Chapter 89: Exposed

After returning to his own room, Zhao Jie showed no obvious change in his emotions. If this Professor Zhou Jie truly harbored ulterior motives, then he had most likely already placed Zhao Jie under surveillance—after all, this was his stronghold.

What should he do?

This was the most pressing question before Zhao Jie.

First, the logical step was to seek help. However, communications within the laboratory were blocked; only through the phone in the communications room could he reach the outside world.

Zhao Jie glanced at the clock. It was eight in the evening. At this hour, he couldn't be sure whether Professor Zhou Jie had already retired for the night. Not wanting to alert him, Zhao Jie decided to wait until midnight to make his move.

He would go to the communications room and reach out to someone he had already decided on—the Director of Admissions for the Digital Studies Department at Xiangnan University. To hold such a position, the director must be quite capable, and aside from him, everyone else in Zhao Jie's phone was either an ordinary acquaintance or a regular Digimancer.

Even if they wanted to react, it would take them a considerable amount of time to do so.

After that, he needed to rescue Agumon.

He was just an ordinary Digimancer, not someone worth the other party’s elaborate scheming. The only one truly worth such attention must be Greymon.

Lying on his bed, Zhao Jie continually mapped out the details of his plan and charted possible escape routes. The best outcome would be if Professor Zhou Jie remained unaware and he could slip away unnoticed.

But the chances of that were slim—carrying an unconscious Agumon would make it nearly impossible.

There was only one other way: buy time and hold out until rescue arrived.

Time ticked by, and soon it was midnight. The entire laboratory was ablaze with light, as bright as day.

To be safe, Zhao Jie forced himself to wait another thirty minutes. Only then did he stealthily leave his room, heading toward the restroom with a casual demeanor. Everything was quiet until he entered the restroom.

The entire experimental facility was so silent that he could hear his own heartbeat.

After leaving the restroom, Zhao Jie dashed toward the communications room.

“Thank goodness.”

Seeing that the door to the communications room was unlocked, Zhao Jie exhaled in relief. Had the door been locked, his danger level would have reached the infernal.

This was because Professor Zhou Jie hadn’t thought of Zhao Jie as a threat, convinced that he had completely fooled the young man.

He hadn’t guarded against Zhao Jie becoming suspicious.

Carefully pushing open the door, Zhao Jie scanned the empty communications room with the corner of his eye. Nothing was amiss.

A few quick strides brought him to the phone, and he dialed a series of numbers.

The moment the call went through, red alarms blared throughout the facility.

This is bad!

Hearing the siren, Zhao Jie’s heart sank. An alarm! That meant he’d been discovered.

“Pick up, pick up!”

Clutching the phone, his gaze was fixed on the communications room’s entrance.

“Hello, who is this?”

Finally, someone answered, but at that very moment, Zhou Jie's figure appeared in the corridor.

“This is Zhao Jie. I’m at a laboratory run by someone named Professor Zhou Jie—please, come save me!” Zhao Jie blurted out, then dropped the phone and bolted from the communications room.

“What are you doing, Zhao Jie?” Zhou Jie’s hair remained as tousled as ever, but the gentle smile Zhao Jie had seen before was gone. Now his face was cold, his gaze icy as he watched Zhao Jie rush out.

“I was just missing my parents, so I gave them a call. Didn’t expect to startle you, Professor. Sorry about that!” Zhao Jie replied, inching backward even as Zhou Jie advanced toward him.

He no longer hoped to allay their suspicions. From this moment, his goal was to delay and buy time.

Hopefully, Director Zheng could send help soon.

“Oh, is that so? Then why are you backing away? Did I frighten you?” Zhou Jie adjusted his glasses with a look of sudden understanding, but still kept closing the distance.

“I’m a bit nervous. This alarm isn’t dangerous, is it?” Zhao Jie continued to retreat, soon reaching a corner.

“Don’t worry, it’s not. There are only the two of us humans in this entire base—you don’t need to be tense. Come, I’ll walk you back.” With that, Zhou Jie quickened his pace.

Run!

Zhao Jie nodded as if convinced, but without hesitation, he turned and sprinted away around the corner.

