Undercurrent

Three hundred kilometers to the southeast.

Goku's figure carved a trail through the night sky, neither too fast nor too slow. It had been seven hours since he left Mount Paozu, and Piccolo's words—"Kakarot never does anything unless he's sure of it"—still echoed in his ears.

Of course he was sure. The problem was, what he was sure of was that "even if I die, Earth won't be destroyed."

The farther southeast he went, the more distinct the energy fluctuations in the air became. It wasn't the violent aura left behind by battle, but something faint and rhythmic, like the heartbeat of some enormous creature. It rose from deep underground, filtered layer upon layer through rock and soil, until it reached the surface so weakened that it was nearly imperceptible.

If Gohan's detector was a pair of eyes, then Goku's perception was intuition. He didn't need data to tell that this thing was alive.

The main node wasn't a building or a machine. It was alive.

After flying another fifty kilometers, he saw a strange depression in the ground. An area spanning dozens of kilometers sat noticeably lower than the surrounding land, as though something had collapsed it from within. All vegetation at the center was dead, and the soil had taken on an unhealthy grayish-white hue. At the very center was a hole about three meters across, plunging straight down, black as a pupil.

Goku hovered above it and closed his eyes to sense it.

More than two thousand meters below lay an enormous space, at least three times the size of Capsule Corporation. It was filled with a suppressed life force. That pulse was right at the center of the space—not a heart, but the core of a life energy. It was faint, yet it beat there steadily, like a sleeping seed waiting to sprout.

Found it.

Goku opened his eyes and looked at the pitch-black hole. From what he could sense, the thing below was more like... an embryo. It was still taking shape and had not fully awakened. But its vitality was incredibly tenacious, and its regenerative ability might far surpass Cell's.

Charging down now and alerting it wouldn't be wise. Gohan's "fishing plan" should be allowed to continue. They would wait until it exposed a weakness on its own—that would be the time to strike.

Goku gave the hole one last look, then turned and flew away.

Mount Paozu, Gravity Chamber.

Seven hours had passed. Gohan sat cross-legged outside the Gravity Chamber door, his eyes closed, but his mind constantly scanning the southeast. Piccolo leaned against the wall, seemingly resting with his eyes shut, but he was just as alert.

The detector's alarm suddenly blared.

"Southeast, three hundred and fifty kilometers away—it's moving! Speed: eight hundred kilometers per hour!" Gohan's eyes snapped open. He pulled up the data, and his pupils shrank sharply. "It's a combat unit. It came from the direction of the main node."

Piccolo straightened. "It only took seven hours for the node to go from dormancy to dispatching an attack unit. That means it had been waiting for us to reveal our location."

"It's fishing. If you cast the line, you have to be ready for the fish to bite." Gohan rose to his feet, golden aura flashing across his body. "I'll go."

"Be careful."

Three minutes later, Gohan intercepted the target.

Translucent. Squirming. Three meters tall and five meters long. Viscous fluid constantly seeped from its body, and dark red organs could vaguely be seen pulsating within. It had no eyes, no mouth—only a vague humanoid outline, like an unfinished creation.

A Cell Carrier. A larval self-organizing combat unit.

"I thought it'd be some kind of high-tech robot," Gohan muttered. "Turns out it's just a giant meat worm. The main node's taste really is... sheesh."

Sensing the threat, the Carrier lunged at him. It was astonishingly fast—far faster than an ordinary Super Saiyan 1—and carried a sickly sweet, fishy stench.

Gohan shifted aside to evade it, then threw a full-power Super Saiyan 1 punch into the Carrier's chest. His fist sank in.

Then it was bounced back out.

That lump of flesh was still writhing. The punctured spot visibly repaired itself, its translucent skin sealing back together like ripples closing on water.

A Super Saiyan 1 punch was strong enough to blast through a small mountain, yet this strike did not even leave a scar.

Gohan followed up with two more punches. The first blew away half the Carrier's head, but it grew back two seconds later. The second severed its entire right arm, but it reattached three seconds afterward.

"This thing regenerates even faster than Cell himself?" Gohan frowned. The Carrier didn't need to maintain a complex cellular structure. All its energy was devoted to two things: repair and attack. Simple, brutal, and incredibly efficient.

