Chapter 91: Krillin's Sacrifice, Boundless Power (Patreon)

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the day of the Cell Games, the sky was a heavy gray, and even the wind carried an oppressive chill.

Oryon arrived at the site early, bringing Bulma, Lunch, and Android 18 with him.

The two children had stayed home under the maid's care.

Su Nian and Su Yi had clung to his legs and refused to let go, insisting on coming to watch the tournament.

In the end he'd had to promise that once the matches were over, he'd come straight home and build sandcastles with them.

The ring was something Cell had built with his own hands. It was perfectly square, its surface smooth as a mirror.

The area around it was empty, yet reporters and cameramen from all over the world had gathered at a distance.

Helicopters circled overhead, every lens trained on the green figure standing at the center of the ring.

Mr. Satan made his entrance with the whole world watching.

He wore a red cape, a golden champion's belt around his waist, and a few disciples trailing behind him.

He also pulled a stack of roof tiles out of a capsule and piled them thickly together.

He walked up to Cell, cleared his throat, and flashed the camera an extremely confident smile.

"World Champion Satan will defeat this monster on behalf of all humanity today!"

"Everyone watch closely! I'll finish him with a single move!"

With that, he aimed at the tiles on the ground and brought his palm down.

The tiles snapped in two with a crack, fragments flying.

Nine tiles shattered. Only one remained intact...

"Oh dear, only nine tiles? I'm a little rusty..."

"Wow!"

"As expected of Mr. Satan, amazing!"

The reporters cheered, and Mr. Satan looked at Cell with satisfaction.

"Well? What do you think?"

"Scared now, are you?"

"I'm the strongman who can split nine tiles with one palm!"

Cell merely glanced at him, as if looking at a bug that had landed on a window.

Mr. Satan's brow twitched.

Not good!

There wasn't a flicker of fear in Cell's eyes.

Clearly, if he didn't want his image to collapse, he'd have to grit his teeth and go through with it.

If the fighting champion's image fell apart, he'd never be able to make money again.

He couldn't bear to lose his status, his private jet, or the speed at which the money rolled in.

Mr. Satan bellowed and swung a fist the size of a sandbag at Cell.

"Satan Iron Fist! Haaah!"

He charged at Cell at a tortoise's pace.

To Cell, even bothering to fight back against him was an insult to his title as the strongest android.

He flicked his hand lightly, and Mr. Satan sailed away like a kite with its string cut.

"Aaaaah..."

Mr. Satan flew dozens of meters, smashed through a boulder in the distance, and slid limply to the ground.

"Mr. Satan! Mr. Satan! Are you all right?"

"Did something go wrong?"

Clutching his stomach, Mr. Satan groaned, "Damn it, at the crucial moment my stomach hurts. I can't do this. Get me some paper, I have to use the bathroom first..."

Dead silence fell over the field.

Mr. Satan's disciples broke out in a cold sweat.

Just then, Vegeta landed in the ring, facing Cell head-on.

"Cell, I'll go first!"

He stood opposite Cell as a golden aura erupted around him, his hair standing on end, every muscle in his body drawn taut.

Seeing golden-haired Vegeta step up, Mr. Satan brightened with delight.

"Since someone else is making a move, there's no need for me to trouble myself. If they can't win, I'll step in then..."

"Master, your paper..."

A disciple promptly brought him the paper.

Vegeta stood facing Cell.

A day in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which meant a year of training under ten times gravity, had remade him from the ground up. His presence was far sharper than when he'd fought Cell before.

Cell sensed Vegeta's presence and put on a serious expression, looking him up and down.

"Interesting. It's only been ten days, and you've really grown stronger," Cell said.

"Spare me the talk," Vegeta said coldly. "Today you'll pay for your arrogance."

"I look forward to it!"

"Come on, Cell!"

The words had barely left his mouth before Vegeta charged.

He was so fast that the cameras caught only an Afterimage, and his fists and feet were already colliding with Cell's.

Prince's Fighting Style: Rapid Fist Assault.

"Ahtatatatatah..."

Vegeta's fists flew like machine guns, each barrage dense and relentless.

But Cell's defense was formidable, and his reactions were far smoother than when he'd first reached his Perfect Form.

He caught every one of Vegeta's strikes, every punch, with practiced ease.

The air rang with the clash of blows.

The two traded blows in the sky, on the ground, and everywhere between, and every collision cracked the earth.

Vegeta's heavy punch slammed into Cell's face. Cell's head only turned slightly, and then an elbow came right back at him.

Vegeta grunted and, instead of retreating, pressed forward, driving a knee at Cell's chest.

Back and forth they went, trading blow for blow...

Oryon was startled by Vegeta's performance.

The bullying hadn't been for nothing...

He'd actually trained himself up to the point where he could go toe to toe with Cell.

Android 18 blinked in astonishment.

"What's going on?"

"Ten days ago Vegeta was no match for Perfect Form Cell. How can he fight him like this after only ten days?"

