"Piccolo!"
Son Goku looked at Piccolo.
"Our Namekian hearing is very sharp, so I happened to overhear your conversation just now."
"Don't worry. I won't say anything I shouldn't!"
"All right, then!"
Seeing this, Piccolo immediately recounted what Trunks had just told them.
However, he didn't mention anything about Trunks's identity.
After hearing everything, Vegeta's face lit up with excitement.
"Interesting. Kakarot, neither of you is to fight those two Androids three years from now. I can take care of them both by myself!"
"By yourself?"
Son Goku sounded skeptical.
"Hmph!"
Vegeta snorted.
"Kakarot, I may not be as strong as you now, but in three years, I'll definitely surpass you!"
"Is that so?"
Son Goku smiled faintly.
Seeing this, Vegeta immediately turned and left.
Not long after Vegeta left, Krillin and the others hurried over and asked what had happened.
So Son Goku told them what had just happened.
After hearing everything, Krillin and the others said they would train hard.
After all, nobody wanted to die!
Future Timeline.
Trunks had now returned to the Future Timeline in the Time Machine.
He glanced around and saw that the Future Timeline was still the same as before. He immediately headed home.
When Bulma in the Future Timeline saw Trunks return, her face lit up with joy.
"Trunks, did you make it to the past?"
"Yeah!"
Trunks nodded.
"Did you see Son Goku?"
"I did. I also saw Dad, Mom, Gohan-ge, and Uncle Piccolo!"
"You... saw Vegeta!"
Trunks nodded.
"Mom, the past I went to wasn't the same as the one you told me about!"
"Not the same?"
"Yeah. I don't know if it's because I went back to the past!"
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Sure!"
Trunks nodded.
Then he told Bulma in the Future Timeline what he'd learned from Son Goku.
"Trunks, the Gohan you're talking about isn't the same Gohan I know!"
"Yeah!"
Trunks nodded.
Son Gohan in the Future Timeline was his teacher, so Trunks knew him well.
"Mom, could the Time Machine have taken me to another timeline?"
"I don't think that's very likely, is it?"
"Then what's going on?"
"Could the problem have something to do with Gohan?"
"Gohan?"
"Could he be a reincarnator?"
"Reincarnator?"
"That's how it works in novels, isn't it?"
Trunks gave an awkward laugh, unsure how to respond.
"Um, Mom, if the past changes, can our future really change?"
"I think... maybe it can't!"
Bulma in the Future Timeline fell silent for a moment.
"I really thought that changing the past would change the future, but judging from your trip, it looks like... we'll have to bring Goku from the past here to save our future world!"
Trunks nodded.
But the Time Machine didn't have enough energy, so he would have to wait until three years later to return to the past and find Son Goku and the others.
Time flew by, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Ever since Son Goku and the others learned about the Androids, everyone had been training hard.
Future Timeline.
Trunks was in an abandoned city, gathering the energy needed to start the Time Machine.
A hand suddenly appeared behind him and pulled him into an invisible ripple.
By the time Trunks realized what was happening, he was already on top of a mountain.
A masked man dressed in a black robe stood in front of him.
The moment Trunks saw the man, he grew extremely wary.
"Who are you? And where is this place?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly leaped into the sky.
Trunks immediately chased after him.
Then the man suddenly dived down and landed in a forest.
Trunks followed him down.
By the time Trunks landed in the forest, the man had already vanished.
"He... He's gone!"
Trunks was startled.
He searched the area, and once he was sure the man was nowhere to be found, he gave up looking.
"Where am I? I don't think I've ever seen this place before."
As he spoke, Trunks suddenly sensed Vegeta and the others' energy.
"Th-this is Dad's energy. Does that mean I've gone back to the past?"
On Mount Paozu.
The black-robed man Trunks had just chased was standing in front of a tree.
A child stood in front of the man. It was Son Gohan.
However, this wasn't Son Gohan himself. It was a clone created by Son Gohan.
Poof!
Suddenly, a cloud of white smoke billowed around the black-robed man. When it cleared, the man had become Son Gohan.
Son Gohan had disguised himself as the black-robed man mainly because he didn't want to reveal his Heaven-Reaching Mirror.
The Heaven-Reaching Mirror could travel to the past and future, and even let its user spy on Zeno at will. It was an incredibly powerful treasure.
Son Gohan naturally didn't want anyone else to know about such a treasure.
A man isn't guilty of a crime unless he possesses a jade.
"System, this Heaven-Reaching Mirror really is amazing. It even managed to pull Trunks over from the future!"
"Of course!"
Son Gohan smiled.
"Wouldn't this Heaven-Reaching Mirror make stealing things really convenient, too?"
"Perverted!"
The system scoffed.
"I was just joking. You didn't actually take me seriously, did you?"
"But, Master, why did you pull Trunks here from the future?"
Son Gohan smiled.
"I want to take him as my disciple!"
"Take him as your disciple? Master, how old are you? And you want to take Trunks as your disciple!"
Son Gohan snorted.
"I may look young, but mentally, I'm already much older than Trunks!
"Besides, haven't you heard the saying, 'The one who has attained the Way is the teacher'? I'm stronger than Trunks, so why can't I teach him martial arts?"
"All right, Master, you're awesome!"
"Mm!"
Son Gohan nodded.
West City, Bulma's house.
After realizing that he might have returned to the past, Trunks went straight to his home.
"It's you!"
Bulma recognized Trunks at a glance.
Since Trunks couldn't reveal his real name to Bulma—he was afraid it might affect his birth—he hadn't told her his name before.
"So it looks like I really have returned to twenty years ago. But why did that man in black bring me here?"
Seeing that Bulma recognized him, Trunks nodded and thought to himself.
Before you continue