Chapter 119: The Convenience of the Data World
Time flowed steadily forward, the gears of their various plans turning without a hitch. Somewhere far across the digital landscape, BlackGatomon and her covert group were making steady progress on their assigned mission. Meanwhile, back within the dense foliage of the training grounds, Mizuki and the Chosen Children finally called an end to their grueling day of instruction.
Yagami Taichi lay flat on his back, staring blankly up at the digital sky. He no longer possessed even a fraction of the boundless energy he had displayed that morning. Although Kari had diligently applied her healing abilities to erase every visible bruise and scrape from his skin, the sheer psychological trauma Mizuki had inflicted upon his spirit lingered like a heavy fog.
"Mizuki, you absolute bastard..." Taichi forced the words through gritted teeth, his chest heaving with every breath. "Next time... next time I am definitely going to—"
"Alright, alright, save your breath." Mizuki stood over the sprawled boy, looking down with a mixture of dry amusement and faint exhaustion of his own. He crossed his arms, a teasing smirk playing on his lips. "I really do not understand you. Your lungs are practically screaming for air, yet you still waste energy trying to talk tough."
A short distance away, the rest of the group was faring little better, each communicating with their respective partners in various states of fatigue.
"I am so entirely exhausted, Palmon," Mimi whined, her shoulders drooping dramatically. "Can you please give me a piggyback ride?"
Hearing this request, Palmon froze. The plant Digimon slowly turned her head, staring at her partner with an expression of sheer, unadulterated horror, her wide eyes practically screaming, 'Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth?'
Taking a moment to process the sheer audacity of the request, Palmon quickly found her voice. "But Mimi, you have barely moved a single inch all day!"
"Even so!" Mimi huffed, tugging uncomfortably at the thick, heavy collar around her neck. "Wearing all of this stuff makes me feel incredibly hot, stuffy, and completely drained!"
She gestured disdainfully at the massive prop resting heavily against her shoulders. It was a thick, cumbersome blanket woven entirely from living vines, broad leaves, and blooming flowers. This was the specific training regimen Piximon had designed for her: wrapping her completely in nature to maximize the development of her inner power. The logic dictated that the pure, innocent light of her heart could naturally synchronize with the surrounding flora, drawing out her latent potential.
Before Mimi could complain further, a high-pitched voice drifted over from the edge of the clearing.
"Stop complaining about being tired, pi! If you have the energy to whine, you might as well hurry up and eat, pi!"
The children turned their heavy heads toward the source of the sound. Piximon hovered proudly beside a massive, wooden dining table that had seemingly materialized out of thin air. The surface groaned under the weight of a dazzling array of dishes. Roasted meats sizzled, fresh digital fruits gleamed under the sunlight, and thick, savory stews bubbled in heavy iron pots. The rich, mouth-watering aroma of Piximon's masterful culinary skills drifted through the clearing, thick enough to taste.
Despite the incredible feast laid out before them, the children simply stared. Not a single one of them could muster the enthusiasm to take a step forward.
"The food you prepared for us smells absolutely amazing, Piximon, but..." Mimi trailed off, looking down at her own arms with a deep grimace.
Having spent the entire day wrapped tightly inside a cocoon of thick vines and heavy flowers under the baking sun, her skin was thoroughly coated in a layer of grime. She felt entirely marinated in her own sweat.
"My whole body is completely sticky right now," she muttered, rubbing her arms with a shudder of disgust. "It is really hard to work up an appetite feeling like this..."
Her words immediately struck a chord with the rest of the group.
"If only we could find a place to clean up a bit..." Sora sighed helplessly. She slapped at her jeans, sending a small cloud of dry dust billowing into the air.
Takeru nodded vigorously, wiping a streak of dirt from his cheek. "Speaking of which, do you think there is a hot spring anywhere around here?"
"A hot spring?"
Hearing the younger boy's innocent question, Mizuki paused. He tapped his chin, his eyes narrowing slightly as the gears in his head began to turn. "Actually... it seems like we definitely can have one."
"Really?! Where is it?!"
Before Taichi could even blink, a blur of pink and green shot past his face. Mimi had instantly crossed the distance between them, coming to a dead halt mere inches from Mizuki's face.
Startled by her terrifying speed and the intense, sparkling desperation in her eyes, Mizuki instinctively took a large step backward. He held up his hands in a placating gesture.
"Calm down. There are no actual hot springs naturally occurring in this forest."
Mimi's sparkling eyes immediately dulled, her face dropping into an expression of deep, crushing disappointment. But before she could voice her despair, Mizuki smoothly changed the subject.
"However, we can easily make one ourselves."
"Make one ourselves?"
The entire group of children snapped their attention toward him, their curiosity instantly piqued.
Under the weight of their collective stares, Mizuki cleared his throat. He adopted a calm, instructional tone. "Do you remember what I explained to you all earlier?"
