Chapter 97: Over 200 Years of the Legendary Working Man
Yamcha possessed the ability to travel across different worlds. Previously, he had reached the worlds of Doraemon, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and Hunter x Hunter using this very power.
This dimension-traveling ability could be temporarily referred to as Wallbreaker, or simply the Breaker.
But this raises a question—do movie versions of the same work, or parallel worlds, count as separate worlds?
Take Dragon Ball for example. Aside from Toei's various movie versions and GT (excluding Dragon Ball Super), Dragon Ball Z canon itself includes as many as four parallel universes.
The canonical timeline from the manga storyline;
Future Trunks' dystopian future;
The timeline where Cell kills future Trunks and uses the time machine to travel to the main timeline;
A world similar to the canon timeline where Krillin didn't fall in love with Android 18, and Trunks managed to stop Androids 17 and 18.
In theory, Yamcha could travel between parallel worlds, and an instinct deep within him told him he could. So, he tried it out, and naturally succeeded, arriving in a parallel world nearly identical to his original Dragon Ball world.
This parallel world-traveling ability, Yamcha called Planewalker.
Wallbreaker alone was already powerful—it allowed infinite possibilities by jumping between different universes. Planewalker alone was also formidable—equal to the power of infinitely reshaping the future.
But when combined...
This dimensional ability was even more powerful than Yamcha had imagined.
"Master Yamcha, save me!"
General Blue looked at Yamcha as if he were a savior, especially after his near-death experience. He rushed behind Yamcha, as if that were the only thing giving him a sense of safety.
"Yamcha?"
Master Shen (Crane Hermit) spoke slowly, turning the name over in his mind, trying to recall anything about it.
But nothing came up.
"What do you want? Power? Women? Money? I can give you whatever you desire."
He offered Yamcha a blatant deal, right in front of the young king:
"Instead of joining that pathetic loser, why not cooperate with me?"
Yamcha just smiled ambiguously and beckoned with a finger.
"A spar, perhaps?"
The other party clearly had no idea what Yamcha wanted.
What he wanted… was just to fight them.
To test his strength—naturally, the stronger the opponent, the better.
Tao Pai Pai (Mercenary Tao), Tien Shinhan, Master Shen—all were his targets.
Of course, starting with the weakest—Master Shen—would be ideal.
Would beating him here count as betraying his master?
Of course not.
Though they shared the same face and martial arts, this Master Shen had no connection to Yamcha's actual teacher—nor to Yamcha himself.
Just like the tragic versions of Yamcha in other worlds had no connection to him (Note: All non-main Yamchas are referred to as "Tragic Yamchas").
In Yamcha's understanding, although Master Shen was greedy, he never really craved power or world domination. Otherwise, joining the Red Ribbon Army or Kingdom's military would've earned him a respectable position.
To be fair, Master Shen still had a trace of righteousness in him. Centuries ago, he joined forces with Master Roshi to fight King Piccolo. How much of that righteousness remained now, no one could say.
Tao Pai Pai and Master Shen were quite similar in personality—both loved money, but had little ambition for power.
And this leads us to the legendary life of Tao Pai Pai.
He was born in Age 459, which made him nearly 300 years old by the time the story started. Surprisingly, he wasn't always an assassin. He only started that career around Age 730. This explains the Red Ribbon Army's "20th anniversary half-price killing" campaign.
Before that, he was a regular salaryman.
Meaning he was a corporate slave—a working stiff—for over 200 years before he suddenly awakened and became an assassin.
Truly a legendary working man.
His psychotic tongue-killing hobby likely came from a twisted personality forged by two centuries of labor.
As for what kind of life Tao Pai Pai led in this movie-version world, Yamcha had no clue. But in Yamcha's own world, this was his history.
Seeing that Yamcha had no intention of negotiating, Master Shen dropped the act.
"Tao Pai Pai, kill him!"
Of course, Master Shen wouldn't do it himself. So he immediately ordered his younger brother to attack.
Tao Pai Pai nodded slightly and charged at Yamcha with incredible speed.
'So what if he's a master?'
'The number of masters I've killed could circle the Earth.'
As Tao Pai Pai attacked, Yamcha's eyes sharpened and his demeanor turned serious.
To face a high-level opponent like Tao Pai Pai, Yamcha wouldn't use telekinesis or guns. He switched straight into martial artist mode.
Both of them vanished from sight.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
In mere seconds, they exchanged blows countless times.
Tao Pai Pai was shocked by the outcome.
"Why do you know Crane School techniques?!"
Tao Pai Pai's fighting style came from Master Shen and was entirely based on the Crane School.
And Yamcha? He was also personally taught by Master Shen.
"You tell me."
Yamcha had no intention of answering. His body was starting to feel the thrill.
Tao Pai Pai was stronger than Great Ape Goku, but not as absurdly tough as Dark WarGreymon.
A perfect opponent!
"Let's go again!"
This time, before Tao Pai Pai could react, Yamcha took the initiative.
Compared to the open and flowing techniques of the Turtle School, the Crane School leaned toward the opposite extreme—unpredictable and tricky.
That's why Tien Shinhan had so many techniques during the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai against young Goku.
Though such techniques could be called "diverse," they could also be called—flashy nonsense.
At that very tournament, no matter how unique Tien's moves were, young Goku countered them all with solid fundamentals.
Still, having strong fundamentals alone wasn't enough. The true path of martial arts was integrating the strengths of many schools into one's own.
That's why Yamcha didn't follow Tien's path of techniques, nor Goku's pure fundamentals. Instead, he chose an extreme of extremes.
Ultimate speed! Ultimate precision! Ultimate ferocity!
Crane School techniques merged with the Flowing Rock Smashing Fist!
The more Tao Pai Pai fought, the more shocked he became. Even though they used the same school's moves, Yamcha's fighting style was unbelievably brutal—even this "world's greatest assassin" felt it was too violent.
'Brother, is this some secret disciple of yours?!'
Tao Pai Pai screamed in his heart, completely losing his usual calm demeanor.
'What are you talking about?! That's ridiculous!'
That's how chaotic Crane School martial arts were—people could even use telepathy.
"You're still distracted during our fight? Are you looking down on me?"
A cold voice from behind startled Tao Pai Pai. When he turned, Yamcha had already taken his signature stance.
"Wolf Fang…"
A giant wolf appeared behind him, and under its terrifying gaze, even Tao Pai Pai—immune to psychic powers—found himself unable to move.
"Fist of the Wind!"
A 24-hit combo was delivered instantly. Arms, legs, abdomen, chest—Tao Pai Pai was struck all over, flying backward and smashing through a palace wall.
And that was Yamcha holding back. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a 24-hit combo—but the 100-hit combo he used against Dark WarGreymon.
"That's satisfying!"
Fist-on-flesh felt so much better than fist-on-digizoid metal. Yamcha had no intention of experiencing that again.
"Dodon Ray!"
Master Shen, furious at his brother's brutal defeat, launched a sneak attack—but Yamcha, who had been watching him all along, easily dodged it.
The outside help brought in by General Blue had turned out far more powerful than expected. Seeing he couldn't win, Master Shen lost his composure and shouted at his top disciple guarding the young king.
"Tien Shinhan! What are you waiting for?! Get in there!"
"Take this guy down!"
This was his last trump card!
(End of Chapter)