At that moment.
Vegeta's feelings were complicated.
He hoped his guess was right, yet at the same time, he hoped it wasn't.
But he knew very well that there was a good chance it was true.
That meant Tarble's strength had completely surpassed his!
After all, two days ago, Tarble had trained for just one day and genuinely gained over 600 million in battle power!
Surely he and Trunks hadn't both misread the numbers?
At that rate of improvement, wasn't it perfectly normal for Tarble to surpass him after a year of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?
Hearing Vegeta's words, Tarble smiled, then turned to Rix and instructed him, "Rix, you go first."
Rix had thought Tarble would explain things himself. He hadn't expected Tarble to ask him to do it.
He was taken aback, but quickly recovered and replied, "Yes, Your Highness Tarble."
Then he puffed out his chest and reported to Vegeta with utmost seriousness.
"Your Highness Vegeta, my battle power has now reached 63.47 billion."
"On the final day before we came out, I also successfully mastered the Super Saiyan 3 transformation."
"Of course, I owe it all to Your Highness Tarble's guidance."
The moment those words reached Vegeta's ears, he was still startled, despite having mentally prepared himself.
His eyes widened in utter shock.
But when he remembered that Tarble and Rix had taken a Gravity Chamber inside with them, his surprise eased a little.
If he had trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with a Gravity Chamber, his battle power would have increased even more.
He couldn't compare to Tarble, but surely he wasn't weaker than Rix.
What truly shocked him was that Rix had actually reached Super Saiyan 3!
Vegeta had seen Super Saiyan 3 with his own eyes, and he knew the transformation had a major drawback.
It consumed enormous amounts of stamina and energy.
Most importantly, it made it impossible to sense ki.
That was why he had never considered transforming into a Super Saiyan 3 himself.
It seemed Tarble had learned the transformation too...
It's my fault for not explaining Super Saiyan 3's drawbacks to them...
With a hint of regret, Vegeta turned an inquiring gaze toward Tarble.
But Tarble didn't answer right away. Instead, he cautioned him solemnly, "Big brother, before I tell you my exact battle power, I hope you'll prepare yourself."
Vegeta's heart gave a sudden jolt, and he eyed Tarble suspiciously.
Prepare himself?
What did that mean?
Could his battle power have... become unimaginable?!
No way!
Even with exceptional talent, reaching three or four hundred billion would be the absolute limit, wouldn't it?
His expression grew serious, and he began to sound impatient. "Hmph. Just how high has your battle power gotten?"
"Spit it out!"
"It's just a trivial little thing. Why would I need to prepare myself?"
He really wanted to know, but when the words came out of that arrogant mouth of his, they took on a different tone.
Seeing this, Tarble let the smile fade from his lips.
That alone made Vegeta's heart leap.
Why so serious?
Could something be wrong...?
But before he could speculate any further, Tarble calmly said, "Big brother, my base battle power has reached 1.2 trillion."
As soon as the words fell, Vegeta's eyes widened, his pupils shrank, and his lips parted. He stood rooted to the spot.
1... 1.2 trillion?!!!
What shocked him even more was what Tarble said next.
"Yeah. I haven't just mastered the Super Saiyan 3 transformation. I've also mastered the Super Saiyan 4 form!"
"In Super Saiyan 4, my battle power increases to 4,000 times my base form!"
"Good thing Sister-in-law modified the Scouter well enough to—"
Vegeta could no longer make out the rest.
The words "Super Saiyan 4" and "4,000 times" were exploding in his mind.
His head was spinning.
In just one year, Tarble's base battle power had reached an astonishing 1.2 trillion. He had even surpassed Son Goku in his transformations and mastered Super Saiyan 4!
Was this still a Saiyan warrior as he understood them?
Tarble sincerely praised Bulma. Seeing that Vegeta seemed to be completely stunned, he suddenly found it rather dull.
So much for being prepared.
He'd still been shocked!
With a faint, teasing smile tugging at his lips, Tarble waved a hand in front of Vegeta's eyes.
"Hey, big brother?"
"Big brother!"
He raised his voice on the last call.
As it turned out, that did the trick. Vegeta snapped back to his senses.
"Big brother, are you all right?"
Looking at Tarble's slightly mischievous grin, Vegeta's eyes flickered with embarrassment.
But it was quickly replaced by overwhelming astonishment.
"Tarble, are you sure you're not joking?"
Tarble felt a little speechless.
Who would joke about something like this?
He nodded firmly. "Yeah, I'm not joking!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Vegeta suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha! Hahahahaha!"
His laughter was filled with unrestrained joy.
Vegeta was delighted, but Tarble and Rix were both bewildered.
Huge question marks seemed to pop up over their heads.
Was something wrong with him today?
But Vegeta was laughing so wildly that neither of them interrupted.
Everyone had their moments of madness.
They understood!
They understood!
Tarble sensed Trunks's ki and realized he wasn't home.
He widened his range and found that Trunks was with Son Goten.
So much for training hard.
He really was just a kid!
Well.
With Earthling blood and peace all around him, it was only natural that he wouldn't take training seriously.
Being playful was normal.
Just then, Vegeta seemed to have laughed enough. His laughter abruptly stopped, and he shot Tarble a fervent look.
"Tarble, well done!"
"I thought you wouldn't surpass me so soon!"
"I never expected it to happen this quickly!"
"Ha ha, great!"
"Our Royal Saiyan blood really is the strongest!"
For once, he cast off his usual cold expression. His face shone with the brightest smile he had ever worn.
Only after hearing those words did Tarble understand why Vegeta had gone wild.
So that was it!
Vegeta, you're far too obsessed.
You didn't just want to surpass Son Goku; you also wanted to prove that Royal Saiyans were the strongest.
With your nerves constantly on edge, how could your training ever match Son Goku's?
He had just finished making that silent assessment when Vegeta urged him again.
"Tarble, hurry up and transform into a Super Saiyan 4 for me!"
"What does Super Saiyan 4 look like?"
Vegeta was so excited and eager that he didn't seem the least bit discouraged by being surpassed. Tarble found it rather surprising.
The Vegeta he knew wasn't supposed to be like this.
Shouldn't he have been shouting something like, "Don't get cocky! I'll surpass you one day"?
Still, after all that conditioning, perhaps this really was how Vegeta would react.
Before you continue