Android 18 looked thoroughly bewildered.

As for Bulma and Lunch, they couldn't follow what was happening in the ring at all. All they saw were ripples of battle, rolling shockwaves of air, and clouds of dust and shattered stone...

Android 18 was a fighter herself, and very sensitive to gains in power.

Vegeta's performance was simply too strange.

"It's simple. He went into a room where time is warped and trained for a year," Oryon explained.

Android 18 suddenly understood.

"There's a place like that?"

Oryon nodded. "Yeah. It's called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. One day passes outside, and a year passes inside."

Android 18 looked enlightened.

No wonder. Vegeta, who couldn't even beat her before, had become this much stronger in just a few days.

"So that's it!"

Oryon slipped an arm around Android 18's slender waist and leaned close to her ear.

"If you're interested, I'll take you in to play sometime?"

Android 18 nodded eagerly.

"Yes, yes..."

Bulma shot Oryon a look.

"I want to go too!"

Lunch hurried to chime in.

"Me too, me too..."

Oryon ruffled Bulma's head, then Lunch's.

"You two can't. The gravity inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber is ten times Earth's. You'd be crushed."

Bulma and Lunch both gulped.

"So that's how it is..."

"Then there's nothing we can do."

Seeing the two of them so disappointed, Android 18 felt a flicker of anticipation.

One day outside, one year inside.

If she went in with Oryon, then after a whole year in there... she might even come out with a child.

The thought brought a faint flush to her face.

The fight between Vegeta and Cell grew fiercer.

After a hundred exchanges, a thin trace of blood finally appeared at the corner of Cell's mouth.

He wiped it away, his eyes lighting up.

"It seems you trained desperately. Vegeta, you really are a genius. To improve this much..."

Vegeta clenched his jaw and didn't answer.

He knew he couldn't let up, even though his chances of beating Cell were slim.

But as the fight dragged on, his speed began to drop, and his golden aura no longer burned as fiercely as it had at the start.

Cell, by contrast, only grew steadier. The blood mark on his face vanished quickly, and his regeneration restored him in no time.

Spotting an opening, Cell swung a backhand into the back of Vegeta's neck.

Everything went black before Vegeta's eyes. He plunged straight down and smashed into the ground, leaving a deep crater.

He pushed against the ground to rise again, but his arms shook uncontrollably, and at last his knees gave out and he collapsed.

Cell touched lightly down in the ring and looked down at him.

"Not bad. You've improved a lot, Vegeta. This time you finally got me warmed up."

Vegeta lay on the ground, his fingers digging into the earth until it crumbled.

To have merely helped Cell warm up was sheer humiliation for him.

If he'd had one more day in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he felt sure he could have surpassed Cell.

What a pity that the damned room had a limit.

Vegeta seethed with frustration.

He glanced at Goku, then at Oryon.

Now only Kakarot or Oryon could beat Cell.

He wanted them to win, and he didn't want them to win.

The conflict churned in Vegeta's mind.

After defeating Vegeta, Cell didn't go in for the kill.

There was no need. He planned to destroy Earth after beating everyone anyway.

If nothing existed that could defeat him, Earth had no reason to exist, and all of humanity would die.

He looked up at Goku, not far off, and smiled. "Goku, it's your turn."

Goku landed from a somersault.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"It wasn't long. I've been waiting since the day I was made.

"Only after I evolved into my Perfect Form did I think of fighting you. In any case, this day means a great deal to me," Cell said.

"Let's begin!"

The two vanished almost at the same moment.

When they reappeared, fist and palm were already colliding.

The ground around the ring split like a spiderweb, and the shockwave flipped every nearby reporter off their feet.

Goku's golden aura blazed like the sun, and Cell was like a green bolt of lightning.

They fought from the ground to the sky and plunged back down again, too fast for the eye to follow.

The sound of their fists colliding rolled on like a thunderstorm.

Cell landed in the ring and looked down at his half-mangled hand, flesh already knitting back together in an instant.

He raised his head to look at Goku, excitement in his eyes.

"Goku, you're far stronger than Vegeta. Every cell in my body is cheering."

Goku panted, sweat on his brow, but he was still smiling.

"Same here!"

For Goku, who loved fighting, a battle where he threw everything into a gamble for victory was what he looked forward to most.

Vegeta leaned against the edge of the ruins, listening, his face ashen.

All he could do was clench his teeth harder.

Kakarot had indeed pulled ahead of him again, though not by much.

As a genius himself, Vegeta could see clearly the gap between Kakarot and himself.

The difference in strength might not be huge, but Kakarot's fighting style was completely unlike his own.

He never took opponents head-on. He chose the patient, circling style of a true martial artist.

Borrowing force, deflecting force, overcoming hardness with softness, beating slowness with speed, controlling motion with stillness...

It was a style that rarely lost, but it didn't suit Vegeta's temperament.

