Chapter 58: Encounter with a Giant Whale!
The boundless sky draped a jewel-toned curtain across the heavens, casting a flowing crystal reflection over the undulating digital sea. Anyone standing amidst such stunning scenery would naturally feel their spirits lift, lulled by the gentle rhythm of the waves.
Anyone, that is, except Joe Kido.
He gripped the wooden railing of the fishing boat, his knuckles turning stark white. His eyes darted frantically across the calm water, scanning the gentle ripples as if a leviathan might breach the surface and devour them at any given second.
"Gomamon. Gomamon!" he hissed, his voice tight with anxiety. "Have you found any enemies yet? Gomamon?"
After a rapid series of frantic calls, the water bubbled. Gomamon finally poked his head above the surface, blinking lazily as he floated on his back.
"What is it, Joe?"
"What do you mean, 'what'? Have you forgotten our mission!" Joe sputtered, a vein throbbing at his temple. He glared down at his partner, entirely displeased with the aquatic Digimon's relaxed attitude. "We are currently bearing the heavy responsibility for everyone's safety!"
"Safety or whatever, Joe, you're just wound way too tight." Gomamon lifted a claw, gesturing casually toward their companions gathered near the center of the deck. "With the invincible Young Master Mizuki and his BeelStarmon big sister leader around, I can't even imagine anything that could threaten us, alright?"
Gomamon splashed a little water playfully. "Joe, you always overthink every little detail. You're just too much of a worrywart. You should relax and enjoy the breeze, just like everyone else."
Just as Gomamon pointed out, Taichi and Agumon were currently holding hands, stomping their feet, and happily dancing a bizarre, uncoordinated victory jig on the deck. Between them lay a massive, freshly caught fish flopping on the wooden boards.
Joe stared at the dancing duo, his eye twitching. "So why exactly can they catch fish while the boat is sailing at full speed?"
"Who knows? This is the Digital World! Isn't it amazing?"
"Hehe... It defies all logic..." Joe sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping as he leaned tiredly against the ship's railing. "At a time like this, we should be vigilant. Why does everyone look so completely unguarded?"
"Joe! Enemy!"
Suddenly, Gomamon's urgent shout pierced the air, startling Joe so badly he nearly vaulted over the railing.
Seeing his human partner's wide-eyed, hyper-ventilating expression as he frantically scanned the horizon, Gomamon couldn't hold it in. The seal Digimon snickered, which quickly escalated into full-blown, rolling laughter.
"Hahahaha! Joe, you looked so cute just now!"
"Gomamon!"
Realizing he had been played for a fool, Joe's cheeks flushed a brilliant, angry red at a visible speed. He opened his mouth, fully prepared to deliver a stern reprimand regarding mischievous behavior, but Gomamon's relaxed expression suddenly vanished. The Digimon's eyes narrowed, locking onto the distant water.
"Joe! This time, it's real!"
"Hmph! Gomamon, do you honestly think I'll fall for your trick a second time?" Joe crossed his arms, his face a mask of complete disbelief.
Gomamon's eyebrows twitched. He had only intended to help Joe relax his tense nerves with a quick joke, but now his credibility was shot. Just as Gomamon opened his mouth to shout a warning to the rest of the crew, a calm, measured voice drifted over from the deck.
"Gomamon isn't lying to you."
Mizuki stepped up to the railing, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Joe, there really is a massive guy lurking under the sea far ahead of us."
"Classmate Mizuki, is that true?!" Joe whipped his head around, a fresh wave of panic washing over him. He quickly realized that not only Mizuki, but Taichi and the others had ceased their activities and gathered at the edge of the boat.
"Is that... a whale?" Taichi squinted, currently using his brass monocular telescope to observe a massive dark shadow displacing the water in the distance. "I didn't expect there to be whales in the Digital World too."
"No, that's not a normal whale at all. That's Whamon!" Gomamon's voice called out from the water below. "Under normal circumstances, Whamon wouldn't come up to the surface like this. And, according to the vibrations in the current, he's approaching us rapidly!"
"This isn't good." Izzy stepped forward, his fingers already flying across his laptop keyboard before he pulled out his Digivice. "Even if he doesn't mean us any direct harm, just a creature of that sheer size getting close is enough to capsize our ship."
He looked down at his partner. "Tentomon, let's go. We need to check out the situation. If necessary, we must stop him!"
"Oh! Leave it to me!"
A pillar of digital light erupted from the deck.
Tentomon Digivolve to... Kabuterimon!
