"It's Trunks' ki? He's coming?!"
Son Gohan, who had already devoured two cans of meat, was working on the third when he suddenly looked up, towards the area above the underground house. He could sense Trunks' ki there!
"This is Trunks' ki? It's really weak..." Ling An raised an eyebrow. She naturally felt the ki rushing towards them. However, Trunks' current strength was even weaker than before. If Son Gohan's base form had a ki close to ten million, Trunks' was only about a fifth of that. He wasn't even at Son Goku's base-form Super Saiyan level.
Judging from the original story, Trunks' strength growth over several years was also very limited. He was probably far behind the current Son Gohan. When he transformed into a Super Saiyan after traveling to the main timeline via the Time Machine, he was probably on par with Son Goku, and might even lose to Son Goku in a real fight, considering the significant difference in battle experience.
But this was understandable. Son Gohan had experienced the Frieza saga, and Piccolo and Son Goku were top-tier martial artists, so Son Gohan had received some training. Trunks, on the other hand, was different; he only trained when Son Gohan had time, and he spent more time figuring things out on his own. Under these circumstances, his strength naturally wouldn't increase quickly.
"I should leave first. Otherwise, Trunks will worry if he can't find me." Son Gohan looked at the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, and said softly, "Miss Ling An, do you want to leave here together? The city has been destroyed by the Androids, and your house... I've also damaged it quite a bit..."
Son Gohan sounded a little embarrassed at the end. After all, Ling An had saved his life, and he had attacked her at the beginning. Although he hadn't caused her any harm, the impact of the collision had made a mess of her underground house. It wouldn't be possible to live there again unless it was completely rebuilt.
Hearing Son Gohan's words, Ling An frowned and touched her chin. She was still somewhat tempted. Putting aside everything else, it was certainly much safer to be with Son Gohan. Of course, in a certain sense, it was also more dangerous. The Androids' target was Son Goku, but Son Goku was already dead, so they were destroying things aimlessly, without targeting Son Gohan. But Son Gohan definitely wouldn't just stand by and watch the Androids attack humans.
For now, Son Gohan's strength was quite impressive. Staying with him offered more safety than going solo. Like today, she was lucky the Androids hadn't noticed her, or she'd likely be toast. But how long could such good luck last? With Son Gohan, she could run if things got too hot. If she could just survive this period, she'd be able to get enough power to deal with the Androids.
Thinking this, she nodded slightly. "Then I'll be troubling you for a while."
"No worries, no worries." Son Gohan waved his hand, then set down the canned food. He turned to Ling An. "Let's go out. I'm worried Trunks might be worried if we stay too long."
However, Ling An didn't move after hearing Son Gohan's words. Instead, she looked at him, and with a questioning look on his face, she said softly:
"Gohan, do you think you can handle those two Androids on your own?"
"No. Before I lost my arm, I struggled to deal with one Android. Although my strength has increased a lot now, I only have one arm. It's not possible to deal with two Androids." Although he didn't know why Ling An was saying this, Son Gohan answered honestly.
His face showed his unwillingness. As the son of Son Goku, who had saved the Earth, how could he bear for the Earth and humanity to not be protected by him? He clenched his fist with his remaining hand, looking at Ling An. "Do you have any ideas?"
"I do have an idea." Ling An nodded. She pointed her finger at the ceiling, but what she was actually pointing at was Trunks's location on the ground. "Gohan, with your strength alone, it's basically impossible to fight the two Androids. And I, for now, can't help you in battle. But Trunks is different. His strength is indeed weak now, but don't forget, he is also a descendant of the Saiyans. He can also transform into a Super Saiyan! Even if Trunks's strength as a Super Saiyan can't defeat the Androids, he can still buy some time."
"If he can hold off one of the Androids, with your current strength, you should be able to kill the other one, right?!"
"You mean… have Trunks become a Super Saiyan!?" Son Gohan opened his eyes, looking at Ling An. His pupils trembled slightly, and then he took a deep breath. "Perhaps, it really could work, but how do we get Trunks to become a Super Saiyan?"
