Seeing Vegeta looking so fired up, Tarble grimaced and sucked in a sharp breath.
Hiss—
Something was off!
Was this really the same Vegeta he knew?
That look in his eyes... It was as if he wanted to eat him alive!
After quickly collecting himself, Tarble feigned confusion and asked, "No way."
"How could your training progress possibly be slower than mine, big brother?"
"You're the most gifted Super Saiyan elite warrior in the history of our Royal Saiyan family!"
"How could that be possible?!"
He knew the reason, of course.
But he had to maintain his act. Even though he knew what was really going on, he could only pretend he didn't.
It was much better to let someone else piece together the cause and effect than have to explain it himself, right?
With a big-brained guesser around, he wouldn't have to explain everything himself!
What a relief!
Vegeta's expression grew more serious than ever, and his voice rose involuntarily.
"Tarble!"
"I'm not joking!"
He seemed a little annoyed that Tarble didn't believe him.
Tarble blinked and pretended to be startled, leaning back slightly without saying a word.
Still, Vegeta being so concerned about his training progress didn't fit the personality he'd come to expect from him!
Something was up!
That was the first thought that sprang into his mind.
Seeing Tarble's reaction, Vegeta seemed to realize that he'd overreacted.
He immediately cleared his throat.
"Ahem!"
"Anyway, I have no reason to lie to you."
"Whether it's true or not, you'll find out after training for a while longer!"
"At your current rate, you'll probably be able to try turning Super Saiyan in less than half a year."
After saying that, he returned to his usual cold demeanor.
Even with dinner time approaching, he still stood with his arms crossed.
Before Tarble could reply,
Bulma happened to walk over, carrying a spread of piping-hot food.
"Vegeta, what's going on with you two?"
"I could hear you shouting from way over there!"
"If you brothers have something to talk about, can't you just talk it out?"
Vegeta glanced at her, feeling inexplicably jealous.
Ever since he'd returned home, he'd noticed that Bulma seemed a little too enthusiastic toward Tarble.
The night before, while they were sharing a bed, he'd asked her about it.
Bulma's reason had been simple: she said she was making up for not having shown her little brother enough affection in the past.
Then she'd added that Tarble's personality didn't seem Saiyan at all, just like Son Goku's.
With another man's name openly cropping up in conversation while they were in bed together, Vegeta couldn't stand it. He'd given Bulma a sound beating right then and there.
Unfortunately, Bulma never learned her lesson.
Today, she was still just as enthusiastic toward Tarble.
So Vegeta replied stiffly, "It's nothing. We weren't arguing!"
However,
Bulma didn't seem convinced and gave him a doubtful look.
When Vegeta saw it, his left hand, tucked beneath his armpit, silently clenched into a fist.
Damn it!
She actually didn't believe him!
Fortunately,
Tarble chimed in just then. "Sister-in-law, we really weren't arguing."
Only then did Bulma believe him. A lovely, elegant smile spread across her face, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
"That's good~"
As she spoke, she even gave Vegeta a thumbs-up in front of everyone.
Then she turned and headed for the kitchen.
Seeing this, Tarble hurried after her. "Sister-in-law, let me help carry the dishes!"
"You don't have to. You've been training all day."
"It's no trouble. Carrying a few plates is nothing for us Saiyans."
"Giggle. Tarble, you're a lot more helpful than some people."
The two chatted and laughed as they went into the kitchen.
Rix followed them in as soon as Tarble got up.
That left only Vegeta and his son Trunks at the table.
Vegeta clenched his already balled-up left hand even tighter, then turned to scold Trunks. "Trunks, what are you just sitting there for? Go help your mother bring the food over!"
Trunks had no idea why he was suddenly being told to carry dishes.
But he didn't dare talk back.
Otherwise, he'd definitely get scolded again.
And he didn't want that.
So he pouted. "Okay."
Only after replying did he run toward the kitchen.
He didn't look particularly eager.
A moment later, Bulma's delighted voice came from the kitchen—
"Wow!"
"My Trunks is helping out~"
"Of course! I'm a good kid~"
"Hmph!"
Vegeta snorted, turned around, and left to call Dr. Brief and his wife to dinner.
It definitely wasn't because he was jealous!
Definitely not!
On the way, he continued reassuring himself that his guess had to be right.
Rix's rate of progress was the normal one, perfectly in line with his estimate for a mid-level warrior's talent.
Still, the thought that Tarble was probably the most gifted Saiyan warrior of all left him with mixed feelings.
But more than anything, he wanted to see just how exceptional Tarble's talent was after training!
At the same time, he felt the pressure and secretly resolved to train even harder.
The next day.
Tarble and Rix continued training in the Gravity Chamber, following their plan to work out under 20 times Earth's gravity.
By the end of the day's training, their battle power had increased by 4,600.
That only made Vegeta more certain of his conclusion—
Tarble had to be the most gifted Saiyan warrior!
This time, Tarble didn't make excuses. He freely admitted that his talent might be pretty good.
In the days that followed,
Tarble and Rix kept increasing the gravity by 10 times each day to adapt.
Their strength grew day by day.
And with each passing day, Vegeta became more certain of his original guess.
By the time Tarble and Rix had fully adapted to 500 times Earth's gravity, he had no doubt left that Tarble was the most gifted Saiyan warrior!
The day they fully adapted to 500 times gravity was already June 28.
After training hard, Tarble's battle power had soared to 2.78 million.
At the normal rate of progress, Tarble would have reached only a little over 500,000.
Rix's battle power, meanwhile, was only 500,000.
As soon as the two stepped out of the Gravity Chamber, they saw Vegeta and Trunks, each wearing a Scouter.
Clearly, they were waiting to measure their battle power again.
Tarble and Rix saw them and remained unruffled.
This had happened almost every day over the past 50 days.
Of course,
sometimes it was before or after dinner.
Sometimes Bulma would come along out of curiosity, too.
The two came out of the Gravity Chamber and stood two or three meters apart, then easily released their ki.
Beep beep beep...
The Scouters immediately began shrieking.
Once they fell silent, Vegeta and Trunks shared the same expression: "Just as expected."
"Uncle Tarble, your battle power has reached 2.78 million!"
Trunks called out. He wasn't nearly as surprised as he'd been the first time.
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