Sure enough, when the trio arrived in the Fifth Sector, the Cell Games hadn't started yet.
The tournament was still three or four days away.
Trunks finally found his mother, Bulma, and his father, Vegeta.
Bulma, however, immediately laid into him for playing fast and loose with the time machine. She'd dragged the entire family to Central City for the tournament, only to find him missing, which had worried her sick.
Hearing this, both Trunks and Shin understood. Their influence had caused a major divergence in the timeline.
Because Goku and Vegeta had grown stronger ahead of schedule, the androids hadn't been nearly as powerful as in the other timeline.
Even Cell was wary of Goku's strength and didn't dare to provoke him recklessly.
Although he had organized a tournament, he hadn't made any arrogant proclamations about killing all of humanity if he won.
This was all because of Goku and Vegeta. If the two of them went all out, their combined power would be nearly a match for his.
So, Cell could only use a tournament format to challenge the world's strongest fighters one by one.
It was just like the World Martial Arts Tournament of old.
He wanted to claim the title of number one for himself.
Only then could he better further his own development.
And absorb the other androids.
But now that Shin was here, he had no intention of letting Cell's murderous plot succeed.
Even in the previous timeline, where Cell was far more powerful, Shin hadn't given up, even resorting to the time machine to fight him.
In this timeline, Cell was nowhere near as strong.
Plus, having acquired the constitution of a Super Saiyan, Shin's own power had seen a massive boost.
Right now, Shin could probably hold his own against Cell in a one-on-one fight.
And that wasn't even counting powerful allies like Goku and Vegeta.
Therefore, Shin decided to watch a few matches and then, at a critical moment, step in and test his own strength against Cell.
Or perhaps, after Cell defeated Goku and went berserk, he would step in to save the world.
Of course, that was all just wishful thinking.
Goku might just beat Cell himself.
Then he wouldn't even need to get involved.
Of course, that was just one possibility. If Cell absorbed Android 16 or something and his power skyrocketed, requiring all the top fighters to combine their strength to defeat him, Shin wouldn't mind joining them to eliminate the threat to humanity.
In short, the situation was unpredictable; no one could say for sure who would win or lose.
As a result, the casinos in Central City had already started taking bets.
The odds of Cell winning it all were 1-to-2.
The odds of Goku beating Cell were 1-to-3.
The odds of Vegeta beating Cell were 1-to-5.
There were others as well, like the odds of Android 16 beating Cell, which were a staggering 4.5.
A few other lesser-known fighters also had their own odds.
Shin was quite pleased.
He noticed that he wasn't listed.
This meant he had no reputation in this world.
Or rather, in this timeline, he had no reputation.
Therefore, no one knew that his strength was on par with Goku and the others.
However, he didn't place any bets.
It was pointless.
If he could actually defeat Cell, the fame he would gain would be worth far more than any money he could win from a bet.
Of course, the main reason was that the three of them didn't have the money or the connections to profit from the betting.
Time flew by. Shin and Kushina spent a few days shopping in Central City, treating it like a vacation.
The city was incredibly prosperous, its malls like cities that never slept.
These scenes of peace and stability seemed to indicate that this world was in no danger of destruction.
Perhaps everyone, or at least most people, didn't know.
They didn't know about Cell's true ambitions.
They just saw the Cell Games as another version of the World Martial Arts Tournament.
But Cell, in his heart, was still plotting to destroy humanity and absorb them all.
Soon, the Cell Games officially began.
First, a few referees came on stage and announced the rules:
The rules of the Cell Games were largely the same as the World Martial Arts Tournament: surrendering, being knocked out of the ring, or being killed by the opponent counted as a loss. The difference was that humanity's only opponent was Cell. Any number of people could participate, fighting Cell one by one. If one lost, the next would take their place.
Then they spewed some trash talk, mocking the entire human race.
They also made some taunting gestures towards Goku and the others.
The first to enter the ring, just like in the manga, was Hercule's student, Caroni. He leaped onto the stage and challenged Cell.
The Cell of this timeline was indeed much more civilized. Even with a complete scrub like this jumping up to challenge him, he didn't get angry. Instead, he waited a few seconds for Caroni to introduce himself before making a move.
The moment Caroni attacked, he was sent flying out of the ring by Cell's aura.
A wave of shock went through the crowd.
Caroni was Hercule's prized student and a famous fighter in Central City.
Yet he couldn't even force Cell to make a move. Just his aura alone was enough to send Caroni flying.
Soon, Hercule's second student, Pirozhki, entered the ring.
Pirozhki was a burly man, his appearance quite intimidating.
Compared to Caroni, Pirozhki looked much stronger.
Sure enough, unlike in the manga, Cell waited for Pirozhki to finish his long-winded introduction before starting the match.
Pirozhki roared, charging towards Cell.
But the moment he reached him...
Thwump.
The massive Pirozhki was sent flying like a broken kite.
Cell had barely even braced himself.
Everyone in the arena held their breath, the scene becoming incredibly awkward.
The entire crowd was momentarily frozen.
Most of them hadn't expected Pirozhki to be defeated so quickly.
Some had bet on him, thinking he might last five rounds, or maybe ten, but at least a few.
After all, Pirozhki's reputation was much greater than Caroni's.
At this point, it should have been Hercule's turn, but he was starting to get cold feet.
With his own strength, he could defeat his two students with ease, but it would take a few moves.
And he certainly couldn't do it as effortlessly as Cell.
Hercule slowly stood up from the rest area.
In that instant, all eyes in the arena turned to him.
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