Chapter Sixteen: The Beast of Flame

“What was that?” The children whispered curiously as they watched the black shadow streak across the sky.

“It sounded like gears turning,” Koushiro remarked.

“Wasn’t it a flying saucer?”

“Maybe it was a gear-shaped meteorite.”

“Whatever it was, it’s definitely nothing good!”

The children liked to chat as they traveled, making the journey less dull, but soon enough they put the strange sight out of their minds. They had neither the leisure nor the curiosity to investigate such inexplicable things.

Only Qin Fei gazed at the crescent that had streaked across the sky, his eyes lingering for a long while. That was the Black Gear created by the Devimon—a harbinger of disaster soon to befall the children. But at this moment, no one knew which unfortunate Digimon would encounter it first.

“The aura on that thing is quite interesting,” Loretta suddenly commented. “But I can sense it’s very dangerous, too.”

Qin Fei nodded. Devimon was indeed dangerous: not only was he powerful, but he was also adept at setting traps and scheming. In the anime, the chosen children later fell right into his snares.

“If you don’t evolve to the Champion level, I’d suggest we steer clear. That creature is far from ordinary.”

Even Andromon and Grizzlymon in their Ultimate forms could be controlled by a Black Gear; Loretta, still only at the Rookie stage, was better off not taking such a risk.

“If that’s what you wish, Qin Fei… I’ll obey.”

Qin Fei caught the subtle implication in Loretta’s tone. If he hadn’t stopped her, she might have tried to fight Devimon herself.

…

Stumbling and weary, the group wandered through a bizarre forest crisscrossed by all manner of signs and road markers. No one knew how long they’d been walking, but exhaustion weighed heavily upon them when they finally caught sight of the forest’s edge.

Beyond the trees stretched a plain—scorched and shimmering with heat, the air quivering above it. Yet, in the midst of this open terrain, countless crooked utility poles rose askew from the ground, making the world seem even more absurd.

As the heat waves rolled in, the children, just emerged from the woods, felt as though they’d stepped onto the African savannah; sweat soaked them all within moments. Qin Fei had to pull off his jacket and tuck it under his arm, silently cursing the bizarre weather of the Digital World. If he didn’t know there would be snowfields later, he might have thrown the jacket away.

It was only a moderately sized island, yet within it lay regions as distinct as the four seasons: snowfields, arid lands, savannah, and forest. Such diversity on an isolated island was impossible in the real world.

“This place looks just like the African savannah you see on TV,” Koushiro said, wiping sweat from his brow as he surveyed the surroundings.

“Will there be lions and giraffes?”

“There aren’t animals like that here.”

“That’s right—only Digimon live here…”

“Just Digimon…”

…

Bored and weary, the children and their Digimon continued chatting, as if to distract themselves from the oppressive heat radiating down from above.

“Does anyone want to know where we are? Look—ta-da!” Suddenly, Mimi strutted up from behind, proudly brandishing a compass, especially waving it right in front of Qin Fei.

“Oh?” At the sight of the compass, everyone instinctively crowded closer, eager to see if it would work.

Yet, as the needle wobbled uncertainly, it suddenly began to spin like a fan, rendering any sense of direction impossible.

“Ah! What’s going on?” Mimi wailed in disappointment.

Koushiro squatted down, scooped up a handful of the ground, and studied it. “Looks like iron filings. They’re attracting the compass.”

“Sigh…” With a heavy sigh, Tai took the almost-empty water bottle and drank. “It’s so hot. Good thing we listened to Qin Fei and brought extra water, otherwise we might have collapsed from the heat.”

“We should also thank Qin Fei for bringing the bottles. Otherwise, we couldn’t have carried enough,” Sora added, smiling at him.

“But we still need to find a water source. What we have won’t last long.”

With that, the group could only trudge on, heavy-footed, heading toward an unknown destination.

No one knew how much time had passed before, just as they were debating whether to turn back to the forest, Tai spotted something through his monocular.

“There’s a village up ahead!”

At Tai’s exclamation, everyone was overjoyed. Finally, signs of civilization.

…

“Ah, so it’s a Biyomon village…” The disappointment was palpable in everyone except Qin Fei.

While the others chatted with the Biyomon, Qin Fei’s gaze drifted toward Mount Mihara in the distance. He knew that soon, the Firemon under the influence of a Black Gear would appear there.

“Water! There’s water!” T.K.’s excited shout drew everyone’s attention.

“That’s spring water flowing down from Mount Mihara,” the Biyomon explained enthusiastically.

Splashing, Qin Fei wasted no time listening to their speeches. He grabbed an empty bottle and, before anyone else could react, filled it with water.

“No need to rush, Qin Fei—there’s plenty of water left,” Sora and Tai approached, puzzled by his urgency.

Ignoring them, Qin Fei began filling a second bottle. But before he could finish, the spring suddenly stopped flowing.

“Everyone, back away!” Grabbing T.K., who was about to approach, Qin Fei stared intently at the fountain.

“What’s wrong, Qin Fei? Why are you stopping T.K. from drinking?” Matt hurried over, ready to question him.

Boom! Before he could finish, the fountain erupted with a pillar of fire, replacing the water. Had Qin Fei not intervened, T.K. might have been burned.

“What… what is this?!”

Everyone, even the Biyomon, stared in disbelief.

“It’s alright, there’s another pool over here with water,” one Biyomon said quickly, leading them to a nearby pond.

But it, too, was bone dry.

The well, the pool, the fountain—every source was tried, but not a drop remained.

In the end, only Qin Fei had managed to store a bottle and a half of water.

“Qin Fei’s foresight saved us, but that little water won’t be enough…” the group murmured, clearly worried.

“There must be something wrong on Mount Mihara. I saw something fall onto it,” one of the Biyomon said.

“Is it what we saw before?” Matt suddenly recalled the black object that had streaked across the sky.

“A Black Gear—just one could do all this…” Koushiro was incredulous.

“The Digital World is different from the real one. Black Gears might be especially dangerous, maybe even able to affect a Digimon’s mind,” Qin Fei prompted, not wanting to interfere with Biyomon’s evolution.

“You’re right. Let me check… Hm, what’s that?” With his monocular, Tai spotted something new.

A column of fire rose sharply from Mount Mihara, impossible to miss.

“It’s Firemon—it’s coming down the mountain!”

“Why does it look so different from usual?” the Biyomon exclaimed, alarmed as they watched the distant flames.