"W-what? The Androids escaped!"
Seeing that the Androids had vanished, Bulma couldn't help crying out in surprise.
"Heh heh. They won't get away."
Cell remained perfectly calm, not at all surprised that the Androids had escaped.
In fact, the only reason they'd gotten away was that Cell had deliberately let them escape.
Otherwise, with Cell's fighting strength, there was no way they could have gotten away.
Cell wasn't in a hurry at all, because he'd already marked Android 17 and Android 18.
Finding them would be a piece of cake.
Cell pulled a small box from his body and tossed it to Bulma.
"Bulma, this is the Time Machine. It's out of energy. I'm going to take care of those two Androids now, so recharge it as soon as you can."
"Oh, right! Okay."
Cell had tossed it at her so suddenly that Bulma hadn't been ready. She fumbled with it and almost dropped it.
As soon as he'd finished speaking, Cell sprang into the air and chased after them, following the direction of the marks.
The reason he'd let the Androids escape was that he didn't want to absorb them in front of Bulma.
He was afraid she might notice something was wrong.
After all, he still needed Bulma to recharge the Time Machine.
What if Bulma figured something out and refused to recharge it for him?
To be safe, Cell had decided to let Android 17 and Android 18 escape.
Then he could absorb them somewhere else.
Of course, there was a second reason, too.
He was worried that if one Android saw him absorb the other, the remaining one might choose to self-destruct.
Then all his effort would have been for nothing.
Now that they'd split up to escape, things were going exactly as Cell wanted.
A little while later, Cell sensed that the marks had stopped moving.
Soon, a bare mountain appeared before him.
The energy of the marks was coming from inside it.
Android 17 sat against the wall of a cave. By now, he barely had any strength left.
Cell's attack had left him gravely wounded.
His internal organs were badly damaged, and nearly every bone in his body had developed cracks, large and small.
He felt as if he were about to die.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps rang out with startling clarity in the silent space.
Android 17 pushed himself up against the wall and stood.
He watched the cave entrance warily, energy gathering in his hand and gleaming with a dangerous light.
Android 17's pupils contracted sharply.
He hadn't seen who was coming yet, but he could make out the shadow of a tall, strangely shaped figure.
Its outline matched the features of the monster that had injured him moments ago.
"Whoosh!"
The instant Cell appeared at the cave entrance, the energy blast Android 17 had formed in his hand shot toward him without restraint.
Android 17 roared, "Die! You ugly freak!"
The energy formed a massive beam that filled the entire cave entrance.
"Heh heh heh heh heh—"
Faced with such terrifying energy, Cell wasn't afraid at all. He even burst out laughing.
Cell faced the energy beam head-on, neither dodging nor flinching.
Just as the terrifying energy was about to hit him, he finally moved.
"Smack!"
Cell swatted it with the back of his hand. The energy beam made a sharp ninety-degree turn in front of him and shot straight into the sky.
Cell licked his lips. He could hardly wait to taste this delicious treat.
The tip of the tail behind him gleamed coldly.
Without another word,
Cell appeared beside Android 17 in a flash.
Gravely wounded, Android 17 was already too weak to resist.
The tip of Cell's tail immediately expanded into a bell-shaped opening.
"What are you doing?!"
Android 17 cried out in terror.
"Heh heh heh. Become my nourishment!"
The bell-shaped end of Cell's tail opened like the gaping maw of an ancient savage beast and swallowed Android 17 whole.
"Ah!!"
An enormous amount of energy poured into Cell's body, making him roar.
The energy surged through him.
Cell felt his body growing stronger at an astonishing rate.
"Boom!"
Brilliant white light burst from Cell's body, and an immense aura erupted from within him.
The terrifying aura instantly leveled the mountain.
A mass of white light floated in the air.
Gradually, the light faded, revealing the muscular figure within.
After absorbing Android 17, Cell had finally reached his mature form.
Mature-form Cell looked more human, and his facial features were much more distinct.
"Power! Incredible power! Hahahaha!"
After reaching his mature form, even Cell's laughter sounded much better.
Feeling the tremendous strength within him, Cell thought he was invincible.
Even if he encountered the Android 18 from the other timeline, he could defeat her with ease.
His fighting power had now reached eight billion—ten times what it had been before.
After experiencing the wonders of his mature form,
Cell could hardly wait to absorb Android 18 and reach his perfect form.
His mature form was already this powerful. Just how invincible would he be in his perfect form?
Cell set off at once.
Now that his strength had increased so dramatically, his speed was absurd.
It took him less than two minutes to find Android 18.
He did the same as before.
Soon, he swallowed Android 18.
Android 18 didn't even have the strength to resist.
"Boom!"
An even greater force than before came into being inside Cell.
A terrifying aura erupted from within him.
In an instant,
The wind howled, and green energy burst from Cell's body, forming a barrier that expanded outward.
Everything the barrier passed was destroyed.
Trees, boulders, even mountains—all were obliterated.
Crackle! Crackle!
Terrifying lightning coursed inside and outside the barrier.
The entire Earth—and even the whole Solar System—was shaken by this power.
The terrifying aura spread throughout the entire galaxy.
All living things trembled before it.
On Earth, the ground shook violently. Mountains crumbled, tsunamis surged, volcanoes erupted, and one natural disaster after another struck.
Bulma was making a new energy supply for the Time Machine when the sudden earthquake knocked her to the ground.
"What's going on? Have the Androids come back?"
She listened closely, but heard no explosions.
"No, it seems to be an earthquake."
Bulma quickly gathered her things and ran to an open area.
As soon as she got outside, she saw that many people had come out, too.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and terrifying streaks of lightning writhed overhead.
It looked just like the end of the world.
Everyone stared silently at the sky, weighed down by the oppressive atmosphere.
Bulma didn't know what to say, either.
Fortunately, the strange celestial events didn't last long.
After more than ten minutes, the sky returned to normal.
Blue skies and white clouds reappeared, and the bright sunlight shone down on everyone once more.
It was as if the strange phenomena from moments ago had all been an illusion.
"Whoosh!"
Bulma suddenly noticed that a shadow had fallen over her. She turned around.
"Uh? (•ิ_•ิ)? Who are you, handsome?"
Before he could answer, Dia came running over from nearby, looking excited.
"Lord Cell! You must be Lord Cell, right?"
Cell nodded. "Mm!"
Everyone erupted into excitement.
The handsome man before them was Lord Cell!
As far as they knew, Cell had been rather casually put together in the looks department.
But aside from some similarities in his appearance, this handsome man's features were completely different from before. Anyone who saw him would have to exclaim, "What a handsome guy!"
Bulma stared at Cell curiously. "How did you turn into this?"
Cell gave a faint smile. "It's nothing. I had a breakthrough in strength, and my form became more perfect, too."
"Oh!" Bulma understood. Then she remembered something and hurriedly asked, "What about the Androids?"
"I've already taken care of them."
At that, the crowd erupted again!
"The damned Androids are finally gone! The war is over! Long live Lord Cell!"
"Lord Cell is so handsome!"
"Lord Cell, I love you! (づ￣3￣)づ"
"Lord Cell, I want to have your babies!"
"Lord Cell, I want to sword fight with you..."
"..."
Wait! Had something weird just slipped in there?
Cell watched the people cheer, embrace one another, and weep with joy, and thought to himself,
I wonder how Trunks would feel if he knew this timeline had become my world.
He'd be very excited, wouldn't he?
After all, I saved this timeline!
Heh heh heh heh heh~
Before you continue