New Daily Life

On the third day after Cell's embryo was sealed away, the cleanup of the Lookout's ruins was nearing its end. Tien Shinhan and Piccolo handled repairs to the damaged structures, while Nappa carried off the largest chunks of broken wall by himself. Goku and Vegeta sparred in the Lookout's plaza, their two golden auras blazing from sunrise until noon. Mr. Popo watched from the side with a tea tray in hand for the entire morning, and in the end offered only one comment: "They smashed two fewer pillars than last time."

Trunks's spaceship was repaired. Bulma had spent three sleepless nights recalibrating the navigation system damaged by atmospheric reentry, then stuffed his refrigerator full of capsules—instant ramen, emergency medicine, and a brand-new Turtle Hermit School battle uniform. When she placed the capsule case in Trunks's hand, she said nothing. She only held his hand a little longer. Vegeta stood beside the ship and remained silent for a long time before speaking. "Next time you come, call me Father. Not Mr. Vegeta."

Trunks froze for a moment, then nodded solemnly, his eyes faintly reddening.

The spaceship shot into the sky, trailing a pale blue flame before vanishing into the heavens. Goku stood at the edge of the Lookout, watching the fading trail, his tail swaying gently. "What will the future he goes back to become? We changed so much—Cell didn't become perfect, Android 17 and Android 18 didn't die, everyone's alive. The future he sees when he returns should be different now, right?"

"The timeline will branch," Talos said. "The future he returns to is his own, while we live in our present. But whether it branches or not, the medicine he brought saved Goku, and the intelligence he brought allowed us to seal Cell ahead of time. What he changed wasn't just our timeline—it was his own."

Bulma turned and walked deeper into the Lookout, continuing her research on Cell's cell-fusion charts. Her steps were quicker and steadier than usual—the boy who had come from the future was gone, but she knew he was still alive. In her timeline, he had not yet been born. But one day, she would see that purple-haired boy with her own eyes, not as a time traveler, but as her son.

That afternoon, Android 17 and Android 18 entered Turtle Hermit House for the first time. Master Roshi came out of the kitchen carrying a pot of seafood congee. When he saw the two former strongest weapons of the Red Ribbon Army standing in his living room, the hand holding the pot trembled slightly. Then he calmly continued ladling out the porridge. "Time to eat. Turtle Hermit School rules: when you enter, you drink congee first."

Android 17 looked at the bowl of congee, expressionlessly picked it up, took a sip, then said without expression, "Not bad." Android 18 sat in the corner, slowly drinking from her bowl as her gaze swept across the martial arts tournament photos hanging on the wall, the doorframe Goku had knocked crooked, and Krillin's Qi Net training notes piled on the couch. Suddenly, a little black cat leaped onto the couch and rubbed against her wrist. Android 18 lowered her head to look at it, then reached out and scratched beneath its chin. The cat began to purr.

"His name is Puar," Krillin said. "He can transform into anything. Back when I was at Orin Temple, my senior brothers laughed at me for slacking off—only you said that. I just wanted to know whether what you said was true or not."

Android 18 did not answer. She continued scratching the cat beneath its chin, and the chill in her blue eyes faded by the slightest bit. Just the slightest bit. Android 17 leaned against the window, watching her with the corner of his mouth slightly raised—he had not seen Android 18 show interest in anything for a very long time.

Tien Shinhan and Piccolo trained at the Lookout. High above it, the combination technique of Third Eye Beam and Piccolo's extending arms had reached the point where they no longer needed to exchange glances. Tien Shinhan's Third Eye Beam grazed past Piccolo's arm and struck the weak point in the virtual target's joint with perfect accuracy. Piccolo's arm changed direction in midair, wrapping around the target from the other side. They exerted force at the same time and tore the target apart. Mr. Popo filled an entire notebook with observations from the side.

Goku and Vegeta began their second round of intensive training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. The threshold for the second stage of Super Saiyan was higher than that of the first. Vegeta completed one hundred thousand push-ups under 150 times gravity, while Goku attempted to stack Kaioken on top of his Super Saiyan form under the same gravity—an idea even Talos had never tried. The strain Kaioken placed on the meridians multiplied exponentially; activating Kaioken while in Super Saiyan form meant bearing a double burden.

