Scylla: What's your name? Never mind, it doesn't matter

North Pole.

Three suns hung in the sky at once.

Chen Mo flew behind Android 18.

They were moving fast, but Android 18 had clearly slowed down.

She was waiting for him.

Though she would never admit it.

"Shigula's nest is at the North Pole," Chen Mo said as they flew. "According to Grand Elder Moori's description, that place should be an ice field. The polar regions of Namek are cold and harsh. Ordinary Namekians wouldn't go there."

"So?"

"So he had a reason for choosing it. Far from people. Free from disturbance. And it would keep the Dragon Balls from being stolen."

"You mean there are traps."

"Not necessarily traps. But he's been operating there for two years. That place definitely isn't somewhere you can just walk into."

Android 18 flew ahead of him, the wind blowing her golden hair behind her.

"You got stronger in the temple just now," she suddenly said.

"Yeah."

"Five hundred thousand."

"Right."

"With that red trick of yours, fifteen million."

"Right."

Android 18 didn't turn around.

"You look much better than before."

Chen Mo froze for a moment.

"What?"

"When you fight," Android 18 said. "Before, that red light of yours flashed once and went out. Like a firefly. Now it should be able to stay lit longer."

Was that a compliment or an insult?

Chen Mo didn't respond.

He was thinking about something else.

Shigula. Sixty million. That was data from two years ago.

He had absorbed three Namekian warriors, plus two years of self-training. Conservatively speaking, he was probably at least eighty million to a hundred million by now.

Fifteen million against a hundred million.

The gap had narrowed, but it still wasn't enough.

"Android 18."

"Yeah?"

"When we get there, don't start fighting right away."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm helping you assess the situation. If you rush in, he might blot out the sky immediately."

Android 18's flying speed slowed for a moment.

"Blot out the sky?"

"He can create eternal darkness. His power swells in the dark. Moori said so."

"He can block out all three suns?"

"He can."

Android 18 fell silent for five seconds.

"Then I'll just finish the fight faster."

This woman's train of thought was always straightforward.

Chen Mo took a deep breath. Forget it. Discussing strategy with Android 18 was like discussing martial virtue with Tao Pai Pai. Meaningless.

After flying for about twenty minutes, the color of the ground began to change. The green receded.

Gray-white ice appeared, and the temperature plummeted.

Chen Mo's detector began to beep.

The signal source was extremely strong.

Right ahead of them.

"I see it." Android 18 spoke first.

Chen Mo saw it too.

At the end of the ice field, a massive structure rose from the ground.

It was not a Namekian-style domed temple. It was an organic structure.

Like a giant tree stump that had grown out of the earth, its surface was covered in dark purple carapace, its patterns resembling blood vessels.

The entire structure stood at least two hundred meters tall.

The ice at its base had been melted by heat, forming a ring of black water. Steam shrouded the surroundings.

"He built it with his own cells," Chen Mo said.

"What do you mean?"

"Super Namekians can control the division and regeneration of their own cells. This nest is part of his body—an extension of it."

Android 18 raised an eyebrow.

"Disgusting."

The two landed five hundred meters in front of the nest.

The ice was slippery, but Chen Mo's feet remained firmly planted.

A physique rating of five hundred thousand was no joke.

The numbers on the Scouter were jumping.

The reading from that signal source kept flickering.

Chen Mo stared at the screen.

The number stabilized.

His breath caught for a beat.

Not sixty million.

Not eighty million.

One hundred twenty million.

One hundred and twenty million.

The same as Frieza's final form.

"What is it?" Android 18 noticed his expression.

"He's stronger than expected."

"How much?"

"One hundred twenty million."

Android 18 said nothing. She was calculating.

What one hundred twenty million meant to her.

Chen Mo was not sure of Android 18's exact power level, but judging from her previous battle with Broly, her Eternal Furnace should have been capable of outputting several hundred million or more.

So, one hundred twenty million was not a problem for Android 18.

The problem was that sky-covering ability.

"Let's go." Android 18 took the first step.

Chen Mo followed.

The two walked toward the giant dark purple nest.

When they were a hundred meters away—

A crack split open on the nest's surface.

Someone stepped out through the fissure.

A Namekian.

But unlike any Namekian Chen Mo had ever seen.

He was tall, at least three meters. His body was covered in dark purple armor.

His face was that of a Namekian—antennae, green skin—but rougher, with harsher features.

