Ethan was serious, of course, but there was no point in saying too much right now, so he simply said:
"The universe is vast."
Then he continued training diligently.
With his training method, he could ensure a steady increase in strength. Better yet, everyone's strength was currently at a similar level, without too great a gap between them, so they could all act as sparring partners for one another, which also helped promote their overall improvement.
After training for a full two years, everyone had completely adapted to the weighted clothing. They wore the weighted gear during their daily activities, and for them, this set of clothes was no different from ordinary clothing and did not affect their everyday lives.
They even possessed considerable combat power while wearing the weights.
"If we took off this weighted clothing now, how strong would we be?"
"No idea."
In the story, Goku was the first to undergo training with 100 kilograms of weights. He trained with weights at Kami's Lookout for a full three years, and when he participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament, his battle power after taking off the weights was over 300.
However, later, when Vegeta and Nappa invaded Earth, Yamcha and the others, knowing that powerful enemies were coming, also underwent weighted training. In less than a year, they had all raised their battle power beyond 1000.
Setting aside the special factor of plot necessity in anime and the influence of bloodline, vision, goals, and pressure are important factors in determining how much progress is made.
Another factor is foundation.
The reason Ethan's progress was so slow now was because his foundation was too weak. If he had Goku's foundation, then with this kind of training, even if he did not reach 1000 by now, he should have reached 800.
"However, I should have made up for that gap by now, right?"
Through so many years of effort, Ethan had caught up to Goku's pace. If Goku had not encountered any special opportunities, his current strength would be lower than Ethan's.
In other words, the foundation factor that had limited Ethan's rapid progress had already been resolved, and things like vision were naturally not a problem for him. He knew how strong future enemies would be, so there was no way he would be misled by his current strength and allow himself to stagnate.
For example, when Goku and the others did not have powerful enemies as a reference point or target, their strength would fall into a stagnant state.
Before the Saiyans came to Earth, Goku had no clear goal, and his battle power did not increase much over five years.
Also, before the Androids appeared, although they knew powerful enemies would show up, without a clear concept of how strong those enemies really were, three years of training did not lead to a major leap in Goku's strength.
On the other hand, when there was a clear enemy and they knew how powerful the opponent was, Goku trained with much more purpose, and his strength increased at an astonishing rate, such as on the way to Namek and before fighting Cell.
This is the effect of vision.
"Oh right, what exactly is that thing you've been tinkering with?"
For the past six months, Ethan had been spending a lot of time every day building a strange room. Yamcha only knew it was for training, and he also remembered the gravity room Yoruichi had mentioned before, but he did not understand what this thing actually did.
"It's for training."
Since they had already adapted to 100 kilograms, it was time for the gravity room to make its appearance.
In any case, Bulma's house was large enough, with a backyard like a park, so Dr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs, and Bulma had no objections to Ethan building something there.
Dr. Briefs was very interested in the various ideas Ethan proposed and helped a great deal with the construction of the gravity room. Even the materials used were paid for by Dr. Briefs.
"This shouldn't just be an ordinary training dojo, right? What does it actually do?"
In Yamcha's mind, it was probably nothing more than a specially designed training facility, perhaps with various automatic weapons or robot sparring partners.
Unexpectedly, Ethan's answer was "increasing gravity."
"Increasing gravity? What's the use of that?"
"It's mostly finished. Come in and experience it, and you'll understand."
The main framework of the gravity room was already complete. Ethan had recently been adding other functions, such as creating high- and low-temperature environments while generating high levels of gravity.
However, that new function was not complete yet, so the room was currently only a gravity room, capable only of generating high levels of gravity. This room started directly at 100 times gravity, with the possibility of further modification to raise it to several hundred times.
Ethan glanced at Puar and Bulma, who had also followed out of curiosity, and pointed to the room next door. "Puar and Bulma can go next door. If you come in here, it will be dangerous."
"It will be dangerous?"
"It's fine, you should be able to handle it."
"Should?"
"Uh... should..."
Yamcha had been to King Kai's planet in the future, which proved that he could at least withstand ten times gravity. However, at that time, his battle power had already exceeded 1000, and Ethan was not going to start with ten times gravity anyway.
The gravity room he had built this time was very spacious, and there was a separate room next door where they could monitor the situation inside through surveillance equipment, communicate with the training area, and even shut down the gravity system from outside in an emergency.
