Do You Believe in Light?

There was no sense of time in cultivation.

That was even more true inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

By then, Lapis had stopped absorbing Vitality.

The bloodline within him had absorbed enough Vitality to meet the conditions for activation.

Although he had spent a month longer absorbing Vitality than Mo Yuan, the amount he had taken in was only one-fifth of what Mo Yuan had absorbed.

Lapis woke from his cultivation.

His expression was calm, but he couldn't hide the joy in his eyes.

After his bloodline activated, his battle power doubled.

But that wasn't what made him happiest.

Along with the increase in battle power, the power of his bloodline had completely merged him with the Permanent Energy Reactor inside him.

From now on, he could strengthen the reactor through cultivation.

In truth, what people called infinite energy was simply the reactor restoring energy faster than it expended it.

But that also limited the strength of his attacks.

Against someone whose battle power didn't exceed his own, Lapis could remain undefeated.

He could even wear his enemy down with infinite energy and stamina.

But against someone stronger than him, his so-called infinite energy wouldn't be of much use.

Otherwise, if he could truly achieve infinite energy, who could possibly be his match?

Forget Cell—even Buu would have been unable to do anything to him later on.

Only someone with access to special energy, like a God of Destruction or the Omni-King, could defeat him.

Besides, the energy stored in the reactor also had an upper limit.

Without activating his bloodline, Lapis couldn't strengthen the Permanent Energy Reactor inside him through cultivation.

If he wanted to become stronger, he could only do so by cultivating his ki.

The reactor's only real use would have been to make sure he never ran out of energy. Beyond that, it wouldn't have served any purpose.

But things were different now.

Activating his bloodline had completely merged him with the Permanent Energy Reactor.

The reactor was no longer a technological device; it had become part of his body.

He could strengthen it by cultivating and absorbing Vitality.

He could increase the reactor's energy recovery rate, expand its storage capacity, and remove the limit on his own energy output.

In other words, he could release all the energy in his body in an instant.

That greatly increased his attack power.

However, this meant he no longer had infinite energy.

His energy simply recovered many times faster than other people's.

Of course, if he kept his energy output below his recovery rate, he could still achieve so-called "infinite energy."

But there wasn't much point in doing that. Against a powerful enemy, if his attacks couldn't break through their defenses, he was better off increasing his output and destroying them outright.

Suppressing his joy, Lapis started to get up from the floor.

But as soon as he moved, he noticed something even more exciting than his increase in strength.

He could feel that his clothes, which had fit him perfectly before, were now a little tight.

He could rule out the possibility that he'd been beaten up during his cultivation.

That left only one possibility...

His body had grown!

Lapis sprang to his feet, thrilled.

"Riiiip~"

A piercing sound echoed through the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Lapis: "..."

Pants: Ah~ I'm splitting apart...

Over the past two months of cultivation, Lapis's body had developed rapidly under the nourishment of Vitality.

He had shot up twenty centimeters, reaching a height of 185 centimeters.

He no longer looked as small and skinny as before. He still had a lean build, without much muscle, but he was a whole size bigger.

His larger body had long since stretched his clothes until they were painfully tight. When he abruptly pushed himself up from the floor, the overstrained fabric gave way.

"Pfft!"

Lapis mechanically turned his head toward the laughter.

His cheap brother-in-law was looking at him with a teasing grin.

More precisely, he was looking at Lapis's ripped pants.

Through the tear, Lapis could just make out the handsome face inside, its eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses.

"So you believe in light too, huh? Since your pants are ruined, want me to get you an Ultraman outfit to match?"

Lapis: o(;メ▼皿▼)o

He'd only been in his teens when he was turned into one of the Androids!

Was it wrong for a teenage boy to believe in light?

Was it?

Mo Yuan hadn't had any professional training. He held it in for a little while, but soon he couldn't take it anymore. He doubled over, laughing.

"Hahahaha~ I'm not laughing at you... Hahahaha—hic—hahahaha~ I just... just thought of something funny, hahahaha~"

As if laughing wasn't enough, he conjured three Ultraman outfits and held them up in front of Lapis.

"Do you want the blue one, the red one, or the red-and-blue one?" (Based on Tiga's three forms.)

His fists clenched!

Lapis's fists clenched!

(╬￣皿￣)

(╬￣皿￣)＝○＃(￣＃)３￣)

He couldn't take it anymore!

Lapis rushed straight at Mo Yuan and punched him into the air. Then the two of them started wrestling.

Neither used ki. They fought like children, without any technique, trading punches back and forth.

After a while.

Mo Yuan and Lapis lay on the floor, each sporting an identical swollen, pig-like face.

Mo Yuan looked at Lapis's swollen face, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward.

"Ow~"

But smiling pulled at the wound on his own face.

He couldn't help grumbling, "You really don't hold back, do you? Haven't you heard you shouldn't hit people in the face?"

"Tch~"

"You've got some nerve. You're the one who hit the hardest."

Lapis touched his swollen, pig-like face and snapped.

"You started hitting me in the face. Otherwise, I wouldn't have hit yours."

"You deserved it for making fun of me."

"Don't make things up. When did I make fun of you? I was helping you fulfill your dream!" Mo Yuan declared righteously.

"I've already figured out the whole thing for you. You put on the Ultraman outfit, then do this..."

Mo Yuan lay on the floor and formed an L with his arms. Purple light gathered around them. Then he shouted, "Lapis Beam, pew~ pew~ pew~"

As Mo Yuan cried out, purple beams shot from his arms, painting a brilliant streak across the pale space.

"Hahaha~ How was that? I even came up with the name of your move. Moved?" Mo Yuan slapped Lapis on the shoulder and burst out laughing.

Lapis's swollen face gave nothing away, but a dangerous glint shone in his eyes.

His hands were clenched tight.

"You bastard! I'm going to kill you!!"

"Hey! Don't hit me in the face..."

While Mo Yuan had been inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, some things had happened in the outside world.

Cell had unexpectedly run into Vegeta and Trunks.

After absorbing hundreds of thousands of ordinary humans, Cell's battle power had reached Piccolo's level.

Even together, Vegeta and Trunks were no match for him.

Fortunately, Piccolo sensed the fighting and arrived in time.

Otherwise, Cell would have absorbed Vegeta and Trunks.

As soon as Piccolo arrived, Cell ran away.

Even though his battle power was now no weaker than Piccolo's, Cell didn't want to take the risk.

After all, Piccolo had also brought Senzu Beans. Once Vegeta and Trunks ate them, their injuries healed instantly.

After being rescued, Trunks breathed a sigh of relief.

But then he noticed something that terrified him.

Something important was missing from his body.