Cell's Goal

"An... android?" Piccolo was somewhat taken aback. He had never expected things to circle back to androids again.

"The one who created me was a large computer that Doctor Gero had used for a long time." Cell still enthusiastically answered each of Piccolo's questions.

"Doctor Gero again."

"A long time ago, Doctor Gero began collecting the cells of all the greatest martial artists and researching how to fuse cells together to create androids. But because it took too long, he gave up halfway through."

"But the computer did not give up. It continued the research. Piccolo, Goku, and Vegeta's cells were collected during the gaps in your battles when Vegeta and the others came to Earth."

When he heard when Goku's cells had been collected, a faint smile appeared on Piccolo's face. "Goku from back then? No wonder that Kamehameha Wave you used just now wasn't very powerful."

Ignoring Piccolo's mockery, Cell continued, "Besides that, when Frieza and the others came to Earth in pursuit, the computer was fortunate enough to collect their cells as well. It would have been even better if it could have collected the cells of that guy named Trunks. That way, I could have gathered enough Saiyan cells."

"H-how did you collect the cells? I remember there was no one else around at the time!" Piccolo asked the question that concerned him most.

"You should have heard Doctor Gero mention that he used spy robots to monitor your movements. Those tiny bee-like robots."

"Of course, no one would have noticed that those robots were collecting cells. Look carefully—one is already beside you, transmitting the details of your battle back to the computer. It is probably planning to collect your cells!" Certain that victory was within his grasp, Cell directly sold out the little robot that had tirelessly helped bring him into existence.

Piccolo focused his gaze and, sure enough, spotted a tiny bee robot hovering in the air some distance away. He fired a Ki Blast and destroyed it at once.

"It is too late to destroy it now. The important cells have already been collected, and the research began long ago. Then, twenty-four years later, the computer created the invincible me."

"Impossible! Doctor Gero's laboratory should have been destroyed long ago!"

"The computer used by the laboratory is in a secret room deep underground."

"I see. Then why did you wait a full three years after coming to this era before taking action?"

"That is because once I returned to egg form, I had to remain underground for three years and wait to mature again. Everything takes time. Now that I have finished, you should be about ready to let me absorb you willingly, right?"

"One last question. Why did you come all the way here from the future?"

"To become complete. Absorbing human life energy alone is not enough. I must merge with two important special life forms. The computer told me that those two special life forms... are Android 17 and Android 18, the androids Doctor Gero created with his own hands."

"What?" Piccolo recalled the overwhelming strength of those two androids.

"But for some reason, Android 17 and Android 18 had been defeated and no longer existed in the future world where I existed, defeated by that guy named Trunks. Fortunately, my luck was not bad. That Trunks had a time machine." As he spoke, Cell recalled what had happened in his future.

"You killed Trunks and took the time machine to this era specifically so you could absorb Android 17 and Android 18."

"Then why did you choose this era?"

"It was simple. Trunks's time machine had been set to this era. All I had to do was press the switch."

Hearing Cell's words, Piccolo, whose mind had always been sharp, quickly sorted out the entire chain of logic. That should have been the time set by the future Trunks when he planned to return and inform them after defeating the androids of his era. Yet he had never expected this guy to be the one who arrived instead.

"The computer told me... that after becoming complete, I would gain unimaginable, terrifying, and powerful strength."

"What reason do you have? Why do you want such immense power?"

"What reason? That is an awfully boring question. The computer merely received instructions entered by humans—to create the strongest being. That is all. To surpass humanity's limits. Perhaps half the reason I want to become stronger is that Saiyan, Frieza, and Piccolo blood flows within me, making it impossible for me to control myself."

Cell was quite honest, telling Piccolo everything he knew and even revealing quite a few unexpected details.

"Alright, you should be satisfied now, shouldn't you?" Cell was already growing impatient to absorb Piccolo's enormous life energy.

"I see. I am very satisfied. Thank you for clearing up my doubts." Having obtained all the information he wanted, Piccolo stopped pretending. He tore off his withered arm, then used the Namekian ability to regenerate severed limbs and grew a perfectly intact new arm, leaving Cell staring in stunned disbelief.

"You were tricking me into talking?" Even Cell, foolish as he was, realized that Piccolo had been fishing for information.

"How could I let a guy like you become complete? You have my cells, yet you do not even know that my arm can regenerate. You idiot!" Piccolo had regained his initial confidence as he looked at Cell mockingly.

Clap~ Clap~ Clap~

A round of applause rang out. Neither hurried nor slow, the rhythm was especially clear amid the ruins.

Piccolo and Cell turned their heads at the same time. At some point, Malvis had seated himself atop the wreckage of a broken elevated highway, one leg casually propped up, his hands still held in the position of having just finished clapping.

"When?" Cell's face was filled with confusion.

Piccolo said nothing. Cold sweat streamed down from his temples. After merging with Kami, his senses had become more than a level sharper than before, and his knowledge had broadened as well—but that was precisely the problem. Though he still could not sense Malvis's aura, the pressure crashing down on him from the front made it difficult for him to move. It was suppression from a higher dimension.

"I've been here all along!" The corners of Malvis's lips curled up in a faint, almost imperceptible smile as he replied softly, "Originally, I only came to join in the fun and watch a good show. But who would have thought... hehehe, when I saw Piccolo's superb, almost masterful acting, I couldn't bear to rashly interrupt such a natural performance. That's why I didn't show myself just now."

As he spoke, Malvis's handsome face retained that calm, untroubled smile. Yet inwardly, he was thinking: With the extraordinary skill Piccolo had displayed just now, even in the era of his previous life, those so-called young heartthrobs would probably have been left far behind and needed quite a long time just to learn a fraction of it.

"Alright, alright, you two keep fighting. Don't hold back just because I showed up!" Seeing that the two had stopped moving, Malvis hurriedly urged them on.