Chapter 289: Check-In and Registration, Two VIP Guests!

The evolution data extracted from Mimi prompted the two Cactomon to evolve into Lillymon, and the Inverted Pyramid side spent this time doing so.

The remaining reserve is not enough to provide Tailmon for an experimental evolution.

And to re-accumulate pure evolution data, there isn't enough time either.

Behind them, Tai Yi and Yamato Ishida, leading Agumon and Gabumon who were on the verge of Super Evolution, had already caught up.

Regarding whether to dispatch stronger Digimon to attack those two in order to delay the conclusion of this rescue drama, Broly felt doing so would seem somewhat fake, so he decided to wait for Tai Yi and the other to walk right into the trap themselves.

And while waiting for the remaining two Chosen Children to walk into the trap, the Digimon Actors at the ancient castle had to start rehearsing the final ordeal drama that was about to conclude.

Time flew by, and three more days passed before Tai Yi and Yamato Ishida finally saw that moving ancient castle.

The two, weather-beaten from travel, felt like weeping tears of joy; only they knew how many hardships and perils they had encountered along the way.

Now, they had finally caught sight of the target they had been chasing.

"Wait, A He, we need to be careful. Don't go through all the trouble of catching up only to be discovered by the enemies inside."

Seeing Yamato Ishida evolve Gabumon and prepare to ride Garurumon toward the distant ancient castle, Tai Yi hurriedly stopped him; he didn't want to eat sand all the way only for a mistake to occur at the final step of rescuing their companions.

Yamato Ishida was anxious to find his younger brother, but the time spent getting along with Tai Yi on the road had also made him acknowledge the other's leadership.

The two hid behind a sand dune, ate to replenish their physical strength, then closed their eyes to rest, preparing to wait until nightfall and use the cover of darkness to infiltrate.

The sky darkened quickly; after seeing the two's movements behind the sand dune via surveillance, Broly's side also instructed the participating Digimon.

"Everyone, the two new leads are about to enter the factory. Give it a hundred percent spirit — tonight, put on a proper show for them."

"Yes, Gluttony Beast King."

The Digimon replied in hushed voices; the Lillymon evolved from Palmon went to arrange the Digimon not participating in the performance to head one by one to the exit on the other side of the ancient castle.

When the big show opens, they will be able to leave from this side's exit, thereby avoiding being caught up in the battle between the upcoming Ultimate-level Digimon.

"Strange, is this Data Factory's defense really this poor?"

Tai Yi, who had infiltrated the ancient castle very smoothly, was somewhat surprised; he had originally been prepared to force his way in directly if discovered.

As it turned out, although they encountered some guard Digimon along the infiltration route, those Digimon had absolutely no vigilance whatsoever.

Like security guards with a monthly salary of only two thousand, they only cared about watching the main gate and didn't care if thieves slipped in from elsewhere.

"That doesn't matter; we need to hurry and find Takeru Takaishi and the others."

Yamato Ishida didn't care about that; right at that moment, a Gekomon walked from the other end of the corridor toward them.

Yamato Ishida hid around the corner, and when the Gekomon approached, he rushed out, covered its mouth, and he and Gabumon dragged it around the corner.

As expected of an excellent actor carefully selected, the Gekomon widened its eyes, showed a terrified expression, and flailed its limbs, perfectly acting out the panic of a sudden ambush — but in reality, it had been arranged to come over and guide the two.

"Hey, you better not move, or else..."

Gabumon extended its claws, and the Gekomon cooperated by stopping its struggle.

"From now on, you answer whatever I ask. Understand? If you dare shout randomly, don't blame Gabumon for wiping you out. If you understand, nod."

The Gekomon nodded; after Yamato Ishida let go, it hurriedly said in a low voice, "Please don't harm me, I am willing to cooperate with you."

"Where are the Chosen Children you captured imprisoned?"

"Which one are you asking about?"

"I'm asking about all of them. Don't play tricks with me."

Cooperating with Yamato Ishida's threat, Gabumon pressed its claws against the Gekomon's neck.

"Mimi is in the room on the far right of the third floor, Sora Takenouchi..."

The Gekomon was very cooperative, reporting the specific locations of the Chosen Children's rooms inside the ancient castle.

"You actually imprisoned them in separate places?"

Hearing this, Tai Yi was somewhat surprised.

"This is to facilitate arranging daily tasks for the Chosen Children."

The Gekomon answered.

"Damn it, you actually enslave Takeru Takaishi too?"

