The air inside the gravity chamber shimmered — thick with tension, energy, and the ever-present hum of Capsule Corp's reinforced systems pushing out 20x Earth's gravity.
Kai moved like he was underwater. Except the water was made of steel and the fish weighed fifty tons. And they were tied to his limbs.
Sweat ran down his jaw, soaking through the weighted shirt clinging to his chest. His muscles flexed with every step, but he wasn't straining. Not really.
He was just warming up.
Outside the observation window, Bulma sipped on a fruit drink and scrolled her tablet with one hand, half-watching, half-griping to herself.
"I swear, if Dad brings home another cyber-cat that chews power cords, I'm gonna install an off-switch in his forehead."
Inside, Kai launched into a spinning uppercut that cracked the reinforced air. He exhaled, rolled his shoulders, and glanced at his system.
[Current Power Level: 10,000,000]
He whistled — low and impressed with himself.
'Ten million… not bad for four months of work.'
The system pulsed softly in the back of his mind. No alarms. No cooldowns. Just steady growth.
'Saiyans are supposed to get here in eight months. And now I'm sitting pretty, way past any of them.'
He smirked.
'Let 'em come.'
"You're making that face again," Bulma called through the speaker. "That smug 'I could bench-press a city block' face."
Kai didn't respond — just fired off a small ki blast into the floor, creating a harmless shockwave that rattled her smoothie slightly.
She glared. "Rude."
"Training," he said innocently.
"That was petty training."
"Gotta keep the ego sharp too."
He flipped backward and landed hard, the floor cratering slightly under his weighted boots. Then, standing there, breathing even, he let his mind wander back to old-world knowledge.
'Frieza's first form was 530,000. Second was double that. Third was 2,120,000. Final form, full power? 120 million.'
He stared at his hands.
'I'm not even transformed. No tail. No alien hacks. Just… effort. Grit. System cheese. And now I could obliterate the Ginyu Force with a yawn.'
He frowned slightly at the thought.
'Too strong, too fast. If I don't start holding back harder, people are gonna start asking questions.'
"You've been quiet for more than twenty seconds," Bulma said. "Are you either planning something or malfunctioning?"
Kai glanced at her. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"How to look like I'm not a walking natural disaster."
She raised a brow. "Bit late for that, dude."
He shook his head, smiled, and jumped back into a full training sequence — punches so fast they blurred, kicks that cracked air, movement so tight it looked like choreography.
But he was in control. Every second.
Every drop of power kept carefully, deliberately contained.
He was stronger than the Saiyans now.
But no one needed to know that yet.