In the canyon, the gazes of the Z Fighters were fixed on Android 18, who had calmly withdrawn her foot and casually walked back to Loren's side.
Vegeta—who had been overflowing with arrogance after killing Android 19 and Android 20—now looked utterly miserable.
Broken.
Humiliated.
Strong.
Far too strong.
Loren ignored everyone's complicated expressions and slowly rummaged through his pocket.
Two emerald-green beans appeared in his palm.
Senzu Beans.
He flicked his finger.
The beans shot forward.
Android 18's blue eyes briefly followed the motion, then returned to Loren's face with faint curiosity.
A moment later—
BOOM!
A powerful ki burst out from the deep crater!
Vegeta's body surged upward, erupting in golden light as he rocketed into the sky!
His injuries were completely healed.
Not only that—thanks to Saiyan recovery, his power had even increased slightly.
Yet there was no joy on his face.
Only humiliation.
Prince Vegeta had been crushed—utterly crushed—by that woman.
Nothing hurt more than that.
"Alright," Loren yawned lazily.
"Since everyone's recovered…"
"Let's go back."
"Back to the laboratory."
"Back?" Krillin froze.
"Why go back? That place is already—"
"Did you forget what that old pervert said before he died?" Loren interrupted.
"Project name: Cell."
"He fused the cells of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo… and even mine."
A heavy silence fell.
Everyone's heart sank.
"That thing," Loren continued, glancing at Vegeta, "was called Gero's perfect masterpiece."
"If we don't find it now, it'll be a lot more annoying when it comes knocking on its own later."
Vegeta snorted and turned away.
But he didn't argue.
A monster fused with his cells… with Kakarot's… and Loren's?
He wanted to see it.
"Let's go," Android 17 said casually.
"Sounds more interesting than beating this monkey again."
Android 18 said nothing.
She simply stayed beside Loren and moved when he moved.
The strange group returned once more to the underground laboratory.
Inside the Laboratory
They entered the main control chamber.
This time, no one spared a glance at the empty stasis pods of Android 17 and Android 18.
Instead, their eyes fell on the large pod in the corner.
Android 16.
"Gero said he was a failure," Android 17 explained lazily.
"Open it," Loren said.
"Loren!" Piccolo immediately objected.
"Our priority is Cell, not creating more variables!"
"One more variable also means one more source of information," Loren replied calmly.
"He was made by Gero. He might know something about Cell."
Piccolo and Trunks exchanged looks.
They couldn't refute that.
Without hesitation, Loren pressed the activation button.
Whoosh—
White mist flooded the room.
A massive figure stepped out.
Tall.
Broad.
Red mohawk.
Android 16.
With Android 16's guidance, they moved deeper into the base.
Then—
Everyone froze.
At the center of the chamber stood a shattered cultivation tank.
Green fluid spilled everywhere.
The pod was empty.
"Oh no…" Piccolo's face darkened.
"It's already hatched."
"And it escaped."
Trunks felt his blood run cold.
The worst-case scenario.
At that moment—
A cold system alert rang out in Loren's mind.
[Warning! Warning! Butterfly effect has exceeded critical threshold. Due to the host's actions, historical deviation has reached irreversible levels. Future Cell has altered its behavior.
Future Cell did not lie dormant. Future Cell awakened the Cell of this timeline. Two Cells now exist simultaneously.]
[Future Cell: Second Form.]
[Main Timeline Cell: First Form.]
[Dual catastrophic threat detected.]
Loren slowly exhaled.
"…Ah."
"How did things…"
"Get this troublesome?"
The underground chamber felt suffocating.
Piccolo, Krillin, and Trunks looked as if the world was ending.
Then—
Android 18 stepped forward.
She stood directly in front of Loren—close enough for him to catch her faint, clean scent.
She tilted her head and looked up at him.
"Hey."
"Since all those annoying problems are temporarily gone…"
"Shouldn't we settle things between us?"
Loren blinked.
Between us?
Android 18 raised a finger and gently poked his chest.
"You woke me up."
"So you're responsible."
"As compensation…"
"Go on a date with me."
"Right now."
Krillin felt an inexplicable emptiness in his chest.
Piccolo's expression twitched.
Loren stiffened.
"…A date?"
Fighting two Cells was troublesome.
But going on a date?
That was far worse.
...
Author's Note:
The fanfic Dragon Ball: I Became Invincible by Being a Lazy Salted Fish! Part 1 & 2 (Dragon Ball Z & Super) is now fully completed.
The entire story has been uploaded on Patreon as a dedicated collection:
📚 Dragon Ball (Chapters 1–343)
Organized into 42 posts, with multiple chapters per post for easy binge reading.
🔗 patreon.com/Shadow_demon_007
Thank you all for your continuous support and love for this story 💙