Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1704 Cell is a completely different person now

He aimed for a fatal blow!

Cell looked at the incomparably fierce slash, a hint of mockery flashing in his compound eyes.

He had just fully assimilated Piccolo and was eager to test the strength and power of this new body.

Faced with this strike that could cut through steel, he neither dodged nor evaded, nor even used stronger energy protection. He simply raised his left arm, which was covered with a hard chitinous carapace, and used the outside of his forearm to meet the sharp blade head-on!
"Keng——!!!"

A deafening clang of metal rang out, the sound waves spreading out as if they were tangible. The shockwave swept in a ring, whipping up countless grains of sand and gravel from the ground, forming a destructive circle tens of meters in diameter.

The energy fluctuations generated by the collision of the two forces made the surrounding air scorching hot.

The scene Trunks had envisioned—the blade slicing into flesh—did not occur. Instead, he felt a jolt in his arm, his hand instantly tearing open, and blood flowing down the hilt of the sword.

He was horrified to see that his longsword, which had slain countless enemies in the apocalypse without ever failing, only produced a string of dazzling sparks when it struck Cell's forearm.

At the point where the sword blade made contact with the chitinous carapace, a noticeable gap suddenly appeared, and cracks spread outwards like a spider web!
"What?! This is impossible!"

Trunks' pupils contracted sharply, and a storm raged in his heart.

His full-force sword strike couldn't even break through Cell's most basic defense.

This realization plunged him into deep self-doubt.

Just as he was reeling from the unbelievable fact, Cell moved!
It was faster than the limits of visual perception, like a green lightning bolt slicing through space.

"Oh!"

A side kick of indescribable weight, like a cannonball fired, landed squarely on Future Trunks' chest and abdomen.

The force was overwhelming, as if it would break him in half at the waist!
Trunks could even hear the crisp sound of his ribs breaking, and the groans of his internal organs from the immense impact.

"Pfft—!" A mouthful of scalding blood gushed from his mouth, drawing a dazzling red arc in the air.

He was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing through three rocky mountains before finally coming to a stop, his breath instantly fading.

"Trunks!!"

Upon seeing this, Son Gohan unleashed a burst of golden energy and entered Super Saiyan mode as well.

His figure burst forth with astonishing speed, leaving an afterimage in his wake, and instantly overtook the flying Trunks, standing between Cell and his injured comrade, assuming a perfect fighting stance.

"Son Gohan..."

Cell looked at the boy blocking his way, a cold glint flashing in his compound eyes.

The last time he was ambushed, this kid gave him a lot of trouble; he still vividly remembers that heavy blow.

Now that Piccolo has been completely devoured and absorbed by him, his power is no longer what it used to be, and it's time to get it back with interest!

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his lips as he began to devise ways to slowly torture this arrogant brat.

Cell vanished in a flash before Gohan's eyes, leaving no trace of his movement, as if he had evaporated directly from space.

Gohan's pupils contracted. He clearly sensed that Cell's strength had increased far beyond what he could comprehend, and his speed was now completely beyond his ability to track.

Just as Son Gohan was fully focused on sensing Cell's ki, Cell appeared behind him, a smug smile on his face as he looked at the unresponsive Son Gohan.

"too slow."

Cell spoke dismissively, and at the same time, he delivered a powerful elbow strike to the back of Gohan's head. The blow contained devastating power, but under Cell's masterful control, most of the force was concentrated on Gohan's body.

Son Gohan felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and intense pain spread from the back of his head throughout his body. He crashed to the ground like a meteorite.

"Boom——!"

Amidst the deafening roar, a massive crater tens of meters deep and hundreds of meters wide was smashed into the ground.

The edges of the pit were covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and the rock in the center was instantly melted into glass-like crystals by the high temperature.

If Cell hadn't concentrated most of his power on Gohan, the aftershocks of that attack alone would have been enough to shatter the entire Earth.

After all, King Kurd, whose fighting power was only 100 million, once boasted that he could destroy the Earth with just one punch, while Cell's fighting power is now many times stronger.

"Gohan!"

When Sun Wukong saw that his son had been seriously injured, he was extremely anxious.

He instantly moved to the edge of the pit and lifted the heavily injured Son Gohan out of the pit.

Looking at his son's pale face, a pang of heartache flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a firm fighting spirit.

Cell looked at Goku with a cold smile. Of all his opponents, he was most wary of this legendary Saiyan.

Dr. Gero's computer database contains a vast amount of battle data about Son Goku, all of which demonstrate the Saiyan's astonishing potential for growth.

Although Cell never directly fought Goku, those statistics were enough to keep him on his guard.

"Your turn is next, Sun Wukong."

As Cell spoke, he suddenly launched an attack, throwing a straight punch at Goku's face.

This punch, though seemingly simple, actually contained a variety of variations, sealing off all evasive routes, and causing subtle distortions in space wherever the punch passed.

Sun Wukong had already realized that Cell's strength far exceeded his expectations, so he naturally dared not be careless in the slightest.

Although he did not become Master Roshi's apprentice in this timeline, nor received training from Kami and Popo, and never learned the Kaioken, he has already forged his own path in martial arts thanks to his innate fighting talent and the experience he has accumulated in countless life-and-death battles.

Faced with Cell's seemingly inevitable punch, Goku did not choose to meet it head-on.

He slightly turned his body to the side, his right hand meeting Cell's fist at a clever angle. At the moment of contact, his wrist flipped, his five fingers hooking Cell's wrist like hooks. At the same time, he pulled his body back, diverting this earth-shattering force to the side.

"boom!"

The redirected force struck a distant mountain peak, instantly reducing the entire peak to dust.

Cell was surprised to find that his sure-kill punch had been so easily neutralized.

What shocked him even more was that the instant the power was channeled, Sun Wukong's left hand silently struck his throat with a chop.

"interesting."

Cell had to take a half step back to avoid the fatal blow.

The two distanced themselves again, and their gazes towards each other became more serious.

In the distance, Trunks struggled to his feet from the rubble, looking at the two in the center of the battlefield with worry in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)