He gestured broadly toward the towering trees surrounding them. "The Digital World is fundamentally composed of raw data. Everything you see, touch, and feel is just code taking physical form."
He lowered his hand, his expression turning serious. "In other words, as long as you possess excellent data manipulation abilities, and the ambient data volume is sufficient, completely altering the environment is not a difficult task at all."
"I see," Piximon muttered from the side, his small wings buzzing thoughtfully. The tiny fairy Digimon's eyes widened in sudden realization. "So that is exactly how you created this entire forest, pi."
"That is right."
"Wait a second." Taichi pushed himself up onto his elbows, his jaw dropping open as his exhausted brain finally processed the conversation. "This entire forest was created by you, Mizuki?!"
"To be perfectly precise, Belle and I created it together," Mizuki corrected smoothly.
He gestured casually over his shoulder toward Belle. The tall, imposing figure stood a short distance away, her eyes resting peacefully shut. She remained entirely focused, diligently following Piximon's earlier instructions to sense the subtle flow of data in her immediate surroundings.
Returning his attention to the present, Taichi let out a long, defeated groan and forced himself up from the dirt. He dusted off his knees, glaring at Mizuki with a mixture of awe and sheer frustration.
"You absolute bastard. You actually pulled off something on this massive scale without saying a single word to us." Taichi shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "And here I actually thought I might finally be getting close to catching up to you."
Mizuki let out a soft chuckle. He raised his right hand, holding up two fingers with a thoroughly infuriating smirk. "You are about twenty thousand years too early to even dream of catching up to me."
"What did you just say?!" Taichi snapped, a vein pulsing visibly at his temple. "Should you not be trying to comfort me right now instead of acting so smug?!"
Pushed entirely past his breaking point by Mizuki's arrogant trolling, Taichi let out a battle cry and lunged forward, fully intending to tackle the older boy to the dirt.
However, before the two of them could even begin to roughhouse, a terrifying presence materialized directly between them.
Mimi stood perfectly still, her arms crossed over her chest. A dark, oppressive aura seemed to radiate from her very pores.
"Excuse me," Mimi began, her voice dripping with a sickly sweet venom. "Have you two idiots completely forgotten what the absolute most important thing in the world is right now?"
She took a slow, deliberate step toward Taichi. "The hot spring. The hot spring!"
Mimi tilted her head, flashing Taichi a sickeningly cute smile while slowly drawing a finger across her own throat. "If you, Taichi-senpai, do anything to make me lose my hot spring... then I will k-i-l-l you."
The sheer, concentrated resentment radiating from the girl hit Taichi like a physical blow. He instantly slapped both hands over his mouth, nodding frantically to signal his complete and utter surrender.
After thoroughly confirming that Taichi had been cowed into submission, the dark aura vanished. Mimi spun back around to face Mizuki, her terrifyingly gentle smile still firmly in place.
"Mizuki," she purred, the sweetness in her tone doing nothing to hide the underlying threat. "Can you please tell us right now how exactly we are going to create this hot spring?"
Despite her polite phrasing, Mizuki could acutely sense the dangerous edge in her voice. She was standing on the absolute precipice of turning completely dark. It made perfect sense. For a girl who cared so deeply about her personal appearance and hygiene, being covered in sticky sweat and smelling like marinated cured meat was nothing short of psychological torture.
Recognizing the danger, Mizuki dropped his teasing demeanor and became entirely serious. "Regarding the actual construction, I am going to need everyone's help."
"What exactly do you need us to do?"
Sora stepped forward, her posture rigid. Although she tried her best to maintain her usual composed demeanor, the desperate, burning longing for a hot bath was painfully obvious in her eyes. After all, her current state of grime was no better than Mimi's.
Takeru hurried up right behind Sora, his small fists clenched in determination. "Just tell us what you need! Anything we can do, we will do it!"
Facing the intense, expectant gazes of the entire group, Mizuki naturally did not string them along any further. He spoke with complete honesty.
"To create a hot spring right here in this clearing, we simply need to rewrite the local terrain data." Mizuki tapped the side of his own head. "However, because I have never actually bathed in a natural hot spring before in my life, I do not possess the proper conceptual blueprint for one in my mind."
He swept his gaze across the dirty, exhausted faces of the Chosen Children. "What I need is that exact feeling residing inside your memories. I can provide the raw power and handle the technical data manipulation from the outside."
Mizuki held out his hands. "But in return, you all need to close your eyes and try your absolute hardest to recreate the physical concept, the heat, and the structure of a hot spring in your minds. You provide the blueprint, I provide the construction."
He offered them a confident smile. "How about it? Can you do that?"
The children stood in silence for a brief moment, exchanging heavy, meaningful glances. As they looked at one another, a fierce, burning determination ignited in their eyes.
For the sake of the hot spring, they would do anything.
"That goes without saying!"
The next second, the clearing echoed with their unified, enthusiastic cheer.
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