Universe Seed

Android 18 looked terrified when she heard that.

"W-what is going on? How did you get so strong?"

"I went back to the past and trained for two years under Gohan-ge's guidance!"

"Gohan—Son Gohan?"

Trunks nodded and rushed toward Android 18.

Android 18 was startled and hurriedly raised her hand to fire an energy blast at Trunks.

"Whoosh..."

Trunks blurred out of sight and appeared in front of Android 18, running his sword through her body.

"Urgh..."

Android 18 let out a pained scream and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Trunks pulled his sword free with his right hand, then gathered a golden energy blast in his left and fired it at Android 18.

BOOM!!

With a tremendous explosion, Android 18 was destroyed.

As Trunks looked at Android 18's remains, he suddenly remembered what Son Gohan had told him before he returned to the future.

I'll protect the present. You protect the future.

"Gohan-ge!"

Trunks looked up at the sky. For a moment, it seemed as though he could see Son Gohan from both the past and the future standing before him.

"Gohan-ge, I'll do everything I can to protect the future!"

Time flew by, and before long, a month had passed.

On a deserted island south of West City stood a research facility spanning several hundred square meters, hidden away from sight.

It was Dr. Gero's laboratory.

Android 17 and Android 18 had both been completed the day before.

But Dr. Gero was worried that once activated, they might disobey him, so he had left them dormant for the time being.

The two of them lay motionless in their respective Stasis Pods.

Watching them sleep inside the pods, Dr. Gero hesitated, unsure whether to activate them and see what happened.

After a long while, Dr. Gero finally made up his mind and pressed the switch on the Stasis Pod.

As the pods opened, the two slowly opened their eyes and climbed out.

"Dr. Gero!"

The moment Android 18 saw Dr. Gero, her face filled with hatred.

If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have been turned into an Android.

"A-Android 18!"

Seeing the look on her face, Dr. Gero grew extremely nervous.

"That's right, I'm Dr. Gero. I'm the one who created the two of you, so you have to do everything I say!"

Android 18 gave a disdainful snort.

"You old geezer. You kidnapped us, turned us into Androids, and now you expect us to obey you!"

So they're still impossible to control!

Dr. Gero thought to himself as he listened to Android 18.

Just then, Android 18 clenched her fists and charged at Dr. Gero.

Dr. Gero hurriedly pressed the emergency shutdown button he had prepared, stopping Android 17 and Android 18 from moving.

"Phew..."

Dr. Gero breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looks like turning humans into Androids who obey me isn't as simple as I thought!"

West City, at Son Goku's home.

Son Gohan was bored as he listened to Pilaf report on the company's current situation.

"Gohan, our company is now one of the top ten in West City!"

"Top ten!"

"Yeah! But lately, a lot of companies have been copying our app!"

"It's fine. We just need to keep improving our own app!"

Pilaf nodded.

"Well, Gohan, if there's nothing else, I'll head back?"

"Sure!"

Son Gohan nodded.

Pilaf promptly left Son Gohan's home.

After Pilaf had left, Son Gohan suddenly remembered the Universe Seed in his inventory.

The Universe Seed was a crystal used to create new universes in Dragon Ball Heroes.

Once it had gathered enough energy, the Universe Seed could grow into the Universe Tree and create a new universe.

Besides that, the Universe Seed could grant people various superpowers and even let them fuse with others.

Thinking of this, Son Gohan immediately took the Universe Seed out of the system.

A multicolored cube soon appeared in Son Gohan's hand.

"System, how do I use the Universe Seed?"

"Master, the Universe Seed has not yet been activated, so it needs energy to activate it."

"Energy?"

"It needs to absorb the energy produced when two sources of energy clash. In other words, it can only be activated through battle."

"Battle?"

"Yes!"

After hearing that, Son Gohan went to find Piccolo.

A while later, Son Gohan arrived at Piccolo's training grounds and asked him to spar.

"You want to fight me?"

Son Gohan nodded.

"Don't worry, Uncle Piccolo. I won't use my full strength!"

"Well... all right."

Piccolo wasn't very keen, but he agreed anyway.

"Then shall we get started, Uncle Piccolo?"

When Piccolo agreed, Son Gohan landed on the ground some distance away from him.

"Fine!"

Piccolo nodded.

Son Gohan raised his hands into a fighting stance and charged at Piccolo.

In no time, Son Gohan was right in front of Piccolo, and the two began to fight.

But Son Gohan was so much stronger that Piccolo could do little more than defend himself.

Thud!!

A while later, Son Gohan knocked Piccolo to the ground.

Son Gohan glanced at the Universe Seed in his palm and suddenly saw it flash.

"System, has it been activated?"

"Yes, Master. The Universe Seed has currently gathered 0.01 percent of the energy it needs."

"0.01 percent?"

"That's the small amount of energy generated by your fight with Piccolo. If you gather enough energy in the Universe Seed, you can evolve it into a Universe Tree. You can also channel its energy into your body and gain power unlike anything seen before."

"Oh. But there's no one on Earth who can challenge me right now."

"Then you can fight people from other universes or other timelines."

"Other universes!"

Son Gohan rubbed his chin and thought of Hit from Universe 6. But at his current level of strength, he might not be a match for Hit.

"System, if I watch other people fight, can the Universe Seed absorb the energy their battle produces?"

"Yes, Master!"

After hearing that, Son Gohan immediately took out the Heaven-Reaching Mirror and went to Hell.

At that moment, Frieza and King Cold stood arrogantly in front of a group of soldiers.