Every creation had its strengths.
And every creation had its flaws.
My inventions were no exception.
After months of continuous training, our efficiency had improved noticeably.
Our coordination was better.
Our stamina was higher.
Our control was sharper.
But our raw power…
Had barely changed.
My base power level remained around seven hundred and fifty.
Raditz's hovered near three thousand.
The only major difference was that he could now maintain his Battle Phase for nearly thirty minutes without collapsing.
That alone was a huge improvement.
Still, it wasn't enough.
Not yet.
With less than three months left before Vegeta and Nappa's arrival, I made a decision.
For now, I would stop relying on my armor's full output.
And Raditz would stop using his Battle Phase in real combat training.
We needed to build proper foundations.
Not just temporary boosts.
As a result, our sparring sessions changed.
I could no longer push him hard enough to truly challenge him.
And he had to restrain himself so much that he barely benefited.
Eventually, we reached the same conclusion.
We needed to train separately.
But not completely.
Every day, we still sparred for thirty minutes using our equipment.
Not to grow stronger—
But to test stability.
To check for errors.
To identify flaws.
If something was going to break, it needed to break now.
Not in front of Vegeta.
Not in front of Nappa.
During this period, I noticed something interesting.
Raditz had started experimenting.
He wasn't using his Battle Phase at full power anymore.
When I designed his mechanical heart, I had programmed four activation levels:
Twenty-five percent.
Fifty percent.
Seventy-five percent.
One hundred percent.
A gradual system.
Just like my armor.
But having access to something didn't mean it should always be used.
I realized I had made the same mistake.
I had been relying too much on full output.
So I adjusted.
From then on, I limited my armor to twenty-five percent.
That reduced my combat power to around three thousand five hundred.
Only slightly above Raditz's base.
It forced both of us to fight properly.
To think.
To adapt.
We trained like this for two hours every day.
And every night, I wondered the same thing.
Is this enough…?
Two months wasn't much time.
But it was all we had.
One evening, as we finished cooling down, Raditz hesitated beside me.
"…Bulma," he said.
"Yes?"
He scratched the back of his head.
"There's… something I've been meaning to ask."
I looked up. "Go on."
He hesitated again.
"…What happens if I turn into an Oozaru?"
I blinked.
"That's it?"
He frowned. "Answer properly."
"Well," I said, "your power increases tenfold. Same as any Saiyan."
"That's not what I meant," he replied quickly.
He placed a hand over his chest.
"This thing… my heart. It's still the same size, right?"
"…Yes."
"So if I become ten times bigger… will it even work?"
Ah.
Now I understood.
He wasn't worried about power.
He was worried about survival.
I smiled.
"Of course it works," I said calmly.
"What?"
"It's a Capsule Corporation device," I reminded him.
"Did you really think I wouldn't plan for that?"
He stared at me.
"The heart has a dynamic expansion system," I explained.
"It adjusts to your body's size automatically."
"…Seriously?"
"And not only that," I added, "you can activate Battle Phase even in Oozaru form."
His eyes widened.
"Wait—so that means—"
"Yes," I said. "You'd be terrifying."
He exhaled sharply.
"…Thank goodness."
I tilted my head. "You've been worried about this for a while, haven't you?"
"…Yeah."
He looked away.
"I didn't know if it was okay to ask."
I crossed my arms.
"Raditz, it's your body."
"Your safety."
"You have every right to know how it works."
He nodded slowly.
"…Got it."
After that, we returned to our routines.
Separate training rooms.
Separate programs.
Separate limits.
I had built a second chamber specifically for him.
His gravity levels were far beyond what I could safely handle.
It was better this way.
Safer.
More efficient.
More honest.
We weren't rushing.
We weren't gambling.
We were preparing.
Quietly.
Relentlessly.
For the storm that was coming.