He shook his head, not answering Vegeta's question directly. Instead, he said flatly,
"My strength... isn't worth a damn."
The words were tossed off lightly, yet they hit Vegeta like a hammer to the heart.
He'd beaten the Saiyan prodigy into a pulp... and this strength still wasn't worth anything?
Vitelli no longer looked at the three of them, still reeling from the shock and confusion. He turned and walked out of the training ground.
His stride was calm and steady, but the aura he had deliberately kept in check now carried a faint, heart-stopping pressure.
"Call me when there's a mission,"
he said without looking back, his voice carrying clearly to all three,
"otherwise, don't bother me..."
Before the words had even faded, he planted his foot and launched himself upward!
BOOM!!!
With a deafening sonic boom, Vitelli shot upward like a cannonball, bursting through the training ground's domed ceiling. He left a huge, human-shaped hole in the sturdy alloy roof, then vanished into the dusky sky in a streak of light!
Fragments of stone pattered down. Dust billowed through the air, and silence settled over the training ground.
Vegeta stood dazed, one hand pressed to his swollen cheek, staring up at the enormous hole overhead. His eyes were filled with a bewilderment he had never felt before.
His heart was full of humiliation... and, unbeknownst even to him, a wavering belief in his own strength, along with a yearning for greater power.
Nappa and Raditz knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe as they watched Vegeta fall silent. Their faces, however, showed a shock they couldn't even begin to understand.
"Ra... Raditz..."
Vegeta's hoarse voice broke the silence. He slowly turned his head, a complicated, unfathomable light flickering in his eyes. "You said earlier... Vitelli had always... trained at home?"
"Y-yes, Your Highness!" Raditz hurriedly replied, his voice trembling.
Vegeta fell silent for a moment, his small fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.
The humiliation on his face gradually gave way to an almost fanatical determination.
"Go! Find out everything!"
Vegeta's voice was cold and resolute, leaving no room for question. "Find out all his training methods, where he trains, what equipment he uses... Dig up every scrap of information about how he got stronger! Don't miss a single detail!"
"I want to know... how he became a 'monster' like that!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Nappa and Raditz were shaken to the core. They hurriedly dropped to one knee and accepted the order.
They were puzzled by their prince's command, but they didn't know that everything that happened today would utterly change young Vegeta—and alter the course of their own futures.
Vegeta looked once more at the hole overhead, as if he could see through the building to the powerful figure who had already disappeared into the distance.
The pain of having his pride crushed had now, strangely, become a burning desire unlike any he had ever felt.
"Vitelli..."
He murmured the name, flames blazing in his eyes. "Just you wait... I'll beat you! I'll show you who the true Saiyan prodigy is!"
The dust in the training ground slowly settled, covering the wreckage on the floor but doing nothing to conceal the Saiyan heart whose course had been forcibly changed.
It seemed that the storm of the future had been stirred into unpredictable turbulence ahead of time by this day's match.
Chapter 4: The Last Peaceful Days
Ever since the sparring match at the royal palace training ground had shaken Vegeta's confidence, the atmosphere around Vitelli's home had grown rather strange.
Unfamiliar Saiyans began appearing and disappearing on the nearby streets, their eyes full of curiosity and scrutiny.
And Raditz, with his distinctive broom-like mane, became a regular visitor to the area around Vitelli's house.
Whenever Vitelli sat meditating in the backyard or sweated through his training, Raditz would find a spot some distance away. Sometimes he pretended to be passing by; other times, he crouched on a rooftop and watched in secret, carefully recording Vitelli's every movement, the rhythm of each punch, even the roar he let out whenever he trained to exhaustion.
Vitelli knew exactly what was going on, but he couldn't be bothered to care.
Prince Vegeta's curiosity? Or was it resentment after his pride had taken a hit? Let him do as he pleased.
As long as those shadows didn't set foot in his yard or disrupt the rhythm of his training, Vitelli treated them like they weren't there.
His life remained as regular as a precision machine. He meditated at dawn, seeking harmony between "ki" and his mind; in the morning, he pushed his body to its limits under three times gravity; in the afternoon, he practiced precise ki control and explosive output; and at night, he went to bed early to make sure he had plenty of energy each day.
The servants delivered a huge pile of high-calorie food right on schedule each time. Pinching his nose, he wolfed it all down, turning the unappetizing food into nourishment for his growth.
A week later, the long-awaited Gravity Chamber finally arrived.
