Inside the alternate dimension, Cell Max was beating the four Cell Juniors like they owed him money.
It didn't take long before those rebellious little brats were sprawled all over the floor, barely breathing.
Their big, glossy black eyes were filled with terror, little bellies flipped upward in a full display of submission.
Levos was deeply dissatisfied.
These Cell Juniors were way too slippery.
The moment they realized they couldn't win, they started half–assing his "all–out sparring" orders. After just a few exchanges, the "fight" would devolve into a full–on chase scene. They had zero will to battle.
This wouldn't do at all.
If the Cell Juniors never improved, fine, he could live with that. But if they dragged down Cell Max's training efficiency, that was unacceptable.
After all, Frieza was secretly grinding in the background, and Universe 7's crisis was far from resolved.
It made Levos very unhappy.
He hated the iron for refusing to become steel.
Levos sighed.
Seeing that the Cell Juniors still needed time to recover from their injuries, he had Cell Max switch to full–power sit–ups.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The four Cell Juniors couldn't stand it at all and shrieked as they were swept up by the hurricane winds.
Even the rampaging divine ki in this alternate space was shredded and scattered by the turbulence Cell Max created.
If this kind of commotion happened outside, jaws would be hitting the floor nonstop.
Since the battle in the temporal rift above Earth, Levos hadn't truly tested his full power.
Being able to unleash everything without restraint felt incredibly refreshing.
At the same time, he could clearly feel Cell Max's bodily potential being drawn out bit by bit.
"Don't tell me…"
Even after absorbing a huge number of fused Darklings, he still hadn't completed the final evolution of any of Cell Max's paths. That had always been puzzling.
"The evolution materials should've been more than enough…"
"Maybe the endpoint of the genetic route is tied to potential. The more completely that potential is developed, the closer this body gets to true perfection."
Now, Levos finally had a guess.
"Up until now I've just raised the ceiling. What I need after that… is to actually develop it."
With that thought, Levos wanted nothing more than for Cell Max to crank out push–ups twenty–four hours a day.
But there was probably no place in the outside world that could withstand Cell Max's full power.
Which meant he had to make the most of this rare opportunity: train hard, and probe for Cell Max's true upper limit.
Silver–white light flowed over his body as he had Cell Max transform into his mechanical form.
In an instant, his thoughts became razor–sharp. His mental processing speed shot upward.
Levos drew in a deep breath, closed his real eyes, and focused his mind on the information library inside his head.
"This mechanical form can store and retrieve an endless amount of knowledge… and even assist with my analysis, judgment, calculations, and more."
"And right now, because of the difference in time flow between inside and outside, Cell Max's thought speed is seven times faster in this dimension, and he can feed that back to my main body in real time."
It felt like he had plugged in an external brain. The sensation was more than a little uncanny.
"So at this point, Cell Max is basically just an external module for my main body? I wonder if I can add a few more modules later…"
"What if I put the mechanical form Cell Max into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? What kind of change would that cause?"
Just imagining it made Levos shiver slightly.
The time flow in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was more than three hundred times faster than the outside. His brain might be the first thing that couldn't handle it.
"Better be cautious and test it step by step."
While Levos was secretly power–grinding, the fight on the arena had entered a new phase.
"I wasn't planning on using this form…"
Frost climbed out of the dent in the arena floor and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Frieza stopped attacking and eyed him with new interest.
"Oh? Are you a genius too?"
Among his own race, he alone suppressed his power through a reverse transformation.
In all the hundreds or thousands of years of his bloodline's history, there had only ever been one such example.
Mutation or aberration, it didn't matter. He fully deserved to be called a born prodigy.
Even compared to his brother Cooler, who had developed an even further transformation, Frieza dared to say his talent was in no way inferior.
"Uaaahhh—"
Frost's expression gradually twisted.
With a roar, his features contorted, the back of his skull stretched out, and his body swelled rapidly.
His transformation finished in just a few moments. Frost had turned into a monster that looked an awful lot like an alien from a horror movie.
"Whoa!" Goku yelped. "That form looks really strong. I really wanna fight him."
Piccolo glanced at the loudmouthed Saiyan, then let it go.
The first time Goku met Frieza on Namek, he had run into the Emperor of the Universe in his ultimate form. He'd basically never seen the earlier transformations.
No wonder he thought Frost was impressive.
"So this guy really can transform like Frieza… and he skipped one of Frieza's intermediate stages as well." Watching Champa's smug, confident face on the opposite stands, Piccolo felt a faint unease. "Maybe Universe 6 really does have fighters who can compete with us."
On the arena—
"Huff… huff…"
Frost grinned, showing off his changed features.
"I call this form my Assault Form. Every enemy who's seen this look has died."
"Oh? And that's your limit?" Frieza crossed his arms across his chest.
Frost snorted. "My limits aren't something you can comprehend."
He suddenly erupted with power, stomping hard.
The tiles beneath his foot sank inward.
"Gyaaa!"
Frost roared and slammed his muscle–packed right fist toward Frieza.
Bang.
Frieza's tail whipped out and smashed Frost flat onto the floor.
"That's it…?" On the Universe 7 stand, Goku slumped back down with a disappointed face.
The Supreme Kai of Universe 7 let out a breath of relief and exchanged a glance with Piccolo.
"It's in the bag. Lord Frieza is definitely winning this one."
Crunch.
Frieza's foot came down on Frost's tail. He smiled brightly.
"If you don't want me to grind your body into powder piece by piece, then bring out your real strength."
Frost's expression shifted.
"You… actually noticed I was holding back? No wonder your appearance felt so familiar…"
"Fine. As you wish."
"But this is power even I can't fully control. This transformation places an enormous strain on my body. Unless there's no other choice, I would never use it."
"There's even a chance I might accidentally beat you to death…"
Hearing that, Goku immediately got restless again and sprang to his feet.
"Enough talking," Frieza cut in with a scornful laugh, kicking Frost across the arena. "Hurry up and transform."
Frost slowly pushed himself up from the floor.
"For the sake of peace and justice… and for the countless lives behind me… I have no choice but to risk total bodily collapse and use my ultimate form to defeat you."
His speech instantly won him a storm of applause.
"Do it, Frost!"
"What noble resolve. Justice will surely triumph!"
"Even if you accidentally kill your opponent, you'll still be a hero of all twelve universes!"
"Even if you lose, it won't matter. The spirit of justice never dies!"
Watching their own fighter win that tidal wave of cheers, Champa's face split in a grin of pure delight. He raised a huge bottle of soda and chugged it.
"Puh–ha!"
"That hits the spot!"
"Frost, if you win, I'll give you anything you want as a reward!" Champa shouted.
Vados didn't manage to stop him in time. She could only press a hand to her forehead and sigh.
"Lord Champa, that promise was far too careless. Frost is not exactly the most honest, straightforward person…"
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