Once Chi-Chi and Future Gohan had calmed down, Gogito spoke.
"Let's go to where you're staying first. We can talk there."
Future Gohan remembered the threat posed by the Androids and led everyone to the basement where they lived.
As they reached the entrance, Trunks called inside.
"Mom, I'm back."
Hearing him, someone inside said,
"You're back so early today. Aren't you going to train with Gohan a little longer?"
Before she could finish, she spotted the people behind Trunks: her younger self and her older sister, along with Chi-Chi and Kid Gohan.
"This..."
Future Bulma was stunned for a moment, but then she realized,
"You came from the past, didn't you? You're the younger me."
As expected of Bulma. She was probably already working on the Time Machine—or had even drawn up the plans and was only missing the materials, Gogito thought.
"No. Strictly speaking, this is just a parallel timeline."
Gogito explained.
"A parallel timeline?"
Future Bulma immediately understood what he meant.
She had still been holding on to the hope that she could go back and change the future. It seemed that wasn't possible.
"Everyone, sit down. Sit down."
Future Bulma brought out a number of chairs and invited everyone to take a seat.
Tights looked at her haggard younger sister, feeling something she couldn't quite put into words. And after seeing the state of the Earth on their way here, she knew Bulma must have suffered through a lot and worked herself to exhaustion.
Bulma felt a pang of sadness as she looked at her future self.
"Why did the future turn out this way? What happened to Gohan's hand?"
Chi-Chi asked outright.
Kid Gohan looked at his grown-up self—the scar on his face and his severed arm. He suddenly remembered what Gogito had said earlier: strength was the most important thing. He shouldn't dream of becoming a scholar. At the very least, his future self couldn't become one.
"You've reached the point where the Saiyans are about to invade Earth, right?"
Future Bulma asked.
"In another six months," Bulma replied.
"After the Saiyans invaded, Earth's Kami died, and the Dragon Balls disappeared with him. We went to Piccolo's home planet, Namek, to borrow its Dragon Balls. That's where we encountered the emperor of the universe, Frieza. Goku turned into a Super Saiyan there and defeated Frieza."
"A year later, Frieza came back, but Goku killed him."
"Three years after that, the Androids appeared on Earth. They couldn't be sensed, but they were unbelievably powerful. Goku died of a heart virus, and Earth's warriors were killed one after another. Only Gohan and Trunks were left."
"Piccolo died too, so Earth's Dragon Balls became unusable. We also couldn't find New Namek, so we couldn't bring anyone back."
Future Bulma recounted everything that had happened.
After hearing it all, Chi-Chi understood why Gogito had brought her here. Seeing Future Gohan like this hurt her deeply. Perhaps he had ended up this way because, when he was a child, she hadn't let him train with Goku. She had wanted him to become a great scholar, and as a result, Future Gohan hadn't been strong enough and had lost an arm.
Fortunately, there was still a chance to make things right.
Tights felt sorry for her younger sister. She quietly asked Gogito,
"Is there anything we can do to help them?"
"Of course. You didn't think I brought you here just to change Chi-Chi, did you?"
Gogito said confidently.
At his words, the people from the future all turned to look at him. Gogito hadn't existed in their history, so none of them knew who he was.
"We just need to find New Namek. Don't forget, we went to Planet Yardrat together. I can use Instant Transmission too—and I'm much better at it than Kakarot."
Gogito said proudly.
Gogito had trained his Spirit Control until he was even better at it than Elder Pybara. Instant Transmission was a piece of cake for him.
"Really?"
Future Gohan's face lit up with excitement. In his mind, his father, Son Goku, had always been invincible. If it weren't for that damn heart virus, how could the Androids have rampaged across Earth?
"Of course. I'll take you there right now."
Gogito stood up, grabbed Future Gohan by the shoulder, and placed a finger against his forehead as he carefully searched.
"Found it. An energy signature similar to Piccolo's. That must be New Namek. All right, let's go."
With a whoosh, Gogito and Future Gohan vanished.
On a distant planet, a group of Namekians were farming. Suddenly, Gogito and Future Gohan appeared before them, startling the farmers.
"Who are you?"
The Namekian asked warily.
"I'm Son Goku's son, Son Gohan."
Gohan pointed to himself.
Just then, one person rushed out from the group and cried out happily,
"Gohan? You're Gohan!"
It was Dende. More than ten years had passed, and he had grown up too.
"Gohan, what happened to your hand?"
Dende pointed at Gohan's arm.
"You're Dende? Perfect. Take us to see Grand Elder Guru."
Gohan didn't explain. He went straight to the point and asked to see Grand Elder Guru.
Dende didn't ask any questions. He simply led the two of them to Grand Elder Guru.
"Grand Elder, Gohan is here."
When they reached Grand Elder Guru's home, Dende spoke to him.
"Grand Elder Guru, I'd like to borrow the Dragon Balls."
Gohan got right to the point.
"So you're Son Goku's son."
Grand Elder Guru recognized Gohan at a glance.
"Has something serious happened on Earth again?"
Gohan nodded and briefly explained what had happened.
"I see. So that's why you want to borrow the Dragon Balls."
Grand Elder Guru instructed Dende,
"Dende, notify the villages and have them bring the Dragon Balls here."
Dende acknowledged him and went outside.
"Son Goku died of a heart virus. Can the dragon bring him back to life?"
Gogito asked Grand Elder Guru.
"As long as his soul still exists, he can be revived."
Grand Elder Guru replied.
As expected, Namek's Dragon Balls were more powerful than Earth's. Earth's Shenron had said Goku couldn't be revived because he'd died a natural death, but Namek's dragon could do it. The difference was clear.
Before long, Dende returned with the Dragon Balls. Several people set them down and then left.
"All right, Dende. We're counting on you."
Gohan said to Dende.
Dende spoke a string of words no one could understand. Then the sky darkened, and the seven Dragon Balls began to shine with dazzling light. A moment later, the Namekian dragon Porunga appeared.
"You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls, state your wish. Any wish can be granted. You may make three wishes."
"Please revive my father, Son Goku."
Gohan made his first wish.
Dende spoke to the dragon in another string of unintelligible words. After listening, the dragon fell silent for a moment, then said,
"Son Goku does not wish to be revived. Please make another wish."
Gohan was dumbfounded.
Just then, Goku contacted Gohan through King Kai and said,
"Gohan, I've been dead for so many years already. I don't want to come back to life. You have tremendous potential, and I believe you can defeat the Androids and protect Earth."
"But..."
Gohan was about to say more, but Gogito cut him off.
"Kakarot, don't you want to challenge even stronger people and see more of the world? Are you really content to stay in the afterlife forever?"
Goku was clearly tempted, but he still couldn't make up his mind. Seeing that, Gogito continued,
"If you think Super Saiyan 3 is the end of the road, then let me tell you: you're still a frog in a well. There are plenty of people stronger than you."
Gogito pressed the point even harder.
Before you continue