Several alien engineers in Battle Suits nervously and carefully transported a roughly ten-meter-long, silver-gray metal pod into Vitelli's backyard.
Complex energy conduits and heat vents covered its surface, and a heavy, circular hatch sat in the middle.
"Lord Vitelli, the Gravity Chamber you requested... has been completed to specifications, with a maximum setting of ten times Planet Vegeta's gravity."
The lead engineer's voice trembled as he handed over an instruction manual. "The operating instructions are all inside... please, please be careful when using it!"
Vitelli took it. His fingers brushed the cold metal surface of the Gravity Chamber as he felt the technological power it held. His excitement nearly burst from his chest.
Finally! No more using that broken-down thing that was always on the verge of breaking! Ten times gravity! This would be a stepping stone to even greater strength!
"Good work."
He did his best to remain calm and nodded. The engineers looked as though a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders. They quickly bowed and took their leave.
The heavy hatch closed behind him with a deep hydraulic locking sound. Vitelli stood in the middle of the Gravity Chamber, took a deep breath, and rapidly swiped his fingers across the control panel.
VMMMM—!
A low, steady hum of energy filled the chamber, far more powerful and resonant than the crude device he'd used before.
An invisible pressure, heavy as a mountain, descended in an instant! It was as if the mass of an entire planet had settled on his shoulders!
"Ghh!"
Vitelli grunted. His knees bent slightly, and every bone in his body groaned under the unbearable strain. Ten times gravity!
Ten times Planet Vegeta's normal gravity! The sensation of his strength increasing under this pressure was incredible!
The most fervent flames of longing for power burned in his eyes!
"Ten times... come on!"
He gritted his teeth, the veins in his forehead bulging. The "ki" within him surged like ignited explosives, working furiously alongside his body to withstand the terrifying pressure! He forced himself to straighten up, then, with great difficulty, raised his arm inch by inch!
Get stronger! Get stronger!
That conviction was branded deep in Vitelli's soul, supporting him as he began another, even more grueling round of training in the hell of ten times gravity!
Every punch was like pushing a giant ship weighing thousands of tons;
every kick was like struggling through viscous molten steel;
every breath pressed painfully against his lungs!
Sweat no longer trickled down him. It poured like a river, only to evaporate instantly in the heat!
The days flew by amid the roar of the Gravity Chamber, the groaning of his body, and the surging growth of his strength.
At dawn, he no longer confined himself to the backyard.
He sat cross-legged in the center of the Gravity Chamber and tried to empty his mind under the extreme pressure of ten times gravity.
He recalled Kami's teachings to Son Goku from his hazy memories: "Let your mind be as pure as the sky, and your movements as swift as lightning."
Keeping his mind clear was easier said than done. Maintaining that clarity under ten times gravity made the difficulty increase exponentially!
Distractions pressed down like mountains, but he forced them away, focusing on his breathing and the flow of "ki" within him, trying to touch the realm attainable only by the gods while under such crushing pressure.
After meditating, he spent the time until dusk doing physical training in the Gravity Chamber.
Under the battering force of ten times gravity, he trained his stamina, speed, strength, and endurance beyond their limits.
He no longer sought to increase his strength alone. He paid more attention to making his movements as swift as lightning under extreme pressure. This required him to coordinate his muscles, bones, nerves, and even his "ki" under the strain with unprecedented precision and efficiency!
Late at night, after a brief rest, he delved deeper into his exploration of ki. He switched between being inside and outside the Gravity Chamber, feeling how changes in gravity affected his "ki." Under normal gravity, he tried to compress his ki to an even lower level; under increased gravity, he guided it through more complex and precise internal circuits and bursts.
The results were astonishing!
The battle power displayed on his Scouter shot up like a rocket, surpassing 15,000, and still didn't stop!
In just one month, under the terrifying effects of ten times gravity, his base battle power soared past 50,000! When he tried to measure his battle power, his Scouter promptly exploded on the spot. Vitelli could only stare, speechless, then sheepishly find a way to get another old-fashioned Scouter.
But even he was a little shaken by the rate at which his battle power was rising.
More remarkably, he felt some indescribable change taking place inside his body.
Punches, dodges, blocks... these movements came more and more naturally. He no longer had to run through repeated calculations in his mind as he had at first.
It was as though his body itself had developed "intelligence." Under the honing pressure of extreme training, it had given birth to an instinctive combat intuition—a sharper sense of control over strength, space, and his own condition!