The massive insectoid Digimon took to the sky, his four wings buzzing with a deafening hum. Seeing Kabuterimon fly toward the approaching shadow with Izzy securely on his back, Joe swallowed his fear and raised his own Digivice.
"Gomamon, let's go too!"
"Yes, yes, yes. Joe is really impatient when push comes to shove, isn't he?"
Gomamon Digivolve to... Seadramon!
A massive serpentine dragon burst from the waves, its blue scales gleaming in the sunlight.
"Count me in!" Watching Izzy and Joe leave one after another, Taichi gripped his Digivice, ready to join the fray.
But before he could call out to Agumon, Sora stepped into his path, her hand raised.
"Taichi, don't be so quick to act. As the only one among us, besides Mizuki, who has Ultimate level combat power, it's best to conserve your stamina while the situation remains uncertain." Sora glanced toward Mizuki, offering a respectful nod. "After all, we can't always rely on Mizuki and the big sister leader's strength to bail us out."
Mizuki leaned against the cabin wall, his expression mild and unbothered. "I'm happy you think that way. After all, it's always better to rely on oneself than on others. But if you need anything, just say the word."
"So, stop calling me big sister leader!"
A depressed, muffled voice grumbled from within Mizuki's arms. Nyaromon poked her head out from his jacket, her cheeks puffed out in embarrassment.
"Huh? Is that so? Didn't Biyomon say..." Sora blinked, momentarily stunned by Nyaromon's shy appearance. Remembering a previous conversation, she subconsciously looked down at her own partner.
"Um..." Biyomon lightly poked her small wingtips together, looking incredibly guilty. "I just said I thought Nyaromon looked really cool after evolving into her Mega level, and I really wanted to be like the big sister leader..."
Sora sighed helplessly, rubbing the bridge of her nose before offering a gentle smile. "I'm sorry, Nyaromon. I misunderstood."
"No... it's nothing, really..." Nyaromon refused to meet Sora's eyes, quickly snuggling deeper into the warm safety of Mizuki's arms.
Knowing the little Digimon's shy nature, Sora didn't press the issue. With her apology finished, she raised her own Digivice, her expression hardening into a mask of focus.
"Biyomon, evolve. I'm a bit uneasy with just Izzy and Joe going ahead."
"No problem! I'll definitely protect everyone!"
Biyomon Digivolve to... Birdramon!
Flames erupted across the deck as the giant crimson bird took flight, carrying Sora into the sky.
"Wait, Big Sister Sora! My Angemon can fly too!" Seeing his companions flying off one by one, the restless Takeru could no longer hold back. Without waiting for Matt to give permission, he thrust his Digivice high. "Patamon, let's hurry and help!"
"Alright!"
Patamon Digivolve to... Angemon!
"Takeru!" Matt shouted, his hand raising halfway to grab his little brother's shoulder, but he was too late. Watching Takeru fly off in Angemon's arms, Matt's hand dropped helplessly to his side, his jaw tight with worry.
"Wow. Everyone can fly. Being able to fly is really great." Compared to Matt's heavy anxiety, Mimi leaned against the railing with a face full of pure envy. She looked down at the plant Digimon beside her. "Palmon, do you think you can fly like them after evolving into your Ultimate level? After all, Senior Taichi's Greymon can grow wings, so your Togemon should be fine too, right?"
Taichi, standing off to the side, blinked slowly. 'What kind of logic is that?'
"Ultimate level?" Palmon tilted her head. She imagined a giant, prickly Togemon flapping tiny, feathery wings on her back. A violent shudder ran through her leafy body. That would look way too strange. But looking at Mimi's hopeful face, she pumped her vines. "I'll try my best, Mimi!"
"Mm! I believe in you!" Mimi clenched her fist, cheering her on with absolute sincerity.
While the group on the boat conversed, Izzy and Joe had already closed the distance to the massive shadow beneath the waves.
Looking at the absolute behemoth swimming just below the surface, Seadramon and Kabuterimon exchanged a tense glance. Seadramon took the initiative, his serpentine body weaving through the water as he shouted, "Whamon, how are you? Let me introduce myself, I am Seadramon—"
Before Seadramon could finish his diplomatic greeting, a deafening, mournful whale cry echoed across the sea. The water swelled violently as Whamon breached, crashing his colossal body directly toward Seadramon at terrifying speed.
Seeing the incoming mountain of blubber, Seadramon thrashed his tail, swimming desperately to the side and narrowly dodging the crushing impact.
