Seeing Chronoa preparing to take him to the Time Nest, Gran initially wanted to head back and let his friends know he was safe, but for now, he had no choice but to accompany her.
With a wave of her small hand, Chronoa whisked them both into a shimmering silver temporal tunnel. The interior of the tunnel was a dazzling display of light, swirling with an almost hypnotic brilliance.
Gran reached out to touch the walls of the tunnel. The energy didn't feel violent or raw like the destructive power he was used to. It was strange—a sensation of time accelerating and space folding in on itself.
Withdrawing his hand, Gran smiled. "Lady Chronoa, have you been keeping an eye on me for the last six months or so?"
"Hehe, care to take a guess?" she replied playfully.
Gran found her personality quite amusing. "My guess? I remember when we first met half a year ago, you already had your sights set on making me a Time Patroller. So..."
At that, Chronoa's face puffed up with indignation. "Hmph! The Time Nest is so short-staffed, and I finally found a prime candidate, but the Grand Priest and Lord Zeno were so mean! They actually stepped in to block me!"
"If they were the ones who stopped you, how dare you recruit me now?"
"Why should I be afraid? The King of Time already fought Lord Zeno—" Chronoa suddenly clamped her hands over her mouth. Oops, I said too much.
Gran blinked in surprise. The King of Time and Lord Zeno fought each other?
Good heavens! That was some explosive information!
Curiosity flared in Gran's eyes. "Lady Chronoa, who ended up winning?"
"Why are you so gossipy?" she huffed.
"It's only human nature to be curious, especially when it involves someone as powerful as the King of Time."
From the stories told by the Old Supreme Kai and Whis, the King of Time was a being on the same level as the Omni-King. Generally speaking, space-time powers are terrifying. Gran had personally experienced how his raw Angel-level strength couldn't even break him out of a temporal vortex. Naturally, he wanted to know who sat at the true top of the hierarchy.
"You little troublemaker, is the power of the King of Time something we should even be discussing?" Chronoa rolled her eyes. "I can only tell you that in that battle, neither side won nor lost. It was a draw."
"Oh?" Gran was stunned. He hadn't expected that outcome.
Then again, it made sense. Both Zeno and the King of Time were among the absolute strongest entities in the Dragon Ball multiverse. If they actually fought to a decisive conclusion, wouldn't the entire fabric of existence be obliterated?
As they drifted through the quiet tunnel, Gran thought of something else. "Lady Chronoa..."
Before he could finish, she cut him off. "Good grief, why do you have so many questions? Can't you ask them all at once?"
Gran felt a bit awkward; he realized he was being a bit persistent. He cleared his throat. "Just one last question, I promise."
"Fine, ask."
"I was wondering... how many Time Patrollers do we actually have in the Time Nest?" Since he had agreed to join, he was already starting to think of himself as part of the team.
"Let me see..." Chronoa bit her lip, counting on her fingers before holding up a single finger.
"A million Time Patrollers?" Gran guessed. Given the sheer number of timelines, surely it would take at least a million to keep everything in check.
"Are you crazy?" Chronoa looked at him as if he were an idiot. "There is exactly one hundred."
"What?" Gran's eyes went wide. "With so many timelines, how can only a hundred people manage them all?"
"You really have a misunderstanding of what a Time Patroller does. Timelines don't just 'break' every day. Why would we need that many people?" She shook her head. "Besides, even if a minor fluctuation occurs in history, timelines have a natural self-correcting property. We only intervene when a major anomaly threatens to derail history entirely."
"I see." Gran had watched enough fan animations to assume the Dragon Ball timelines were constantly under siege by villains. Apparently, that wasn't the case!
"Anyway, once you're officially a Time Patroller, you'll learn all about it."
"Got it."
Silence returned to the tunnel for a short while until they reached the end of time itself. Nestled there was the Time Nest—the heart of the Time Realm. Chronoa led Gran out of the tunnel and into her domain.
As they landed, Gran took a look around. The area wasn't actually that large—it was roughly the size of a small town. However, the atmosphere was beautiful, filled with lush greenery and Western European-style architecture.
"Lady Chronoa, is the King of Time here?" Gran had reverted to his base form by now and was curious to see what such a legendary figure looked like.
"While the King of Time is the ruler of this realm, he doesn't appear very often. Sometimes, tens of millions of years go by without anyone catching a glimpse of him. So, honestly, I have no idea where he is right now," Chronoa explained. She then gestured for him to follow. "Come on, I'll take you to the Vault of Time."
Is the King of Time really that mysterious? Gran wondered as he hurried to keep up. He knew a little bit about the Vault—it was the sacred place where the Scrolls of Eternity were kept. He wondered why she was taking him there first.
The two eventually arrived at a building that resembled a grand library. Above it floated a massive, ethereal clock face that hummed with a mysterious energy.
"This is the Vault of Time. Follow me inside; I need to get you a Time Ring," Chronoa said, stopping at the entrance.
"A Time Ring?" Gran frowned. "Like the ones the Supreme Kais use?"