This transformation of both mind and body brought Vitelli more joy than the mere increase in his battle power.
He knew this might be the budding form of the so-called divine realm, the foundation for reaching a higher level of power!
Meanwhile.
"Every morning, you sit on the ground like an idiot, spacing out? Then you don't even enter the Gravity Chamber for proper training until almost noon? Hmph! What a lazy fool!"
Deep inside the royal palace, Vegeta listened to Raditz's exhaustive report. Disdain filled his youthful face, but his eyes burned with blazing fire and an almost obsessive determination.
"If it were me, I'd start training before the sun even rose! I'd train twice as long as he does! No, three times as long!"
Vegeta clenched his fist, his small face full of ferocity. "Next time! The next time we meet, I'll completely wipe that bastard's smug look off his face! I'll make him kneel before me and beg for mercy!"
He could already picture Vitelli submitting to his overwhelming power, and a cold, confident smile curled his lips.
Raditz kept his head bowed, not daring to breathe.
He could clearly feel the near-mad determination radiating from the prince. Ever since Vitelli had "taught him a lesson," the noble Saiyan Prince had started training like a low-class warrior. And it wasn't just training—it had practically become self-torture!
He'd doubled the intensity and even found several elite warriors with battle powers close to 5,000 to serve as punching bags... The results were exactly what you'd expect. Those poor fellows were still lying in medical pods.
"But... Prince Vegeta," Raditz carefully reminded him, his voice as faint as a mosquito's. "King Vegeta has already arranged our first mission... We're heading to Planet Soph in a month... It's a mid-level planet... As for the Gravity Chamber training, shouldn't we..."
"Shut up!" Vegeta spun around, his icy gaze stabbing into Raditz like a knife as he cut him off. "Are you questioning this prince?! Or are you questioning King Vegeta's orders?!"
Raditz dropped to his knees with a thump, so frightened that cold sweat instantly soaked his back. "I wouldn't dare! Please calm down, Your Highness! It's just... the mission is coming up..."
"Hmph! How much time could a mere mission to a mid-level planet possibly take?!"
Vegeta snorted, his voice full of absolute confidence. "Hurry them up and make sure they finish the Gravity Chamber! One month is enough! If Vitelli can improve that much with his lazy methods, then with my greater effort, I'll only become stronger than him! Get out! Come notify me when it's time to leave! Don't interrupt my training!"
"Yes! Yes, Your Highness!"
Raditz retreated in a stumbling rush, as if granted a pardon. His resentment toward Vitelli deepened further. It was all that monster's fault! The prince had turned into a powder keg!
A month passed quietly amid Vitelli's single-minded training, Vegeta's frenzied self-torture, and Raditz's anxious spying.
Vitelli's home seemed like an island of absolute calm at the eye of a storm.
King Vegeta seemed to tacitly approve of his seclusion. Prince Vegeta was absorbed in his own plan to catch up, and no one disturbed the routine that had become almost rigid.
Still, the peace was bound to end.
DING-DONG—DING-DONG—
The shrill doorbell pierced the sturdy walls of the Gravity Chamber, interrupting Vitelli's burst of extreme-speed punches.
He slowly lowered his fists, feeling the surging power of 50,000 battle power coursing through him. He frowned slightly. Wasn't it still too early for lunch?
He turned off the gravity system. The crushing pressure receded like a tide, and his body instantly felt so light that he could almost float.
Vitelli opened the hatch and walked toward the front door, heat steaming off him.
Nappa stood outside, sweat glistening on his bald head.
When Vitelli opened the door, Nappa instinctively took half a step back. His eyes darted about as he spoke in a rush.
"Vi... Vitelli! The mission's been assigned! You're to help Prince Vegeta conquer a mid-level planet called Soph! Meet at Spaceport Docking Bay 3 tomorrow morning! And... best not be late!"
He said it all in one breath, speaking so quickly he sounded as if he were fleeing for his life. Then he gazed anxiously at Vitelli, apparently afraid that the other man might punch him if he took offense.
Though Nappa was also an elite warrior, he knew very well that his battle power was nothing before this monster!
Vitelli showed no particular expression and simply nodded. "Mm, I understand. Thanks for making the trip."
He closed the door briskly, as if he'd just dealt with something trivial.
Outside, Nappa let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his bald head. Without daring to linger, he shot into the sky and flew at full speed toward the royal palace.