"Joe! Seadramon!" Izzy's heart tightened, his hands gripping Kabuterimon's shell.
At the same time, Kabuterimon's compound eyes flashed. "Izzy, hold on tight! The attack is coming!"
Under Kabuterimon's warning, the massive blowhole atop Whamon's head expanded. The air pressure dropped sharply. The next second, a hyper-pressurized, thick jet of water shot directly toward their location in the sky.
Jet Arrow!
The water stream tore through the air with the force of a cannonball. If Kabuterimon had not been hyper-vigilant, they would have been blasted out of the sky instantly. He banked hard, the rushing water grazing his armored leg.
"What a dangerous guy!" Izzy yelled over the rushing wind.
"It's no use! It seems we can't communicate with him!" Joe shouted back, clinging to Seadramon's horns.
As those words fell, the children reached a grim consensus.
"If that's the case, then let's defeat him!"
As the battle erupted, the previously calm sea surface turned into a chaotic, turbulent nightmare. Massive waves, displaced by Whamon's thrashing body, rushed toward the fishing boat. The wooden vessel pitched violently, groaning under the stress.
Realizing the danger, Taichi quickly dropped to one knee, shielding Kari securely in his arms. However, his eyes remained locked on the battlefield ahead.
"This is bad! The size difference between the two sides is too immense!" Taichi held Kari tight with one arm while raising his monocular telescope with the other. "That Whamon must want to eat Joe and the others, digest them, and turn them into fertilizer!"
Just as the grim prediction left his mouth, a hand lightly chopped the top of his head.
"Ouch!" Taichi winced, looking back.
"Taichi, why is your imagination so morbidly creative?" Mizuki stood behind him, his posture perfectly relaxed despite the rocking boat.
They say people laugh when they are utterly speechless. Mizuki felt he finally understood that sentiment. Was it an inevitable law of the universe that anyone who used a telescope, no matter which world they were in, would eventually develop a habit of strange, overly vivid paranoia?
While complaining internally, Mizuki raised his free hand toward the cabin.
"Umbrella... oh no, wait, now it should be 'Box Come'."
As Mizuki's dry, trollish command faded, the small suitcase resting inside the cabin flew out as if pulled by an invisible string, landing smoothly into Mizuki's waiting grip. Taichi and Mimi stared at it with wide, curious eyes.
"Mizuki, what is this?" Mimi asked, gripping the railing to stay upright.
"A small tool that can alleviate our current situation to some extent."
After giving the briefest of explanations, Mizuki raised the suitcase slightly. His eyes sharpened, the lazy demeanor vanishing in an instant.
"Data switch. Defense deployment."
A faint hum vibrated through the air. "Even if the power I can use right now is only a negligible fraction of my peak, blocking all of this should still be more than enough."
Flames erupted from thin air, instantly enveloping the suitcase. The fire did not burn; instead, it twisted and expanded, transforming into a massive, ethereal phantom image resembling a roaring dragon's head. At that very moment, an invisible, dome-like barrier expanded outward, wrapping securely around the fishing boat.
The moment the extremely turbulent waves crashed against the barrier, they shattered into harmless mist. The violent rocking of the boat ceased instantly, leaving the deck perfectly stable amidst the raging sea.
Feeling the sudden calm, Mimi's face lit up with pure joy. "It's not shaking anymore!" She turned to Mizuki, her eyes sparkling. "Did you do this? Thank you, Mizuki!"
"That helps a lot." Taichi, still holding Kari, let out a massive breath of relief and nodded deeply toward the older boy.
"It's nothing." Mizuki offered a slight, easy smile, lowering his hand as the phantom dragon faded into a transparent shimmer. "After all, I didn't help much when you guys built this boat. If I didn't do something now to protect the fruits of your labor, it would be a bit unreasonable."
He turned his gaze back to the raging battle in the distance. "Now, we just need to wait patiently for them to solve the problem."
Out on the water, the battle between Izzy, Joe, and Whamon was rapidly reaching a fever pitch.
Although Whamon's colossal size made it impossible for him to evade the children's attacks, his thick blubber and dense data structure made it incredibly difficult for Kabuterimon and Seadramon to inflict any real damage.
"We're all Champion level, but Whamon's size is just too unfair, isn't it?!" Joe screamed, tightly hugging Seadramon's neck as the sea serpent wove through a barrage of water spouts. "Classmate Izzy, hurry and use your invincible wisdom to think of a solution!"
"Even if you say that, I—" Izzy was momentarily left speechless, a strained laugh escaping him.
