Li Lin folded his arms across his chest and said calmly, "Sure. If you're going to pay me back, then we can talk!"
Hearing this, Android 17 finally felt the weight lift off his shoulders.
It seemed the other guy wasn't unreasonable. Now it was just a matter of how much compensation he wanted.
"Look," Li Lin said slowly, counting on his fingers. "My Capsule house was worth around 350,000 at market price. All the household appliances inside were worth about 100,000!"
"And the clothes I'm wearing? Each outfit cost several thousand!"
Li Lin tallied it up slowly, using the usual prices on the market.
Android 17 nodded along. The prices weren't cheap, but they were better than losing his life.
But Li Lin's next words left him frozen in place.
"Then, adding on all the other odds and ends, and rounding up, you can just pay me 100 million!" Li Lin said calmly.
Android 17 nearly dropped his jaw when he heard the price.
He'd never seen anyone round things up like that. They'd just been talking in the hundreds of thousands, so how had rounding up turned it into 100 million?
Android 17 was too stunned to speak, but Android 18 immediately objected when she heard the price.
For some reason, she'd always been sensitive about money—and even a little greedy.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? You're trying to rip us off!"
Android 18 lowered her shielding hands and stared straight at Li Lin.
She didn't have time to be embarrassed anymore. Though her face was still flushed, she began arguing her case with Li Lin.
Li Lin wasn't about to back down. "How is that ripping you off? That includes a hefty fee for emotional distress, which money can't make up for. I'm already asking too little by only charging you 100 million!"
Android 18's cheeks puffed up in anger. "You seem perfectly fine to me. Even if you're charging us for emotional distress, you can't just name any price you want!"
They'd only just come out, and they didn't have that kind of money on them.
Even if they did, they wouldn't just hand it over to this guy!
"Whatever. That's not my problem!" Li Lin said indifferently.
He wasn't really trying to extort them. He just wanted to teach them a lesson.
He knew they couldn't pay that much, so they'd just have to let him beat them up. That would settle things, wouldn't it?
"Heh!" Android 18 gave a cold laugh and said haughtily, "We don't have any money anyway, so that's that!"
She wasn't unreasonable. If you broke someone else's things, it was only fair to pay for them.
She wouldn't even blink at paying extra on top of that.
But this guy was just impossible. He was practically taking advantage of their situation!
Watching Android 18 try to wriggle out of it amused Li Lin. He wasn't sure if it was his lecherous side, but he felt a slight stir in his body.
Li Lin quickly suppressed it, again and again, then put on an angry expression and said, "If that's how it is, then get ready to face my fury! Who's going first, or are you all coming at me together?"
Seeing how ready Li Lin looked to fight, Android 17 suddenly grew extremely nervous.
The man before him was terrifyingly strong. Who was supposed to face his fury first?
But he didn't have any money on him, let alone 100 million.
Even if he went out and robbed people right now, it would take him half a day to get that much!
Seeing that Li Lin seemed serious, Android 18 hurried behind Android 16.
Android 16 was at a loss for words. He'd been created to defeat Son Goku.
And now? He hadn't even run into Son Goku, but he'd come across a monster like this instead.
Li Lin took a step forward, and several cracks appeared in the ground. The birds that had just settled in the woods took off in a dark cloud!
Time and space seemed to freeze in that instant. The oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe.
Hundreds of miles away, in an empty city,
Cell, green all over and covered in spots, gazed up at the sky.
"That energy again? Who is that? How could someone this terrifying exist on Earth?" he said, trembling.
He'd thought his current strength made him unafraid of anyone on Earth.
Once he absorbed Android 17 and Android 18, he'd become invincible.
But this was completely beyond anything he'd expected. That energy was terrifyingly powerful. Even in his Perfect Form, he might not be able to beat this person!
"No, it's still too dangerous here. I'd better get farther away!"
Cell decided to run farther away first, then figure out what to do about absorbing the Androids.
But before he'd even taken two steps, he suddenly stopped.
He found it strange. Anyone who could give off energy like this had to be fighting someone. Otherwise, they wouldn't suddenly release such an enormous amount of energy for no reason.
But from beginning to end, he could only sense that overwhelming energy. He couldn't sense anyone else.
"Wait. Could it be..."
Cell suddenly had a disturbing thought. "Could those two idiots, Android 17 and Android 18, be fighting that monster?"
The more Cell thought about it, the more alarmed he became. It seemed increasingly likely.
He decided to hide his energy and go take a look. After all, he'd come here to absorb the Androids.
He couldn't let them get killed before he had a chance to absorb them!
Back with Li Lin,
just as he was about to attack, a group of figures suddenly appeared in the sky.
"Li Lin, we're here to help!" Piccolo called out. As soon as he finished speaking, he landed beside Li Lin.
But when he saw Li Lin, he was completely stunned!
He couldn't believe it. Why wasn't this guy wearing any clothes?
Krillin and the others arrived a moment later, but they still made it in time.
The moment they saw Li Lin, their expressions turned complicated.
"W-what's going on?" Tien Shinhan asked, staring at Li Lin's muscular body in confusion.
"Ahem!" Li Lin noticed the strange looks everyone was giving him and felt a little awkward. He cleared his throat twice and said, "It's a long story. I didn't want to end up like this either. The Androids are mainly to blame!"
Only then did everyone remember that this wasn't the time to gawk.
The Androids were still here. Their priority was dealing with them.
"It looks like the Androids really are hard to deal with. Li Lin's so strong, and even he's having a tough time. They even managed to beat his clothes off," Yamcha said quietly.
Everyone nodded slowly, though they wondered why Li Lin's clothes had been beaten off while the other side seemed completely unharmed.
Could the Androids be so powerful that even Li Lin couldn't handle them?
Before you continue