Chapter 44: Goku is Dead, What About the Time Ring?
"Lin Qi, hurry..." Goku gritted his teeth as he raised his head. Looking at Lin Qi, he urged, "Kill me... now!"
"You've made up your mind?" Lin Qi squinted, scanning Goku carefully. This time, it was truly Goku—not Kakarot.
"Yes... this is the best way!" Goku dropped all his defenses, spread his arms wide, and closed his eyes.
"Then I'll grant your wish!" Lin Qi extended his hand, his fingers forming into a claw, aiming for the crown of Goku's head.
"No..." Pan stumbled and fell to the ground.
Gohan looked equally distressed. "Dad..."
"Lin Qi, think of another way..." Vegeta pressed his lips together and called out anxiously, "Isn't there still Namek...?"
"Old Son..." Even Piccolo extended a pleading hand.
But...
It was all too late. The white-haired boy in Perfect Ultra Instinct had already pressed his hand onto Goku's crown.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh...!"
A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the forests near Mount Paozu, startling a flock of birds that soared into the sky.
The sky was still as blue as ever, and the creek remained as clear as before.
"Bang!"
Goku's body fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Pan, crying as she rushed over, a panicked Goten, a sorrowful Gohan, a regretful Piccolo, and a stunned Vegeta were all rooted in place.
Lin Qi looked at the black mist faintly swirling around his palm and smirked faintly.
"Grandpa..." Pan knelt beside Goku, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls. She continuously shook his body. "Grandpa... Grandpa..."
"Dad..." Gohan's face turned pale as he knelt beside Goku. "Wake up, Dad!"
"Dad, if you're like this, Mom's going to be really upset..." Goten's eyes were also brimming with tears.
"Old Son..." Beads of cold sweat ran down Piccolo's face. "Old Son... open your eyes!!"
"What a joke..." Vegeta pressed his lips together, looking at Goku lying on the ground and Lin Qi, whose hair was now snow-white.
"Is this really how Kakarot goes?!"
"Ugh..." The atmosphere at the scene was heavy, filled with grief. Everyone's lips trembled, their eyes turning red.
"Uh..." Amid the somber mood, Goku suddenly opened his eyes and weakly spoke. "I... don't think I'm dead..."
"Grandpa!"
"Dad!"
"Old Son!"
"Kakarot!"
The sorrowful expressions on everyone's faces were still there, but their words were filled with immense joy.
"Hehe..." Goku scratched Pan's head and sat up, looking puzzled at Lin Qi, who had returned to his normal state. "What... happened?"
"Phew..." Lin Qi shook his arm and replied indifferently, "Not sure. Since you were going to die anyway, I thought I'd test the power of my Angel Form."
"Just tried exorcising your demon. Treating a dead horse as if it were alive!"
Lin Qi spoke lightly, but Vegeta, squinting, noticed Lin Qi's trembling hand hidden behind his back.
"Hmph... what a chaotic day!" Vegeta snorted coldly, leaping into the air and shouting at Lin Qi.
"Let's go. What are you standing there for? Time to eat!"
"Coming..." Lin Qi replied calmly. Waving his other hand at the large Son Goku family crowd, he followed Vegeta and flew off.
On the way back, Vegeta stared straight ahead in silence. Just as they were nearing the villa, he abruptly asked a seemingly unrelated question.
"Saving that Kakarot brat... has it affected you?"
"No... but tonight, I'd like to eat in my room," Lin Qi responded casually.
It was just a matter of precisely controlling his energy. His hand was only a bit numb, after all.
After all, he wasn't a true Angel!
With Goku back to normal, life resumed its monotonous rhythm.
---
The next morning, the dazzling sunlight spread across the land.
"Ha..." Lin Qi yawned while lying on a deck chair, shading his eyes with one hand and lazily turning over.
Bulma walked over with a tray of snacks and stood beside him. "You Saiyans are so strange..."
"What's strange about us?" Lin Qi moved his hand away from his eyes and turned to look at Bulma.
"That guy Goku is always thinking about sparring with Kakarot, while Vegeta is always stuck in that gravity room..."
Bulma placed the snacks on the table as she spoke. "And you? Just lounging here every day, waiting for the time machine."
"What else would I do?" Lin Qi sat up, grabbed a cup of tea, and blew on it. "Am I to blame for being invincible?"
"Haha... the time machine is already tested. When do you plan to use it?" Bulma chuckled and then asked.
"After lunch..." Lin Qi grabbed a mung bean cake and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing while pondering.
Which year should I visit next?
Come to think of it, does that old Supreme Kai know more about things like the Time Ring...
Could it allow me to cross back into my own timeline? Hmm, why did I even trouble Bulma to build a time machine?
Wouldn't it be simpler to just use the Supreme Kai's Time Ring? I know almost everything the Supreme Kai does, after all...
"I just remembered something!" Lin Qi swallowed the cake, waved to Bulma, and instantly teleported to the Sacred World of the Kai.
Watching Lin Qi disappear so abruptly, Bulma's mouth twitched. "As expected, Saiyans are Saiyans..."
"They vanish without a word, just like Goku!"
"Sigh... at least my son and daughter aren't like Vegeta!" Bulma muttered as she sipped her tea.
"Being a battle maniac is no good! Every day it's just training, training..."
---
Sacred World of the Kai
When Lin Qi appeared, he startled the Old Supreme Kai so much that he nearly dropped the swimsuit magazine he was holding.
"Hello, Lord Lin Qi!" Kibito Kai greeted him calmly before returning to observing the crystal ball.
"My lord... what brings you here this time?" The Old Supreme Kai carefully put the magazine away, stood up from his armchair, and asked.
Lin Qi replied indifferently, "The Time Ring—where is it?"
"What's that?" Before the Old Supreme Kai could answer, Kibito Kai raised his head in confusion.
"You don't know?" Lin Qi looked surprised and turned his gaze to the Old Supreme Kai, waiting for his response.
The Old Supreme Kai wiped the sweat off his forehead and carefully chose his words before speaking. "It's... gone..."
"Back when Beerus wanted to stop me from wandering around, he hid all the Time Rings..."
"I've searched for them, but it seems he destroyed them... haha..."
The Old Supreme Kai's voice grew weaker as he spoke. Finally, he shrank back slightly and sneaked a glance at Lin Qi. Seeing no change in Lin Qi's expression, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.