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“They’ve been waiting,” Lin Ye said softly, watching the golden sphere completely engulf Kronos’s body, “waiting for an opportunity that can bring together all possibilities.”
The explosion was deafening, and the black energy dissipated like the receding tide. When the smoke cleared, Kronos had vanished, leaving only the red core lying on the ground, like a extinguished ember.
"Is it over?" Sun Wukong scratched his head as the golden flames gradually subsided.
Just as Lin Ye was about to nod, the core suddenly emitted a faint red light, projecting an image: countless clones of Kronos were awakening in different universes, each clone having the same red core on its chest.
[System notification: Trans-cosmic resonance signal detected]
[Warning: The true form of Kronos exists in a higher dimension.]
[Final Warning: Its target is the Omni-King's Palace]
The red core shattered with a "crack," completely losing its light. Lin Ye clenched his fist, looking out the window at the now calm universe, and suddenly realized that this battle was only the beginning.
"Looks like I'll have to pay a visit to Zeno." Vegeta kicked a shard on the ground, but a hint of excitement for battle crept onto his lips. "And while I'm at it, I'll let that purple cat see who the real candidate for God of Destruction is."
Bulma's cheers came through the communicator, mixed with laughter from the others. Lin Ye looked at his companions and suddenly felt that the 11% chance of survival wasn't so terrible. After all, beyond 999 failed futures, they were walking the thousandth path, a path paved with faith and bonds.
In a corner unnoticed by anyone, a core fragment quietly merged into the shadows, transmitting its final message:
"Coordinates confirmed, Seventh Universe, Lin Ye... Variables have been marked."
Chapter 383: The Light of Origin? The End
The moment the light of creation struck the core of Kronos, the entire spacetime seemed to freeze. Black vines crackled in the golden light, writhing and melting like burning tinder. Images of the swallowed planets detached from the vines, transforming into countless points of light that flew into the void. Among them, the blue planet shone exceptionally bright; in the leading point of light, Lin Ye even saw Bulma waving from the rooftop of Capsule Corporation.
"No...my collection!" Kronos's core shrieked, its gear shell cracking with spiderweb-like fissures, the red light flickering. "How dare you! These are the best possibilities I've selected over millennia!"
Lin Ye's Origin Realm energy spread along the vines, and golden light streams seemed to come alive as they drilled into the spatial rifts. His consciousness extended with the energy, and countless images exploded before his eyes: the remnants of 999 parallel universes floated in chaos, each remnant imprisoning a different "Lin Ye." Some were chained to altars, some had become unconscious energy containers, and there was also a "self" dressed in the robes of a god of destruction, coldly pushing a planet into chaos.
"See that? This is what happens when you resist me!" Kronos's voice echoed in his consciousness as countless black tentacles surged from the depths of chaos. "Your Origin Realm is nothing but borrowed power; it won't last long!"
"Borrow?" Lin Ye suddenly laughed, the smiles of his parents before their deaths appearing in the golden light. "You've absorbed so many possibilities, yet you don't understand the most basic principle..."
He abruptly turned to the nearest "self," a figure chained and bowing its head in despair, its system core glowing red. Lin Ye's light gently touched the chains, and the seemingly unbreakable bondage instantly crumbled.
"Possibility is not nourishment, it is hope." Lin Ye's voice echoed through the remnants of every parallel universe. "And hope is contagious."
The rescued "Lin Ye" was stunned, then erupted with golden flames. This power was like a stone thrown into a lake, creating ripples. More and more "selves" broke free of their restraints, merging their power into Lin Ye's stream of light. The golden torrent instantly surged three times, forcefully tearing through the chaos's embrace.
"Madman! You're polluting my energy source!" Kronos's core throbbed violently, its black tentacles lashing out wildly, only to evaporate the instant they touched the stream of light. "Vegeta! Android 18! Your comrade has gone mad! If we don't act now, he'll drag down the entire spacetime!"
In front of the magic circle at the Ark Space Station, Vegeta was punching away an attacking vine when he heard this and scoffed, "Crazy? Better than being a parasite." He suddenly turned to Android 18, raising his chin with a rare serious expression, "Hey, Android, wanna take a gamble?"
Number 18's energy cannon was blasting away the last vine near the magic circle when he heard this, he raised an eyebrow: "What are we betting on?"
"I'm betting this bastard can win." Vegeta's body erupted with deep blue flames, and he gathered an energy ball in front of his chest with both hands. "Lend me your infinite energy, let's add some spice to that chaos."
