Hidden Aura

The neon glow outside the window flickered in Chen Hao's eyes, yet it stirred not the slightest ripple.

His fingers tightened, his knuckles turning white, as though suppressing something he refused to release.

A breeze stirred the corner of the curtain, bringing a faint rustling sound.

Chen Hao remained utterly still, even his breathing steady as a pool of dead water.

Android 18 sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, one arm resting along the armrest.

She quietly watched Chen Hao's back, her blue eyes reflecting his solitary silhouette and the flowing lights beyond the window.

Without realizing it, three years had passed, and she had long grown used to moments of silence like this.

Chen Hao would occasionally stare into the distance like this, sometimes resembling a statue forgotten at the edge of time and space.

She understood that what Chen Hao carried in his heart was far more complicated—and far deeper—than she could imagine.

It was a place beyond the reach of even her sharpest senses.

"What are you thinking about?" Android 18 asked softly, concern hidden within her voice.

She tilted her head slightly, her long hair sliding over her shoulder and reflecting a gentle sheen beneath the dim yellow light.

Chen Hao did not turn around, his tone as calm as a still lake. "Just now, I sensed an aura."

"An aura?" Android 18 frowned and rose to her feet, walking lightly toward him.

Her fingers brushed across the sofa's armrest, producing a faint scraping sound.

"Somewhere deep in a distant universe." Chen Hao frowned as the night wind lifted the loose strands of hair over his forehead.

He raised a hand and tapped the window frame with his fingertips, slowly and heavily. "It's very faint, but it truly exists."

His gaze grew sharper and sharper, as though he wanted to pierce through the glass and the darkness to reach that unknown void.

Android 18 walked to his side, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder.

She turned to look outside, but there was nothing in that deep black expanse.

She pressed her lips together. "What is it?"

"I don't know." Chen Hao shook his head, a trace of unwillingness hidden in his cold voice.

"But that aura... is very powerful."

He briefly closed his eyes, as though savoring that fleeting sensation.

When he opened them again, a flash of golden light flickered deep within his pupils before quickly vanishing.

Chen Hao turned to face Android 18. There was no exhaustion in his eyes, only a nearly crazed flame burning within them. "Three years. My strength has been stuck at the bottleneck of Super Saiyan 4, and no matter what I do, I can't break through."

As he spoke, his hands clenched and loosened, his joints cracking sharply. "I've tried increasing gravity—three hundred times, four hundred, five hundred, even six hundred. I nearly had my bones crushed. I've tried compressing my ki, squeezing the energy inside me over and over like a spring until my blood vessels were about to burst. I've even trained for days without sleeping, locking myself in the gravity chamber until my mind went hazy before coming out... Still, it was useless."

He spoke of it in a tone so calm it was almost cruel, as though he were talking about some trivial matter.

Chen Hao raised a hand and forcefully pinched the bridge of his nose. Fine currents of electricity seemed to dance across his fingertips.

Android 18 gently grasped his arm. Her palm was warm, her fingertips pressed against his taut muscles with just the right amount of force, as though she could feel that power on the verge of bursting free through his skin.

"You're already very strong," she said gently. "You defeated enemies I wouldn't even dare imagine facing. You've protected this city so many times. You—"

"Not enough." Chen Hao cut her off decisively.

She held his arm, but he did not relax in the slightest.

"Far from enough."

He looked out the window again, as though staring into an invisible abyss.

The Saiyan bloodline roiled and roared within him, like a trapped beast struggling to break free of its shackles.

Chen Hao's chest rose and fell faintly. He could feel that power rushing through his veins, yearning for a breakthrough yet always falling short by that final barrier.

"My Saiyan bloodline tells me," he said in a deep, forceful voice like the echo of distant war drums, "that if I want to break through my limits, I have to fight. Not against gravity machines, not against air, but against truly powerful opponents—in the crucible of blood and fire at the edge of life and death."

As soon as he finished speaking, he abruptly clenched his fist. Golden aura erupted in an instant, its light blazing fiercely before vanishing just as quickly, leaving only a hum in the room and a faint tremble in the window glass.

Android 18 stood beside him, a barely perceptible smile rising at the corner of her lips, but she said nothing.

She knew nights like this would repeat themselves again and again.

Android 18 remained quietly silent, her fingers slowly rubbing the rim of her cup as her gaze lowered, as though confirming something.

She raised her head, and a rare ripple flashed through her cold mechanical eyes. "So you're leaving?"

"Maybe." Chen Hao turned his gaze toward her, his eyes resolute as the morning light carved clear contours across his profile. "But I won't leave you behind."

Android 18 froze for a moment, then a smile slowly spread across her lips, like the first ray of sunlight after snow melted in early spring. "Then we'll go together."

As she spoke, her fingertips unconsciously tapped against the tabletop, producing a crisp, rhythmic sound.

The two looked at each other, soft light flickering in both their eyes.

Outside the window, roosting birds took flight in alarm, streaking past the lingering clouds on the horizon, as though they too sensed that this was no ordinary moment.

Morning sunlight, thin as gauze, spilled into the room through the half-drawn curtains.

Chen Hao woke from his training, his muscles aching as though they had been twisted by iron chains.

He sat cross-legged on the cold living room floor. The tiles around him were shattered, cracks spreading like a spiderweb, their edges curled up amid debris scattered everywhere.

Last night's attempt had failed again—the air still carried lingering traces of chaotic currents, and flakes of plaster fell from the ceiling, landing quietly on the coffee table as a silent reminder of the price paid last night.

"Still not enough." Chen Hao rose to his feet and stretched his stiff body, his joints cracking in rapid succession.

He lowered his gaze to the faintly reddened qi pathways in his palms, his brows drawing together slightly.

From the kitchen came the clatter of a spatula and the sizzle of frying eggs, accompanied by the aroma of bacon.

Android 18 poked her head out from behind the kitchen door, her long silver-white hair gleaming metallically in the morning light. "Breakfast."

Her tone was flat, but there was no room for refusal in her words.

Chen Hao walked into the kitchen, where warm lights illuminated the small space.

Android 18 had already set out bread, fried eggs, and coffee, with sliced fruit arranged along the edge of the white porcelain plates.

Over the past three years, she had learned how to cook. From mechanically following instructions, she had progressed to frying eggs golden on both sides and making coffee with perfect foam. Her movements had become increasingly practiced, and she had even begun trying more complicated dishes.

"What are you doing today?" Android 18 asked as she ate, deftly cutting into her fried egg with a fork. Her movements were so elegant that she hardly seemed like a combat-type android.

Chen Hao picked up a slice of bread, lightly pinching it between his fingers without taking a bite. "Bulma contacted me earlier. She said the Hyperbolic Time Chamber has been repaired and asked whether we still need it."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the sky outside the window. A few birds flew past as the clouds slowly moved overhead.

"You're going?" Android 18 looked up at him and took a sip of coffee, her movements calm and natural.

"No." Chen Hao bit into the bread, chewed slowly, then set it down. "That isn't what I want."

"Why?" Android 18 raised a brow, her fork pausing in midair.

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber only shortens the time needed, but at its core, it's still just training by yourself." Chen Hao set down the bread, tapping his fingers against the table as his gaze deepened.

"What I want is real combat. I want to fight opponents."

As he said it, his fist unconsciously clenched, veins standing out faintly on the back of his hand, as though he could already feel the impact that was about to come.