Lott excitedly tossed Maki up, caught her, tossed her up again, and caught her again.
"That... has Cell been active recently?" Goku, holding two skewers, asked with his mouth full, his words somewhat unclear.
Krillin, who had just been rejected by his daughter for a hug and was feeling dejected, scratched the hair that had grown back on his head and replied, "He seemed to be on the Planet Ninja before. He seemed to want to forcibly revive the strongest being on that planet, but he failed."
Ever since they 'recruited' Tsunade three years ago to help with Kagura Chizuru's childbirth, Lott and his group had established a relationship with the Planet Ninja.
Originally, Cell planned to forcibly collect the nine Tailed Beasts, revive Otsutsuki Kaguya, and then absorb her… essentially what Black Zetsu did to Madara in the original work.
The Number One Filial Piety Exemplar of the Ninja World, Black Zetsu, obviously couldn't just watch this ugly monster absorb his mother. He sternly refused Cell's proposal to force him into cooperation. Then he was killed by Cell.
Cell thought that since he had the information provided by Dr. Gero, he knew how to revive Kaguya anyway. He could just capture the nine Tailed Beasts himself and then control Konan to force Nagato to use the Rinne Rebirth Technique.
But unexpectedly, because Jiraiya hadn't died, he found Nagato and Konan and performed the same verbal persuasion operation on them that Naruto did in the original work. This made Nagato defect early, planning to destroy the Rinnegan to completely cut off Cell's plans.
When Tsunade found out about this, she notified Lott. Coincidentally, Ishigami also wanted to change his eyes. So Lott sent Genos with him to retrieve them.
No point in leaving free stuff. With the crucial tool, the Rinnegan, taken away, and the takers being Lott's lackeys, Cell had no choice but to give up his plan to absorb Otsutsuki Kaguya. Where he went after that, no one knew.
"Hmm?" Lott, Goku, Piccolo holding Gohan, and others simultaneously had a change in expression.
"It's that guy Cell's energy!" Krillin gritted his teeth. Although his strength had been left far behind by his bro Goku, his sensing ability was still quite good.
"The location is... Earth!" Goku also put down the skewers in his hand, secretly gritting his teeth. "He's finally come?"
"Is he trying to absorb you, Goku?" Piccolo began to guess Cell's purpose.
Lott, who knew Cell's true purpose, smiled slightly and prepared to hand Maki over to Kagura Chizuru.
However, seeing her father about to hand her over to her mother, before he could let go, Maki started crying, her chubby baby hands tightly grabbing Lott's sleeve. "No! No! I want Daddy..."
Kagura Chizuru quickly tried to comfort her daughter, saying softly, "Maki, be good. Daddy needs to save the world. Let Mommy and your aunties play with you, okay?"
"No! No! I want Daddy..." Maki threw a tantrum, leaving Kagura Chizuru and the other women at a loss.
"Maki! You can't be like this!" Just then, a girl about the same age as Gohan, only about four years old, jumped out.
Despite her young age, she acted like a little adult, immediately intimidating Maki. It's Videl, Lott's adopted daughter and also Maki's sister who slept in the same bed.
She had spent more time with Maki than her own mother, Kagura Chizuru, so she held absolute bloodline suppression.
Seeing Maki looking wronged and scared by Videl, Lott couldn't help but smile. He pinched Maki's nose to cheer her up before using Instant Transmission to leave. Goku and the others had already left a step ahead.
And the very next second after Lott used Instant Transmission, the Universe Chat Group's live stream screen suddenly opened. The stream initiator was... Cell!
[Erina: That guy... he's changed again!]
[Bai Yuekui: His method of 'eating' people is as disgusting as ever.]
[Zenitsu: The blonde sister next to him is so pretty!]
[Tatsumaki: Idiot! Is now the time for you to be in heat?!]
When countless group members from numerous planets entered the live stream, it was an opening shock! They saw Cell swallowing a young man who looked no more than 20 years old with a somewhat androgynous appearance, using his toilet-plunger-like tail.
And the next instant, an explosive wave erupted from within Cell, dispersing as if it would blast open the live stream screen. Only after a full few seconds did Cell appear before everyone in a completely new form.
[Naruto: He... he looks much more pleasing to the eye than before!]
Indeed, Cell's current appearance, compared to the previous ugly man with sausage lips, was closer to a normal human. His figure wasn't as bulky and swollen as before, and the proportions of his build and surface muscles seemed more reasonable.
[Tsunade: Fool! Can't you sense that energy?! It's hundreds of times stronger than before... no! Maybe even more!]
After coming into contact with Lott, Tsunade had also learned new skills… Ki sensing and Flight Technique. This allowed her to perceive the terror of Perfect Cell more clearly than the kids in Konoha.
"Perfect! Too perfect!" Perfect Cell clenched his fist, feeling the power continuously overflowing from within.
He glanced sideways at the camera, his gaze sweeping over the group members across the universe. "Even more perfect than I imagined."
"It has completely surpassed Dr. Gero's expectations, hasn't it?"
In an instant, golden Ki flames erupted from Perfect Cell's body, accompanied by blinding white lightning.
Now, regardless of whether one could sense Ki or not, anyone could clearly feel the fearsome power of Cell in this form!
Even an ordinary person without any strength, separated by an entire galaxy, could perceive it clearly!
"Th-this oppressive feeling... wh-what is this?!" On the Planet Amanto, Shinpachi knelt on the ground, retching dryly. Gintoki pressed his hands tightly on the office desk, his face ashen, only slightly better than Shinpachi.
The Shiroyasha forced himself to suppress the fear that made him want to vomit, muttering lowly, "Wh-what kind of monster is this... If only that man had finished him off earlier two years ago..."
And the North King Kai, far away on the King Kai's Planet, also had his hands behind his back, sighing with the same sentiment as Gintoki.
'It completely exceeded expectations, far surpassing the Super Saiyan! Human technology could actually create such a monster!'
He originally thought that even if Lott and Goku were no match, they could completely dispatch top-tier combatants from the Grand King Kai's planet to the mortal world for reinforcements.
But now... The flesh on the North King Kai's plump face twisted together as he recalled Lott and Goku, who had actively let go of Cell back then, and said indignantly, "You two brats must clean up this mess for me!"
…
No. 18 and Dr. Gero present on the scene were utterly stunned. Dr. Gero naturally knew about the future Cell coming to this era. He had also secretly contacted Cell but never received a response.
Today was the day No. 17 and No. 18 were fully completed. Dr. Gero planned to release them first and then make a decision.
But he never expected that the moment No. 17 and No. 18 stepped out of the cultivation pods, with one foot landing, the other still in the pod, Cell descended from the sky!
With a swing of his long tail, he directly absorbed No. 17!
"Too, too wonderful! Truly too wonderful! More perfect than I imagined!" After a long while, Dr. Gero, who had also transformed himself into an android, finally recovered.
Trembling, he walked up to Perfect Cell, speaking with a mix of fear and excitement: "Now, you are the strongest existence in the entire universe..."
Whoosh!
Just then, an afterimage appeared in the research lab. It was the Z-Fighters, led by Goku!