"No, not like those. The ring I'm giving you is exclusive to Time Patrollers." Chronoa looked him in the eye. "It's a symbol of your office. Only by wearing it will you have the permanent authority to enter the Time Nest."
"Understood." Gran nodded. He was learning quite a bit today.
Just as they were about to ascend the steps to the Vault, a sudden fluctuation in space-time erupted behind them.
"Huh?" Gran turned around.
Chronoa turned as well, a pair of dimples appearing as she smiled. "They're back."
"They?" Gran asked. "Who are they?"
"Oh, you definitely know them. You'll see in a second."
As her words reached his ears, Gran narrowed his eyes. Could it be Goku and Vegeta from the GT timeline?
The spatial distortion grew more intense until four figures stepped out of the rift. Three adults and one child, all human in appearance and clad in distinctive red-themed Time Patroller coats.
It was GT Goku, GT Vegeta, GT Trunks, and Pan.
"It really is them," Gran muttered, a small smile crossing his lips. However, when his gaze landed on Vegeta, his smile quickly vanished.
"Lady Chronoa, mission accomplished," Trunks announced.
"Good work, everyone. Go get some rest," Chronoa replied warmly.
"Will do." Trunks nodded, but his eyes were fixed on the stranger standing next to Chronoa. Who is this guy? I've never seen him before. A recruit?
"Grandpa, who is that?" Pan whispered to Goku.
"I don't recognize him," Goku said, shaking his head. He glanced at Vegeta. "He's got a tail... looks like a Saiyan. Do you know him?"
Gran was currently in his base form, wearing his God of Destruction attire—an outfit Goku had never seen before.
Vegeta, who had his arms crossed over his chest, stared at Gran's tail and then at his face. Suddenly, his arms dropped to his sides.
The atmosphere in the Time Nest turned heavy and oppressive. Chronoa raised an eyebrow; she had researched Gran's history and knew all about the bad blood between him and Vegeta. But since this was a Vegeta from a completely different timeline, she hadn't expected such an immediate reaction.
"Uncle Goku, what's wrong with my dad?" Trunks asked, sensing the tension.
"I'm not sure." Goku's body tensed, instinctively preparing for trouble.
Suddenly, the corners of Gran's mouth curled into a taunting smirk. "Vegeta... do you still remember me?"
At those words, everyone's eyes snapped toward Vegeta.
"Remember you?" Vegeta mused. He narrowed his eyes and frowned. "You're Gran, aren't you? I remember abandoning you all those years ago. How are you still alive?"
Of course. Vegeta had abandoned every version of Gran in every timeline. Gran's smirk deepened, and he began to roll his shoulders, loosening up his limbs for a fight.
But then, something unexpected happened.
"If I had to guess, you must be a Gran from another timeline," Vegeta said. He stepped forward toward Gran and extended his hand. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have abandoned you back then."
Gran, who had been ready to throw a punch, froze. Vegeta stood there with his hand extended, and the two of them locked eyes for a long moment.
Finally, Gran let out a huff and looked away. "How boring. Lady Chronoa, let's head inside."
The thick tension dissipated as quickly as it had arrived.
Goku and the others were left staring in disbelief. Weren't they about to kill each other? How did it just... end?
"Right! Let's go!" Chronoa let out a massive sigh of relief. She could tell Gran had been ready to level the place, but Vegeta's apology had completely deflated his anger. It was a good thing this version of Vegeta had matured enough to admit his past mistakes, or things would have ended very poorly for him.
Chronoa led Gran up the stairs and into the Vault. Left behind in the courtyard, the four GT warriors looked at one another in confusion.
Goku leaned in closer. "Vegeta, who was that?"
Trunks added, "Father, is that Saiyan related to us somehow?"
Vegeta watched the door close behind them and sighed. "To tell you the truth, back in the day, my squad didn't just consist of Nappa and Raditz. That Saiyan was a member of the Vegeta Strikeforce, but I abandoned him along with the others."
The group fell silent. No wonder Gran had looked at him with such venom. Trunks and Pan had heard stories about Vegeta's ruthless past, but seeing a living consequence of it was different.
Goku suddenly slung an arm around Vegeta's neck and grinned. "I didn't think you had it in you to apologize like that, Vegeta!"
"Kakarot, do you want a beating?!" Vegeta snapped, shoving him off. "I was simply reflecting on a past mistake. If I hadn't abandoned them, we might have had a few more survivors of our race."
Seeing his father's stubborn but honest expression, Trunks smiled. "Father, tell me more about this... Uncle Gran." He figured any Saiyan from his father's generation was worthy of the title.
"Fine," Vegeta said, beginning the story. "Gran was an elite warrior. However, during a mission, he was ambushed by natives who managed to cut off his tail..."
As the group listened, Vegeta's brow furrowed. "Logically, every version of Gran across the timelines should have been abandoned. I wonder... how did that one survive?"
Trunks and the others fell into deep thought. Since becoming Time Patrollers, they understood how parallel timelines worked—any major event or temporal tampering creates a branch. Usually, history is identical up until the divergence point. What miracle had allowed this Gran to survive?
"Trunks," Pan whispered, "did you notice? His energy... it feels really strange."
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