As Piccolo placed his palm on Kami's chest, Kami's body began to shimmer and flicker, eventually disappearing with a flash of white light into Piccolo's body.
After the fusion of Piccolo and Kami, an extremely powerful energy emerged within John Doe's body. Sensing the surging energy within himself, Piccolo felt he was almost on par with John Doe.
Of course, this was merely an illusion due to Piccolo's rapid power increase, and he quickly suppressed this illusion and the energy within him.
Piccolo slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the three people observing him.
Mr. Popo called out to Piccolo, "Kami?"
Piccolo replied, "Mr. Popo, I am no longer Kami. I am a Namekian who has forgotten his name, so please continue calling me Piccolo."
John Doe asked, "Alright, let's save the pleasantries for later. Piccolo, could you tell us more about that mysterious creature from the future that shocked Kami so much?"
Piccolo glanced at John Doe and Future Trunks, then said, "Follow me as we fly over there, and I'll explain on the way. I'm afraid that creature might escape."
Subsequently, Piccolo led the way, flying down from Kami's Lookout, while John Doe and Future Trunks exchanged a glance and followed behind him.
As they flew, Piccolo spoke to John Doe and the others, "It's a creature, likely a bio-engineered being resembling a humanoid cicada. It's powerful and can absorb human essence through its tail to enhance its strength."
"Based on its current state, its power has likely reached the level of a Super Saiyan and continues to grow."
"Super Saiyan!" Future Trunks exclaimed, feeling a twinge in his teeth. Why were there so many powerful beings in this timeline?
John Doe asked, "Where is that creature now?"
Piccolo replied, "We're almost there. It's in the small city ahead."
Soon, Piccolo landed on the city streets with John Doe and Future Trunks.
However, this once bustling city was now deserted, and a gust of wind blew through the streets, scattering papers and trash everywhere.
Future Trunks asked, "Why is there no one here? Did that creature kill everyone?"
John Doe inquired, "Piccolo, you said it was here. Where is it?"
Piccolo leaped onto a tall tower, scanning the surroundings, but he still couldn't locate Cell.
Piccolo descended and said, "That creature was indeed here before I merged with Kami, but it suddenly disappeared. Perhaps it sensed our presence."
Piccolo's words were accurate. On the rooftop of a nearby building, not far from John Doe and the others, Cell happily remarked, "I didn't expect them to discover my trail so quickly. These people aren't as bad as I thought."
After observing Future Trunks, Cell added, "I didn't expect Trunks to come to this timeline as well."
"Oh, I understand now. No wonder that Trunks I killed came from four years ago. He must have eliminated the Androids in the future and came back a year early to deal with the Androids in this world."
"But he didn't anticipate my ambush, which allowed me to arrive in this world a year earlier."
After a final glance at John Doe and the others, Cell said, "I can't defeat the three of you, but wait until I absorb Androids 17 and 18. That will be the moment of your demise."
Cell then turned and left the city, continuing his killing spree in other cities.
At this moment, John Doe felt something was amiss. After some thought, he said, "It seems that creature has fled. It realized it couldn't handle the three of us, so it retreated."
"In that case, it's going to be difficult. As long as it keeps hiding from us, we won't be able to deal with it. Even if we find its trail, it can easily escape if it intends to."
"What should we do?" Future Trunks asked.
John Doe pondered and replied, "To deal with this creature, the most important thing is to understand why it went through so much trouble to travel from the future in a time machine to our timeline."
"There must be something that only our timeline has, while the future timeline has disappeared."
"As Piccolo mentioned earlier, this creature is clearly artificial. When I think of artificial beings, I immediately think of one person..."
Upon hearing John Doe's words, Future Trunks also thought of that person and spoke up, "Dr. Gero!"
"Yes, Dr. Gero!" John Doe confirmed. "I need to return to Dr. Gero's laboratory or find Androids 17 and 18 to see if they know about any other artificial beings created by Dr. Gero."
Piccolo asked, "What about us?"
John Doe said, "You two continue tracking that creature. Even if you can't eliminate it, keep chasing it to prevent its power from growing too quickly."
"Okay!" Piccolo and Future Trunks agreed.
After bidding farewell to the two, John Doe immediately flew towards Dr. Gero's laboratory. However, once they were out of sight, John Doe changed course and flew in the direction where Android 18 and the others had left.
At that moment, Androids 17 and 18, along with Android 16, were strolling through a city. To be precise, Android 16 and 17 were accompanying Android 18 on a shopping trip.
Android 17 complained, "18, how much longer are you going to shop? We haven't even arranged our accommodation for tonight."
Android 18 ignored Android 17's complaint and said, "I can't believe that after a few years, the world has so many new and wonderful things. I want to buy them all, but I don't have the money."
Android 17 replied, "Hey, 18, that guy John Doe seems to like you. Why don't we find him and ask for some money?"
Android 18 became annoyed and said, "What does his liking me have to do with me? Besides, if I, Android 18, want these things, can't I earn the money myself?"
"You, earn money, 18? Are you joking with me?" Android 17 mocked. "Tell me, from childhood to adulthood, what can you do besides martial arts training? Can you sew or cook?"
Android 18 retorted, "I can become a bodyguard, can't I?"
Hearing Android 18's words, Android 17 stopped talking and shrugged indifferently.