With the android threat finally eliminated, ordinary people began emerging from their underground shelters like flowers blooming after a long winter. Across the ruined landscape, survivors started the monumental task of rebuilding their homes and communities from the rubble of civilization.
Gohan and the others had returned to their respective homes to begin repairs, while Karnel stood alone in a secluded clearing, studying the two identical time machines before him with intense focus.
For safety's sake, he had prepared a backup. If something went wrong during his test and the primary machine was lost in some unknown temporal dimension, the second one would ensure his safe return to the original timeline.
"Several days have passed," Karnel murmured to himself, his crimson aura flickering slightly around his form. "It's time to begin."
After carefully placing one of the machines into a universal capsule and securing it in his pocket, Karnel turned his attention to the pristine time machine on the ground. The operation was surprisingly straightforward, clearly designed for ease of use even in emergency situations.
He opened the cockpit and manipulated the control panel, setting the coordinates for the original Earth's timeline. After pressing the activation sequence, he quickly flashed to the side, concealing himself in the shadows of a nearby rocky outcropping. The unmanned time machine hummed to life, its systems generating the familiar silver ripples of temporal energy.
Suddenly, something extraordinary happened within Karnel's essence. The mysterious silver thread embedded in his Heart of God began moving frantically, striking against the core's barriers like a caged beast desperate for freedom. The divine construct remained solid, but the thread's agitation was unmistakable.
"Incredible," Karnel whispered, his eyes widening with realization. "Just as I suspected, this silver thread has some connection to the flow of time itself."
When Future Cell had first used a time machine to open the temporal gateway between worlds, this same thread had become restless. Now his theory was confirmed beyond doubt.
"Time," he breathed, feeling the immense potential thrumming within his core. "What incredible power. If I could fully master and control this force, how much would my strength increase?"
He focused his will, attempting to calm the agitated thread. "Be still," he commanded, but the temporal energy acted like a rebellious child, completely ignoring his authority and continuing its relentless assault on the barrier.
Disappointment flickered across Karnel's features. The power of time refused to obey him, just as his divine energy had initially resisted control.
"It was similar when my divinity first manifested," he recalled thoughtfully. "Only when my strength gradually increased and my consciousness slowly merged with it, forming a deeper bond with my soul, was I able to command it properly."
The pattern seemed clear, he would need to gradually synchronize his consciousness with this temporal power, nurturing it as he had his divinity. The process would likely take considerable time and patience.
Pushing these concerns aside for later study, Karnel expanded his senses across the entire planet and beyond, scanning for any trace of the black-clad figure's aura or soul signature.
The time machine vanished into the temporal vortex, traveling toward its programmed destination. Without its stabilizing presence, the silvery space-time ripples gradually diminished until they were barely visible to the naked eye.
"Still not showing himself?" Karnel frowned, detecting no unusual energy signatures or soul fluctuations anywhere within his vast sensory range.
The temporal distortions faded completely, and space returned to its normal state without the interference of time-manipulation technology.
Karnel remained hidden in the shadows, waiting with patience. Minutes stretched into an hour, but still no sign of his quarry appeared.
"It seems I'll have to wait here indefinitely until he reveals himself," Karnel thought with mild frustration. Since the temporal gateway had failed to draw out his enemy, he would have to resort to the most basic strategy, patience.
He was about to shift his position when something made him freeze. A cold smile spread across his lips as his eyes locked onto a figure materializing in the very space where the time machine had opened its portal.
"Finally," Karnel thought, his divine energy stirring with anticipation. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd lost your nerve."
Rather than attacking immediately, he remained perfectly still, studying his enemy's every movement with scientific precision. He needed to understand exactly how this mysterious figure could open temporal gateways without technological assistance.
The black-clad man landed gracefully on the scarred earth, seemingly unaware of the divine predator watching from the shadows. His face was obscured by darkness, but his movements carried an aura of cold confidence.
Without hesitation, the figure extended one hand toward the space where the time machine had torn open reality's fabric. On his finger gleamed a rose-shaped ring that began emanating a soft, otherworldly light. The very fabric of space-time began to warp and twist around the artifact.
Slowly but surely, familiar silver ripples began forming in the air, the telltale signs of a temporal gateway opening.
"What kind of ring is that?" Karnel wondered, his divine senses analyzing the artifact with growing amazement. "It can actually resonate with the fundamental forces of time and space, opening dimensional passages at will."
The ring appeared ordinary at first glance, but it radiated an incredibly ancient presence, something that predated mortal civilization by eons. The energy signature felt hauntingly familiar, triggering a memory that made Karnel's hand unconsciously drift to the Potara earrings adorning his ears.
"This aura," he realized with sudden clarity, "it's identical to what emanates from these earrings and from the Supreme Kai's temple. That ring must be another artifact exclusive to the divine hierarchy. No wonder it possesses the power to manipulate time and space."
His mind raced with possibilities. "But why did he wait for the time machine to open a gateway first? Is the ring's power somehow limited, or does it require a temporal 'anchor' to function properly?"
The mystery deepened his resolve. "I need to obtain that ring and study it thoroughly. It might hold the key to controlling my own temporal abilities."
The silver ripples intensified, nearly forming a stable passage between dimensions. Karnel knew he couldn't wait any longer, if the black-clad figure escaped into the original timeline, tracking him down would become exponentially more difficult.
"Time to act," Karnel decided, divine energy coalescing around his right hand.
He launched a concentrated energy beam, not to kill, but to disrupt the temporal manipulation and force a confrontation.
"Who dares?" the black-clad figure snarled, detecting the attack at the last second and dodging with supernatural grace. The moment his concentration broke, the rose ring's silver light vanished and the partially formed gateway collapsed with a sound like reality tearing.
The hunt had officially begun.