Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1699 Cell and the Namekians Assimilate?

Saluna's body, with its emerald green and black stripes, reflected an unsettling luster in the sunlight. Its tail swayed gently, and the suckers at its end opened and closed as if alive, revealing an endless thirst for life energy.

He traveled through time and space, his core goal being to absorb Androids 17 and 18 to achieve his complete form. However, the meager energy boost from absorbing ordinary humans was like a drop in the ocean. This is why he frantically absorbed the essence of human life—though inefficient, it was a necessary means for him to accumulate power.

At this moment, Piccolo and Piccolo offered themselves up. The life energy contained in these two Namekian warriors after their fusion was far beyond that of ordinary humans.

In Sharu's eyes, they were undoubtedly two unexpected "gifts".

Therefore, Cell was naturally eager to absorb them, which would not only significantly enhance his strength, but might also bring him closer to the form of a perfect life form.

"If you can do it, then give it a try."

Bick's voice was deep and intimidating. He stood proudly with his arms crossed, his green skin concealing explosive power.

His signature white headscarf fluttered slightly in the wind, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, fixed intently on Cell's every move.

Faced with this provocative response, a hint of annoyance flashed in Cell's insect-like compound eyes. Without further ado, he launched an attack.

The figure blurred instantly, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, and rushed straight towards Bick.

Piccolo reacted with lightning speed. Instead of retreating when Cell pounced, he took a powerful stride and charged forward.

His movements were concise and efficient, without any unnecessary actions; the ground beneath his feet caved in and cracked due to the instantaneous force.

The distance between the two closed rapidly in the blink of an eye. Cell, relying on the battle patterns in his database, habitually stretched out his strong arms, attempting to hold Piccolo in place with a grappling motion, like a hunter capturing its prey, so that his tail could accurately absorb the prey.

However, Piccolo's combat experience and adaptability far exceeded Cell's calculations.

Just as Cell's fingertips were about to touch his shoulder, Piccolo shifted his upper body at a subtle angle, while his right fist, like a cannonball, passed through the gap between Cell's palms at an extremely tricky angle, striking his chin solidly from below!
"boom!"

A dull thud was heard, followed by the faint cracking sound of bones being struck.

Cell was completely unprepared for Piccolo's swift and precise counterattack. The immense impact caused him to fall backward uncontrollably, his compound eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.

His heavy body drew a brief arc in the air before crashing heavily onto the hard ground several meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"impossible!"

Cell struggled to prop himself up, wiping the green blood seeping from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, his voice slightly distorted with shock.

"The computer shows that Piccolo's fighting ability can't possibly be that high!"

"computer?"

Bick frowned slightly, feeling a bit confused by this unfamiliar word.

Namek's highly developed biotechnology is very different from Earth's electronic technology. He didn't know what a "computer" was, but he could tell from Cell's tone that it seemed to be some kind of tool or basis for assessing the strength of an opponent.

Bick sneered inwardly. How could a true warrior be measured by cold, hard data?

Cell stared intently at Piccolo, his shock far outweighing his physical pain. The database he relied on for prediction and analysis seemed to have suffered a serious deviation in this past timeline.

He began to wonder whether his act of traveling through time had caused unpredictable changes, or whether there were unknown variables in this timeline itself.
Nevertheless, deep down he still tended to believe the results displayed by the computer and the conclusions drawn from precise calculations, and the anomaly before him made him feel intensely uneasy and confused.

Having landed a successful blow, Piccolo pressed his advantage.

He quickly brought his hands together in front of his chest, and a dazzling energy began to converge, radiating a heart-palpitating wave.

"Magic Flash!"

With a low shout, a thick beam of energy shot out like a roaring dragon of light, heading straight for Cell, who had not yet fully regained his footing.

Cell remained calm despite his shock; his powerful fighting instincts allowed him to roll to the side at the last second.

The flash of light grazed past his torso, shattering a giant rock behind him into pieces, sending fragments of rock raining down.

This also confirms a significant characteristic of battles in the Dragon Ball world: unless there is a huge difference in strength or the timing is perfect, it is difficult for a directly released ki blast to hit an agile opponent of the same level head-on.

This type of attack often consumes a lot of energy and is easy to miss. Therefore, in high-level battles, warriors rely more on close-quarters combat to determine the outcome. Chi waves and energy waves are more often used to restrain, block the opponent's movements, force them to move, or as a means of close-range surprise attack.

Bick, of course, was well aware of this as well.

Seeing that the Demon Flash had failed to achieve its goal, he immediately abandoned his plan to continue the long-range energy exchange.

Although the Magic Flash is one of the fastest energy attacks, Cell's reaction and dodging abilities are equally outstanding.

Piccolo swayed again, taking advantage of Cell's brief moment of stiffness after dodging the Demon Flash, and swiftly closed in on Cell. He raised his right leg high, like a battle axe, and with a sharp whistling sound as it tore through the air, he fiercely chopped down on Cell's head with a powerful battle axe kick!
Cell, after all, combined the fighting data and cellular essence of many Earth martial artists from the future, making him a true all-rounder in combat skills.

Faced with Bick's powerful kick, he was slightly flustered, but he was still able to raise his arms in time and cross them above his head to block.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar, like a heavy hammer striking steel, erupted.

Cell clearly felt a sharp pain and numbness in his arms, and the ground beneath his feet could not withstand the enormous force and collapsed instantly.

He was secretly alarmed; Piccolo's strength was indeed far beyond his expectations.

A head-on confrontation was clearly not a wise move, so Cell immediately changed tactics and stopped engaging Piccolo in direct combat. Using the recoil from blocking Piccolo's heavy kick, Cell nimbly somersaulted backward and landed lightly ten meters away.

His insect-like compound eyes gleamed with a cunning light, no longer fixed on Piccolo, but moving between Piccolo and Piccolo like a scanner.

He realized that a direct confrontation with Piccolo, whose strength was beyond calculation, was not the best strategy. Piccolo, who seemed slightly weaker, might be a more suitable breakthrough point.

By absorbing one, his power will be significantly enhanced, making it easy to deal with another.

(End of this chapter)