"Hello, big brother. My name is Takeru Takaishi, and this is my Digital Beast Partner, Patamon." Compared to his older brother, Yamato, Takeru seemed much more reserved, probably due to his young age.
"Hello, my name is Joe Kido, and this is my Digital Beast Partner, Gomamon. Please take care of us in the future." Joe Kido, the oldest among them, spoke in a very precise manner, which suited his personality.
"Mimi Tachikawa, and this is my Digital Beast Partner, Palmon. By the way, Zhou Zhu, are you from Long Country? It seems the surname Zhou is common there."
Compared to the others, Mimi Tachikawa was much more lively and outgoing. This mixed-race girl, due to her family's frequent international travels, was not only well-traveled but also very knowledgeable about foreign affairs.
"Hmm~ Mimi Tachikawa? It seems you know quite a lot. I am indeed from Long Country. Zhou is my surname. You can call me Zhou Zhu or A Zhu, either is fine."
Zhou Zhu had a good impression of Mimi; after all, besides her slight temper, her other flaws were negligible.
In fact, she seemed to have no other flaws, and even her temper had changed significantly after the Frogmon King incident. He couldn't understand why in the original story, Tai chose Sora, who was so troublesome.
Moreover, someone like Sora... was just disgusting. When she needed help, she relied on Tai, but when things were calm, she turned to Yamato. She caused all sorts of trouble while dating Tai, and then quietly got together with Yamato in the end.
Didn't that disgust the entire team? Even finding someone outside the team would have been better than Yamato. How could Tai face himself after that? What would the other partners think?
Forget it, all kinds of people exist in this world. Those 'little fairies' from his previous life weren't necessarily better than Sora. Anyway, he wasn't the victim, so it didn't matter...
"You really are from Long Country? I just heard you mention hotpot and thought it was a Long Country delicacy. I didn't expect to guess correctly! By the way, what does hotpot taste like? I've never had it before."
When it came to food, Mimi's chatter became unstoppable.
Although Palmon didn't know what hotpot was, hearing Mimi talk about it made it sound like something amazing.
"Hotpot, well, it's spicy and numbing. You blanch various ingredients in the broth for a few seconds, then dip them in a prepared chili sauce or sesame paste, depending on personal taste. However, you people from Island Country prefer lighter flavors, so you probably can only handle clear broth hotpot."
Facing Mimi's strong curiosity, Zhou Zhu began to patiently explain.
"Alright, don't waste time on these boring things. Let's look for clues here."
Hmph, suspicious Long Country person. Whatever your purpose, it better not be anything that harms Takeru, otherwise, I will never let you go.
Compared to the others, who, even if they hadn't heard of hotpot, were still willing to learn about how to eat it, Yamato Takaishi impatiently interrupted Mimi and Zhou Zhu's conversation.
"Yamato, that's very rude of you. And Zhou Zhu just said he already checked everything thoroughly here." Seeing Yamato's displeased face, Tai stepped forward and immediately admonished him.
Regardless, Zhou Zhu was not a familiar person within their small group. In Tai's opinion, treating an unfamiliar person with such an attitude was indeed very impolite.
"Exactly, Yamato~ If there were any clues, Zhou Zhu would definitely tell us. After all, he also wants to return to the real world early." Joe Kido also interjected at this point, scolding Yamato.
After all, Yamato's attitude, to put it mildly, was impolite; to put it strongly, it affected the national image. Zhou Zhu was a foreigner, after all.
"Joe, you don't need to meddle. If you don't look, I'll look myself." Yamato, caught in the crossfire, did not resolve the conflict between friends as well as his Badge of Friendship would suggest. Instead, he became even more autocratic and independent.
"Don't rush off. As for clues, it's not that there aren't any. It's just that I don't know if this counts as a clue. I didn't see any other living people in this factory, but there's a creature, possibly a Digimon, stuck under some machinery ahead and can't move. However, that guy looks very powerful, so I didn't dare to make any extra moves."
"Oh, right, there's also a secret room to the left, with various strange patterns drawn on the walls. I tried to wipe away the patterns, and the factory stopped running. When I put the patterns back, it resumed operation. In short, these are the only two places in the entire factory that felt strange to me. This should count as a clue, right?"
These weren't Zhou Zhu's spoilers or wild guesses; he had actually personally visited these places during his recent boredom.
Although Zhou Zhu didn't mess with the lever mechanism, he still needed to understand its exact location in advance, since he had nothing else to do...
"A Digimon trapped under machinery? How can we just leave it to die? Besides, distinguishing good from evil, isn't that what this is for?" While scolding Zhou Zhu, Tai also pulled out his Sacred Plan from his waist and waved it in front of Zhou Zhu's eyes.
"Exactly, Zhou Zhu, I didn't realize you were this kind of person."
Mimi, standing nearby, also couldn't stand this kind of behavior. After all, girls her age usually have a very black-and-white view on such matters.
"But... I don't seem to have what you're talking about, something that can check the good or evil of a Digimon~"
It's easy for you to talk. That's Andromon. In the original story, if you hadn't shattered the Black Gear inside it at the critical moment, you probably wouldn't have even survived to fight Devimon.
Speaking of which, Andromon with the Black Gear seems to be the most dangerous presence on this island. What's a rookie village boss like Devimon? Compared to Andromon, it's not even worth mentioning. Based on Andromon's combat power, it's at most only a tiny bit weaker than Etemon from Saba Continent...
Anyway, this guy didn't play much of a role in the first season. So... maybe we shouldn't save it? Just let it stay trapped there?
"Uh... you don't have one? Then never mind~" Tai scanned Zhou Zhu's body and realized there really didn't seem to be anywhere to hide a Sacred Plan. He was speechless.
He had assumed everyone in his small group had this item, so he naturally thought Zhou Zhu would too. He didn't expect to have overthought it...
"Ah? No Sacred Plan? How could that be?" Sora, standing nearby, was also full of confusion.
If Zhou Zhu didn't have a Sacred Plan, how would his Digital Beast Partner evolve?