Their Respective Battlefields - Echoes of Question and Answer

Three days after the first Fourth-Generation Martial Arts Tournament ended, the inter-universal communication channels of the Connection Sea remained bustling. Dozens of pages of thank-you letters from the Saiyan homeworld of Universe 6 had piled up in Bulma's granddaughter's inbox; before departing, the New Planet Namek delegation had left a complete set of introductory Qi Fractals textbooks in the dojo library; the people of the blue-skinned girl from Universe 4 had collectively written a song aboard their return ship, its lyrics roughly meaning, "This was our first time competing, but it definitely won't be our last." Nappa set the song as the training hall's background music and played it on repeat every morning. Lapis, expressionless, remarked, "It's more torturous than your extra training," yet he never changed it.

However, before the afterglow of the tournament had faded, the cross-law scanner at Earth's Lookout detected two entirely different anomalous signals at the same time. One came from the deepest reaches of Universe 6—a previously uncharted starfield had suddenly erupted with sustained high-energy fluctuations, their amplitude far exceeding that of an ordinary stellar collapse, while the waveforms contained pulse coding similar to a distress signal. The other came from a planet on the edge of Universe 7 called Planet Nata—a world marked on the star charts from Bulma's lifetime only as "agricultural civilization, harmless." Yet the energy fluctuation spectrum transmitted from its surface was now almost identical to the backup-power activation signal from Cell's embryonic incubation chamber all those years ago.

Bulma's granddaughter placed the two sets of data side by side on the holographic display. She adjusted the same model of goggles her grandmother had worn, remained silent for a moment, then said, "The two signals appeared simultaneously. That can't be a coincidence. I'll lead the team to Universe 6—the tenth-generation prototype cross-law scanner needs field testing, and there's no better testing environment than an unknown high-energy eruption. The signal from Planet Nata matches the activation waveform of Cell's embryo exactly. We've pursued this lead for decades—Talos's granddaughter, I'm leaving that to you."

Talos's granddaughter stood before the holographic display, watching the planet labeled "Planet Nata" slowly rotate on the star map. She had heard her grandfather tell the story of Cell's embryo countless times—the fourth underground level's incubation chamber, the hidden compartment holding the backup power source, and how Bulma had spent years unable to determine who had activated those power systems. That lead had gone cold for decades, only to suddenly light up again in an unremarkable region of space. She enlarged the surface scan and saw that beneath the facade of an agricultural civilization, deep within Planet Nata's crust, lay an intentionally concealed energy structure. Its arrangement was identical to the backup power systems in Dr. Gero's laboratory. She said nothing more, merely called two names over the communication channel—Lazuli's granddaughter, and that quiet Saiyan boy.

When the New Turtle Hermit departed from the Connection Sea starport, there were only three of them on the bridge. The Loner's pale golden sphere of light floated as usual above the main node of the Star Topology, its heartbeat pulses steady as ever, bathing the bridge's instrument panels in warm gold. The quiet boy sat at a secondary node, looking down at the child node on his chest, woven for him by Talos's granddaughter. It pulsed faintly, now completely synchronized with his own heartbeat. Lazuli's granddaughter rapidly tapped at the console on the main node, unfolding the surface-scan data of Planet Nata sent by Bulma's granddaughter layer by layer. Images of the energy structure beneath the crust emerged one after another on the large display. The circuit-like energy patterns were highly similar in structure to the backup power system on the fourth underground level of Dr. Gero's laboratory, only several orders of magnitude larger.

"Not wreckage." Lazuli's granddaughter stopped typing. "This laboratory is intact. Judging by the arrangement of the energy patterns—it's been operating all along. Cell's embryo backup power source wasn't an independent device. This laboratory activated it remotely."

Talos's granddaughter stared at the complete structure buried deep underground on the screen. After a moment of silence, she said, "So there's always been someone behind Dr. Gero."

The New Turtle Hermit entered cruising speed and headed for the edge of Universe 7. None of the three young people on the bridge spoke again, but the Loner's sphere at the Star Topology's main node shone a little brighter than usual—its heartbeat pulses sped up slightly, as though warning them of something.

Meanwhile, in the deepest reaches of Universe 6. Bulma's granddaughter sat on the bridge of the temporarily refitted research vessel Briefs. Her purple ponytail had never fluttered in sea wind, yet it drifted lightly beneath the air-conditioning vent. Beside her stood members of the new research team brought from Earth—a youth who had inherited both Saiyan blood and the Briefs family hair color was crouched beside the workbench, handing over wrenches, his tail swaying gently. He had grown up between two utterly different worlds: on one side was what his great-grandfather Vegeta had taught him—"A Saiyan's pride lies not in power, but in choice"—and on the other, the first engineering lesson his great-grandmother Bulma had taught him by hand. The name he had chosen for this ship had been rejected three times by Bulma's granddaughter before they finally settled on Briefs.

"The tenth-generation prototype cross-law scanner has been activated. Target: anomalous signal source, six light-years away. Estimated arrival time: forty minutes." The steady voice of Vegeta's great-grandson rang through the bridge of the Briefs.

