Inside the Capsule Corp laboratory, everyone gathered around a table—Goku, Future Gohan, Kid Gohan, Android 16, Android 18, and Piccolo—waiting for Bulma's analysis.
This matter concerned everyone.
Even Tien, Yamcha, Nappa, and Raditz had come.
Bulma stood in front of a large screen, holding the data Goku and the others had brought back. She chewed on the end of a pen while thinking.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"I think I've got it!"
Piccolo immediately spoke up, arms crossed.
"Then hurry up and explain."
Future Gohan also looked at her expectantly.
Bulma turned around and began drawing on the screen.
"If I explain this with words, you probably won't understand. So I'll draw it out."
Everyone nodded.
"First," Bulma said, "in Future Gohan's world, I built a time machine. He traveled back to the past—to our timeline—and brought medicine that saved Goku's life."
"In the normal course of events, Goku would have died from illness. But because he survived, our world became a new parallel timeline where Goku is alive."
She paused briefly.
"However, even before Future Gohan came here, our world was already different from his. That means our timeline had already split earlier."
"But that part isn't directly related to Cell, so we can ignore it for now."
"Just remember—there are at least two parallel timelines."
Everyone listened carefully.
Even if they didn't fully understand, they didn't dare interrupt.
Bulma continued:
"Based on the information from Goku and Android 16, in the future timeline, Cell couldn't find Androids 17 and 18."
"At that time, Goku planned to train Gohan to become strong enough to defeat the androids."
"So when Future Gohan returned to his world, he eventually killed Androids 17 and 18 himself. His world regained peace."
Everyone nodded—even Android 18, despite hearing that her future self died.
"Now here's the key point," Bulma said.
"Years later in that future, Cell finally matured. But since 17 and 18 were already dead, he couldn't become complete."
"Then he discovered the time machine."
"So he killed Gohan, stole the time machine, and came to our timeline—to absorb 17 and 18."
She paused again.
"Cell killing Gohan is the turning point."
"Because of that, a new parallel timeline was created—one where Gohan no longer exists."
"And since Cell also left that timeline…"
"That world now has no Gohan, no androids, no Cell—none of us."
Some people understood.
Some didn't.
Nappa scratched his head.
"My brain hurts… I don't get it anymore."
Krillin said, "I think I get it a bit. Parallel timelines seem to form based on key people living or dying."
Bulma nodded at him.
Raditz crossed his arms.
"I don't understand—but it sounds impressive."
Bulma: "..."
Piccolo spoke seriously:
"I understand. Time is terrifying."
"So our world also became a new timeline when Goku—who was supposed to die—survived."
Bulma nodded again.
"You're partly right. But actually, our timeline split the moment it diverged from Future Gohan's world."
Piccolo didn't argue further.
Time was too complex—even for him.
Goku, however, fully understood now.
He finally connected something that had confused him before.
He remembered how, after a future world was destroyed, Trunks and Mai traveled to another timeline—a world where Trunks didn't exist.
Now it made sense.
That timeline was likely the one created when Cell killed Trunks and left.
A world without Trunks, without Cell, and without androids.
Goku realized just how dangerous time manipulation truly was.
No wonder gods forbid it.
Bulma looked around.
"Everyone understands now, right? I don't need to explain more?"
Everyone quickly nodded.
"No need!"
Even if they didn't fully get it—they didn't want more explanation.
Bulma sighed in relief.
"Alright, now that we understand the situation, let's move forward."
She glanced at Android 18 and the heavily damaged Android 16.
"Since Android 18 and 16 are now on our side, our only enemy is Cell."
"As for fighting—that's up to you guys. Train hard."
"Meanwhile, I'll fix Android 16 with my dad."
She pointed at Goku and Krillin.
"You two—help me carry him to the lab. And be careful not to damage him further."
"Got it!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/NightShard525