Chapter 79: Clever Fellows Don't Live Long
DigiDestined...
Despite facing a host of fiercely glaring Digimon, Datamon betrayed no hint of panic. His exposed mechanical brain pulsed with a steady, rhythmic hum, completely devoid of human anxiety. Perhaps this unnatural calm stemmed from absolute confidence in his Ultimate-level strength, or perhaps it was simply the cold, calculating nature of his cybernetic body.
Just as in the original plot, this Datamon had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Etemon. That battle had cost him his carefully constructed Dark Network and nearly his life. Forced into a humiliating retreat, he had spent his days festering in the damp, claustrophobic darkness beneath the upside-down pyramid, secretly plotting a gruesome revenge against the primate king. To ensure his victory, he had even set his sights on the DigiDestined, successfully snatching Sora's Crest of Love ahead of schedule.
However, the sudden appearance of Mizuki—an unpredictable anomaly in the system—had completely shattered those calculations. Under the boy's influence, the DigiDestined and their partners experienced an explosive, illogical surge in strength. Datamon's grand, multi-layered scheme collapsed into useless data before he could even initialize the first phase.
'To think that loudmouthed Etemon was deleted so effortlessly...' Datamon mused, his internal processors whirring as he analyzed the combat data.
While a small, petty sub-routine in his mind registered disappointment at not landing the killing blow himself, logic dictated otherwise. The opponent was dead, his data scattered to the digital winds. There was zero efficiency in dwelling on a deceased foe.
Instead, his optical sensors locked onto a new target. Or rather, a target that had always been a secondary objective in his grand design.
The DigiDestined.
Ever since Tai and the rest of the children had set foot on the Server Continent, Datamon had been monitoring their every move through hidden nodes and buried cables. His mechanical heart harbored a deep, burning envy for the pure digivolution power those children wielded—a power that triggered miraculous transformations without the burden of physical side effects or corrupted data.
Initially, his processors had overheated trying to formulate a countermeasure against MetalGreymon, a beast whose raw destructive output far surpassed even Etemon. But the moment his surveillance network detected that Mizuki had separated from the main group, Datamon's threat-assessment algorithms flashed green.
His opportunity had arrived.
According to his calculations, while Mizuki possessed an digivolution aura far denser and more potent than the other children, the boy himself did not inherently possess Ultimate-level combat strength. Even if he could manifest such power, it would solely rely on that strange, uncatalogued Digimon constantly hovering by his side.
As for the remaining Champion and Rookie-level Digimon acting as his bodyguards? Datamon did not even need to lift a metallic finger against them. The localized Dark Network he had secretly woven beneath the desert sands was more than enough to ensnare and dismantle them.
Despite his absolute certainty of victory, Datamon's cautious programming dictated a more subtle approach. He maintained a carefully constructed facade of harmless friendliness.
"Greetings, DigiDestined. My designation is Datamon."
His voice synthesized through a vocal emitter, sounding grating but deliberately soft.
"There is no need to maintain such a hostile posture. I am not your enemy. I, too, was ruthlessly persecuted by Etemon. Thanks to your decisive actions, I have finally been liberated from that suffering."
Perched atop the back of a low-growling, virus-infected Dobermon, Datamon completely ignored the bared fangs of Meicoomon, the heavy, shifting stance of Greymon, and the rest of the wary Digimon. He urged his mount forward, attempting to close the distance to Mizuki.
"Therefore, I believe we share common ground. We can talk."
"Talk? Now that is interesting."
Mizuki tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over Datamon's emotionless, glass-encased brain. He slightly narrowed his eyes, a faint, unreadable smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He raised a single hand. The simple gesture instantly halted the Digimon who had been tensing their muscles to intercept the machine. Accompanied only by Belle, who floated silently at his shoulder, Mizuki took a deliberate step toward the approaching cyborg.
"What exactly is it you wish to discuss with me?"
A subtle, almost imperceptible flash of yellow light sparked within Datamon's optical sensor as Mizuki entered his optimal range. He continued, his synthesized voice smooth and persuasive.
"Something mutually beneficial, of course. As you can plainly see, I am a Machine-type Digimon. While my physical parameters might not be overwhelming, I possess a level of supreme intelligence that mere beast and warrior types completely lack."
Datamon gestured toward the rolling dunes.
"I presume a clever boy like you has already noticed? This complex network covering the entire desert region was created by my own hand. As long as you are willing to cooperate with me, I can grant you unrestricted access to all the knowledge and data I possess."
"Trading knowledge, huh? Very interesting."
Mizuki nodded slowly. His dark eyes remained locked onto Datamon, stripping away the machine's polite facade layer by layer.