He gripped his laptop, his hair whipped into a messy frenzy by the gale-force winds. "According to my understanding, a Digimon's combat power is less affected by its physical size and more accurately determined by its 'data volume'. The degree of data accumulation dictates their baseline strength!"
Kabuterimon banked sharply, dodging another Jet Arrow that tore through the clouds.
"Seeing this Whamon continuously withstand our Digimon's techniques without a scratch, I estimate that the data volume accumulated inside him has already far surpassed that of a typical Champion level. He's close to reaching the threshold of an Ultimate level!"
"Ultimate level?! Isn't that really bad?!" Joe shrieked, his entire body trembling as the sheer scale of their enemy finally registered.
However, even as the terror gripped his heart, Joe did not order Seadramon to retreat. He swallowed hard, the cold sea spray stinging his eyes as he looked straight ahead at the towering wall of blue flesh.
His hands shook, but his grip tightened. 'No, I can't be afraid!''I'm everyone's upperclassman. Joe, think of something! You can do it!'
After a rapid round of self-hypnotizing murmurs, Joe's frantic eyes suddenly focused. A look of absolute determination flashed across his face, washing away the panic.
"Seadramon!" Joe yelled over the roaring waves. "No matter how powerful a being is on the outside, its insides must be incredibly vulnerable, right?"
"Joe, have you really made up your mind?" Seadramon didn't ask why he proposed such a crazy idea; he simply countered with a question of resolve, his serpentine eyes locking onto Whamon's massive jaws.
"Yes!"
The strong wind, mixed with violent sea spray, soaked Joe's clothes and plastered his hair to his forehead, making him look entirely disheveled. Yet, his eyes burned with a brilliant, unyielding light.
"Whether it's Classmate Mizuki or Classmate Taichi, I can't keep relying on them blindly. Ultimately, I am the oldest one here. I am everyone's upperclassman." Joe's voice grew louder, cutting through the roar of the ocean. "Therefore, I must take up the responsibility of protecting them. Thus, even if it's a massive risk, I have to be the one to take it!"
As Joe's declaration echoed over the water, the frivolous, relaxed expression on Seadramon's face completely vanished, replaced by a soaring, predatory fighting spirit.
"In that case, let's go, Joe!"
"Ooh ooh ooh!"
A familiar, fiery rhythm seemed to echo across the crashing waves, a melody of pure courage connecting from their Digivices.
There are times when everyone wants to run away. But as long as you unleash the hidden power at that moment, you can break through the obstacles ahead.
"Joe Upperclassman?!" Sora gasped from high in the air, watching Seadramon and Joe suddenly accelerate, charging head-on toward the beast. "What are you planning to do!"
There must be something only you can do on this blue planet. You can continue to shine with light!
"Of course we're doing what we should be doing!" Joe shouted back, not once turning his head to look at his companions. He and Seadramon advanced rapidly, cutting straight through the massive waves with absolute resolve.
Hold tightly to the dream you possess. Protect your important friends. Make yourself stronger.
Then, right before their companions' utterly astonished eyes, Seadramon coiled his body and shot forward like a blue torpedo, rushing straight into Whamon's wide-open, cavernous maw!
"Joe Upperclassman... he got eaten?!" Takeru murmured blankly, his small hands gripping Angemon's shoulders as he witnessed the terrifying scene.
But snapping out of his shock, Takeru's eyes hardened. He quickly shouted to the angel Digimon carrying him. "No! Angemon, we have to go save Joe Upperclassman!"
Takeru might only be a small child, and he was genuinely terrified of the colossal enemy before him.
Latent unknown power ignited like a flame. All your wishes are not false. They can all surely come true.
But compared to his fear, he knew with absolute certainty that there were some things you simply could not back down from, no matter how scary they were.
"Angemon! Let's go!"
"Oh! I am with you, Takeru!"
Show me your brave heart!
"Wait—!" Seeing Takeru fly directly toward Whamon's snapping jaws under Angemon's lead, Sora screamed in panic. She urged Birdramon forward to stop him, but a massive green shell suddenly blocked her path.
"Izzy, what are you doing?!" Sora demanded, her heart pounding in her throat.
"Calm down, Sora," Izzy said, his eyes fixed on the closing jaws of the giant whale. "Joe Upperclassman isn't acting recklessly."
Interrupted by Izzy's block, Sora and Birdramon missed the critical window to intervene. They could only hover in the sky, watching helplessly as Takeru and Angemon folded their wings and dove straight into the darkness, following directly in Joe's footsteps.
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