The wind gently swept into the Celestial Palace at night.
Logically, the wind should be quite strong at such a high altitude. However, that wasn't something to worry about. After all, although the celestial beings weren't strong in combat, they possessed many amazing powers, including the ability to shield the Celestial Palace. Thus, strong winds couldn't affect it, and human aircraft couldn't reach it either.
The fact that Bulma managed to fly her aircraft up here was purely because the celestial being had allowed it.
The Celestial Palace was extremely high, and looking down, one could see many cities. The level of technological development in the Dragon Ball world was very high, so every city was brightly lit at night, appearing exceptionally prosperous.
Son Gohan and Ling An stood at the edge of the Celestial Palace, gazing at the prosperous cities below. A glimmer of excitement flashed in Son Gohan's eyes. Then, he turned to Ling An and asked, "Ling An, do you think it's really okay for us to interfere in this world's affairs?"
"Eh..."
Ling An was stunned upon hearing this, completely unexpected that Son Gohan would ask such a question. It plunged her into thought.
Was it really okay to interfere in this world? From the perspective of the gods, of course, it wasn't. One could see this from the God of Destruction's later plan to destroy the time machine and Trunks. But, could the gods completely represent the rules of the world?
Even ants strive to survive. Since humans have the opportunity to change their fate, why not fight for it? If the gods truly believe it's wrong to alter the established course of the world, wrong to create new parallel worlds, then why didn't they block this path from the very beginning?
As for whether the Supreme Kai of Time and the Time Patrol exist, Ling An doesn't know. But even if they do, it only proves there are managing organizations and personnel, not that humans can't act.
Ling An suddenly thought of the saying, "The Great Way has fifty, and the heavens take forty-nine, leaving one." Since there's such a variable, it means the universe is giving humans this opportunity.
Of course, to put it bluntly, whether it's right or wrong, whether it's just or unjust, is all nonsense in Ling An's opinion. The changes in time and the increase in parallel worlds are indeed troublesome for the gods, as it increases the difficulty of their management. But for humans, whose lifespan is only a few dozen or hundreds of years, what does it matter?
Aren't the gods what they are because of their own power and uniqueness? They also make decisions about everything in the universe based on these qualities. So, since they have immense power and determine everything for themselves, isn't it only natural?
Ling An admits her thoughts are a bit rebellious, but she doesn't mind. After all, as a shut-in, if her thoughts weren't a little unrestrained, it would be somewhat disappointing.
Of course, she definitely can't say this to Son Gohan. And currently, Son Gohan's impression of the gods is only that of a Kami, with perhaps King Kai added in. He doesn't understand the Supreme Kai, the God of Destruction, or even higher levels.
Therefore, she must tell Son Gohan what he should do in a way he understands. Of course, Son Gohan is also a person with independent thoughts. What she says is only her own opinion. Whether or not Son Gohan will follow her ideas is not something she can decide.
She asked first, "Gohan, why are you asking this question? Or do you think it's wrong to interfere with another world?"
"It's not that it's wrong…" Son Gohan shook his head, a look of conflict on his face. "I want to help the people of this world eliminate Cell from the bottom of my heart, but there's another thought lurking deep down. That thought seems to be saying that our intervention will bring more variables to this world. So I'm wondering, should we really get involved in this world?"
"I talked to Uncle Piccolo today, and I heard something else from him. That is, the Cell of this world actually comes from another future world, and the Cell of that world even killed Trunks!" Speaking of this, Son Gohan's eyes flashed with anger, and at the same time, he clenched his fists tightly. "In other words, there may actually be three future worlds: one is the future world you and I are in, one is Trunks' future world, and the other is the future world where Cell killed Trunks."
"Does this mean that the more variables there are in the future, the greater the impact on each world? If we keep interfering with this world, maybe we ourselves won't be affected, but will the us in another world be like the Trunks who was killed?"
Son Gohan's explanation was a bit muddled, but Ling An didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said, because it was obviously a problem that couldn't be sorted out at all. At the same time, she also understood why Son Gohan would suddenly ask such a question tonight.
After all, Son Gohan isn't just a martial artist; he also has the talent to become a scholar, and therefore knows how to think. But because he thinks too much, he's fallen into a kind of confusion.
