Ultimate Cell

With the emergence of this aura, the atmosphere across the entire planet groaned under the strain.

Son Gohan froze, then whipped around to look west. The golden aura that had been about to erupt instantly subsided, and his brows drew together in a deep frown.

Below, Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, and the others were even more on guard.

"This energy..." Cold sweat beaded on Goku's forehead as he stared in the direction it came from. "It's exactly like Cell's! But how can it be this enormous?!"

Piccolo's face had gone green with shock. "How is this possible?!"

Just as everyone stood there in disbelief...

Whoosh!

A tall, muscular figure burst through the clouds and landed heavily on the Lookout Plaza.

He wore green armor, sported an orange-red mohawk, and had an expressionless face. His eyes were as cold as a machine's.

"Android 16?" Piccolo recognized him.

Android 16 ignored Piccolo. His impassive eyes swept over everyone, and his voice rumbled heavily. "It's Cell from the future."

A few minutes earlier.

The barren rocky wasteland. The Cell Games Arena.

As the battered Time Machine emblazoned with the "CC" logo crashed out of nowhere, a powerful magnetic field instantly destroyed all the nearby broadcasting equipment.

Perfect Cell of the main timeline, sitting cross-legged in the center of the arena, snapped his eyes open. A flicker of surprise passed through his compound eyes.

He recognized that machine. Trunks had used it to travel from the future to the present.

Hiss—

The hatch slowly opened.

A huge foot covered in green spots stepped out.

When he saw the newcomer in full, Cell of the main timeline froze.

Standing before him was none other than another Perfect Cell!

But the other one clearly hadn't come in peace.

"Who are you?" Cell of the main timeline rose to his feet, his expression dark.

"I'm you." Future Cell, stepping out of the Time Machine, rolled his neck. A cruel smile tugged at his lips. "Only I'm a more perfect version of you."

"Big talk!" Cell of the main timeline scoffed, vanishing from the spot.

Bam!

Cell of the main timeline slammed his proudest, full-power punch into Future Cell's chest.

Yet Future Cell didn't even stagger.

"Too weak." A flicker of boredom crossed Future Cell's eyes.

Smack.

Future Cell casually raised one hand and seized Cell of the main timeline by the throat, lifting him into the air like a chicken.

The Perfect Cell power he was so proud of left him not the slightest chance to fight back against his counterpart!

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Cell of the main timeline thrashed wildly, fear finally surfacing in his eyes.

"I'm the one and only true being, the ultimate perfection who controls everything. Now be a good little source of nourishment for my evolution."

With a savage grin, Future Cell's tail suddenly split open like a flower, expanding into a massive fleshy funnel that covered Cell of the main timeline's head in one gulp.

Gulp!

In just one second,

the arrogant Perfect Cell of the main timeline was swallowed whole, skin and bones.

Rumble!

After the absorption, the spots across Future Cell's body flashed with strange light. A purple aura poured out of him, warping the space within ten meters.

Kami's Palace.

After hearing Android 16's account, the entire group fell into dead silence.

Son Gohan slowly descended from the air, his gaze growing inscrutable.

The story had completely changed.

His sudden intervention had set off some kind of chain reaction in the laws of time, sending the Cell Games—originally meant to unfold as planned—completely off course.

Android 16's eyes flashed red as the radar inside him went into overdrive, scanning everyone's power levels.

"Earth has no hope left." Android 16's icy voice sounded like a death sentence. "The gap between you and that monster is too great."

"Stop trying to scare us!" Vegeta gritted his teeth. "You're just a coward, talking up the enemy and running us down!"

Android 16 turned to Vegeta, the red glow of his mechanical eyes sweeping over him. "Vegeta. Base power level: 500 million."

Vegeta froze, his face turning ashen.

Android 16 didn't pause. His gaze moved on.

"Future Trunks. Base power level: 500 million."

"Son Goku. Base power level: 700 million."

"Piccolo. Power level: 700 million."

"Son Gohan..." Android 16 looked at the boy behind Goku. "Base power level: 1 billion."

At that number, Vegeta's breath caught. He stared at the kid who usually seemed so weak and easy to bully. The son of a Low-Class Warrior had twice his power in his normal state!

Android 16's gaze shifted to the purple-haired boy behind Adult Gohan. "Young Trunks. Base power level: 1.5 billion."

Crack.

The stone slab beneath Vegeta's feet shattered. His pride as the Saiyan Prince, which he held above all else, had just been ground into the dirt by two brats.

Finally, Android 16's gaze settled on Adult Gohan.

Red light swept frantically over his one-armed body.

Beep beep beep—

The alarm inside Android 16's head shrilled.

"Energy level: 40 billion? Who are you?" Android 16 furrowed his brow. "You're not in Earth's database. My Scouter can't identify you, but based on my analysis, you must be Son Gohan from the future."

He looked at Adult Gohan, his tone still bleak. "But even with you, the outcome won't change. New Cell's power has exceeded the limits of my calculations. No one can defeat him."

Adult Gohan paid no mind to Android 16's power assessment.

He was far stronger than he appeared. There was only one way to know whether he could win: fight.

Adult Gohan met Android 16's eyes and asked the most important question. "What did the Time Machine Cell rode in look like? Was it exactly like Trunks's?"

Android 16 nodded. "Identical in appearance, with Capsule Corporation's CC logo on the body. It was an old model that had been repaired many times."

Adult Gohan narrowed his eyes, his mind racing.

As someone who knew how the story was supposed to go, he understood all too well what this meant.

In one timeline, Cell had killed Trunks as he was preparing to return to the past, stolen his Time Machine, and regressed into an egg before traveling here. At that point, Cell wasn't even in his first form.

But the Cell who had stepped out of the Time Machine this time was already Perfect Cell!

That meant this Cell had most likely come from a desperate timeline where he had already won the Cell Games and slaughtered all the Z Fighters!

With no one left to challenge him in that world, he had grown bored. Using the Time Machine Trunks had left behind, he had begun traveling through parallel universes.

He was hunting down the other versions of himself!

By absorbing his counterparts, he was breaking through the limits of his Perfect Form and seeking a way to grow stronger.

If that was true, then Cell had destroyed more than one timeline. The energy accumulated inside him must have reached an unimaginable level.

"Ultimate Cell, traveling through countless worlds and devouring his counterparts..." Adult Gohan's lips curled—not with fear, but in a bold, battle-hungry grin. "Things just got interesting."

At the same time,

on the other side of the planet, at the Cell Games Arena,

Ultimate Cell hovered in the air with his eyes closed, taking a deep breath of Earth's air.

"What a wonderful taste. The me in this timeline has developed pretty well."

Then he slowly raised his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and lightly touched them to his forehead.

It was Son Goku's signature technique: Instant Transmission.

Future Cell's senses instantly spread across the entire planet, locking onto the clusters of powerful auras gathered at Kami's Palace.

He snapped his eyes open, cruel light flashing in his crimson pupils.

"Found you."