An expanse of islands gradually appeared across the ocean horizon, even larger in scale than File Island, the beginner village where Zero had first landed.
That was Gekomon Island, a place originally meant to be filled with natural music and festive vibes. Yet now, at its center loomed the silhouette of a massive factory, belching black smoke like a sinister dragon from towering chimneys.
Surrounding the island was a circle of drilling rigs and a ring of dorsal fins cutting through the water in constant patrol.
The entire island had clearly been transformed into MetalSeadramon's personal oil refinery, and its original inhabitants reduced to prisoners and forced laborers.
If Zero's group could clearly see the state of the island from here, naturally the inhabitants of the island had also noticed them.
Sure enough, atop a tall lighthouse on the island's edge, several flashes of light blinked rapidly—probably signaling the presence of intruders.
Such coded signals were originally part of the Metal Empire's internal communication system. After the Empire fractured, these secret signals splintered along factional lines as well.
Currently, Zero had inherited part of the Metal Empire's legacy from Andromon, though thus far the only true product of this inheritance had been the Hyper Gear.
As for the code system MetalSeadramon used, it was most likely shared with Machinedramon, and naturally Zero couldn't decipher it at all.
But not understanding it wasn't really a big deal; their actions wouldn't change anyway.
Still, before that—
"…Koushiro, did you get all of that?"
Koushiro's fingers flew across his laptop's keyboard. In moments, he smiled confidently.
"Yeah, got it all down."
Koushiro had recorded every coded signal flashed by the lighthouse. Later, he could try decoding them. If successful, understanding Machinedramon's communication codes might become invaluable later.
Even if it ended up useless, better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.
"Good, since you've got it—"
Zero leapt from Whamon's back, the Crest of Courage on Taichi's chest blazing brilliantly. Rapidly evolving into MetalGreymon, Zero flipped open his chest plates, firing two organic missiles trailing flames.
Their target was, naturally, the signaling lighthouse.
On the lighthouse, two Hagurumon frantically shouted warnings to their stationed troops.
"Enemy attack! Do you hear me? Enem—"
Their cries abruptly cut off as twin explosions engulfed half the tower, instantly shattering it in a spectacular burst of flames and smoke.
Like cold water poured into hot oil, this immediately triggered chaos. Countless dorsal fins burst through the ocean surface, accompanied by crashing waves, as a storm of ice arrows and freezing winds surged toward them.
"Oh, Seadramon huh… old friends~"
On the other side, Hajime evolved into Garurumon and deployed jet boosters, quickly arriving beside Zero. Hearing Zero's casual remark, she responded nostalgically:
"Yeah, they gave us quite the trouble back then."
Zero and Hajime's first meeting had involved a Seadramon after all.
However, each individual Seadramon here was far stronger than that first encounter. The first had been from File Island's beginner area, while these were frontline troops of the Dark Army.
Being part of the direct evolutionary line to MetalSeadramon, the entire Seadramon lineage had naturally grown stronger under his leadership.
These Seadramon emerging from the sea were partially mechanized—though not as heavily as MetalSeadramon himself, they were significantly stronger than their ordinary counterparts.
Ice arrows and freezing winds surged forth, while the outer circle of Seadramon stirred up waves with their bodies, instantly creating a towering tsunami aimed directly at Zero and Hajime.
"Not bad, but compared to your boss, this attack is just too weak."
Though formidable enough to overturn great ships, the tsunami raised by these Seadramon still paled beside the titanic waves summoned by MetalSeadramon—waves capable of drowning entire continents. To Zero, this current threat was merely "so-so."
The tsunami crashed down, instantly swallowing both Zero and Hajime. Then, ice arrows and freezing air sealed the wave solid, trapping them inside an icy prison.
An impressive combo, sure—but against the wrong opponents, it was inevitably useless.
On Whamon's back, Taichi glanced at Rina. After exchanging a brief look, both acted simultaneously.
