"What?"
After hearing the whole story, Trunks' mouth hung open.
"M-Mom, you're saying that you..."
Before he could finish—
Bulma waved her hand.
"I'm not your mother. You should call me Aunt Bulma instead."
Although Trunks was Bulma's son, the two Bulmas were not the same person. Besides, she had made the same request to the other Future Trunks she had met.
"Aunt... Bulma?"
The title felt incredibly awkward to Trunks.
"So you're saying you've been to another future timeline, and that's why you know everything about me?"
"That's right."
"..."
Trunks fell silent.
He had no reason to doubt the young Bulma standing before him.
If she hadn't visited another future timeline herself, how could she possibly know so much?
Still...
He had never imagined that after he and his mother struggled so desperately to return to the past, someone else had already known everything that would happen in the future.
Meanwhile...
The Z Fighters had gathered together, trying to process both Trunks' identity and everything that had happened in the future timeline.
"I never thought Vegeta would have a son like this in another timeline."
Nappa rubbed his bald head, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Nappa, you're saying that awfully loud."
Raditz laughed.
"Aren't you afraid Vegeta will beat the crap out of you?"
Hearing that, Nappa immediately covered his mouth.
Over on Krillin's side, he clenched his fists.
"So Goku really develops a heart virus..."
"No wonder that future timeline ended in such a tragedy."
Tien let out a long sigh of relief.
"It's a good thing we learned all this ahead of time."
"Otherwise, our timeline would've been doomed."
At that moment...
Goku stepped forward and stopped in front of Trunks.
"Since Bulma says you're the son of the Bulma from another timeline..."
"What exactly did you come here for?"
"I came back to the past to give you, Uncle Goku, the medicine for your heart virus."
"I wanted to change the future..."
"But I don't understand why history has already changed so much."
Looking utterly devastated, Trunks muttered,
"Could my arrival have caused history to diverge?"
Medicine for the heart virus?
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
Just moments earlier, Shenron had already cured Goku's heart disease.
And now this young man had traveled from the future carrying the very medicine meant to save him.
The repeated confirmations surrounding the Android Crisis made one thing perfectly clear—
Everything that happened in the future timeline was one thousand percent real.
"So that's why you came—to give me the medicine."
Goku shook his head with a smile.
"Unfortunately, Shenron already cured my heart disease."
"So... I don't need it anymore."
"..."
Only then did Trunks realize that the Shenron who had appeared earlier had been summoned by Goku and the others.
"Trunks..."
"You never actually traveled into your own past."
"You only arrived in another parallel timeline..."
Bulma looked at him with sympathy.
She had personally visited another future timeline before.
She had witnessed firsthand just how tragic that ruined world was.
And now...
This Trunks had also used a time machine to travel to the "past" in search of hope.
Could every future timeline really end in such misery?
After listening to Bulma explain the time paradox, Trunks' body suddenly swayed.
His face turned deathly pale, as if the last glimmer of hope in his heart had been extinguished.
"So that's why history changed so much..."
"I never truly returned to the past."
"Which means..."
"My world can never be changed..."
Holding his head, Trunks struggled to accept the cruel truth.
The other Z Fighters exchanged silent glances.
Now that they fully understood the situation, they couldn't help but pity the young man before them.
"Goku..."
"Why don't you help him somehow?"
Krillin walked over, unable to bear seeing Trunks suffer.
"After all, he's still Bulma's son."
"I want to help..."
Goku sighed.
"But I honestly don't know how."
The boy's purple hair clearly came from Bulma's side of the family.
Although the Bulma from that timeline wasn't the same Bulma he knew, he still couldn't bear to watch Trunks suffer simply because of that connection.
"Vegeta."
"He's your son."
"Can't you think of something?"
Even Raditz couldn't help speaking up.
Vegeta remained silent.
Seeing that he refused to answer, Nappa also tried to persuade him.
"Even if you don't acknowledge him as your son, he's still a Saiyan."
"Aren't you, the Prince of all Saiyans, going to help one of your own?"
"Both of you, shut up!"
Vegeta felt nothing but frustration.
His emotions were in complete turmoil.
In his mind, the woman he liked was clearly Tights.
Yet another version of himself had somehow ended up having a son with Bulma.
The moment he thought about Bulma's connections to Gran, Beerus, Whis, and the other gods...
A chill ran down his spine.
A woman with backing that powerful...
Who in their right mind would dare provoke her?
"Kakarot already said it."
Vegeta shook his head.
"Even if we wanted to help, we don't have any way to do it."
For a while, no one knew what to say.
The area fell into complete silence.
After some time...
Trunks finally managed to calm himself.
He looked at Bulma.
He almost called her "Mom," but the word stopped at his lips.
"...Aunt Bulma."
Then he turned toward everyone else.
"Uncle Goku."
"Uncle Vegeta."
"Uncle Piccolo..."
One by one, Trunks addressed everyone gathered around him.
Finally, his gaze settled on Raditz and Nappa.
"These two must be Uncle Raditz and Uncle Nappa."
From their appearances alone, he recognized them as the two Saiyans who had always followed his father.
He still couldn't understand why Raditz and Nappa were alive in this timeline...
But that was no longer important.
"Everyone..."
"The Androids will appear at 10:00 a.m. on May 12th, three years from now, on a small island located nine kilometers southwest of South City."
END OF CHAPTER
Disciple of Beerus - MrBehringer's Secret
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