Dragon Ball: I Became Cell in a Doomed Future

Chapter 348: The Past of the Saiyan Emperor

"To honor that unwillingness of yours," the Crown Prince said coldly, "I'll show you what true power looks like."

His figure vanished again.

This time, Trunks managed to barely catch his trajectory.

But though he could see it, his body could not keep up.

His abdomen, chest, back, legs...

A storm of blows rained down on him in the span of a single second.

The crack of breaking bones rang out clearly.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

At the peak of pain and frustration, a brand-new power erupted from within Trunks.

The red aura around him was suddenly replaced by a burst of blue light.

Boom!

The shockwave exploded outward, forcing the attacking Crown Prince back half a step.

Trunks staggered to his feet, his hair now blue.

Super Saiyan Blue!

For the first time, a trace of interest appeared on the Crown Prince's face.

"Now that looks a little better. At least you've got the same face as me."

Trunks panted heavily, feeling the unprecedented strength surging through his body.

He looked at the Crown Prince, battle intent reigniting in his eyes.

"The gap between us should be smaller now, right?!"

With a roar, he launched himself forward.

His figure turned into a bolt of blue lightning as he drove a punch straight at the Crown Prince's face.

The Crown Prince did not dodge.

He simply raised his right hand and casually caught Trunks's fist.

Crack.

A crisp sound of bone breaking echoed out.

The confidence on Trunks's face froze instantly, replaced by endless shock.

"How... is this possible...?"

"The gap?" A mocking curve appeared at the Crown Prince's lips. "You think breaking through one small realm is enough to catch up to me?"

"How naïve."

He tightened his grip around Trunks's fist.

"AAAHHH!"

Trunks screamed as every bone in his arm was crushed inch by inch.

Then the Crown Prince drove a kick into his chest.

Bang!

The blue aura collapsed instantly. Trunks reverted to normal and fell unconscious on the spot.

On the great viewing screen, Trunks's portrait dimmed, declaring his defeat.

The Crown Prince released his transformation and slowly walked over to him.

Looking at the unconscious Trunks, his gaze turned strangely complicated.

"You're still too young."

"And I..." He touched the mustache on his upper lip, as though speaking to Trunks and to himself at once, "...have been walking this bloody road for far, far too long."

"You think we wear mustaches because they look good?"

"It's to remind ourselves that we are no longer young."

"I've been fighting wars for over two hundred years. The only reason I've kept this youthful appearance is because of a wish made with Earth's Dragon Balls."

At that moment, Levos's healing magic passed through the barrier and fell upon Trunks.

As his opponent stirred awake, the Crown Prince suddenly asked, "Hey. In this timeline... who is your mother?"

Though Trunks had been unconscious earlier, his awareness had still lingered. He had vaguely heard what the Crown Prince had said.

"It's... Bulma..."

"Bulma..." The Crown Prince repeated the name softly. A faint ripple flashed through his eyes, but it vanished almost at once, replaced again by indifference.

"In our era, in the era of the Saiyan Emperor, women on conquered worlds had only one purpose."

"To produce offspring for the Saiyan race."

"They were tools. They had no names, and no dignity."

Trunks was shaken to his core.

After a long silence, he finally said, "Then... the Saiyans being wiped out was the right outcome."

…

Elsewhere, Gohan's battle with the Beast Warrior was also in full swing.

Boom! Boom!

Silver-gray auras burned around both of them.

Two Saiyans in Beast form clashed over and over across the field.

And yet, the atmosphere of the fight was strangely off.

Gohan's expression was deadly serious. He could feel the power within his opponent, even more chaotic and crazed than his own.

In terms of strength, the other man was strong. Very strong.

Even in the same transformation, the gap between them was terrifyingly large.

But unlike Gohan's serious attitude, the Beast Warrior kept talking nonstop even while fighting.

"Oh, wow, how interesting. You've got the exact same transformation as me."

"Hey, hey, other me, when you transform like this, do you also hear a bunch of weird voices in your head arguing all the time?"

"They're always telling me to conquer this place, conquer that place, kill this one, kill that one."

Gohan frowned and said nothing.

"Why aren't you talking? Are you scared of me?"

The Beast Warrior suddenly appeared right in front of him.

"Your eyes are so serious. Are you thinking about how to beat me? Don't bother. You can't."

"Scared? Hahaha, being scared is the right reaction!"

"Want me to tell you a secret? In our timeline, everybody's afraid of me. Because I've eaten more people than you've ever even seen."

As he spoke, he wore a smile that was both innocent and cruel.

"Eaten people? Why?" Gohan could not begin to imagine such a past.

"Because I was hungry. And when I eat them, I get everything they have too. Their power, their thoughts…"

Above that battlefield, Trunks floated high in the air, watching with deep concern.

The Crown Prince's earlier words still echoed in his mind.

If what he said about fighting for more than two hundred years was true, then his companions must be much the same.

Gohan really might not be a match for that Beast Warrior.

At some point, the Crown Prince drifted up beside Trunks.

"Your concern is justified," he said flatly. "That one is a complete madman."

Trunks turned to look at him, confused.

"The Beast Warrior... his personality is the most twisted and deranged of all. There's no logic to him at all."

"We imperial guards don't really get along with one another in private, but with him especially, no one can stand being around him."

The Crown Prince's gaze shifted toward another arena.

There, Goku and Kakarot were locked in fierce battle.

"Even his father, Kakarot, can't stand that lunatic of a son."

Trunks stared in disbelief.

"You mean the Kakarot fighting Mr. Goku has more than a thousand children?!"

The Crown Prince curled his lip. "What's so strange about that? My father, Emperor Vegeta, has even more descendants than that. I've long since lost count of how many brothers and sisters I've personally killed."

Trunks could not imagine how someone could speak such horrifying things in such a calm tone.

"At the time, we didn't yet understand that rapid Saiyan reproduction would trigger a famine affecting entire star systems."

"To reduce unnecessary population, I had no choice but to personally deal with all the younger brothers and sisters who had no value."

"Oh, and that was also around the time the Beast Warrior's personality started to change."

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