Raising the Upper Limit of Talent

Son Gohan stared at Cell before him, his brow tightly furrowed.

Lazuli beside him was completely unharmed, not even a single hair missing.

Cell hadn't absorbed Android 18, so how had he become complete?

"What's going on?" he asked. "How did Cell's energy rise so much?"

Krillin stepped forward and said helplessly, "Cell wasn't originally this strong."

"Goku had him pinned down at first, but then..." He paused and glanced at Son Goku, who was scratching his head nearby. "Then Goku gave Cell two Senzu Beans.

"The first was because he saw that Cell had used up too much energy and said he didn't want to take advantage of him. The second was because Cell said it wasn't fair to fight one after another, so he asked for another."

"After eating them, his near-death power-up was triggered, and he became like this. At first, Goku could still suppress him steadily, but now the situation has completely reversed."

Son Gohan's expression turned extremely unpleasant after hearing that.

He turned to Son Goku, his face full of the frustration of seeing someone fail to live up to expectations—the helplessness of watching his own father do something stupid again.

"Dad."

His voice wasn't loud, but his words were firm.

"Senzu Beans are meant to protect Earth, not to be given to enemies who want to destroy it."

Son Goku looked somewhat regretful. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain.

Son Gohan gave him no chance and continued, his tone growing heavier.

"Don't ever do something like this again. Otherwise, if Earth is destroyed, our home will be gone too."

Son Goku froze for a moment, then lowered his head with some guilt. "I understand, Gohan."

Son Gohan looked at him without saying anything more.

He knew perfectly well how many disasters Son Goku's personality had caused in the original story.

He gave Cell a Senzu Bean during the Cell Games, then gave Moro Senzu Beans again in the Moro arc. The other side immediately turned hostile, and Merus even sacrificed himself because of it.

He had learned the lesson again and again, yet his memory never improved one bit.

He turned around and said no more.

On the wasteland, two people stood facing each other. One was Cell in his complete form, electricity crackling around his body, a sinister smile hanging on his lips.

Son Gohan's face was expressionless, but the instant their gazes met, the oppressive feeling in the air changed.

Like two sworn enemies finally locking eyes across time and space.

Cell gave a sinister chuckle, while Son Gohan clenched his fists. Then—

Golden aura erupted.

He transformed into Super Saiyan 2. His hair stood upright in golden spikes, lightning leaping wildly around his body as waves of energy swept in every direction.

The rubble beneath his feet was swept into the air, but this energy was different from Son Goku's and Vegeta's Super Saiyan 2—heavier, steadier, more substantial.

This was genuine base strength, a foundation forged through countless sessions of grueling training.

It was even stronger than Vegeta's full-power Super Saiyan 2 seven years later in the original story.

The sinister smile on Cell's face froze.

He felt it—the overwhelming pressure bearing down on him was on an entirely different level from Son Goku's earlier power.

This brat was far stronger than Kakarot. He instinctively took half a step back, his expression turning ugly.

The next instant, Son Gohan moved.

Golden aura exploded as his entire body transformed into a streak of golden light rushing toward Cell.

He was so fast that a ring of white sonic boom clouds burst through the air.

Cell's pupils suddenly contracted. He only had time to raise his arms in a frantic block—but Son Gohan did not attack him head-on.

The moment his fist was about to strike Cell's arms, he vanished.

He appeared behind Cell the next moment.

He spun and kicked, striking Cell squarely in the lower back.

Cell flew away like a cannonball, smashing through the rock pillars behind him before finally crashing into a valley.

Broken stones and dust filled the sky.

Cell struggled up from the rubble, a piercing pain shooting through his back.

Before he could steady himself, a golden figure had already charged into the billowing dust.

Son Gohan burst from the smoke and dust with his knee leading the way, driving it viciously into Cell's abdomen.

Cell's mouth gaped open as stomach fluid and acid spewed from his throat, his body folding over like a shrimp.

Before he could fall, Son Gohan's fists had already arrived. In one-thousandth of a second, he unleashed countless afterimages of punches, golden fists raining down on Cell without a single gap.

Every punch carried solid, crushing force, denting flesh and bone. Cell's arms could not defend against them at all; if he shielded his head, his chest took the blows, and if he shielded his chest, his head took them.

