Seeing how fanatical Vegeta looked, Tarble grimaced and sucked in a breath.
Hiss—
Something wasn't right!
Was this really the Vegeta he knew?
That look in his eyes... It felt like he was about to eat me alive!
After quickly composing himself, Tarble feigned confusion. "No way."
"Big Brother, how could your training progress possibly be slower than mine?"
"You're the most talented Super Elite Warrior in the history of our Royal Saiyan family!"
"How could that be?!"
Naturally, he knew the reason.
But he had to keep up appearances. Even though he knew the truth, he could only pretend he didn't.
It was much better to let someone else piece together the cause and effect than to explain everything himself, wasn't it?
With an overthinker 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 irritated at not being believed.
Tarble blinked, pretending to be startled. He leaned back a little but didn't say anything.
Still, Vegeta caring so much about his training progress didn't fit the image Tarble had of him at all!
Something was up!
That was the first thought that sprang to mind.
Seeing Tarble's reaction, Vegeta seemed to realize he'd overreacted.
He cleared his throat.
"Ahem!"
"Anyway, I have no reason to lie to you."
"You'll know whether it's true after you train for a while longer!"
"At this rate, you'll probably be able to try becoming a Super Saiyan in less than six months."
After speaking, he returned to his usual cold demeanor.
Even with dinner time approaching, he still stood with his arms crossed.
Before Tarble could answer, Bulma came over carrying a steaming spread of food.
"Vegeta, what's going on with you two?"
"I could hear you shouting from way over there!"
"Can't you two brothers just talk things out?"
Vegeta glanced at her, feeling inexplicably jealous.
Ever since he'd returned home, he'd noticed that Bulma seemed a little too warm toward Tarble.
Last night, while they were sharing a bed, he'd asked her about it.
Bulma's explanation had been simple: she wanted to make up for not having shown her little brother enough affection before.
Then she'd added that Tarble wasn't at all like a Saiyan, just like Son Goku.
Vegeta couldn't stand her openly bringing up other men over and over while they were in the same bed. He'd given Bulma a thorough beating on the spot.
Unfortunately, Bulma never learned her lesson.
Today, she was still just as warm toward Tarble.
So Vegeta replied stiffly, "It's nothing. We weren't arguing!"
But Bulma didn't seem to believe him. She shot him a skeptical look.
Vegeta's left hand, hidden beneath his armpit, quietly clenched into a fist.
Damn it!
She didn't believe me!
Fortunately, Tarble chimed in just then. "Sister-in-law, we really weren't arguing."
Only then did Bulma believe him. A lovely, graceful smile appeared on her face, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
"That's good~"
As she spoke, she gave Vegeta a thumbs-up in front of everyone.
Then she turned and headed for the kitchen.
Tarble hurried after her. "Sister-in-law, let me help carry the dishes!"
"No need. You've been training all day."
"It's fine. Carrying dishes is nothing for us Saiyans."
"Hehe, Tarble, you're a lot more diligent than certain people."
The two chatted and laughed as they entered the kitchen.
When Tarble got up, Licks had followed him inside as well.
That left only Vegeta and Trunks at the table.
Vegeta clenched his already-fisted left hand tighter, then turned to scold Trunks. "Trunks, why are you just sitting there? Go help your mother bring the dishes 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 answering did he run to the kitchen.
He didn't look particularly eager.
A moment later, Bulma's delighted praise rang out from the kitchen—
"Wow!"
"My little Trunks is helping out~"
"Of course! I'm a good boy~"
"Hmph!"
Vegeta snorted and turned away, intending to ask Dr. Brief and his wife to come to dinner.
It definitely wasn't because he was jealous!
Definitely not!
As he walked, he continued imagining things, convinced that his guess had to be right.
Licks's training progress was normal, perfectly matching what he'd deduced about the talent of an intermediate-level warrior.
Still, the thought that Tarble was most likely the most talented Saiyan warrior of all left him feeling conflicted.
But more than anything, he wanted to see just how great Tarble's talent would prove to be after training!
At the same time, he felt the pressure and secretly resolved to train harder.
The next day.
Tarble and Licks continued training in the Gravity Chamber, following their plan to train under 20 times Earth's gravity.
By the end of the day's training, their battle power had risen by 4,600.
That only strengthened Vegeta's conviction—
Tarble had to be the most talented Saiyan warrior!
This time, Tarble didn't make excuses. He openly admitted that perhaps his talent was pretty good.
In the days that followed, Tarble and Licks continued increasing the gravity by 10 times each day to adapt.
Their strength grew day by day.
And with every passing day, Vegeta became a little more certain of his original guess.
By the day Tarble and Licks had fully adapted to 500 times Earth's gravity, he had no doubts at all that Tarble was the most talented Saiyan warrior!
By the time they had fully adapted to 500 times gravity, it was already June 28.
After training hard, Tarble's battle power had soared to 2.78 million.
At a normal training pace, Tarble would have had only a little over 500,000.
Licks'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 the pair's battle power again.
Tarble and Licks were unfazed.
Things like this had happened almost every day over the past 50 days.
Of course, sometimes it was before or after dinner.
Sometimes Bulma came along to watch, too, out of curiosity.
The two left the Gravity Chamber and stood two or three meters apart, then skillfully released their ki.
Beep beep beep...
The Scouters started blaring.
When they finally fell silent, Vegeta and Trunks exchanged a knowing look that said, "Just as expected."
"Uncle Tarble, your battle power has reached 2.78 million!"
Trunks called out, no longer sounding as surprised as he had the first time.
&After Chapter 56, there's a chapter of personal notes about the setting. If you're interested in the details (especially training speed), you can skip ahead to that chapter.
Before you continue