Chapter 170: Everyone's Inquiries

Watching Myotismon being knocked flying by a single punch, Tai and the others dropped their jaws in utter shock. They never expected that the powerful enemy who had left them completely helpless would be casually knocked down by a human child with just one punch.

"Is that... Zen?"

"Zen?! It really is Zen!!!"

"Zen!!!"

Everyone looked at the suddenly appearing boy and his familiar face, gasping in exclamation one after another.

Yet, his demeanor and martial prowess were worlds apart from the Zen they remembered.

Especially the strength he had just displayed was definitely something no ordinary person could achieve.

"What are you?! You even have the aura of a Digivice on you... How is it possible? Isn't the eighth child in the human world?"

Myotismon’s knocked-down figure flickered and stood back up, its somewhat deformed cheek appearing even more distorted with anger.

Astonishment, doubt, disbelief... various emotions mingled together as it stared at the boy who had suddenly appeared, hesitating unsurely about what to do next.

It could sense that the punch that had just hit it seemed to contain a bizarre energy, one that had even inflicted a fair amount of substantial damage to its body.

By a human child?

How absurd!

"..."

"Lolo! Dorumon!"

Following Zen's shout, two Digimon radiating the light of evolution appeared on the left and right of Myotismon.

"It really is Zen! LorettaMon and Dorumon are here too!"

It was Mimi's joyful voice; she desperately wanted to run over to Zen right then and there to take a good look at him. For over a month of separation, for some reason, the figure of a certain someone had grown much deeper in her heart.

Especially when Zen had fallen from the sky just now, as handsome as a prince on a white horse, rescuing her from danger and causing her to subconsciously cast herself in the role of the heroine saved by the hero.

"How... did he... become so powerful?!"

Joe looked rather dazed as he stared at Zen, who was enveloped in a layer of grayish-white light, wearing a look of sheer disbelief.

"What on earth has he been through this past month?!"

Koushiro also found it impossible to comprehend the changes in Zen right before his eyes.

"Everyone, I'm back!"

Zen suddenly turned around, greeting Tai and the others behind him with a trace of nostalgia. Although they had parted ways for only a few months, Zen felt as though ages had passed.

Because too many things had happened to him during this period.

"Zen, watch out!"

Seeing Zen turn around, Myotismon behind him suddenly launched an attack, seemingly wanting to eliminate this unnatural human.

After all, that punch from moments ago had even left Myotismon with a bit of psychological trauma.

Hearing Mimi's startled gasp, Zen smiled nonchalantly, as if he hadn't paid any attention to the suddenly attacking Myotismon.

Just as Myotismon was about to reach Zen, a Digimon dressed in a tight black bodysuit and wearing a pointy cat-eared mask instantly appeared in front of Zen.

A crimson whip similarly entangled Myotismon's blood-red whip, halting its attack on Zen in the blink of an eye.

It was Black LadyDevimon... She blocked Myotismon with an overwhelmingly unnatural speed.

An intense sense of crisis enveloped Myotismon. In its eyes, this ridiculously curvaceous female Digimon felt like a fiend far more terrifying than itself.

It stood no chance of winning whatsoever... All of Myotismon's senses were warning it, causing its entire figure to involuntarily take a step back.

"Lolo, finish it off quickly."

Zen looked at Myotismon, a flash of coldness in his eyes.

Even with the reinforcement of dark power, Zen did not believe it could defeat Black LadyDevimon. In fact, Zen couldn't even be bothered to use the power of his cards.

"Why do you possess a dark power even greater than mine?"

Staring at Black LadyDevimon, Myotismon took another rapid step back as it gradually sensed the killing intent she was radiating toward it.

"Why should I tell you..."

The moment Black LadyDevimon's voice trailed off, the red whip in her hand transformed into an exceptionally agile poisonous snake, piercing straight through Myotismon's neck.

However, Black LadyDevimon's gaze narrowed, and she immediately retracted her whip.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing the somewhat astonished expression on Black LadyDevimon's face beside him, Zen asked curiously.

"Sorry, I let it get away..."

"..."

Sure enough, Myotismon's figure, whose neck had just been pierced, suddenly transformed into countless bats and vanished into mid-air.

"It's fine. There will be plenty of chances to kill it; don't worry about this slip-up."

Zen immediately comforted Black LadyDevimon. Although her Perfect form possessed strength comparable to an Ultimate, this Myotismon, favored by the darkness, was no simple enemy either.

In the original story, the six Perfect-level Digimon of the protagonist group all fell to Myotismon. Clearly, this Myotismon's strength was far superior to ordinary Perfect forms, and it might have even touched the threshold of the Ultimate level.

Moreover, the surrounding area was still a subspace deployed by it.

"And one more thing..."

"What is it?"

"After returning to this world, my evolution seems a bit unstable... Urgh!"

With that, Black LadyDevimon's body immediately and uncontrollably devolved back into LorettaMon, looking at her own palms with matching bewilderment.

"..."

"Is it because the digital energies of the two worlds haven't fully fused yet? So even evolution has been affected?"

Zen lowered his eyes, pondering this possibility.

"I feel strange too, Zen. My evolution failed..."

Dorumon also trotted over perplexedly. Although it had successfully evolved from Dorumon into DoruMon, it had originally intended to evolve into DoruGreymon.

Yet strangely enough, no matter how much Digisoul Zen poured into the Digivice, he could not successfully push DoruMon to evolve into the next stage.

"..."

Zen looked at Dorumon, feeling even more puzzled.

On the other side, as Myotismon retreated in defeat, the surrounding scenery gradually returned to normal... The dark green grass and the blood moon vanished, and the familiar forest once again appeared around everyone.

"..."

"Zen! I thought you had disappeared!"

Along with Mimi's familiar, joyful voice, Zen felt a fragrant, soft body suddenly throw itself against him.

It actually felt quite nice.

"Yeah, Zen, where did you go? We've been looking for you for over a month."

Sora's voice was full of concern.

"You didn't return to the real world either, and your home phone didn't go through. Zen, you wouldn't believe what happened to me..."

Then came Tai's teasing and curious voice.

Zen looked at the crowd before him, nodded without offering any explanation, and simply said... I'm back.

"Zen, what happened to you during this time of disappearance? Or did you go to some strange place? How could you become so strong, and using just a human body, even inflict effective damage on Myotismon..."

Koushiro remained unchanged, his eyes still brimming with an insatiable thirst for knowledge—only this time, it was directed at the Zen before him.

"Indeed, a lot has happened to me, but it's not something that can be explained in a moment. Let's find a safe place and talk slowly."

Zen nodded and suggested.

"Eh? Zen... did you grow taller?"

Joe suddenly let out a soft exclamation. While he used to be somewhat taller than Zen, Zen was now slightly towering over him.

"It really seems like you did!"

Koushiro looked at Zen, gestured with his hand, and stared at Zen excitedly, as if wanting to ask if there was some secret to growing taller.

"..."

"Hey, everyone, look! This thing is glowing!"

Just as everyone was crowding around Zen with curious questions, TK, who was standing a little further back, seemed to have kicked something and hurriedly called everyone over.

Before anyone could get close, the device at TK's feet suddenly emitted a beam of light, and the virtual figure of Gennai appeared before everyone once again.

"Children, I've finally found you!"

As he finished speaking, Zen noticed that Gennai's gaze seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally lingering on him.