Android 20's Last Trump Card

"God?" Trunks had only ever heard of Kami, and Kami was nowhere near this unfathomably powerful. He had never heard of the man before him, who called himself a God of Destruction—and what made him shudder even more was that, the instant he saw him, every cell in his body had frantically sounded the alarm: This man was terrifying. Extremely dangerous.

Malvis removed his hand from Trunks's shoulder, walked around to stand before him, then turned his back to him. "I bear you no hostility. If I wanted to deal with you, you'd already be dead. I'm merely interested in you—or, more precisely, in the timeline you come from."

From the moment he had arrived in this timeline and confirmed that it was the Android era, Malvis had thought of Future Trunks and the timeline he came from. This timeline had never had a God of Destruction before; the will of the universe had directly nurtured him into existence. Then what about Trunks's timeline? Did it also have a God of Destruction? Or was it, like this one, still vacant to this day?

Over the past three years, he had destroyed quite a few planets, but the Destruction Points he had accumulated were still far from enough to exchange for Ultra Instinct or Ultra Ego. They were only enough for a few godly techniques with limited use. He had, however, exchanged them for some training methods and techniques for controlling his power—better than nothing.

"My timeline?" Trunks became even more wary.

"You should have realized it too—everything you do won't change your own future. It will only create an entirely new timeline."

Trunks froze slightly. A trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes, but he quickly composed himself. "I'd suspected as much myself, but hearing it from someone else still feels a little disappointing."

"There's no need to be nervous. I only want to confirm a few things. I won't have any negative impact on your timeline." Malvis paused. "In exchange, I can train you for a while."

Trunks did not answer, but his taut nerves had already eased somewhat. From their brief exchange just now, if the other party truly harbored any ill intent, there was nothing he could do to stop him.

"I know you're still conflicted. Take your time and think it over."

The moment he finished speaking, an explosion suddenly rang out from the direction of the distant rocky hills. Smoke, dust, and flames shot into the sky. "Looks like things are almost over there too. Trunks, want to take a look?"

Trunks nodded and was about to fly over when Malvis appeared beside him again, placing a hand on his shoulder. "No need to make it so troublesome."

The next instant, both of them vanished. When they reappeared, they were already hovering above the battlefield.

Piccolo and the others, who had been confronting Android 20, all turned around at once.

"Trunks?"

"What?" Vegeta wore a bewildered expression upon hearing Piccolo call that name, but he quickly seemed to figure something out.

Trunks looked down at Android 20 below, the confusion in his eyes deepening.

"What's wrong? Never seen him before?" Malvis was not surprised by his expression.

The others also noticed the man who had appeared alongside Trunks—though in truth, he was hard to miss. Just like the Android below, they could not sense any ki from him at all.

"Trunks, who is he? Is he an Android too?" Piccolo asked directly.

Trunks hurriedly introduced him. "This is... Lord God of Destruction, a very powerful god." He hesitated when it came to the name—he did not know the other party's name and could only state his divine title.

"My name is Malvis," the man said calmly. "Just as Trunks said, I am a god."

"What God of Destruction? Never heard of one." Vegeta's tone was disdainful.

Malvis ignored him. After all, he needed a favor from the man's son. He could hardly beat up the boy's father—though even if he did, no one would have the right to blame him.

As everyone chatted casually, their attention drifted away from Android 20. Android 20 secretly rejoiced—his chance to escape had come. He rapidly assessed the situation: the two newly appeared individuals had no records in the database, and their combat power was unknown. Yet judging solely by the fact that they had openly appeared here in an instant, their level of power could be determined to be no lower than Piccolo's and the others'. The probability of survival if he remained—below 5%.

He had to flee back to the laboratory. As long as he activated Android 17 and Android 18, the odds of victory could be brought back under control.

As everyone was talking, an aircraft flew toward them. Taking advantage of their attention being drawn away, Android 20 issued a threat. "I told you, you have no chance of winning! Android 17 and Android 18 will soon come and kill you all!" With that, he detonated his own energy to destroy the terrain. The explosion kicked up billowing dust and smoke that obscured everyone's vision. Then, taking advantage of the complicated terrain and his lack of ki, he fled frantically toward the laboratory.

Such tricks were meaningless in Malvis's eyes, but he had no intention of intervening. The Z Fighters of this timeline still needed tempering; forcing their growth would do them no good. Of course, he could train them and rapidly raise their strength—but that would be far too boring. A God of Destruction's duty was to maintain balance, not solve every problem for mortals. As for training Trunks—that was another matter. It was a transaction.

Elsewhere, Bulma, who had been caught up in the explosion, was rescued by Trunks. With young Trunks in one arm and Bulma held in the other, he landed steadily on the ground.

The moment Bulma landed, she anxiously looked around for her son. "Trunks~ Trunks~"

Trunks held the still-crying baby out to her. Bulma took the child, finally breathing a sigh of relief, then looked up at the teenager. "Thank goodness! Thank you, little brother."

Hearing himself called "little brother," Trunks paused slightly, then looked up in displeasure at Vegeta, who was still searching the skies for the Android's whereabouts.

Watching this scene from the side, Malvis could not help shaking his head faintly. Vegeta's understanding of the concept of "family" was still vague at this point, but compared to before, he had already changed quite a bit. Earth truly had some kind of magic—it could change so many people.

Just as Vegeta was about to fly away, Trunks blocked his path. "Why didn't you save her just now? Were you really going to stand there and watch her die?"

"What?"

"Isn't she your wife? And your child?"

"Boring. I have no interest in that sort of thing." Vegeta replied coldly. "Stop getting in my way." With that, he flew straight past Trunks and continued searching below for Android 20.

Malvis watched the receding figure, amusement flickering in his eyes. So this is the proud Saiyan prince? He really is awkward. He clearly wanted to save them just now, but stopped when he saw Trunks move first.

He had seen it more clearly than anyone—at the instant of the explosion, Vegeta had already turned toward Bulma. But Trunks had moved a step faster, so Vegeta had forcibly halted himself and instead gone after Android 20. Afterward, he had glanced this way several times, only fully focusing on the search after confirming that Bulma was unharmed.

As for why he was pursuing Android 20 now, perhaps he wanted to defeat him—or perhaps he wanted to vent Bulma's anger for her.