After successfully sealing Baihumon and suppressing what remained of Machinedramon, Narumi Akira did not destroy Machinedramon's body to prevent Millenniummon's birth.
He did it on purpose.
He wanted to leave a few unresolved problems behind—something for Yggdrasil and Homeostasis to deal with—so they'd stay busy and stop looking for opportunities to stir trouble.
And really, you couldn't blame him for "raising bandits to restrain bandits."
The so-called gods of this world were the type to use you, then discard you. Akira didn't even have a "proper position" on paper. If he cleaned up everything, then what would be left as the biggest "problem" needing to be handled?
…Him.
So slacking off wasn't just acceptable—it was necessary, reasonable, and morally justified.
Narumi Akira wasn't Homeostasis' employee, nor was he Yggdrasil's. Solving problems for the Digital World was a favor; taking it easy was the job description.
Of course, Akira was still curious about the "partner" Millenniummon had prophesied.
How absurdly useful would that person have to be for "future me" to actually take interest?
If it was on the Digimon side… well, LadyDevimon had potential. Most of the others were, frankly, underwhelming in raw specs.
If it was on the human side…
Was it Shiramine Nokia—the bubbly tamer with luck so outrageous she earned the acknowledgment of a Royal Knight-tier Omegamon?
If it was a rich, harmless, decent-looking "golden sheep" like her… sure, he could see the appeal. But as an actual partner? She was a little too… pure-hearted.
If not Nokia, then could it be the DM-series "Gudako"—Aiba Ami?
If it was her, then sure, she was among the strongest Tamers out there. But teaming up with a protagonist he'd once played as in a game… that was hard to picture.
Whatever. The future could wait for the future.
Besides—if you only judged by combat power and personality, and deliberately ignored the "true body" problem…
Who could possibly beat Xiao Ai?
After that mental brainstorming, Akira glanced at his partner and sighed sincerely.
"Too bad Digimon can't have kids."
"?"
Xiao Ai tilted her head, ran a full internal analysis of the sudden topic shift, and then delivered an answer so calm it nearly gave Akira a heart attack.
"Actually, Digimon can reproduce," Xiao Ai explained with academic seriousness. "Most Digimon simply don't. For example, the Cutemon couple you freed from Bagra's army had a son."
…Wait, what?
So Xros Wars wasn't just power-scaling chaos—there were family mechanics too?
He'd never noticed any of that as a kid.
But that's Digimon-to-Digimon. It doesn't apply to human and Digimon—
…Hold on.
Xiao Ai currently had a human body.
So if he didn't think too hard about the "main body" issue…
Then technically, Xiao Ai… wasn't completely impossible?
Akira startled himself with that line of thought and immediately shook his head hard, forcibly deleting the idea.
Sure, "beyond friendship" developments were exciting—
but he was still growing. No messing around.
And besides… getting tangled up with your co-founder and primary business partner was a great way to damage the company.
So Akira suppressed the extra thoughts, recalled Cernumon back into his Digivice, and prepared for the next step.
The banner had been raised. Data from two Dark Masters carrying Apocalymon's virus had been collected. Since Yggdrasil still hadn't come down personally to negotiate, it was time to build a transit hub in the human world and prepare for the Wild Hunt's expansion.
"Alice," Akira said, "open the gate back. This adventure can pause for now."
"We're leaving now?" Xiao Ai couldn't quite keep up with his logic.
"Piedmon and MetalSeadramon can be killed, but someone has to complete Spiral Mountain," Akira explained. "If Apocalymon doesn't smash Homeostasis into a crash state, then building a new order becomes a lot harder."
"We're here to start a venture," Akira said flatly. "Not to wipe Homeostasis' ass."
"So we're leaving. Now."
"I understand." Xiao Ai nodded obediently and opened the rift.
And then—
Just as Akira was about to go home, his "fish" finally surfaced.
"Companion of Destruction… please stop."
A holy knight stepped forward—jet-black from head to toe, yet carrying pure golden wings, and draped in a blue cape that screamed top-tier.
[Image: Alphamon]
Akira knew exactly who it was.
The master of the Royal Knights' vacant seat—the holy knight who could suppress the Royal Knights:
Alphamon.
And the reason Alphamon could suppress other Royal Knights was because it possessed the Alpha InForce, a power that could "pre-fetch" the course of battle and complete the fight in a single instant.
Facing that kind of cheat code, it would be a lie to say Akira felt no pressure.
But maintaining elegance under pressure was a core entrepreneurial skill.
So Akira didn't respond to Alphamon's attempt to stop him.
Instead, he took his partner's hand, and under Alphamon's gaze, walked straight through the dimensional rift—back into the human world.
"If we're going to talk business," Akira said with a courteous smile toward the rift behind him, "it's only polite to negotiate in a meeting room."
"Right, messenger of Yggdrasil?"
"And also…"
Akira turned his head and looked into his own room.
Inside sat another holy knight—wearing a red cloak, showing itself in the form of a rookie stage that looked suspiciously like a puppy.
Clearly, this one had come to negotiate too—and it had arrived earlier.
[Image: Hackmon]
"This should be a three-way negotiation, shouldn't it?" Akira said with a light chuckle. "Homeostasis' messenger… Hackmon."
"Narumi Akira. I'm here to negotiate terms."
Hackmon pulled a Digivice from beneath its cloak and offered it forward.
"This is your Holy Digivice. Inside it is your partner Digimon."
"My own Holy Digivice… and a Digi-Egg?"
Akira accepted it, confirmed there really was an unhatched Digi-Egg waiting inside, and couldn't help murmuring:
"Interesting."
"This is indeed your Digi-Egg," Hackmon said evenly. "But you were not chosen as a Chosen Child."
"This is only a token issued afterward—Homeostasis' goodwill for recruiting you. That unhatched egg is the proof."
From beyond the rift, Alphamon spoke again:
"What Homeostasis can offer… Yggdrasil can also offer."
"You do have the aptitude to maintain dynamic balance," Hackmon didn't deny. "Whether you agree to be a Chosen Child or not, it doesn't change the fact that this child is your partner."
Listening to the two holy knights trade lines, Akira almost laughed.
When he wanted to be chosen, no one came.
Now that he'd started making moves—now that he was building a new order—
they didn't just show up. They started bringing gifts.
So even Homeostasis and Yggdrasil…
can compromise, too?