"..."
Gran looked somewhat embarrassed.
After clearing his throat twice, he explained the exact time when he had encountered that demonic creature in Universe 6.
Back then, he had traveled to Universe 6 to collect the Super Dragon Balls. However, shortly after arriving, he had run into a demonic creature. Later, he had also met Jim, Universe 6's former Candidate God of Destruction.
As for why Gran didn't choose the point in time when Jiren's master was killed by a demonic creature—
That incident had occurred far too long ago.
More importantly, it was an event from Universe 11. If Chronoa asked how he knew about it, explaining it would become troublesome.
"Alright."
After learning the date and time, Chronoa didn't ask Gran to operate the flow of time himself.
She simply waved her hand.
A surge of Space-Time Laws instantly enveloped the two of them.
The next moment, they vanished without a trace.
Universe 6
The very planet where the demonic creature had first appeared.
Today, two figures—one tall and one small—arrived there.
"We've returned to the past."
Chronoa floated high above the planet.
"That's right. This is the planet."
Gran immediately recognized it.
The civilization here was very similar to Earth's—modern cities, towering skyscrapers, and advanced infrastructure everywhere.
"In another half hour, that demonic creature will appear."
Chronoa glanced around before counting on her fingers.
"After that, the version of you from this point in time will show up and kill it."
"Supreme Kai of Time, are we really not going to cause a temporal split by doing this?"
Gran asked worriedly.
"Oh?"
Chronoa couldn't help laughing.
"So you actually worry about that now?"
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean?"
She shot him a teasing look.
"Didn't you once travel to a future timeline?"
Chronoa smirked.
"You did all kinds of things there. Why weren't you worried about causing temporal splits back then?"
"..."
Gran was thoroughly embarrassed.
She wasn't wrong.
Back then, he really had crossed a line.
But after seeing that hopeless future, he simply couldn't stand by and do nothing.
"Relax."
Chronoa stopped teasing him.
"Both you, me, and Lord Time King possess what is known as Temporal Uniqueness."
"Our actions can alter the current timeline, but they will not create new parallel worlds."
"Wait!"
Gran's eyes widened.
"What exactly is Temporal Uniqueness?"
"Huh?"
Chronoa blinked.
"You don't know?"
"I don't."
Hearing his answer, Chronoa scratched her head.
Come to think of it, she had never actually explained it to him before.
"Fine."
She began patiently.
"Temporal Uniqueness means that across all timelines and all dimensions, there exists only one version of that individual."
"No duplicates."
"No overlaps."
"No alternate counterparts."
"Only a single existence."
"That is Temporal Uniqueness."
"Those who possess this characteristic can act in any timeline without causing temporal fractures or parallel-world divergence."
"It's also one of the qualifications required to become a guardian of time."
"Before meeting you, only Lord Time King and I possessed this trait."
"Now there's one more."
After hearing the explanation, Gran fell silent for a long time.
So that was the reason.
No wonder Chronoa had never stopped him despite everything he had done in that alternate future.
And perhaps...
The reason she had recruited him as a Time Patrol officer was connected to this very trait.
"Wait a second."
Gran suddenly realized something.
"You just said that the demonic creature will appear soon, and that the version of me from this era will also show up."
He stared at Chronoa.
"But this is my original timeline."
"My present self is already here."
"So wouldn't there now be two versions of me existing simultaneously?"
"Wouldn't that violate Temporal Uniqueness?"
The two floated in the sky, staring at one another.
To Gran's surprise, Chronoa laughed.
"Not bad."
"You're actually pretty sharp."
"Supreme Kai of Time, stop dodging the question."
Gran's curiosity had already been completely stirred up.
"Then I'll explain."
Chronoa smiled.
"Because we're not traveling between different timelines right now."
"We've actually returned to the past."
"Think of time as a great river."
"We have traveled upstream from the future and returned to an earlier point within the same river."
"This is a true return to the past."
The moment those words left her mouth—
BOOM!
A storm erupted in Gran's mind.
This little girl looked harmless and adorable, yet she was capable of something so absurd.
Then another thought struck him.
If someone could truly return to the past...
Wouldn't that mean they could genuinely alter the future?
Just like in fantasy novels—
Travel back to an enemy's infancy and eliminate the threat before it was ever born.
Destroy every danger while it was still in its cradle.
"I know exactly what you're thinking."
Chronoa sighed helplessly.
"But you can stop dreaming."
"We can freely move between timelines, that's true."
"However, traveling farther and farther into the past is a completely different matter."
"Forget me."
"Even Lord Time King can't do that."
"Huh?"
"Huh what?"
Chronoa rolled her eyes.
"If Lord Time King could freely walk anywhere along the River of Time, wouldn't every crisis in existence be solved before it ever began?"
"..."
Gran opened his mouth, only to close it again.
She was right.
If the Time King truly possessed that ability, nobody would be worried about the mysterious threat behind the demonic creatures.
There would have been no need for this investigation in the first place.
"This limitation is tied to Space-Time Laws."
Chronoa continued.
"At my current level, traveling six years into the past is already close to my limit."
"If you asked me to go significantly farther back, I simply couldn't do it."
She was about to explain more when she suddenly sensed something.
"Forget it."
"We'll discuss the rest later."
"When your Space-Time Power reaches the level of Laws, you'll naturally understand."
"Alright."
Gran wanted to ask more questions.
But now wasn't the time.
The demonic creature was about to appear.
BOOM!!
An extremely sinister aura suddenly erupted from the eastern region of the planet.
"It's over there!"
Gran immediately pointed toward the source.
Chronoa nodded.
"Hurry."
"If we're too late, the version of you from this point in time will arrive."
With a wave of her hand, she transported both of them through space.
Eastern Region of the Planet
A long-abandoned mining mountain stood there.
Countless tunnels riddled its interior.
The sinister aura was pouring out from one of those tunnels.
Inside the mine.
Chronoa brought Gran directly into the depths.
The cavern was enormous.
It was easily as large as two football fields combined.
"Gran, look!"
Chronoa pointed toward the center of the cavern.
There, a cloud of black mist had appeared in midair.
The mist radiated an indescribably evil presence.
It felt as though a demon had crawled out from the deepest abyss itself.
"Gran."
Chronoa looked at him.
"This is where that demonic creature emerged."
"What do you think?"
"It's strange."
Gran stared fixedly at the black mist floating in the void.
The creature itself had not yet emerged.
"Very strange."
"From everything I can observe, the surrounding space is intact."
"Time hasn't been distorted."
"The space-time structure is perfectly normal."
"And yet..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"This black mist has simply appeared here out of nowhere."
"It's as if it materialized from nothingness itself."
END OF CHAPTER
Disciple of Beerus - MrBehringer's Secret
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