"Fine, being a Time Patroller isn't so bad after all."
Gran thought of the GT and Future timelines. If he didn't take on this role, he, as a Destroyer Candidate, would have no real justification to go poking around those other eras.
"Just don't you dare try to trick me again, understand?" Gran shot her a warning glare.
"I know, I know!"
Chronoa let out a sigh of relief. Compared to that stubborn Beerus, his disciple was actually quite reasonable.
"Well then, stay here and focus on sensing the space-time energy." Chronoa prepared to take her leave.
"Where are you going?" Gran asked, frowning.
"Back to the Time Nest, obviously."
"And what about me? You're just leaving me here alone?"
"Well, yeah?" Chronoa looked at him with genuine confusion. "I'm not the one who needs to master space-time power, so why should I stay? I'm a very busy goddess, you know!"
Gran: "..."
He found himself unable to argue with the logic of the little Supreme Kai.
"I'm off! Take your time and good luck—I'm looking forward to hearing some good news from you!"
As she turned to leave, she paused to offer one last reminder: "Oh, and if anything urgent comes up, remember to use your Time Ring."
With that, Chronoa vanished, leaving Gran alone in the silence of the rift.
After a moment, Gran gave a helpless chuckle. What else can I do? I guess I'm stuck here.
He didn't rush into meditation immediately. Instead, he explored the turbulence. This area was different from the rift he had first encountered; it was a convergence of tens of thousands of currents, making the space-time energy here far more volatile and potent. This was clearly why Chronoa had designated it as the ultimate training ground.
After a full circuit of the perimeter, Gran finally calmed his mind.
"It can be felt but not described... Is space-time energy really that cryptic?"
Gran sat cross-legged at the center of the vortex, letting the surrounding energy wash over him. Visually, the energy manifested as threads of silver-white light.
As these threads brushed against his skin, Gran felt a strange sensation of time slipping away and dimensions shifting. It was a profound, almost alien feeling—one that defied verbal explanation.
His mind became clear, and his body began to relax as he drifted into a deep, meditative state of enlightenment.
One month passed with no visible progress. Two months... still nothing. But by the six-month mark, Gran finally felt a spark of realization.
While Gran was lost in his training, over half a year had slipped by on Earth. It was now the latter half of Age 760.
According to Whis's earlier predictions, Vegeta's space pod would invade Earth in about a year and a half, mid-Age 761.
In West City, Bulma and Dr. Brief were hunched over a project in their laboratory. More than six months ago, Gran had suggested building a gravity chamber for Goku to prepare for the Saiyan invasion.
But right now... the father-daughter duo was standing before a massive, octopus-shaped machine. Looking at its complex design, it clearly wasn't a gravity chamber.
"What on earth are they tinkering with?" Outside in the courtyard, Beerus reclined on a lounge chair, glancing toward the lab.
"Gran asked Bulma to make a gravity room for Goku. She's likely still working on that," Whis replied from the adjacent chair, taking a blissful sip of his drink.
"Nonsense!" Beerus snapped. "That girl finished the gravity room ages ago. She only started getting this busy again after she heard you say Gran got sucked into a space-time rift."
Whis tilted his head. "Then I'm afraid I have no idea what she's up to."
The two deities watched the sky from beneath their parasol, and the courtyard fell silent again. After a moment, Beerus grumbled, "Why aren't you the least bit worried about Gran?"
"My father said he was taken by Chronoa. Why should I worry?"
Beerus found himself speechless. "Gran has been gone for so long... You don't think Chronoa actually roped him into becoming a Time Patroller, do you?"
Beerus knew Chronoa all too well; his guess was spot on.
"Who knows?" Whis teased. "Lord Beerus, if you have this much energy to worry about Gran, perhaps you should spend some of it training. After all, Gran's raw power has already surpassed yours."
"Forget it. I'm not a training fanatic like him." Beerus then added seriously, "Besides, with his current skill level, he still might not be able to beat me."
"That is true," Whis smiled.
If Beerus only possessed Tier 7 peak power, he would lose to Gran's Tier 4 Godly strength (Angel-level output). However, Beerus had also broken through to the "Half-Step Angel" realm six months prior. Combined with over two hundred million years of martial arts experience, it wasn't guaranteed that Gran would win.
"But... if Gran becomes a Time Patroller and masters space-time energy, then Lord Beerus, you..." Whis murmured to himself, then simply shook his head.
"By the way, Whis, who inherited the position of Destroyer for the Fourth Universe?" Beerus asked.
"A grey-skinned mouse, I believe his name is Besi."
"Another mouse? Why are there so many rodents in the Fourth Universe?!"
"Who can say? Hohoho."
"And Broly? How far do you think he's climbed in the Dimension Tower?"
