Flew for Half an Hour, Felt Like the Best in the World, Then Reality Grabbed Me by the Scruff of the Neck

Chen Mo flew.

He really flew.

The kind of flying where both feet left the ground, sea wind rushed past his ears, and clouds drifted beneath his feet.

Kame House Island grew smaller and smaller behind him, turning into a dot before vanishing below the horizon.

The sea stretched out beneath him, sunlight shattering across its surface into patches of gold.

Chen Mo picked up speed, ki flowing steadily from the soles of his feet as his body passed through a thin layer of clouds.

Moisture struck his face, cool against his skin.

Once he passed through the clouds, his view opened up.

Blue sky surrounded him from every direction.

There were no boundaries, no ceiling, none of the suffocating crampedness of the ruins.

Chen Mo could not help spreading his arms.

The wind slipped through his fingers.

"Holy shit."

He spoke the two most sincere words he had uttered in the year since he transmigrated.

He flew for around ten minutes, maintaining a steady speed of roughly two hundred kilometers per hour.

That was about as fast as a jet car, but a jet car did not feel like this.

A jet car had a windshield, seats, and seat belts.

Flying had none of that. It was just one person hanging in the sky, supported by the ball of ki beneath his feet.

The fear faded within the first three minutes.

In its place came a very strange feeling.

Awesome.

Pure, unadulterated awesome.

Chen Mo flipped over in midair and flew on his back for a while.

Clouds swept beneath him.

He flipped back over and tried accelerating. His ki output increased, and his speed rose to three hundred.

The wind grew louder, and it was becoming hard to keep his eyes open.

He slowed down and held steady at two hundred and fifty.

"My power level is 100 now," Chen Mo muttered to himself in the wind. "With Triple Kaio-ken, it's 300. Kamehameha, ki blasts, Flight, Afterimage Fist—I know them all."

"Back in King Piccolo's era, old Piccolo was only around 260. With Triple Kaio-ken at full power, I could go even with him."

"The strongest man on Earth."

He paused in midair.

"No, wait. Master Roshi was around in that era too. He has too many weird techniques. He still hasn't taught me the Evil Containment Wave."

"Then I'm the second strongest man on Earth."

He thought about it again.

"Tien Shinhan was pretty strong back then too. Super Tri-Beam is kind of impossible to deal with."

"Third strongest man on Earth."

"Forget it, I'm done ranking myself."

Chen Mo adjusted his direction, heading slightly northwest.

Korin Tower was in the Korin Sacred Land to the north. According to the coordinates on the scanner, it was roughly 1,200 kilometers away in a straight line.

At his current flying speed, he could probably get there in five or six hours.

The sea continued to stretch out below him. Every now and then, he spotted one or two small islands, some with the ruins of buildings still standing on them.

The androids' destruction had not been limited to major cities. Even remote islands had not been spared.

After flying for about half an hour.

The sea turned into land. He crossed the coastline, and below him lay a scorched black plain.

It had probably once been farmland, but now it had all burned away. In the distance, the remains of a road looked like a gray scar.

Chen Mo took the scanner from his backpack and operated it one-handed, sweeping the area.

Android 17's signal was to the northwest, roughly eight hundred kilometers away.

Android 18's signal.

Chen Mo stared at the screen for a second.

Android 18's signal was directly north, at a distance of.

Forty kilometers.

Chen Mo's flying speed instantly dropped by half.

Forty kilometers. At an android's speed, that was only a matter of seconds.

He lowered his head and glanced at the detector.

The signal wasn't moving. Android 18 had stopped somewhere and hadn't moved.

Chen Mo immediately descended. From three hundred meters to one hundred, then down to fifty.

The lower, the better.

A flying humanoid target was far too conspicuous at high altitude.

"Stay calm. Forty kilometers. She isn't moving. She might be staying in some city. I'll alter my route and go around—"

The dot on the detector moved.

In his direction.

And incredibly fast.

Thirty kilometers.

Twenty kilometers.

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.

Ten kilometers.

He didn't even have time to put away the detector. He immediately turned, making a ninety-degree turn east.

He pushed his energy output to the maximum, his speed shooting up to three hundred and fifty—his current limit.

Five kilometers.

Three kilometers.

One kilometer.

Then the signal vanished.

It hadn't gone farther away. It was too close—within the detector's minimum range.

Chen Mo suddenly looked up.

Android 18 was floating thirty meters directly in front of him.

Her arms were folded over her chest, her head tilted slightly.

Her short golden hair swayed faintly in the airflow.