On his first attempt, Goku lasted less than a second before releasing it. But he did not give up. "If I can master this move, we'll break open our limits." He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stepped back into the training chamber. For once, Vegeta did not mock him—not because he did not want to, but because he also wanted to see whether this could succeed. If they could temporarily multiply their power several times in battle and combine it with Instant Transmission, it would become the strongest means of attack for breaking through most defenses.

Bulma had been sitting before a microscope in the temporary laboratory built beneath the Lookout for several days. Cell samples from the sealing orb were arranged in dense arrays across the slides, each group labeled with its source: Saiyan, Namekian, Frieza's race, insectoid alien.

"The most terrifying thing about Cell's cell-fusion technology is that every time he recovers from near death, his Saiyan cells undergo a 'near-death amplification,' doubling or even multiplying his battle power several times over. But looking at it from the other side, that is also his most vulnerable point." She lifted a slide toward the light. "If we can cut off the energy supply before cellular fusion is complete, the fusion will be interrupted. If Krillin's Qi Net: Severance can be precise down to the level of energy nodes, then theoretically, he can accurately block it before the fusion finishes and interrupt the entire process before Cell completes his amplification."

Talos accepted the slide and studied it for a while. "You mean—Cell's evolution is essentially a form of energy fusion. If we can use Qi Net: Severance to interrupt his fusion process, we can stop him from becoming perfect."

"More than that." Bulma removed her goggles and looked Talos directly in the eye. "If you can stop his fusion, you can defeat him before he evolves. You don't need to confront him head-on—you only need to interrupt him precisely at the instant the fusion begins. Krillin can do that. But your Evil Containment Wave sealing orb can preserve Cell's cell samples for the long term—as long as they are stored properly, these samples will be our most valuable tactical reference when facing any future enemy similar to Cell."

Talos put away the sealing orb and turned toward Goku and Vegeta, who were sparring in the Lookout plaza beyond the window. Their golden auras dyed the Lookout's white stone gold. Far away, smoke rose from the chimney of Turtle Hermit House. Those warriors who had once fought alone now shared a life and a future beneath the same sky.

Android 18 rose from the couch and walked over to Krillin, looking down at the bald little man who only came up to her shoulder. She was silent for a long time.

"You said I could tell you my name."

"Yeah." Krillin looked up at her.

"From now on, call me by my name. Don't call me Android 18."

"From now on, I'll only call you Lazuli." Krillin grinned, and his smile was as pure as it had been eleven years ago, when he first wore an orange gi on the beach outside Turtle Hermit House.

Android 17 jumped down from the windowsill and rolled his neck. "Since Android 18—Lazuli—is staying, I'll stay too. But I have one condition."

"What condition?" Talos asked.

"I want to fight Vegeta. I've wanted to trade blows with the Saiyan prince for a long time—when I saw his battle records in the old man's database, I kept wondering just how strong this guy really was."

"He's in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber right now. He'll come out tomorrow."

"Then I'll come tomorrow."

"No need to wait until tomorrow—do it now." Vegeta's voice came from outside. He and Goku had just flown down from the Lookout, still carrying the heat of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with them. He glanced at Android 17, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "That Saiyan prince you mentioned—that's me. Perfect. I also want to see what's so special about an infinite-energy android. Kakarot, don't interfere. This fight is mine."

Goku raised his hands in surrender and stepped aside with a smile. Android 17's lips curled upward—the particular smile that appeared when one battle maniac encountered another.

The beach outside Turtle Hermit House became lively again. Master Roshi brought out a second pot of seafood congee, Nappa carried two large fish freshly caught from the sea, and Old Master Zhao sat beneath a coconut tree with Talos's daughter in his arms. The baby giggled at the distant waves. Android 18 sat in the corner with Puar curled up on her lap, dozing. She watched the group on the beach arguing over who would fight whom first and who had hit too hard earlier—these people did not need numbers or orders. They were here simply because they had chosen one another. She looked down at Puar, her voice very soft.

"This place isn't bad."

Android 17 stood behind her, unusually without a sarcastic remark. He merely looked in the same direction—at the group in orange gis arguing fiercely over who would take the lead—then let the corner of his mouth rise slightly.