Watching Beerus walk into the Temple of Destruction, Gran rolled his eyes.
So this guy was really planning to dump all the work on him again.
Gran raised his middle finger at Beerus's retreating back before glancing around the area.
Nearby, Whis was using magic to clean up the leftovers from their meal.
Gran returned to the table, poured two cups of tea, and slowly took a sip from one of them.
After finishing the cleanup, Whis sat beside him and picked up the other cup.
The two quietly drank their tea.
The God of Destruction's Planet was unusually peaceful.
Whis suddenly asked,
"You're planning to go to Earth next?"
"Yeah. Do you want to come?"
"With so much delicious food on Earth, of course I'm going," Whis said with a cheerful smile.
Gran stood up and nodded.
"Alright then. Let's go."
But after waiting for a moment, he noticed something strange—
Whis hadn't placed a hand on his shoulder yet.
?
Gran frowned slightly and turned around.
Whis was standing behind him, seemingly lost in thought.
"Whis, what's wrong?"
"Gran."
Whis called his name.
Gran didn't speak—he simply nodded.
The atmosphere on the God of Destruction's Planet suddenly became heavy.
Whis looked unusually serious.
"The punishment issued by Lord Zeno this time… gives me a very ominous feeling."
"?"
Gran froze.
Whis was an angel.
If even an angel felt a bad premonition, then the matter was no small issue.
"Is something going to happen?" Gran asked, his expression turning serious as well.
"The mortal level of Universe Nine is only 1.86, yet Lord Zeno still didn't erase it… and now…"
Whis paused.
Finally, he sighed softly.
"Never mind. Perhaps I'm just overthinking things."
"..."
Gran said nothing.
He simply stared at Whis.
After thinking about it, he realized that in the original anime, the Zeno Universe had never faced any real crisis.
Well… except in certain fan works.
For example, villains from the Demon Realm such as Demigra and Mechikabura had tried to destroy the universe.
But in Gran's opinion, those guys probably weren't even stronger than Beerus.
And even if they surpassed Beerus, there was no way they could be stronger than Whis.
So what kind of threat could such trash possibly pose to the Zeno Universe?
"Stop thinking about it. I'm probably worrying too much."
Whis placed his hand on Gran's shoulder and shook his head.
"Even if something does happen, it won't be our turn to deal with it. Let's go."
"Alright."
Gran nodded and stopped dwelling on it.
Just as Whis said—
If the sky collapsed, the tall ones would hold it up first.
If even the tallest ones couldn't handle it, then someone like him would be even more useless.
However…
A faint sense of crisis still formed in his heart.
It seemed he would need to pay closer attention to the developments within the Zeno Universe.
He wanted to see exactly why Whis had felt such an ominous premonition.
With a soft whoosh—
Gran finally activated Instant Transmission.
In an instant, he disappeared from the God of Destruction's Planet, bringing Whis and Broly with him.
Earth — West City
The Capsule Corporation Estate
The sun was shining brightly.
In the garden, beneath a large parasol, a youthful and beautiful woman was enjoying her afternoon tea.
While sipping her tea, she muttered to herself:
"According to what Gran said before, the battle of the God of Destruction candidates should have taken place recently."
"It's already been so long… so why can't I get in touch with Whis or Gran?"
The woman was none other than Bulma.
She was now 26 years old.
However
Years ago, she had asked Gran and Whis for a wish to maintain eternal youth.
So even after all this time, she looked no different from an 18-year-old girl—still youthful and radiant.
"Could it be that the competition still hasn't ended?"
"Or… did something happen to Lord Gran?"
Bulma began to feel uneasy.
As a resident of Universe Seven, she naturally hoped that their universe had won the competition.
"No, I need to ask Shenron what's going on."
Bulma turned around, preparing to retrieve the Dragon Radar.
Suddenly—
Whoosh!
Three figures appeared behind her.
"Bulma, where are you going?"
The voice was extremely familiar.
Bulma's eyes widened as she quickly turned around.
Standing before her was none other than the very person she had just been talking about—
Gran.
"Gran, you're finally back!"
Bulma hurried over to him, clenching her fists in excitement.
"Hmm?"
Gran sized her up.
The power inside Bulma hadn't grown much—her battle power was probably still around 10,000.
However, her control over her strength had improved significantly compared to before.
"Gran, how did it go? Did you win that competition?" Bulma asked anxiously.
"Isn't that obvious?"
Gran pointed his thumb at himself and said smugly:
"Who do you think I am? Once I get serious, those trash candidates can't even survive a single round against me."
"Really?!"
Even though Bulma hadn't been there to watch the competition, Gran's words instantly painted a vivid picture in her mind.
She imagined him crushing the other God of Destruction candidates with absolute dominance.
"That's amazing! Gran, you're so cool!"
Bulma raised her thumb at him in admiration.
"Hahaha! Of course I am!"
Seeing the worshipful look in Bulma's eyes, Gran burst out laughing proudly with his hands on his hips.
Whis and Broly exchanged glances.
The corners of their mouths twitched.
So childish.
Everyone soon sat down at the tea table beneath the parasol.
"Gran, didn't I tell you to take me to watch the competition? Why didn't you bring me along?"
Bulma poured tea for everyone.
"I didn't call you?"
Gran froze.
After thinking for a moment, he realized he probably hadn't.
Looking slightly embarrassed, he said,
"Sorry… I must've forgotten. But if you wanted to go, why didn't you ask Whis?"
"Him?"
Bulma glanced at Whis and said irritably,
"During this period I called him countless times! But Mr. Whis never responded at all!"
"You called me?"
Whis frowned.
"How come I didn't know about it?"
He waved his staff.
The crystal ball at its tip suddenly played back numerous voices.
"Mr. Whis, where are you? I have delicious food here!"
"Mr. Whis, is Gran about to participate in that competition?"
"Mr. Whis, could you take me there to watch?"
"Mr. Whis…"
These were all the messages Bulma had sent to him.
But because Whis had gone to the World of Void, which did not belong to the Zeno Universe, he hadn't been able to receive any of them.
"..."
Hearing Bulma's messages, Whis looked slightly embarrassed.
He calmly lifted his teacup and said in a casual tone,
"My apologies. The place where Gran participated in the competition was simply too far away, so I didn't receive your messages."