Android 18 suddenly pressed down on his wrist, the mechanical joint humming slightly: "It's not a loan." Her energy flowed down Vegeta's arm, intertwining with the deep blue flames to form a purple stream of light, "It's cooperation."
Suddenly, the magic circle erupted with blinding light, and Vegeta's and Android 18's energies surged into Lin Ye's body along the light. The two completely different powers converged at his chest, strangely merging into a spiral-shaped energy storm.
"This is..." Lin Ye felt the surge of power within his body and suddenly remembered the training in the gravity chamber. When the two of them broke through under 10000 times gravity, they had also experienced a similar energy resonance.
"Saiyan Twin Explosion? Ultimate!" Vegeta roared through the communicator, his voice filled with stubborn gritted teeth. "Don't waste my power, you scum!"
The golden spiral followed Lin Ye's consciousness toward the core of chaos. The rescued "Lin Yes" all made the same move at the same time, and countless golden streams of light surged out from the various wreckages, merging with the main spiral to form a huge star-shaped energy body.
"No...this is impossible!" The core of Kronos let out a dying cry, and the red light completely extinguished. "My chaos should devour everything!"
Lin Ye's consciousness overlapped with the consciousness of 999 "selves," and he finally saw Chronos's true form. It wasn't a monster, but a primordial chaos born from a spacetime rift, maintaining its form by devouring possibilities. At its core lay a broken Dragon Ball, inscribed with ancient Namekian script.
"So you were created too," Lin Ye said softly. The golden spiral suddenly exploded, and countless rays of light shot into every corner of the chaos like a meteor shower. "The possibility of being created by someone, and then devouring the creator in return?"
Amidst the light, Kronos's final scream echoed, and chaos began to crumble, revealing hidden starlight—the rebirth of the swallowed universe. In one universe, Earth was being rebuilt, and Goku and Vegeta were fighting for the last Senzu Bean; on Namek in another universe, Dende wept before the resurrected Elder; and in yet another universe, Frieza was teaching young Saiyans how to fish with their tails.
“This is the real possibility.” Lin Ye’s consciousness slowly withdrew, and the energy of the Origin Realm gradually faded. “It’s not a selected high-quality product, but a messy but vibrant reality.”
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating on the edge of a spacetime rift. The magic circle of the Ark space station was still flickering. Vegeta was leaning against the control panel wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. Android 18 stood beside him with her arms crossed, a faint smile on her lips. Goku was waving excitedly, holding up half a Senzu Bean Cake.
"You're finally awake!" Sun Wukong handed over the cake. "The whole King came to watch the show and said he was going to give you a certificate as the God of Destruction!"
Lin Ye took the cake, his fingertips touching the familiar sweetness, and suddenly felt his eyes welling up with tears. The system notification sound had disappeared sometime during the night, replaced by the pulse of the universe itself, like countless lives breathing in sync.
"The spacetime rift has begun to close." Number 18's voice interrupted her thoughts. She pointed behind Lin Ye, "We have to go back."
The spacetime rift was slowly shrinking, and the chaos at its edge was being purified by the golden light, revealing a dazzling galaxy. Lin Ye looked back, and the parallel universes that had been saved were twinkling in the distance, like lanterns hanging in spacetime.
"Wait!" Vegeta suddenly shouted, holding up a fragment he had broken off from the core of Chronos. "This thing is still glowing."
The red patterns on the fragments were reassembling, gradually transforming into the "seed" of Namekian script. Lin Ye suddenly recalled the Time Seed within Cell's body, and the words spoken by the Namekian Grand Elder: the creator of the Super Dragon Balls had nurtured a new universe using chaotic energy.
"It seems the story isn't over yet." Lin Ye gripped the fragment tightly, suddenly feeling a familiar vibration in his palm, like the frequency when the system was activated, but gentler.
The voice of the Omni-King suddenly rang in his mind, filled with childlike excitement: "Lin Ye, Lin Ye! You won! Do you want to be the God of Destruction of Universe 7? Beerus said you can try it out for three months!"
Lin Ye smiled and shook his head, then turned and flew towards the ark. The energy of the Origin Realm had dissipated, and he had returned to being the person who needed training to improve, but his heart was fuller than ever before.
"I'd rather remain the guardian of the Earth." He walked through the magic circle, and Vegeta reached out and pulled him back to prevent him from bumping into the control panel. "God of Destruction and all that, it sounds like a lot of trouble."
"At least you have some self-awareness." Vegeta turned his head away, but the tips of his ears were secretly turning red. "But next time something like this happens, remember to call me."
Sun Wukong suddenly pointed at the screen: "Look! What's that?"
