Hearing that, Goku's expression turned serious as he carefully sensed the surrounding energies.
"There are two powerful ki signatures not far from here. And much farther away... there's another one with an immeasurable amount of power! Is that Frieza? What a terrifying aura!"
Seeing that Goku had so quickly locked onto the enemy's energy, Krillin hurriedly asked,
"Well, Goku? Can you win?"
"I should be able to handle those two nearby. But Frieza..." Goku said with a solemn look. "Even I can't see the bottom of his strength. Still... just thinking about fighting someone that powerful..."
A grin spread across his face.
"It makes my blood boil with excitement!"
"Wh-What?!"
Krillin immediately panicked.
"Hey, Goku! This isn't the time to get carried away! We should grab the Dragon Balls, revive Piccolo, and then get back to Earth in your spaceship as fast as possible!"
Vegeta had been staring at Son Goku the entire time.
When he heard Goku confidently say he could deal with Captain Ginyu nearby, Vegeta sneered.
After all, that was his own body. He had complete confidence in its strength.
But after seeing Goku sense Frieza's terrifying aura and remain completely calm—even looking forward to fighting him—Vegeta couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
"He's... not afraid at all?"
"Could it be... has he... has he already become a Super Saiyan?"
Vegeta couldn't understand where Goku's confidence came from.
"Impossible!"
"A legendary Super Saiyan only appears once every several hundred years! And if the legend is true, then the one destined to become a Super Saiyan should be me, the Prince of all Saiyans!"
The thought filled him with rage.
"Kakarot! Enough talk! Let's settle everything between us right here!"
With a furious roar, Vegeta unleashed all of his ki and charged straight at Goku.
The instant he moved, Vegeta pushed his speed to the absolute limit.
But just as he reached Goku—
Goku disappeared.
Vegeta froze.
Looking around, he saw Goku had somehow appeared beside Gohan without him noticing in the slightest.
"How...?"
"When did he get over there?"
"How is he so fast?"
"But... his ki feels so weak!"
Vegeta refused to believe it.
Even though he wasn't fully accustomed to this body yet, he could still draw out at least 100,000 battle power.
He hadn't held back at all just now.
"Has Kakarot's battle power already exceeded one hundred thousand?"
"How is that possible?!"
"Back on Earth he only had around five thousand!"
What Vegeta didn't know was that Goku's battle power had indeed only been a little over five thousand when they fought on Earth.
However, after surviving that life-and-death battle with Vegeta, recovering in the hospital, and eating a Senzu Bean, Goku's strength had broken through the 10,000 mark.
Then came several days of brutal training inside the spaceship.
Three near-death experiences had multiplied his power nearly eightfold, raising his battle power to over 90,000.
More importantly, after his relentless training, Goku's control over his ki had reached an astonishing level.
When he wasn't fighting, he released almost no ki at all.
As a result, a scouter could only detect around 5,000 battle power.
Even more frightening...
The instant he attacked, Goku could use the Kaio-ken, multiplying his power two or even three times.
That meant a battle power of 200,000 to 300,000.
With Vegeta's current strength only in the hundred-thousand range, he couldn't even touch Goku.
Dende, however, could sense the power Goku was actually displaying.
It was roughly equal to his own current level—
Around 200,000 battle power.
"So Goku is only using the two-times Kaio-ken."
"If that's comparable to me, then his normal strength should already be close to one hundred thousand."
"It looks like Son Goku can also become one of my target candidates."
Rather than attacking immediately, Goku first walked over to Gohan.
He gently patted his son's head and smiled warmly.
"Gohan, you've gotten much stronger."
Standing beside Gohan, Dende looked at Goku up close, his heart filled with shock.
"So... this is the power of the protagonist's aura?"
A comforting warmth washed over him.
Just looking at Goku made people feel safe.
Although the power he was currently displaying was only around 200,000, it felt as though limitless potential still lay hidden within him.
Most importantly, Goku's calm and composed demeanor naturally inspired confidence.
"Damn it! Impossible!"
Vegeta refused to accept that Goku had surpassed him in such a short time.
Clenching his fist, he gathered an enormous amount of ki.
A purple energy sphere quickly formed in his palm.
"Kakarot!"
"Unless you're willing to abandon your son, you'll have no choice but to take this attack head-on!"
With a crazed roar, Vegeta hurled the purple energy blast.
Wrapped in crackling lightning, it shot straight toward Goku.
Goku's expression never changed.
He casually took Gohan's hand.
Then, with his free hand, he lightly flicked the incoming energy sphere.
The blast instantly flew back the way it had come.
"W-What?!"
"It bounced back?!"
Vegeta had wanted to see how Goku would defend himself.
Who would have thought Goku would send it right back so effortlessly?
Completely caught off guard, Vegeta was stunned.
There was no longer any time to dodge.
Crossing both arms in front of himself, he desperately tried to block his own full-powered attack.
BOOM!!
The energy sphere exploded violently, instantly swallowing Vegeta's figure.
Without even sparing Vegeta another glance, Goku led Gohan over to Krillin.
"Krillin, thanks for everything."
"Gohan's grown a lot under your care."
Krillin scratched the back of his head.
"Come on, Goku. But... you've become unbelievably strong."
"With you here, I finally feel relieved."
"Honestly, I've been scared to die this whole time."
"I've already died once before, after all."
"If I die again, even the Dragon Balls won't be able to bring me back."
"Haha..."
Goku smiled.
"Leave the rest to me."
Only after saying that did he finally turn to look at Vegeta.
Vegeta was in a miserable state.
His battle armor had been completely shattered.
His body was covered in wounds, with blood flowing freely.
Ignoring the pain throughout his body, he simply gritted his teeth and glared unwillingly at Goku.
"He wasn't lying..."
"His battle power really is unbelievably high."
"But... how did he become this strong?"
Looking at Vegeta calmly, Goku finally spoke.
"Vegeta..."
"I feel like you've changed."
"You don't seem as evil as you were when you first came to Earth."
"Stop fighting."
"I don't want to kill you."
Hearing those words, Vegeta exploded with rage.
"Kill me?"
"I am the Prince of all Saiyans!"
"Do you think a low-class warrior like you can kill me whenever you please?!"
With a furious roar, Vegeta unleashed every ounce of his power and charged Goku once again.
His fist swung down—
Only to hit empty air.
"Damn it!"
Vegeta roared, frantically searching for Goku's whereabouts.
"I'm over here."
Goku's voice came from behind him as he lightly tapped Vegeta on the back.
"Damn you! Take this!"
Vegeta instantly spun around, unleashing a storm of punches.
"Hah! Hyaaah!"
Facing the rain of blows, Goku simply folded his arms across his chest.
He casually swayed his body, effortlessly dodging every single punch.
"You've gotten a lot stronger too."
"But I already told you..."
"You're no match for me."
Watching Goku deal with him so casually made Vegeta feel like his lungs were about to burst from anger.
What hurt even more than the overwhelming gap in strength was Goku's relaxed, almost teasing tone.
To Vegeta, it was more humiliating than death itself.
"KAKAROT!!"
Vegeta roared at the top of his lungs.
"Stop holding back and fight me with your true strength!"
"I'd rather die in battle than be humiliated like this!"
"Come on!!"
Goku raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Is that what you want?"
His expression immediately turned serious.
"In that case..."
"I'll fight you for real."