Yamato Ishida got somewhat angry, grabbing the Gekomon by the neck and shaking it.

"A He, now's not the time for this; we have to hurry and rescue everyone."

Tai Yi stopped him; Yamato Ishida calmed down and had the Gekomon lead the way.

The Gekomon was originally here to do exactly this, so it didn't waste words and started guiding them.

And the first one they went to find was Takeru Takaishi.

Regarding this point, Tai Yi had no objection either.

Because no matter who they found first, it was all the same to him.

"Thump thump~"

The room door was knocked.

"Who?"

Takeru Takaishi inside hadn't gone to sleep yet.

"Takeru Takaishi, it's me."

Hearing Yamato Ishida's voice, the door was quickly opened.

"Big brother, Tai Yi, you finally came looking for us? Thank you so much, Gekomon."

Takeru Takaishi, who opened the door, looked happily at the two who appeared at the doorway and began thanking the Gekomon.

"No, why are you thanking this guy?"

Yamato Ishida, who had been about to hug his younger brother, froze slightly, frowned, and asked.

"Eh, weren't you guys found by the Gekomon?"

Takeru Takaishi was a bit puzzled.

"What do you mean 'found by them'? The two of us worked hard to track you down to this side."

Yagami Taichi began to explain.

"But you, Takeru, you don't look like someone who was imprisoned either?"

Yagami Taichi discovered something strange: Takeru was wearing cute sleepwear, and because he had eaten well, dressed well, and slept well these past days, the little boy's spirit and energy were extremely good.

At the very least, compared to the exhausted Yagami Taichi and Ishida Yamato, he formed a stark contrast.

"The Digimon here actually haven't done anything bad to us; they just want to extract our evolution data.

And as long as that point is satisfied, they will also satisfy our life needs; we haven't suffered any abuse or torture."

Takeru hurriedly explained. Yagami Taichi stood at the front door looking into the room and saw a small television inside, the screen displaying a classic fighting game.

Clearly, when they knocked, Takeru was inside playing a game, and judging by the two controllers on the floor, he was playing with Patamon.

Ishida Yamato also saw the game on the television, and his face darkened somewhat. The situation was completely different from what he had thought; he had assumed his younger brother, after being taken away, was experiencing something tragic.

As a result, upon seeing him, the other party was wearing a cute cartoon sleepwear set, and even though it was late at night, he still had the interest to play a fighting game with Patamon.

"Taichi, what do we do in this situation?"

Agumon asked.

"Of course we stay here. There's food, clothes, and entertainment. Taichi and Big Brother, as well as Agumon and Gabumon, since you've come, it's perfect for everyone to stay here together."

Takeru said somewhat happily.

"What did you do to Takeru?" Ishida Yamato suddenly turned his head, grabbed the Goblimon behind him by the neck, and demanded.

"It hurts, ribbit; ribbit, I can't breathe."

The Goblimon, suddenly choked by the neck, spoke with difficulty.

"Ah, Big Brother, what are you doing? Hurry up and let go of Goblimon!"

Takeru exclaimed, subconsciously reaching out and pushing Ishida Yamato.

Ishida Yamato was unprepared, got pushed in the stomach, it hurt a bit, and subconsciously let go.

"Takeru, you actually laid hands on me for this Digimon?"

Ishida Yamato stared wide-eyed at his younger brother.

"Ah, I, no, just, Goblimon, Goblimon, he's my friend……"

Takeru, like a child who had done something wrong, stood to the side trying to explain something, but stammered incoherently.

"What exactly did you do to my younger brother?"

Ishida Yamato didn't believe the friend story and continued interrogating the Goblimon fallen on the ground.

"Ribbit, we didn't do anything……"

"A He, calm down; maybe he's not lying."

"How could he not be lying? Takeru even wants us to stay here together now. What is this place? The enemy's den!"

Ishida Yamato seemed convinced his younger brother must have been brainwashed by the enemy, which was why he appeared abnormally angry.

"Takeru, can you tell me what you've encountered since coming to this side?"

It was Yagami Taichi who managed to stay calm, asking the somewhat aggrieved little boy.

"We……"

Asked like this, Takeru recounted his experiences since coming here with some grievance, without embellishment, just telling the truth.

"Ah, Taichi, why do I feel so envious listening to this."

Agumon, listening nearby to the daily food, couldn't help but wipe the drool about to flow out; his appearance was just short of beating his chest and sighing, wondering why he wasn't the one captured back then.

