Dr. Gero's upper body was completely erased by the violent energy blast.
Only half of his mechanical lower body remained, frozen in the posture of being crushed beneath Vegeta's foot.
Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Krillin, and the others rushed over just in time to witness the final moment of Dr. Gero's annihilation.
They quickly lifted Yamcha, who had been gravely injured by the sneak attack and was now unconscious.
"That old bastard…" Krillin swallowed hard, his voice tense.
"He said something before he died."
"Android 17… Android 18…" Krillin frowned, trying to recall.
"And he mentioned something else—Cell."
Piccolo's expression darkened.
"He called it his true masterpiece."
Vegeta scoffed coldly.
"Hah. The dying ravings of a loser."
"Masterpiece or not, anything created by that trash is nothing more than garbage waiting to be crushed by me."
At this moment, Vegeta's confidence was at its absolute peak.
To him, the battle earlier hadn't even counted as a warm-up.
"The old man's base has to be nearby," Loren said lazily.
"Let's check it out before more nonsense pops up."
"But how?" Krillin looked around nervously.
"This entire mountain range is huge."
Just then—
A small aircraft marked with CAPSULE CORP swooped down from the sky.
"Hey! I tracked the energy fluctuations from the battle!" Bulma jumped out, holding a beeping radar device.
"Are you all okay—?"
Her eyes immediately landed on Goku, pale and leaning against Gohan.
"Goku!"
"Don't worry," Goku said weakly, forcing a smile.
"Just a heart attack. Nothing new."
After taking Trunks' medicine, his condition had stabilized, though he was still clearly exhausted.
"Bulma, perfect timing!" Krillin quickly explained everything about Dr. Gero and the hidden laboratory.
"A lab?" Bulma crouched beside the remains of Dr. Gero and scanned him with her device.
"Based on the residual energy signature…" She tapped the screen.
"Got it!"
A blinking red dot appeared on the radar.
"There!"
"Let's move."
Vegeta didn't waste a single word.
He shot into the sky instantly, his impatience obvious.
The others followed closely behind.
They soon stopped in front of a perfectly disguised mountain wall.
Bulma adjusted her scanner, and a massive metal door hidden beneath the rock surface was revealed.
Boom—!
Vegeta blasted it open without hesitation.
Inside was a long underground corridor.
At the very end—
A vast control chamber awaited them.
At its center stood two stasis pods.
Inside the glass chambers, a young man and a young woman lay in deep sleep.
Cold labels were engraved on the pods:
ANDROID 17
ANDROID 18
"That's them!" Krillin shouted nervously.
"We have to destroy them now—before they wake up!"
Piccolo raised his hand, energy gathering rapidly.
"Stop."
Vegeta's cold voice cut through the tension.
Piccolo turned sharply.
"Vegeta, don't tell me—!"
Vegeta stood with his arms crossed, an arrogant, amused smile on his face.
"Why destroy such interesting toys so quickly?"
"Are you insane?!" Piccolo roared.
"Didn't you hear what Gero said? They're perfect killing machines!"
"Killing machines?" Vegeta laughed mockingly. "Perfect?"
"I want to see which 'masterpiece' is truly perfect compared to me—the Saiyan Prince!"
Destroy them?
No.
Vegeta intended to wake them up himself.
And then crush them.
"I, Vegeta, am the strongest!"
"Anyone who dares stand in my way will be trampled underfoot!"
While the argument escalated—
Loren's gaze shifted quietly.
It locked onto Android 18's stasis pod.
Beneath the designation, a smaller annotation was engraved:
[Project Name: Lazuli]
Loren paused slightly.
That name—
At that exact moment, the system's voice sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Detecting proximity to special character "Lazuli".]
[Lazuli's favorability increased to 65.]
[Subconscious emotional fluctuations detected—source: host presence.]
Loren's eyebrow twitched faintly.
He felt it.
A strange, subtle connection—indescribable, but real.
"I've decided!"
Vegeta's roar snapped everyone back to reality.
"I'm activating them myself!"
"I'll show you cowards that Androids are nothing special!"
"Vegeta, STOP!" Krillin and Tien Shinhan shouted together.
Before Vegeta could act—
Bulma screamed.
"WAIT! LOOK AT THIS!"
She pointed at the main control computer.
A final log entry was forcibly pinned to the screen.
[Data collection complete: Android 19 / Android 20]
[Infinite energy achieved: Android 17 / Android 18]
[My true, ultimate, perfect masterpiece—]
[PROJECT CODENAME: CELL]
[Cell has fused the genetic cells of Son Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo…]
[…and Loren.]
[He is the true, perfect life form.]
Silence.
Absolute silence.
"…What?"
Vegeta's expression finally darkened.
Cells of Goku.
Cells of Piccolo.
Cells of himself.
And—
"Me?" Loren blinked.
"My cells?"
When the hell did that happen?
He scratched the back of his head, genuinely confused.
"I don't remember donating anything…"
Could it be hair?
Skin flakes?
Did that old creep really send microscopic drones everywhere?
"…How troublesome."
Loren sighed softly.
...
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 💙