Kabuterimon~

"Rotating Energy Sword!"

Boom~~~

Andromon felt little pressure from Kabuterimon joining the battle. After all, no matter how many Champion Digimon came at him, they posed no threat.

Instead, Tai and the others were being driven back again and again by Andromon.

"Something's wrong. Why is this still happening? At this rate, they're going to lose. Did I overlook something? This was clearly the lineup they used in the original!" Watching the increasingly one-sided battle and the main cast's Champion Digimon getting utterly thrashed by Andromon, Zhou Zhu's heart sank.

Had I accidentally changed the plot?

"Damn it, does Andromon not have any weaknesses?" Joe Kido, who had barely made his presence felt, had mixed feelings too. After all, Andromon was the strongest enemy their group had encountered so far.

"Weaknesses?" Hearing Joe's remark, Izzy turned his gaze toward Andromon, who was busy steamrolling his opponents.

Where...? His right leg!!!

"Kabuterimon, attack Andromon's right leg!" Noticing something wrong with Andromon's right leg, Izzy immediately directed Kabuterimon to concentrate his fire on the leg with the Black Gear embedded in it.

Huh? I think something like this happened in the original. It was because Izzy reminded Kabuterimon to attack Andromon's right leg that the main cast got through this crisis. I actually forgot something so important...

But that detail really was easy to miss. No wonder I overlooked it. It's been so many years, after all. Remembering anything at all is already pretty good.

"Mega Blaster!"

Boom~~~

While Zhou Zhu was reflecting on this, Kabuterimon's attack successfully struck Andromon's right leg.

Buzzz~

Under Kabuterimon's attack, a Black Gear slowly emerged from Andromon's leg, then turned to ash and dispersed in the air.

"It disappeared?" Though this wasn't the first time Tai had seen one of those black gears, he was still curious about where they came from.

"The evil heart has been purged~~"

As that low murmur rang out, Andromon regained his senses.

"I intended to remove the black gear caught in the machinery, but this happened instead." Looking at the DigiDestined children, Andromon made no further move to attack.

"A black gear?"

"That thing again?"

Tai and Sora weren't particularly shocked. Something similar had happened before, though Andromon had been frighteningly powerful this time.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened just now." Andromon carefully studied the DigiDestined children before him, recording everyone's information in his mind.

"Don't worry about it. It was just a mechanical malfunction." Matt suddenly became magnanimous, though his generosity on everyone else's behalf was rather irritating.

No one had intended to hold it against Andromon, but Izzy was the one who had actually done the work to solve the problem...

With Andromon's guidance, the group still found no answers about returning to the real world-as expected-but they did learn that they could leave the Factory through the Sewer Pipe.

Zhou Zhu really wanted to ask whether they couldn't simply leave the Factory by going back the way they had come.

But considering the effect on the plot, he ultimately chose to keep his mouth shut and quietly coast along.

I barely remember any of the plot as it is. If I keep changing things, I might die without even knowing how it happened, and I could drag the main cast down with me. After all, this isn't the first time that bastard Gennai has brought DigiDestined children here.

Tai and the others were just the most successful batch.

"It's so dark and damp here. It's disgusting~"

As they walked through the Sewer, the main cast grew increasingly uncomfortable in the damp surroundings.

"By the way, Izzy, did you use your computer to make Tentomon digivolve earlier?" T.K., who had been on the sidelines the whole time, had watched every move Izzy made.

"That's right!"

Izzy didn't hide it. It was the truth, after all, and there was no reason to lie.

"Can you make my Patamon digivolve too?"

Having watched his companions' Digimon digivolve one after another, T.K. really wanted to know what Patamon would look like after digivolving.

"Maybe."

"Really?"

Faced with T.K.'s eager anticipation, Izzy took out his computer and began repeating what he had done before.

Yet after he went through all the steps, nothing happened.

"That's strange. Why isn't it working like before?" Looking at the computer screen, Izzy sank into thought.

Could it be that only my Tentomon can digivolve this way?

"What's wrong? Is the computer broken?"

"Just give it a knock at a time like this. Let me, let me."

Seeing Izzy staring at his computer with a troubled expression, Tai and Agumon started getting up to mischief.

"Ugh~" Having learned from last time, Izzy hugged his computer and swiftly dodged Tai and Agumon's reckless antics.

Thump~

The two goofballs crashed into each other...

As they made their way through the long Sewer, the main cast began singing to pass the time.

Unfortunately, Zhou Zhu, trailing behind them, couldn't sing a single line. He had hardly ever heard any of these Japanese songs.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten he was there~

"Ah~~~"

Just then, Sora's cry interrupted everyone's fun.

"What's wrong?" Tai, who was leading the way, was the first to come over.

"Water's dripping down."

Feeling the sewage dripping onto her from above, Sora was utterly miserable.

"Your clothes got dirty~" Izzy came over too.

"I really want to wash my clothes and change into something clean." Though her clothes didn't smell, Sora only grew more bothered about them.

This is nothing yet. When we face the biological weapons those Sukamon throw... uh, I'd better move up front, just to be safe. I don't want shit dumped on my head~

At Sora's words, Zhou Zhu muttered to himself while recalling the Sukamon that would soon appear.

Meanwhile, Sora's mood rubbed off on their companions, and they all began feeling down for various reasons.

Tai wanted to go back and soak in a bath, T.K. wanted to go home and play video games, and Mimi wanted a vacation at Sunny Beach, followed by a sip of ice-cold cola...

Zhou Zhu, however, could think of nothing but how to keep himself as safe as possible through all the dangers ahead~

Just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts!!!

A sudden flurry of noises came from the tunnel behind them!

"It's Sukamon!"

Gabumon immediately figured out who was approaching based on their surroundings.

Tap, tap, tap~

While everyone was still discussing what Sukamon were, Zhou Zhu had already quietly scooped up Candlemon and run from the very back of the group to the very front.