Bulma beamed at the compliment, her beautiful eyes sparkling with delight.
She covered her mouth with a delicate hand and laughed.
“Haha, you flatter me!”
Vegeta scowled, his pride instantly stung.
Other than Goku, absolutely no one dared to make his wife laugh like that!
‘Who does this guy think he is?!’
“Hmph.
Smooth talker,” Vegeta snapped aggressively, crossing his arms.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
Alex knew exactly how Vegeta’s personality worked, so he didn’t take offense.
“Hello,” he replied calmly.
“My name is Alex.
I came here today to ask Bulma if I could borrow a map of the universe.”
“A universe map?” Both Vegeta and Bulma blinked in surprise.
Alex gave a slow nod.
Bulma smiled apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Alex, but I don’t actually have a map of the universe.”
“You heard her,” Vegeta barked, his voice dripping with ice.
“Now get lost!”
Alex frowned slightly.
He knew the Saiyan Prince was incredibly arrogant and famously jealous, but this was taking it a bit too far.
Before Alex could say a word, Bulma whipped around and glared at her husband.
“Vegeta!
How can you be so incredibly rude?!
Apologize to him right now!”
The proud Prince of all Saiyans?
Apologize to some random stranger?
Not a chance.
Vegeta just turned his head away and let out a disdainful scoff.
Seeing her husband act so stubbornly, Bulma gave Alex a deeply apologetic look.
“I am so sorry, Alex.
He’s…
well, he’s just like this.
Please excuse his manners.”
If Bulma hadn’t intervened, Alex definitely would have called Vegeta out.
But since she had so graciously apologized on his behalf, Alex decided to let it slide.
Besides, he still needed her help.
In truth, Alex had already figured Bulma wouldn’t have a universe map on hand.
She rarely ever researched deep-space geography.
Asking her directly had just been a stepping stone.
His real goal was to get her to contact Jaco.
As an elite member of the Galactic Patrol, Jaco constantly navigated the stars of Universe 7.
He absolutely had a cosmic map.
“It’s fine, Bulma,” Alex smiled gently.
“However, since you don’t have one, could you perhaps contact Jaco for me?”
“Jaco?” Bulma froze.
If Alex hadn’t mentioned the name, she would have completely forgotten about the goofy, Ultraman-lookalike Galactic Patrolman.
She hadn’t even told Vegeta or the others that Jaco existed!
“How in the world do you know I know Jaco?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Alex had anticipated the question.
He smiled mysteriously.
“Divination.”
In the world of Dragon Ball, people like Fortuneteller Baba made a living off the mystic arts, and Bulma had personally worked with her.
Alex figured dropping the ‘divination’ excuse wouldn’t raise too many red flags.
But Bulma wasn’t completely sold.
“I don’t believe you.
If you really used divination, what else did you foresee?”
As a hardcore Dragon Ball fan with omniscient anime knowledge, bullshitting the characters in this world was entirely too easy.
‘You want proof?
I’ll give you proof.’
A sly smile tugged at the corner of Alex’s mouth.
“I also foresaw exactly how you met him.
It was through your older sister, Tights.
Because she loved writing adventure novels, she gave up a luxurious, comfortable life to travel the world on her own.
During her adventures, she bumped into Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, boarded his spaceship, and traveled across the stars to gather inspiration for her books.”
Alex tilted his head.
“Tell me, Bulma.
Was I wrong?”
Bulma stood there, completely dumbfounded.
Every single word was absolutely true.
That was exactly how Tights had met Jaco!
‘Did he really divine all of that?’ she thought in shock.
‘If he didn’t, how could he possibly know such deeply personal details?’
Striking while the iron was hot, Alex added, “Bulma, I promise I don’t have any malicious intentions.
I really just need a map of the universe.”
“If you do try anything,” Vegeta interjected coldly, his eyes narrowing, “I will obliterate you.”
Instead of arguing, Alex simply nodded in agreement.
“He’s absolutely right, Bulma.
If I try to pull anything funny, Vegeta can just wipe me out.”
Hearing the stranger openly admit his superiority, Vegeta subconsciously lifted his chin.
He smirked, puffing his chest out in smug satisfaction as he kept his arms tightly crossed.
Bulma thought it over for a moment.
“Alright, I’ll help you contact him.
But I don’t actually have Jaco’s direct line, so I’ll have to call my sister first.”
“Thank you.”
Bulma pulled out her phone and dialed Tights’ number.
It rang, but went straight to voicemail.
She tried three times in a row, with no luck.
“Sorry,” Bulma sighed, putting the phone down.
“She’s not picking up.
We’ll have to wait for her to call me back.
What’s your number?
I’ll let you know when she replies.”
Alex let out an awkward chuckle.
“I don’t actually have a phone.”
Even the money he used for snacks had been handed to him by Yurin.
Always generous, Bulma reached into her pocket and tossed a small capsule onto the floor.
Poof!
A sleek, high-end smartphone appeared in a puff of smoke.
She handed it to him.
“Here, take this one.
I’ll call you the second she gets back to me.”
Alex didn’t bother being polite about it; he accepted the phone graciously.
“Thank you.”
‘Bulma really is an incredibly kind person,’ Alex mused internally.
‘If Yamcha hadn’t been such a flirt, she never would have ended up with Vegeta.
But then again, if she stayed with Yamcha, her screen time probably would have tanked.
That would be a huge loss for the franchise.’
“You’re very welcome!” Bulma smiled brightly.
“I’ll take my leave then,” Alex said, giving a polite nod.
He flared his ki, preparing to fly off.
But just as he lifted into the air, Vegeta barked out a command.
“Hold it!”
Alex paused and looked over his shoulder.
“Is there something else, Vegeta?”
“What’s the deal with your ki?” Vegeta demanded, his brow furrowing deeply.
“Why can’t I sense you?”
If Vegeta hadn’t happened to look up while drinking his water earlier, he wouldn’t have even realized Alex had arrived.
His energy was completely imperceptible.
Alex saw no reason to hide it.
“Because I am a god.
Mortals cannot sense divine ki.”
Vegeta’s scowl deepened.
“Hmph.
A god?
What’s so great about that?
Every god I’ve ever met has been completely mediocre.”
Alex didn’t bother arguing.
It was true—the East Supreme Kai and King Kai were absolute weaklings compared to Vegeta’s current level.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Alex ignored the comment, turned around, and rocketed into the sky toward his dojo.
Vegeta’s eyes flared with pure, unfiltered rage.
Ignored?!
In this entire universe, nobody dared to just ignore him!
Anyone who had ever looked down on him had already been sent to the next dimension!
Even if Frieza were resurrected right now, Vegeta would effortlessly crush him into dust!
And now, some random stranger claiming to be a god had the absolute audacity to turn his back on him?!
‘Does he really think he’s above me?!’
Whoosh!
In a blur of speed, Vegeta shot into the sky, cutting Alex off and hovering directly in his path.
“You dare turn your back on me?!” Vegeta snarled.
A faint, dismissive smirk curled the corner of Alex’s mouth.
“Why wouldn’t I dare?”
In an instant, the air between them crackled with volatile, explosive tension.