The large door was sturdy, but to Ethan and the others, it was no different from paper.
To their surprise, when the metal door was blown open, the startled Dr. Gero was suddenly ambushed by the black-haired young man beside him. His arm, which was holding some kind of device, was severed by a hand chop, and then the young man punched through his chest.
"Damn it..."
Dr. Gero looked at Seventeen, who was close by. His modified body would not die from this level of injury, but he could clearly feel the aura of death.
He knew Seventeen's attack would not stop there, and besides...
The blonde woman who had been standing obediently beside them suddenly leaped up and kicked Dr. Gero's head off. It flew away and rolled right in front of Ethan.
The half-human, half-machine Dr. Gero was still not dead. He met Ethan's gaze and remembered how the Red Ribbon Army had been destroyed by Son Goku and Ethan. Driven by his desire for revenge, he had created powerful androids, only for them to be failures. Not only had he failed to get revenge, but he was now dying at the hands of two of his failed creations.
"How unwilling... But... you and Son Goku will soon be just like me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Dr. Gero's head was blasted into dust by an energy blast released by Ethan. This guy had completed his mission by activating Seventeen and Eighteen. Ethan had no need to bother with a mad dog's barking, nor did he want such a person polluting his ears, so he simply killed him.
"It's them..."
Dr. Gero's death was a bit unexpected, but he was not a character worth paying much attention to. Everyone was looking at the young man and woman inside.
Especially Trunks. Seeing these two familiar "terrifying faces," his emotions became very unstable, and his aura fluctuated violently, as if he might do something drastic at any moment.
Seventeen, who had just killed Dr. Gero, specifically destroyed the arm holding the device before turning to look at Ethan and the others.
"No wonder he woke us up. Turns out someone came knocking at his door."
While modifying them, Dr. Gero had also instilled some basic information in them. After all, his original goal was for the androids to kill Goku and Ethan.
"Didn't Son Goku come?"
He scanned the area and found that everyone was here except Goku, and there was an unfamiliar guy staring at him with a very unfriendly look.
"We don't need Goku to deal with you!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Seventeen was very arrogant. According to what he knew, among the androids Dr. Gero had created, his energy was the greatest, which meant he was the strongest android.
And androids were the strongest beings on Earth, so he simply took Krillin's words as a joke.
"Hmm? There's actually another one here... Sixteen?"
"Huh?"
After kicking off Dr. Gero's head, Eighteen, in the form of a young blonde woman, had been looking around. She quickly noticed the cryogenic pod placed in the center.
"Sixteen?"
Neither Seventeen nor Eighteen had ever heard of Sixteen's existence. Trunks had not heard of Sixteen either, but based on the number, it seemed he had been created before Seventeen and Eighteen. However, he had never seen him in his world. Perhaps Sixteen had been destroyed long ago, or had not been activated for some other reason?
"Eighteen, wake him up."
Seventeen did not think much of it. It was just one more android "sibling." As the "strongest android," he was not worried about releasing a loyal subordinate of Dr. Gero who would demand revenge upon learning that Dr. Gero had been killed by him.
But for Trunks, who came from a world ravaged by androids, he absolutely could not accept more androids appearing.
"Absolutely... I won't let you do that!"
Instantly transforming into a Super Saiyan, he pushed his palms forward and released an energy blast. Trunks' movements were seamless. He completed this attack before anyone had a chance to react.
The seemingly inconspicuous energy wave was incredibly powerful, blasting the entire secret laboratory into ruins and even obliterating the upper part of the small mountain where the laboratory was located, leaving only the lower half of the mountain behind.
Ethan did not intervene. For him, it did not matter whether Sixteen woke up or not. If Trunks blasted Sixteen away with one move, then so be it. If he did not die and woke up, it would just be another decent enemy.
Moreover, whether Sixteen's gentle personality would truly make him an enemy was debatable.
"Ahem, Trunks, that was too dangerous!"
Trunks had acted too quickly. If people like Krillin or Yamcha had reacted a little slower, they might have been caught in the blast.
The calmed-down Trunks was very embarrassed and immediately apologized. However, since this attack could prevent a new android from waking up, he felt his choice was correct.
Just as he was feeling proud, he saw Ethan next to him staring into the distance. Following Ethan's gaze, he saw Eighteen carrying the cryogenic pod, which was several times larger than her, landing on the small mountain with Seventeen before casually tossing it onto an empty space nearby.
"..."
