"Damn. Out of fuel?"
I was disappointed to know that my bike which was my only source of transportation was now unusable.
My bike was now unable to move anymore without being actively pushed and I don't think that it would be efficient to do that when I could just store it inside a capsule.
"Haa."
I sighed and put the bike inside my capsule.
"Hey. Who are you? Don't you know that this area is off-limits for normal civilians or government dogs?"
Numerous armed man surrounded me while aiming their weapons.
I frowned considering that they were aiming weapons that could kill a normal human at me.
Just as I was preparing to attack the armed soldiers a tall red-haired man with well-defined muscles appeared and started walking towards me.
Unlike the other soldiers who were wearing their standard uniforms that looked identical to each other, he was wearing a red scarf, a long blue jacket and a pair of jeans.
Indicating that he possesses higher possession than normal soldiers.
"You seem like a powerful warrior. Why are you here at the red ribbon base?" He asked.
He seems to realise that I am much stronger than ordinary soldiers.
My current abilities are limited and I would not be able to destroy the Red Ribbon Army base even when I tried my best but I am confident that I would be able to take out the limited number of normal Red Ribbon soldiers that I am facing right now.
But even then I am not certain that I could defeat the red hairman who was standing in front of me without sustaining any injuries.
"I am here to find out about what happened to my father," I asked.
"I see. So he must be a part of our organization."
The red-haired man was not stupid and was able to immediately realise what was going on.
"All of you drop your weapons." He commended the soldiers.
"But sir." One of the soldiers who does not seem to trust me to raise his voice but the red-haired man knocked him out with a jab to the face.
"Remember. I might be more patient than our commander but even I won't tolerate you people disobeying my orders." He said to his soldiers.
As I expected. He is almost as strong as me. He is still weaker than Bora but I don't think the gap is not that wide.
Just by seeing his attack, I was able to figure out how strong he was.
My assessment is not totally accurate but the speed of his movements, and the power behind the attack that was able to knock out a soldier with one attack were not something that a normal person would be able to do.
Luckily for me he does not seem to be antagonistic.
"My name is Silver. I am a Colonel at this base. Can you tell me your father's name so that I can find out about his information for you?" He politely said.
*****
I waited for a few minutes as the man called Silver asked his underlings to search for documents that involved information about my father.
I was quite surprised that they are friendly as I was not expecting such a warn reaction from them.
A soldier dropped two cans of soda in front of me and Silver.
"Why are you so friendly with me?"
I asked Silver.
"There are primarily two reasons for that. One is that you are strong and not someone that we can silent without alerting others."
Silver replied.
"Why do you have to be mindful of others? From my perspective, you have a high enough rank to get away with a crime like disposing of an unknown stranger like me."
"There is this guy called Gero. He is a high-ranking scientist. He is loyal to our organization and if he found out I disposed of someone who has a positive relation to the army like you he would have given me a lecture." Silver replied.
"But I have not seen him in such a long time. He seems to be doing some kind of project from what I heard."
From Silver's words, I realized that despite being portrayed as antagonists in the greater story of Dragon Ball they still have some kind of good side to them.
"Sir. Here are the documents." A man said as he handed a file that contained a few papers to Silver.
"Hmm."
He flipped through one page after another with a conflicted expression.
"I am sorry," Silver said to me with pity in his eyes.
I am not stupid so I knew what he wanted to say.
The man who abandoned my mother and me had already left the world before I could see him.
Which is somehow kind of reassuring. I realized that deep down I didn't want to have an awkward meeting with him despite wanting to use him to enter the Red Ribbon Army temporarily.
"I see."
I pretended to be sad by the news despite being a little happy.
"Colonel Silver. I have a request."
I muttered.
"Your father was a proud soldier of our army so you can tell me what kind of compensation you want. As long as it's not excessive I will personally grant you your wish." Silver said.
"I want to join the army," I replied.
I know I would not be able to find the turtle hermit but I know that the Red Ribbon army will make contact with a warrior named Mercenary Tao who is associated with the Crane School shortly in the future.
If I was able to be present during that time I might be able to learn how to manipulate the power called ki without having to find Turtle hermit.
"That....." Silver seems to be hesitant.
Which shocked me since he had been friendly the entire time.
"You see despite members like Dr Gero being protective of the members, well the leader of the army possesses..... A short temper." He said.
He seems to be telling me that at the end of the day joining the army is still a dangerous thing for a teenager like me.
"Even I a not sure when I will bite the bullet especially with the doctor not showing up for a while." He said.
But despite his warning I have no intention of changing my mind.