Cell didn't possess Majin Buu's ability to learn someone else's ultimate technique just by glancing at it, but having integrated the cells of so many elite warriors, his learning capacity was still nothing short of heaven-defying.
When Ino fought him, she felt a bit restricted. She worried about her moves being stolen, so she didn't dare to use many of them.
If he were turned into a big, dumb version of Cell, things would be much simpler.
"What exactly do we need to do?"
Piccolo awkwardly took out what looked like a toy water gun. "Dr. Hedo said this is a shrink gun. It can shrink Cell. Once he shrinks to a certain extent, the cells in his body will automatically trigger the instructions pre-programmed by Commander Magenta, forcing him to abandon his reason and undergo a massive, gigantic transformation."
Ino went over the entire plan in her head and found no issues with it.
"Alright, I'll strike first to control Cell, and then you use that shrink gun."
Piccolo nodded silently. In truth, he had wanted to hand this incredibly uncool shrink gun over to Ino. Even after fusing with Kami, his core foundation was still the second-generation King Piccolo. Did it make any sense for him to wield a children's toy gun?
Unfortunately, Ino had directly blocked any chance for him to speak.
Neither Ino nor Piccolo had any intention of notifying Son Goku. She floated high in the sky. Cell, who was secretly learning Son Goku's combat moves, couldn't help but look up in her direction.
"Petrification!"
Ino brought her index and middle fingers together, firing a lead-gray beam of light with a tracking function from her fingertips.
Cell dodged left and right, executing over a dozen consecutive high-speed displacements, but was ultimately struck by the beam.
"What the hell is this?" Cell didn't panic. While using his internal energy to resist the petrification beam's erosion of his cells, he simultaneously reverse-engineered the operational method of this energy.
A hint of realization gradually appeared at the corners of his mouth. So that was how it worked. This so-called petrification wasn't that difficult after all!
This time, Ino didn't retreat but instead continuously increased her power.
She constantly injected her relatively modest amount of Supreme Kai God Power into the petrification beam, forcibly subjecting Cell to a material-level transformation.
"Just with these couple of tricks? You underestimate me too much!" Cell stood firmly in place. Just like a Saiyan, a golden aura surged around his body, and the lead-gray petrification energy was forced out of him bit by bit.
"Now's the time!"
Following Ino's command, Piccolo dashed out from the side. Under Son Goku's astonished gaze, the petite and delicate water gun rested in Piccolo's thick palm.
A transparent beam fired from the muzzle, hitting Cell in an extremely covert manner.
Although Dr. Hedo was young, his research on Androids was truly impressive. The energy inside the shrink gun seemed to be completely identical to Cell's own energy.
It deceived his body's immune system and invaded the deepest depths of his cells without encountering any resistance.
"Hm?" Cell had just forced back Ino's petrification and hadn't even had the time to utter a few harsh words before he realized his body was rapidly shrinking.
Originally, he was a bit taller than Son Goku, but in the blink of an eye, he had to tilt his head up to look at Son Goku.
What was going on? What happened to his body?
This sudden change was too abrupt. Before he could figure out the core issue, his cells obeyed the commands inputted by Commander Magenta during his previous haphazard directives, making the choice for him.
Being discriminated against for being short, and gathering the Dragon Balls to wish to become a tall person—this was the multi-generational obsession of both Commander Magenta and his father, Commander Red.
This obsession was also written into Cell's cells, and now it was being used against him by Dr. Hedo.
"Ah—I won't! I won't allow it! Absolutely not—!" Cell's rationality completely collapsed. His cells took over his body, and his Namekian cells were pushed to their absolute limits. Like blowing up a balloon, he instantly grew to a height of over ten meters.
Energy couldn't appear out of thin air. The cells followed their orders, forcing him into his Cell Max state. You win some, you lose some.
The cells strengthened his bones, muscles, and nerves more than tenfold, granting him immense power and turning him into a giant.
The price was the destruction of his original Perfect Form. Accompanied by the rapid disappearance of his sanity, his face also regressed from its humanoid appearance back to the thick, heavy-lipped visage of his Second Form, still bearing numerous insectoid traits.
The tail that had previously regressed grew back. In order to carry out Commander Magenta's principle of "bigger is stronger," the tail stinger that could previously open into a suction cup morphed into a tail mace.
With a slight flick of his tailbone, his muscles would exert force, driving the tail mace to easily smash down a mountain peak.
Originally, Cell's chitinous armor on his forehead, chest, shoulder pads, arms, and calves looked like clothing, presenting a shiny black hue.
Now, whether it was an evolution or a regression into Cell Max, the color in these areas had turned into an unnatural dark red, with faint black spots looming underneath.
The Namekian cells caused Cell's body to become incomparably massive, and the cells of Saiyans that transform them into Great Apes made him reach the absolute extreme of madness and brutality. All of his previous patience and wisdom completely vanished.
He grew larger, but he also grew dumber.
"What's going on?" Son Goku was completely confused. They were having a perfectly fine fight; why did the enemy suddenly undergo such a massive change?
Ino covered her mouth and let out a light chuckle. "Ohohohoho..."
Fighting a smart person and fighting a fool were two entirely different feelings.
Cell Max's eyes rolled back into his head. Like a wild beast, he let out guttural sounds from his mouth, his entire body spewing a dark red aura.
Hearing Ino's laughter, he found it exceptionally piercing. Without even thinking, he raised his massive foot and stomped in her direction.
"Kaio-ken!" Ino finally unleashed the ultimate technique she had been holding back for so long.
She threw a punch. Even though there was a several dozen-fold size difference between them, Cell Max was still sent stumbling by her blow.
He forcefully braced his right leg against the ground, stomping out a large area of web-like cracks, his knee letting out crisp, creaking sounds. He lowered his center of gravity and quickly planted his left foot, finally stabilizing his massive frame.
"Don't just stand there, let's attack together!" Vegeta shouted loudly, taking the lead and charging forward.
Nappa closely followed right behind him, followed by Gohanks using the Fusion Technique, along with No. 17 and No. 18.
Son Goku stood in place with his hands on his hips, tilting his head as he thought for a moment. Truthfully, following his heart, he still wanted a one-on-one fight.
However, seeing that not only Piccolo, but even Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, and Krillin had charged in, it really wouldn't be appropriate for him to just stand by and watch.
He scratched his head and joined the fray.
Son Gohan hesitated slightly before similarly transforming into a Super Saiyan and joining the siege.
Having transformed into Cell Max, Cell's strength was incredibly overpowering.
"Senzu Bean! Here!" Krillin acted like a human Senzu Bean dispenser. Seeing that Ino had forcefully blocked over a dozen moves, consuming a massive amount of energy and stamina, he immediately threw a Senzu Bean to her.
Ino quickly chewed the Senzu Bean with a crunch, rapidly recovering the stamina she had exhausted from using the Kaio-ken.
After more than a year of instruction from the Supreme Kai, her control had greatly increased. She had gradually abandoned unorthodox transformations like "Super Otsutsuki 2," which she had figured out on her own.
In a calm state of mind, she would no longer exhibit the state where her hair stood on end and a golden aura erupted all over her body. Using Kaio-ken didn't produce the exaggerated look of spewing a red aura across her entire body either, though the stamina consumption remained the same.
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