This is a very tricky question, because Ling An doesn't know how to answer it either. After all, Son Gohan's concerns are valid. Just as he said, Trunks from another world was killed by Cell, and all of this started because Trunks went back to the past and changed the past. And it's not just as simple as Trunks being killed; it also brought a terrible enemy to this world, which is the current Perfect Cell.
It could be said that a single instance of time travel brought changes to both worlds involved. Trunks was killed, and Cell arrived in this world. If there had been no time travel, wouldn't these events have been avoided?
Thinking about this, Son Gohan couldn't help but have some thoughts. After all, what they were doing now wasn't much different from Cell's actions. Who could guarantee that what they were doing in this world wouldn't affect the future, or even themselves?
This impact could affect them directly, or it could affect their counterparts in parallel universes, just like Trunks. Either way, it was difficult for Son Gohan to accept.
Ling An knew very well that this topic was impossible to explain clearly, so she didn't intend to help Son Gohan sort it out. Of course, she herself found it difficult to understand. Since this matter was unclear, she would instead explore other issues stemming from it to resolve the matter.
Or perhaps, not resolve the issue itself, but rather to help Son Gohan, who was troubled by it, come to terms with it. In a sense, Son Gohan had gotten stuck in a rut, which was why he was so conflicted. But for Ling An, these weren't issues. If you didn't consider the problem, then the problem didn't exist.
Doing nothing was the best way to solve things!
Therefore, Ling An thought for a moment and said, "Gohan, you've been thinking about how the past has been altered by the future, causing impacts on both the past and the future. But have you ever considered this: if the past wasn't changed, would that future even have any hope?"
"This..."
Hearing Ling An's words, Son Gohan's eyes widened, as if a bolt of lightning had flashed through his mind.
At this moment, Ling An seized the opportunity and said, "Think about it. In the world you and Trunks are from, because Trunks didn't exist, your father died, and others were killed by the Androids. Is that really a world you can accept?"
"And although changing the past can't directly change the future, it can allow you to gain the ability to change the future while changing the past. Take Trunks, for example. With his current abilities, if he returned to the future world he's from, he would definitely be able to easily deal with the Androids and change the future world..." Ling An put her hands behind her back, her eyes gazing at the bustling city not far away. She continued, "I talked with Trunks before. In his world, you, Gohan, were also killed by the Androids. But in our world, you, Gohan, defeated the Androids and restored peace to the world."
"Isn't that good? Even if Trunks was killed by Cell in some world, so what? Do you think it's more important to change the world with your own will, or to do nothing and accept a predetermined fate?"
Upon hearing this, Son Gohan was silent, but Ling An knew that he already had his own thoughts at this moment. However, she continued, "Humans have subjective initiative. Since we have the ability, we should change it. Gohan, you think that changing the predetermined world will bring more uncertainty, but is it possible that the changed world is also a possibility for the world's development?"
In fact, Ling An herself couldn't figure this out. Just like the main timeline and the future timeline in the original story, the future timeline changed the main timeline, so all sorts of plots appeared in the original story. Then the question arises: is the main timeline changed by the future timeline something that the main timeline should have experienced? Rather than being the same as the past timeline of the future timeline?
To put it more simply, it's not that A changed B, but that all of A's actions are already a part of B.
This is actually an answer without an answer, or rather, everyone has their own answer in their heart. Ling An didn't want to think about this question. She only said it to let Son Gohan understand that there was such a possibility.
So, she finally said, "Everything that exists is reasonable. In our world and Trunks' past, there were no future people. But in this world, since future people like us and Trunks have appeared, we have to consider the problems based on what's happening in this world. So, there's no need to think about whether to intervene or not. Maybe, sometimes, intervention itself is already a predetermined part of this world."
"Besides, whether we intervene or not, we're already here. That in itself is a form of intervention. So, why worry about how deep we get, right?"
"..." Son Gohan was silent, but his eyes grew brighter. To put it plainly, he was indeed struggling. But in his heart, he still wanted to get involved. He asked Ling An, but it was just to find a justifiable answer for his own thoughts. In his heart, he wanted to get an answer from Ling An.
....
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