Pursuit

Trunks and Krillin entered the basement through the opening. Before them stood a metal door identical to the entrance of the laboratory. Perhaps because this entrance had originally been inside the lab, the door was unlocked and opened with a gentle push.

Trunks felt around until he found the light switch. The instant the lights came on, the basement's interior was revealed. It was simple, containing only several tables, an enormous computer, and an incubation chamber.

"Damn bastard! Is that the computer?" Krillin glared furiously at the massive device that was still running.

"Krillin, come take a look at this." While Krillin was still fuming at the computer, Trunks noticed the incubation chamber beside it. A small creature was developing inside. "I think this thing is the Cell from the future."

"Damn it! This thing was made by collecting the cells of every martial arts master? I can't believe it even has Goku's cells."

"In twenty years, it'll become a larva. Then it'll shed its shell and turn into Cell. After that, it'll go around killing people and absorbing biological energy, gradually approaching its perfect form. All of it is because of this computer's instructions."

"Trunks, let's destroy this laboratory already!" Just hearing about it made Krillin sick. He immediately raised both hands, intending to wipe this den of evil from existence.

"Please wait a moment." Trunks seemed to have noticed something and hurriedly stopped Krillin. He then walked over to the table behind the incubation chamber, where several blueprints lay quietly, seemingly untouched for a long time.

"They're design plans." Trunks leaned closer to inspect them. They were all various design blueprints.

"What kind of blueprints? For Cell?" Krillin asked curiously.

"No. This one says 'Android 17.'"

"Android 17? That guy?"

"If we give this to my mom, maybe she can figure out Android 17's weakness, Krillin."

"That's a good idea. Are there any for anyone else? Like Cell, or..." Hearing that, Krillin hurriedly leaned in.

Trunks carefully studied the blueprint in his hands, its lines crisscrossing as his brow furrowed slightly. He could not understand the others—Cell's raw data, cultivation logs—and had no time to examine them closely. But he carefully folded up Android 17's blueprint and tucked it into his jacket.

"The rest of these are useless."

Trunks and Krillin exchanged a glance, then nodded in mutual understanding. Without hesitation, they unleashed wave after wave of dazzling energy blasts ahead of them.

With deafening booms, the objects struck exploded one after another, shattering into countless fragments that scattered everywhere. The overwhelming force swept through like a flood, reducing everything in its path to ruins. Finally, they launched a fatal attack at the still-unformed young Cell as well.

Once outside, to eliminate any future trouble, Krillin gathered his energy and hurled an even more powerful energy blast downward. A violent explosion erupted below, flames shooting into the sky.

On the way back, both Krillin and Trunks felt they had gained quite a lot this time. Trunks asked Krillin to take the blueprint back to Bulma. As for Trunks, he decided to head in another direction—to train with Vegeta. After all, training with two people was far more effective for increasing strength than training alone.

Meanwhile, Piccolo and Tien Shinhan also arrived at the scene. At a glance, they spotted the crashed transport truck and the items scattered around it. Yet to their surprise, there was not a single trace of Cell left behind. Clearly, the cunning Cell had already fled and hidden himself completely.

However, relying on his keen senses, Tien Shinhan quickly caught a faint but unmistakable fluctuation of energy. Though the energy was chaotic and difficult to track, he was certain it was neither an illusion nor caused by anything else. Without hesitation, he led Piccolo racing in the direction it came from.

Unfortunately, things did not go as they hoped. By the time they arrived, the once bustling city had become a place of dead silence. The streets were completely empty, and only the abandoned clothes strewn across the ground silently told of the tragedy that had taken place.

Cell had already reached another city and was slaughtering its people. Before long, only a mother and her child remained alive, desperately trying to evade his pursuit.

But how could ordinary people possibly escape the pursuit of Android Cell? The mother and child were soon caught. Just as Cell was about to strike, Krillin, who had delivered the blueprint and was taking a shortcut back to Turtle Hermit Island, happened to pass by and saved them.

Krillin set the mother and child down, then turned to face Cell. He swallowed hard. With his current strength, he was no match for this monster. But the mother and child needed time to escape—at this point, all he could do was stall Cell and create an opportunity for them to flee, even if it was only for a few dozen seconds. He took a deep breath and assumed a fighting stance.

After thanking him, the mother and child ran behind him, started up their plane, and prepared to flee. Krillin copied one of Cell's moves, using Solar Flare to disrupt his vision, then seized the plane's strut and flew away with it.

But he had clearly underestimated Cell. Just as everyone aboard the plane thought they had escaped danger, Krillin discovered that Cell, who should have been below them, had vanished. While Krillin was still searching for him, Cell had somehow reached the top of the plane and was already using his tail to attack the people inside the cabin.

Krillin inwardly cursed. He immediately used Flight to ram Cell. Caught off guard by the sudden impact, Cell was knocked onto one of the wings.

Krillin landed in front of Cell and faced him. Cell struck first, thrusting his tail stinger at Krillin. Though Krillin dodged it, the punch that followed sent him flying. He smashed through one side of the cabin and only stopped when his head became stuck through the opposite wall.

Cell walked onto the other wing. Looking at Krillin, whose head alone was sticking out, he slowly approached and said, "You're finished now, aren't you?"

Just as Cell was about to successfully devour Krillin, two familiar energies suddenly approached from afar. He alertly looked up, his gaze instantly locking onto the rapidly approaching figures—Piccolo and Tien Shinhan! Their arrival interrupted his next move.

Though unwilling, Cell clearly understood that if he continued fighting, Piccolo and the others might seize the chance to trap him, leaving him doomed beyond recovery. Gritting his teeth, he decided to temporarily abandon the prize before his eyes and flee this dangerous place.

Before leaving, however, Cell could not resist taunting Krillin. He reached out and gripped Krillin's head like a pair of iron pincers, shook it twice, then let go. He raised a finger and wagged it in front of Krillin's face, as though mocking his helplessness—as if saying, "You're not worthy."

Only after those little gestures did Cell turn around in satisfaction and race toward the distance with great strides, vanishing from Krillin's sight in the blink of an eye...