Returning home to West City, Ethan immediately got busy.
Because he had brought back a lot of Dr. Gero's research data, Dr. Brief and Bulma also joined the research team.
"Is this the design blueprint for the androids? What a genius design!"
Dr. Brief looked at the android blueprints, then glanced at the androids nearby, and instantly knew how to repair Android 16's damaged cheek.
Android 16 had not asked Dr. Brief for help, but Dr. Brief was not willing to miss such an opportunity. He kept circling Android 16, practically itching to pin him down on the laboratory bench.
"Bulma, build that controller first."
Hearing Ethan say this, both Android 17 and 18 shivered. Although Ethan had mentioned before that he was from another world and knew many things about the future, they had not expected him to know even such details.
"What are you going to do?"
"Naturally, it's to capture the two androids from Trunks' world completely unharmed."
It was hard to guarantee that nothing would go wrong in a fight. If they could be stopped using the controller, it would save a lot of trouble.
"You're going to Trunks' world?"
"Yes!"
After Ethan briefly explained his plan, Bulma suddenly wanted to go there and see, but he was not planning to take anyone with him this time.
While Ethan and Bulma were formulating the next research plan, Krillin also found Goku and explained the situation to him.
"So that's how it is!"
Goku nodded. Although he had long felt that Ethan might be hiding something, he had never expected the truth to be like this.
"Uh, Goku, don't you think Ethan's plan is a bit dangerous?"
"What's wrong?"
"Ethan is preparing to let Cell evolve into his Perfect form! According to Ethan's description, once Cell evolves into his Perfect form, he will become extremely powerful."
"Oh, that... Actually, I really want to see Cell's Perfect form too."
"..."
Goku had Saiyan blood flowing through him. The pursuit of strong opponents was their instinct. If they wanted to eliminate enemies while they were still in their infancy because they were too strong, they would not need to wait for the androids to appear on their own. They could have just used the Dragon Balls to find Dr. Gero's location in advance and killed him.
So the stronger Cell was, the more interested Goku became. He now just wanted his body to recover quickly so he could have a good fight with Cell.
"Hmm... Although I'll have to compete with Ethan for the chance to fight. He went first against Frieza last time, so this time it should be my turn, right?"
"..."
Krillin had a headache. Goku was actually concerned about something like this. He could only sigh. This was Goku!
Then he went to see Ethan again.
Trunks had already taken out his time machine. Bulma, Ethan, and Dr. Brief were carefully conducting various studies without damaging the machine itself.
Everything was proceeding according to Ethan's plan, especially when someone quickly called Capsule Corporation, saying they had found a strange object. After seeing the photos sent over, it was confirmed to be the time machine Cell had used.
Trunks and Gohan were responsible for retrieving that time machine. With this time machine, Ethan could gain a more detailed understanding of the time machine's structure and operating principles, making it easier for him to modify Trunks' machine.
And before starting the modification work, there was one more thing Ethan needed to do.
"What? Go see King Kai?"
"Yes!"
"Why go see King Kai?"
Goku did not refuse, but was curious why Ethan would want to see King Kai. He should not have any relationship with King Kai, right?
To Goku, Ethan revealed the plan he had not told Trunks.
"Since I'm preparing to save Trunks' world, I'm not going to do a half-baked job. So I want to use the power of the Dragon Balls to give that world a better ending."
"Oh, you want to find Planet Namek!"
According to Ethan's previous account, without Ethan's involvement, Planet Namek would be completely destroyed by Frieza. After being revived using the Earth's Dragon Balls, the Namekians used the power of the Dragon Balls to travel to a new planet suitable for their life.
They did not know where this New Namek was, so Ethan wanted King Kai to help find it. Not the King Kai of this world, but the King Kai of Trunks' world.
Ethan had no relationship with King Kai, and more importantly, he had never met King Kai before, so he did not know what King Kai's energy felt like. Therefore, even though he had Instant Transmission, he could not directly teleport to King Kai.
"So you want to meet King Kai first, remember his energy signature, and then it will be easier to find him in that world?"
"Exactly!"
If things went smoothly, Trunks' world could not only be restored to its pre-disaster state, but even the Goku and others of that world could potentially be revived.