They exchanged another hundred-odd blows, and as the fight went on and their stamina drained, Goku gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Cell's stamina seemed endless, and his regeneration wrecked the rhythm of Goku's attacks.

Goku's speed was dropping, while Cell's fists grew heavier and heavier...

Just then, Krillin at the edge of the field took a step forward.

"Goku! Don't lose to a guy like this!"

He shouted until his voice cracked, his eyes full of trust.

The fight between Cell and Goku was exhilarating.

But something still felt missing.

By rights, Goku shouldn't have been limited to this level.

Cell knocked Goku back with a kick and hung in the air, his tail swaying slowly behind him.

He looked down at Goku, a trace of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

"Goku, is this all you've got?"

Cell's voice turned cold.

"You disappoint me.

"Such excellent fighting blood runs through you, and you can't even push me to my limit."

Goku wiped the blood from his mouth and set his stance again.

His golden aura had weakened considerably, and his breathing was heavier than before.

"What are you trying to say?" Goku asked.

Cell smiled faintly, a cruel edge to it.

"I want to make you angry.

"Goku, I've studied you.

"Your weakness is the people around you.

"Your wife is called Chi-Chi, your son is called Gohan, and then there's that bald one, Krillin.

"If I kill them one by one, will you fight with greater strength?"

Goku's fists clenched hard, and a spark of fury flashed in his eyes.

He growled low, his presence spiking, and his golden aura surged again.

But it was only the ordinary Super Saiyan form. He hadn't broken through to the next level.

He rushed Cell, fists and feet as fast as lightning, his attacks far fiercer than a moment ago.

Cell blocked and backed away, his smile only widening.

"Yes, that's it. A little more. A little angrier."

Cell caught one of Goku's punches and flung him away with a backhand.

"What a shame, it's still not enough. Is that all the fire you have?"

Goku smashed through a rock wall and walked out of the dust cloud.

His body was trembling, his ki churning violently, but he remained stuck just below a certain threshold.

He wanted to protect everyone, and he wanted to kill Cell, but the more anxious he got, the more that higher level of power slipped out of his grasp.

"Just a little more... Why just a little more?" Goku muttered, head lowered, sweat dripping onto the ground.

Suddenly he thought of Gohan.

The power sleeping inside Gohan was even greater than his own.

He snapped his head up, looking at Gohan, worried at the edge of the field, and then at Cell.

"I give up," Goku said, and his voice silenced the whole field.

Bulma and Lunch were stunned.

Android 18 frowned too, looking at Oryon in confusion.

Oryon said nothing. He only shook his head slightly.

He was still pinning his hopes on Gohan, then?

Oryon had prepared himself for this long ago.

But hearing Goku concede, Cell's expression froze for an instant.

"What did you say?"

"I give up."

Goku straightened up and spoke earnestly.

"I can't beat you. There's someone stronger than me. You should fight him."

Cell's eyes turned thoroughly cold.

He stared at Goku as if he'd been insulted.

He hadn't waited all this time just to hear Goku surrender.

"Are you toying with me?" Cell's tone was like an ice pick.

"I'm not. My son Gohan has more talent than I do. He's the one who can beat you."

Cell followed Goku's gaze to Gohan at the edge of the field, and suddenly smiled.

The smile was sinister and dangerous, like a beast locking onto its prey.

"Fobbing me off with a child. You've succeeded in angering me."

The words had barely left his mouth before Cell vanished.

The next second, he appeared in front of Krillin.

Krillin didn't even have time to react. Cell clamped a hand around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

"This bald one matters a great deal to you, doesn't he, Goku?

"I learned from the computer that King Piccolo's minion killed him once already, and he can't be revived again. Right?"

"Let him go!" Goku roared, charging forward.

Seeing the veins bulge on Goku's forehead and his frantic state, Cell only looked more smug.

He cruelly raised his other hand, crimson energy gathering in his palm.

Krillin struggled desperately, his face swelling purple. "G-Goku, save me..."

Cell flicked his hand lightly, and a beam of energy pierced through Krillin's body.

"Boom!"

Krillin burst like a detonated bomb and turned to ash.

His ki vanished. Vanished completely.

Goku fell to his knees, staring blankly at the spot where Krillin had died, his pupils contracting violently.

And this time, Earth's Shenron couldn't do it a second time.

Goku's lips trembled, tears mingling with sweat as they ran down his face.

"No..."

"Krillin!"

Cell stood in the air, looking down on him.

"Well, Goku? Angry now? Then show me what you can do when you're angry."

Goku stayed kneeling, head bowed, his golden aura slowly fading.

He went quiet, as if his very soul had been drawn out of him.

Suddenly, a wind curled up around his feet.

Pebbles began to rise, and the ground started to crack.

Something inside Goku's body seemed to split open.

The grief and fury welling up from the marrow of his bones after his best friend's murder set his blood boiling and every nerve burning.

The barrier that had held him at the threshold was shattered by this flood of emotion.

His hair shot upright, and countless blue-white bolts of lightning leapt wildly around him.