His eyes were completely black, with no whites. Two pure black spheres sat within their sockets.

Shigula.

He stood at the nest's entrance, looking down at them.

His gaze fell on Android 18 first.

It paused for a second.

Then it shifted to Chen Mo.

It lasted less than a tenth of a second.

His gaze shifted straight back to Android 18.

"Earthling?" Shigula's voice was deep, rumbling out from his chest. "No. You're not entirely organic."

He was talking about Android 18.

From start to finish, he had not even given Chen Mo a proper glance.

Chen Mo clenched his hand.

"Six Dragon Balls." Android 18 spoke. "They're with you."

Shigula lowered his head and looked at Android 18.

"Yes."

"Give them back."

"They're yours?"

"They are now."

Shigula's black eyeballs shifted slightly.

"You came from Earth?"

"None of your business."

"I've lived on this planet for two years," Shigula said, as if stating an indisputable fact. "No living being has ever spoken to me in that tone. The last person who dared stand and meet my eyes was Moori, because I needed him alive."

He paused.

"And you? Do I need you alive?"

Android 18 smiled.

"Are you trying to see who's more arrogant?"

Shigula did not smile.

His gaze finally returned to Chen Mo.

As if he had noticed an unnecessary stone on the ground.

"That." Shigula pointed at Chen Mo, too lazy even to use a proper form of address. "What is that?"

Android 18's expression turned cold.

"He's mine."

"Yours?"

"Don't understand?"

Shigula's black eyes blinked once.

"He's too weak. No need to bring him out."

Chen Mo ground his back teeth together.

He stepped forward.

"Shigula."

Those completely black eyes finally looked directly at him.

"You know my name."

"I know more than just your name," Chen Mo said. "Three hundred years ago, you were exiled because the elders deemed you inherently evil. You wandered the universe for over two hundred years, surviving by devouring other lifeforms and planetary resources. Two years ago, you returned to this planet."

Shigula's expression did not change at all.

"So?"

"So exactly how many Namekians have you absorbed?"

The question chilled the air.

Shigula fell silent.

"You're testing me."

"I'm asking you."

"Three," Shigula said.

"No." Chen Mo shook his head. "Moori said three, but Moori's information is outdated. You couldn't have eaten only three in two years. Before this planet sent away its young people, there were at least a hundred warriors. Moori said there were three who hadn't been evacuated in time, but his sensing range couldn't cover the entire planet. You're at the North Pole. He's at the equator. Half the planet lies between you."

For the first time, Shigula gave Chen Mo a serious look.

It was brief, but it was genuine.

"You don't seem like an ordinary Earthling."

"I'm not."

"But your strength does." Shigula withdrew his gaze. "Your energy is around five hundred thousand. You wouldn't even rank in the top hundred on this planet."

Chen Mo did not argue.

Because it was the truth.

"Eleven," Shigula suddenly said.

Chen Mo's heart sank.

"What?"

"You asked me how many I absorbed. Eleven."

Eleven.

Moori knew about three. In truth, there had been eleven.

Eleven Namekian warriors had been absorbed. Every one of them had made Shigula stronger.

No wonder the reading was 120 million.

"Your expression changed," Shigula said. "You originally wanted to negotiate with me using your informational advantage. But you realized the information you held was insufficient."

Chen Mo said nothing.

Because Shigula was right.

That had been exactly what he intended.

He wanted to use his old method.

Use the information gap available to a transmigrator to seize the initiative. But Shigula was not Cell. Cell had secrets. He had weaknesses. He feared being exposed.

Shigula had none of that.

He was a monster who had wandered the universe alone for three hundred years. He had no secrets that could threaten him, no weaknesses to exploit. Everything about him was laid bare.

The ice beneath their feet shattered. The frigid wind was forced aside by a surge of energy as a red pillar of light shot into the sky.

Android 18's hair was swept upward by the blast.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at the red glow around Chen Mo.

It was different from before.

Before, the red glow had been a thin layer of flame. Now, it was tangible.

Like a suit of red armor covering his body, its radiance steady and no longer flickering.

Shigula looked down at Chen Mo.

"Fifteen million," he stated a number.

Then he raised one finger.

Literally one finger—his right index finger.

"Not enough."

Chen Mo moved.

