In the Darkness, She Grabbed My Hand: Tell Me, Where Is He?

Nothing could be seen.

Chen Mo stood on shattered ice.

The red glow of the King Kai Fist could only illuminate two meters in front of him.

Beyond those two meters lay pure, boundless darkness.

All three suns had gone out.

Shigula's voice came from every direction.

"Are you still standing where you are?"

Chen Mo did not move.

He was listening.

Not with his ears. With his ki.

Master Roshi had taught him that the first lesson of ki control was not output. It was perception.

Feel the fluctuations of other living beings' ki in the air.

A power level of fifteen million could not defeat a monster with a power level of five hundred million.

But he could sense where that monster was.

Upper left. Roughly four hundred meters away.

Its ki was moving. Fast. Circling around them.

Chen Mo opened his mouth to speak.

A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

The grip was strong. It was Android 18.

"Where are you?" Android 18's voice came from beside him.

Chen Mo froze for a moment.

She was asking where he was?

She was standing right next to him. She was even holding his wrist. Yet she was asking where he was?

She was not asking where Chen Mo was.

She was confirming that Chen Mo was still there.

"I'm here," Chen Mo said.

Android 18 did not let go.

"I can't see him," Android 18 said.

Chen Mo's mind raced.

Android 18 could not see Shigula.

That was not right.

Her power level was well over a hundred million. How could she possibly be unable to see him?

Then he understood.

Android 18 was an android.

Her detection systems relied on vision and electromagnetic wave scanning.

But what about ki?

Android 18 could not sense ki.

She had never needed to.

Her power level crushed everything on this planet.

She did not need to sense ki. If she saw something, she attacked it. If she could not hit it, she blew it up.

Strength and speed were everything to her.

But in this darkness, strength and speed had no target.

A monster with a power level in the hundreds of millions had become blind in absolute darkness.

Meanwhile, an ant with a power level of fifteen million had become the only one who could see the enemy.

"He's in the upper left," Chen Mo said in a low voice. "Four hundred meters away. Moving in a clockwise circle."

Android 18's fingers tightened.

"How do you know?"

"I can sense his ki."

Silence.

One second. Two seconds.

"Can you keep sensing him?"

"Yes."

Android 18 released his wrist.

Then she shifted her position.

Her hand grabbed the back of Chen Mo's collar, like she was carrying a cat.

"Tell me the direction."

Chen Mo did not have time to answer.

Shigula's attack came crashing down from directly above.

Chen Mo sensed it the instant that aura appeared.

"Above!"

Android 18 reacted faster than the warning. She was already moving.

She held Chen Mo up with one hand and swung the other upward.

Boom.

The shockwave shaved a kilometer of ice flat.

It missed.

Shigula's aura had already vanished in another direction.

"Eight o'clock, six hundred meters away. He's pulling farther back," Chen Mo reported.

Android 18 chased after him with Chen Mo in tow. She was incredibly fast. In the darkness, only the red glow of the King Kai Fist trailed behind her in a long streak.

"Three hundred meters. Two hundred. He stopped—no, he's changing direction! Eleven o'clock!"

Android 18 came to an abrupt stop, twisted her body, and kicked out.

The shockwave swept outward.

It still missed.

Shigula's voice drifted out from the depths of the darkness.

"Interesting."

"The weak one is calling out directions for you."

Android 18 ignored him.

"Keep going," she told Chen Mo.

"Two o'clock. A thousand meters away. He's watching."

Android 18 did not rush over.

She remained where she was, holding Chen Mo.

"Can he hit me?" Android 18 asked.

"With his speed, yes," Chen Mo said. "But he chose to harass us. That means your kick made him wary. He doesn't want to clash with you head-on while he has the advantage in the dark."

"Then what does he want?"

"To wear you down," Chen Mo said. "Your Eternal Furnace has unlimited energy, but your human brain tissue can still become fatigued. He's waiting for your focus to slip."

Android 18's fingers tightened around the back of his collar.

"I won't get tired."

"You will. It hasn't been long since Babidi's curse. Your brain tissue hasn't fully recovered yet."

"Shut up."

Fine. Shut up.

Shigula moved again.

This time, he was even faster. His aura closed to within a hundred meters in an instant.

"Straight ahead! One hundred meters! He's coming!"

Android 18 released Chen Mo and threw a punch forward.

The force of that punch shook the entire ice field.

In the darkness, a white shockwave spread outward from Android 18 as its center.

But Shigula abruptly changed direction at fifty meters. His aura flashed from directly ahead to the side, slipping around the attack.

Then came his counterattack.

Chen Mo felt a terrifying pressure crushing in from the right.

"Right."

Before his voice could fade, his body had already been yanked away by a hand.

