"No… I have to go save Gran!"
Bulma was anxious. As she operated several auxiliary machines, the octopus-shaped device was rapidly completed.
If Gran were here, he would instantly recognize it—
this so-called "octopus machine" was, in fact, a Time Machine.
According to the original timeline, Bulma would only first come into contact with a time machine after Future Trunks arrived in this era.
But now…
Bulma and Dr. Briefs had literally built one from scratch, relying purely on theory.
"Bulma, this machine is entirely based on theoretical design. I can't guarantee it will actually work. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes!"
"…Alright. Suit yourself. All that's left now is the energy source. Once it's ready, you can try activating it."
"Thank you, Dad."
"Well, you are my daughter. Sigh… you and your sister are both equally stubborn."
"Oh, right—Dad, my sister will be back on Earth in a few months, so you don't have to worry about her."
"I'm not worried about Tights—I'm worried about you. This is—"
"Don't worry, Dad. I'll come back!"
As deities, Beerus and Whis naturally overheard everything inside the lab—
yet even they couldn't figure out what Bulma was truly planning.
Bulma stored the Time Machine back into its capsule form, stepped out of the laboratory, greeted the two in the yard, and then flew into the sky.
"That girl's acting really strange…"
Lying on a beach chair, Beerus watched her ascending figure, completely baffled.
Whis, however, narrowed his eyes.
He already had a guess—
but even he found it hard to believe.
Could a mere mortal really achieve something like this?
Meanwhile…
Unaware of Whis' thoughts, Bulma arrived above a small island. The island had nothing but a single house.
She landed and called out:
"Krillin!"
"Hm?"
A bald man quickly ran out—it was Goku's close friend, Krillin.
"Bulma? What are you doing here?"
"Here—take this."
Bulma tossed him a capsule.
Krillin caught it. "What's this?"
"There's a gravity chamber inside. When Goku returns from King Kai's planet, give it to him."
Bulma had already learned from Earth's Guardian that Goku had been taken to the Other World and was now training on King Kai's planet.
"And you?"
"I've got something to take care of. See you."
Bulma immediately took off again.
Watching her leave, Krillin couldn't calm down for a long time.
At some point...
Bulma had learned how to fly.
Back on Bulma's side.
After arranging the gravity chamber, she could now focus entirely on gathering energy.
She began searching for a rare blue crystal ore.
This mineral was the energy source required to power the Time Machine—
and it existed in large quantities only within the Earth's core.
With her current power level of 10,000, reaching the Earth's core with protective gear wasn't difficult.
Three months passed.
Bulma finally gathered enough energy for four activations of the Time Machine.
In other words—
she could travel back and forth between two different timelines, twice.
"Almost… almost there! Gran, you have to hold on in the space-time rift!"
However, the blue crystals still needed to be refined into liquid form.
So she began another phase of processing.
Another month passed.
At last, the energy was fully refined.
And time had advanced to Age 761.
Recently, Goku had returned from King Kai's planet. It was said that he had learned two powerful techniques:
Kaioken
Spirit Bomb
Not only that—
his power level had skyrocketed from a few hundred to 8,000.
Meanwhile, Bulma's sister Tights had also returned to Earth from space.
According to Whis' earlier estimate, Vegeta and his group would arrive on Earth in about half a year—around mid–Age 761.
But…
Bulma no longer cared about any of that.
All she wanted...
was to bring Gran back from the space-time rift.
On a small island in the southern part of Earth.
Bulma arrived alone.
She selected a capsule from her case and tossed it to the ground.
Boom!
In an instant, it transformed into the octopus-shaped Time Machine.
Bulma rose into the air, opened the hatch, and jumped inside.
"Time Machine… don't let me down!"
She began operating the controls rapidly, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
First, she set the starting coordinate—the anchor point that would allow her to return to this timeline.
Once everything was ready, she closed the hatch.
Taking a deep breath, she silently repeated to herself:
This has to work.
After steadying her emotions—
she pressed the activation button without hesitation.
Buzz!
The engine roared to life.
The Time Machine slowly lifted into the air.
"It's working… it's actually working!"
Bulma's eyes shone with hope.
"Gran, I'm coming! You have to hold on!"
In the next instant.
the Time Machine plunged straight into a space-time rift.
At the same time, far away at Bulma's home.
Beerus and Whis suddenly leapt up from their chairs.
Holding his staff, Whis exclaimed in shock:
"A mere mortal… actually succeeded?!"
Beerus stared at him sharply.
"You knew all along she was trying to manipulate time, didn't you?!"
"I had my suspicions, but I wasn't certain. I didn't expect her to actually succeed."
"Then why didn't you tell me?! She's tampering with time!"
"Well then…"
Whis said playfully,
"When Bulma returns, are you going to destroy her?"
"..."
Beerus fell silent.
He glanced at the table beside him, piled high with delicious food, his fists tightening.
Two minutes passed.
"…She's probably trying to enter the space-time rift to save Gran. How foolish."
Then he shot Whis an annoyed look.
"This is your fault! Why didn't you tell her that Gran was taken away by Chronoa?"
"I was going to," Whis replied calmly, "but she walked into the lab before I could finish."
"Hmph. You just wanted to see whether a mortal could actually build a Time Machine, didn't you?"
"Oh ho ho~ Looks like Beerus-sama figured it out."
Whis covered his mouth, chuckling.
"..."
Beerus was speechless.
So it really was exactly as he suspected—
this guy was far too devious!