Restoring Order

"But there's only one Original Dragon Ball..." Son Gohan looked at the Three-Star Ball in his hand, which was almost identical to an ordinary Earth Dragon Ball, and furrowed his brow.

The golden markings on the Bracer flickered. Popo's ethereal voice echoed beside them. "The Original Dragon Balls are different from ordinary Dragon Balls. They're the crystallization of all Dragon God Zalama's power."

"Ordinary Dragon Balls require all seven to be gathered before they can grant a wish. That's because their creator's power is limited, and a complete ritual is needed to invoke a miracle." Popo's voice remained completely even. "But even a single Original Dragon Ball contains enough Miracle Power to ignore all rules and completely reshape the cause and effect of one parallel world."

Trunks's eyes lit up when he heard this. He hurriedly called out to the Bracer, "Lord Popo! If one ball is enough to reshape a world, can we use it to restore our Future Timeline, too?"

Son Gohan said nothing, but his eyes were fixed on the Bracer as well. If they could take care of everything right away, they wouldn't have to risk their lives in other dangerous timelines.

"No." Popo's answer was blunt, instantly dashing Trunks's hopes.

"Why?" Trunks asked, unwilling to give up.

"Because a wish that crosses timelines involves complex causality on a higher dimension. Once it crosses timelines, the Miracle Power of a single Original Dragon Ball is greatly diminished," Popo explained. "To break rules of that magnitude, you must gather all seven Original Dragon Balls and invoke Dragon God Zalama's most fundamental power of creation. Now, don't waste time. Pour your ki into the Dragon Ball and picture in your mind how this world should have been."

"Damn it!" Trunks gritted his teeth, his expression full of disappointment.

"Try to look on the bright side, Trunks. We'll bring Aunt Bulma back to life sooner or later," Son Gohan said, trying to comfort him.

Then he took hold of the Three-Star Original Dragon Ball, closed his eyes, and began trying to use it as Popo had described.

The ki inside him began flowing into the Dragon Ball steadily, at an exceptionally even pace.

Hum!

The previously dim Three-Star Ball suddenly erupted in a blinding white light. It carried no warmth or pressure, yet in an instant it pierced through Son Gohan's palm and spread outward at a speed beyond light.

In the blink of an eye, the light engulfed all of West City, then the entire Earth, and finally reached every corner of Universe 7.

The Miracle Power had been activated.

Son Gohan opened his eyes. The sight before him made him hold his breath.

Time began to flow backward.

It wasn't a reversal in the physical sense, but a reset of cause and effect on a higher dimension.

Far below, the enormous pit that Lin Fan's mutated body had corroded into a pool of muck began to churn violently. The foul-smelling pink miasma vanished in an instant, like snow before the blazing sun. Shattered steel and concrete, along with skyscrapers reduced to dust, seemed to be pieced back together by an invisible giant hand, rising from the ground at a visible speed.

The mountains that had collapsed in the fighting rose again, and the dried-up rivers once more filled with clear water.

Even more astonishing was the fate of those whose lives Lin Fan had forcibly twisted.

Son Gohan saw Bulma, Mai, Launch, and the others amid the ruins of the Capsule Corporation. Their revealing clothes dissolved into flecks of light, replaced by their original everyday outfits.

The vacant, fanatical expressions in their eyes, the result of being forcibly brainwashed, quickly faded.

Every trace and consequence of Lin Fan's arrival in this world was being forcibly erased by the boundless Miracle Power. The humiliating memories, the despair of being taken over, the dignity so casually trampled—it was as if they were a nightmare that had never existed, being forcibly plucked from the history of this world.

Time corrected itself bit by bit.

The Miracle Power washed away the cause and effect of the entire universe.

Lin Fan, the transmigrator who did not belong to this world, and all the disgust and chaos he had brought with him, were completely erased.

The white light gradually drew back, finally vanishing into the Three-Star Ball in Son Gohan's hand.

The Original Dragon Ball, which had once radiated an ancient power, was now completely dull, like an ordinary glass marble. Its Miracle Power had been exhausted reshaping the world, and it would need time to recover.

