“Are you an Earthling?”
This was the exact question Dalles and the girl blurted out at the same time.
Both of them froze.
The girl’s face immediately lit up with pleasant surprise.
“Oh my god!
You really are an Earthling!”
Dalles chose not to deny it.
“Sorry, I got a little excited.
This is the first time I’ve met someone in space who looks just like us Earthlings.
I thought it was just a coincidence, but I didn’t expect to actually run into someone from home.”
The girl rubbed her hands together.
She couldn’t hide the joy in her voice.
Dalles cut straight to the chase and asked the question he cared about most.
“Are you from Capsule Corporation?”
Hearing this, the girl nodded without any surprise.
After all, who on Earth didn’t know about Capsule Corporation?
“My name is Tights.
It’s so nice to meet you here.”
Tights smiled and held out her hand.
‘Tights?’
Dalles was slightly taken aback.
‘That name sounds familiar too!’
He felt like he had heard it before, but he couldn’t quite remember which character she was from the story.
Unable to recall, he decided not to dwell on it.
He reached out and shook her hand.
“Dalles.”
“Dalles, it really is fate that we met in a place like this!”
“Are you here on vacation too?”
“No, I’m here for…
work…” Dalles replied after a moment of thought.
“Huh?
Work?
You mean a business trip?”
Tights looked confused.
“Sorry, I haven’t been back to Earth in over a decade.
Have Earth’s businesses expanded into space now?”
“I clearly remember Earth’s space travel technology being very primitive.”
Dalles frowned slightly.
‘She hasn’t been back to Earth in over a decade?’
‘But she only looks like a teenager?’
‘Could it be that Capsule Corporation sent her into space when she was just a child?’
‘But she also said Earth’s space travel technology was primitive.
Getting out of the solar system would be a struggle, let alone making it all the way out here.’
“I don’t work on Earth.
Just like you, I’ve been living in space for a long time.”
“Is that so?
That’s amazing!
Um, do you mind if I ask what line of work you’re in?”
“I don’t mean anything by it.
I’m a novelist, and I just want to understand how Earthlings live in space.
I haven’t gathered any material like this before!”
Dalles looked at Tights.
“How they live?
Aren’t you prime material yourself?”
“As for me…
you could say I work in real estate…
though I’m just an employee.”
“Real estate?
A property company?
That’s really impressive too!” At some point, a small notebook had appeared in Tights’s hands, and she was scribbling away with a pen.
“Let’s drop the subject.”
Dalles suddenly spoke up.
Tights’s pen paused.
“Actually, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
His tone was different from their casual chat just moments ago.
Tights looked up, meeting Dalles’s gaze.
“Huh?
A favor from me?”
She tucked her pen into the notebook and tilted her head.
“What kind of favor?
Can I even help you?”
Dalles’s eyes fell on the double C logo on her backpack.
“To be honest, I was young and naive back then, and I was tricked into leaving by aliens.”
“Tricked?”
Tights stopped fiddling with her notebook and looked up.
“Yeah,” Dalles nodded.
“It happened when I was a kid.
It’s a long story.
Basically, I was taken away from Earth in a daze, and by the time I realized what was happening, I was already deep in space.”
He paused.
“I’ve wanted to go back all these years, but I don’t have Earth’s coordinates.”
“In space, having no coordinates means having no direction.
I don’t even know which corner of the universe Earth is in.”
He looked at Tights.
“So I wanted to ask you, could you give me Earth’s coordinates?”
Tights closed her notebook, tucking the pen inside.
On her youthful face, curiosity was gradually replaced by sympathy.
“Um, Dalles.”
Tights spoke up.
She stuffed the small notebook back into the side pocket of her backpack and rubbed her hands nervously against the sides of her skirt.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I really can’t help you.”
“Actually, I don’t have Earth’s coordinates either.”
A sharp glint flashed through Dalles’s eyes.
He tried to read her expression to see if she was lying.
Asking for a planet’s coordinates in space was inherently a highly sensitive, even illegal, act.
It was highly likely that Tights would become wary of him because of this.
Just as Dalles was pondering this, Tights spoke again.
“However, I have a friend who might be able to help you out.”
Hearing this, Dalles’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“A friend?”
Tights nodded, reaching up to adjust her backpack straps.
“My situation is pretty similar to yours.
I left Earth on my friend’s spaceship.
The only difference is that you were tricked, while I left voluntarily.”
“My friend is a Galactic Patrolman.
His name is Jaco.”
Dalles was genuinely surprised by this revelation.
“You know a Galactic Patrolman?”
Tights nodded, patting some imaginary dust off her skirt.
“He came to Earth on a mission back then, and that’s how we met.
Later, when he was about to leave, I shamelessly tagged along and boarded his ship.”
Tights looked a bit nostalgic as she recounted the story.
Hearing this, Dalles recalled the Battle of Gods movie he had watched in his past life, which featured the appearance of a Galactic Patrolman.
And it seemed that guy was an old acquaintance of Bulma’s.
Now Tights had also met a Galactic Patrolman on Earth.
‘Could there be a connection here?’
Thinking of this, Dalles asked another question.
“By the way, do you mind if I ask what your relationship is with Capsule Corporation?”
Tights blinked, seemingly confused as to why Dalles would suddenly ask this.
She hesitated for a moment before answering, “My dad founded Capsule Corporation.”
At this point, everything finally clicked for Dalles.
He finally understood why Tights’s name sounded so familiar.
Tights was Bulma’s older sister!
She was a character personally added later by Toriyama!
He had heard of her before, but since he hadn’t looked deeply into it, she hadn’t left much of an impression.
“Is something wrong?” Tights cast him a puzzled look.
Dalles shook his head.
“No, it’s nothing.
Let’s get back to your friend.
Can you get Earth’s coordinates from him?”
“I’ve heard that the Galactic Patrol strictly prohibits the distribution of planetary coordinates.”
“Huh?
Really?” Tights was visibly shocked.
“There’s a rule like that?”
Looking at Tights’s reaction, Dalles realized she genuinely had no idea about this.
At the same time, Dalles felt utterly baffled.
‘This girl has been wandering around space for over a decade, yet she doesn’t even know the most basic Galactic Laws!’
He didn’t even know what to say about her sheer nerve.
‘So when I asked for her home planet’s coordinates just now, she didn’t have a single ounce of defensive awareness!’
“Still, it shouldn’t be a problem to ask him to help take you back to Earth, right?” Tights was actually seriously considering how to help Dalles get back to Earth.