The Marvelous Dragon Balls

Chapter 3: The Iron Fist, Danny Rand

Because of the fusion of his soul with the five-star Dragon Ball, and because of his past knowledge, Saint speculated that in the Marvel World, the recovery time of the Dragon Balls should be directly proportional to the speed of their absorption of energy. It was unlike the Dragon Ball world, where it was fixed to being one year. That meant that, if they would get a good energy supplement, they would soon be recovered. However, it also meant that if they did not get energy, they would never return to their initial state.

Fortunately, the five-star Dragon ball was in his hands. Even if the six other Dragon Ball that were scattered across the globe were not in rich energy places, he could always actively seek energy for his own Dragon Ball to absorb. After all, all dragon Balls are one entity that’s divided, and whatever energy he could obtain would automatically be divided equally between them, making them all active at the same time.

However, it was still too early for him to think about any of this. For now, his priority was to find money!

In the period that Saint spent in the Marvel World, all he could think about was finding the Dragon Balls. Not only did he not bother to open the restaurant, he also traded large sums of the money that the previous owner of his body possessed for the Dragon Balls that were found by others before him. Thinking that he would soon return to his past world, he did not even consider the idea of saving money. His desposit had already been burnt out, and he didn’t have enough money to eat.

“I want to rob a bank!”

He shook his head and went out of the basement. Whatever words he just said were just out of frustration. Yes, he did have the fighting experience of Goku. But with his current Fighting Power, he would be one shot by live ammunition in minutes even if he fought his way in.

After thoroughly rummaging through the boxes and cabinets in the store on the 1st floor and his place in the 2nd floor, he managed to find a total of 135$. With that, along with whatever was left in his pocket, he had a total of 242$ left.

Looking at the closed store door, he began to think, should he reopen?

The problem was that this was a Chinese restaurant, meaning that it had great competition already. After over half a month closing it with no appear ant reason, he should have great trouble getting customers.

“I will practice it for a few days; I am too weak now…”

He shook his head, knowing what was about to come. He was in 2008, news of the raging “Hulk” weren’t all over the TV just yet. Thor was still a good prince in Asgard, and captain America was still incased into the arctic ice. The entire world seemed to be still calm. But Saint knew all too well, that the super playboy “Tony Stark” would face the world, announcing he had become the superhero “Iron Man”. (Translator Note: Pepper changed Tony’s Arc Reactor on May 4, 2008 (the date was recorded when Pepper saw a TV program after the press conference.)

Although he did not remember the exact time, it was clear to Saint that from that day on, the Marvel World would start facing frequent dangers. Superheroes and Super villains started popping up like mushrooms, and even various aliens came to earth on several occasions. This left him with only a few months to strengthen himself enough for it to be protected.

Obviously, he feared death, so he decided to immediately start practicing. He looked at the direction of the restaurant’s kitchen saying to himself: “The rice bags are almost full, and there’s a lot of meat in the freezer. That should last me around 20 days with ease!”

　　After seven days…

As Saint looked at the fully bottomed out rice bag and empty freezer, he said to himself: “I’m no Saiyan to eat this much! Why was the food so delicious!?”

After seven days of practicing, he had already consumed all the food he had. On the other hand, his power level of 5 rose to 10.

Being threatened of starving to death, Saint took out his wallet and went with his remaining 242 $ to buy noodles and ingredients, and then cleaned to restaurant preparing to re-open “Lee’s Chinese Restaurant”.

This Chinese restaurant inherited by Saint was located at the intersection New York’s 10th Avenue and 54th street in Clinton. While being given the scary name of “Hell’s Kitchen”, the area was actually considered a good location, and the crime rate there was not too high.

It was a perfect street for a novice hero, a good spot to level up and fight…

At this time, the void in Saint’s pockets was beginning to take over his mind. He started having thoughts ‘If business doesn’t go too well, I could get a hood and go rob the wicked rich and help the poor….

He could rob a few street gangsters, and then…. He himself was one of the poor….

He quickly shook his head chased his wicked thoughts away. When everything was ready, he rushed to the door that had been closed for nearly a month, and right before lunchtime, he put a few signs. At the door, one of them spelled: “Starting today, we’ll be serving Kung Fu Barbecue!”

This gimmicky signboard actually brought someone into the store very quickly. Saint turned as he heard the door chimes ring to see a handsome young man with blond curly hair pushing the door in.

“Welcome!”

Saint braced himself, took faced his 1st guest, and summoned out all his inner enthusiasm saying: “Sit down please, what do you want to eat? I strongly recommend our latest dish ‘Kung Fu Barbecue’!”

What happened next was completely unexpected by Saint. The young man stayed at the door, and while he looked of pure European origins, he said in fluent Mandarin: “Boss, what would Kung Fu Barbecue mean? Is it cooked with Ki or something? Or is just cooked on regular stove?”

Saint was stunned for a moment, and then answered in Mandarin: “You’ve given me quiet the surprise! Your Chinese is very fluent my guest, and you also know Ki!”

“Haha!” With a triumphant laugh, the blond young man and stretched out his hand saying: “Hello, I am Danny Rand. I have been living in China for the past fifteen years and have only recently returned to New York”

“I’m Saint Lee, I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Rand.”

As the two shook hands, Saint was calm on the surface, but his heart was taken by storm. If his assumption is right, the one in front of him should be Daniel “Danny” Rand, the sole heir of the “Rand Group”. Not only was he billionaire, he was also the strongest warrior trained carefully by the monks of K’un-Lun, a mystical lost city located in China, becoming the Immortal Iron Fist. In the future, he shall become one the four heroes forming the Defenders: Iron Fist!

Although it was unlikely that Saint’s assumption was false, but out of caution, he decided to confirm his conjecture, quietly sensing the Ki of the man in front of him. Indeed, he found that the man had very powerful Ki. While different to the Ki in the Dragon Ball World, the two types of Ki had great similarities, just like two streams of water flowing out of the same spring.

He wasn’t wrong; this was definitely the “Iron Fist”. No wonder he was familiar with Ki. It seems that he hadn’t left K’un Lun before long. At this time, he should be still a foolish rash young man.