Bulma's granddaughter aimed the scanner at that previously uncharted starfield. As they drew closer, the waveform on the large display became clearer and clearer—it was not a distress signal. The arrangement of those pulse codes was too regular, so regular that it did not resemble communication from any known civilization. It was more like a navigational beacon automatically broadcasting according to a preprogrammed routine. Its encoding format almost perfectly matched an ancient communications protocol she had seen in her great-grandmother's old notes—the very protocol unknown civilization Alpha had once used to establish contact with the Night Watcher Observatory.

"The anomalous signal source in Universe 6 is broadcasting with Alpha's communications protocol. The energy structure on Planet Nata is imitating Dr. Gero's backup power source. The Creator said back then that the reset protocol was never canceled, only that the authority to trigger it had been given to us—but now it seems that authority wasn't given to one civilization. It was given to every civilization that had ever been connected. Someone is testing us. It isn't an attack. It's a probe." Bulma's granddaughter placed the two sets of data side by side on the main display. "They want to know whether the Turtle Hermit School can still respond in this generation."

Meanwhile, the New Turtle Hermit had already entered Planet Nata's orbit. From space, Planet Nata looked like an ordinary green world, its surface covered with vast farmland and scattered villages, showing no traces of industrial civilization. Yet the vessel's cross-law scanner indicated that around thirty kilometers beneath the planet's crust was a completely intact underground complex, one whose existence predated the surface civilization by an unknown number of years. The quiet boy extended his senses to their limit. He could feel some sort of rhythmic energy pulse deep underground. Its rhythm bore a faint resemblance to the Loner's heartbeat, but it was colder, more mechanical, as though it were imitating the throb of life without understanding why.

"The surface civilization doesn't know what's underground." The boy rarely spoke, but his voice was soft and every word clear. "They farm above it while it keeps operating below. They've been used as cover without knowing it."

Talos's granddaughter parked the New Turtle Hermit in synchronous orbit, and the three descended in a small shuttle pod onto a wasteland far from the villages. The surface was cracked yellow earth dotted with sparse shrubs, but under the coverage of qi perception, the energy patterns of the underground complex dozens of kilometers below were distinctly visible. They followed an ancient passage that had been deliberately concealed downward. There was no lighting inside, but every so often, a dark-golden symbol had been engraved into the walls—the exact same frequency as the ancient script on the Creator's Leaf, though the carvings were newer and could not have been more than a few decades old.

"Dr. Gero discovered these ruins decades ago. He used technology deciphered from them to create Cell's embryo backup power source—an independent energy system capable of remote activation across universes. But he did not build these ruins themselves. They existed far earlier than Dr. Gero, even before the first cycle of cosmic evolution." Lazuli's granddaughter stopped and gently ran her fingers over a dark-golden symbol on the wall. The instant her fingertips touched it, the entire passage suddenly lit up with pale golden light. The symbols on the walls illuminated one by one as if awakened, extending a path of light toward the planet's core—not a trap, but an invitation.

They followed the light to the end of the passage. Beyond it was not another laboratory, but a vast spherical hall. A diamond-shaped crystal floated in the center, smaller than the main crystal of the Night Watcher Observatory but identical in shape and material. Sealed within it was an image—a final record left behind by a civilization from the first universe cycle. This civilization had taken a path wholly different from the Guides: the Guides had chosen to burn themselves into signposts, the Loner had chosen to wait alone in the void to be found, while this civilization had chosen to leave behind questions and answers.

The crystal activated automatically as the three approached, projecting an energy structure identical to the waveform of Dr. Gero's laboratory backup power source, yet older and more complex. "We are the Nage People. We created the first set of inter-universal communication protocols in the universe. Alpha learned our protocol and used it to send a response to the Creator. The Night Watchers inherited our observation technology and constructed the first observatory. But what we left behind was not an observatory. It was a question. In every universe about to be born, we buried a mechanism of questions and answers—not to test strength, but to test the manner of response. The previous Earthling who discovered these ruins saw only the superficial technology of energy transfer, and used it to create a backup power source. But he did not answer our question. You are the second group to come here. You may choose to answer, or you may choose to leave."

Talos's granddaughter watched the ancient energy patterns inside the crystal and remained silent for a long time. The previous person to discover this place had been Dr. Gero—he had seen only technology that could be used to create weapons and had never attempted to understand the meaning behind the symbols. He had treated the questions and answers as dead things, as components to dismantle and exploit. Thus, he had taken away the technology, but not the response. She took a deep breath and gently placed her hand on the surface of the crystal.

"We'll answer the question Dr. Gero never answered. Since the day it was founded, the Turtle Hermit School has always done the same thing—connecting every civilization willing to be connected. Not conquest. Not exploitation. It is telling them: someone is here."