Zhou Jie lunged after him, but by the time he reached the bend, Zhao Jie had already disappeared down another hallway.

“So he did sense something was wrong!” Zhou Jie muttered darkly as he stared at the empty corridor.

“The call got through. Looks like the experiment needs to be accelerated.”

He had no idea who Zhao Jie had called, nor how much time the recipient needed to respond.

All he could do was speed up the experiment and unveil his creation as quickly as possible.

He stopped pursuing Zhao Jie; after all, Zhao Jie was not his true target—just a prey who had temporarily slipped the hunter’s net.

With measured steps, he headed for the lab where Agumon was being held, whistling as he walked.

At his whistle, the little Crowmon Zhao Jie had previously seen flew out from the shadows.

“Crowmon, order the Ghostmon to capture that boy.”

“Caw, caw.” With two calls, Crowmon vanished once more, and soon a host of Ghostmon began to pour out from various corners of the facility.

……

Thud, thud—

Zhao Jie ran wildly, his heart pounding. He glanced nervously at either side, afraid Zhou Jie might suddenly appear.

Hiding in a corner, Zhao Jie gasped for breath.

“No, I have to save Agumon.”

He realized that Agumon was the true target, and if Zhou Jie had deceived him, Agumon must be in grave danger as well.

Since Zhou Jie wasn’t chasing him, he had probably headed straight to Agumon’s lab.

Rescuing Agumon would be extremely difficult.

Suddenly, a chorus of cries came from above. Ghostmon had spotted him, and as they shrieked, they began to converge on his location.

This is bad.

Locking eyes with one of the Ghostmon, Zhao Jie knew he’d been discovered. He sprang up and dashed through the maze of corridors.

“To be able to command so many Ghostmon, this Professor Zhou Jie is certainly no good!”

Ghostmon—ghostly, cloth-shrouded mature-stage Digimon born of darkness and evil. They were said to be the weakest of all mature-stage Digimon; as long as one’s will was strong enough to resist their deathly temptation, they posed little danger.

But that was true for a single Ghostmon. Now, swarms of them were being released, their deathly temptations piling one atop another; there was only so much a person could endure.

Bang!

Zhao Jie snatched up a broom and used it to defend himself.

These Ghostmon were physically weak—so much so that even blows from an ordinary human like Zhao Jie could cause them significant harm.

Threatened by the broom, the Ghostmon didn’t attack but merely followed in his wake.

From three to five to ten, the number of Ghostmon following him grew ever larger. Zhao Jie’s heart sank; at this rate, he wouldn’t even be able to save himself, let alone Agumon.

“What’s this place?” Glancing ahead, Zhao Jie saw an abandoned warehouse. What surprised him was that a mature Minotaurmon was guarding its entrance.

“Time to risk it all!”

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Jie charged toward Minotaurmon. He had no other choice; if he kept running, the Ghostmon would eventually wear him down. He might as well take this chance.

“Hm?” Minotaurmon scratched his head as he saw Zhao Jie approach.

“Huh? Why’s the delivery guy different today?”

Swish!

Zhao Jie kept his eyes locked on Minotaurmon, and seeing that the Digimon showed no intent to attack, he dashed past like the wind.

“Wait—! You’re not the delivery guy!” Realizing too late, Minotaurmon’s eyes flared with anger.

Special move: Devil Tremor!

The massive Devil Arm on his left glowed as he slammed a fist into the ground. The entire base shook.

With a grunt, Zhao Jie was sent flying by the force, tumbling helplessly into the depths of the abandoned warehouse.

“Roar! No entry!” Minotaurmon glared with wide, bull-like eyes, brandishing his Devil Arm to warn off the pursuing Ghostmon.

“The Professor said, no Digimon are allowed inside.”

“What? He’s the one the Professor told you to catch? Doesn’t matter—you can’t go in. He’s human, it’s fine for him to enter.”

Minotaurmon declared seriously, “Why? Because the Professor only said no Digimon can enter. He never said anything about humans.”

A load lifted from Minotaurmon’s mind; this was a matter of principle—food delivery was sacred. Since a human went in, it didn’t break the rules.

I really am so clever.

Ghostmon: You might not believe this, but I just met the dumbest bull teammate ever.