Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1706 Cell, Who Can't Afford to Play
Sun Wukong's defensive methods were completely beyond his comprehension; they were no longer simple blocking or dodging, but rather a manipulation of the essence of power.

"What is this?"

Cell finally couldn't hold back and roared.

"This is not a martial art from Earth!"

He possessed the skills and experience of countless martial artists, yet he was never able to integrate these fragments into a complete system.

He was like a miser who possessed countless treasures but didn't know how to use them.

Enrage caused Cell to lose his last shred of reason; his attacks became even more ferocious, yet also more chaotic.

Sun Wukong, on the other hand, was like a reef in a stormy sea, remaining steadfast despite the wind and waves.

Sun Wukong's steps suddenly became unpredictable, as if he were stepping on the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and his body was like a swimming dragon.

This is the essence of the "Eight Trigrams Swimming Palm" taught by Luther. With the support of ten times the air pressure, his speed is not faster than Cell's, but he can always find the safest position at the last second.

Sharu felt more frustrated than ever before.

Despite possessing overwhelming power, he was never able to truly injure Sun Wukong.

It's like an adult facing a child who's a master of mudskipper techniques, having all that strength but nowhere to use it.

"enough!"

Cell roared, clasped his hands together, and terrifying energy gathered in his palms.

"Since close combat can't defeat you, then I'll let you experience the difference in absolute strength!"

Sun Wukong's pupils shrank sharply as he sensed the terrifying energy emanating from Cell's hand.

That was no longer a simple physical attack, but an energy burst capable of evaporating everything.

In a critical moment, Sun Wukong made an unexpected move.

Instead of retreating, he charged towards Cell, drawing a perfect circle with his hands in front of his chest.

As Cell's energy wave erupted, Goku met it with both palms.

The energy, enough to destroy half the Earth, did not explode. Instead, it was guided by that invisible "circle" and began to rotate along a specific trajectory.

"The world is shifting!"

Sun Wukong gritted his teeth, and his internal energy circulated at an unprecedented speed.

He felt as if he were trying to tame a raging beast, and even ten times the air pressure seemed inadequate in the face of this power.

"boom--!"

The energy wave grazed Sun Wukong's body and shot into the sky, tearing a huge hole in the atmosphere to reveal the dark universe and twinkling starlight behind it.

The aftershocks of that force completely dispersed the clouds in the entire area, creating a circular vacuum zone with a diameter of hundreds of kilometers.

Cell stared in disbelief at the scene, forgetting even to give chase.

His brain was racing, drawing upon all the experience and knowledge of martial artists within him, yet he still couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

This was not a simple energy deflection, nor a head-on confrontation, but a way of using power that he had never imagined before.

He couldn't understand how Sun Wukong had managed to do all that.

Luther instilled a lot of martial arts techniques in Sun Wukong, since he hadn't become Master Roshi's apprentice, so Luther gave him some compensation.

For Sun Wukong, however, these martial arts techniques were not merely skills, but a completely new worldview. They revealed to him a realm he had never imagined—that power could be used in this way, and that battles could be conducted in this way.

Given Luther's current level, even without having been to the world of martial arts, creating these martial arts techniques would be no more difficult than an ordinary person composing a poem.

The essence of power is the same. Whether it is "ki", "chakra" or "magic power", they are all just different forms of energy under different rules.

He could deduce the principles of these martial arts techniques from the most basic laws of physics, and even make them more sophisticated than the originals.

But he didn't do that.

For Luther, the martial arts he taught Sun Wukong were more like an enlightenment, an expansion of his way of thinking.

He preserved the core philosophical ideas of these martial arts—the smooth and flexible nature of Tai Chi, the shifting and borrowing of power between heaven and earth, and the infinite transformations of Bagua—because these are what Sun Wukong truly needs.

In the face of "Qi," a nearly omnipotent energy, no martial art has any threshold.

What Sun Wukong lacked was never power, but the wisdom to use power.

Cell was so annoyed by Goku that he finally decided to give up on him.

Therefore, the 17th and 18th are in danger.

Cell's figure vanished from Goku's sight in an instant.

Even a battle-hardened warrior like Sun Wukong could only catch a fleeting glimpse of his afterimage.

The next moment, Cell appeared in front of Android 17. His tail expanded and transformed in a flash, forming a suction cup with fine serrations on the edges, which firmly adhered to Android 17's head.

"Varied--!"

Android 17's expression froze in shock. He instinctively raised his hand to launch an energy attack, but Cell's tail had already released a strange bio-electric current, instantly paralyzing his nervous system.

"Let him go!"

Android 18 screamed and rushed forward, conjuring dazzling orbs of light in her hands, but Cell merely glanced at her contemptuously and casually waved out an energy barrier, easily blocking her attack.

Number 17's body began to convulse violently, his mechanical parts emitted a piercing buzzing sound, and his biological tissue was sucked into Cell's tail like melting wax.

This process is neither purely mechanical dismantling nor completely biological consumption, but rather a chilling mixture—metal and flesh are simultaneously decomposed and recombined, becoming the most basic life materials, which are then integrated into Cell's body.

"what--!"

Android 17 let out a final, agonizing roar before being completely absorbed into Cell's body.

Cell's body began to change drastically.

His carapace crackled and popped, radiating intense heat from within. His once insect-like limbs were being reshaped, his joints becoming more flexible, and his body more symmetrical.

This is not a simple change in appearance, but a complete restructuring at the cellular level—Androids 17 and 18 were created using Cell's key materials, and now that genetic defect has been corrected, Cell is evolving into a more perfect form.

"This feeling... is wonderful!"

Cell opened his arms, feeling the surging power within him.

A dazzling light burst forth from his body, accompanied by astonishing heat, melting the surrounding ground into scalding magma.

Number 18 was forced to retreat, as the high temperature prevented her from getting close.

As the light faded, a completely new Cell appeared before everyone.

He no longer retained insect characteristics, but instead possessed a near-perfect human appearance—distinct facial features, a robust and well-proportioned body, with only his emerald green skin and the wings on his back retaining his non-human identity.

(End of this chapter)