Name

After flying leisurely through the sky for over ten minutes, the group finally spotted a vehicle in the middle of this wilderness.

It was a small pickup truck, just the right size to accommodate Android 16.

Otherwise, given Android 16's massive frame, a standard sedan wouldn't have been able to fit him.

The owner of the vehicle was inside a nearby convenience store, shopping.

After a round of "friendly" communication, the owner finally agreed to lend them the truck, and he didn't even dare to ask for it back.

As a gesture of gratitude, Android 16 very kindly helped unload the cargo from the truck.

The owner was moved to tears, and after they left, he even called the police out of concern that they might get lost in the wilderness.

Truly touching.

Having bid farewell to the kind soul, they began their game of hunting for Son Goku.

Inside the truck, Android 17 sat in the driver's seat, while Android 18 sat in the passenger seat, holding Mo Yuan.

As for Android 16, due to his immense size, he had to sit in the cargo bed at the back.

Now that there were no outsiders to disturb them, Android 17 finally began to ask about Mo Yuan's origins.

"Hey, kid, tell us where you came from."

First of all, my name isn't "Hey"...

"My name is Mo Yuan..."

The moment the words left his lips, Mo Yuan noticed everyone staring at him in astonishment.

Even Android 17, who was driving, stopped watching the road.

"What? Is there a problem?"

Mo Yuan was a bit confused; it was just a name, wasn't it? What was there to be so surprised about?

"Of course there's a problem. All Androids are nameless; we only have serial numbers. Even Dr. Gero himself gave himself the designation Android 20 after turning himself into an android," Android 18 said, looking at Mo Yuan strangely.

"Yet you have a proper name."

Mo Yuan suddenly realized: "Oh! So that's it! Actually, I chose the name myself. Perhaps Dr. Gero felt the success rate of creating me was too low, so he hadn't gotten around to giving me a number yet."

"Success rate too low? I recall you saying you aren't a robot, nor are you an android modified from a human. So, how exactly were you created?"

"I was created by Dr. Gero using the cells of Earth's martial arts masters fused with the cells of powerful beings from the universe. Therefore, I am neither a robot nor an android modified from an ordinary human..."

Mo Yuan explained his origins to the three of them.

However, he didn't reveal everything. For instance, he didn't mention absorbing Android 17 and Android 18 to reach his perfect form, nor did he mention absorbing humans to increase his strength.

After all, he had no intention of absorbing humans, let alone them; bringing it up would only cause unnecessary trouble.

"So, you were also created for the purpose of killing Son Goku?"

Mo Yuan nodded: "Yes."

Although he said that, Mo Yuan had no intention of actually killing Son Goku. Aside from his lack of desire to do so, his own strength was simply too pathetic.

He wasn't sure how combat power was calculated.

However, he could clearly sense that his own ki was only about one-tenth that of Vegeta in his base form.

With that level of combat power, he couldn't even beat Piccolo, let alone kill Son Goku.

That would be like lighting a lantern in a latrine—looking for death.

And...

There was another massive threat now.

Cell.

Cell was hiding somewhere, unknown to them.

In the original plot, this was roughly the time when Cell would emerge to start devouring people.

His ultimate goal was Android 17 and Android 18.

Without absorbing Android 17 and Android 18, it wouldn't be so easy for Cell to evolve into his perfect form.

And an unevolved Cell was nothing to fear.

According to the original story, besides guarding against Cell, they also had to guard against Vegeta.

After all, in the original work, it was precisely because of Vegeta that Android 18 ended up being absorbed by Cell.

They even had that touching scene of "fatherly love and filial piety" with Trunks because of it.

The final result was quite "delightful," too.

Vegeta became a Super Vegeta once again.

Mo Yuan just couldn't understand it.

How did that guy Vegeta manage to get slapped in the face every single time he got stronger?

It could be said that Vegeta's entire life was defined by his arrogance.

He lived for his ego, and he grew strong through his recklessness.

He truly did become stronger, but he never once managed to avoid the beatings that followed his power-ups.

When it came to "trying to act cool only to get burned," Mo Yuan was willing to crown Vegeta the champion.

However, even though Vegeta got slapped in the face every single time, Mo Yuan knew very well that in a few days, Vegeta would grow stronger again—strong enough that neither Android 17 nor Android 18 would be able to defeat him.

Not even Cell in his perfect form would be able to beat him.

Therefore, Mo Yuan made up his mind: he had to become stronger.

Because as long as Cell was still around, a confrontation was inevitable; Cell would never let Android 17 and Android 18 go.

Even if they destroyed Cell now, Vegeta would still come looking for trouble.

After all, Vegeta had lost face because of them, and he would absolutely seek to reclaim it.

Moreover, time was running out; Vegeta would be here in just a few days.

Thinking of this, Mo Yuan couldn't help but knit his brows.

There was only one place left where he could rapidly increase his strength...

"What are you thinking about?"

Just then, a warm, soft hand gently smoothed out the furrow in Mo Yuan's brow, the calm tone revealing a hint of concern.

Mo Yuan shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

It wasn't that Mo Yuan didn't want to tell them, but he didn't know how to explain it.

He couldn't exactly tell them, "The version of me from the future is going to come here to absorb you two," could he?

"By the way, sister, I remember you saying that you were transformed into androids from humans by Dr. Gero, right?"

Mo Yuan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes."

"Do you still remember your names from before?"

"Our names from before..."

Hearing Mo Yuan's question, a flash of hatred crossed Android 18's eyes, which then dissolved into deep sorrow.

She recalled what happened a few years ago.

Originally, she and Android 17 were residents of a village on the outskirts of North City.

From that day on, everything changed.

That day, Dr. Gero arrived at their village with several androids in tow.

Facing the powerful androids, their firearms were completely useless.

Unable to resist, they could only submit to being slaughtered.

In just half an hour, they were all captured by Dr. Gero; not a single person escaped.

What followed was a life in hell.

Dr. Gero began his inhumane human experiments.

Android 17 and Android 18 watched helplessly as their friends and family were brutally murdered one by one.

They watched their parents kneel before Dr. Gero, begging to cooperate with his experiments if only he would spare the two of them.

But Dr. Gero didn't need their cooperation.

Two androids knocked their parents unconscious and dragged them away.

From that moment on, they never saw their parents again.

They knew exactly what that meant.

Failed test subjects were all disposed of by Dr. Gero.

Not even a trace was left behind.

When hatred is buried in the heart for too long, it doesn't fade; it only grows more intense.

And the greatest mistake Dr. Gero ever made was focusing their modifications entirely on raw power, which left their control systems weak.

With their past memories intact, once Android 17 and Android 18 were transformed and gained their immense power, the thing they wanted most wasn't to complete Dr. Gero's mission of killing Son Goku.

It was to kill Dr. Gero, the man who had destroyed their family.

Mo Yuan suddenly felt the atmosphere inside the car become stifling, and he regretted asking that question.

It was clear that his inquiry had stirred up some painful memories for Android 17 and Android 18.

For a moment, silence descended upon the car.

After a while, Android 18 sighed, her expression gradually softening as if she had let go of something, feeling a sense of relief.

"My name is Lazuli."

Hearing Android 18's words, the grip Android 17 had on the steering wheel loosened slightly.

Letting go? That was for the best; it was truly time to let go.

"My name is Lapis."

Sitting in the back, Android 16 wore a gentle smile on his face.