On the main screen, the patterns on the red fragment fully unfolded, transforming into a star map. Next to the brightest star were strange symbols, strikingly similar to the patterns on Devil Fruits in the world of *One Piece*. Alice's virtual image suddenly popped up, her eyes gleaming with curiosity:
"New spacetime coordinates detected; energy characteristics match an unknown universe. Need analysis?"
Looking at the star map on the screen and then at his noisy companions around him, Lin Ye suddenly felt that this was the best ending. There is no eternal victory, only new adventures that keep appearing.
He reached out and pressed the analyze button, a familiar smile playing on his lips: "Analyze. And while you're at it, notify Bulma to prepare the new spaceship."
Outside the magic circle, the spacetime rift completely closed. But no one noticed that on the back of the red fragment, there were even smaller words engraved:
[The 1000th possibility is activated].
Chapter 384: The Aftermath of the War
The rising sun cast warm patches of light onto Lin Ye's face through the Capsule Company's floor-to-ceiling windows. He lay in the repair pod, his muscles still trembling slightly—a lingering effect of the energy depletion he had suffered from the Origin Realm. On the system interface, the message "[Body Function Recovery Progress: 67%]" slowly ticked.
"Don't pretend to be asleep if you're awake." Android 18's voice came from the side. She was adjusting the parameters of the repair pod with her robotic arm, her blue eyes filled with undisguised laughter. "Vegeta broke three ribs in the gravity chamber. Bulma went to see him just now, and he insisted that it was just a warm-up, but he grimaced in pain as soon as he moved."
Lin Ye chuckled and pressed the switch on the repair pod. The moment the metal hatch opened, a rich aroma of coffee wafted out. Bulma walked over, carrying a cup; her purple hair was messily tied back, with bits of engine oil still clinging to the ends.
"Try this." She handed over the coffee, the coolness of the mechanical parts still lingering on her fingertips. "Freshly brewed Kopi Luwak. I added Namekian Senzu Bean powder. Dendy said it can speed up wound healing. But honestly, the Namekians are too kind. They treat Senzu Beans like treasures every time they give them to me, making me feel embarrassed to ask for more."
Lin Ye took the coffee, feeling its warmth on his fingertips. He took a sip; the rich flavor carried a subtle herbal aroma, and his fatigue did indeed dissipate somewhat. "They really put their heart into it."
“That’s right.” Bulma leaned against the control panel and casually tapped on the holographic screen, which displayed a live video feed of the Ark space station. “The Ark’s magic circle is still running, but it relies on the Namekians to regularly inject energy. Dendy told me yesterday that this is the last thing they can do for the universe, and it makes me want to get them an energy conversion device.”
"Don't overwork yourself." Lin Ye looked at the bloodshot eyes. "Post-war reconstruction can't be rushed."
"Okay, I know." Bulma waved her hand, then suddenly gestured towards the window with her chin, "Look for yourself."
Lin Ye followed her gaze and saw a series of shouts coming from the training ground. Yin Cha was kicking a new recruit in the buttocks, cursing and yelling, "You need to be quick with your punches! Did you not eat or are you still asleep? Back in the day, I could beat up street thugs with more strength than you!" Tianjin Fan, standing next to him, was patiently correcting the formation posture. When their eyes met, the new recruits were so frightened that they quickly straightened their backs.
"These two rascals have become good instructors." Lin Ye couldn't help but laugh.
“That’s right,” Number 18 walked over, making a slight clicking sound as his robotic arm retracted. “Last time, a new recruit was defiant about drinking tea and was completely outmaneuvered by him with his drunken boxing. Now, when he sees him, he acts like he’s seeing his grandfather.”
“Piccolo is becoming more and more like a reliable elder.” Bulma pointed to the sidelines, where a green-skinned Namekian was bending over to demonstrate tactical hand signals to a new recruit. The energy points gathered at his fingertips shimmered in the sunlight. “Yesterday he asked me for three sets of tactical manuals, saying he wanted to compile a set of fighting techniques specifically for the Earth Defense Force.”
Lin Ye's gaze swept over his comrades, a warm feeling welling up in his heart. These warriors, who once harbored their own thoughts, had now all found their place.
“Oh right, Jiren’s gone.” Android 18 suddenly spoke up, displaying the coordinates of Universe 11 on the screen of the robotic arm. “The ship left at 3 a.m., and left this before it left.”
A simple message appeared on the screen: "The wounds of the gods cannot be healed in a day. If you encounter any remnants of Cronus, they will surely deliver a message to you."