Android 18 pulled him behind her, raising her right arm in front of herself to block.

Bang.

Her body slid back more than ten meters, her feet carving two furrows through the ice.

"I'm fine," Android 18 said.

Her voice was steady, but Chen Mo sensed a flicker in her aura within the darkness.

She had been hit. She was injured.

Then the two of them fell into another standoff in the darkness.

Shigula retreated farther away.

This rhythm repeated more than a dozen times.

Shigula approached. Chen Mo called out the direction. Android 18 counterattacked. Shigula dodged. Sometimes she grazed him; sometimes she missed.

Chen Mo gradually found a pattern.

Shigula's movement path was not random. He was circling around the nest.

Because the nest was an extension of his body. His perception range was wider near it.

"Every time he attacks, he comes from the direction of the nest," Chen Mo said quietly. "The nest is behind us. He won't charge in from the front."

"So?"

"Keep your back to the nest and face outward. He can only come from both sides or above. I'll narrow it down to three directions. You'll react faster."

Android 18 adjusted her position.

The next time Shigula cut in from the left, Android 18's counterattack was 0.3 seconds faster.

She hit him.

Boom.

A dull blast erupted in the darkness, violently shaking the air.

Shigula's aura rapidly retreated, only stopping after two thousand meters.

"I hit him," Android 18 said.

"You hit him," Chen Mo confirmed. "But the damage wasn't severe. His aura hasn't weakened noticeably."

"Then hit him a few more times."

"Your plan is always just one thing."

"Because it works."

Over the time that followed.

Chen Mo did not know how long had passed.

In absolute darkness, there was no concept of time. As long as the three suns did not rise, it would remain night forever.

He could only estimate by the degree of fatigue in his body.

After roughly six hours.

Chen Mo's throat had gone dry. Although the Thirtyfold King Kai Fist placed no burden on him, maintaining his perception had kept his mind under extreme tension.

Shigula's attack frequency decreased.

What had begun as one attack every few minutes became one every half hour.

He was assessing them too.

Though Android 18's blows could not seriously injure him, every solid hit was still unpleasant.

And his advantage in the darkness had not turned into an overwhelming victory.

Because that human with a combat power of only fifteen million was acting as Android 18's eyes.

Eight hours.

Chen Mo's legs were already trembling.

It was not the strain of the King Kai Fist. It was purely mental exhaustion.

Maintaining ki perception without interruption for eight hours had surpassed any training he had done in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"You're shaking," Android 18's voice came from beside him.

"I'm fine."

"Lying to me?"

"I'm really fine. I can still hold on."

Android 18 said nothing.

But her hand moved from the back of his collar to his waist.

She supported him.

"It wasn't because I felt sorry for you," Android 18 said. "If you went down, I'd have no eyes."

Chen Mo didn't talk back.

Save your strength.

Ten hours.

Shigula's voice rang out from the darkness again.

"Human."

Chen Mo didn't respond.

"What's your name?"

He had asked for his name.

Chen Mo remembered their first meeting. Shigula had pointed at him and said, "What is that?" He hadn't even bothered to ask his name.

Now, he was asking.

"Chen Mo."

"Chen Mo." Shigula repeated it once. "You're the weakest opponent I've ever met. But also the most annoying."

"Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

Silence.

Then Shigula said, "You won't be taking the Dragon Balls."

"Not today," Chen Mo said.

"Not tomorrow either. Nor the day after."

"Then the day after that."

"How long are you planning to stand in the dark?"

"How long are you planning to cover the sky?"

Shigula didn't answer right away.

About ten seconds passed.

"I can keep it covered forever."

"Then keep it covered," Chen Mo said. "While you cover the sky, the Dragon Balls in your nest are useless too. Do you think Elder Moori will keep waiting for you? His life is nearing its end. Once he dies, the Dragon Balls will turn to stone. Your two years of planning will have been for nothing."

The darkness fell silent for a long time.

This time, it was truly a long time.

Chen Mo estimated it had been two minutes.

"You're threatening me."

"I'm stating a fact."

"How much longer can Moori live?"

"I don't know. A month? A week? Tomorrow?" Chen Mo said. "You know better than I do. You've been watching him for two years."

Another stretch of silence.

Twelve hours.

Shigula didn't attack again.

But he didn't lift the darkness either.

Chen Mo stood on the ice. Android 18's hand was still supporting his waist.

He could feel Shigula's presence returning to his nest. He didn't come out again.

"He went back," Chen Mo said.

"Chase him?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Entering his nest is the same as entering his body. He can control the environment in there however he wants. Going in would be suicide."

Android 18's fingers moved slightly against his waist.

"Then what do we do?"

