The sense of despair from not seeing the end was the biggest reason people gave up.
"I think climbing Korin Tower itself is a form of training, so I do not mind."
"Is that so?"
Bora was slightly stunned. He had never thought of it that way. After all, most people climbed Korin Tower because of the legend that said you could gain great power by reaching the top.
Everyone believed that only reaching the top brought benefits, which made them overlook what they gained during the process.
Now that Ethan mentioned it, Bora also realized that climbing Korin Tower itself was a way to become stronger.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)