Son Gohan tucked the dim Three-Star Ball into his clothes and looked down at the city.

The world had returned to normal.

The streets of West City bustled with traffic. The honking of horns mingled with the chatter of pedestrians, filling the city with life. Sunlight shone on the Capsule Corporation's enormous semicircular building, reflecting in a dazzling gleam.

A breeze passed by. Trunks stood beside Son Gohan, staring blankly down below.

In the Capsule Corporation's vast courtyard,

Bulma wore a crisp white lab coat and held a wrench in her hand as she angrily pointed at Vegeta and scolded him. "You battle-crazed idiot! You're always holed up in the Gravity Chamber! You promised you'd go shopping with me last time. When are you going to take me?"

Vegeta wore his signature blue bodysuit. With his arms crossed, he snorted and turned his head away. "I don't have time to waste going shopping with you. I'm going to train and get stronger so I can beat Kakarot!"

"You big dummy!" Bulma stamped her foot in anger and threw the wrench at him.

Vegeta dodged it with a turn of his head. Although he looked impatient, he didn't lose his temper. He simply turned and walked toward the rest area on the other side.

At the sight of this, Trunks's eyes instantly reddened.

He bit his lip tightly, forcing back his tears.

These were his parents. For the first time, he was seeing in person the noisy yet utterly real home he remembered from his mother's stories.

"This is wonderful." Trunks's voice choked with emotion. "It really is."

Looking at the thriving Earth, Son Gohan also smiled from the bottom of his heart.

It seemed that becoming a God of Spacetime Destruction was meaningful not only because it granted him power, but also because it let him protect bonds that should never have been twisted. Though this wasn't their own timeline, seeing everyone safe gave him a sense of fulfillment that nothing could replace.

From the direction of Mount Paozu in the distance, Son Gohan could clearly sense that this timeline's Son Goku was bickering with Chi-Chi over Kid Gohan's studies. Everything felt so familiar and natural.

"Well done, Son Gohan."

Popo's ethereal voice came from the Bracer again, breaking the brief silence.

"The first timeline that deviated from its course has been corrected, and the source of the Original Dragon Balls has been cut off. Your mission is complete."

Son Gohan's smile faded, and his tone returned to its usual calm. "Lord Popo, where are we going next?"

"Don't rush." Popo's voice remained even. "The cause and effect between the Original Dragon Balls draws them to one another. Now that you've obtained one, it will naturally guide you to the next target."

As soon as Popo finished speaking,

the golden Bracers on Son Gohan's right wrist and Trunks's left wrist blazed with light.

Two beams of golden light shot from the Bracers and met in the empty space before them.

Rip.

The space before them tore open like fragile white paper, ripped apart by the two beams. A mysterious passage, glittering with iridescent light and filled with countless spatial currents, appeared out of nowhere before them.

From the far end of the passage came a faintly discernible aura—wild, chaotic, and so vast it was suffocating.

"Go," Popo ordered. "The next target timeline seems even more distorted than this one. Be ready, Gods of Spacetime Destruction."

Son Gohan took one last look at the prosperous West City below.

He didn't go say hello to this timeline's Son Goku or Vegeta, and he left no trace behind. Now that causality had been reset, the best thing for them, as visitors who didn't belong here, was to leave without a sound.

"Let's go, Trunks." Son Gohan pulled up his hood, covering most of his face.

"Right!" Trunks wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, his gaze firm once more.

They both burst into white auras and transformed into streaks of light, charging without hesitation into the iridescent passage through time and space.

Once their figures had disappeared inside, the passage quickly closed.

Only a faint breeze remained in midair, as if they had never been there.

Within the temporal and spatial currents,

Son Gohan and Trunks sped through the passage, protected by their golden Bracers.

The scenes flashing past on either side of the passage grew increasingly bizarre. Son Gohan even saw things that made no sense at all—Frieza, the emperor of the universe, drinking tea with the Supreme Kai, and a version of Earth in another timeline covered with mechanical life-forms that gleamed like metal.

"What is that?" Son Gohan stared at the red point of light growing larger at the end of the passage, his muscles gradually tensing.