A blazing Crest of Courage symbol emerged atop the frozen wave. Then, golden beams exploded outward as the icy wave shattered, pierced by a fiery tornado.
Now evolved into WarGreymon, Zero broke free with a single Dramon Killer-fueled Great Tornado.
Meanwhile, Hajime had evolved into Kimeramon through the power of DigiSoul, immediately unleashing a powerful breath attack behind Zero's assault.
With their opponents being Seadramon, WarGreymon's Dramon Killers slaughtered indiscriminately, while Hajime, nearly invincible among Ultimates, dominated effortlessly. Once a single Seadramon had forced them both into a desperate battle; now, the two swept through countless enemies effortlessly.
The Dramon Killers were especially lethal to dragon-type Digimon—super-effective moves trumped everything. With the Crest of Courage empowering him, WarGreymon blasted straight through their formation, and any survivors were instantly finished off by Hajime.
Their teamwork required no verbal cues—movements alone communicated their strategies perfectly. They charged straight into enemy ranks, carving a path of total destruction.
On File Island, Zero had always shown mercy to enemies willing to surrender. But now was the start of all-out war, and these were members of the Dark Army. Their opposing positions were utterly irreconcilable; coexistence was impossible.
So unfortunately, their opponents had no choice but to promptly die.
...
After swiftly ending the fight, Whamon caught up, bringing the rest of the group safely ashore onto Gekomon Island.
"Thank you, Whamon-san. Once again, we owe you a lot~"
The Yagami siblings politely expressed gratitude, and Whamon humbly replied:
"…Helping friends is only natural. Back then, Zero-san defeated Devimon, liberating all of File Island. Later, he took down Etemon and Myotismon, freeing countless Digimon from suffering. I've witnessed it all. Now, you face the Dark Masters—this time, it's the entire Digital World at stake."
Therefore—
"—Whenever you need me, just ask. I'll be there immediately."
Zero stepped forward, replying seriously:
"Rest assured, even if it's just to honor all our friends' trust, I'll definitely defeat the Dark Masters and liberate the Digital World—without fail!"
Defeating the Dark Masters—currently, almost no Digimon in this world would dare openly declare such a bold goal. Even among the Resistance, most treated it merely as a slogan.
But the ones standing here today genuinely considered it their concrete goal, shouted aloud without hesitation.
"Until we meet again, comrades…"
"Mm, see you again, comrade~"
After their farewells, Whamon slowly submerged back into the depths. He had his own tribe to consider. Now that Zero was openly challenging MetalSeadramon's forces, Whamon needed to inform his kindred to prepare.
"Alright then…" With that bold declaration finished, Zero turned toward the island behind him. "…Now, let's find this island's owner—but first…"
A shadow in the distance suddenly moved, attempting to flee. Gatomon reacted instantly, swiftly stepping forward and kicking the figure firmly to the ground.
At heart, Gatomon was still a hot-tempered wildcat—only truly gentle with Taichi and Hikari. Even with friends like Wizardmon, she was often sharply sarcastic, frequently silencing others with biting remarks.
Toward outsiders, she was even more ruthless—though nowadays, this was already her being restrained.
"Behave and don't move, or I won't be nice~"
See? She'd at least warn them now. Back when she worked under Myotismon, her victim would've been dead already.
The one she knocked over was a Gizamon, an amphibious, Rookie-level Virus Digimon. Common in the Ocean Legion, Gizamon were basic-level troops capable of evolving into practically any aquatic Digimon imaginable.
Vicious in water but weak on land—and facing Zero's overwhelmingly powerful group—this Gizamon was frozen in terror.
"I-I-I'm just an errand-runner, a messenger! Please spare me, Lords!"
"Relax…" Zero approached calmly. "…We just need a guide. Cooperate, and I promise we won't hurt you. You don't look like an official member of the Dark Army—if you're willing to turn over a new leaf, we'll give you that chance."
---
T/M: orajodjoasjosjaofjaf
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