"You should know better than I do, right?" Ling An folded her arms, smiling faintly. "Don't you Saiyans become Super Saiyans through extreme anger? If Trunks sees you killed by the Androids, do you think he'll become a Super Saiyan because of it?"
"This…"
Son Gohan was slightly stunned upon hearing this. After a moment, he suddenly clenched his fist and said in a low voice, "This might be deceiving Trunks, but in order to deal with the Androids, this is a necessary attempt!"
The Son Gohan from the time of the Androids was already an extremely mature warrior. He wasn't indecisive, nor did he think there was anything wrong with doing this. Or rather, he just thought this was a white lie. Whether it was to deal with the Androids or for Trunks himself, having him become a Super Saiyan was very advantageous.
No sooner said than done. Son Gohan and Ling An immediately left the underground house, then found a location not too far from Trunks. He lay directly on the ground, letting the rain beat down on him, looking quite convincing.
Ling An stood on top of a nearby building, arms crossed, watching Son Gohan's performance. With Son Gohan's current condition, it was quite easy for him to portray this state of death. After all, he himself was physically exhausted. If he had plenty of energy, it might be more difficult to act, but as it was, it was just right.
"Trunks should be able to become a Super Saiyan, right?" Ling An stood on top of the building, her eyes fixed on Trunks in the distance, who was still frantically searching for Son Gohan. She wasn't sure if her plan would work, but she figured the chances were pretty good. After all, in the original story, Trunks became a Super Saiyan because of Gohan's death. Besides, Son Gohan had already taught him how to transform before, but he hadn't succeeded yet.
Trunks needed a trigger. Like Krillin was to Son Goku, Son Gohan was as important to Trunks as his mother, Bulma, in this apocalyptic world. In fact, Gohan was his guardian against the Androids. If someone so important died in front of him, how much sorrow and anger would he feel towards the Androids?
The facts proved that her plan succeeded.
The moment Trunks found Gohan, he collapsed to the ground. He roared in pain and fury, sobbing loudly. At the same time, streaks of blue electricity erupted around his body, and the white aura surrounding him started to shift to yellow.
His anger grew layer upon layer, and when it reached a critical point, the fury and power finally exploded!
"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
With a earth-shattering roar, Trunks' blue hair shot up, his pupils turning emerald green. Finally, amidst the crackling electricity and the booming thunder, the boy's hair was completely transformed into a golden yellow!
"This is… Super Saiyan!"
Feeling the terrifying power emanating from Trunks, Ling An gently exhaled. It was this power, a fifty-fold increase, that instantly transformed Trunks, who previously had a battle power of only around two million, into someone with over a hundred million. He now had the ability to easily defeat her!
This was Ling An's first time witnessing the birth of a Super Saiyan with her own eyes. The impact was something that couldn't be conveyed by anime or manga; only seeing it firsthand could truly make one understand what kind of power elevation it was!
Powerful, truly too powerful!
But such power was only considered powerful for those who hadn't reached this level. Not to mention the later stages of Dragon Ball, even now, there were still the two Androids, and on top of that, there was Cell, who was hiding somewhere unknown. Ling An hadn't forgotten that in a certain parallel timeline, Cell had killed Trunks and stolen the Time Machine.
The crisis was still present; they absolutely couldn't let their guard down just because Trunks had also become a Super Saiyan. The most important thing right now was still dealing with the Androids' crisis!
Trunks was also aware of the changes within himself, naturally. He also felt the surging power within him, a power that was unbelievably immense. He even felt that he could now fight the Androids. Obviously, he hadn't been humbled by reality yet, as the expansion of his power had also inflated his inner self. But in the end, the 'death' of Gohan had affected him more, and he didn't actually abandon the idea of finding the Androids to fight them.
His heart was still filled with anger and grief. Even the rain couldn't hide the tears on his determined face. He held Son Gohan and sobbed, but... just as he looked at Son Gohan, he suddenly found that the other person was opening his eyes, looking at him with a look of relief. Then, the Son Gohan he thought was dead suddenly spoke: "Trunks, you really didn't disappoint me, you really succeeded in becoming a Super Saiyan!"
Trunks: "???"