Everyday babysitting

"Uh... you really are impressive, then."

Zhou Zhu agreed aloud, but inwardly, he felt miserable. Five months-that was a huge stretch of time. If the story was only just beginning now, then by the time Flamemon evolved into Candlemon, Tai and the others would probably already be partying with Etemon on Server Continent.

This sucks. Am I just here to be an extra? What other transmigrator spends this long looking after babies in the starter village?

Under Zhou Zhu's diligent care, the baby Digimon in the Village of Beginnings all grew well, and Elecmon, who guarded the village, felt much of the pressure ease off his shoulders.

Six months later...

Small Flame Shot!

Whoosh!

Boom!

Shifting his consciousness into Flamemon's body, Zhou Zhu continued getting accustomed to Flamemon's way of fighting.

Over those six months, Zhou Zhu had devised all sorts of training routines specifically to accelerate Flamemon's evolution. This special attack training was one of them.

As someone familiar with the original story, Zhou Zhu knew a Digimon's level did not determine everything. Even Digimon of the same level and form could have a vast gulf between their combat abilities.

For example, Lucemon in the fourth series and the Lucemon that appeared in later series hardly even seemed like the same kind of Digimon...

Drawing on everything he had learned about the Digital World during his childhood, Zhou Zhu could formulate a rough theory.

Digimon were digital life-forms composed of data from digital networks, and their combat strength was often determined by the amount of data they possessed.

For instance, in the original story, the two Ultimate-level Digimon, Crusadermon and Dynasmon, had gathered enormous amounts of data, yet it had only been enough to evolve Lucemon into his Perfect-level Fallen Mode.

With that much data accumulated, Lucemon's Fallen Mode clearly possessed strength far beyond that of an ordinary Perfect-level Digimon.

Even Crusadermon and Dynasmon, Ultimate-level members of the Royal Knights, could not stand against him.

From that, Zhou Zhu could roughly infer that the minimum requirements for each kind of Digimon to evolve might be similar, while the upper limits of the data they could hold varied enormously.

Furthermore, beyond accumulated data, a Digimon's combat strength also depended on the skills manifested after evolution and the equipment they carried. Even with similar amounts of data and similar levels, weapons like the Dramon Destroyers could suppress other dragon-type Digimon, and Angel-type Digimon could counter Virus-type Digimon.

Without paying attention to those factors, no amount of accumulated data could be put to use through powerful skills.

That was why Zhou Zhu was training Flamemon now. Special attacks played a decisive role in the combat strength a Digimon could display.

"Zhou Zhu, Flamemon, you're still practicing this late?" Having heard the noise, Elecmon emerged from a nearby toy house.

"Sorry for waking you, Elecmon. Flamemon and I will move farther away to train." Seeing that he had disturbed Elecmon's sleep, Zhou Zhu sensibly picked up Flamemon beside him and headed away.

"Hey, don't go too far. File Island hasn't been peaceful lately. I heard a very evil Devimon came over from Server Continent and has been causing trouble." Seeing Zhou Zhu about to leave, Elecmon hurriedly warned him and shared the news he had picked up while searching for food during the day.

"Huh? Devimon?"

Is the story about to begin already? But...

Looking at Flamemon, who was still a baby Digimon, in his arms, Zhou Zhu felt a sudden surge of anxiety.

"Yes, I heard he's a very evil Digimon. But you don't need to worry too much. Devimon is only a Champion-level Digimon, after all. We've got Andromon here on File Island."

The innocent Elecmon had no sense of the danger Devimon was about to bring. Instead, he treated him as an ordinary Champion-level Digimon who was just a little stronger than himself.

"But what if Andromon doesn't run into Devimon, and we do instead? Devimon isn't stupid, after all. Of course he'd pick on an easy target... Elecmon, let's stock up on food. We'd better stay inside for a while."

Looking at Flamemon in his arms, Zhou Zhu knew he was not even qualified to take part in the beginner dungeon, so he simply suggested that Elecmon adopt a policy of isolation.

Although missing the chance to experience his childhood fantasies firsthand would be a shame, none of that mattered compared with his life.

"Uh... you do have a point. It looks like we'll need to make more preparations for a while. But once Andromon drives away that horrible Devimon, I'm sure everything will be all right."

With his vigilance stirred by Zhou Zhu's warning, Elecmon considered the difference in strength between himself and Devimon and readily accepted Zhou Zhu's suggestion.

The next day...

Unlike usual, Elecmon kept working on and off until the afternoon before he finally stopped gathering food.

"Yes, this should be enough. But just to be safe, I'll go out and gather some more tomorrow."

Looking at the pile of food he had gathered through his own hard work, Elecmon felt full of pride.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Elecmon. We haven't been able to help much." As he sorted the food, Zhou Zhu looked at the slightly breathless Elecmon with a trace of guilt.

As an adult on the inside, he really did feel embarrassed about constantly relying on Elecmon's help...

"It's fine. Even if you weren't here, Zhou Zhu, I'd still have to prepare all this for the children every day. Besides, you don't even eat as much as Flamemon. Hahahaha!"

As though he understood how Zhou Zhu felt, Elecmon waved it off generously.

"Um, Zhou Zhu, let Flamemon spar with me later. What you said yesterday made a lot of sense. It's better to rely on ourselves than on others. Andromon's Factory is a long way from here, after all. If Devimon really does come, at least one of us needs to be able to hold him off while the others go to Andromon for help."

Elecmon was unlike other Digimon. He considered himself the chief of the Village of Beginnings, and if he faced Devimon, there was no way he could abandon these children and flee alone.

The only remaining choice was to ask others for support, provided the Village of Beginnings could hold out until help arrived.

"Hm? Looks like you understand the situation the Village of Beginnings is in now, Elecmon. That works out nicely. Flamemon needs some practical combat experience, too. Training together and improving our strength is obviously the best option."

With a Rookie-level Digimon like Elecmon available as a sparring partner, Zhou Zhu had no reason to refuse. In the entire Village of Beginnings, Elecmon was currently the only one who could be said to have any decent combat experience.