Chapter 121: What is the Earthlings' Innate Talent?
"Hahaha! Where did all that bravado about us being trash go now?"
"That's all you've got? Too weak. You can't even make this fun for us."
Sobana and Sibazhuang sneered unrestrainedly, and they had every right to.
Only a quarter of an hour had passed.
On the battlefield, only the young Master Roshi and Master Shen were still barely standing, supporting each other. All the other disciples had already collapsed.
Too strong. Just overwhelmingly strong.
Their power was on a completely different level than any opponent they had encountered before.
Whether it was strength or speed, there was no comparison.
The most crucial point: they couldn't break through the enemy's defense.
Yes—completely impenetrable.
These two burly monsters were covered in incredibly tough scale armor. Simple punches and kicks didn't faze them in the slightest. In fact, attacking them only caused self-inflicted injuries. Even energy blasts were useless. At this time, Master Roshi and Master Shen were still centuries away from their peak. Although they had trained under Master Mutaito, their time had been short. Kamehameha and the Dodon Ray hadn't even reached prototype form—they could only fire some very basic energy waves.
At that level, their attacks couldn't cause any damage to these monsters.
Even Roshi and Shen were in such a state, let alone the weaker disciples.
The two tried different methods to break through. Master Shen focused his power into a single point. Master Roshi tried to amplify his ki and muscle mass for an explosive burst of strength.
It worked—but only barely.
"Little Kame! Little Crane! Aim for their insteps!"
A faint voice reached their ears.
Both were startled and instinctively looked where the voice indicated—and their eyes lit up.
These monsters were covered in impenetrable scale armor, true—but their insteps were completely bare!
Sobana and Sibazhuang, feeling their gaze, reflexively retracted their feet, confirming even more that this was a weak spot.
"Too bad we don't have much strength left..."
Even knowing the weak point didn't help. In their current state, defeating them—or even standing—was a struggle.
"Drink this."
Two bottles fell from the sky.
Two bottles of Moo Moo Milk.
With a flick of their thumbs, they popped the caps. A special aroma wafted up.
There was no time to see who had tossed them the bottles, nor did they question the effects. All their focus was still on the two monsters. After chugging them down in a series of glug-glug-glug gulps, both were shocked to find that their stamina had recovered significantly.
It really worked!
Their eyes lit up. These two perfectly synchronized brothers-in-arms exchanged a glance and immediately understood each other.
Round two begins.
They launched a coordinated pincer attack from the left and right!
Off to the side, Yamcha observed their battle while using Moo Moo Milk to treat the wounded disciples of Master Mutaito. He focused his Nen ability into his eyes, continuously using Gyo to observe and record everything.
Every race has its own innate talent—
For example, Saiyans have massive power boosts when near death.
Namekians can create Dragon Balls, regenerate limbs, and use magic.
Yardrats can use Instant Transmission and other bizarre abilities.
So what about Earthlings?
That was the question Yamcha had been researching since arriving in this world.
"If I am born, I must have a purpose."
Even the weakest race should have its own characteristics.
Take the Goblins in most fantasy worlds (not the ones from Goblin Slayer). They're small, weak, and unintelligent—low-level mobs for beginners. Yet they have one key racial trait: extreme reproductive ability.
Or Slimes—slow, weak, and easily defeated (not counting the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime variety). Their racial advantage is an almost cockroach-like tenacity and survivability.
Earthlings in the original Dragon Ball series didn't exhibit any clear racial traits. At most, some individuals showed prowess in science. But that was rare—like Dr. Gero with his androids, or Bulma and her father, Dr. Brief. Maybe also Senbei Norimaki from Penguin Village, a total anomaly. But these were just isolated geniuses, not representative of the whole race.
After all this time, Yamcha had finally made some progress in his research.
First, Earthlings have great compatibility—
There's virtually no reproductive barrier. They can interbreed with almost any alien species. And their hybrid offspring often surpass purebreds in strength, combining the best traits of both races. You can see this in characters like Tien (a Three-Eyed People hybrid), Trunks (half-Saiyan), and Gohan (half-Saiyan).
Second, although Yamcha wasn't sure it could be called a true trait—
Earthlings, though lacking the Saiyan "near-death power-up," do seem to experience very slight growth after recovering from injury.
He had just discovered this.
After healing Master Mutaito's disciples with Moo Moo Milk, Yamcha noticed an extremely faint increase in their ki.
It was tiny—so subtle it would go unnoticed unless you were actively sensing for it. It was nothing like the cheat-like growth Saiyans experience. Practically negligible.
But maybe that's why Krillin, after having his potential unlocked by Guru on Namek and getting stabbed by Frieza (who had 1,000,000 battle power at that time), saw a slight boost afterward and was still able to contribute to later battles. This slight improvement might explain it.
Still, this trait is at best a super watered-down version of the Saiyan power-up—
And one that can't turn into a Great Ape or Super Saiyan.
Neither of these two traits is particularly helpful in combat.
The first is basically just good for breeding.
The second is a lame knockoff of Saiyan genetics.
So—do Earthlings really have no other talents?
Are they unsuited for battle?
Yamcha didn't think so.
He had a hunch—one that he was on the verge of confirming.
His eyes fell on the young Master Roshi and Master Shen.
"Big Dumb Crane!"
"Big Dumb Turtle!"
They used the monsters' instep weakness to land clean hits.
The young Roshi and Shen, like protagonists in a hot-blooded shonen manga, stood shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back. Blood mixed with sweat trickled down their cheeks as they roared fiercely, their energy beginning to rise.
Or rather—not just aura...
Their actual ki was rising!
In terms of xianxia terminology—
They had broken through!
(End of Chapter)