Chapter 149: Operation Save Agumon (Part 1)

Zhao Jie ran forward along the direction where SkullGreymon had departed. However, being merely a human, he could not match the physical endurance of Digimon.

Within a short while, he was panting heavily and his speed dropped significantly.

Yet, he refused to give up and kept pressing forward, relying on the bond of his contract with Agumon to track the path SkullGreymon had taken.

"Ugh."

As he walked, the Plotmon in his arms finally stirred and woke up from its deep slumber.

"Oh, you're awake! Are you alright?"

Seeing Plotmon wake up, Zhao Jie felt a slight sense of relief and softly asked how it was feeling.

"I'm fine. Where's Agumon?"

Looking around and failing to spot Agumon, who usually loved to chatter incessantly, Plotmon asked Zhao Jie with a puzzled look.

"They ran away."

Setting Plotmon down on the ground, the evolution crest belonging to Plotmon emerged from between its brows. As the brilliant light faded, Tailmon stood before Zhao Jie.

"What happened?"

Tailmon stayed close to Zhao Jie, asking about the events that had transpired after she lost consciousness.

"So, the two of them chose to leave just so they wouldn't hurt anyone? What absolute fools!"

After listening to Zhao Jie's explanation, Tailmon was at a loss for words.

On one hand, she was shocked by SkullGreymon's terrifying combat power; on the other hand, she found the situation somewhat absurd and ironic.

"Let's go. At the slow pace you're going, you'll never find them in a lifetime. Better leave it to me!"

As Tailmon spoke, the light of evolution surged from her body once again, and the graceful form of Angewomon appeared on the ground.

"You guide the way, and I will catch up to them!"

Angewomon gently wrapped her arms around Zhao Jie, her gentle voice sounding softly in his ear.

A flash of joy crossed Zhao Jie's face. Relying solely on himself, if Agumon and the others truly intended to hide, he genuinely would never find them in this lifetime.

With Angewomon carrying him, however, things were entirely different.

Sensing carefully, he pointed toward the front-left.

"Alright, this way!"

Whoosh!

With a flap of the wings on her back, Angewomon sped away into the sky, carrying Zhao Jie with her.

"They've changed direction! This way!"

Hours passed. Although Angewomon was carrying him at high speed, SkullGreymon was also moving extremely fast.

Just as Zhao Jie could sense their location, they were equally aware of Zhao Jie pursuing them from behind.

"Angewomon, let's take a rest!"

Continuous flying was a severe test even for Angewomon. Hearing Zhao Jie's words, she reduced her speed, and the two eventually landed atop a mountain peak.

Upon landing, Angewomon immediately concentrated on recovering her internal digital energy.

Looking out into the distance, she saw rolling mountains stretching as far as the eye could see, and in the far horizon, numerous Rookie-level and Champion-level Digimon could be seen going about their lives.

Zhao Jie could sense that once he stopped moving, SkullGreymon stopped as well.

They had no intention of meeting him!

And he could easily guess the reason: they were afraid that the Corrupted Data they had unleashed might suddenly spiral out of control, possessing the destructive power to obliterate multiple Overlord-class Digimon in an instant.

Even with Angewomon protecting him, death would likely be inescapable.

"The Corrupted Data."

Zhao Jie murmured to himself. Prior to today, he truly would never have imagined that Agumon and the others could utilize Corrupted Data to evolve into SkullGreymon.

"Sun Stone."

Through numerous experiments, this was known to be the mineral energy with the best suppression effect against Corrupted Data.

Unfortunately, he did not have any Sun Stone in his possession at the moment.

If he had a Sun Stone, he might have been able to test whether it could suppress the Corrupted Data within SkullGreymon.

"Let's go!"

After more than half an hour, Angewomon stood up, having recovered a considerable amount of digital energy.

"Wait..."

Zhao Jie did not move immediately. He and Agumon shared a mutual resonance.

Continuing to travel right now would merely be another endless process of mutual pursuit.

"We can trick them into coming over!"

Looking at Angewomon before him, Zhao Jie said earnestly.

He had already conceived this idea, but it would require Angewomon to intercept SkullGreymon once they realized something was amiss.

"How do we trick them?"

Angewomon asked curiously, looking at Zhao Jie.

She truly had not expected her digital partner to propose such a plan at a time like this.

"It's simple. Because of our contract, I can sense their condition, and they can sense mine. Later, I will deliberately make my aura appear weak and feeble."

"Sensing that my aura is weakening, they will definitely rush over."

"Angewomon, once they realize something is wrong, you must intercept them and tell them that I have a way to help them."

Zhao Jie laid out his plan with absolute confidence.

"Do you really have a way?"

Angewomon asked with a skeptical look.

"Naturally!"

With a mysterious smile, Zhao Jie signaled Angewomon to carry him to a suitable location first.

Ten-odd minutes later, a natural canyon appeared before Zhao Jie and Angewomon.

"Right here!"

After circling the canyon once, he was very satisfied with the terrain.

As long as Agumon and the others entered this canyon, Angewomon's abilities would be more than enough to forcibly detain them for a few seconds.

"Go get ready!"

Finding a relatively safe spot, Zhao Jie immediately began deliberately dampening his aura until it seemed frail and dying.

In another direction.

Agumon and BlackAgumon were struggling desperately to control their urges to destroy everything in sight.

Whenever a battle occurred, the erosion of the Corrupted Data would intensify. Conversely, when not fighting, having another entity share the burden of pain allowed them to endure much longer.

To put it bluntly, it was precisely because they shared this existence that they were able to retain their sanity at the moment.

"He's stopped. He's so persistent! He's been following us the whole way."

BlackAgumon's voice sounded.

"That's the Zhao Jie we know, after all!"

Agumon chuckled softly, its white flames flickering unsteadily.

"He's moving again!"

"Then let's retreat!"

As the two spoke, they dragged their skeletal bodies and continued running forward.

"Wait... His aura is starting to weaken. He must be in danger!"

"What if it's a trap? Besides, Tailmon is with him."

"What if he's genuinely in danger? Tailmon isn't as strong as the two of us!"

"True enough. Come on, let's go take a look!"