Dragon Ball: I Became Cell in a Doomed Future

Chapter 353 353: The Lower Half of Round One Begins!

Full Metal Cell Max descended onto the shattered battlefield and raised both hands.

Under his control, the entire planet moved as easily as a limb.

The earth writhed and surged, layer upon layer covering every ruined zone.

Cratered holes were filled. Cracks were sealed. Even the boiling magma flowed back down into the planet's core.

The whole process took only a few seconds.

The battlefields that had been devastated beyond recognition were restored to pristine condition, as if the earth-shaking battles from moments ago had never happened.

This display of creation, worthy of the gods themselves, plunged the spectators into silence once more.

Especially the Gods of Destruction and Emperor Vegeta's group, all of whom were further astonished by how extraordinary this planet truly was.

"Battles between beings on our level should be able to casually destroy entire star regions or even universes..."

"And yet on this planet, even damaging the terrain feels strangely difficult."

"This really is the perfect arena for a tournament!"

"I'm becoming more and more interested in this fellow called Full Metal Cell Max."

Of course, for those who knew the truth behind Full Metal Cell Max, the topic of discussion was the matches that had just concluded.

Piccolo held his chest, which still throbbed faintly, his expression unusually grave.

Hit's Time-Skip transition had left an unforgettable impression on him.

But having lost to Hit twice did not fill him with regret. If anything, it only strengthened his resolve to train harder.

"That near-death feeling just now seems to have pushed my strength even further under the effect of Saiyan blood."

Piccolo carefully examined the changes in his body brought about by the Saiyan passive trait.

"If you give me enough time to train, and I manage to fuse the power of a Saiyan and a Namekian properly, I may actually be able to defeat him."

Champa slumped in his seat, looking a little dazed.

"Damn it, every single one who made it into the winners' bracket is a complete monster. There isn't a single weak opponent left..."

Yamcha had been average enough that Champa's own match ended quickly.

But after watching nearly every other fight, he now deeply understood the malice behind this game.

What right do I, Champa, have to be competing on the same stage as these lunatics?

Even Beerus would have a hard time in a tournament like this...

"This is ridiculous. Every one of them is more exaggerated than the last."

"Especially that guy called Broly, and Frieza too... the Destruction Power they've mastered even makes me nervous."

Beside him, Vados smiled lightly.

"Well, now you understand the level of this game, don't you? I already told you to use your full power."

Champa pouted and became even more upset.

He had only wanted to go to Earth for a nice meal, and somehow got dragged into this tournament.

He said nothing more, but his eyes drifted toward the Earth fighters.

Unlike his own misery, Goku's side was in a completely different mood.

That group looked absurdly excited.

"So awesome! I didn't know fighting could be done like that!"

Far from being depressed by his defeat, Goku was beaming with excitement.

"That Kakarot version of me attacked every vital point directly. No wasted motion at all. His efficiency in battle was incredible!"

"And that mustached Broly, he actually revived from just a tiny piece of his body, and came back even stronger!"

"Even Frieza has mastered Destruction Power... man, I've got to learn it too!"

Having glimpsed a completely new world, he was thoroughly fired up.

Gohan, meanwhile, kept his head lowered in thought. The mad, cruel style Beast had used had shaken him deeply.

"What exactly did the other me go through...?"

Trunks was still shaken as well. The things the Crown Prince had told him still sent chills down his spine.

Just what kind of blood-soaked darkness was the age of the Saiyan Emperor?

The Supreme Kai of Time, Chronoa, looked equally troubled.

"The Emperor Vegeta timeline... its history is already twisted beyond repair. They absolutely cannot be allowed to continue interfering with other timelines."

Beside her, Aeos wore a serious expression, though her attitude was even more extreme than Chronoa's.

"There's no point in repairing it anymore. It would be far simpler to just erase the entire timeline."

"As long as I am still the official Supreme Kai of Time, I won't allow you to do that, Senior! What we need to do now is find the one responsible for letting them cross time in the first place..."

Meanwhile, inside the Saiyan battleship, Emperor Vegeta wore the faintest smile.

He was quite pleased with his guards' performance.

Kakarot, Crown Prince, Beast, Broly through the most direct method possible, they had shown everyone in this timeline just how powerful Saiyans truly were.

"Vegeta-sama, the fighters from these timelines may be naïve, but their potential seems rather impressive," Kakarot said, eyes burning with battle intent.

"Especially those simple, good-natured Saiyans. If they could experience true despair and understand what being a Saiyan really means, they might become proper warriors in our ranks."