Clearly, everything he had done was in vain. He did not know what to do now and could only watch as Eighteen kicked the lid off the cryogenic pod, and a new android stood up from it.
"Uh... this one looks pretty strong."
Sixteen was a tall and burly man. Among the androids that had appeared so far, Nineteen was a fatty, and Twenty was Dr. Gero himself, just a thin old man.
Seventeen and Eighteen, who appeared later, looked like ordinary young men and women. Aside from their outstanding looks, they did not look powerful at all. Their very ordinary, slender physiques did not resemble those of strong fighters.
Although everyone knew that true strength could not be judged by appearance, androids had no aura, so their most commonly used method was useless. They could only guess based on appearance.
After waking up, Sixteen stood on a small mountaintop with Seventeen, looking at Ethan and the others in the air.
"Do you have any plans?"
"To kill Son Goku and Ethan."
"That's also the goal Dr. Gero set for you, right?"
"Yes!"
Sixteen tilted his head back and stared at Ethan, but he had no intention of attacking.
"He's right there now. Are you going to make a move?"
"Aren't you planning to make a move?"
Seventeen shrugged, looking unconcerned.
"Dr. Gero experimented on us without our consent, turning us into what we are now. Why should I listen to him?"
As he spoke, he kept observing Sixteen's expression, trying to determine if Sixteen was loyal to Dr. Gero. However, Sixteen's expression remained unchanged. He seemed completely indifferent to the words "offending" Dr. Gero.
"You probably think the same way, right?"
"No!" Sixteen smiled and denied Seventeen's guess. "I wasn't created by modifying a human. I was manufactured from scratch."
"Manufactured from scratch?"
Seventeen and Eighteen were puzzled. If Dr. Gero had the technology to manufacture androids from scratch, why did he still use human modification?
Putting this question aside for the moment, he believed he would find the answer eventually. What mattered most now was the group of people in front of him.
"Although I don't care about the goal Dr. Gero gave me, there's nothing else to do right now, so we can use this to pass the time."
Sixteen smiled but remained silent. He did not say anything, just stood there quietly.
"You two are really troublesome. If neither of you is going to make a move, then I will."
Eighteen had just woken up and felt irritable after sleeping for so long. It was a good chance to move around and vent.
"Hey, don't just watch from up there. Want to come down and play?"
"That sounds like something easily misunderstood!"
Yoruichi floated beside Ethan, noticing that the blonde female android called Eighteen was speaking to Ethan.
It seemed Dr. Gero was not very clear that she had also participated in destroying the Red Ribbon Army. After all, she had been acting from the shadows back then, unlike Ethan and Goku, who had charged straight in.
So the androids had only received two targets from Dr. Gero: Son Goku and Ethan.
Since Goku was not there, the androids were only focused on Ethan.
"I didn't misunderstand at all!"
"Oh? Isn't this just your type?"
After so many years together, even without discussing it, she could know some of his personal preferences. Moreover, Yoruichi was especially good at observing. She was the commander of the Stealth Force, after all.
"Does that matter?"
"Not at all! I'm just really looking forward to your performance!"
Ethan ignored Yoruichi. He simply raised his hand and pointed into the distance with his thumb, then flew in that direction first.
This area was filled with strange rocks and small mountains that looked like tall towers. There were not many open spaces suitable for a battlefield.
There was an open area not far away. This desolate place would not accidentally injure innocent passersby. A certain truck driver was lucky to have escaped.
Everyone moved to this area. Both sides maintained sufficient distance, leaving the open space in the middle for the two people in the arena.
Ethan looked at Eighteen opposite him. He was a bit conflicted about whether to go all out or hold back appropriately.
Because of Cell, Eighteen could not be killed. What if he accidentally hit her too hard?
While he was still thinking about how much power to use, Eighteen opposite him had already made her move. The distance of tens of meters vanished in an instant. Eighteen suddenly appeared in front of him and immediately struck Ethan with an elbow.
Her speed was so fast that even Ethan almost could not react. Although he made a dodging motion, he was still grazed.
"So fast!"
The spectators found that they could barely see Eighteen's movements. Trunks, who "knew the androids' strength best," was even more startled.
Fortunately, this level was not troublesome for Ethan. While barely avoiding Eighteen's surprise attack, Ethan extended his left leg and kicked Eighteen's calf, directly causing her to lose her balance. This was immediately followed by a solid right hook to Eighteen's stomach.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)