"Because of you, many things in that world have changed."
"That's right."
"Did you also modify the time machine?"
"That's right."
"And the me in that world, is she still single because of you?"
"That's not right."
Bulma squinted her eyes, sizing up Ethan with a strange smile.
"Even if you don't admit it, wouldn't I know myself?" She casually lit another cigarette for herself, adopting a posture that screamed "I've seen through everything" and completely ignoring Ethan's denial.
"..."
Finding it impossible to argue, Ethan stopped explaining and sat there with Trunks, quietly waiting for news of the androids.
Catching the androids was quite troublesome because they had no energy and could not be located or searched for by sensing energy. The only thing they could rely on was the broadcast. When the androids were causing widespread destruction, public broadcasts would notify everyone which area the androids were in, simply to warn people not to approach that area.
"Want some?"
Casually taking out another can of beer, Bulma's gaze kept circling back to Ethan.
Although he knew Bulma would not actually devour him, being scrutinized like this felt strange. Just as he opened the beer and took a sip, Bulma suddenly said something that almost made him choke.
"Your build and appearance are exactly my type. The fact that you could modify the time machine shows you're very smart. No wonder I've been strung along by you and haven't looked for other men."
"..."
"Men should take responsibility!"
Just then, the broadcast sounded, giving the information about the androids that Ethan most wanted to know. He felt he could not stay here any longer, or this Bulma would torment him to the point of collapse.
"Do you need me to go with you?"
"No need, I can move faster by myself."
Ethan put down the beer can, left quickly, and immediately flew into the sky after leaving the house. After determining the direction, he flew toward the coordinates of the incident.
Bulma watched until Ethan was out of sight, then took another deep drag from her cigarette. "Oh dear, the me in the other world will need to work harder if she wants to be happy."
Trunks kept wiping sweat from his brow nearby, feeling his mother's earlier conversation was incredibly strange, but he did not know how to comment on his own mother. He could only sit there obediently and wait for Mr. Ethan to return.
Would Ethan encounter trouble? That was absolutely impossible!
The power gap between them was too large, not to mention Ethan had the controller that could deactivate the androids.
When he found the location of the incident, Android 17 and Android 18 were in the middle of causing destruction.
Compared to Android 17 and Android 18 he had seen in that timeline, these two androids had much worse tempers. They would slaughter innocents and cause widespread destruction at the slightest displeasure, treating such behavior as a game to relieve boredom. After witnessing this scene firsthand, Ethan felt even less burdened about dealing with these two.
He landed directly without deliberately hiding his presence, and as soon as he touched down, he was discovered by the two androids.
"Huh? I thought it was that idiot Trunks, but it's someone I don't know."
Android 18 released an energy blast to continue her demolition work, while turning her head to look at Ethan, confirming that she absolutely did not recognize this person and had never seen him before.
"Doesn't matter who he is. Anyone who tries to interfere with us, just kill them."
Android 17 leaned back on the hood of a nearby car, showing no intention of getting up. In his opinion, even the strongest on Earth, Trunks, was not much to worry about. This guy who appeared out of nowhere could easily be dealt with by Android 18.
"Eighteen, you don't need to vent your anger on a pile of garbage."
"You're right. This guy came at just the right time!"
Just as the androids were getting ready to have some fun, they saw Ethan suddenly pull out a palm-sized remote-like device. Having a phobia of such things, the androids immediately felt something was wrong.
"Could that be...?"
"That's right, it's exactly what you're guessing!"
"That's impossible!"
Ethan smiled and lightly pressed the only button on it. He was not in the mood to waste words with these two, nor was he interested in beating them up to let them feel the power gap before playfully activating the controller.
It was a simple matter, so why make it so complicated?
As Ethan pressed the switch, the two androids fell directly to the ground as if they had lost consciousness. Ethan then casually threw out two Capsule Corp capsules, which turned into two hibernation pods. He tossed the two androids inside and then put the pods away.
After doing this, the crisis in this world... uh, no, he almost forgot there was another guy.
Ethan carefully recalled the various details from the original plot. At this time, Cell seemed to no longer be in Dr. Gero's lab but was in his growth phase.
After growing into his perfect form a few years later, he would come out to search for Android 17 and Android 18. But by then, Android 17 and Android 18 had already been completely destroyed by Trunks, so Cell would turn his attention to Trunks, only to be killed by the significantly stronger Trunks, who had already known of Cell's existence.
