Although Zero and Hajime had successfully killed the super-giant demon, they'd relied on the help of the entire island's Digimon—and even then, they'd only won by staking their lives on the twin Crest buffs and blowing up their own gear.
If these two were forced into facing the Dark Masters now, their deaths would be guaranteed in spectacularly swift fashion.
Thus, their current goal was clear: to seek evolution at a higher level. Only by at least achieving Mega-level strength would they have any qualifications to confront the Dark Masters.
As for Apocalymon lurking behind the Dark Masters, that wasn't something two Digimon who hadn't even hit Ultimate needed to worry about yet.
Paths had to be walked step by step, meals had to be eaten bite by bite—leaping too far ahead would only lead to pain in delicate places. Zero understood this perfectly.
Currently, there were two evolution paths open to Zero.
The first was the route Andromon promised him: if Zero could obtain a Reinforcement Template, the Unmanned Mechanical Factory's upgrade system would unlock, enabling him to achieve evolution via modification.
The second route originally wouldn't have existed—but precisely because Zero, Hajime, and Rina had defeated Devimon of File Island, this feat had drawn the attention of the Digital World's host computer.
Right now, the host computer was desperately troubled by the Dark Masters—or rather, primarily troubled by Apocalymon. It urgently needed a dependable fighter to handle the problem.
Auntie Tree had her tree‑cutting elite, the Royal Knights, and though several were rebellious types who obeyed orders selectively, their combat strength was undeniably top-tier.
But this stand-in administrator had only the Four Holy Beasts, who'd unfortunately been sealed by the Dark Masters already.
Therefore, it could only seek another approach…
In the Hikarigaoka Incident years ago, a Digi-Egg fell into the Real World and, under the influence of two human siblings, hatched and evolved at astonishing speed. From that moment, the host computer recognized the human potential to influence Digimon evolution.
In the Real World, that event had only happened a few years ago—but due to the differing time flows between the Digital and Real Worlds, ages had passed here.
During this vast span of Digital World time, the stand-in admin finally completed preparations for the full plan:
The "Holy Plan," "Digivices," "Crests," "Chosen Children," "Partner Digimon"—every condition was ready. As the plan's representative, Gennai had just been about to begin.
But before the first step could even be executed, one careless move from a single DemiDevimon had sent the entire project off-script.
Zero's arrival disrupted the host computer's plan—but also created entirely new possibilities.
Precisely because Zero had demonstrated his potential, he now had the chance, along with Rina, to replace the original main characters and claim the resources prepared for the Chosen Children.
With those resources secured, at minimum two Mega-level slots would be guaranteed!
And thus, two paths now lay before Zero. As for which one to choose…
…Choosing was for children. If both were offered up freely, the only right answer was to take everything!
Zero could maintain multiple evolution lines simultaneously without any theoretical conflict. In this era where evolution was brutally difficult—where most Digimon struggled desperately just to find one route—Zero now suddenly had two reliable paths right in front of him.
Indeed, fate was unpredictable… But naturally, he still needed to consider history's trajectory. Now the timing was perfect, the conditions ideal—but the final decision still required respecting Rina and Hajime's opinions.
Hajime had no objections. Opportunities for stronger evolution were rare; if offered freely, why refuse?
Rina's reaction was even simpler:
"There are even stronger villains threatening the Digital World? Then we definitely can't ignore that!"
Thus, Zero didn't even need to speak up to mobilize anyone. Rina and Hajime quickly reached an agreement on their own.
Gennai seemed deeply pleased by their reaction. Although the plan had deviated slightly from initial expectations, fortunately, it wasn't a significant issue.
Rina alone could activate four separate Crests together with Zero and Hajime, practically replacing half the original protagonist group by herself. As for the other half…
…Honestly speaking, even the original eight-person team already felt somewhat bloated.
Of course, that was from the perspective of hindsight. To the host computer, a small group ran the risk of losing members partway through, so preparing backups made sense.
But for someone who knew the full story in advance, the original eight were obviously excessive, to the extent that later in the plot, many members just faded into the background.
First, there was the greatest tragedy, Jō Kido. As the oldest team member, he logically should have been the initial team leader, later handing leadership over to Taichi and becoming the dependable older brother figure who held the team together.
Unfortunately, the writers devoted massive attention to Taichi's growth. Jō couldn't overshadow Taichi, the first-choice protagonist, so he could only step back and yield… and after that…
…There was no "after that."
Then came Mimi Tachikawa… frankly, her greatest contribution was probably balancing out the gender ratio in the original cast. Plus, when they needed someone to stir things up, she fit the spoiled rich-girl role perfectly—very plausible in-story, at least.
Koushiro Izumi—the team genius, the brains of the operation. Without him, the group wouldn't exactly fall apart, but they'd struggle in many places. Still, in terms of combat power, he wasn't absolutely indispensable—especially with Zero's cheat-like presence dramatically decreasing Koushiro's importance.
And then there was Sora Takenouchi… ermmmmm…
…Sure, she fought diligently in every battle, participating in nearly every key engagement, but somehow never managed to decisively impact crucial fights. Could you remove her from the team? Probably not; she was still a primary damage-dealer. Yet despite this, she lacked standout moments truly memorable to fans.
Her most memorable scene was probably going into the Cave of Depression to cheer up Yamato—then somehow managing to depress herself. Outside, Taichi desperately held off Piedmon practically alone for a whole episode, while two main damage-dealers sat in a cave angsting together. If Zero were Taichi in that scenario, he would've lost it entirely.
The writers themselves seemed aware of the bloated cast issue. Later Digimon series had noticeably smaller main groups.
Adventure 02 had four newcomers, with Ken joining late and Hikari and Takeru simply carrying forward existing characterization. Even with reduced numbers, two ended up practically sidelined anyway…
As for Tamers… God-tier!
A main trio, each receiving sufficient narrative spotlight to build strong character arcs. Ryou Akiyama joining later was a bonus, and at least he kept his dignity intact—plus scored a free romance plot. Absolute value!
Perhaps Tamers gave the writers confidence again, because Frontier once more expanded the cast—only to end up, after reaching the ultimate evolutions, with just the two lead boys fighting while everyone else shouted encouragement from behind.
Choosing teammates was truly a skill: good teammates led to victory; incompetent ones led to collective depression.
In other words, with Rina currently capable of activating four Crests just alongside Zero and Hajime, progressing through the story might be entirely doable even with just their reduced team. In fact, concentrating the resources originally split among eight onto Zero and Hajime…
…Might even yield higher success odds.
Thus, both sides swiftly reached consensus. Now, the next question was…
"…The Digivices are in an undersea cavern. The Crests are on Server Continent. How exactly do we get there?"
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