As the blonde-haired referee declared, the outcome of the finals of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament was decided.
Talot became the champion of this tournament, which could be considered the fulfillment of a dream he had once had in his previous life.
Thunderous, drum-like applause erupted from the spectator stands. Such a brilliant battle had already overturned countless people's worldviews, making them realize just how terrifying the power possessed by truly strong martial artists was.
…
And it was at this moment.
In an unnoticed corner, a tall figure cloaked in black robes was standing there.
He had been so shocked by the consecutive battles he had witnessed that it was difficult for him to calm his emotions.
To be precise, he was not human, but an ugly-looking monster.
Having learned that the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament was being held, he had come here to see how strong Goku and the others he knew had become.
He was also not from this timeline, but was Cell from a future timeline.
Originally, the era he was supposed to arrive in should have been five or six years later, but the time machine malfunctioned, and after encountering a temporal storm, he was brought to this timeline.
"Th-this… what is going on?! Why is this past world completely different from what I know?!" Cell's expression was extremely vivid—shock, fear, disbelief…
From the start of the tournament until now, he had been hiding his aura here.
His original plan was to take advantage of this opportunity to devour all the martial artists present and increase his own power.
Now he was completely dumbfounded.
Not to mention that Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz were all on Earth at this point in time, and they had even participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament?
At this time, weren't they supposed to still be working under that Frieza? Weren't they supposed to arrive on Earth only five or six years later?
And what was more, how had these Saiyans all mastered the Super Saiyan transformation? And not just once, each of them could transform multiple times. Their strength was so monstrous that it was beyond his imagination…
Especially that Saiyan called Talot—his power was even more unfathomable. The terror of that punch just now had deeply shaken him.
Having come to this unfamiliar world, he had already gone numb.
[Did I come to the wrong world?]Cell stood there in a daze, beginning to doubt his own existence.
In his world, he had ambushed and killed Trunks, and only then obtained the time machine to cross through time, which allowed him to come to this world.
The direction this world was heading was completely different from what he remembered.
The strength of these Z Fighters was absurdly high. Even Krillin could easily beat him up as he was now, not to mention Goku and Raditz, as well as Nappa and Vegeta—those Saiyans.
Most crucial of all was this Saiyan he didn't know at all, Talot!
That level of power was unfathomable. Just watching the battle from afar, that terrifying pressure had nearly caused his breathing to stop.
"No! This place is far too dangerous. I can't stay here any longer. I can't absorb the life energy here either. Once I'm discovered, I'll die for sure!" After a brief few seconds of thought, Cell decisively chose to flee.
Concealing his aura was his innate ability.
Although his strength wasn't particularly great, Cell had trained his survival skills extremely well.
And it was thanks to this concealment ability that he managed to evade Talot's Ki Sense.
Otherwise, the moment he appeared, Talot would have already discovered him.
However, just because Talot didn't notice him didn't mean there was no one else who did.
In the spectator stands, Vados cast a seemingly casual glance toward the dark corner where Cell had disappeared.
She had already noticed Cell's presence earlier, because there was a faint trace of a temporal aura on that lifeform.
Besides her, Whis had also sensed something unusual.
It was just that he couldn't be certain, so he didn't say anything.
…
After the tournament ended, as time passed, the group did not linger on Papaya Island, but went together to West City.
Inside the luxurious estate of Capsule Corporation.
In order to entertain everyone who had participated in this tournament, Bulma had long prepared a banquet in advance.
Seeing the situation, Champa, as a super big foodie, naturally couldn't hold back.
His first purpose in coming to Universe 7 was for the food.
His second purpose was to try his luck and see if he could find other Super Dragon Balls.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," the already impatient Champa said as he was the first to start enjoying the food.
"Lord Champa, eating is fine, but you still need to pay a bit of attention to your manners. After all, you are a God of Destruction," Angel Vados reminded him with a smile.
However, Champa turned a deaf ear to her reminder. He had already fallen into the gentle embrace of the food. No matter who spoke, he couldn't hear them; any pause at all seemed like a disrespect to the food.
Seeing this scene, Vados helplessly shook her head, then joined Whis in enjoying Earth's delicacies.
They were naturally much more gentlemanly and ladylike.
Tasting Earth's food again after so long, even Vados almost lost control.
Whis was the same; after all, he didn't come every few days like in the original work.
With them taking the lead, the others also gradually took their seats. Because of the joyful atmosphere, the warriors all relaxed their tightly wound nerves and enjoyed this beautiful moment.
The banquet continued, and everyone felt extremely satisfied in their hearts.
Laughter and cheerful voices rang out nonstop. Family and friends gathered together to chat about all aspects of life, while the warriors naturally shared the combat experience they had gained with one another.
And it was at this moment that Talot took the opportunity to actively seek out Whis.
There was one matter he had considered for a long time.
In the past, it was because his strength was insufficient. Now, he felt it was about right.
After Talot's explanation, the matter of Bardock was brought to the forefront. He asked Whis whether he could help them find Bardock and bring Bardock back.
Such words clearly shocked everyone.
Especially Gine, who was deeply moved, revealing a look of both joy and profound emotion on her face.
She hadn't expected that after so many years, Talot had never forgotten Bardock.
Whis did not answer, only looked seriously at Talot. This matter was very difficult to handle.
At this moment, the hearts of the Saiyans felt as if a bomb had exploded, especially for Vegeta and Nappa.
[Bardock? He actually didn't die along with Planet Vegeta's explosion… but instead went to some unknown other timeline?!]Vegeta was shocked inwardly.
After all, as a low-class warrior whose power level once exceeded ten thousand, almost everyone knew of Bardock's existence. As a prince, it was even more impossible for him not to know.
Moreover, back when Planet Vegeta had not yet been destroyed, he and Bardock had known each other.
[Bardock… the planet's explosion didn't kill him, but instead sent him to another world. This is too miraculous…]Nappa thought in disbelief.
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