Chapter 158: In the Blink of an Eye—Seven Years Later, the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament
At this moment, Krillin walked over holding the hand of a little girl and came up to Lin Qi. "Come on, let me introduce you. This is my daughter—Marron!"
"Oh… your daughter?!" Lin Qi's eyes widened in disbelief. When he left, these guys hadn't even started fighting the Androids yet!
And now, in the blink of an eye, Krillin had already married Android 18 and had a daughter this big?
"What time is it now?" Lin Qi looked toward Piccolo, who was sitting with his eyes closed in meditation.
Yamcha let out a scoffing laugh, casting a disdainful glance at Lin Qi for making such a fuss. "It's Age 774! The 25th World Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin in a bit!"
"You sure know how to show up at the right moment. Did you plan your arrival down to the minute?"
Lin Qi frowned. Wasn't the time he set supposed to be exactly seven years ago today? How did he end up skipping ahead seven whole years?
"Bulma, my time machine's out of power… and I think it's broken too!"
He handed the capsule to Bulma. "I'm guessing the energy shockwaves during the fight must've interfered with it…"
What a huge regret! Seven years—just gone like that… What a waste. An absolute waste!
The timeline he had left to surpass the Angels had now been cut from twenty years down to thirteen…
"Oh well, that's what you get for not being careful. I'll take a look after the tournament's over."
Bulma accepted the capsule and walked toward the lab. As she turned back, she added, "Can't guarantee how long it'll take to fix… I've got a lot on my plate!"
"Got it…" Lin Qi replied softly. He completely ignored Yamcha's taunts.
When a dog barks at you, do you bark back?
He gave Bulma a resentful glance. Sigh… why is it so hard just to fight his other self?
"So Goku died heroically fighting Cell, huh?" Lin Qi noticed Son Gohan standing nearby, smiling.
"Yeah. But through Fortuneteller Baba, Dad told us he'll be back today! I can't wait to see him again!"
Gohan didn't seem troubled by it. His memories of his father were still frozen in the moment Goku had teleported away with Cell.
He remembered that smile—not one of despair or grief from parting, but a smile of peace and fulfillment.
"Oh…" Lin Qi responded again. After bidding everyone farewell, he headed off to the God of Destruction's realm in Universe 4.
"Lord Quitela…" Lin Qi glanced around, but didn't see that yellow-furred rat anywhere. Only Cognac was there, casually sipping tea at the table.
"Lord Lin Qi! Where have you been all this time?" Cognac turned his head in surprise upon hearing Lin Qi's voice.
"The time machine messed up—I ended up on the wrong timeline!" Lin Qi shrugged nonchalantly and sat down beside him.
"Where's Lord Quitela? I've been gone for so long, he didn't go ballistic, did he?"
Cognac smiled faintly and gave him a reassuring look.
"Half a month after you left, Lord Quitela entered a deep sleep… Probably got bored and used sleep to pass the time!"
Only then did Lin Qi let out a half-relieved sigh. Otherwise, that annoying rat could really raise hell when he wanted to.
"Lord Lin Qi, it's best if you avoid using that time machine too much," Cognac said with a concerned look.
"Yeah, yeah…" Lin Qi waved dismissively and stood up. "Since Quitela's still sleeping, I'll just wander around some more!"
"Alright. Stay safe," Cognac replied with a warm smile and went back to sipping his tea.
Lin Qi didn't really have any clear plans. After a moment's thought, he decided to head back to Earth and wait for Bulma to repair the time machine.
Earth.
At the venue for the World Martial Arts Tournament, in a corner of the competitors' waiting area backstage—
"Lord Supreme Kai, I'm truly sorry. Even after three years on Earth, I still haven't been able to sense that overwhelming energy!"
A middle-aged man with white hair similar to an angel bowed and apologized to a short-statured figure.
"No, this isn't your fault, Kibito." Supreme Kai Shin raised a hand to stop Kibito from bowing.
Though Kibito served as the Supreme Kai's attendant and had similar white hair, he was not one of the angelic race.
Strictly speaking, Kibito wasn't even a true god—at best, he was more like a servant raised and trained by Shin. Aside from his powers of healing and instant transmission, he didn't possess much combat strength.
The younger figure wearing the Supreme Kai's uniform and hovering about thirty centimeters above the ground, face grave, was none other than Supreme Kai Shin.
"We must find Babidi. Even if we have to sacrifice some people… we're running out of time!!"
Of all the Supreme Kais in history, Shin was arguably the most humiliated and downtrodden.
In the past, he had watched helplessly as the other four Supreme Kais were killed one by one by Majin Buu right before his eyes.
Even the strongest, the South Supreme Kai and the Grand Supreme Kai, had been absorbed by Buu. That trauma left Shin deeply shaken.
As the youngest of the Supreme Kais, he might very well be the only one who didn't even know the Gods of Destruction existed.
His fear of Majin Buu led him to view Buu as the single greatest threat in the universe. Because of this, he'd spent years closely monitoring Babidi's every move from the Supreme Kai's Realm.
Even the Saiyans had only started catching wind of Babidi's presence on Earth in the past two or three years.
"Yes, Lord Supreme Kai… but can we really rely on those guys?" Kibito nodded, but couldn't help voicing his concern.
Whoosh!
Just then, Lin Qi appeared in midair above the tournament grounds—after all, it was easier to locate people from up high.
It didn't take him long to spot Goku, Vegeta, and the others, including a few with halos above their heads.
The group stood at the highest row in the audience, gathered together, pointing and chatting as they watched the arena below.
"This really brings back memories," Goku said, hands resting behind his head, a sigh of nostalgia escaping his lips.
"So many years have passed in a flash. I've lost count of how many tournaments have taken place…"
"Yeah… from those naïve kids back then, everyone's grown up and settled down," Krillin added with a warm smile.
"Hmph. In the Junior Division, Trunks is definitely taking first place!" Vegeta crossed his arms and coldly interrupted the sentimental moment, completely uninterested in their nostalgia.
"Hey…" Lin Qi landed quickly beside them.
Krillin grinned and waved. "Lin Qi, so you came after all! Come take a look—the Junior Division matches have already started!"
Lin Qi glanced over. Sure enough, Trunks was gearing up to face off against a skinny teenage boy in the ring.
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