The Golden Threshold

"Gohan! Get up!"

Chi-Chi's voice was as piercing as a fighter jet's sonic boom. Gohan poked half his head out from under the covers and glanced at the alarm clock. Exactly six in the morning.

Expressionless, he shrank back under the blanket.

Three seconds later, the bedroom door was kicked open.

"Get up!" Chi-Chi waved a broom in her hand. "Training is training, but you still need a regular schedule! Breakfast is ready, and you're still lazing in bed. What kind of behavior is that?!"

"Mom," Gohan's muffled voice came from beneath the blanket, "I'm a Super Saiyan now. Could I get a little basic respect..."

"Super Saiyans still have to eat breakfast!"

The broom mercilessly flipped back the covers. After three seconds of intimate contact with the cold air, Gohan resigned himself and climbed out of bed.

Of the three-year training period, a year and a half had already passed.

A year and a half ago, Gohan had only just touched upon the threshold of Super Saiyan, with a power level hovering around 150 million.

Vegeta was still wrestling with that golden light, able to maintain his Pseudo Super Saiyan state for nearly a minute.

Bulma had only just begun researching the reverse mechanism of the Infinite Energy Reactor.

Now, Gohan stood on the training grounds behind Capsule Corporation, staring at his palm. Golden energy flames burned slowly around it, but they were completely different from a year ago—more restrained, more condensed. Even the very texture of his ki had changed.

"Power level: 320 million." Piccolo stood nearby, looking at the readings on the energy detector Bulma had developed. "That's double what it was half a year ago."

Gohan withdrew his ki, his brow faintly furrowing. "Still not enough."

"Not enough?" Piccolo raised a brow. "Your power level has already surpassed your father's."

"I'm talking about Super Saiyan 2." Gohan clenched his fist, feeling the restless power stirring within him. "I can sense the threshold, but I'm still missing a trigger."

Like the overwhelming rage when Android 16 was killed by Cell in the original story...

But there was no such trigger now.

Piccolo looked at him as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. This child always found a way to make the right decision at critical moments—suggesting that Bulma research the reverse mechanism, deploying a surveillance network ahead of time, yet never explaining how he knew any of it.

"Gohan," Piccolo finally couldn't help asking, "you know some things. Things about the future."

Gohan's movements paused.

"Uncle Piccolo," he said softly, "there's no point in saying some things out loud. When you're not strong enough, knowing the truth only creates more anxiety."

"Then when will it be useful?"

Gohan fell silent for a moment.

"When we're strong enough."

A scream came from Bulma's laboratory.

"I found it!"

Bulma shot up from her chair, startling Vegeta beside her.

"What are you screaming for?"

"I found it!" She pointed at the screen, her eyes gleaming with madness. "The reversal frequency of the Infinite Energy Reactor! I found it!"

Vegeta leaned closer. A series of complex waveforms flickered across the screen. Bulma gestured excitedly. "As long as we find the resonance frequency and strike it with a specific kind of energy, we can make the energy cycle collapse! The androids will lose their permanent energy source and become just two humans with slightly stronger power levels!"

"So... we can cut off their energy?"

"In theory! But there's a problem." Bulma's expression fell. "We need an energy source with a power level above 150 million to power the emitter. And it has to be sustained output, not an explosive burst."

Vegeta fell silent.

His current power level was around 90 million, only one step away from Super Saiyan. If he could break through...

He had to break through. He had to do it soon!

Three months later.

Capsule Corporation. Vegeta's gravity chamber.

Five hundred and twenty times gravity.

Vegeta floated in midair, golden light flickering around his body. It was no longer the intermittent faint glow from before, but stable, continuous golden energy flames, as tangible as substance.

He was only separated from Super Saiyan by one final thin layer.

He felt the energy inside him. Violent, scorching, filled with the urge to destroy. Every nerve screamed, every muscle burned.

Still not enough.

He had tried countless times. Every time, he fell short at the final moment. That threshold was like an insurmountable chasm; no matter how he charged at it, he could not break through.

Why?

How had Son Goku broken through?

He recalled Goku's eruption on Namek when he faced Frieza in a desperate situation. That power awakened at the brink of death.

I had never gone through anything like that.

I had been an elite from the moment I was born. I had never experienced true despair.

My anger was the anger of arrogance.

No...

Vegeta's eyes snapped open.

No!

My anger isn't arrogance!

It's humiliation!

He remembered the destruction of Planet Vegeta, remembered Frieza crushing his father like an ant, remembered the humiliation of being the Saiyan prince yet reduced to serving Frieza.

I have never submitted!

Not even in death!

I am Vegeta!

The prince of the Saiyans!

I will never lose to anyone!

"AAAAAAHHH!!"

Golden light erupted!

This was no faint flicker like before—it was a genuine, complete, fully realized Super Saiyan!

Golden aura wrapped around Vegeta as though it were tangible, every strand of his hair gleaming with dazzling light. His gaze turned sharp, and his presence swept through the entire gravity chamber like a storm!

Within the space of five hundred and twenty times gravity, he felt no pressure at all.

Because before the power of a Super Saiyan, this much gravity was not even worth calling dust.

Vegeta looked at the golden figure in the mirror.

He had succeeded.

I... I finally did it!

He clenched his fists, feeling the unprecedented power within him.

150 million.

No, even stronger than that.