She was still wearing that denim vest, still wearing those jeans.

A year had passed, yet she hadn't changed at all.

Androids did not change.

She would not age, gain weight, lose weight, or get acne.

Chen Mo stopped.

He hovered in midair, facing Android 18.

Thirty meters apart in a straight line.

Thirty meters.

The last time they had met was outside the supermarket shelter.

The time before that had been in the ruins of West City.

Every time they met, they had been very close.

Close enough for him to clearly see her expression.

Android 18's expression was interesting.

Her eyebrows had risen, and her lips were slightly parted.

There was something in her ice-blue eyes that Chen Mo knew well.

When he had first seen her in the ruins a year ago, she had worn that same expression when she realized he was still alive.

Curiosity.

"You can fly now," Android 18 said.

Chen Mo said nothing. His mind was racing.

Run.

Where could he run? Her speed was ten thousand times his.

When he had flown at full speed just now, she had caught up from forty kilometers away in only a few seconds.

"It's been a year." Android 18 slowly drifted two meters closer. "You've learned quite a lot."

She was looking at him. From head to toe.

"Your body's changed," she said. "You used to be like a bamboo pole. Now you're built."

Her gaze settled on his arms.

"I've been training."

Chen Mo finally found his voice.

"You told me to get a little stronger."

Something shifted in Android 18's eyes.

"You remembered."

"I did."

"So you spent this whole year training?"

"Yeah."

Android 18 tilted her head slightly.

It was exactly the same gesture as a year ago.

Chen Mo even felt that the angle at which she tilted her head hadn't changed at all.

"How much stronger did you get?"

Chen Mo hesitated for half a second.

Then he made a decision.

"Kaio-ken, Triple."

A red aura erupted from his body.

A wave of energy spread through the air, stirring Android 18's hair.

300 combat power.

The red glow dyed the surrounding clouds.

This was everything he had to show.

Android 18 raised an eyebrow again.

"Red energy. Much bigger than last time."

She raised a finger and tapped her chin.

"Now that's a little interesting."

[Target emotional fluctuation detected: Curiosity (Strong) + Appreciation (Weak). Emotion Points +15.]

The system notification popped into his mind.

Chen Mo had no time to look at it.

The instant Android 18 said, "a little interesting," his body was already moving.

He turned and ran.

With Triple Kaio-ken fully activated, he pushed his speed to the limit.

A red streak carved a long trail through the sky.

He headed due east. Not toward Korin Tower. In the direction farthest from Android 18.

[Target emotional fluctuation detected: Surprise (Moderate) + Confusion (Slight) + Interest (Strong). Emotion Points +18.]

[Current Emotion Points: 33/300.]

Just as expected.

Chen Mo's speed had already reached its limit.

In Triple Kaio-ken, his flight speed could reach roughly one thousand kilometers per hour.

The ground raced away beneath him, and the wind roared too loudly for him to hear anything else.

He counted.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

She hadn't caught up.

Four seconds.

Five seconds.

Still nothing.

Six—

Android 18 appeared in front of him.

She had teleported directly into his flight path.

Chen Mo had no time to brake and crashed straight into Android 18's arms.

The speed difference was too great. He hit a motionless android at a thousand kilometers per hour, like a bullet striking a city wall.

Android 18 did not budge.

Chen Mo was knocked senseless, his nose nearly slamming into her collarbone.

Android 18 looked down at him.

There were only about five centimeters between them.

She did not look angry. Nor did she seem murderous.

The way she looked at him was like she was looking at a very interesting toy.

"Why are you running?"

Chen Mo's nose stung.

"Instinctive reaction."

"You run whenever you see me?"

"Survival instinct."

The corner of Android 18's lips curved upward.

"You ran when you saw me last time too. And you even kissed me before you ran."

A year had passed. She still remembered that.

"What about this time?" Android 18 said. "Aren't you going to kiss me before you run?"

Chen Mo's brain crashed.

[Target emotional fluctuation detected: Teasing (Strong) + Pleasure (Moderate). Emotion Points +52.]

[Current Emotion Points: 85/300.]

"You're not saying anything?" Android 18 extended a finger and poked his forehead.

The force was very light.

Yet Chen Mo's head still tilted back from the poke.

"I'm organizing my thoughts," Chen Mo said.

"Organizing what?"

"How to answer your question without getting killed."

Android 18 looked at him.

Then she smiled.

[Target emotional fluctuation detected: Pleasure (Strong). Emotion Points +50.]

[Current Emotion Points: 105/300.]

Chen Mo made a judgment. He needed to provoke another reaction.

