Chapter 32: Getting Stronger! In Short, It's All About Getting Stronger!
Mizuki and LadyDevimon's expedition into the sprawling industrial sector had undoubtedly reaped a massive harvest.
For LadyDevimon, the intense clashes had sharpened her combat instincts to a razor's edge. The chaotic, unstable dark energy that once roiled beneath her skin had settled into a refined, terrifyingly perfect calm. Her inner self had achieved a new state of equilibrium.
Mizuki, too, had found answers. The fragmented puzzle pieces regarding his sudden arrival in this digital realm were finally beginning to form a coherent picture. More tangibly, he now possessed a Holy Sword—a blade thrumming with an ocean of latent, sacred energy.
Though his current physical limits prevented him from drawing out the weapon's true, world-shaking potential, the heavy steel resting in his grip remained an exceptionally lethal armament.
"Mizu, Andromon is gone. What's our next move?"
LadyDevimon leaned in, her crimson eyes gleaming with an intense, predatory light. Her dark wings twitched with restless energy. "Should we hunt down a new sparring partner somewhere else?"
Clearly, after resolving her internal conflicts, her entire focus had shifted toward the thrill of battle and the pursuit of absolute strength.
Mizuki let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head as he watched her eager display.
"As much as I'd love to find a suitable punching bag for you, my memory says there isn't a single soul left on File Island who can hold a candle to Andromon."
It was the truth. In the original timeline of the Digimon adventure, the only other Ultimate level Digimon residing on File Island—aside from the cyborg guarding this factory—was Monzaemon over in Toy Town.
Yet, comparing the two was like comparing a seasoned war veteran to a stuffed plushie. Andromon had a track record of throwing hands with genuine Mega level threats and surviving. Monzaemon's battle record, on the other hand, was painfully mediocre.
Aside from relying on a gimmicky, mind-altering special move to score a cheap first-hit capture on the children—excluding Mimi—the giant teddy bear had nothing to show for his supposed high rank.
He had even been brutally beaten into submission by Togemon, a mere Champion level.
'Heaven knows how that oversized plush toy even qualifies as an Ultimate,' Mizuki thought, a dry, almost mocking amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"There aren't any left?"
LadyDevimon's shoulders instantly slumped, the fierce anticipation draining from her posture. Her dark wings drooped in visible disappointment.
"In that case, do we head straight back to Primary Village, or is there another destination in mind?"
"We'll head somewhere else."
Mizuki tapped his chin, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Hidden away on this island are ancient ruins, guarded by Centarumon."
"If Homeostasis truly orchestrated my arrival for a specific purpose, that entity must have left some clues or tools behind in those ruins."
"Shall we leave right now?" she asked, straightening up.
"No. Before we go, there is still one last thing I need to find in this place."
"?"
LadyDevimon tilted her head, her expression flashing with confusion, but she didn't hesitate to follow as Mizuki turned and walked deeper into the metallic corridors.
Even with his foreknowledge of the anime's events, locating the specific energy sector of the factory consumed a significant chunk of time.
Calling this place a mere 'factory' was a massive understatement. It was a sprawling, metallic metropolis, a dense grid of interconnected manufacturing plants, assembly lines, and towering smokestacks.
"Mizu, is there really something here worthy of your attention?"
LadyDevimon stepped through the sliding metal doors of a massive, battery-shaped building. She scanned the dimly lit interior, her gaze catching on the dense, glowing symbols etched across every square inch of the walls.
"LadyDevimon, reach out and feel it," Mizuki said, his voice echoing softly in the cavernous room.
"These symbols... do you sense the current flowing through them?"
"Hmm... I'll try."
Under Mizuki's quiet observation, LadyDevimon closed her eyes. The dark aura around her rippled as she extended her senses outward, brushing against the cold metal walls.
At first, there was nothing but the sterile chill of the room. But as her consciousness sank deeper, connecting with the glowing glyphs, her breath hitched. The faint surprise on her face rapidly morphed into outright astonishment the more she read.
