Rest Time

Near the Digital Egg house, the group met up again.

Qian Lai was the last to arrive, but when he saw A Lie's miserable state, unable to get back up, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

"Yo~ Your captain got beaten up too?"

The two teams were rivals on the show, and Qian Lai had already experienced firsthand the trouble fatigue could cause.

A Lie's condition was clearly far more serious.

"Sorry to interrupt."

The props team shoved one another back and forth until a young woman was finally pushed out to announce Liang Xing's message.

This was clearly Liang Xing's lack of preparation—or rather, his complete ignorance of the show's filming process.

The entire production crew consisted only of the camera team and the props team, while Liang Xing coordinated everything.

Now that Liang Xing had gone to arrange Impmon's subsequent storyline, the staff could only temporarily take over the task of conveying the show's next direction.

This girl from the props team was the prettiest member of their group. She was usually articulate too, so naturally, her colleagues pushed her forward.

"Everyone has completed the first-stage mission. Wang Lie's team killed three Goblinmon for three points, while Qian Lai's team blocked two for two points."

Everyone looked at her. She remained fairly composed, speaking clearly.

"Next is free-task time. The production team has prepared ingredients in the village. You'd best get dinner and a place to rest ready in advance."

"That's all, thank you!"

With that, she scurried off.

"Do we still get points for defeating Goblinmon now?"

"Only kills earn points," a nearby staff member replied.

"Alright~ Got it."

Only then did Qian Lai learn that A Lie's team had killed three Goblinmon.

As for why blocking and killing earned the same number of points, he truly hadn't thought about it.

Maybe it was the show's rule?

He never would have imagined that his team's points were purely because those two Goblinmon no longer existed.

One had died, and the other had evolved. Liang Xing credited the points to their team so the gap between the two teams would not become too great.

"Tiantian! How did you win? Give us a hint."

Qian Lai had stored food, and the room he had found earlier was suitable for resting at night, so he figured he would gather some intelligence first.

He had fought Goblinmon just now as well. If Elecmon had not been their main force, his team could never have stopped the Goblinmon invasion.

But if Elecmon had also been A Lie's team's main force, the timing did not add up.

Then there was only one possible answer!

A Lie's team had figured out how to evolve!

"My Koromon evolved! It became Agumon!"

Qi Tian and Qian Lai were fellow car enthusiasts, so the little guy had no intention of keeping it secret and proudly showed off.

"Wow—awesome! How did it evolve?" Qian Lai played along, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Uncle Qian, are you trying to trick a kid?" Ning Jing pulled Qi Tian back.

Although it was easy to discover that Digital Monsters evolved through the Digivice, Ning Jing could not really explain exactly how it worked.

Qian Lai had once seen Kurokyumon evolve into Koromon, but what use was that if he did not know the underlying principle?

It could not be as simple as yelling like Qi Tian had back then, could it?

Qian Lai had tried. It had not worked at all!

"Hmph hmph!"

Qi Tian nodded at Ning Jing, looking as though he knew exactly what he was doing.

Then he looked smugly at Qian Lai. "I don't know either!"

Even without Ning Jing's reminder, Qi Tian would not have fallen for it. Naturally, the little guy was pleased with himself.

"Then tell me what happened at the time."

In a competition like this, keeping things confidential would have been perfectly normal.

So Qian Lai changed tack and began asking about what had happened.

They were still kids, after all. Qi Tian and Ning Jing did not think too much about it. The former began boasting about Agumon slaughtering enemies left and right, while the latter wondered whether sleeping on the ground would make them catch a cold.

After the battle, Lian Jin could no longer keep going. It was also his first time experiencing the feeling of collapsing from exhaustion.

In other words, only Qi Tian and Ning Jing from A Lie's team could still move about freely, which explained why Ning Jing had stopped Qi Tian.

But unfortunately, Qian Lai still got the intelligence he wanted.

Although Qi Tian exaggerated his own role, judging from A Lie and Lian Jin's injuries, Qian Lai could more or less reconstruct what had happened.

Combined with the scene of Kurokyumon evolving into Koromon the first time, Qian Lai could basically conclude that it was most likely related to emotions.

"Impressive! Thanks!

Oh, right~ You'll have to find another room. You can leave A Lie and the others to the staff."

Before leaving, Qian Lai still reminded the two kids.

The room they had originally found had already been destroyed. If they waited until A Lie woke up to look for another one, their team might end up going hungry that night.

"What should we do?" Ning Jing turned to Qi Tian as she watched Qian Lai's team leave.

"You take care of Lian Jin and Uncle A Lie. I'll go find Elecmon."

Children's thoughts might not have been as complicated as adults', but they also were not bound by as many fixed ideas.

So Qi Tian had a flash of inspiration and decided to ask Elecmon for information.

"Elecmon!"

When the little guy arrived with Koromon perched on his head, Elecmon was counting the Digital Eggs.

"Thank you for helping defeat the Goblinmon. On behalf of everyone in Qidian Village, I thank you." Elecmon leaped up and solemnly expressed his gratitude.

"Hehehe~ It was nothing!" Qi Tian scratched the back of his head with a silly grin, then asked directly, "My companions are injured. Which room do you think would be good for us to rest in?"

"Follow me!"

Under normal circumstances, Elecmon could not possibly have seen every ingredient and household item when the props team placed them.

But Liang Xing believed that Elecmon guarded Qidian Village alone, so it should know the village's terrain inside and out.

As props that should have existed in the first place, Elecmon needed to know roughly where things like ingredients and household supplies were located.

The actual implementation was simple. They showed Elecmon the locations they planned to set up beforehand, and the props team followed the map. As for how much Elecmon could remember, that was not something they needed to worry about.

Fortunately, Elecmon had a good memory and quickly led Qi Tian to a suitable room.

It had electricity, beds, and ingredients, and it was not far from the Digital Egg house.

Elecmon had a small ulterior motive of its own as well. If the Goblinmon attacked again, support could arrive a little faster.

Then came moving the "wounded."

Lian Jin could already walk on his own. Though weak, he could basically take care of himself.

As for A Lie, he was sleeping soundly, and Qi Tian and Ning Jing truly could not carry him.

"How about... you just leave him alone for now?"

Fatigue was meant to be a punishment, but if there was a reasonable excuse, the staff could lend a hand.

For example, they could use Elecmon as an excuse.

When the show officially aired, they could cut out the footage of the staff helping and create the impression that the Digital Monsters and the kids had worked together in unity. That would still be reasonable enough.

Liang Xing was very strict about such details, ensuring that the edited final product would be impossible to distinguish from reality.

Even if people knew the Digital World did not exist, interactions that seemed so real would surely make many of them suspicious.

Then Liang Xing's goal would have been achieved.

If real Digimon were ever born in the future, it would count as preparing everyone mentally in advance.

Thanks to Ye Zifeng for the tip! Thank you for your support!