Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1686 The Prince's Pride

He tried to struggle to his feet, but all the muscles in his body seemed to be protesting sharply, completely disobeying his brain's commands.

As the prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta grew up in an environment with ten times the gravity and underwent countless rigorous training sessions. He believed he had mastered the high gravity environment.

However, twenty times the gravity was a completely different concept—he felt every cell in his body screaming, his blood felt as heavy as molten lead, and even breathing became a luxury.

“Ka…Karot…”

Vegeta struggled to lift his head, veins bulging on his forehead, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Is this really... twenty times gravity?"

The voice was squeezed out from between his teeth, hoarse and distorted.

His usually arrogant physical condition seemed so inadequate at this moment.

What he found even more unacceptable was that this was achieved by a gravity chamber created on a low-level planet like Earth—he had originally scoffed at these outdated technologies, yet he couldn't even withstand the most basic twenty times the gravity.

Sun Wukong stood easily in the center of the gravity chamber, as if he felt no pressure at all.

He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and laughed, "Oh dear, I forgot you might need some time to adjust. Should I lower the temperature a bit first?"

"Shut up!"

Vegeta responded almost screaming, his voice distorted by the immense pressure.

He would never show weakness in front of this lower-ranking soldier, especially since the other party was Kakarot, whom he had long regarded as a disgrace.

Anger and pride intertwined into a stubborn force. He gritted his teeth and used all his strength to try to prop up his trembling body little by little.

His arm muscles were taut like steel, and sweat had already soaked through his combat uniform, dripping onto the smooth floor with a soft but clear sound.

Naba and Raditz remained lying on the spot, panting heavily like two stranded fish, struggling even to lift their eyelids.

Raditz barely managed to move his eyes, looking at Vegeta who was struggling desperately, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and admiration: "Vegeta... this is terrifying..."

He spoke haltingly, his voice almost incoherent due to the pressure of gravity.

Vegeta did not respond and was unwilling to respond.

All his will was focused on fighting against this terrifying gravity.

What a humiliation this was—he, Prince Vegeta, was so humiliated in front of Kakarot and that young man of unknown origin.

But at the same time, the warrior's blood deep within him was also boiling violently.

Isn't this almost overwhelming challenge, this environment that pushes him to his limits, exactly what he has always longed for?
"Continue..."

Vegeta spat out the words through his teeth, his eyes burning with an unyielding spirit.

"I won't... be defeated by this level..."

Sun Wukong looked at the three of them with some concern, especially Nappa and Raditz, who were almost unable to move: "Shouldn't we lower it a bit first? Gradual progress is the right way to cultivate."

"No!"

Vegeta practically roared.

"Keep this level! How could I, Vegeta, not even be able to adapt to this level!" Trunks, standing to the side, quietly watched his father's stubborn figure, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him.

In this time and space, in the still young and sharp Vegeta, he seemed to see the kind of tenacity his mother had once described—the spirit of getting back up no matter how many times he was knocked down.

Perhaps the Vegeta that Bulma speaks of is not entirely her idealized imagination, but rather the true nature rooted in this man's essence.

In the training room, three Saiyans from different backgrounds are each struggling against twenty times the gravity in their own way.

Vegeta was the first to be able to sit up, albeit with great difficulty. His every movement was extremely slow, as if he were moving in the deep sea.

Raditz and Naba remained prostrate on the ground, but gradually regained consciousness and began to attempt the most subtle movements, such as moving their fingers.

Although Future Trunks had not experienced such high-intensity gravity training, his condition was significantly better than that of Naba and Raditz due to his consistent hard work and dedication.

At least, he can now slowly move his limbs and try to adjust his breathing rhythm.

Raditz, who usually loves to slack off, now feels like he's on the verge of death—but Vegeta will never give him a chance to slack off.

Vegeta now wants to compare himself to Goku in everything, whether it's strength, speed of progress, or the quality of his followers.

Seeing that Future Trunks had already adapted to gravity, while Nappa and Raditz were still crawling on the ground like maggots, Vegeta was furious.

Sun Wukong and Sun Wuhan, on the other hand, seemed to be handling the situation with ease.

They had long since adapted to this environment and could even practice freely in the gravity chamber.

Even more surprisingly, Goku still had the energy to instruct Trunks: "Ki is also affected by gravity. Although a sufficiently strong ki can counteract gravity to some extent, we can't do that right now. You can try compressing all the ki in your body into a single point—that way, its density and mass will become extremely high."

Son Gohan added, "The key is maintaining this compressed state. You can't let it bounce back as soon as it leaves the gravitational environment. This requires extremely precise control."

He spoke calmly, as if he were discussing something extremely ordinary.

Vegeta remained outwardly calm, but he memorized every single word.

He secretly tried to mobilize the energy in his body and found that in a high-gravity environment, the air was easier to compress and condense—as if an invisible hand was helping him squeeze it.

Future Trunks also discovered this.

In a high-gravity environment, it is indeed much easier to compress gas into a high-density state.

The challenge lies in how to maintain this state over the long term, making the gas truly indestructible, rather than just effective within a gravity chamber.

This requires him to have an unprecedented level of precision in controlling energy.

The reason why Goku and Gohan are so relaxed is that they have transformed their internal energy circulation system into a "turbocharger" structure—the air is automatically and continuously compressed in it, like an eternal gravitational vortex, which can maintain a high density state without deliberate maintenance.

Vegeta tried in secret, but found that even with his control, it was difficult to perform such precise energy manipulation while resisting gravity.

Each attempt left him drenched in sweat, his muscles trembling even more intensely.

But he didn't give up; instead, he became even more excited—wasn't this the key to surpassing Kakarot?
Time passed second by second, and the only sounds in the gravity chamber were heavy breathing and dripping sweat.

No one spoke; everyone was absorbed in their own challenge.

(End of this chapter)