"Congratulations, correct answer," Ken nodded calmly.
"A Saiyan who can heal?" Zadoria blinked in surprise, frowning. "So all this time, you weren't increasing your power level because you were learning healing techniques?"
"That's enough, Vegeta," Ken called out.
Smack!
Vegeta leapt up from the ground, quickly checking over his body. As he confirmed his wounds were gone, a look of disbelief and joy spread across his face.
"He's already healed?" Zadoria's brow furrowed tightly.
"Not bad, right?" Ken replied with a smile.
"Hmph, so what if you can heal? Even if Vegeta recovers two or three more times, he's still no match for me," Zadoria sneered. He raised his hand toward Ken from a distance. "But I'm not giving you another chance to heal him! Before that, I'll make sure you're too broken to even stand!"
Boom!
As he finished speaking, Zadoria fired an energy blast straight toward Ken.
Ken didn't even try to dodge.
"Heh!"
Vegeta shouted and slapped the blast upward with one hand, sending it hurtling into the sky.
"What?" Zadoria was stunned. He hadn't expected that at all.
That energy blast should've been powerful enough to seriously injure them both.
Sure, maybe Vegeta could've dodged it.
But what shocked him was that Vegeta didn't dodge—he slapped it away like it was nothing.
Whoosh!
Vegeta shot forward like a blazing comet and slammed his head straight into Zadoria's chest.
Pffft—
Zadoria vomited a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.
Vegeta followed up with a vicious uppercut to Zadoria's jaw, flipping him through the air before he crashed to the ground in a heap.
"Peh!"
Vegeta spat contemptuously, wearing a triumphant grin.
Zadoria wiped the blood from his mouth and slowly, painfully climbed to his feet. He looked at Vegeta in disbelief, then glanced over at Ken nearby, completely bewildered.
"This… How is this possible?" he muttered in shock. "It feels like your power level has increased…"
"Zadoria, don't you know?" Vegeta smirked.
"Know what?" Zadoria blinked.
"When a Saiyan recovers from the brink of death, their power level increases dramatically," Vegeta laughed.
"You… What did you say?" Zadoria's face shifted rapidly between shock and fear.
"Ken, can you sense my current power level?" Vegeta asked.
"Around 18,000," Ken estimated.
"Only a 3,000 increase?" Vegeta muttered, slightly disappointed.
"That's already decent," Ken replied. "Let's just hope it doesn't stop increasing from here."
Vegeta: "???"
What did he mean by stop increasing?
He didn't think too hard about it.
Fine. 3,000 it is.
Right now, his power level was 18,000—1,000 higher than Zadoria's. That was more than enough.
In fact, even just a 1,000 difference meant a total reversal of advantage.
Zadoria had already been in combat, his energy drained and body injured.
Vegeta, on the other hand, was fully healed—and now stronger than ever.
"18,000?! That's impossible! That can't be true!" Zadoria shouted, completely unable to accept it.
"You'll see whether it's possible soon enough!" Vegeta growled, appearing directly in front of Zadoria in a flash.
Zadoria's eyes widened in terror.
"Die!" Vegeta roared, kicking Zadoria hard and launching him into the sky.
Boom!
Vegeta unleashed his full energy, engulfing Zadoria in a massive explosion.
When the smoke cleared, Zadoria had been reduced to scattered fragments—completely annihilated.
Huff, huff, huff…
Vegeta panted heavily, utterly spent.
It had taken everything he had to destroy Zadoria.
He was completely drained.
"Hurry, Ken, restore my energy," Vegeta called out.
"Vegeta, don't rely on my healing for everything," Ken sighed. "If you just want to recover some energy, eat a chicken leg or something. Food works fine."
Vegeta: "…"
"Tch, forget it then," Vegeta muttered, swallowing his pride.
"Now that Zadoria is dead, Frieza might try to track us using the ship's locator system," Ken said thoughtfully. "We'll need to figure out how to destroy the ship's tracking systems."
"Hmph, no need for all that trouble," Vegeta said with a proud grin. "I just thought of a brilliant idea—one that might help us defeat Frieza."
"Oh? What is it?" Ken asked.
"You beat me half to death, and then heal me! My power level will keep increasing!" Vegeta said, his face full of excitement and madness. His young features lit up with intense anticipation.
"Cough cough… That's… quite a request. First time I've heard one like that," Ken muttered.
"Hmph! With you healing me, I'll become a Super Saiyan in no time!" Vegeta laughed loudly and clapped Ken on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Ken! When I become the strongest in the universe, I won't forget about you!"
"I wouldn't mind beating you half to death…" Ken muttered with a slight shake of his head.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Vegeta blinked.
"I think it's important you understand something first," Ken said seriously.
"What is it?" Vegeta asked curiously.
"Do you know what Frieza's power level actually is?" Ken asked.
"Hmph, how high could it be? Maybe 200,000 at most," Vegeta scoffed, then grinned. "Once my power exceeds 20,000, I'll go Great Ape and smash him into the dirt!"
(End of Chapter)