Dr. Gero could hardly contain himself. He opened the glass container holding the eternal energy furnaces and carefully took out the two energy cores.
He sneered and closed in on No. 18 step by step. Just as No. 18 was sinking into despair, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of her.
The newcomer's long snow-white hair fell loose — it was Kaito, who had come in haste.
With a casual flick of his hand, the restraints binding No. 18 and Lapis shattered. While Lapis was still dazed, No. 18 had already thrown her arms around Kaito from behind.
For an eighteen-year-old girl, being captured by a perverted doctor and used for experiments was truly terrifying.
She clung to Kaito and sobbed, "Kaito — you finally came! I was so scared!"
Kaito patted No. 18's hands a few times and said, "Don't be afraid. Didn't I tell you I'd come?"
Dr. Gero's expression darkened. He turned to No. 12 and asked in a low voice,
"What's going on? How did Uchiha Kaito find this place? Were you followed?"
No. 12 looked bewildered. She answered, "Impossible — I only moved after he had completely left!"
Dr. Gero cursed the idiot in his heart. He began to take a few steps back and issued an order to No. 12,
"Take him out! And be careful not to damage the lab!"
A red light flashed across No. 12's eyes. She'd been thoroughly modified; her obedience to Dr. Gero's commands was absolute, especially since her strength wasn't all that great.
She pried her wrists apart again and aimed the cannon at Kaito. Very soon a blue energy sphere floated at the muzzle.
No. 18 instinctively gripped Kaito's arm tightly. Behind her, Lapis swallowed hard — they were ordinary humans, and heat-based weapons triggered a natural fear.
Kaito's gaze remained calm as he looked at No. 12. He extended a finger, and a purple, spherical bolt of lightning condensed at his fingertip.
No sooner had the orb of lightning appeared than the detectors in No. 12's eyes began to go haywire; red exclamation marks popped up, warning her of how terrifying the energy in that sphere was.
She instinctively wanted to back away, but the chip Dr. Gero had implanted in her made it impossible to disobey the command to "eliminate Kaito."
In the end she fired the gathered energy. At the same time, a purple lightning bolt shot from Kaito's fingertip.
The outcome was unsurprising: the energy ball she sent was instantly obliterated by the lightning. Immediately after, her body detonated with a boom, exploding into a shower of mechanical fragments.
One of No. 12's wired eyeballs rolled to Dr. Gero's feet, its black pupil still flickering with red light — as if a trace of consciousness lingered.
Dr. Gero felt no pity. He stamped down hard, producing a splattering sound; a mixture of machine oil and blood spread from beneath his foot.
Still unsated, he spat the word "useless" and cursed her one more time.
The brutal scene assaulted No. 18's and Lapis's senses.
No. 18 had closed her eyes the moment Dr. Gero raised his foot, but Lapis watched the gore the whole way through. Now his stomach churned violently — he felt like he might vomit at any second.
Kaito, however, showed little reaction. He had killed far more people than Dr. Gero ever had — gore like this was child's play to him.
He raised his hand again and aimed at Dr. Gero. Dr. Gero frantically waved his hands, pleading,
"Wait! We can cooperate! With my technology and your power, ruling the world — no, the whole universe — wouldn't be hard for us!"
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I've been meaning to ask — you seem to know me?"
"Yes. When Raditz came to Earth, I sent a micro reconnaissance robot to the scene. It saw you kill Raditz. Your power is incredible!"
Kaito remembered then — Dr. Gero did indeed have tiny robots whose energy signatures were minimal and hard to detect; in the original timeline they even followed Goku and the others to Namek.
Hearing Kaito admit he'd killed someone earlier, No. 18 couldn't help but ask,
"Kaito, who's Raditz? Why did you kill him?"
No. 18 wasn't judging Kaito as cruel — she was simply worried he might get arrested by the authorities. As a citizen of Earth, when lives were involved, her thoughts went straight to the law.
"He was an alien. He wanted to destroy Earth, so I took him out."
"I see… so you're a world-saving hero!"
No. 18 accepted Kaito's words without hesitation and immediately switched into admiration mode.
Lapis, standing behind her, muttered inwardly, "She believes anything — when did sis get so lovestruck?"
But thinking about all the bizarre things that had happened today, he suddenly felt it wasn't so absurd after all.
Besides, Kaito had appeared out of nowhere and could shoot lightning from his fingertips. You have to admit — teleportation and electricity are extremely attractive traits in a guy.
Compelled by some impulse, he blurted out, "Brother-in-law, don't you listen to that old creep! He's obviously no good!"
Calling him "brother-in-law" startled Kaito for a second. No. 18 turned bright red and shot Lapis an angry glare, but she didn't speak to contradict him.
Lapis, for once, wasn't afraid of his sister. He jumped down from the test bench and trotted over to Kaito, saying,
"Brother-in-law, you were so cool just now. By the way — can you teach me that electric move?"
Hearing Lapis call him "brother-in-law" repeatedly, Kaito found it amusing and teased,
"So I'm already your brother-in-law? Didn't you ask your sister if she agreed first?"
"Isn't it obvious? Whether she agrees or not, you're my brother-in-law!"
"Lapis—"
Bang!
No. 18 couldn't hold back any longer. She slammed her fist into Lapis's head so hard he collapsed, clutching his skull on the floor.
Feigning surprise, Kaito asked, "Why did you hit him? Did you change your mind?"
No. 18 was taken aback and, worried Kaito might misunderstand, hurried to explain,
"How could I change my mind? I already confessed to you outright. I only hit him because he's embarrassing… really embarrassing…"
As she said it, No. 18 pressed her face twice against Kaito's back in a sweet, almost practiced way — the second time felt much more natural.
Lapis crouched on the floor, holding his head and muttering,
"Hmph. Get a man and you forget your little brother — how awful!"
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