A ghost?

The reason Tai's attitude toward meeting another human had changed so drastically was threefold. First, everything he had been through had helped him mature a little. Second, Gennai was an adult, and children were always wary of unfamiliar adults. Third, this was Devimon's lair, and Gennai's entrance had been extremely suspicious!

"Are you working with Devimon?" As always, Matt suspected everything and questioned everything...

"Don't worry. I'm on your side." Hearing Matt's challenge, Gennai calmly addressed their doubts.

"So there are other humans in this world besides us." Sora looked the elderly Gennai up and down. His entrance had been bizarre, but he did seem to be human.

"I am human, and yet I am not." In response to Sora, Gennai offered an explanation with an air of profound mystery...

"Are you a ghost?"

Mimi didn't buy any of it and blurted out that rather ditzy question.

"Stare..."

Mimi's remark left Gennai staring in silence for quite a while.

"I am Gennai. Devimon's interference has kept me from contacting you all this time, but at last, we've met." In the end, Gennai chose to change the subject and ignore the sharp-tongued brat whose emotional intelligence was inversely proportional to her looks.

"Contact us? From where?"

Gennai's words left Izzy utterly baffled. In an information wasteland like the Digital World, how was anyone supposed to contact anyone? Surely there was no need to blame Devimon for that? Poor guy...

"From the Server Continent, a long way from File Island."

Taking the opportunity presented by Izzy's question, Gennai revealed information about the world across the sea.

"When did you come to this world?"

Sora also assumed Gennai had ended up here the same way they had.

"I've lived in the Digital World from the very beginning..."

Gennai chose not to conceal that fact.

"Were you the one who brought us here, sir?"

After hearing Gennai's answer, Sora continued questioning him.

"No, it wasn't me."

Gennai immediately denied it.

"Then who was it?"

Sora kept pressing for an answer.

"Well... I don't know either!"

At that, Gennai suddenly grew a little hesitant, but in the end, he firmly insisted that he didn't know. After all, Homeostasis wasn't someone he could reveal.

"Huh...?"

Hearing that answer, the DigiDestined couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Then do you know how we can get back to our own world, sir?" Since they couldn't find out how they had arrived, T.K. didn't dwell on it and instead focused on how to leave.

"Well... I don't know that either!"

Are you kidding? Even I don't know whether this plan will succeed. Getting back to the real world depends entirely on whether you can defeat Apocalymon. But... can I really tell that to you brats working for free?

Of course not...

"What the heck? You're just an old man who doesn't know anything!"

Seeing Gennai's attitude, Tai began to get annoyed too. The guy clearly knew nothing, yet he still acted all mysterious and profound. It was infuriating.

"But I would like to ask you a favor! Please come to the Server Continent and defeat an enemy. If you are the DigiDestined, you can surely do it!"

Gennai completely ignored Tai's attitude and shamelessly continued making his request.

"You want us to go to the Server Continent? But where is it?" After hearing Gennai mention the Server Continent repeatedly, Izzy's curiosity had been piqued.

"Good point. I'll send a map to your computer right now."

That casual remark from Gennai revealed a great deal.

Has this guy been watching us from the very beginning? Izzy's computer is hidden in his backpack, so how did Gennai know there was a computer inside? Good thing I've been cautious this whole time and haven't done anything out of the ordinary.

Unlike Izzy and the others, who hadn't noticed that detail, Zhou Zhu had the mindset of an adult and immediately picked up on the clue in Gennai's unguarded words.

At the same time, he breathed a great sigh of relief inwardly. The fact that Gennai could speak to them so casually inadvertently showed that he didn't consider Zhou Zhu someone worth watching or being wary of.

In his eyes... I'm just an utterly ordinary kid.

"But how could we possibly defeat an enemy even stronger than Devimon?" Remembering Devimon's overwhelming power, Joe felt that Gennai was simply taking far too much for granted.

They had nearly been wiped out fighting Devimon alone. How could they even talk about defeating an enemy stronger than him?

"You can. As long as your Digimon partners digivolve into higher forms, you'll definitely be able to do it." In response to Joe's doubts, Gennai revealed more information.

"You want us to digivolve two stages?" Hearing how easy Gennai made it sound, Agumon felt that it was easy for him to say when he wasn't the one doing it...

"That is absolutely necessary to defeat more powerful enemies." As though he hadn't heard the dissatisfaction in Agumon's voice, Gennai continued.

Shimmer!

Another flash of light shone, and the image of a strange pendant appeared before them.

"As long as you insert a Crest into a Digivolution Tag, you will be able to digivolve again." Gennai continued his explanation.

"Then where exactly are these Tags and Crests?" Gabumon was filled with curiosity about the Tags and Crests Gennai had mentioned. After all, what Digimon didn't want to digivolve?

"The Crests are scattered across the Server Continent. As for the Digivolution Tags... Devimon must have hidden them somewhere!"

Gennai might as well have said nothing at all...

"Oh dear! This is bad! Devimon's interference! Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah! I'll be waiting for you on the Server Continent!"

Watching Gennai give them a little rap performance before leaving, Tai and the others didn't know what to say. After all that, the old man's only contribution had been a map...

"He disappeared..."

Tai looked utterly speechless.

"What was that all about?"

Sora looked equally bewildered.

"The map's arrived." Izzy, on the other hand, immediately opened his computer to check the map.

"What should we do next?"

"Whatever we do, let's get down the mountain first!"