The Storm Approaches

The ocean waves crashed madly against the reefs of Turtle Island, emitting a deafening roar.

Inside the Turtle Hermit House, the originally spacious living room now felt incredibly cramped. To prepare for the upcoming Cell Games, all the Z Fighters—save for the Saiyans—had gathered here. But now, no one was training.

Everyone stared fixedly at the massive display screen in the center of the room.

Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Yamcha stood in a row, cold sweat dripping from their chins onto the wooden floor, creating dull splashes. Master Roshi had uncharacteristically set aside his usual lecherous demeanor and even removed his perennial sunglasses; his clouded eyes were filled with shock.

In front of the screen, Bulma's fingers flew as she hammered commands into the keyboard.

"Is the feed connected yet?" Krillin asked, his voice dry.

"Quiet! I'm busy, you idiot Krillin," Bulma replied without looking back.

Prior to this, in order to deal with Cell, Bulma and her father, Dr. Brief, had worked together to repair Android 16, who had been severely damaged by Cell. As a top-tier scientist, while rewriting Android 16's core programming, Bulma had taken the liberty of embedding a visual and auditory synchronization module.

She had originally intended it as a way to gather intelligence during the Cell Games, never expecting that this backdoor would become their only window into the front lines.

Dende stood beside Bulma, clutching the new-model Dragon Radar he had only half-calibrated. As the new Guardian of Earth, his perception of ki was sharper than anyone else present.

He looked up, gazing through the window of the Turtle Hermit House toward the distant horizon, his slender frame trembling uncontrollably.

The electronic static on the screen finally settled, clearly displaying the scene on the plaza of Kami's Palace.

In the image, Android 16's emotionless mechanical eyes were locked onto the one-armed youth hovering in mid-air.

A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the speakers in the living room.

"Energy level: 40 billion? Who are you?"

"There is no data on you in Earth's database. My sensors cannot identify you, but after analysis and comparison, you should be the Son Gohan from the future."

The moment the name "Son Gohan" came through the speakers—

Chi-Chi, standing behind the crowd, shuddered violently. The teacup in her hand hit the floor with a "crack," shattering into pieces.

She shoved Yamcha aside and lunged toward the screen, her hands clawing at the edges of the monitor.

On the screen, the youth was shirtless, his muscular frame defined like chiseled stone. But what truly stung Chi-Chi's eyes were the hideous, crisscrossing scars on his body and his empty left sleeve.

"That's Gohan from the future?!" Chi-Chi's voice was choked with sobs.

That was her son. Her sweet boy who used to cry at the sight of a needle, the child she had pinned all her hopes on to become a great scholar.

In the future world, what kind of hell on earth had her precious son endured to become this scarred, cold-eyed warrior?

Tears fell like broken beads onto the keyboard. Chi-Chi bit her lip hard to keep from crying out, but her violently shaking shoulders betrayed her near-collapse.

Launch stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around Chi-Chi's shoulders, saying nothing, merely patting her back firmly.

Unlike Chi-Chi, the martial artists present were focused on another terrifying number.

"Forty billion..." Krillin swallowed hard, feeling as if his throat were stuffed with sand. "Are you kidding me... Is this really power a human can reach?"

Yamcha forced a bitter smile that looked worse than crying: "Saiyans... they really are monsters, aren't they..."

"No wonder that ki felt so familiar, yet so vast I dared not believe it." Tien Shinhan clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

As martial artists who had once competed with Goku for the title of World Martial Arts Tournament champion, they had always trained desperately, trying to keep pace with Goku.

But forget Goku; they couldn't even catch up to Piccolo, let alone this level of power. Was this really something that could be achieved through hard work?

This absolute chasm in strength left the proud martial artists feeling a profound sense of powerlessness.

However, compared to the shock of future Gohan's strength, another, more pure and suffocating fear gripped their hearts.

On the screen, Android 16's voice continued.

"But even with you, the result will not change. The power of that Ultimate Cell has already exceeded all calculation limits. No one is his match."

This statement hit everyone in the Turtle Hermit House like a heavy hammer.

They didn't need Android 16 to remind them; they knew better than anyone just how terrifying that Ultimate Cell was.

Just minutes ago, that ki had erupted from the other side of the Earth.

If future Gohan's ki was a vast, boundless ocean, the ki belonging to Ultimate Cell was a cosmic black hole devouring everything.

It was profoundly evil, chaotic, and filled with a pure desire for destruction.

"Damn it!" Krillin slammed a fist into the wall beside him.

With a bang, a deep crack spiderwebbed across the wooden wall.

"We were already helpless against that Perfect Cell," Krillin gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot with extreme frustration. "And now a monster infinitely more terrifying has appeared! Are we just supposed to watch Goku and the others fight to the death while we hide here waiting to die?!"

Yamcha lowered his head, not responding.

Tien Shinhan took a deep breath, unclenched his fists, and turned to look at Krillin, his voice surprisingly calm: "Krillin, calm down."

Krillin looked up sharply: "How do you expect me to be calm! That monster is about to kill Goku and Gohan!"

"What good would it do if you went?" Tien Shinhan looked Krillin straight in the eyes. "With our strength, we couldn't even get close to the center of that ki. The mere shockwaves of the battle would tear us to pieces."

Tien Shinhan's words were cruel, but they were the unvarnished truth.

"If we go, we won't be helping; we'll just be a burden and a liability to Goku and the others." Tien Shinhan turned his head back to the screen. "Face reality. The scale of this battle has long since exceeded the reach of ordinary people like us. Staying here to protect ourselves and not adding to their burden is the only thing we can do right now."

Master Roshi sighed and put his sunglasses back on: "Tien is right. The situation from here on out rests solely on Goku and Gohan."

The room fell into a dead silence once more.

Only the sound of the waves crashing against the reefs grew louder.

Master Roshi looked silently at the ink-black sky outside the window and let out a long, heavy sigh.