I Guard the Present, You Guard the Future

On King Kai's Planet.

King Kai also sensed the aura emanating from Son Gohan's Basic Ultra Instinct.

"What... what is this? Gohan's aura now is so similar to Lord Beerus's!"

"Lord Beerus!"

Son Goku, who was training, immediately came over upon hearing this.

"King Kai, who is Lord Beerus?"

"Lord Beerus is the God of Destruction, responsible for destroying planets!"

"God of Destruction?"

"Mhm!"

King Kai nodded.

"My planet wasn't this small originally. It only became this small because I accidentally offended Lord Beerus!"

"Oh, so he's very strong?"

"Of course. Even Frieza wouldn't dare to be presumptuous in front of him!"

"Really! Where is he now?"

"Lord Beerus is currently asleep!"

"Asleep? When will he wake up?"

"How would I know? It'll take at least a few decades!"

"A... few decades? Lord Beerus sure can sleep!"

"..."

King Kai was speechless.

"Lord Beerus is a god. Gods have very long lifespans. A mere few decades is nothing to him. Do you know how old Lord Beerus is now?"

"How old?"

Son Goku asked curiously.

"At least one or two hundred million years old!"

"O... one or two hundred million years!"

"That's right! Your Saiyan race lives at most a little over a hundred years, not even a fraction of Lord Beerus's age!"

Son Goku chuckled.

"Then King Kai, where is Beerus now?"

"I won't tell you!"

"Don't be like that, King Kai!"

Son Goku said with a fawning expression.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't know. That place is very far from us. Even with Instant Transmission, you couldn't get there!"

In Universe 7, on the World of the Destroyer.

A man with blue-green skin, extremely tall, with long white curly hair and purple pupils and lips, was holding a staff and looking in the direction of the North Galaxy.

This was Whis, the angel of Universe 7.

Just moments ago, he too had sensed the aura emanating from Son Gohan's Basic Ultra Instinct.

Although the aura Son Gohan emitted was very different from the destructive aura of a true God of Destruction, the fact that a mortal could emit an aura close to that of a God of Destruction made Whis somewhat curious.

"Son Gohan!"

After gazing at the North Galaxy for a while, Whis slowly withdrew his gaze, muttering Son Gohan's name.

Time flew by, and another year passed in the blink of an eye.

After a year, Trunks finally gathered enough energy for the Time Machine.

West City, Son Goku's house.

Trunks was now bidding farewell to Son Goku and the others, preparing to return.

"Gohan, thank you so much for these past two years. If it weren't for you, my strength wouldn't have improved so quickly!"

"It's nothing! Trunks, go back to the future and defeat Android 17. Don't forget to train Android 18. I'll protect the present, and you protect the future!"

"I understand, Gohan!"

Trunks nodded heavily.

His heart couldn't help but think of Son Gohan, who had died in the future timeline.

"Well, Uncle Goku, everyone, I'll be heading back now."

Trunks bid farewell to the group.

Krillin and the others nodded upon hearing this.

Krillin: "Then Trunks, the future is in your hands!"

"Understood, Uncle Krillin!"

As he spoke, Trunks immediately boarded the Time Machine, waving goodbye to everyone with tears in his eyes.

"Whoosh..."

As the Time Machine activated, it quickly carried Trunks back to the future.

The Earth in the future timeline remained the same as before, filled with ruins everywhere.

Trunks stepped out of the Time Machine and rushed home immediately.

He saw Bulma from the future timeline sitting in the house.

"Trunks!"

Seeing Trunks return, the future Bulma immediately ran over with teary eyes and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Mom!"

Hearing this, the future Bulma slowly loosened her grip.

"Trunks, where have you been these past two years?"

Upon hearing this, Trunks immediately told the future Bulma about being taken to the past.

"A Man in Black?"

"Yes, Mom! It's thanks to this Man in Black that I was able to train in the past. My strength now has completely surpassed Android 17 and Android 18!"

"Mm!"

The future Bulma nodded.

"Then Mom, I'm going to go eliminate Android 17 and Android 18 right now!"

"Alright, but you must be careful!"

Trunks nodded, left the house quickly, and went to search for Android 17 and Android 18.

"The Man in Black!"

After Trunks left, the future Bulma suddenly muttered to herself.

When Trunks had first disappeared, she had also seen the Man in Black he spoke of.

That Man in Black had told her that Trunks was fine, just taken to a place to train, and instructed her not to tell Trunks that she had met him.

In the future timeline, amidst a city turned into ruins, a man and a woman were currently slaughtering the survivors.

These two were none other than the future timeline's Android 17 and Android 18.

"Ah!"

Following one terrified scream after another, human after human was killed by the pair.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared.

This person was none other than Trunks.

"Trunks!"

Seeing the suddenly appearing Trunks, Android 17 immediately revealed a sneer.

"Long time no see, Trunks. I thought you were too afraid to fight us and planned to hide away for the rest of your life!"

"Hmph!"

Trunks let out a cold snort.

"I am here today to eliminate you for the sake of my father, Brother Gohan, and all the innocent humans you have murdered!"

"Eliminate us!"

Upon hearing this, Android 17 burst into laughter as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

"Trunks, it's been two years, and you've already learned how to tell jokes!"

Hearing this, Trunks' expression turned solemn.

"Whether it's a joke or not, you'll find out soon enough!"

"Ha!"

As he spoke, Trunks clenched his hands tightly and transformed into a Super Saiyan.

Immediately, he drew the long sword from his back and charged toward the two of them.

Android 17 clenched both his fists and charged toward Trunks as well.

"Whoosh..."

Just at that moment, Trunks's figure suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Android 17.

"Android 17, watch out!"

Android 18 was startled and hurriedly shouted a warning to Android 17.

"What!"

Upon hearing this, Android 17 immediately spun around.

At that instant, a golden energy wave suddenly condensed in Trunks's right hand and struck him.

BOOM!!

With a massive explosion, Android 17 was obliterated.

"17!"

Android 18 was struck with shock.

Android 17 had actually been wiped out by Trunks in less than a single exchange.

Seeing this, Trunks looked at her with an indifferent expression and said, "Now it's your turn!"