Evolution~

"Don't worry. If I run into Andromon, I'll tell them."

As he watched Elecmon rush off, Zhou Zhu did not get up to see them off. Instead, he stayed where he was, waiting for Tai and the others to arrive while monitoring Flamemon's condition.

Night fell~

Although the entire Andromon Factory was filled with the clamor of running machinery, knowing he was the only person inside actually made Zhou Zhu feel even more uneasy.

Fortunately, Flamemon was there to keep him company, even if they were only an avatar of himself...

Hummm~~~

Just then, Flamemon's body began to emit waves of the light that only appeared during evolution as Zhou Zhu held them in his arms~

"Is Flamemon finally going to evolve?" Sensing the various evolution paths emerging in his mind, Zhou Zhu decisively chose the main Rookie path leading to Candlemon.

"Flamemon-digivolve!"

&... (BGM: Brave Heart)

"Candlemon!"

As Zhou Zhu made his choice, Flamemon's body underwent a complete transformation.

The white light faded, and an ordinary Candlemon appeared beside Zhou Zhu.

(Profile) Candlemon:

Rookie Digimon~

A Flame Digimon whose DigiCore, which could be called a Digimon's heart, sits atop their head and burns fiercely. If the DigiCore's flame burning on their head goes out, Candlemon can no longer sustain their life functions. Some say the flame on their head is their true body, while the body itself is merely a false shell. Despite being a Flame Digimon, they have a mild temperament and do not harm their surroundings on their own. Their special move is spitting out small fireballs-Bonfire.

"Rookie-level Candlemon, huh? I've finally caught up with the main cast's starting level. Evolving further won't be possible anytime soon, but somewhere like File Island, basic self-defense or escape should be manageable."

Only as he looked at Candlemon beside him did Zhou Zhu begin to feel a little safer.

Candlemon could hardly be considered powerful, but with his help, they would at least have some ability to fight back against Champion Digimon.

Zhou Zhu spent the following days familiarizing himself with Candlemon's special move. When he got hungry, he went outside to gather wild fruit and the like. There were no other vicious Digimon around Andromon's Factory anyway.

Boring days always dragged on. Zhou Zhu had already controlled Candlemon to fight every Rookie Digimon in the area. Elecmon visited a few times during that period, but never stayed long before heading back. After all, the Village of Beginnings could not do without them.

"Judging by this progress bar, Candlemon will need at least a year and a half, maybe even two years, to evolve into a Champion. And that's assuming Candlemon isn't restricted by their level ceiling. Plenty of Digimon spend their entire lives stuck at Rookie, after all."

That day, while Zhou Zhu was immersed in Candlemon's body inside the Factory, examining the various evolution paths in Candlemon's mind along with his own Digimon data, children's voices suddenly came from outside.

Although Zhou Zhu himself did not understand Japanese, Digimon did~

Through his Candlemon avatar, Zhou Zhu could easily understand the language Tai and the others spoke, and use it fluently himself.

Judging by the plot of the original series' second season, Digimon from different countries did not seem to share a common language either. File Island, where his Candlemon had been born, clearly belonged to the Japanese-speaking region.

"Is anyone here?"

"Hello? Anyone?"

"All the machinery is running, so why haven't we seen a single person?"

They finally arrived? Looks like all these days of waiting weren't wasted.

"No need to shout. There shouldn't be anyone here except me. Before you arrived, I already searched this place inside and out."

While they were discussing it, Zhou Zhu slowly emerged from around a corner with Candlemon.

"Huh? Someone's here?"

"Great! We finally found another person."

"Hi, my name's Taichi Yagami. How did you get here? And do you know how to get back to the human world?" Compared with his friends, Tai was clearly more outgoing, and a little more reckless.

Faced with a stranger like Zhou Zhu, he showed no caution whatsoever and simply walked straight over.

"I was hoping to ask you that. You're the only humans I've seen since I arrived in this godforsaken place." Of course, Zhou Zhu could not answer Tai's questions.

Even if he knew Tai and the others could return to the real world after defeating Apocalymon, could he just tell them that? Obviously not. The price of changing the plot might well be more than he could bear.

After all, Tai and the others' arrival was part of a premeditated plan, dressed up with the grand name of the Digivice. Homeostasis and Gennai were clearly using Tai and his friends.

Until he had enough strength to protect himself, he had better keep as low a profile as possible. Judging by Homeostasis and Gennai's control over the Digimon world, the most they could do was guide events through outside forces.

They could not directly send in the Royal Knights, or even appear in person, the way Yggdrasill did in the fifth season.

Based on all those deductions, Gennai and Homeostasis probably would not arrange something as nasty as a targeted hunt just because a child like him had inexplicably appeared outside their plans.

At most, they would be suspicious of his identity or secretly investigate his origins.

Of course, he could not rule out the worst-case scenario either. His life was at stake, after all. With something this important, he absolutely could not rely on luck or other people's kindness to survive.

So, until he grew strong enough, he absolutely, positively could not interfere with Homeostasis and the others' plan...

"Ah~ You don't know how to get back either? How did you get here, anyway?" Tai felt a little disappointed by Zhou Zhu's answer. They had finally managed to find another human, only for him to be in exactly the same situation~

"How I got here... All I remember is eating hot pot and singing. Then there was a flash of white light, and I ended up in the Village of Beginnings. Oh, right, this is my partner, Candlemon. My name's Zhou Zhu~"

To avoid arousing the suspicions of old Gennai, who might be watching from behind the scenes, Zhou Zhu decided to tell the truth. After all, his childlike appearance was certainly deceptive, and he really had not lied about how he had arrived.

Something like that would not stand up to scrutiny. If he lied, he would only draw more attention.

"Zhou Zhu? You don't have a surname? Oh, right, I forgot to introduce everyone. This is my partner, Agumon, and the girl behind me is Sora~"

Tai did not dwell on Zhou Zhu's account. Instead, he was quite curious about his name.

"All right, Tai. I can introduce myself. Hello, Zhou Zhu. I'm Sora Takenouchi, and this is my partner, Biyomon."

Sora's face was full of displeasure at Tai introducing her without her permission.

Still, despite her annoyance, Sora stepped forward to introduce herself to Zhou Zhu.

"Hello, my name's Koushiro Izumi. This is my partner, Tentomon."

"Yamato Ishida. This is my partner, Gabumon."

Yamato Ishida was already on full alert around this boy who had suddenly appeared. Still, to gather more information, he had not stopped Tai from rushing forward.