The light within the crystal suddenly stabilized. Countless dark-golden patterns extended from its surface into every corner of the hall, illuminating the entire underground complex. The Nage People's question-and-answer mechanism, silent for an unknown number of billions of years, was formally activated for the first time. The voice of that ancient civilization sounded in everyone's hearts one final time. "Correct response. Not the answer—the attitude. From this moment onward, all Nage question-and-answer mechanisms shall be shut down. All Nage ruins remaining throughout the Twelve Universes will, from today onward, be open to every civilization. The complete technology of inter-universal communication protocols, the original blueprints for observatory construction, and portions of our records deciphering the Creator's laws—all shall be entrusted to you. Not because you are the strongest, but because you were the first to respond. Through the years of waiting, we once pessimistically predicted that if the first discoverer were an invader, he would take only the technology; if the second discoverer were also an invader, our questions and answers would be forgotten forever. But you are not. You are the second group, and the second group has given the right response. Thank you for not making us wait any longer."

A thin crack opened in the crystal, and countless points of light poured out from within, drifting slowly toward the New Turtle Hermit's bridge. At the same time, in the deepest reaches of Universe 6 tens of thousands of light-years away, the tenth-generation cross-law scanner on the bridge of the Briefs received a complete set of ancient communications protocols—perfectly synchronized with the energy structure released by the Nage Crystal. On the holographic screen, the unknown signal Bulma's granddaughter had spent days trying to decipher was fully decoded in an instant. The ancient communications protocol Alpha had once used to send the first response to the Creator was being completed piece by piece by the crystal.

"The Nage People." Bulma's granddaughter spoke softly. "There was a page in my great-grandmother's old notes that mentioned a name—'Nage.' She said Alpha had mentioned this civilization, but the Night Watcher Observatory had no complete records of them because they had voluntarily vanished before the first reset. So they didn't vanish. They hid. They hid in the corners of every universe, waiting for a civilization capable of answering their question."

The two signals were deciphered separately by two teams on the same day, and the reasons behind them converged at this moment across countless years. At the same time, the Nage People's question-and-answer mechanisms broadcast one final message to every universe. It was not a distress call, nor a farewell—only one sentence: "Those who come after us, please continue down the road we could not finish. The universe may not answer, but we must leave behind an answer."

On the bridge of the New Turtle Hermit, the Loner's heartbeat pulses quickened slightly upon receiving the broadcast, as though responding to an old friend not heard from in a long time. Deep beneath Planet Nata, the light of the Nage crystal slowly faded, and the entire complex returned from its activated state to stillness—not shut down, but on standby. The questions had been answered, and the ruins were open. Standing before the crystal, Talos's granddaughter took Mutaito's Notes from her robes. She turned to the newest page and wrote four lines: "Nage People—founders of the first-cycle universe's inter-universal communications protocol, guardians of the question-and-answer mechanisms. Formally connected to the Turtle Hermit School's network today. Fourth-generation disciples of the Turtle Hermit School: response successful." Then she closed the notes and bowed to the crystal.

As the New Turtle Hermit returned from Planet Nata's orbit and the Briefs turned around in the deepest reaches of Universe 6, the two young captains met each other's eyes for a moment through the holographic communication screen. Bulma's granddaughter adjusted her goggles, while Talos's granddaughter held a crystal fragment that had just finished receiving the Nage People's complete communications protocol. They spoke at almost the same time, then both fell silent when they realized the other was about to speak, before smiling at the same time.

"The Nage People's communications protocol is fully compatible with the cross-law scanner," Bulma's granddaughter said first.

"The observatory blueprints in the ruins can upgrade the Star Topology's relay network," Talos's granddaughter continued.

"When we get back, we'll go to the underground laboratory at the Lookout together—I'll draw the plans, and you assemble the parts."

"Deal."

The New Turtle Hermit slowly accelerated through the starlight of the Connection Sea, the hand-painted character for "Turtle" on its bow flickering faintly amid pale golden pulse ripples. After shutting off the holographic display, Bulma's granddaughter turned to Vegeta's great-grandson beside the workbench and said, "Your great-grandfather once said something at the Tournament of Power—'If twelve universes aren't enough, then weave farther.' Now the fourth generation has earned the right to say that." The youth set down his wrench, walked to the edge of the bridge, and gazed at the sea of stars newly marked by the Nage People's communications protocol. The Guides' pillars of light were still burning, the Loner's heart was still beating, and the Nage People's ruins had opened to the entire universe. He softly repeated his great-grandfather's words, then added his own: "There are more people farther away waiting to be connected—so we'll go farther."

On the beach outside Turtle Hermit House, the moonlight of Mount Paozu fell as always upon the orange dojo flag embroidered with the character for "Turtle." Goku and Vegeta sat side by side in rattan chairs at the entrance to the dojo, while the holographic display showed the patrol logs of the New Turtle Hermit and the Briefs in real time. Goku held a bowl of porridge as he finished reading the report on the Nage People's ruins sent by Talos's granddaughter. He was silent for a long time before breaking into a grin. "Vegeta, when we fought Frieza on Namek back then, we never imagined that one day the fourth generation would go answer a question left behind by an ancient civilization."

Vegeta did not answer, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. He flipped through the tenth-generation scanner test data sent back by Bulma's granddaughter—each waveform's analysis progress had been marked in the Briefs family's distinctive blue-violet ink, the handwriting exactly the same as her great-grandmother's had been when she was young.