"Him? He used a wish from the Super Dragon Balls to maintain his sanity while in his Berserk state. It's only been half a year, though; I doubt his dimensional tier has even reached the level of Earth's Guardian yet."
While the gods chatted, Bulma and Dr. Brief were finalizing the assembly of the octopus machine.
"Whis said traveling through time is a felony... but Lord Gran is trapped in a rift! Who cares about felonies at a time like this?!"
Bulma only knew that Gran had been sucked in; she had no idea Chronoa had rescued him. She believed he was still drifting in the void.
"I have to save him!"
Desperate, Bulma finalized the assembly. If Gran had been there, he would have recognized it instantly: it was a Time Machine. In the original history, Bulma wouldn't have touched time travel tech until Future Trunks arrived. But here, driven by concern for Gran, she and her father had built one from scratch by hand.
"Bulma, this machine is built entirely on theory. I can't guarantee it will actually work. Are you sure about this?"
"Yes!"
"Fine. All that's left is the fuel. Once we've gathered enough energy, you can test it."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Well, you're my daughter. Honestly, both you and your sister are so stubborn."
"By the way, Dad, Tights is coming back to Earth in a few months, so you don't need to worry about her safety anymore."
"I'm not worried about Tights—I'm worried about you! This is..."
"Don't worry, Dad. I'll come back!"
Beerus and Whis, being gods, naturally overheard the conversation, but they couldn't quite fathom Bulma's endgame. Bulma packed the machine into a capsule, left the lab, and gave the gods a quick wave before flying off.
"That girl is acting very strange," Beerus muttered, watching her fly away. Whis narrowed his eyes. He had a suspicion, but even he found it hard to believe. Could a mere mortal really achieve such a feat?
Bulma flew to a small island where a single house stood. She landed and shouted, "Krillin!"
A bald young man—Goku's best friend—ran out. "Bulma? What are you doing here?"
"Here, take this." Bulma tossed him a capsule.
"What's this?"
"Inside is a gravity chamber. When Goku gets back from King Kai's planet, give it to him."
Bulma had learned from Kami that Goku was currently training under King Kai in the Otherworld.
"What about you?"
"I've got things to do. See ya!" Bulma took off again. Krillin watched her go, stunned by the fact that Bulma could now fly on her own.
With the gravity room delivered, Bulma focused on the fuel. She began searching for blue mineral crystals—a rare resource found in abundance only near the Earth's core. With a power level of 10,000 and a specialized suit, diving to the core was a simple task for her.
Three months later, she had enough fuel for four jumps—allowing her to travel to another time and back twice.
"Almost there... Lord Gran, hang on!"
It took another month to refine the crystals into liquid fuel. By now, it was Age 761.
Recently, Goku had returned from King Kai's training. Word was he had learned two incredible techniques—the Kaio-ken and the Spirit Bomb—and his power level had jumped from a few hundred to a solid 8,000. Additionally, Bulma's sister, Tights, had returned from her travels in space.
Vegeta and Nappa were still six months away. But Bulma didn't care about the Saiyans anymore. Her only goal was to find Gran.
On a deserted island in the south, Bulma pulled a capsule from her case. POOF! The octopus-like Time Machine appeared. She climbed inside and began calibrating the instruments.
"Don't let me down!"
She marked her starting coordinates—the anchor that would allow her to return to this exact moment. With a deep breath, she pressed the ignition.
VROOOOM!
The engine roared to life, and the machine began to hover.
"It's working!" Bulma's eyes sparkled. "Lord Gran, I'm coming! Just stay alive!"
In an instant, the machine vanished into a space-time crack.
Back at Capsule Corp, Beerus and Whis both bolted upright from their chairs. Whis gripped his staff, his eyes wide. "A mere mortal... she actually succeeded!"
Beerus glared at him. "You knew she was trying to build a time machine, didn't you?"
"I suspected, but I wasn't certain. I didn't think she could actually do it."
"Why didn't you tell me?! She's tampering with time!" Beerus roared.
"So..." Whis looked at him mischievously. "When she gets back, are you going to 'Destroy' her?"
Beerus's words died in his throat. He glanced at the table piled high with delicious Earth food and clenched his fists.
After a long pause, Beerus grumbled, "She's obviously going into the rift to save Gran. How foolish." He then shifted the blame back to Whis. "It's your fault! Why didn't you tell her Gran was with Chronoa?"
"I wanted to, but she walked into the lab before I could finish."
"Hmph. You just wanted to see if a mortal could actually pull it off, didn't you?"
"Hohoho... My, Lord Beerus, you caught me."
Beerus: "..."
I knew it. Whis is the worst!
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Want more chapters? Support my Patreon/Razerizz