"Android 18."

"Mm?"

"Did you go to the laboratory in the northern mountains this past year?"

Android 18's expression closed off.

"How did you know?"

"I told you about it. Dr. Gero's laboratory."

"Yes, I went." Android 18's tone turned colder. "Cell's incubation tank had been moved, and the remote control blueprints were gone too."

"Who moved them?"

"I don't know. But the surveillance records in the laboratory show that someone entered it two years ago. That was even earlier than when you told me about it."

Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.

Two years ago. One year before he transmigrated here.

Someone had entered Gero's laboratory ahead of time and taken Cell's incubation tank and the remote control blueprints.

This was not a butterfly effect caused by him. This was something that had already happened.

Who?

"Do you know who it was?" Android 18 stared at him.

"I don't," Chen Mo said truthfully. "But I have a guess."

"Say it."

"Trunks."

Android 18 narrowed her eyes.

"That half-Saiyan brat?"

"He's the only one with both the motive and the ability to do this. He knows Dr. Gero exists, and he knows how dangerous Cell is."

Android 18 fell silent for two seconds.

"He's still alive?"

"Probably."

"Interesting." Android 18 uncrossed her arms. "You still know as much as ever."

[Detected target emotional fluctuation: vigilance (slight) + curiosity (strong) + agreement (weak). Emotion Points +65.]

[Current Emotion Points: 170/300.]

Chen Mo took a deep breath.

"Android 18."

"What now?"

"Have you ever wondered why Dr. Gero preserved your human emotions?"

The air fell quiet.

Android 18's expression did not change. But something flickered in her eyes.

"Android 17's emotions were preserved too. Both of yours were," Chen Mo said. "Gero could have turned you into pure killing machines. Pure mechanical bodies like Android 16. No emotions, no consciousness, only programming. But he didn't."

"He preserved your memories, your personalities, your emotions. You still remember that your name is Lazuli. You still remember that you used to be human."

"Why?"

Android 18 stood in the air as the wind stirred her hair.

She did not answer.

But Chen Mo saw her hand.

Her right hand clenched, then relaxed.

[Detected target emotional fluctuation: wavering (strong) + confusion (moderate) + anger (weak). Emotion Points +130.]

[Current Emotion Points: 300/300!]

[Ding—]

[Emotion Points full! Infinite Kaio-ken System upgraded!]

[Ability unlocked: Quadruple Kaio-ken.]

[Current Base Combat Power: 100.]

[Maximum Quadruple Kaio-ken Output: 400.]

A flood of information poured into Chen Mo's mind.

The method for using Quadruple Kaio-ken, its endurance limits, and the plan for distributing the strain on his body.

The difference from Triple Kaio-ken was not merely one extra level of amplification. The entire flow of ki had changed.

A combat power of 400.

When Goku used Quadruple Kaio-ken to clash head-on with Vegeta during the Saiyan Saga, that was the multiplier he used.

Of course, Goku's base was eight thousand. Quadrupled, that became thirty-two thousand.

His base was one hundred. Quadrupled, that was four hundred.

Still, he had taken another step forward.

Android 18 did not notice the changes within him.

She was still thinking about the question he had just asked.

After roughly five seconds of silence—

"Are you done asking?" Android 18 said.

"I'm done."

"Then it's my turn."

Android 18 reached out and grabbed the back of his collar again.

It was exactly the same move as a year ago. She lifted him like a chick.

Chen Mo's feet left the support of the air currents, and he dangled in midair.

"Who are you?" Android 18's voice held no warmth. "You know about Gero's laboratory. You know about Cell. You know about the remote control. You know my name. You know Android 16. You even know Trunks."

"An ordinary human. You can use a little red ki. A year ago, your combat power was like that of an ant. Even now, you're only a slightly bigger ant."

"But you know more than anyone else on this planet."

Her ice-blue eyes locked onto him.

"What exactly are you?"

Chen Mo was held aloft.

The back of his collar dug into his neck, making it ache slightly. Wind rushed between them.

He looked into Android 18's eyes.

"I'm someone who knows about your past," Chen Mo said. "And currently, the only person on this planet who wants to help you find answers."

Android 18 stared at him for three seconds.

Then she pulled him a little closer.

The distance between them shrank to ten centimeters.

"Then you'd better pray," Android 18 said softly, "that I'm satisfied with the answers you give me."

She did not let go.

She took off with him in tow.

Due north.

Dangling in her grip high in the sky, Chen Mo was whipped about by winds so fierce they distorted his face.

He had no idea where Android 18 was taking him.