His battle power had stabilized at around 180 million.

Son Goku...

A bloodthirsty smile curled across Vegeta's lips.

Wait for me!

Ten minutes later.

In the backyard of Capsule Corporation.

Goku was drinking tea and chatting with Gohan when he suddenly sensed a terrifying aura descending from above.

"That aura..." The teacup in Gohan's hand trembled slightly.

The next second, a golden figure appeared before them.

Vegeta hovered in midair, his Super Saiyan aura so blazing it nearly scorched their eyes. He looked down at Goku with an arrogant smile on his lips.

"Son Goku."

Goku looked up, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "Vegeta... you broke through?!"

"Enough talk." Vegeta threw a punch. "Fight me!"

Goku instantly transformed into a Super Saiyan, and his golden aura collided with Vegeta's in midair!

"Wait—"

Before Gohan could finish, the two had already vanished from where they stood.

The next second, deafening thunderous booms rang out in the distance.

Gohan set down his teacup, his expression complicated.

The famous scene from the original... had finally arrived.

The Saiyan prince versus Son Goku.

He rose to his feet and slowly headed toward the gravity chamber.

No rush. Let them fight for a while first. I'll interrupt them in the end anyway.

Inside the gravity chamber, golden lightning crackled without end.

"Ha!" Vegeta punched at Goku. Goku dodged sideways, and when Vegeta followed with a knee strike to the abdomen, Goku blocked it with both arms.

"Not bad!" Goku licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes brimming with fighting spirit. "Now that's your true power!"

"Don't get cocky!" Vegeta charged forward again. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day?!"

Fists and kicks clashed, waves of energy surging. The 520 times gravity seemed not to exist as the two continuously collided at supersonic speeds.

"Haahhh!" Vegeta gathered energy between his hands and fired an energy blast at Goku. Goku likewise launched a Kamehameha to meet it head-on!

The two energies collided in midair, triggering a violent explosion! The shockwave shook cracks into the gravity chamber's walls!

"That was awesome!" Goku laughed. "Again!"

"Just what I was thinking!"

The two charged at each other once more.

Bang!

The door was kicked open. Gohan stood in the doorway, wearing a helpless expression.

"All right, all right." He raised one finger. "If you two keep fighting, the whole building's going to collapse."

Vegeta frowned. "Brat, get lost!"

"Uncle Vegeta," Gohan said, pointing at his watch, "Bulma's detector shows that you just broke through to Super Saiyan, so your energy control is unstable. If you force yourself to keep fighting, you'll be exhausted within five minutes at most."

"What did you say?!"

"I'm stating the facts." Gohan looked utterly serious. "Your current energy consumption rate is three times that of a normal Super Saiyan. Do you want to win a hollow victory while weakened, or wait until your condition stabilizes and fight properly?"

Vegeta's face darkened.

He knew Gohan was telling the truth. Having only just broken through to Super Saiyan, his control was indeed insufficient, and he was wasting far too much energy. If he kept fighting...

"...Hmph."

He withdrew his aura, and the golden glow slowly faded.

"We'll fight again next time." He looked at Goku. "Son Goku, don't think you've already won."

Goku scratched his head. "When did I say I won?"

"..."

"Besides," Goku said with a foolish grin, "that fight just now was pretty interesting. Let's have another one next time!"

Vegeta glanced at Goku, then at Gohan, before suddenly turning and leaving.

"Next time?"

His voice drifted back from deep in the corridor.

"There won't be a next time, Son Goku."

"Next time, I'll defeat you outright!"

His footsteps gradually faded away.

Gohan and Goku looked at each other.

"Vegeta... has changed," Goku said with feeling.

"Yeah." Gohan nodded. "He's become even more annoying."

Goku: "..."

Just who did this kid get that sharp tongue from?

Meanwhile, in an underground research facility somewhere.

Under dim lights, Dr. Gero stared at the readings on the energy detector.

Inside three incubation chambers, Android 17 and Android 18 were sleeping. Their bodies had fully matured and could be activated at any time. Android 16's repairs were also nearing completion.

But what unsettled Dr. Gero was—

"The Saiyans' energy... has grown stronger."

He stared at the readings, his brow deeply furrowed.

Son Goku and Son Gohan's battle power had been steadily improving, which was within expectations. But Vegeta...

"Three months ago, he was only in the Pseudo Super Saiyan state, and now he's actually broken through to become a true Super Saiyan?"

His fingers flew over the keyboard.

The schedule had to be accelerated.

The plan to activate them in three years had to be moved up.

Two years. Two years at most.

It had to happen before they grew even stronger—

Inside the incubation chambers, Android 17 and Android 18 remained asleep.

Activate, Androids. Let this planet witness true terror!

That night. Gohan's room.

Gohan sat by the window, gazing at the starry sky outside.

Bulma had found the reversal frequency. She would be able to produce a prototype in half a year. It required an energy source of over 150 million to power it.

Vegeta had just broken through to Super Saiyan, with a battle power of around 180 million.

If Vegeta were to power that transmitter...

He shook his head. It was too risky. If it failed, what they would lose was Vegeta's battle power.

Cell...

Outside the window, countless stars glittered.

And in the depths of space, a spacecraft was accelerating. Inside the incubator, the unfinished life-form remained asleep, but its aura was stronger than it had been half a year ago.