"To become a Super Saiyan, the first thing you need is a peaceful heart," Ken said with a sigh. "So starting now, you need to keep your emotions calm and steady."
"Tch, like hell I'll keep a peaceful heart. Stop trying to fool me! That's just the foundation of your whole 'Angel Power' thing! I don't want to be some healer—I want to be a mighty warrior! A warrior strong enough to grind Frieza into the dirt!" Vegeta looked up at the stars, his eyes burning with anticipation.
At this age, Vegeta was full of dreams and fantasies.
So much so that even after growing up, he still lived in them.
Ken suddenly turned his head and glanced behind them.
"What is it?" Vegeta turned too, sensing something.
"We're being followed," Ken said suddenly.
"We are? Is it Frieza's men?" Vegeta blinked, quickly grabbed his scouter, and put it on.
Beep beep!
The display lit up with a reading.
"Power level: 17,000!"
Vegeta's face twisted with tension, his voice trembling.
"Uh… 2,000 higher than yours," Ken commented calmly.
Vegeta turned to Ken stiffly, a hint of fear in his eyes. He clenched his fists tightly. "It's Dodoria's brother—Zadoria! Damn Frieza, what's he up to now?"
"Maybe he just wants to invite us out for tea," Ken said with a smile.
"Hmph, you think that's likely?" Vegeta immediately took off his scouter and covered the mic, rolling his eyes. "Find a planet with a moon—I'm going Great Ape and crushing him."
"No need for that. Don't forget—I can heal," Ken said with a casual grin. "As long as he injures you badly enough, I'll heal you. You'll get a massive boost in power."
Vegeta's eyes lit up, and he stared into space with a goofy grin.
That's right!
I've got a top-tier healer!
What am I even afraid of?
"Wait… you don't even have a scouter. How did you know we were being followed?" Vegeta asked suspiciously.
"I already told you—don't rely on scouters," Ken smiled. "You need to learn how to sense energy. That's how you determine strength and position."
"There's a technique like that?" Vegeta was stunned.
"You've got a lot to learn," Ken said with a faint smile.
"Hmph, like you're some kind of expert," Vegeta scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Enough talking—find a planet to land on. We Saiyans can't survive in space. It's our biggest weakness," Ken said with a sigh.
Although Ken could now condense low-purity Divine ki…
That didn't mean he was truly an Angel or capable of surviving in space.
That was still a far-off goal.
To truly become an Angel, he still had a long road ahead.
At the very least, mastering Ultra Instinct was step one.
Ken made a quick estimate:
If he could refine Divine ki to a purity of 10, he should be able to unlock the Super Saiyan God state.
At 15, he could probably reach Super Saiyan Blue.
At 20, he might unlock Ultra Instinct -Sign-.
And at 30, he could reach true Ultra Instinct—the silver-haired form.
Of course, this was all theoretical.
Was there a connection between Divine ki and Super Saiyan God?
Absolutely.
In truth, Super Saiyan God was just the first step in a Saiyan becoming divine.
It was the initial transformation from raw energy into divine power.
Back in his previous life, Ken had seen plenty of Dragon Ball fans debating whether Super Saiyan 4 or Super Saiyan God was stronger.
The debate boiled down to one thing:
SSJ4 was the result of quantitative energy accumulation,
while SSJG was a result of qualitative energy evolution.
So which one was stronger?
In Ken's view, assuming similar base power, Super Saiyan 4 was at least equal to or even stronger than Super Saiyan Blue.
Why stronger?
Because SSJ4 had far longer transformation duration—even unconscious, a Saiyan could maintain the form.
Super Saiyan Blue couldn't do that.
So even if their strength was equal, SSJ4 might outlast Blue in a drawn-out fight.
Of course, this was just Ken's speculation from his previous life. Whether it held true remained to be seen.
Now that he was in the Dragon Ball world, he had the chance to test it for real.
Ken believed guiding Vegeta down the Super Saiyan 4 path might actually be the best choice.
But first, he had to address the Saiyans' biggest flaw:
They couldn't survive in space.
For a warrior race, that was embarrassingly weak.
"Zadoria! What the hell are you chasing us for?!" Vegeta had already established comms with him via scouter.
"Vegeta, Lord Frieza commands that you and Ken return to him at once," Zadoria ordered.
"Hmph, this prince goes where he wants—Frieza has no say in it!" Vegeta growled.
"In that case, I'll just bring you back myself," Zadoria snorted. "From what I've seen, there are no moons on any nearby planets. And my ship's faster than yours. You and Ken would do well to behave."
"Even without a moon, I'll still beat you to a pulp!" Vegeta snapped back. "How about we settle this on the planet up ahead?"
"Oh? Feeling confident, are we?" Zadoria laughed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two space pods streaked across the sky, heading toward a distant ochre-colored planet.
About a minute later, the pods landed.
Creak…
The hatches opened.
Ken and Vegeta flew out of their ship.
This time, per Ken's suggestion, Vegeta had left his scouter behind.
He didn't want Frieza knowing about Ken's healing abilities.
The two sides met quickly.
"Vegeta, you should check your own power level," Zadoria sneered. "Mine's 17,000. Yours is only 15,000. Still… as a Saiyan prince, that's impressive. In fact, you've already surpassed King Vegeta himself."
(End of Chapter)