He did not know where this guy was hiding now, but finding Cell was also simple. Once the Dragon Balls recovered, he could just use them to summon Cell before him.
Let's go back first!
Returning to Trunks and Bulma's home in West City, Ethan nodded at the mother and son, whose eyes were full of anticipation.
There was no imagined ecstasy. Both of them let out a long breath together. Bulma quietly sat back down in her chair and silently lit another cigarette for herself.
Ethan knew why Bulma smoked so much. All those friends from back then were gone, and she had no way to bring them back to life. Earth's situation was also getting worse and worse due to the androids' destruction. With so many terrible things piled up in her heart, she could only rely on smoking and drinking to numb herself.
"It's finally over..."
"No, this is just the beginning."
Ethan had not told Trunks his plan before. Trunks thought he was just here to catch Android 17 and Android 18.
"What do you mean?"
"Next, we need to restore this world."
"Restore the world? But the Dragon Balls..." Bulma immediately guessed Ethan's idea. "You want to go find Namek?"
"Yes!"
"But we have no idea where the Namekians are living now."
"Before coming here, I specifically remembered King Kai's energy. If we ask King Kai for help, finding the Namekians shouldn't be difficult."
Hearing Ethan say this, Bulma seemed to revert to her younger self, jumping up and tightly grabbing Ethan's arm.
"That's great! In that case, everyone can come back!"
Looking at Bulma, with tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, Ethan suddenly felt how correct his decision was. For him, it was just a small matter done incidentally, but for the two people in front of him, it was a brand new world.
"Trunks, want to go visit Namek together?"
Ethan's plan was to use the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Gohan and Piccolo. Gohan was the warrior in this world who best understood the situation, and his relationship with Trunks would also build trust.
As for Piccolo, it went without saying that Earth's Dragon Balls could only be restored if Piccolo was revived. Reviving Gohan first was also to gain Piccolo's trust. The Piccolo in this world did not know Ethan or the adult Trunks, so Gohan's help was needed.
"I wonder if these guys in the other world are still hanging out together, fighting and training every day?"
"What?"
"Nothing!"
He asked Trunks if he needed to bring anything else. After getting the answer that he did not, he told Trunks to put his hand on him, and Ethan closed his eyes, searching for King Kai's energy.
The planet where King Kai lived was in another dimension, making it quite troublesome to search for. If he had not specifically remembered that "coordinate" and energy, Ethan really would not have been able to find King Kai's location.
After thorough preparation, finding King Kai was not too difficult. In an instant, Ethan arrived on King Kai's small planet and met the King Kai with the peculiar build and two antenna-like feelers on his head.
"Hello, King Kai!"
"Who are you?"
King Kai was very surprised by Ethan's appearance. Ever since Goku died from illness, he had not paid much attention to Earth's situation and did not know what had happened there. So when Ethan and Trunks explained their purpose, King Kai was very surprised.
"You said you're from another parallel world?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... so that's how it is." King Kai wanted to see Ethan's true nature, but his scouter abilities were useless against this guy. Inside this person named Ethan, there was a power that made even him feel awe. He felt that things might not be simple. "You want me to help you find the location of the Namekians?"
"That's right. I hope to borrow the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Gohan and Piccolo, and of course, Goku as well."
Goku had been revived once using Earth's Dragon Balls before. Earth's Dragon Balls could only revive the same person once. Multiple revivals required using the Namekian Dragon Balls.
The situation was similar for the remaining warriors, and Ethan could not stay in this world for a long time just to revive these people one by one. Therefore, reviving Goku first was the priority. Goku could use Instant Transmission to travel between Earth and Namek and revive his friends one by one.
"Oh, I'll help you look."
King Kai and Goku had a very good relationship. Hearing that it was to help revive Goku, King Kai did not even consider refusing and quickly found the Namekians' new planet.
"Thank you for your help, King Kai!"
"It's King Kai!"
Ethan waved goodbye to him and left directly using Instant Transmission.
Just what is this guy's background?
King Kai decided to keep an eye on Ethan from now on to see what this mysterious guy really wanted to do.
He secretly watched the entire process of how Ethan collected the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Gohan, Piccolo, and Goku. From beginning to end, Ethan did not show anything strange.
(To be continued.)