Just as he was about to transform into Super Saiyan 2, an even more dazzling light rose behind him.

Blue. Deeper, more violent, and more brilliant than gold.

It was the light of Super Saiyan 2.

And the owner of that light overtook him at an unbelievable speed and charged straight at the Cell Carrier.

"Vegeta?!"

Vegeta didn't answer. He didn't even spare Gohan a glance. All his attention was focused on the writhing mass of flesh before him.

Blue arcs of electricity intertwined with his golden aura, each bolt seeming to tear open a rift in the air. That aura was so oppressive that even Gohan could not help taking half a step back.

Does something like this even deserve for me to make a move?

The Cell Carrier instinctively sensed the threat. Its body swelled violently, trying to trade size for defense.

Useless.

Vegeta took one step forward and vanished.

The next instant, he was in front of the Carrier. His right fist drew back, gathered power, then struck—a full-force blow in Super Saiyan 2. No flashy technique, just the purest strength and speed.

His fist slammed into the Carrier.

BOOM!

The Cell Carrier's entire body collapsed in that instant. Its translucent shell shattered like glass, exposing the dark red core to the air before the shockwave ground it into powder. Fragments scattered through the sky, every piece trying to regenerate, but Vegeta's aura burned them like flames. Their regeneration could not begin to keep up with the rate of destruction.

Three seconds later, nothing remained.

Vegeta landed on the ground, the blue arcs slowly fading away. He wasn't even breathing hard.

Piccolo had arrived at some point as well. Standing in the distance, he watched the scene with a complicated expression.

Gohan stood frozen. The thing he hadn't been able to hurt after three Super Saiyan 1 punches had been taken out by Vegeta in one blow? And judging by how stable that aura was, this wasn't the awkwardness of a recent breakthrough. It was the composure of complete mastery.

"Uncle Vegeta, when did you... break through?"

"Three days ago."

"Three days ago, we were still eating hot pot, and you didn't say anything..."

"There was nothing to say. A breakthrough was a breakthrough. Talking about it wouldn't make it any stronger." Vegeta brushed aside the loose strands over his forehead. "Besides—"

His gaze swept across the empty sky, and his tone turned cold:

"I had no intention of being a performing monkey at the hot pot table."

Piccolo spoke from beside him, his voice even. "Vegeta caught up to you in three months."

Gohan's heart sank. It was not jealousy—it was pressure. Super Saiyan 2 had originally been his unique trump card. Now that Vegeta had broken through as well, it meant the threat posed by Cell's main node was greater than he had estimated—great enough to push even Vegeta beyond his limits.

Three months ago, Vegeta could barely maintain Super Saiyan 1. Now, he had already broken through to Super Saiyan 2. And judging from the power of that punch, his Super Saiyan 2 was more stable and purer than Gohan's.

But that was not important. What mattered was that the enemy was stronger than any of them had imagined.

"Uncle Vegeta, thank you."

"Don't misunderstand." Vegeta's tone was flat. "I didn't break through for your sake."

"Then what was it for?"

Vegeta turned and looked toward the southeastern night sky. There was nothing to be seen there, yet his gaze seemed to pierce through hundreds of kilometers and see the main node pulsing deep underground.

"To prove that thing's existence is unnecessary."

Gohan froze for a moment, then smiled.

That answer was so Vegeta. It was not for protection, nor responsibility. It was simply because a Saiyan prince's pride would not allow something stronger than himself to exist.

"I know."

He recalled what he had told his dad a few hours ago: You'd better come back alive.

Now, he wanted to say those words to everyone. Not just his dad, but Vegeta, Piccolo, and Mom Chi-Chi too.

All of you, stay alive.

On the scanner screen, the numbers continued to flicker.

Node energy fluctuation: +0.7%

Cell (carrier form) eliminated

Threat assessment: Main node awakening is accelerating

Countdown: Unknown

Gohan stared at the "+0.7%" and tightened his fingers around the edge of the scanner.

One punch had destroyed a carrier. But the main node had lost only 0.7% of its energy. Killing one ant was not even a scratch to an anthill.

In the distant night sky, a golden aura was rapidly approaching from the southeast.

Dad was back.

Gohan let out a breath and looked at Vegeta and Piccolo.

"...Let's go back. It's time to discuss our next move."