A few seconds felt like centuries to him. At last, a heavy punch slammed into his shoulder. Cell's knees gave out, and he crashed heavily to his knees.

The ground had been crushed into two pits by his knees.

In the distance, the onlookers watched in astonishment.

Krillin stood there with his mouth agape, staring at Cell kneeling on the ground. Lightning Cell, who had just beaten Son Goku so thoroughly that he could not fight back, could not even withstand a single move before Gohan.

"Gohan..." Krillin swallowed hard. "He's so strong."

Piccolo stood with his arms crossed, a complicated look flashing through his eyes.

Sensing the aura Son Gohan had unleashed, he fell silent for a moment.

"This power is no weaker than mine."

Vegeta stood beside them without saying a word.

He recalled seeing Son Gohan when he came out of the Gravity Chamber—Gohan had already been at full-power Super Saiyan 2 back then. Now, he had grown even stronger.

Kakarot's son. Kakarot's son—he chewed over those words again and again in his heart.

Cell knelt on the ground, gasping for breath, then let out a vicious laugh, low and crazed.

The lightning around his body suddenly surged, his golden aura exploded forth once more, and Lightning Cell, driven into a corner, felt every cell in his body roaring.

He rose to his feet and began his counterattack.

Heavy punches, flying kicks, elbow strikes, knee attacks—Cell's assault poured down like a torrential storm.

Every punch trailed golden flames, moving so fast that only blurred afterimages could be seen.

The air tore apart, and sonic booms exploded in rapid succession.

Son Gohan tilted his head to evade a punch, raised a hand to block the next flying kick, shifted aside to avoid an elbow strike, and leaned back to dodge a knee.

His movements were effortless. He saw every one of Cell's punches clearly, and he saw through every intention behind Cell's movements before they were even made.

During this process, Son Gohan's consciousness sank into his body.

Deep within his dantian, the seven-colored Dimensional Seed slowly rotated. Every collision with Cell, every fluctuation created by their clashing energies, was absorbed by the Dimensional Seed.

High-quality battle energy flowed into the crystal, becoming increasingly condensed.

And within Cell were the fused cellular traits of Son Goku, Frieza, Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin—all of them, along with all their combat talent.

Moreover, Cell's various fused traits and talents could gradually raise his own potential. They were precisely the nourishment the Dimensional Seed needed.

The corner of Son Gohan's mouth curled slightly.

Cell had quite a bit of value left to exploit. There was no rush to finish him off; at the very least, he needed to squeeze him dry first.

He adjusted his posture in midair, no longer merely defending, and began trading blows with Cell head-on.

Their fists collided, and a shockwave erupted.

Their figures flashed and crisscrossed at high speed above the wasteland, golden auras smashing wildly together. Every exchange blasted out visible waves of air.

The sonic booms continued without end. Cell grew more frenzied with every strike, pouring his full strength into each punch as lightning crackled madly around him.

Son Gohan handled everything with ease. Even when he occasionally took a punch, his expression did not change, and he could immediately return two blows.

To the others, the two appeared evenly matched, trading attack for attack.

Krillin's blood boiled as he watched, and his clenched fists were slick with nervous sweat.

Future Trunks held his breath, but Piccolo, standing beside him, furrowed his brow tighter and tighter.

He saw it.

That kid Gohan was holding back with every move, keeping thirty percent of his strength in reserve. He could clearly dodge Cell's punches, yet sometimes deliberately chose not to. He clearly had the ability to defeat Cell in an instant, so why was he constantly dragging things out?

Piccolo narrowed his eyes, the doubts in his heart growing heavier.

Boom—!

They exchanged fists again, and the shockwave blasted a huge crater into the ground.

Cell was sent flying backward. He spun several times in midair before stabilizing himself, panting heavily.

Son Gohan floated opposite him, his golden aura calm and steady. Even his breathing had not become uneven.

He calculated silently—the Dimensional Seed was still absorbing, high-quality energy flowing in without end, while his battle talent's upper limit rose bit by bit.

He raised a hand and crooked a finger at Cell.

"That's all you've got? Where did all that arrogance from earlier go?"

Cell's expression changed. Rage and humiliation intertwined across his face as the lightning around him surged again. With a furious roar, he charged forward once more.

The battle continued.

Above the wasteland, sonic booms and shockwaves rang out without end.