Dragon Ball: I Became Cell in a Doomed Future

Would Goku's return really change the tide of this desperate war?

According to Levos' original plan, Goku was supposed to head to the Sacred World of the Kai and break the seal on Elder Kai, then awaken Lord Beerus for help.

But after all that had happened, it was clear now. There was no chance of clinging to Beerus's thigh anymore.

Fortunately, there was still Elder Kai. He could unlock a person's hidden potential far beyond their limits, a method of power-up seen only in Dragon Ball's later arcs. The gains from that process were massive.

And more than that, Elder Kai possessed a pair of Potara earrings. That alone made his role even more critical.

However, a huge problem now stood in their way: how to even reach the Sacred World of the Kai.

In the original Buu Saga, even King Kai didn't know the Kaioshin Realm existed, let alone where it was.

Goku had only managed to reach it after dying and sensing Gohan's ki from afar as he trained there. He had used Instant Transmission to get there.

But in this timeline, there were likely no living people on the Kaioshin Realm.

And if there were no life signatures to lock onto, even someone like Goku couldn't teleport there.

Which meant Elder Kai was off the table.

The other task Goku needed to do was related to restoring Earth's Dragon Balls.

But New Namek had suffered a catastrophe. Moro had drained the entire planet's life energy.

Even their Dragon Balls had been used up by Moro.

This completely destroyed Levos's plan to revive Piccolo and Kami using Namek's dragon.

Still, there was one last method to revive Earth's Dragon Balls:

Find a Namekian and make him the new Guardian of Earth.

Levos spoke, deep in thought. "Goku, can you Instant Transmission to New Namek?"

"New Namek? You mean the Namekians' new home?" Goku looked confused.

"Exactly."

"After we parted ways, I lost track of them. I don't even know what planet they're on now." Goku's face grew serious.

Back during the Cell Saga, Goku had located New Namek with King Kai's help and then locked onto the Namekians' ki to teleport there.

Then Goku gave a puzzled look. "You want me to bring back a Namekian?"

"I want one of them to become Earth's new Kami," Levos explained. "That way, the Dragon Balls will reactivate."

Goku immediately understood.

He placed two fingers on his forehead and said solemnly, "Alright, no problem. I'll go find King Kai and ask for help."

"Good luck!" Levos said sincerely.

Fwoosh.

Goku vanished in a blink.

At that moment, Levos couldn't help but feel hopeful again.

But then Bulma pointed out something important. "Levos, shouldn't you have reminded Goku to ask the Namekian dragon to revive everyone?"

Levos froze.

He had originally planned to keep that painful truth from her, but now there was no way to hide it anymore.

Still, with Goku back, the group had regained hope. Maybe it was okay to come clean.

So Levos explained everything about Moro to Bulma in detail.

To his surprise, she remained calm after hearing it all.

"Levos, thank you. I know you were just trying to protect me from more grief."

"No need to thank me. We're comrades," Levos said, a little guilty. "I shouldn't have kept it from you."

This version of Bulma had endured too many hardships. She was already far stronger and more mature than before.

Maybe he really could trust her a little more.

The night wind howled, cold and unrelenting.

Their battle uniforms were nearly weightless, yet somehow warm and wind-resistant.

Levos stood side by side with Bulma.

He told her about Fortuneteller Baba, who would soon bring back several of the Z Fighters, and shared his future plans in detail.

Bulma brushed her windblown hair aside, her expression unreadable. "Levos… if you hadn't come to this world, I really don't know how much worse things could've gotten."

Levos gave a faint smile. "You forget, I only got involved because I wanted to survive."

"But you gave me hope… no, us hope. Even when everything was crumbling, you never gave up, did you?"

Levos paused. His eyes were firm, but his voice was soft. "Because I believe we can protect this world."

"Yeah… protect it," Bulma murmured, gazing down at their moonlit shadows stretching long across the ground.

"Bulma, while we wait for Goku to return, why don't I and Mr. Popo teach you how to sense ki?"

"Sure."

Levos began. "Ki isn't just some separate force. It's the product of your spirit and energy merging. That energy is already flowing through your body. You just need your willpower to control it…"

Bulma listened intently, a quiet smile forming on her lips.

Clouds drifted. Trees swayed.

The moon shone bright. Stars shimmered overhead.

After a while, Bulma successfully learned how to sense ki.

Mr. Popo's face lit up with quiet pride.

Levos glanced at the time. It had already been an hour since Goku left.

Why hasn't he come back yet?

He wanted to squeeze in a bit more training with Mr. Popo.

But Mr. Popo shook his head.

"Levos, our training is over. There's nothing more I can teach you."

"But I still feel like there's so much more to improve."

"Those improvements will only come in real combat."

Levos believed his android body still had much room for growth, but time was too short. He hadn't tapped into his full potential yet.

Though called an android, he saw himself more as a post-human—someone whose genes had evolved toward perfection.

His potential shouldn't be any lower than a Saiyan's.

Under Mr. Popo's guidance, he had now mastered close combat at a respectable level.

But when it came to sheer power, there was still a large gap between him and Dabura.

Ever since the Frieza arc, Dragon Ball's power scaling had begun to collapse.

To estimate a fighter's level, Levos used each Super Saiyan form's first appearance as a benchmark, dividing them into five tiers.

For example, Super Saiyan 1 would be split into:

Basic

Intermediate

Advanced

Peak

Full Power

Levos judged himself to currently be at Super Saiyan 1: Peak Level.

In the original Cell Games, Goku and Gohan had already reached Full Power SSJ1.

Dabura's strength was about equal to Lightning Cell's, so he was likely Full Power SSJ1, maybe even Initial Super Saiyan 2.

Should he return to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for another month of training?

Maybe he could break through another tier…

As he debated, a sudden sound.

Fwoosh.

Goku reappeared beside Mr. Popo.

"Goku! How did it go?" Levos asked quickly.

Goku frowned. "Sorry. I couldn't sense any Namekian ki at King Kai's place…"

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