Vegeta neither agreed nor disagreed.

"Let's watch the rest of the matches first."

His gaze settled on the young man who had been treated like the center of attention from the very beginning.

Levos.

One of the few on this planet whose strength could not be judged through aura alone.

From start to finish, this man had remained calm and detached, as though everything were under his control.

At that moment, Levos left the crowd and flew alone into the sky, looking down over the entire planet.

Inside him, the Universe Seed had quietly grown another ring larger after absorbing the massive amount of energy spilled from the sixteen matches in the upper half of round one.

The emerald-green seed's patterns had become clearer, faint radiance flowing through its veins.

Waves of pure energy, far beyond the divine domain, were feeding back into every part of Levos's body.

"Not bad," Levos muttered, the corner of his mouth lifting.

This game had only just begun.

Most of the combat energy absorbed by Full Metal Cell Max had ultimately become nourishment for the Universe Seed.

Inside Levos's pocket world, the newborn universe was also slowly taking shape.

Before long, the Universe Seed would become a Universe Tree and bring a true qualitative transformation to the world inside.

With the arena repairs finished, everyone's attention returned to the giant screen in the center.

The results of the upper half had already been decided.

Now it was time for the lower half.

The sixteen matchups had already been arranged.

Bejitena vs Time Patrol Pan

Hearts vs Sidra (God of Destruction of Universe 9)

Fu vs Iwne (God of Destruction of Universe 1)

Time Patrol Gohanks vs Neiz

Levos vs Geene (God of Destruction of Universe 12)

Bardock vs Son Goten

Buu vs Paragus

Master Roshi vs Ginyu

Dore vs Cell Jr.

Yajirobe vs Salza

Chiaotzu vs Cell Jr.

Mosco (God of Destruction of Universe 3) vs Cell Jr.

Bulma vs Cell Jr.

Arak (God of Destruction of Universe 5) vs Cell Jr.

Kale vs Cell Jr.

Android 18 vs Nanaba

"So next it's Dad versus Goten," Goku said, sounding even more excited.

Bardock looked at the grandson from another timeline, his expression complicated.

Son Goten... my little grandson...

He had heard the desperate story of Goten's original timeline.

Warmth appeared in Bardock's eyes.

Faced with that look, Goten became nervous. All his life, family had been nothing more than images in old photographs.

Countless times, he had imagined what life would be like if his father and mother were still alive.

And now, when something that had only existed in dreams stood alive before him, he didn't know what to do with himself.

In this timeline, not only were his father, mother, brother, Auntie Latirice, and Uncle Piccolo all alive, he had also gained a grandfather and grandmother.

Suddenly being added into such a large family left him lost.

A happy kind of lost.

Gine, meanwhile, doted on Goten so much it bordered on painful. She insisted that from now on, Goten would live the happiest life imaginable, to make up for the pain of his infancy, childhood, and youth.

At that moment she was repeatedly reminding Bardock that he was absolutely not allowed to hurt their little grandson during the fight.

"Fight if you must, but in the end you are not allowed to win. Goten has to get the reward for victory!"

The reward for victory, of course, was the improved and enhanced Fruit of the Tree of Might.

Hearing Gine's demand, Goten refused repeatedly.

"You don't have to, Grandma. Grandpa and I both want to fight with our full strength. That's just how Saiyans are."

Hearing that, Bardock could not help showing approval.

"That's my boy. Fine then but I won't hold back once the fight starts."

Gine raised an eyebrow.

Bardock hurriedly added, "That tournament reward means nothing to me anyway. Even if I win, I'll give it to Goten."

"Grandpa, how can that be?" Goten immediately tried to object.

But Bardock cut him off.

"Did you forget? I used to be one of the Saiyan Empire's soldiers. I've eaten more than enough Fruit of the Tree of Might. That kind of thing stopped doing anything for me a long time ago."

"Oh. Well, in that case... I suppose it's acceptable."

Only then did Gine's expression soften.

After a pause, she added, "The only family your grandfather and I recognize is you lot. As for those people from Emperor Vegeta's timeline, they're a bunch of utterly hopeless bastards..."

"That's right. The people of that timeline have completely lost their humanity. Sooner or later, they'll destroy themselves."

Bardock's gaze swept across Kakarot and Beast, his hostility undisguised.

...

Elsewhere, the Gods of Destruction were discussing the next matches even more heatedly.

