The Journey

"Why don't we help him?"

"How should we do that?"

"I'll do it. Poison Ivy!"

As Palmon stretched out both hands, several poisonous vines wrapped around the Black Gear.

"Leave the next part to me!"

Seeing that Palmon had made a path forward, Tai volunteered and climbed onto the vines.

"Hmm??? This is... a chance!! Wizardmon, move a little closer!" Watching Tai climb onto the vines alone, Zhou Zhu had a pretty good idea of what he intended.

He simply planned to use the Digivice's power to purify the Black Gear inside Whamon.

Ever since Tai had learned about this method, he seemed to have stopped smashing Black Gears through brute force.

Well... looks like I'm destined to strike it rich!

Then again, in the original story, Whamon later digivolved to Perfect to help Tai and the others hold off the Ultimate MetalSeadramon. Could that have been because of the data purified by the Digivice now?

Bzzzt~

As Tai slowly approached the Black Gear with his Digivice, the previously inactive device began to radiate light.

"Here it comes. That's the feeling!" Sensing data surging into Wizardmon's body again, Zhou Zhu couldn't stop smiling.

"Huh? You shady bastard, what are you smiling about at a time like this?" Matt suddenly noticed the inexplicable smile on Zhou Zhu's face.

Although Tai had gone to purify the Black Gear, there was nothing funny about their current predicament, was there?

"I remembered something nice."

Zhou Zhu cast Matt a contemptuous glance, then ignored him and focused his attention on Wizardmon's body.

Another 140,000 data acquired! Added to the 270,000 from before, I've already got 410,000!

By the time Tai finished purifying the Black Gear and returned to the raft, the amount of data Zhou Zhu had collected had reached a whole new high.

"What nice thing?" Matt, who had always disliked Zhou Zhu, refused to let it go.

"Nothing much. I just remembered someone using Sukamon's poop as hair wax. Too bad I didn't bring a camera, or I'd have taken a picture as a keepsake~" Since Matt wouldn't let it go, Zhou Zhu spoke while giving him an openly defiant, mocking look.

"Dammit, you bastard! I'm going to teach you a lesson today!" Hearing Zhou Zhu bring up the sore spot he had almost forgotten, Matt flew into a rage and swung a fist at him.

"Heh. Weakling!"

Thump!

Faced with a punch that looked as though it were moving in slow motion, Zhou Zhu simply stepped aside and casually threw a punch of his own.

Thud... Zzzzzz.

Matt was down for the count~

"Matt!" × n

"Big brother!"

"Hehe, it's good to be young. You can lie down and fall asleep anywhere, anytime~" Unlike everyone else, who was frantic, Zhou Zhu stood off to the side and joked as if nothing had happened.

"Zhou Zhu, you've gone too far." Looking at the unconscious Matt, Sora angrily rebuked him.

"What? Do you want a good, all-out duel between warriors too?" Zhou Zhu waved his fist as he spoke, looking ready to fight.

"Enough, Zhou Zhu. Sora's a girl. A duel between warriors? Don't get carried away..." Unlike Sora, Tai didn't have much of an objection to Matt getting knocked out.

After all, he knew Matt's type all too well. He had fought with him before. With Matt's temper, Tai wouldn't have wanted anything to do with him if they hadn't both been stranded in another world and needed to work together.

Compared with Matt, Tai felt that someone like Zhou Zhu made a better friend. Although he usually didn't say much, he was extremely dependable when it mattered.

(Tai would be grateful for the rest of his life for that borrowed connection when Candlemon helped fight Leomon... Besides, when everyone else had opposed going to the Server Continent, only Zhou Zhu had explained what was at stake and supported him~)

"Hmph. If she weren't a girl, she'd already be lying beside Matt for taking his side without using her brain." Zhou Zhu gave the furious Sora a disdainful glance, lowered his fist, and stepped aside.

This was already the second time Sora had stood up for Matt. No wonder she ended up with him. They had been cut from the same cloth right from the start. Poor Tai...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Just then, the entire space suddenly began to tremble.

Everyone was swept upward by a rush of air, along with the raft beneath their feet.

"Aaaaaaaah, ToT!!"

"Zzzzzzz..."

Splash~

As Whamon exhaled, everyone was expelled through his blowhole along with the fragments of the raft.

"We finally got out~" Agumon hugged a piece of wood and sighed with some relief.

"Hmm..." Tai still hadn't quite figured out what had happened.

"Aaah, cough, cough~ Where are we? What just happened?" After Matt choked on several mouthfuls of seawater, Gabumon hauled him onto a nearby piece of wood.

Now awake, Matt surveyed his surroundings. After a moment of confusion, he suddenly remembered what had happened before he lost consciousness.

"Dammit, you bastard. Just you wait. I'll never let you get away with this!" Glaring viciously at Zhou Zhu in the distance, Matt secretly began plotting how to get even.

"Matt, don't argue or fight with Zhou Zhu anymore. You can't beat him." With Gabumon's judgment, how could he fail to see the difference in fighting ability between Matt and Zhou Zhu...?

"Hmph. I'm not letting this go that easily. Just because I can't beat him in a fight doesn't mean there aren't other ways to deal with him." This was the world of Digimon. No matter how strong Zhou Zhu was, could he possibly be stronger than a Digimon?

Splash, splash, splash~

While the children were still shaken, Whamon's enormous body approached again.

"Ah~ Stay away."

Looking at the moving mountain before her, Mimi's eyes filled with fear again.

"Sorry~ I was too rough just now." Having regained his senses, Whamon didn't attack Mimi and the others. Instead, he took the initiative to apologize for what had happened.

"It's all right. It wasn't your fault."

In this situation, everyone was quite polite. After all, they were at his mercy. What could they do even if they refused to forgive him?

"It was all because of the Black Gear!"

"I think that was the last Black Gear."

"Thank goodness you came and helped me regain my senses." Looking at the children, Whamon spoke with lingering fear.

"Whamon, do you know how far it is from here to the Server Continent?" Seeing that they could communicate with Whamon normally, Tai hurriedly took the opportunity to ask about their destination.

"I don't know, but it'll take me five days to get there."

Whamon answered Tai's question quite honestly. After all, without any measuring instruments, how could he know the exact distance?