At the same time.
Other World.
At the end of Snake Way, on North Kai's Planet.
Talot, who had just returned using Instant Transmission, was now sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.
His clothes were tattered, his battle armor damaged, his appearance disheveled, and his body covered in serious injuries. Blood was still dripping from the corner of his mouth…
It could be said that since Talot's arrival in this world, this was the first time he had been beaten up so badly and suffered such severe wounds.
Raditz and Salari stood beside Talot, asking about his condition with concern; their panic had not fully subsided yet.
Without a doubt, Talot's injuries made their scalps tingle with fear.
If they had sustained such wounds, even if they didn't die, they would have been barely alive.
"It's fine, you two don't need to worry. If I wasn't trying to adapt and use this pressure to break through, I would have already eaten a Senzu Bean to recover."
As he spoke, Talot finally retrieved a Senzu Bean from his personal storage space and tossed it into his mouth.
Personal storage space!
This was an ability Talot had obtained a few years ago when he went to Planet Namek again and used Porunga to make a wish.
You might ask—doesn't he also have a self-healing ability?
That's true!
But self-healing consumes an extreme amount of energy, especially when Talot has no energy left at all. In his current state, he simply couldn't recover from such severe injuries.
As the Senzu Bean entered his stomach, its effects took hold instantly.
Talot's body suddenly swelled for a moment, his muscles trembling with excitement.
All of his wounds healed at a visible speed.
Not only did his injuries fully recover, but his entire being was revitalized. More importantly, his power level saw a massive increase, surpassing the 1,500,000 mark in his base form!
[As expected, deliberate planning isn't the same as truly being on the brink of death. Just sustaining severe injuries and exhausting my energy isn't enough to trigger a real sense of crisis, so I couldn't achieve a massive breakthrough.] he thought to himself.
Although his power had increased, it was only by 300,000—which might seem like a lot, but compared to the power boosts Goku and Vegeta achieved in the original work, it was far too little.
Seeing Talot recover and his strength increase significantly, Salari and Raditz suddenly understood why Talot had taken such a great risk.
North Kai walked over with his hands behind his back and spoke earnestly, "You really were reckless. Although you profited from this danger, you can't keep acting so recklessly in the future. Now you understand how terrifying Cooler is—his strength is far beyond Frieza."
"Yeah, he's definitely strong. But he's not unbeatable! I gained a lot from this battle. The next time we fight, I'll be the one to win." Talot's face showed a confident smile.
The next time they met, the situation would surely be reversed.
Unless Cooler's power also increased drastically.
But that was clearly impossible!
Given the arrogance of his race, they pridefully believe they are already strong and have no interest in training or improving themselves.
Seeing that Talot wasn't discouraged but instead full of fighting spirit, North Kai was both surprised and relieved.
He had thought that after being severely wounded by Cooler, Talot would fall into despair, but now it seemed he had worried too much.
This kid… truly worthy of being his chosen disciple.
Most importantly, this disciple had pushed Kaio-ken to its 20x limit!
That was something North Kai had never imagined.
"To maintain such high morale after experiencing defeat—very impressive! But you also need to have self-awareness. Take some time to rest and absorb the insights from this battle," North Kai advised.
The three of them nodded and each fell into their own thoughts.
…
In the blink of an eye, a day had passed.
Talot, Salari, and Raditz had remained in a meditative state the entire time.
Although yesterday's battle had mainly been Talot's fight, and only he had experienced a massive power increase…
Salari and Raditz, having gone through a real battle and witnessed Talot's clash with Cooler, had also gained many insights.
Throughout the day, no one disturbed them. Even though North Kai would occasionally walk by to observe, he never interrupted them.
Some insights, if interrupted, might never be experienced again for the rest of one's life.
The improvement of strength and the breakthrough of one's limits often work this way.
Here, with everything stabilized, Talot and the other two were climbing toward even greater heights of power.
…
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