Echoes of Connection

In the year 3021 of the Zeno Calendar, the Turtle Hermit School's inter-universal patrol ship, the "Turtle Hermit," officially entered service. Developed under Bulma's direction, this vessel incorporated Cell factors, remnants of Buu cells, Night Watcher Observatory technology, and an inter-universal communications protocol left behind by the unknown civilization Alpha. It could travel freely among the twelve universes, unrestricted by the laws of the God of Destruction Realm.

On the bridge, Goku lay sprawled over the console, flipping through Bulma's newly written operations manual—after page three hundred, it was nothing but formulas. Vegeta leaned against the bulkhead, the golden patterns within his deep-blue aura faintly flickering beneath the instruments' cold glow. Piccolo floated at the center of the holographic star map, dozens of Qi Fractal tendrils connected to the ship's sensory array, monitoring every known and unknown energy fluctuation within tens of thousands of light-years in real time. Krillin and Lazuli sat side by side at the primary and secondary nodes of the Star Topology. In the last row, Nappa loudly complained that the seats had not accounted for the shoulder width of elite Saiyan warriors, and Lapis replied expressionlessly, "The only thing custom-made for your build is the squat rack in the training chamber."

Talos stood before the observation window. Beyond it lay the void at the border between Universe 7 and Universe 8, where starlight was warped by gravitational lensing into flowing auroras. His daughter stood beside him, fifteen years old, her orange battle uniform slightly faded from washing, her tail wrapped around her waist. This was her first official patrol mission aboard the ship.

"Nervous?" Talos asked.

"Not at all. I've already learned how to distinguish heartbeats within inter-universal signals." His daughter raised her hand. In her palm condensed a golden point of light no larger than a grain of rice—a sub-node of the Star Topology, woven by her own hand. Lazuli's lips curved slightly at the main node, while Krillin whispered to Piccolo beside him, "That kid's definitely going to be stronger than me someday." With his eyes closed, Piccolo replied, "She's been stronger than you for a while."

The Turtle Hermit's first patrol target was the buffer star region between Universe 6 and Universe 7. The Night Watcher Observatory's data had marked that region with a large number of unresolved energy fluctuations. Their intensity was low, but their duration was extraordinarily long—they had existed since before the birth of the Night Watchers and had continued to the present day.

"The amplitude and frequency of these fluctuations have a ninety-seven percent match with Alpha's heartbeat." Bulma remotely connected to the bridge from the underground laboratory beneath Earth's Lookout. Dense data filled the holographic screen. "Alpha was the sole survivor of the previous reset. It existed alone in the void for the entire evolutionary span of one universe. These energy fluctuations are very likely memory fragments it left behind."

"Memory fragments?" Goku lifted his head from the operations manual.

"Not data, not images—something more fundamental. When a person's consciousness exists alone in the void for hundreds of millions of years, every memory becomes an independent energy crystal. When Alpha disappeared, it left its memories in this star region. If my theory is right, those memory fragments may contain the original records of the Creator's first cycle of universal evolution."

"Including the origin of the reset protocol," Talos said.

Piccolo's tendrils aimed the ship's sensory array toward the heart of that star region. In the densest area of memory fragments floated a spherical crystal. It was larger and older than the Night Watcher Observatory's main crystal. Its surface was covered in dark-golden patterns vibrating at exactly the same frequency as Creator's Leaf, while countless points of light slowly rotated within it—each one a sealed memory.

The Turtle Hermit docked before the crystal. Talos turned to his daughter. "We can't enter Alpha's consciousness core. Its memories are open only to lifeforms that can respond to it. When you disarmed that bomb last time, you traced Alpha's signal backward through qi perception. Your qi has already resonated with its memory fragments. This time, you'll establish the connection."

His daughter took a deep breath and formed a hand seal. The Star Topology sub-node unfolded in her palm, and the golden point of light drifted slowly toward the spherical crystal. The instant it touched the crystal's surface, the entire buffer star region was illuminated by dark-golden radiance. Memories poured forth from the crystal—not as holographic projections, but as scenes unfolding directly within everyone's hearts at once.

They saw the birth of the first cycle of universes. The Creator opened His eyes in the primordial void, and the embryonic forms of the twelve universes blossomed simultaneously in dark-golden light. Then came the first civilization—older than the Namekians, born before even the Gods of Destruction. They built the first observatory in the void and sent the Creator the first response. Then the reset began. All universes slowly folded together beneath dark-golden radiance, civilizations dissolving into specks of light. But in their final moment, those observers merged their consciousness into the breathing of the universe.

The second cycle of universes was born from the remaining points of light, and the Night Watchers inherited the previous cycle's mission of observation. When the third cycle of universes was born, an observatory left behind by the Night Watchers was discovered by a purple-haired boy. The image froze at the instant that boy reached out and touched the observatory crystal—that boy was Zeno.

"Zeno is the Night Watchers' inheritor." His daughter's voice trembled, yet every word was clear and resolute. "The Creator made Zeno the administrator of all universes because he was the first lifeform to touch the legacy of the previous cycle. The Creator had been waiting—waiting for someone to take up the Night Watchers' mission."

The images continued. Zeno appointed the Grand Minister, divided the twelve universes, and established the systems of Gods of Destruction and Angels. The scene shifted to Age 737, on Planet Vegeta. King Vegeta pressed the launch button, and three infant ships flew toward the same star region. Then came Earth, Mount Paozu, where Goku and Talos met for the first time. At the 22nd Martial Arts Tournament, King Piccolo's seal was reinforced once more by the Evil Containment Wave. On Namek, Frieza retreated amid the golden blaze of two Super Saiyans awakening. Cell's embryo was sealed in advance within a cultivation chamber on the fourth underground floor of the laboratory. Majin Buu collapsed when the accumulated internal damage in his genes reached its critical point. The God of Destruction Beerus awoke from his long sleep, and a Sphere of Destruction was deflected off course by three hundred and seventy-two Qi Net barriers. At the Tournament of Power, Universe 7's twelve warriors gathered all their strength into Talos's right fist. The Creator descended from the void, and the dark-golden fissure closed on its own before the seventy-two-hour countdown reached zero—then the image stopped before that door deep within the observatory.

His daughter lowered her hands from the seal. Tears ran down her cheeks and fell onto the bridge floor, but the corners of her mouth were raised. "Alpha wasn't a survivor of the previous reset. It was the echo of the first response sent to the Creator by the first civilization. The Creator waited through three entire cycles of universes, and at last received the answer He wanted—not silence, but connection."

Talos gently placed a hand on his daughter's head. On the holographic screen, Bulma removed her goggles. Goku did not smile for once, but something brighter than orange-gold flames burned in his eyes. Vegeta's mouth curved upward slightly. Piccolo retracted all his tendrils into his body, then pressed the all-frequency broadcast key. "Turtle Hermit calling Earth's Lookout in Universe 7. Data transmission beginning. Alpha's memory fragments have been fully decoded—the complete record of the Creator's first cycle of universal evolution. This data is open to the entire universe."

On the beach outside Turtle Hermit House, Master Roshi leaned on his cane and gazed at the night sky overhead, blanketed in starlight. Old Master Zhao sat beside him, flipping through Mutaito's Notes, which had been passed down through three generations. On the holographic screen, the footage Bulma had transmitted was playing—three infant ships slowly flying through the sea of stars toward the same azure planet.

"Teacher, did you see it? The final button King Vegeta pressed wasn't to save the Saiyans. It was to save all the universes." Master Roshi took off his sunglasses, wiped them with the corner of his robe, put them back on, and turned toward the kitchen. "The porridge is still hot."