You really have to hand it to these kids—their nerves are rock-solid after everything they've gone through in the Digital World. Even after seeing something that huge, they're already talking about dinner.
"Whatever the case, let's get down the mountain first! Figure out what to eat, then talk!" Tai's proposal won unanimous support.
"Okay!" "Yeah!" …voices rose in chorus.
By a small stream, they pitched camp and started prepping food—some fished, some gathered fruit.
An hour later, bellies full, fish bones and fruit peels littered the ground. With a map in hand, the kids took a vote on whether to head for the new continent.
"The map checks out. We're still a long way from the Server Continent," Izzy said, tweaking his laptop and bringing up the map.
"I can't even swim twenty-five meters in a pool, let alone that," Mimi fretted.
"Do we really have to go there? This island doesn't have Devimon anymore, the Black Gears are gone, we know the lay of the land, and water and food aren't a problem," Joe said.
"What are you getting at?" Sora asked.
"Is it really smart to believe that Gennai guy so easily?" Joe sounded agitated—he always wanted to avoid danger. "Does the Server Continent even exist?"
"Beating Devimon was hard enough—and there's supposed to be something even stronger over there," Sora said, worried.
"And how do we cross the sea?" Izzy closed his laptop, frowning.
"There might be more weird Digimon," Mimi said, spooked. Joe nodded along.
"Maybe we should stay put for now," Matt offered.
"Tai, what do you think?" Noticing Tai hadn't spoken, Izzy asked outright.
All eyes went to Tai. "I'm afraid we don't have a choice," he said, startling everyone.
"Why?" Sora asked first.
"Think about it—what do the ones who dragged us from the human world into the Digital World actually want us to do?" He let the question hang, then continued. "Devimon's only a Champion. Strong for what he is, sure. But if 'they' can punch a hole between worlds to bring us here, they didn't need to go through all that trouble just to beat Devimon themselves—they could've done it easily. Obviously, they need us for something more. If we hole up on this island against their wishes, they'll come knocking and force us to do what they want anyway. Better to act first and buy time. The way Gennai popped up the moment we beat Devimon proves they're watching us. So what he said is basically trustworthy. Our job is to ramp up our strength as fast as possible for whatever comes next. If they worked that hard to summon us, then the enemy must be even stronger than they are. So getting to Ultimate is the best path forward—and to do that, we have to go to the Server Continent. Besides, if Gennai can find us, stronger enemies can, too. Even if they couldn't before, after we beat Devimon, they've noticed us for sure. They won't just let us sit safely on File Island—they'll try to crush us in the cradle."
"What do we do now, then?" Tai's words made everyone tense up; Joe couldn't help asking.
"So—" Tai sighed and summed up. "Our best option is to cross the sea to the Server Continent."
With the destination set, the next question was how to get there.
"Don't worry too much about that," Tai said. "As long as Gomamon can evolve into Ikkakumon, short ocean legs and guarding us in the water aren't a big problem. But Gomamon can't stay evolved for long, so we still need a boat. I can't build one of those giant steel ships like the Steel Factory produced, but a small boat sturdy enough to carry seven kids and seven Rookie partners—that's doable. Everyone else should focus on gathering enough food and fresh water." If they ran into Whamon, that'd be perfect—a free guide and bodyguard solved the trip outright. But Tai couldn't count on that. If luck didn't pan out, they'd stick to the plan.
Night deepened. The other kids and Digimon slept. Tai didn't. He kept turning the future over in his mind. None of what he'd said earlier was off the cuff; he wanted everyone to feel the urgency—and not trust Gennai and company with blind faith.
The others were full of curiosity about a being that looked so human; Tai alone was wary. Gennai said only that he wasn't human, gave his name, and then steered the talk to evolution—clearly not wanting them to keep probing. He was hiding things.
Knowing the original story, Tai understood that Gennai didn't trust human children. The way he kept things from them made that plain. At the end of the original, after the evil beyond the Firewall was defeated, Gennai immediately pushed the kids to leave the Digital World, refusing to let them stay. And conveniently, the gate to the human world opened right then. The reason to make them rush out was that reopening it would take a long time if it closed. When the kids insisted on staying, he even said they'd be deleted as abnormal data. Tai snorted. So during the crisis they weren't "abnormal data," but once the threat was gone, they suddenly were? "Use the bridge, then kick it away"—that's how Tai judged the Four Sovereigns and their Agents.
As for "it takes a long time to reopen the gate," that was nonsense. In the original, after the kids left, Gennai called them back soon after and stripped Agumon and the others of power above Champion on the pretext that their Crest energy was needed to restore the Digital World's vitality. Tai didn't buy a word of that—too shallow a lie for anyone but the little kids from the show. Don't forget, those Crests were made by them. If the kids' hearts engraved in the Crests could restore the world, why fear Apocalymon at all? He'd have been torn to bits already. Which meant opening the gate wasn't that hard. In Adventure 02, kids went back and forth freely. The real reason they rushed the kids out was to avoid new variables. To a data-born being like Gennai, humans are just as much "outsiders" to the Digital World. They'd never be truly accepted. And that still wasn't the real reason to push them out.
Right—Tai's eyes flashed. So the Agents and the Four Sovereigns were very wary of the kids—especially their ability to trigger Digimon evolution. In the original, Leomon could evolve to Mega just by being bathed in a Digivice's light—clearly the Digivice's holy program at work. That's basically a cheat. Maybe not mass-producing Megas, but cultivating more of them? Very possible. In a survival-of-the-fittest world, there are plenty of Champions as formidable as Leomon—meaning many candidates who could be pushed to Mega. The Digivice's function exceeded the Agents' and Four Sovereigns' expectations—that's why they hurried the kids out, and later took that function away.
Tai smiled. The manufacturing data for the Digivice's holy program he'd obtained was priceless. He wondered how it stacked up against the Metal Empire's data. Time would tell. Getting the holy program specs and the Metal Empire's mechanical data was the luckiest break he'd had—and his future leverage. Devimon had handed him plenty, too. The underground city's central computer was almost fully analyzed; before long, he'd have a doomsday weapon in hand.
"Just wait, Agents and Four Sovereigns. I won't be chased out of the Digital World like in the original. This time, the ones getting kicked out… are you." Tai's thoughts turned hard. "I won't be anybody's pawn."
As for Gennai—he's just a mass of data. Unlike other Digimon, he has no attribute; without that, there's no physical body—he's basically a stabilized projection. He does work to maintain peace in the Digital World and doesn't want extra variables introduced. But to a data-being like him, humans are outsiders here all the same.
Because beings like Gennai are terrible at actually managing the Digital World and correcting its errors, disaster returned not long after—and they had to ask human children for help again. Thus the second set of DigiDestined.
A moment ago, that old "Gennai" said he didn't know how they'd come here or how to send them home…and then sent a world map to Izzy and coaxed them to go risk their lives on the Server Continent. Tai couldn't help a cold laugh.
"So you want us to be clueless pieces on your board, moved at your whim? You're wrong. I won't be moved by anyone. Agents, Four Sovereigns—if you can't manage this world, then step aside."
A dangerous thought flashed through Tai's mind. "If you can't do it… then I will."
It was going to be a long road.