The speed of the Thirtyfold King Kai Fist. The combat instincts honed through a full year of sparring with Trunks in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Every technique Master Roshi had taught him, every prediction he had learned from Goku's projection during the Ultra Divine Water trial.

All compressed into a single punch.

His fist blasted toward Shigula's chest.

Red aura trailed in an arc behind it, and the pressure sheared away a layer of ice.

At the instant of contact.

Chen Mo's fist stopped.

Not because he had stopped it himself.

Shigula had used that one finger to press against his fist.

One finger.

It blocked the full-force punch of the Thirtyfold King Kai Fist.

Chen Mo's arm trembled, from fist to shoulder, as though he had struck a mountain.

"Your technique is decent." Shigula's assessment was calm. "If your base were fifty times higher, that punch might have made me itch."

Then that finger flicked.

Chen Mo's body flew backward as if he had been hit by a truck.

He bounced three times across the ice, each impact smashing a crater into the frozen ground.

At last, he crashed into a pile of ice shards three hundred meters away.

He braced himself against the ground and stood up. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, but none of his bones were broken.

His base physical strength of 500,000 had endured it.

If he had taken that blow half a year ago.

He would have shattered.

Shigula stood where he was. He withdrew that finger.

There was no emotion in his black eyes.

Chen Mo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

His teacher had been right. Numbers really were deceptive. But the reverse was true as well. When the gap was too great, even the best techniques were useless.

"Is your performance over?" Shigula looked at Android 18. "Keep your pet under control. If he comes near me again, I won't use just one finger."

[Emotion Collection: Anger (critical eruption point), Killing Intent (rapidly rising), Protective Instinct (extremely activated).]

[Emotion Points +3200.]

Android 18 took a step forward.

"What did you just say?"

Her voice was flat. Flat to an abnormal degree.

Shigula finally looked at her properly.

"I said, keep your—"

Android 18 moved.

She was far faster than Chen Mo.

So fast that she left no afterimage.

Her fist blasted toward Shigula's face.

This time, Shigula did not use a finger.

He shifted sideways. Android 18's fist grazed his cheek, and the shockwave sheared off a layer of shell from the nest's surface.

The two exchanged three punches at the nest entrance.

The ice field split apart. The ice within a kilometer shattered at once, and black seawater surged up through the cracks.

The fourth punch landed.

Android 18's fist smashed into the armor on Shigula's chest.

The armor cracked.

But Shigula merely took one step back.

He lowered his head and looked at the crack across his chest.

Then he looked up.

For the first time, a ripple appeared in his pitch-black eyes.

"Interesting," Shigula said. "You're stronger than every warrior on this planet."

Android 18 did not respond. She prepared for a second round of attacks.

Then the sky went dark.

Not gradually. Not an eclipse. Not clouds blocking the light.

It was instant, complete, absolute darkness.

All three suns went out at the same time.

Planet Namek's sky turned from triple sunlight to pure black in a single second.

As if someone had flipped a switch and turned off the lights across the entire planet.

Chen Mo's pupils contracted sharply.

"He can darken the sky of an entire planet. Create eternal darkness. In the dark, his power will expand even further."

He had already been prepared.

He had been waiting for this moment.

He had been waiting ever since Android 18 threw her first punch.

And Chen Mo had failed to stop it.

In the darkness, the scanner's screen lit up.

The number on it was changing.

Shigula's reading.

It jumped from one hundred and twenty million.

One hundred and fifty million.

Two hundred million.

It was still rising.

Chen Mo stood on shattered ice in the darkness. The red glow of the King Kai Fist was the only source of light within several hundred meters.

He heard Shigula's voice.

It came from all directions.

As if darkness itself were speaking.

"Three hundred years," Shigula said. "I drifted through the universe for three hundred years. Do you know what true darkness is? The depths of space. No stars. No light. No sound. Just me alone, growing from a baby into what I am now."

The numbers on the Scouter kept rising.

Three hundred million.

"Darkness is not my weapon."

Four hundred million.

"Darkness is my home."

The number stopped at five hundred million.

Android 18's figure had vanished completely into the darkness.

But Chen Mo could still sense her presence. She was still there, still in a fighting stance. She had not retreated.

Five hundred million.

Four times the original.

Then Shigula spoke his final words.

"Now."

In the darkness, those pitch-black eyes lit up.

They gave off a dim violet glow.

In this darkness, it was the only color besides the red surrounding Chen Mo.

"Let me see whether you're truly worth a second look."