Lin Ye tapped the screen lightly with his fingertip: "He is indeed persistent."
"It's good to be persistent; it's better than some people wanting to slack off after the battle." Bulma glanced at Lin Ye, then suddenly clapped her hands as if remembering something. "Speaking of which, didn't the Dragon Ball Radar flash yesterday?"
Lin Ye nodded, his gaze falling on the radar on the table. Having been tempered by the Tournament of Power, this radar was now capable of sensing spacetime fluctuations throughout the universe. "Last night it pointed to Universe Six; it's probably Champa up to its old tricks again."
“It’s more than just a small action.” Bulma pulled up the space surveillance footage. On the screen, Champa was squatting on a purple planet, carefully watering a glowing plant. As soon as a corner of the Grand Priest’s white robe came into view behind him, he was so startled that he sat down on the ground. “This guy secretly planted a ‘Seed of Time and Space’ and got caught red-handed by the Grand Priest. He’s probably getting a lecture from Zeno right now.”
Lin Ye chuckled: "The universe will never be peaceful."
“But at least we can protect the people we want to protect.” As Number 18 spoke, the robotic arm suddenly emitted a rapid beeping sound.
The alarm in the repair pod sounded, and Lin Ye's pupils shrank... It wasn't a problem with his body. The "Inter-universe Travel" skill, which was originally grayed out on the system interface, suddenly lit up, with a line of small text next to it: [New spacetime coordinates detected, resonating with the Devil Fruit Tree in the One Piece world].
"What is this?" Number 18 leaned closer to look, her blue eyes full of curiosity. "A new world?"
Lin Ye's fingertips swiped across the screen, recalling the words of the Super Dragon before it dissipated: "Every universe has its own story." He put down his coffee cup, and golden flames gathered in his palm. "But before that, I have to go with you to eat the strawberry cake at that place in the west of the city."
"Who wants to go eat cake with you?" Number 18's cheeks flushed slightly, but her mechanical arm deliberately extended an energy cannon, the muzzle flashing a faint blue light. "I still need to debug the Ark's defense system. Yesterday, I discovered that three energy nodes were not very stable."
"What's more important than debugging than a strawberry cake?" Lin Ye grabbed her wrist, a dazzling silver light flashing between them. "Besides, isn't the defense system being watched by Bulma?"
"Hey! Don't even think about dumping the work on me!" Bulma protested from the side, but quietly turned off the alarm on the repair pod. "Go if you want, and bring me a chocolate mousse while you're at it, freshly made."
Number 18 glared at Lin Ye, but couldn't help but smile: "Just one hour."
Just as the two reached the door, a loud crash suddenly echoed from the training ground. Vegeta, clutching his ribs, burst out of the gravity chamber, his hair bristling like a hedgehog: "Kakarot! Did you deliberately bump into me?!"
"I didn't," Wukong said, scratching his head as he followed, still clutching half a half-eaten bun. "It's just that you couldn't stand steadily."
"You're talking nonsense!" Vegeta's roar shook the windows. "If you've got the guts, fight me again!"
"Alright, alright!" Wukong immediately assumed a fighting stance, and golden flames exploded with a "bang".
"Can you two stop causing trouble right after the battle?" Bulma grabbed a wrench from the table and threw it, hitting Vegeta squarely on the back of the head. "If you demolish the house again, you'll be sleeping in the warehouse!"
Vegeta reluctantly withdrew his arrogance, but still glared at Goku: "I'll settle the score with you next time."
Lin Ye and Number 18 exchanged a smile, then turned and walked out of the capsule company. Sunlight streamed down the street, children chased each other and played, and the oden stalls steamed with heat—everything was as vibrant as it had been before the war.
“Speaking of which,” Android 18 suddenly asked, “what kind of place is that One Piece world?”
"I don't know." Lin Ye looked at the distant sky, where the clouds were slowly moving. "The system notification mentioned Devil Fruits, which sound like something that can grant special abilities."
Is it more powerful than our energy system?
"It's hard to say." Lin Ye recalled the various worlds he had traveled through before. "The rules of each world are different, just like the magic on Namek and the martial arts on Earth, each has its own methods."
Number 18 stopped and looked at the strawberry cake model in the shop window: "No matter where it is, just don't end up in the repair pod like last time."
"Don't worry." Lin Ye held her hand, the warmth of his palm seeping through her skin. "You're here this time."
The robotic arm gently gripped back, and Number 18 turned her face away: "Who wants to go on an adventure with you? I just..."
"Just want to try some of their desserts?" Lin Ye interrupted her with a smile.