But Yamcha could not see any of that. After entering the training area, he only felt that it was very empty, with nothing inside.
"There's nothing here? It just looks very sturdy."
"It is very sturdy."
To prevent damage, the inside of the training area had been reinforced over and over again.
"As for what this place does..."
Standing in front of the control panel, Ethan activated three times gravity.
"It creates stronger gravity."
Yamcha instantly felt as if a heavy object had slammed down on him. He was almost pressed to the ground. That sudden sense of pressure made him feel uncomfortable from head to toe, inside and out.
"This... is the gravity room... right?"
Ethan and Yoruichi had mentally prepared themselves, so they were not as disheveled as Yamcha, but they still felt uncomfortable. This feeling had truly been a long time coming.
"This feeling is actually a little nostalgic..."
Yoruichi was uncomfortable too, but while wearing a full set of weights under three times gravity, she was still able to move normally after adjusting for a bit. It gave her the feeling of finally regaining some of her former strength.
"How does it feel?"
"Not very good."
After adjusting for a while, Yamcha could move too, but his whole body felt heavy. This feeling was completely different from simply wearing weights.
"You want to train in this environment?"
"Yes. Do you feel adapted yet? I'm going to increase the gravity."
Yoruichi did not object. Yamcha was too embarrassed to object, so he braced himself and prepared mentally as he watched Ethan raise the multiplier.
Because there was a display screen, Yamcha could see that the number shown was five. Combined with Ethan's brief explanation that the gravity room used Earth's standard gravity as the baseline, he understood that the room was now under five times Earth's gravity.
"How does it feel now?"
"Like I'm going to die."
Forget Yamcha, even Ethan felt like he was about to die. It seemed his current physical condition could not support a five times gravity environment. Starting from three times gravity was more suitable.
After lowering the multiplier back to three times, although he had felt uncomfortable before, having experienced five times gravity made Yamcha feel that three times gravity was at least bearable.
Watching Ethan begin doing basic warm-up exercises, Yamcha also tried moving around. However, movements that were easy outside became difficult to complete here. After only a few push-ups, his clothes were already soaked with sweat. Those soaked clothes felt like heavy stones pressing against him, making him even more miserable.
After only half an hour of training, Yamcha could not hold on any longer, and Ethan also shut down the gravity system at the right time. The three of them sat on the ground, panting heavily.
"You... you actually came up with such a terrifying training method. You're not really planning to train in that environment, are you?"
Yamcha simply could not believe Ethan would come up with such a self-destructive method for training. Was that something a normal person would think of?
"Of course. Three times gravity is only the beginning. According to my plan, this multiplier will continue to increase."
"What? It's still going to increase? What's the maximum it can go to?"
Yamcha felt that three times gravity was already terrifying, and five times gravity was suicidal. But judging from Ethan's tone, this was only the beginning. So in Ethan's plan, what was the maximum gravity he intended to train under?
"This room can currently generate one hundred times gravity." Ethan stood up and did a few simple movements, confirming that his body had not been injured in the gravity environment. "Also, I plan to add high- and low-temperature equipment to create even more extreme conditions."
"..."
Yamcha looked at Ethan's serious expression, and sweat covered his forehead, not from exhaustion, but from being frightened by Ethan.
"You'll die, won't you?"
"No..." Ethan casually took out a tube-shaped object from the small pouch at his waist, and with a light press, the cap popped open. "If I really can't hold on, there are Senzu Beans to save my life."
"..."
Yamcha suddenly understood why Ethan had gone to Korin Tower and taken so many Senzu Beans. It turned out he had already planned out his future training, and everything he had done before was in preparation for it.
"The gap is too big."
He suddenly understood why Ethan had become so strong so quickly and gradually left him farther and farther behind. Just being able to think that far ahead was already something not everyone could do, and the most terrifying part was Ethan's ability to carry it out. After making a plan, he could turn it into reality step by step.
Still, training in a hundred times gravity environment was far too exaggerated, right? Could anyone really do that?
"Just think of it as setting an ambitious goal for myself." Ethan was pleased that his plan was progressing smoothly and did not mind encouraging Yamcha a little. "Strive toward a grand enough goal. Even if you give it everything you have and still fail, you will find that you have already accomplished many things you once thought were impossible."
(To be continued.)