Chapter 169: A Rescue with a Single Punch

"Where... is this?"

Holding the Black Dorumon, Qin Fei looked around at the endless blowing yellow sand, a sense of familiarity washing over him.

Loro seemed somewhat lethargic, and Tailmon inside the Digivice remained completely silent, leaving it unclear whether she had fallen asleep or something else. Only a continuously spinning circle on the screen indicated that Qin Fei's device was somehow updating.

A sudden thought crossed Qin Fei's mind. He took out the Digivice-iC- and the D-Ark as well, and sure enough, symbols were intermittently flashing on their screens too.

"Could it be that the Digivice needs to update every time we arrive in a different Digital World?"

Harboring this baseless speculation with no way to verify it, Qin Fei ultimately had no choice but to toss them back into his backpack.

Fortunately, he still had a shoulder bag containing some emergency rations. He had prepared it back in Marcus's world, never expecting it to actually come in handy.

"Loro, are you alright?"

Seeing Loratamon yawn, Qin Fei showed concern. Ever since they had abruptly appeared in this vast, sandy expanse, she had maintained a sleepy expression.

"I'm fine, just... somehow feeling inexplicably drowsy for no reason..."

After giving her a closer inspection, Qin Fei gave up. Perhaps it was because she had been unconscious for several days after traveling to the fifth world, and now she was developing some kind of resistance to dimensional transit? Or perhaps she was originally born in this world, which meant she wouldn't fall unconscious as she had before?

Regardless, anything was fine; Qin Fei felt that his top priority right now was finding a safe place.

Currently, both Loro and Black Dorumon were in poor condition, and Tailmon remained completely motionless inside the Digivice.

"Let's go, Loro. We should find a safe place first and figure things out from there."

Loratamon nodded and shifted her gaze to the Black Dorumon resting in Qin Fei's arms, feeling a twinge of envy... Who told it to be so small right now?

"Qin Fei, can't you store Black Dorumon inside the Digivice? That would make things easier."

Hearing Loratamon's words, Qin Fei shook his head. He even took out the fifth-generation Digivice and tested it in front of her. Sure enough, aside from Tailmon who was already inside, all its functions had ceased. Unless it finished updating, it wouldn't be much more useful than a brick.

"Sigh, let's just walk then..."

Feeling somewhat unhappy and fatigued, Loro picked a direction and began to walk.

Finally, after walking for who knows how long, the sandstorms subsided, revealing a blazing sun high in the sky. Fortunately, their luck wasn't entirely bad; as the blinding wind and sand vanished, a striking oasis appeared not far ahead.

The group reached the oasis, ate some food, replenished their water supply, and stocked up on spare rations. While taking a rest, Qin Fei once again took out the Digivices to observe them.

He let out a soft exclamation of surprise, noticing that the Digivice-iC- and the D-Ark had returned to normal. Their screens had stopped flashing, though the screen of the fifth-generation Digivice was still spinning endlessly.

"Loro, Black Dorumon, how are you feeling now?"

Qin Fei suddenly looked toward Loratamon and Black Dorumon, who was fussing with the water and some bushes nearby.

"Hmm, I don't know why, but I have a bit more energy now."

"Me too."

Sure enough, the Digivices seemed capable of reflecting their physical condition.

It appeared that his previous guess hadn't been wrong after all. However, it wasn't that the Digivices needed an update, but rather that the Digimon's bodies needed to adapt to a completely new data world.

"Can you digivolve?"

Black Dorumon hopped a few times and nodded energetically, saying, "Yes! Do you want us to digivolve?"

Qin Fei thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Not for now. We still don't know our location, and this place is too vast. It's not wise to waste too much stamina on searching for a path."

Qin Fei shouldered his backpack and looked at the sky, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

From the battle with Yggdrasill to the dimension-crossing and endless marching, Qin Fei hadn't had a proper rest in over twenty-four hours.

Both his body and mind were exceptionally tired.

"Why don't we rest here for the night? There's water, edible wild fruits, and trees to shield us from the wind and sand."