"Stop it, I'm envious too!"

Yagami Taichi's expression was also twitching. The captured little partners, what kind of immortal days were they living here? Never mind the normal three meals, what the hell was afternoon tea? At night when their stomachs were hungry, going to the kitchen, they could even order late-night snacks à la carte?

Not only that, if needed for bathing, there were Otamamon providing scrubbing service; if shoulders were sore, there were even Digimon helping with massages.

In comparison, chasing behind them sleeping in the open, not necessarily bathing once in several days, and even if they could bathe it was only cold water — just which hell of deep waters and raging fires were they living in?

"A He, I feel if it's this kind of experience, Takeru wanting us to stay together is a very normal thing."

Yagami Taichi turned his head to say to Ishida Yamato behind him. Ishida Yamato turned his face away; he already understood he had misunderstood, but couldn't bring himself to say words of apology.

"So do we still need to escape from here now?"

Gabumon asked.

"Anyway, let's find everyone first, then discuss it."

Taichi felt neither decision was good to make, so he decided to gather the little partners first.

And with Goblimon's extreme cooperation, they sought out Mimi, Koushiro Izumi, and the others' rooms one by one.

Finally, everyone gathered in Hikari Yagami's room.

"What's up with A He? Why does it feel like his mood is really bad?"

In the room, Joe Kido asked Taichi in a small voice.

Ishida Yamato's body currently emitted an aura of 'strangers keep away'.

"Ah, this…… I don't know how to say it either……"

Yagami Taichi embarrassedly touched his nose. He actually understood Ishida Yamato's current mood; this was probably a feeling of imbalance in his heart.

Fighting life and death to come save companions, but upon actually arriving, the companions one by one were living better than him, and fundamentally didn't need saving.

It felt like being played for a fool.

Yagami Taichi's family was happy and harmonious, his personality outgoing and sunny, so he naturally felt that as long as companions were fine, it was a great thing, and didn't take it to heart much.

But Ishida Yamato's family was divorced; this person had strong self-esteem and was somewhat sensitive. After encountering this kind of thing, he felt extremely depressed, but couldn't blame the companions who were fine and living good days, so he could only put on a stinky face.

"Now, now, what's important right now is whether everyone wants to leave this place?"

Yagami Taichi brought up the topic; he decided to respect everyone's opinion.

If everyone wants to stay, he'll immediately go turn himself in to the Digimon managing this Data Factory Castle, then drag Agumon off to bathe.

It's been two days without a bath, and they've been moving through the desert region; Taichi Yagami feels he and Agumon could scrub off at least half a catty of wind and sand from their bodies.

"Honestly, staying here is pretty good."

Koushiro Izumi said.

"Agreed."

Sora Takenouchi nodded.

And once this topic came up for discussion, opinions unsurprisingly leaned toward wanting to stay.

"Then what about going home? Are we just going to stay in this world forever?"

A He, wearing a sour expression, raised this question; his contrary nature made him argue the opposite side without thinking.

Fortunately, this person wasn't opposing for opposition's sake — he still brought up the one issue everyone had been evading.

"Fair point; if we stay here, we won't find the path home."

Koushiro Izumi nodded.

"How about this — compromise: we stay here to recuperate first, wait until we're recovered, then find a chance to slip away and search for the path home."

Taichi Yagami said; Yamato Ishida had no objection, and the others could accept it.

【Huh?! Things actually developed like this?!】

Thought tonight would require a performance battle, but Joe Kido directly brought Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida over, looking like new guests checking into the castle.

"Done, registration's complete; you just tell them the lifestyle in this Data Absorption Factory."

"Thanks, Wizardmon."

Joe Kido thanked him; after the group left, Hanasakumon walked over to ask.

"Gluttony Beast King, we're not performing tonight's play?"

"They didn't follow the script. If they'd chosen to flee tonight, we could've had LadyDevimon happen to collide with the fleeing them, spark a conflict and fight a round, capture them.

But the current situation works too; either way we can extract data. Extract some data first, wait until it's about enough, then wrap it up.

Per the original plan, reveal the great crisis of wanting to drain their Partner Digimon dry of data to them, stimulate stimulate their potential……"

Scripts are created from nothing; this is also Broly's first time doing scriptwriting for others.

So, some preset plots always get modified in real-time only after reality produces unexpected changes.

"Letting those two and their partners rest a bit is fine too; saves me from being accused of winning without merit after I beat them."

Deramon had no objection either.

(Chapter End)