"You're underestimating Frieza far too much," Ken said, slowly shaking his head.
"Then tell me—what is Frieza's power level?" Vegeta asked.
Ken calmly raised five fingers.
"Five hundred thousand?" Vegeta's expression shifted, though not too drastically. He lowered his head and began analyzing. "That guy's power level really is beyond what I expected… Looks like I'll need to raise mine to at least fifty thousand, then transform into a Great Ape to crush him."
"You can transform into a Great Ape—what makes you think Frieza can't transform too?" Ken replied casually.
"Wh-What did you say? Frieza can transform? That's impossible!" Vegeta froze for a moment, his face full of disbelief.
"From what I know, Frieza can not only transform, he can transform multiple times," Ken sighed.
"Multiple times?" Vegeta began trembling.
"At least three times," Ken added.
Vegeta: "…"
He didn't want to speak. His expression darkened to the extreme.
"As for the power level… After his first transformation, it jumps to around one million," Ken continued.
"One million?!" Vegeta's voice rose several octaves.
"No need to be shocked," Ken replied calmly.
Vegeta: "???"
"Because what comes next is even more shocking," Ken said.
Vegeta: "…"
"After his second transformation, his power level reaches at least two million," Ken went on.
Vegeta began to feel numb. His face had practically frozen.
"And after his third transformation, his base power level is around three million," Ken concluded.
"Three million?!" Vegeta turned pale with fright.
That means… for me to fight evenly with him, I'd need a base power of at least 300,000, then transform into a Great Ape…
"I'm not done yet," Ken said with a faint smile.
Vegeta fell silent.
"That's just his base," Ken explained. "If Frieza unleashes all his energy, his maximum power level reaches 120 million."
Vegeta's jaw twitched, his body trembled, and with a thud, he dropped to the ground and sat down, utterly pale.
He gasped for air like he was suffocating.
120 million?
Is that for real?
If this is true… a single sneeze from him might blow me to pieces…
Vegeta's entire mindset crumbled.
If this is real… then Frieza is an absolute monster!
He stayed silent for a full twenty seconds.
Finally, he rolled his eyes and glanced at Ken. "That's impossible. You're making this up—trying to scare me!"
"I'm not lying. I overheard it when Lord Beerus was chatting with Whis," Ken replied offhandedly.
"Lord Beerus? He said it himself?" Vegeta looked stunned.
"But that's not the main point," Ken shook his head.
Vegeta: "???"
All that and it's not the point?
Frieza's overwhelming power isn't the point?
"The point is," Ken said, "with power like that, how many near-death experiences would it take for you to surpass him? Let me do the math… If you gain 3,000 each time, how many times would it take?"
Vegeta: "…"
That hit hard.
At 3,000 per incident, it would take 1,000 near-death recoveries just to reach three million.
To reach 300 million, he'd need to be critically wounded 10,000 times.
That was enough to make Vegeta's spirit collapse.
Ten thousand times?!
Who could survive that?!
What Vegeta didn't know was that rebirth from near-death could sometimes lead to massive gains.
Sometimes it only resulted in a slight increase.
But occasionally, the boost could be several dozen times.
Take Goku's battle with Captain Ginyu on Namek, for example.
At the time, Goku's base power was around 180,000.
After being critically wounded by Vegeta and healed in a medical tank, his power skyrocketed to three million.
Vegeta experienced similar growth, though slightly less.
When he first came to Earth, Vegeta's power level was 18,000. After being pushed to the brink and recovering, it increased to 24,000.
After being seriously injured in the fight against Zarbon and then healed, it jumped to about 35,000.
Later, he clashed with the Ginyu Force, got badly injured again, and after recovery, his power shot up to over 500,000.
That's why when Jeice from the Ginyu Force saw the number, he naïvely thought the scouter was broken.
It was after this leap that Vegeta finally dared to take on Frieza, who had a power level of 530,000.
Then, Krillin gave him a "heart-cooling" assist, and after being healed by Dende, Vegeta's power reached around 2.5 million.
Even so, he still wasn't a match for Frieza's final form.
Eventually, Goku, Vegeta, and even Gohan could no longer improve through near-death rebounds.
That kind of growth had limits.
They'd already reached them through training.
"And from what I know," Ken continued, "this method of power increase has a cap. Once you reach it, no amount of near-death recovery will help anymore." He gently patted Vegeta's shoulder. "So don't chase shortcuts. Real growth comes from steady training."
Vegeta fell silent. His young heart had taken a serious blow.
"Hmph, with numbers like that… even a Super Saiyan might not be enough to beat Frieza," he muttered, face pale.
"Or maybe… a Super Saiyan is a transformation," Ken said with a smile.
Vegeta blinked.
"For example, after transforming into a Super Saiyan, your power multiplies by 50," Ken grinned. "In that case, how strong would you need to be to beat Frieza?"
"Three million," Vegeta answered instantly.
"Correct," Ken nodded.
Vegeta: "…"
"Tch. That's just baseless nonsense!" Vegeta scoffed. "Super Saiyan is a transformation?"
"Let's go," Ken said, already walking toward the spaceship. "No need to waste time on this anymore."
(End of Chapter)