Chen Mo thought for a while.

"Go back. Find the Grand Elder. Think of another way."

"You want me to retreat?"

"It was a tactical retreat."

"I'm not retreating."

"You fought him for twelve hours and couldn't kill him. Fight another twelve and you still won't kill him. He's faster than you in the darkness. You can't see him. Even if I help you find his direction, I can only roughly locate him. The accuracy isn't enough."

Android 18 fell silent.

This was what she hated most—admitting there were things she couldn't do.

Chen Mo turned around and faced her in the darkness, though he couldn't see anything.

"Android 18."

"Yeah."

"You're strong. Maybe the strongest on this planet. But being strong doesn't mean you can do everything. You can't beat darkness. No one can, because darkness isn't an opponent you can defeat."

"So you mean we admit defeat?"

"I mean, if the direct approach doesn't work, we take another route. We don't necessarily have to beat him to get the Dragon Balls."

Android 18 was silent for five seconds.

"Let's go."

Her hand moved from her waist to her wrist.

She grabbed Chen Mo and rose into the air.

They flew through the darkness.

Chen Mo navigated using ki sensing, avoiding several lingering ki fields left behind by Shigula.

Twenty minutes later, the edge of the darkness appeared.

One side of the line was absolute black.

The other was daylight beneath the simultaneous radiance of three suns.

Android 18 took Chen Mo across that line.

Light struck his face, making Chen Mo's eyes sting painfully.

He squinted for quite a while before he could adjust.

He looked down at himself. His clothes were covered in ice chips and bloodstains. Most of it was his own; a few wounds had been caused by the shockwaves.

Android 18 stood beside him.

Her denim jacket was torn in several places, and her blonde hair was a little disheveled, but she was in far better condition than Chen Mo.

"You look terrible," Android 18 said.

"You look beautiful," Chen Mo blurted out.

Then he froze.

Android 18 froze too.

After twelve hours of absolute darkness, the first thing he saw upon seeing light again was Android 18 standing beneath the sun.

Golden hair. Blue eyes. Three suns shining on her at once.

She really was beautiful.

Android 18 didn't respond.

She turned around.

"Let's go."

Her voice sounded a little different.

Chen Mo didn't dare think too deeply about it.

The two flew south.

When they returned to the Grand Elder's hall, Moori was still seated in that large chair.

Trunks was guarding the entrance. His expression changed when he saw their condition.

"What happened? Did you fight?"

"We fought for twelve hours," Chen Mo said. "It was a draw."

"A draw? Against someone with 120 million?"

"Five hundred million," Chen Mo corrected. "After he activated Shrouding the Heavens, he was at five hundred million."

Trunks's face went pale.

"And it wasn't a draw," Chen Mo said as he walked into the hall and plopped down on the floor. "He wasn't going all out. He was testing Android 18's limits. She couldn't find him in the darkness. I helped her locate him, but it wasn't accurate enough. I could only make sure she wouldn't be ambushed to death."

Moori looked at Android 18.

"You couldn't see him?"

Android 18 leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

"I don't know how to sense that qi thing you people use."

When she said that, Android 18's expression was calm. But Chen Mo could tell.

She was angry.

Not at anyone else. At herself.

Moori closed his eyes.

"He didn't chase after us," Moori said.

"He won't," Chen Mo said. "He tested Android 18's strength. He knows he might not win in a direct fight. But he also knows that Android 18 can't hit him in the darkness. So there's no need for him to take risks. He just has to guard his nest and the Dragon Balls. We're the attacking side. The attacking side is naturally at a disadvantage."

Moori nodded.

"And I told him something that gave him cause for concern." Chen Mo looked at Moori. "I told him your lifespan is almost up. Once you die, the Dragon Balls will turn to stone. The six he spent two years collecting will all be wasted."

Moori's expression did not change.

"What you said was the truth."

"So now he's in a hurry too. He needs to gather all seven before you die. The last one is here. He'll come sooner or later."

"I know."

The hall fell silent for several seconds.

Chen Mo leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

Mental exhaustion weighed heavily on his mind, but he couldn't sleep.

He had to think of a way.

A monster with a power level of five hundred million. Invincible in darkness. Android 18 couldn't fight in the dark. He stood even less of a chance.

What could he do?

He opened his eyes and looked at Moori.

"Grand Elder, is there any way... for Android 18 to learn how to sense qi?"

Moori shook his head. "Her body is not entirely organic. Sensing qi relies on a living being's meridian system. Her meridians have been mechanically modified, so she cannot sense it naturally."

Chen Mo thought for a while longer.

"Then is there any way to stop Shigula from covering the sky?"

"The elders couldn't find a way three hundred years ago."