New Generation

Morning light spilled over the edge of The Lookout, dyeing the entire plaza a pale gold. The Turtle Hermit School's new generation began its first cross-universe live combat exercise today. Twelve young disciples in orange uniforms stood in formation across the plaza, with Talos's daughter at the very front. Behind her stood Gohan, Goten, Trunks, young representatives of the Saiyans from Universe 6, the first trainees of New Planet Namek's combat lineage, and a blue-skinned girl from Universe 4—a universe that had never possessed a martial civilization. She had volunteered for the exercise.

The target was an abandoned Frieza Force outpost planet at the edge of Universe 7. There were two objectives: destroy all automated defense systems and dismantle three remaining high-energy bombs. Piccolo served as chief instructor, Tien Shinhan handled flank-firepower assessments, and Chiaotzu was responsible for coordinating paralysis-technique tests. Nappa and Lapis served as frontal-firepower instructors for the red and blue teams respectively. Nappa had trained this group for a full three years. Now, standing at the edge of The Lookout with his signature broken pillar slung over his shoulder, he grinned wider than ever. "Listen up! Whoever dismantles the bombs the fastest this time gets extra training from me personally when we get back! It's not punishment training—it's extra training! Extra training is the highest reward! Got it?!"

"Got it!" Twelve voices answered in perfect unison. Then the blue-skinned girl quietly asked Talos's daughter, "Why is extra training a reward?" Talos's daughter did not turn around, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly. "Because Uncle Nappa only knows how to express affection through extra training."

The exercise began. The red and blue teams entered the outpost planet's atmosphere at the same time. Talos's daughter led the red team through the frontal assault, her qi sensing fully unleashed. Every automated turret appeared as clear as a star chart within her sensory web. On the left, Gohan used Kamehameha blasts to precisely pick off anti-aircraft guns, while Goten used his newly learned Compressed Destructo Disc on the right to sever the power conduits. Trunks flanked from the rear, his tail swishing excitedly from side to side. The blue-skinned girl was responsible for dismantling the first bomb—she had never fought, but the precision of her energy sensing had naturally reached the submicron level, surpassing even Krillin's initial readings during his training at The Lookout years ago. Bulma monitored the bomb disposal process in real time through the remote communications channel, barely suppressing her obvious delight. "The third circuit has been severed successfully. She did it barehanded, without using any tools."

"How did she do that?" Tien Shinhan asked in The Lookout's central control room. Piccolo had all his eyes closed, his Qi Fractals tendrils synchronized with the sensory networks of every disciple on the outpost planet. "She can directly sense the emotions of energy circuits—she isn't using logic to determine which wire to cut. She's using empathy. I've never seen a gift like this."

Under Nappa and Lapis's frontal-firepower cover, the blue team broke in through the flank, swiftly clearing the underground bunkers with Infinite Barrage and Compressed Tri-Beam. When the two groups met in the central control room, they discovered that the third bomb's countdown had been activated early by an unknown signal—less than three minutes remained.

"It's not a malfunction." Bulma's voice suddenly tightened. "Someone activated it remotely. The signal source isn't on the outpost planet, and it isn't in Universe 7—it's a cross-universe signal. The activation method resembles Cell's backup power source from back then, but the encryption level is higher. I'm tracing the source."

Three minutes. Talos's daughter crouched in front of the bomb, her senses fully expanded. She could "see" the energy flow inside the bomb—every trigger fuse, every logic circuit, every disguised trap circuit, all laid bare within her perception. But unknown code kept flickering across the timer through that cross-universe signal, and she could not understand it. Gohan, Goten, and Trunks stood behind her. No one spoke. The blue-skinned girl gently tugged on her sleeve. "Don't be afraid. It isn't attacking us—it's testing us."

"How do you know?"

"Because its heartbeat is synchronized with the timer. This signal is alive."

Talos's daughter drew a deep breath and formed a hand seal. None of the bomb-disposal procedures she had learned mentioned a situation where "the signal is alive," but her father had once said—Crushing Fist had two uses, and bombs could be dismantled in two ways as well. She reached out and grasped the unknown signal wire pulsing along the bomb's casing, then traced the signal's path backward with her qi sensing. She was not dismantling the wire. She was following it to find the person at the other end.

In her perception, the cross-universe signal extended toward a region of space that no detector had ever marked. There were no planets there, only a mass of endlessly twisting dark-gold light and shadow. A voice so ancient that even Bulma's cross-law scanner could not identify it sounded within her mind. "You are the inheritors of the Night Watchers."

"No. We are the Turtle Hermit School." Her reply did not pass through the communications channel, yet that voice received it clearly. It fell silent for a moment. Then all the unknown code vanished from the timer, and the countdown froze at 0013 seconds. The third bomb had been safely dismantled.

Silence returned to the skies above the outpost planet. The twelve disciples of the new generation stood amid the ruins, their orange uniforms neatly arrayed beneath the starlight. Talos's daughter lowered her head and looked at her palm. The sensation of gripping that signal wire still lingered at her fingertips. She raised her head toward the stars and spoke into the communications channel. "He isn't an enemy. He only wanted to confirm whether we were the inheritors of the Night Watchers. I told him—we are the Turtle Hermit School."

In The Lookout's central control room, Bulma marked the traced coordinates on a holographic star map. The endlessly twisting dark-gold light and shadow were labeled: "Unknown Civilization Alpha—Pending Exploration." She pushed up her goggles and softly murmured something only she could hear. "After the Night Watchers, there are still Night Watchers."

Master Roshi stood at the edge of The Lookout with his cane, watching the new-generation disciples return to the plaza one after another. He took off his sunglasses and wiped them with the corner of his shirt. "Teacher, did you see that? The new generation can dismantle bombs on their own now. And they did it even more beautifully than when I taught you back then."