"In that case, Datamon... what is the price?"
"The price..."
Datamon repeated the word, the yellow light in his left eye flickering with an erratic, greedy rhythm.
"The price is simple. I only ask that you allow me to study the digivolution power contained within your physical vessel. You need not worry; my scanning process is entirely non-invasive. It will not cause you the slightest bit of harm. I am merely a scholar, endlessly curious as to how the fragile light of a human heart can trigger such a tremendous, reality-bending amplification within a Digimon."
"Is that so..."
On the surface, Datamon's proposition sounded highly tempting. Paying the incredibly small price of undergoing a few harmless scans in exchange for the absolute loyalty and assistance of an Ultimate-level supercomputer. From a purely logical standpoint, it was an incredibly worthwhile bargain.
Mizuki rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded, appearing completely swayed by the machine's silver-tongued logic.
Datamon's internal fans spun faster, ready to finalize the verbal contract. But just as he opened his metallic jaw to speak, Mizuki abruptly shifted his tone. The boy's gentle smile vanished, replaced by a chilling, predatory calm.
"I truly do want to believe you, Datamon."
Mizuki casually tapped the tip of his shoe against the sand.
"However, before we shake on it, could you do me a tiny favor? Could you explain exactly what those things are, slithering beneath the sand, quietly trying to wrap around our ankles?"
Datamon froze.
The rhythmic hum of his processors hitched. A heavy, suffocating silence descended over the dunes. For three agonizing seconds, the machine simply stared at the boy, calculating the exact moment his deception had failed.
Then, without a single sound of warning, the yellow light in his left eye snapped to a violent, bloodthirsty red.
The desert floor erupted.
Dozens of thick, black fiber-optic cables burst from the sand directly beneath Mizuki's feet. They lashed upward with the terrifying speed of striking pythons, their jagged metal tips aiming to impale and bind him in a fraction of a second.
Simultaneously, the ground beneath the rest of the group exploded. Vicious steel wires whipped through the air, instantly wrapping around BlackGatomon and Greymon, attempting to drag them down into the crushing depths of the Dark Network.
Yet, even as the metallic coils tightened around their limbs, the Digimon ignored their own peril. Their panicked eyes snapped toward their partner.
"King Mizuki!"
"Datamon! You treacherous piece of scrap!"
"DigiDestined, has anyone ever taught you a fundamental truth of this world?"
Watching the dark cables completely engulf Mizuki's position, a grating, metallic screech of mocking laughter tore from Datamon's jagged, tooth-lined mouth.
"Clever fellows don't live long."
"Oh? Is that a fact?"
Through the dense, writhing cage of black cables, Mizuki's voice drifted out, perfectly steady and entirely devoid of fear. He watched the lethal metal tips close in on his eyes, his expression as placid as a still lake.
"I, however, think those words apply equally well to you."
The very instant those words left his lips, the air pressure around him violently collapsed.
Belle moved.
Datamon's optical sensors flared. Error. Error.
What exactly had just happened?
Staring at the scene unfolding before him, Datamon felt a catastrophic logic failure cascade through his central processor. His high-speed cameras, capable of tracking supersonic projectiles, captured absolutely nothing. He could not comprehend the visual data flooding his brain.
An instant.
In less than a microsecond, the impenetrable cage of dark cables surrounding Mizuki vanished.
No, they hadn't vanished.
They had been obliterated.
Severed into thousands of microscopic, sparking fragments, the cables rained down onto the sand like black snow. And the entity responsible was the small, seemingly powerless Digimon floating beside the boy. Datamon hadn't been able to discern a single twitch of her muscles.
How could such an absurdity exist within the system's parameters?!
His cooling fans screamed as his core temperature spiked. He knew the tensile strength of those cables. They were the physical manifestation of his Dark Network, forged from compressed, high-density data. Armed with this network, Datamon dared to trap and dissect even the most aggressive Ultimate-level behemoths.
Yet, before his very eyes, his masterpiece had been casually swatted away like a nuisance web.
How was his logic circuit supposed to process this impossibility?!
Before Datamon could even attempt to reboot his stunned processors, a blur of black fur tore through the air.
A fast-moving figure bypassed his Dobermon mount entirely, launching upward with terrifying kinetic force. A heavy, clawed foot slammed directly into Datamon's glass-encased head with a sickening, metallic crunch.
"Datamon, you absolute bastard!"
BlackGatomon roared, her fangs bared in absolute fury as the kinetic impact sent the cyborg reeling backward.
"What the hell did you think you were doing to King Mizuki!!!"
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