As time slipped by unnoticed, a week had passed.
“I did it! Finally, I did it! So this is Ki!!” Raditz exclaimed in excitement, staring at the glowing sphere of energy in his hand.
The loud outburst startled Talot, Salari, and of course, Tights. Over the past seven days, Raditz had spent almost all his time, apart from eating and sleeping, trying to sense his own Ki.
Perhaps because he was still young and couldn’t grasp the meaning of Ki as Talot had explained, or maybe because he was overthinking it, he assumed controlling the energy within his body was the same as controlling Ki. As a result, he made no progress for days.
But in this moment, Raditz had finally managed to sense the presence of Ki and found a way to perceive aura.
“Congratulations, Raditz. You’ve finally taken your first step,” Talot said in an encouraging tone, avoiding any mention of how slow Raditz’s progress had been.
This also served to show Raditz that his hard work was paying off. Otherwise, he might lose the motivation needed for future training.
On the other hand, Salari, seeing Raditz’s smug expression, couldn’t resist teasing him. “You know, Aunt Gine was able to perceive aura in just three days. I wasn’t quite as fast, but I managed it in five. And you? It took you seven days.”
Salari’s words hit Raditz hard, filling his heart with immense resentment.
Isn’t this just adding insult to injury?
Talot was left at a loss, unsure how to comfort Raditz after Salari’s jab.
Fortunately, Raditz wasn’t the type to be defeated by mere words.
Having endured so much hardship over the years, he turned these verbal blows into motivation instead.
“Just wait and see! You took three years to reach a power level of 22,000! I’ll get there even faster than you!” Raditz declared loudly.
Salari rolled her eyes. She wanted to point out that by the time Raditz reached 22,000, she’d probably be at 50,000. Who would wait around for him to catch up?
But seeing the look in Talot’s eyes, she obediently held her tongue.
Tights, observing the competitiveness of the group, rubbed her forehead.
Ever since Raditz joined them, their little circle had become increasingly lively. While this was a good thing, the intense competitive atmosphere was overwhelming for her, an ordinary human.
“Now that I can perceive aura,” Raditz said impatiently, “you promised, Talot! As soon as I could do this, you’d teach me other ways to get stronger!”
Hearing this, Talot didn’t hesitate and replied directly, “Training Ki is already a way to enhance your strength. In fact, it’s currently the most crucial method. As for other forms of training, it’s just as I mentioned before—gravity training. If you can endure fifty times Earth’s gravity in a short time, your strength will at least rival Nappa’s.”
As he spoke, Talot and Salari led Raditz into the Gravity Chamber.
Although Raditz had already learned about many things and had some understanding of the spaceship, he’d never been inside the Gravity Chamber before and had no clear concept of gravity training.
“Let’s start with ten times Earth’s gravity. It should feel familiar to you, and with your strength, you should adapt quickly,” Talot said, activating the gravity device and guiding Raditz on how to use it.
In the environment of ten times Earth’s gravity, Raditz felt no significant impact.
Instead, it reminded him of life on Planet Vegeta.
Since leaving Planet Vegeta, he had rarely encountered planets with equivalent gravity. Most of the planets they visited had much lower gravity.
“I think I understand how gravity training works now. Ten times is underestimating me. Let’s jump straight to twenty times!” Raditz signaled Talot to crank it up.
Seeing Raditz so confident, Talot chuckled and nodded, then increased the gravity to twenty times.
The shift to twenty times gravity immediately caused his body to grow heavier, and his breathing became noticeably labored.
Still, with a power level just over 900, he managed to bear it.
“Add ten more times!” Raditz’s words took Talot by surprise.
Although it wasn’t shocking that he could withstand twenty times gravity, it was indeed bold to attempt thirty times gravity without even getting used to the burden of twenty times.
Salari, standing nearby, watched with amusement.
When she trained with Aunt Gine, it wasn’t much different from Raditz’s experience.
After increasing the gravity to thirty times in one go and finding it unbearable, she eventually had to scale back to twenty times gravity and gradually improve. It took her half a month to finally be able to endure the rigorous training under thirty times gravity.
At thirty times gravity, Raditz finally felt overwhelming pressure.
His movements became sluggish, and his limbs felt unbearably heavy. His breathing grew shallow, and the lack of oxygen left him lightheaded. Veins began bulging visibly across his body.
“How’s it going? If you can’t handle it, we can lower the gravity. Gravity training needs to be gradual, especially since you’re just starting to train in Ki,” Talot suggested.
Raditz didn’t respond.
No one knew where he found the strength, but he began to enjoy this immense pressure.
The sensation felt exhilarating to him.
Both Talot and Salari were caught off guard by his reaction.
In the end, neither of them disturbed him.
Since he can endure it, they decided to let him go ahead. If he wants to rapidly improve his strength, challenging his limits is absolutely essential.
If he couldn’t even handle this, how could he expect to truly grow strong?
Talot’s surprise stemmed from the fact that this was Raditz’s first experience with gravity training, and yet he was so determined.
…..
Back in the cockpit, Tights was writing while eating snacks.
Talot and Salari didn’t disturb her as they each took a seat on the chair.
“Raditz has been training for a week now. Are we heading back to Earth next, Brother Talot?” Salari asked.
Originally, the destination should have been determined a few days ago, but in order to give Raditz some extra time, they had been aimlessly drifting through space.
Back to Earth?
It wasn’t the time yet!
“We’re not going back to Earth for now; after all, we are currently in conflict with the Frieza Force,” Talot said.
“So where are we heading next? We can’t just keep drifting aimlessly in space forever, can we?” Salari continued asking.
The question caught Tights’ attention. She looked up and said, “I think we should find a place to hide for now. A few days ago, we intercepted news that the Frieza Force is after us. Specifically, the Ginyu Force is hunting us down. I’ve never seen them myself, but Jaco once told me they’re the strongest squad under Frieza’s command.”
As Tights spoke, she manipulated the control system, bringing up the intelligence reports of the Frieza Force.
“Frieza is indeed clever. Knowing that his subordinates Zarbon and Dodoria are no match for us, he sent the Ginyu Force instead. However, I am not afraid of the Ginyu Force. Even if Ginyu himself comes, his power level is only 120,000!” Talot declared confidently.
“But isn’t your power level just 88,000? That’s a difference of 32,000! How do you expect to fight him? You should be thankful that our ship has an advanced cloaking system. Frieza could break his head and still not figure that one out,” Tights said, popping a potato chip into her mouth.
“I have my ways! In short, unless Frieza himself shows up, no one else is qualified to make me feel scared…. And even if he does show up, I’m not afraid. Worst-case scenario, I’ll use teleportation or Instant Transmission to escape.” Talot’s response made Tights ponder as she held her chin.
“So what’s your plan, then? Don’t tell me you’re planning to…” Her heart raced with anticipation.
Being a novelist, she had already started to imagine some plot developments.
Salari, equally curious, waited for Talot to reveal his plan.
“Rather than hiding, I’ve come up with a much more entertaining idea. Since Frieza wants to catch us, I think we should deliberately put ourselves in his sights.”
“Let him know that we are always around, yet make it impossible for him to find us, while also wreaking havoc and causing him some trouble along the way.”
Saying that, he revealed a mischievous expression.
This plan didn’t come to him just now—Talot had considered it before but hadn’t solidified the details until now.
Since Frieza was intent on capturing them, Talot wasn’t going to sit idly by and do nothing.
……..
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