"Hold on a moment, Shin," Whis called before the Supreme Kai could leave.
Shin stopped preparing to cross into the other timeline and turned back toward him.
"Before anyone goes anywhere, we should decide exactly who we're bringing back from the GT timeline," Whis suggested.
"Good point." Shin nodded.
"Why not bring the same four as last time?" Beerus said. "That should make things simple."
"I agree. GT Goku should be considerably stronger by now," Shin said with a smile. "Our Goku has improved so quickly, so I imagine the Goku from that timeline has made plenty of progress too."
"Let's decide which fighters we're using from our own timeline first," Whis replied. "Once we know how many spots are left, we can decide how many people we actually need from GT."
Beerus suddenly remembered someone else. "Wait, Frieza! Didn't that bastard go off to train? How strong is he now?"
"I'll bring Frieza here," Shin immediately offered.
Whis sighed and resisted the urge to hit him with his staff. "There's no rush. Finish choosing the team first, then we can collect everyone afterward."
Beerus turned toward Whis impatiently. "Then take a look around Universe 7 and see if there are any other powerful mortals worth recruiting."
"My, my. You really shouldn't rely on me for absolutely everything," Whis said with an unconcerned smile. "You should learn to solve some of these problems yourselves."
"Cut it out, Whis! What exactly do you gain if our universe gets erased?"
"Nothing, really." Whis smiled pleasantly. "But its disappearance wouldn't particularly affect me either."
Beerus stared at him without knowing what to say. The Angels would survive even if their universes were erased, so Whis had far less reason to panic than everyone else.
"Just hurry up and look!" Beerus finally snapped.
"Very well. Let's see what I can find."
Whis raised his staff and began searching through Universe 7, although his leisurely manner made it obvious he wasn't nearly as desperate as Beerus.
"And you!" Beerus turned on the Grand Supreme Kai. "Stop standing there and start thinking!"
"When we fought Moro, we encountered several Galactic Prison inmates with impressive strength," the Grand Supreme Kai said thoughtfully. "The problem is that bringing people like them into the tournament may not be wise."
"Then forget them. If Zeno-sama finds out we're filling our team with vicious criminals, he might decide to erase Universe 7 before the tournament even starts."
Shin quietly wiped away some sweat. "In that case... are we sure bringing Frieza won't cause the same problem?"
"Frieza alone is manageable," Beerus replied. "A whole team full of criminals is where things would start getting out of control."
Shin and the Grand Supreme Kai exchanged a glance before nodding. For once, Beerus's reasoning sounded surprisingly sensible.
After searching for a while longer, Whis finally smiled and focused on something inside the crystal sphere of his staff.
"Oh? I found someone."
Beerus immediately leaned closer. "Is he strong?"
"Very strong, although his power was obtained through outside means."
Beerus frowned. "What does that mean?"
"His name is Granolah. He used the Dragon Balls to become the strongest warrior in the universe."
"A wish?" Beerus understood immediately. "So he actually wished to become the strongest?"
Shin looked even more confused. "Can the dragon balls really grant something that ridiculous?"
"It should be possible," the Grand Supreme Kai said after considering it. "But there would almost certainly be a severe price."
"Exactly." Whis nodded. "Granolah's people can normally live for around two hundred years. He sacrificed the roughly one hundred and fifty years he had remaining, leaving himself with only three years to live, and used that price to obtain enough power to become the strongest in the universe."
Beerus didn't need to hear anything else. "Bring him here."
"Granolah is currently at the Heeters' headquarters," Whis explained, showing them the location.
"I'll go right now," Shin said, already preparing to leave once again.
"You should go with him," Whis suggested.
Beerus gave him a puzzled look, but Whis calmly explained the obvious problem.
"If Granolah turns hostile, Shin probably isn't strong enough to handle him alone."
Beerus reluctantly nodded. The Tournament of Power was less than two days away, and having their Supreme Kai killed while they were assembling the team would create an entirely new disaster.
"Actually, I'll take the Grand Supreme Kai with me," Beerus decided. "Shin can go to the GT timeline and bring back the others."
"We still need at least seven fighters," Whis remarked.
Beerus's expression darkened again.
Shin gave an awkward laugh. "Are we seriously going to fill almost the entire Universe 7 team with people from another timeline? Even if it's technically allowed, won't it look a little ridiculous in front of Zeno-sama?"
Beerus couldn't deny that Shin had a point. Unfortunately, pointing out the problem didn't magically produce more fighters.
Then Shin's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Beerus, if we're already inviting Frieza, why don't we invite his brother, his father... and his son too?"
Beerus stared at him in silence for several seconds.
Shin quickly shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
"No." A small smile appeared on Beerus's face. "You actually had a good idea for once."
"The problem is that all three of them are dead," Shin reminded him. "King Cold died a long time ago, and Ize did too. Cooler was killed by Goku during Ken's earlier travels."
"Then resurrect them." Beerus turned toward Whis with renewed enthusiasm. "They already have plenty of history with each other. That might actually work in our favor."
"Very well. Then we'll add King Cold, Cooler, and Ize," Whis said. "That should bring us close to a full team."
Shin started counting on his fingers. "From the GT timeline: Goku, Vegeta, Broly, and Uub. From our timeline: Frieza, Cooler, Ize, King Cold, and Granolah..." He counted again before frowning. "That's only nine. We're still missing one."
"We can find the last fighter afterward," Whis said. "For now, Shin and I will go to Other World and bring Cooler and the others back. Once we're finished, Shin can head to the GT timeline and collect those four fighters. Beerus and the Grand Supreme Kai should go to the Heeters' headquarters and speak with Granolah."
"Fine. We'll split up," Beerus agreed without hesitation.
With the plan settled, the group separated and immediately began gathering Universe 7's bizarre collection of Tournament of Power fighters.
[End of chapter]