"Sidra, Iwne, Geene, Mosco, Arak... for the dignity of us Gods of Destruction, you'd better win several matches this round!"

"Only three out of the five Gods of Destruction in the last round made it into the winners' bracket. That was honestly embarrassing."

"Hearts and Fu... those two don't look simple."

"Levos is entering the field too? His opponent is Geene..."

Geene's eyes looked almost numb.

"I don't see any chance of victory."

Of course, the six matches involving Cell Jr.s also attracted quite a bit of commentary.

"Is this some kind of insult?" Arak, God of Destruction of Universe 5, was trembling with fury.

To make him fight some tiny creature that could only squeak was an outright humiliation.

"Those little monsters are no weaklings," Belmod reminded him.

Back then, they had silently taken an entire group of Supreme Kais hostage.

"In any case, anyone connected to Levos needs to be treated with extreme caution."

Mosco, the God of Destruction of Universe 3, actually had a very clear grasp of the situation.

Full Metal Cell Max's voice rang out.

"The lower half of round one begins now!"

At his words, all thirty-two competitors flew to their assigned arenas.

Battle was about to erupt!

Sixteen arenas lit up with barriers at the same time, sealing the fighters away from the outside world.

The signal to begin sounded all at once.

Boom!

Almost every arena exploded with terrifying energy in the next instant.

In Bardock and Son Goten's arena, Bardock immediately assumed a fighting stance, his aura shifting sharply.

"Let me see your strength. Bring out the real thing, or you're going to suffer."

"Yes, Grandpa!"

With a shout, red ki exploded around Goten as he transformed directly into Super Saiyan 4.

Bardock's eyes showed approval, and he used the exact same transformation.

Boom!

The two astonishing auras slammed into one another.

Elsewhere, Master Roshi and Ginyu had already begun.

Roshi's muscles swelled instantly, and on top of that he layered Super Saiyan 3.

"I've never felt this strong in my entire life. So this is what Saiyan blood is like..."

Ginyu, meanwhile, opened with his signature pose routine.

"Gi-nyu !"

"Old man, for the Fruit of the Tree of Might, I won't go easy on you."

Roshi smiled and performed a flowing martial arts form in place, every movement smooth and bearing a unique rhythm.

It was like a realm where martial arts had been fused into instinct itself.

"Young man, don't underestimate an old fellow like me. I'm not the same anymore."

"Oh? Interesting. But the power of Super Saiyan 3 isn't enough against me."

Ginyu's face was full of arrogance.

Meanwhile, Hearts and Sidra got straight to the point and launched directly into battle.

"Just surrender already, mortal!"

"Perhaps you misunderstand something. I may be mortal, but my power is still beyond your reach."

Hearts floated in midair, the energy cubes behind him giving off an ominous glow.

"How laughable!" Sidra had only just begun to sneer

when his expression froze.

Boom

A formless gravity crashed down on him, and Sidra instantly felt as though an entire mountain had been dropped on his body.

"Admit defeat. You cannot break free from this."

Sidra's face darkened. He could sense that the energy inside Hearts was utterly different from the divine forces he knew.

"Hmph! It's just a gravity trick. Don't get carried away, mortal!"

He condensed Destruction Energy over his body, trying to break free from the pressure.

But everything was futile.

His body was still forcibly suppressed, unable to move.

In the end, his entire body was slammed face-first against the cold ground.

The hard floor cracked outward from beneath him in a spiderweb pattern.

Sidra's expression changed drastically as he pushed his divine power to the limit, trying to resist the sudden pressure.

But to his horror, his godly power was useless in front of this force.

"What... what kind of power is this?"

A faint smile appeared on Hearts' lips, and his eyes were full of contempt for gods.

"You don't need to understand."

"You only need to know that you're about to lose."

The sight sent the gods' viewing section into uproar.

"Sidra got suppressed? Without even exchanging a single move?"

"What is that power? Gravity manipulation? No... it feels completely different!"

"That force... it doesn't belong to the divine domain, nor any known energy system!"

Emperor Vegeta raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting. It isn't mere energy. It feels more like a suppression on the level of law itself."

Beside him, Crown Prince, Kakarot, and the others all showed interest.

This unknown force stirred their desire to defeat such an opponent.

For the first time, Vados's expression turned serious, and she spoke plainly.

"The source of that power is the Universe Seed."

The Universe Seed?!

What was that?!

That unfamiliar term made everyone turn to look at her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.

"Want to stay ahead of the game? Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."

[email protected]/_theon

Change @ to "a"