"Alright, LadyDevimon. That's enough. Pull back."
Mizuki's calm voice cut through the silence, snapping her out of the deep sensory dive.
Her crimson eyes snapped open, wide with disbelief, and she immediately turned to him.
"Mizu, the sheer volume of energy in there is massive!"
She pointed a clawed finger at the glowing walls. "These aren't just random carvings. These symbols... they are complex arrangements of zeroes and ones! Pure data!"
"But they've been encrypted through some advanced method, which is why they project this strange visual form on the surface."
"Exactly."
Mizuki nodded, a satisfied gleam in his eyes.
He remembered this room perfectly. In the original story, Izzy had used his laptop to decipher this exact string of code, triggering Tentomon's digivolution from Rookie to Champion.
If a simple human laptop could process that data and force an digivolution, what was stopping a digitized human brain from achieving the exact same result?
Ever since crossing over into this reality, Mizuki's physical body had undergone a deep digital restructuring. He was no longer bound by normal human limitations.
With this theory in mind, he shifted his gaze back to his partner.
"LadyDevimon, do you think you can memorize every single symbol in this room?"
"Memorize them?" She blinked, caught off guard.
"That's right."
Mizuki stepped closer to the wall, the blue light of the glyphs reflecting in his dark eyes. "These symbols are essentially a source code designed to generate energy... or, to put it bluntly, to fabricate raw data out of nothing."
"They might be heavily encrypted, but with your innate talent and processing power, cracking them shouldn't be an impossible hurdle."
He turned to face her, his tone turning serious. "Once you master this code, you'll be able to construct the exact data required for your own digivolution, entirely under your own power."
"It might even serve as the key to fully mastering your 'Data Rewrite' ability."
"Because ultimately, everything we do here is just the fundamental application of data."
"I see..."
LadyDevimon absorbed his words, the playful edge in her demeanor vanishing entirely. A solemn, razor-sharp focus settled over her features.
"If that is the case, I will commit every last piece of it to memory, Mizu!"
"Good. But listen to me," Mizuki reached out, his tone softening as he met her gaze. "If you feel your core straining or if it gets too uncomfortable, stop immediately. Don't push yourself past the breaking point, understand?"
"I know~ Thank you for worrying about me, Mizu."
A sweet, reassuring smile broke through her serious expression. With a gentle nod, she turned her full, undivided attention back to the glowing walls, her eyes tracking the endless lines of code.
While LadyDevimon began her grueling mental task, Mizuki refused to stand idly by. He stepped up beside her, locking his eyes onto the encrypted glyphs, and began the arduous process of recording the data himself.
They had no pens, no paper, and no laptops. But Mizuki possessed a mind that had been honed and enhanced by his transition into this world. His memory retention was terrifyingly precise.
Burning these symbols into his brain was a challenge, but far from an impossible one.
Time bled away in the quiet hum of the battery building. Minute after minute, hour after hour, the only sound was the faint crackle of ambient electricity and their steady, synchronized breathing.
They worked in absolute silence, driven by a shared, unspoken determination.
It wasn't until Mizuki successfully burned the very last sequence of code from the sprawling room into his mind that he felt the shift.
A sudden, intense heat bloomed in his chest. The digi-soul resting within his core surged, expanding outward as the raw data integrated into his being. He could physically feel his muscles tightening, his senses sharpening to an unmatched degree.
'Just as I calculated,'he thought, clenching his fist. The sound of his knuckles popping echoed sharply in the quiet room.'By recording the complete sequence, even in its encrypted state, my body treats it as a continuous, internal generator of data.''The sheer volume of this new data has pushed my physical limits even further...'
He took a slow breath, feeling the dense, explosive power coiling in his legs.
If he channeled his digi-soul right now, with this newly upgraded physique... he was absolutely certain he could shatter NeoDevimon's iron mask into a thousand pieces with a single roundhouse kick.
A dangerous, eager smirk tugged at the corners of Mizuki's lips.
He really couldn't wait to test that theory out.
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