Qin Fei was slightly tempted, but he still rejected Loro's suggestion. He didn't know whether this was the original Digital World or an entirely new one.

He needed to find a person or a Digimon as soon as possible to confirm their location.

"Let's go. We'll head to the next spot to rest."

"..."

Hard work pays off. Just before total darkness fell, Qin Fei spotted a river accompanied by a continuous strip of woods along its bank.

While such an abrupt transition from a desert to a forest might seem unnatural in the human world, it was a completely commonplace phenomenon within the Digital World.

"Let's set up camp by the river tonight."

"Yeah. It would be great if Tailmon were still awake; we'd have someone to take watch tonight."

"It's fine. Didn't you guys remain unconscious for a long time when you went to Tailmon's world? She took care of you then."

"I hope she can recover properly inside the Digivice..." Loro's voice softened.

The night passed quietly. The next day.

Qin Fei and the others continued walking downstream along the river, periodically checking the Digivices for any changes, yet Tailmon's status remained completely unchanged.

There was no telling how she was holding up inside the Digivice.

However, just as Qin Fei was putting the fifth-generation Digivice away, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the screen on his Digivice-iC-—a cluster of small red dots was flashing continuously upon it.

"......"

"Could this be... the Digivice guiding me in a direction?!"

"Does that mean there are other people nearby?"

Qin Fei's face lit up with joy as he hurriedly urged Loro and Black Dorumon to keep up.

Following the guidance of the red dots, a lake gradually came into view before Qin Fei not long after.

"Wait, Qin Fei! Something's wrong!"

Before they could even approach their destination, Loro suddenly leaped forward, blocking Qin Fei's path.

"There's an intense presence of dark energy!"

Loro said, pointing ahead as if someone had used the power of darkness to create a localized subspace.

Qin Fei halted and closed his eyes. Gray Digisoul gradually began to spread across his gaze, a development that brought a joyful expression to his face.

It seemed that this Digital World also permitted the use of Digisoul.

It was just that the response speed of the Digisoul was a beat slower compared to the previous world.

"So, the power of the Digisoul needs to adapt to this world's rules as well?"

For now, however, he had to set that question aside, because from within that subspace, Qin Fei actually heard a long-familiar exclamation.

......

"Impossible! What can you possibly accomplish in a state like this?"

"It doesn't matter, Sora! I have to go right now!"

"You can't go!"

Sora hugged the injured Piyomon tightly in her arms, trying to stop her from running off to fight Myotismon.

Tai and the others stared at the formidable enemy before them and their fallen Digimon partners scattered all across the ground, a profound sense of powerlessness welling up from the depths of their hearts.

Agumon and the others had all collapsed to the earth, completely devoid of the strength to continue fighting.

Witnessing this utterly critical and perilous scene, Piyomon struggled relentlessly in Sora's arms, seemingly desperate to risk her life against Myotismon.

"Why don't any of you understand me?!"

Piyomon's loud cry left Sora momentarily stunned, as if it had stirred a memory from the past—she had once shouted at her mother in the exact same way.

Taking advantage of Sora's momentary distraction, Piyomon finally broke free from her grasp, digivolving into Birdramon and charging directly toward the powerful Myotismon to launch an attack.

However, due to the overwhelming disparity in their strength, she was instantly struck down by Myotismon's counterattack.

"Birdramon!"

Watching her falling partner, Sora let out an anguished and deeply worried cry.

Her genuine feelings of care finally caused the Crest of Love to emit a radiant glow.

"Birdramon, super digivolve!... Garudamon!"

A gigantic humanoid bird Digimon materialized before everyone, catching Sora in its arms and unleashing its ultimate attack directly at Myotismon.

Yet, even against the surprise attack of an Ultimate-level Garudamon, Myotismon remained entirely composed and at ease.

Bolstered by the infusion of dark energy, Myotismon's strength was far more terrifying than they had imagined.

What it failed to notice, however, was that a young man enveloped entirely in gray digital energy had somehow appeared right behind it.

Clenching his right hand into a fist, he decisively smashed it fiercely toward Myotismon's face.