West Kai's Planet.
Nail's work could be considered highly effective. Over the past six months or so, he had been rushing constantly across the universe, eradicating dozens of groups of space pirates, large and small. However, he still had clansmen to protect; helping Ino kill bad guys could only be considered a part-time job.
How did the Namekians in the original timeline survive after losing Nail, their only combat-type warrior? Ino really didn't know. Regardless, Nail now had to return to his home planet from time to time to help his people solve practical problems. This was entirely reasonable; she couldn't make him work a relentless '996' schedule like a corporate slave.
The pirates in the universe had also roughly figured out some patterns. They calculated the timing: when Nail came out, they ran; when he returned to his home planet, they came out.
Nail didn't have any good solutions either; he could only be said to be doing his best.
Ino wanted to find someone to do this job full-time, or perhaps find two more part-timers.
The ideal candidate in her heart was still Future Trunks.
Future Trunks' battle power wasn't the highest, but among the Saiyans, he was considered the most reliable—at least he didn't have those messy, weird bad habits.
Speaking from the timeline's perspective, Future Trunks originally had no connection to this side. However, after he took the time machine to arrive at this point in time, he had already become a part of this timeline.
If Trunks were the Supreme Kai of Time, he could naturally form a closed loop related to himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't. He didn't possess a shred of Time Power. In the eyes of those with ulterior motives, this guy's existence was as obvious as a torch in the dark night.
Ino estimated that if she didn't recruit him, others wouldn't let him go either.
Since the previous recruitment attempt failed, this time she prepared to try again using a more roundabout approach.
Three years after Frieza and King Cold, father and son, landed on Earth, Trunks was born. At the same time, Son Goku passed away from illness, and the Androids awakened.
Another thirteen years passed. The one-armed Son Gohan died in battle. The teenage Trunks, in a state of extreme rage—having been angry for a whole day—finally became a Super Saiyan.
He trained bitterly for more than three years, seeking revenge against the Androids, but ended up being beaten into heavy injuries. Only then did he take the time machine to come to the current time point.
Strictly speaking, the 'true' Future Trunks came from a future twenty years from now.
Sixteen years later.
Southern City.
The city was full of ruined walls and debris. Wearing a Turtle School combat uniform with a traditional 'Han' character on the back, Son Gohan lay in a pool of blood. The current Son Gohan was no child; he was twenty-two years old, a bonafide adult. However, fighting one against two, and with only one arm, he was simply no match for the two Androids.
Heavy rain poured down from the sky. When Trunks found him, he saw only his teacher's corpse, covered in bloodstains and rain. His anger—anger at the Androids, anger at himself—finally broke through the shackles within his body, allowing him to become a Super Saiyan.
The thirteen-year-old Trunks had exhausted too much stamina. With a plop, he collapsed into the rainwater, falling directly into a coma.
Ino walked out from the shadows.
Son Gohan's soul had been intercepted by her early on. At this moment, she exerted force with her palm, and the soul returned to the body. She also transferred a stream of energy, allowing the other party to temporarily recover a shred of consciousness.
"Mr. Son Gohan, can you hear me? Here is a Senzu Bean; eat it first."
Son Gohan's injuries were too severe. Even with the energy Ino transferred, he was on his deathbed. His mind was completely blank, lacking even the strength to think. He tried to open his eyes twice, but both attempts ended in failure.
Crunch, crunch. He subconsciously chewed a couple of times. When he climbed up, he was stunned to discover that he had completely healed. The left arm he had lost several years ago had also regrown. His body and brain had already adapted to the state of missing a left arm; now that an arm had suddenly popped out, he was actually a bit unaccustomed to it.
"Senzu Bean? How is that possible?" Only then did he come to his senses. Earth had long since run out of Senzu Beans. What did he just eat? Where did the Senzu Bean come from?
He first looked at Trunks, who had fallen in the rain, and wanted to go support him, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ino in another direction.
"For the sake of me having just saved you, do not touch him."
Son Gohan's outstretched hands paused in mid-air. He thought seriously for a few seconds, slowly retracted his hands, and stood up straight.
He said, "Who are you? I don't know you."
Ino pointed into the distance. "Do you mind going over there to talk with me? Trunks has already become a Super Saiyan; a little bit of rain isn't enough to make him sick."
Son Gohan looked at his disciple. Indeed, there were no injuries on his body. With a Saiyan's constitution, lying in the rain for a while wouldn't cause illness.
In his view, it was hard to tell if Ino was friend or foe. They might start fighting at any moment. Moving far away would do no harm to the comatose Trunks.
A quarter of an hour later, amidst the ruins, Ino explained her purpose.
Even though Son Gohan's IQ wasn't low, he was completely bewildered by what he heard.
"Wait, you say you come from another timeline? You saved me because you want me to help you persuade Trunks—persuade the Trunks of my future, three years from now?"
Ino nodded. "Yes, you summarized it quite well. I need your help to convince the Trunks of three years later. After all, that guy respects you very much; he will listen to your words."
She pointed at Son Gohan. "You, Mr. Son Gohan, should have died today, died at the hands of the Androids. I am not threatening you, but if you make some... hmm, relatively drastic moves right now, such as appearing in front of the teenage Trunks, this is your timeline, so it won't affect me much. But for the Trunks of three years later, he might disappear, turn into a different Trunks, or simply die within these three years. In that case, it would be you taking the time machine to my time point instead.
"Time has a corrective ability, but at the same time, it possesses infinite variations. So I do not wish for you to contact the people and things of this time point again. I know you might want to go home to see the Chi-Chi and Ox-King of this time point. It is human nature, and I will not stop you, but I hope you know the consequences of doing so... Do you understand what I am saying?"
The Son Gohan before her was not the Son Gohan Ino knew, but he possessed basic logical thinking skills.
Son Gohan looked into the distance, in the direction of Mount Paozu. "Mother and Grandpa... will they still be alive three years later?"
Ino shook her head. "I don't know. I only took a rough look at that more distant future before. The survivors there are already very few. The entire Earth might only have a few tens of thousands of people left. Losing you, a Super Saiyan, makes it look like Trunks is struggling very hard to support the situation alone."
In this time point sixteen years later, Chi-Chi and Ox-King were still alive. Many places even had functioning amusement parks and clothing stores. Twenty years later, there would be nothing left. Among the well-known figures, probably only a scattered few like Future Trunks, Bulma, Mai, and Yajirobe remained alive.
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