"Don't you look down on me!" Aira snapped, her anger flaring at his condescension. In a flash, she was in front of him, a furious strike aimed at his chest.
Bang!
Rhode raised his hand with casual ease, intercepting the blow as if swatting a fly. Then he was behind her, an elbow driving her face-first into the chamber floor with a damp thud.
"A paltry twenty-thousand battle power, and you're boasting?" he said, his voice cool. He'd crushed her momentary pride deliberately. "And King Vegeta?" His lip curled in open disdain. "That arrogant, shortsighted fool should have been culled long ago." In Rhode's view, the moment the king exiled Broly out of petty fear for his throne, he'd traded true ambition for petty dominion.
"Damn it!" Aira pushed herself up from the floor, unhurt but seething, her mood black. The gap… it's gotten even wider?
Months of training had honed not just her power, but her perception. Rhode's ki was now a still, deep lake—utterly calm on the surface, impossible to gauge. Yet her instincts screamed of the monstrous force lying dormant beneath.
"Rhode," she finally bit out, the question burning her pride, "how strong are you really?"
He met her frustrated gaze. "My battle power is over thirty thousand. Less than forty. But my actual combat effectiveness is higher. In short," he finished, "you still have a long way to go."
"You… infuriating jerk!" She didn't know if she was more jealous or angry, but the emotion was hot and bitter.
Seeing her simmer, Rhode's expression softened slightly. "Don't fret. Next, we go to Namek. If things go well, our strength will see another significant leap in a short time." The Namekian Dragon Balls were more potent, and the Grand Elder could unlock latent potential. It was a crucial stepping stone.
"Namek?" Aira's knowledge was limited to them being peaceful, strong, and the creators of Earth's dragon balls. The rest was a mystery.
"Yes. Their dragon balls are more powerful. Their Grand Elder can help unlock a person's potential. There are some… conditions, but you'll understand when we get there." Namek was not widely famous in the universe yet, its secrets largely kept.
"Alright. I'm going to have Dr. Brief modify our ship. We'll rest for a few more days, then depart for Namek." With a battle power over thirty thousand, he might be numerically matched by a warrior-type Namekian, but in actual combat? He doubted it. Their peaceful nature meant limited battle experience. And he had his own trump cards. The time was right.
He adjusted the gravity to normal and exited the chamber, Aira trailing behind him.
**Beep-beep-beep~**
Outside, Aira snatched up the power level detector she'd left on a bench. Out of habit—and a nagging suspicion—she pointed it at Rhode's back as he walked away.
The numbers on the screen scrambled wildly, then settled, locking onto his suppressed, resting state.
Aira's breath caught. Her expression froze, then shifted to one of sheer, uncomprehending shock.
The number displayed was a steady, impossible *3*.
From four to three. A single digit's shift. To an outsider, it meant nothing. But to Aira, who now understood the profound discipline behind power, it screamed of a monumental leap. That one-point drop meant Rhode had compressed his energy further, achieving an even more refined state of control. From the same reservoir of power, he could now draw out sharper, more devastating force.
She didn't know how he'd done it, but she understood the consequence. Even if their raw battle power were equal, she'd struggle to match him. Her thoughts flew to his months of solitary work on the Oozaru transformation. At first, she could easily sense his massive energy when he transformed. Later, it became elusive, almost undetectable. Was this the result? Had mastering the Great Ape's power allowed him to refine his base state to this impossible degree?
Aira roughly pieced it together and felt a cold wash of clarity. To defeat Rhode, I need to be in this for the long haul.
The facts were stark and stacked against her: his higher battle power, his superior control, his dominance in the Oozaru state. However unwilling, she knew a quick victory was a fantasy.
Yet, the frustration didn't crush her. It hardened into a gritty, stubborn resolve. Perseverance will lead to victory. Look at her own progress—from barely over two thousand to beyond twenty thousand in half a year. A tenfold increase she'd never have dreamed possible. Surpassing Rhode wasn't a fantasy; it was a distant, but tangible, peak on the horizon.
As Aira cycled through shock, analysis, and renewed determination, Rhode had already found Dr. Brief.
"Turning Capsules into rings or bracelets?" The scientist paused, his mind visibly whirring as he considered the proposal. "That is a more ergonomic form factor... There are technical hurdles, material constraints... but the core principle is the same. It should be feasible."
Rhode nodded, satisfied. Capsule Corp's technology was fundamentally spatial compression. Changing the container from a pill to a piece of jewelry was an engineering challenge, not a physics-breaking one.
The capsule idea was a side thought. He got to his main point. "Doctor, we'll be heading into space again soon. Could you modify the spaceship? Specifically, install a Gravity Chamber."
"Simple. Give me a few days," Brief agreed readily, already scribbling notes. Then, his attention snapped fully to the new puzzle. "Now, about those spatial rings... I need to run some calculations." With that, he was gone, absorbed in his work.
Seeing himself effectively dismissed, Rhode smiled and left the lab. Stepping out into the sunny courtyard, he found a small observer waiting: Little Bulma, her big blue eyes fixed on him with intense curiosity. Rhode's smile widened, and he walked toward her.
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