Another Cell from the future timeline had already launched his operation in secret. While Goku and Vegeta were engaged with the perfect Cell, he quietly moved toward Android 18's location.
The energy detector he carried clearly marked Android 18's position, and the distance wasn't very far. With Android 17's body absorbed, Cell was faster and approached his target with ease.
The androids in the future world had disappeared for unknown reasons. In order to become perfect, Cell had been forced to kill Trunks in that timeline and steal the time machine to travel back to the past. Because Raditz connected the two timelines, Cell had also followed Trunks to this timeline, which led to the temporal confusion.
Coincidentally, in this timeline, he had unexpectedly encountered another version of himself—and it was the perfect version!
That tremendous power made Cell even more excited, strengthening his ambition to seize the life essence of Androids 17 and 18. Cell's growth had surpassed the imagination of both Boundless and Dr. Gero. Even the two creators hadn't expected Cell to develop so rapidly. When Boundless and Raditz were locked in combat, Cell had already begun acting in secret, absorbing people's life essence.
Later, as Earth was destroyed and reborn, Cell continued to survive.
Boundless was dead, and the Saiyans, including Raditz, were off-world. Cell believed it was time to devour Androids 17 and 18, so they had revealed themselves one after another, extending their evil reach.
Android 18 was unaware of the approaching danger, lying on the sofa and switching TV channels out of boredom. A sports program was broadcasting, featuring a newly-promoted fighting world champion named Mr. Satan giving a speech. He was arrogant, foolish, and full of ugly behavior. Android 18 frowned in disgust and quickly switched to the next program.
Having existed as an android for several years, she felt somewhat disconnected from human life, and many aspects of daily living still required readjustment. When she had returned with Zangya, she truly felt aimless. After all, it was impossible to defeat Raditz, so where would they go as androids?
Zangya had said at the time that they should stay and live as humans again, offering her considerable advice. Androids 17 and 18 had their own contradictions. On one hand, they were satisfied with their power, but on the other, they felt they had been transformed into something neither human nor machine. They boasted of their strength but had no desire to destroy the world. They hated the world yet wanted to stay close to life...
Zangya had told them they were simply humans who had gained superhuman powers, and other than that, nothing was different. Perhaps because she felt she had similar experiences to the androids, Zangya had shared her life story and experiences with them. Both Android 18 and Android 17 had been moved by Zangya's kindness, and Android 17 had decided, in a rare moment, to listen to Zangya's good advice.
What a kind woman! Android 18 thought.
At that moment, Zangya rushed in from the outer courtyard with a look of horror on her face: "Android 18, do you feel a strange aura in the distance, containing so many different energies, like... like all the auras are coming together!"
"No... I don't know, I don't have a detector." Android 18 shook her head numbly.
She couldn't sense ki and didn't have the energy detection device like Android 16, so she had no idea what was happening outside.
Zangya's expression grew increasingly grim. She sensed that Goku and Vegeta's energies were surrounding the monster, and it seemed a battle had already begun. Raditz wasn't present at the moment, and the two strongest fighters had already engaged, so logically there shouldn't be a problem. But woman's intuition told her that danger was approaching.
"Knock, knock, knock." There was a rapping on the open door, and an ugly monster appeared at the entrance, speaking politely, "Does Miss Android 18 live here?"
The sudden voice startled Zangya. She turned her head, and the moment she saw Cell, her eyebrows twitched.
"You... who are you?"
"My name is Cell!" He rolled his eyes and saw Android 18 lying on the sofa with her bare white legs exposed. "Oh, so you're here."
Cell?! Zangya was suddenly shocked, all blood draining from her face.
Just as she was preparing to fight, Cell stepped forward, slapped her, and sent her flying—bang bang bang—straight through several houses as the villa collapsed halfway.
The tremendous force knocked Zangya to the ground, her brow furrowed as she gritted her teeth in pain. After training, her combat power was close to that of a Super Saiyan, but when facing Cell who had absorbed Android 17, this power was insignificant.
Cell didn't even have the interest to look at Zangya again. He stared straight at Android 18, practically drooling.
"Ah, Android 18, I finally found you!"
"Cell... what are you going to do?" Android 18 jumped up alertly, her expression changing. She had heard of Cell's name—he was a demon that wanted to absorb their lives.
"Of course I want to become one with you! Android 17 has already done this, come on! Let's embrace the future!" Saying this, Cell strode forward without giving any chance to react.
In the confines of the house, Cell's speed was incredible, and Android 18 had no chance to dodge.
The inevitable happened with terrifying swiftness. Cell's tail opened, and Android 18 was drawn in despite her struggles. Her energy merged with Cell's being, and his transformation began immediately.
...
In the distance, Goku and Vegeta felt that something was wrong. Another aura soared into the sky, equally evil and magnificent, slightly different from the Cell before them, but of similar magnitude!
"Hahaha, it seems the other me has also succeeded. Perfect!"
"Damn it!" Vegeta gritted his teeth in fury.
Cell's lips curved into a slight smile: "Then I'll see you in ten days, Son Goku!"
With that, his body quickly flew into the sky, disappearing into the air like a stream of light.
"Kakarot, you..."
"I know what you want to say, but unfortunately, I may not be his opponent now. Perfect Cell is stronger than my Super Saiyan full power."
Goku eliminated his Super Saiyan state and was already covered in sweat.
"Notify Raditz. If you want to defeat Cell, you must notify him." The surviving Android 16 dragged his broken body and reminded them in a rough voice.
"Let's go to Bulma. She can contact my brother." Goku agreed with Android 16's suggestion and reached out to the big man. "Let's teleport there together. You also need repairs."
Android 16 hesitated for a while. Should he accept aid from the person he was programmed to defeat? Some things seemed to be beyond the scope of his computer calculations.
"Thank you." Finally, Android 16 took Goku's hand and spoke two words that shouldn't have been in his programming.
Seeing the two chatting, Vegeta snorted coldly: "Go if you want to go."
Immediately, he teleported back first, and Goku and Android 16 followed closely behind. After the three departed, Tien and the other fighters also rushed to Bulma's house, shocked to learn of Cell's existence.
What was even more frightening was that there were actually two Cells. This martial arts tournament was simply a gamble with Earth itself!
At that moment, the weakened Zangya also appeared before everyone. She had barely managed to use instant transmission to get there before losing consciousness and collapsing.