Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1696 Combat Power Calculation

However, Vegeta and Future Trunks soon discovered that they couldn't keep up with the damage.

Saiyans have limited potential. Being on the verge of death and then recovering only stimulates their potential, not allows them to become stronger indefinitely.

Son Gohan is a possibility.

Even so, Vegeta and Future Trunks have successfully reached the level of tens of millions of power in their normal state. If they were to become Super Saiyans, their power would start at billions.

In the later stages of the Namek Saga in Dragon Ball Z, the power level system went out of control. From Frieza's 1.2 million to Super Saiyan Goku's 1.5 million, the soaring numbers weakened the significance of the concept of "power level".

Moving into the more expansive Android arc, if we continue to use the "multiple" difference approach, frequently using figures in the billions or tens of billions, it will not only seem exaggerated and empty, but it will also contradict the time setting of only a few years in the story.

Therefore, to determine combat effectiveness, it is necessary to first establish a recognized standard for "qualitative change," namely the "instant kill" critical point.

In the Dragon Ball universe, when one side can easily outmaneuver the other, or even kill them with a single blow without a hard fight, the difference in their fighting power is not simply a matter of quantitative accumulation, but rather a qualitative leap.

By analyzing numerous battle examples (such as Vegeta instantly defeating Chii and Dodoria, and Frieza's final form instantly defeating Piccolo, Krillin, and others), a 30% power difference is a reasonable threshold for achieving a "crushing" effect.

This standard avoids the numerical inflation that could result from "requiring a twofold difference to achieve a quick victory," and also accurately explains why sometimes seemingly small differences can lead to a one-sided battle.

First Calibration Point: The Appearance of Future Trunks.

The Frieza father and son serve as the starting point for the entire chapter's numerical system.

Goku (after the Namekian War): Normal fighting power is 300 million.

Based on this, the Super Saiyan form's 50-fold increase brings its fighting power to 1.5 million.

Mecha Frieza: He came to Earth full of confidence to seek revenge, firmly believing that he could defeat Goku.

This means that his fighting power must be higher than Goku's Super Saiyan level on Namek (1.5 million).

According to the 30% crushing rule, for him to form a "confident victory" advantage, his combat power should be at least 1.3 times that of 1.5 million, that is, 1.95 million.

For ease of calculation, the result is rounded to 2 million.

This number explains the source of his confidence.

Future Trunks (first appearance): His performance was stunning.

First, he easily defeated the confident mechanical Frieza, and then he cleaved the even stronger King Cold in two with a single sword strike.

This shows that Trunks' combat power has an absolute, overwhelming advantage of over 30% over Mecha Frieza.

Based on Frieza's power level of 2 million, Trunks' fighting power is at least 2 million × 1.3 = 2.6 million.

Considering how easy his battles are, his combat power is set at 2.8 million.

This number is enough to ensure that he can achieve an overwhelming performance in the storyline.

Thus, the first solid anchor of combat power was established: Super Saiyan Trunks, who made his debut, had a combat power of approximately 2.8 million.

Second calibration point: Sun Wukong's unfathomable depths.

The plot then presents a highly informative comparison: Trunks, who could easily defeat Frieza and his son, felt an unprecedented gap in skill when facing Goku, who only used one finger.

His all-out attack couldn't even make Sun Wukong move an inch.

This clearly shows that at this time (3 years before the appearance of the Androids), Goku's strength far surpassed Trunks'. To achieve such a disparate, almost childlike effect, according to power level models, Goku's power advantage might not be 30%, perhaps even 50% or higher.

Based on Trunks' $2.8 million, and assuming a 50% advantage: $2.8 million × 1.5 = $4.2 million.

Let's take a reasonable integer and set Goku's base Super Saiyan power level at this time (767 AD, the day of the battle agreed upon with the Androids) to 4.5 million.

This figure perfectly explains why Sun Wukong was so composed, and also reflects the amazing results of his training over the past three years.

The establishment of the baseline for the future world and artificial humans.

According to Future Trunks, in his future world, Androids 17 and 18, who killed Goku, Vegeta, and others, were "comparable" to him in strength.

The word "considerable" here means that despite a hard-fought battle, the opponent was still defeated, indicating that the gap might be within 30%, or even close.

Therefore, the individual combat power of Future 17 and Future 18 can be set to be similar to that of Future Trunks, which is 2.8 million.

Considering they were able to defeat and kill Sun Wukong at the time (possibly weakened by heart disease), their value has been slightly increased to 3 million.

Thus, we arrive at the baseline for androids: Androids 17 and 18 in the main timeline. Their performance may be superior to future models, but considering Dr. Gro's technological limitations, the improvement will not be drastic.

We assume that the androids in the main timeline are about 10% stronger than the future models, meaning their individual combat power is approximately 3.3 million.

Detailed calculation of the main combat strength of the Android Saga.

Now, based on the progression of the plot, we can calculate the combat strength of each character one by one:

Vegeta and Trunks (when they first met the Androids)
Before training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Vegeta was confident that he could surpass Goku, but his Super Saiyan strength should be slightly lower than Goku's at that time (4.5 million), so it is set at 4.2 million.

He easily defeated Android 19, but struggled after being drained of energy by Android 20 (Dr. Gero), which is consistent with the fact that Android 20 has the ability to absorb energy and his basic fighting power is close to Vegeta's.

The combat power of No. 20 (Dr. Groo) is set at 4 million.

Android 19: As an energy absorber, his basic combat power was low, and he was easily defeated by Vegeta. His power level was estimated to be only 3 million.

However, it briefly boosted its power after absorbing the energy of Sun Wukong (who suffered a heart attack and whose energy was depleted).

Piccolo (before assimilating with Kami): He fought a tough battle with Android 20 and had a slight advantage. His fighting power was approximately 4.1 million.

Piccolo (after assimilating with Kami): This was the first major leap in power.

After assimilation, Piccolo was able to easily suppress and instantly kill Android 20 (Dr. Gero), and then fought a fierce battle with Android 17.

According to the 30% crushing rule, he could easily kill number 20 with a combat power of 4 million, so his combat power must be at least 4 million × 1.3 = 5.2 million.

The target is set at 5.5 million.

This also explains why he was able to hold his own against the $3.3 million #17 – because #17 has unlimited energy and the advantage in a prolonged battle.

However, that was the combat power value in the original timeline; the combat power value in this timeline has been increased.

So it's hard to say how strong it will be.

Cell frantically absorbed human essence, causing a large number of people to disappear from both the Western and Southern Capitals. After Goku and his friends learned that Cell was responsible, they all wanted to find him, but Cell was too good at hiding.

(End of this chapter)