Chapter 47: Tights Bathing (Patreon)

Having wrapped up his session in the Gravity Chamber, Oryon returned to Capsule Corporation.

He opened the fridge, found a watermelon, cut it in half himself, and carried one half off with a spoon, eating as he switched on the TV.

Right now, Oryon was in an unusually good mood.

That little Turles, thanks to the boost from the Spirit Tree Fruit, had let him rake in nearly a year's worth of cultivation days for free.

Granted, the cultivation days the System rewarded hadn't come from time spent in the Gravity Chamber.

But the growth rate wasn't slow at all.

By Oryon's own read on his ki, his current Power Level was at least eighty or ninety thousand now.

By the time Vegeta arrived, he'd have him firmly under control —

though it seemed his own strength would end up far too far above Vegeta's.

Oryon understood — going by the logic of online games, a high-level character crushing a low-level one wouldn't net much of a reward.

Unless…

Oryon suddenly remembered that Vegeta was skilled at transforming into a Great Ape, and that he kept his sanity even after transforming.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Then wouldn't he just have to give Great Ape Vegeta a proper bullying?

The TV finished booting up, and a breaking news bulletin cut in.

"Good news, good news!"

"After investigation by the relevant authorities, the strange giant tree has vanished, and some of the desertified soil has come back to life."

"Some say it's the blessing of Kami,

others say someone summoned Shenron to dispel the anomaly,

but no one has any real proof of exactly who or how this came about.

Dear viewers, what do you think really happened?"

Oryon flipped through a few channels; every single one was covering the mysteriously vanished Tree of Might in some form or other, but not one station was airing anything normal.

Oryon decisively switched off the TV and, cradling his watermelon, walked toward the lab while eating.

"Bulma?"

Bulma wasn't in the lab.

Oryon took a turn through the garden. "Lunch?"

Lunch wasn't there either.

Oryon scratched his head. "Weird. Did the two of them go out shopping or something?"

He tossed the watermelon rind into the trash, leaving his hands sticky with watermelon juice.

It wasn't just his hands — some had gotten on his face too, and with the summer heat, he'd worked up a bit of a sweat.

Oryon headed for the first-floor bathroom, planning to take a shower.

The Briefs family villa had more than a dozen bathrooms.

But just as he reached the bathroom door, he heard the sound of running water inside.

Someone was in there.

Through the frosted glass, he could faintly make out a slender silhouette working shampoo through her hair under the showerhead.

The way her slim arms lifted drew her waistline long and graceful; water ran down every curve of her body, tracing each line, alluring and lovely.

A flicker crossed Oryon's eyes. "So Bulma's showering in here!"

A wicked little smile crossed his face; meaning to surprise her, he crept out of his clothes on tiptoe and eased the bathroom door open.

A wave of steam carrying the scent of body wash washed over him, and a pale, snow-white figure came clearly into view.

She seemed to have been drinking — a faint smell of alcohol lingered in the bathroom air.

Wasn't that just more exciting?

But as his gaze traveled up from her perky backside, the short golden hair stopped him cold.

Bulma had short blue hair; Lunch had either long golden hair or long dark-blue hair.

Short golden hair…

Had Lunch cut her hair?

No, wait!

This wasn't even Lunch's figure.

So who was this graceful stranger?

The question had barely formed in his mind when the woman turned around.

Beneath the short golden hair, a pair of large, puzzled eyes blinked at him, utterly confused.

Water droplets ran down her collarbone, then slid along the curve of her chest.

She was a bit taller than Bulma, with a mature, alluring air about her eyes and brow, and a touch of languor.

Overall, she was slightly slimmer and taller than Bulma.

Tights?

Bulma's older sister!

Oryon froze on the spot.

"Y-you're Tights! What are you doing here?"

Tights snatched up a towel and wrapped it around herself; just as she opened her mouth to speak, the towel suddenly slipped—

She quickly hitched it back up and demanded, "What do you mean, what am I doing here?"

"This is my house. Do I need to report to you every time I come home?"

Before Oryon could think of how to explain himself, Tights's gaze drifted down his face, and the corner of her mouth curved up despite herself.

Oryon hurriedly covered himself.

Even though Tights had been caught fully exposed in the shower, she didn't lose an ounce of her big-sister composure.

Tights laughed lightly, a hint of tipsiness in her voice. "What about you — don't you know to knock before walking into a bathroom?"

Oryon quickly apologized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Tights waved a hand. "Well, get out already. Haven't you seen enough?"

Oryon hastily backed out and shut the door.

He scooped up the dirty clothes he'd dropped on the floor, planning to make a naked dash back to his bedroom.

Just then, Mrs. Briefs happened to pass by, sipping a drink, eyes narrowed in appraisal.

"Oh?"

"Going to take a shower? Why aren't you going in?"

Mrs. Briefs asked, all the while giving Oryon an unhurried once-over.

Her eyes traveled from his shoulders to his chest, down to his waist and stomach, finally settling on a certain indescribable spot — fortunately, Oryon had it covered with his hand.

Mrs. Briefs's gaze lingered on Oryon's abs.

"Oh my, Oryon, you've got such a nice body. Let Auntie feel those abs, won't you…"

Oryon felt like his whole world had just fallen apart.