This way, Trunks would not have to bear the safety of the entire Earth on his shoulders alone.
"I'll take you to see King Kai first."
"Okay!"
With Goku leading the way, seeing King Kai was easy. Besides, Ethan was not asking this King Kai for help. He was just going to see King Kai and remember his energy characteristics, so that he would know how to find him once he got to that world.
After returning from King Kai's place, Ethan began to focus his attention on modifying the time machine.
The modification went smoothly. What Ethan needed to do was not change the time machine's operating principles or anything else. He just needed to make some adjustments to the shape so the time machine could carry more people.
Of course, adding one person meant consuming more energy. However, energy technology was not a problem for Ethan. His mind contained energy technologies from countless worlds. He did not even need to use everything. Just using part of his knowledge to optimize this machine solved the problem.
It was at this point that Bulma and Dr. Brief realized that Ethan still had so many good things in his head that he had not taken out, which made both of them quite unhappy.
"Why hide so many good things? You should take them out!"
No one doubted the origin of this knowledge, because according to Ethan, he was from another world and knew about the events everyone had experienced. Everyone thought Ethan, like Trunks, was from some future world, although saying so was not entirely wrong.
"We'll talk about it later!"
The time machine modified by Ethan was no longer its original rocket-like shape. It looked like an ordinary medium-sized aircraft and had high-speed flight capabilities.
Preparations were complete. With the controller capable of stopping the androids ready, Ethan and Trunks sat side by side in the pilot and co-pilot seats.
Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar control panel in front of him, Trunks felt a bit nervous. The control panel, modified by Ethan, was a combination of a touchscreen and holographic display, and there were very few mechanical buttons left.
Fortunately, the general layout and functions had not changed much. After studying it for a while, Trunks figured out how to operate it.
"How about I do a test run by myself first?"
They had never time-traveled together before, and it was a new time machine that had undergone a complete modification, so Trunks felt uncertain.
"I'm not worried, so what are you worried about?"
"But if something goes wrong, who will deal with Cell?"
"Even without me, there's Goku, Yoruichi, and Piccolo. If he fuses with Kami again, his combat power won't be much worse than mine and Goku's."
Piccolo's strength was already very high now. Although he had not fused with Nail and would not become a Super Namekian, he could regain his true potential. As long as he was given time, he could also become incredibly powerful.
Trunks had something else he had not said, which was what would happen to his world if he died.
Ethan knew what he was thinking and gently patted Trunks' shoulder, comforting him, "Don't worry, nothing will happen!"
Unfortunately, this kind of comfort was useless. Anyone could say that with just their mouth. Trunks could only force a smile and comfort himself in his heart. The first time he time-traveled, he had not been sure he would succeed. Even in the subsequent trips, there was still a risk of failure, so this time was no different from the previous ones.
While telling himself this, he started the time machine.
Through the glass, he could see everyone standing not far away, watching him. Trunks forced a smile, telling everyone not to worry.
In comparison, Ethan was much calmer. Although his strength had not recovered, his vision and senses were already strong enough, and he had a detailed understanding of the time machine's operating principles. If something really went wrong, he would definitely discover it earlier than Trunks.
There were no abnormal energy fluctuations, meaning everything was going smoothly. For Ethan, it was like taking a plane to buy groceries somewhere.
Moreover, time travel was even faster than flying out to buy groceries. He closed his eyes and opened them, and they were already in another world.
"We're here?"
Trunks let out a long breath, looking at the data. It seemed everything had gone smoothly. He turned and gave Ethan a big smile.
"We're here!"
Stepping out of the time machine, Ethan stood on the deserted street and looked around.
This should be West City, but unlike the lively and prosperous metropolis he lived in, this place was very dilapidated and quiet. After standing for a while, Ethan did not sense many energy signatures nearby.
To be precise, he only sensed one person, inside the dilapidated warehouse ahead.
"Bulma?"
This energy signature was very familiar, but it was slightly different from the Bulma he knew.
Just then, Bulma, whose face already showed a hint of age, walked out of the building ahead with a cigarette in her mouth, then looked at Trunks and the completely transformed time machine with a strange expression.
"Trunks? Is something wrong?"
(To be continued.)