Chapter 136: Human-Faced Demon Spider Beast

"Aha!"

The pale-faced man leaped out from the dark, coughing up a mouthful of blood with a sharp gasp.

"Well, well, well, Zero Three, what happened to you? How did you end up getting hurt?"

A mocking laughter echoed endlessly within the pitch-black, lightless space.

"Humph!"

The one addressed as Zero Three was none other than the pale man whom Zhao Jie and the others had encountered earlier. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and let out a dissatisfied, cold snort.

"Zero Six, stop standing there and making sarcastic remarks. My identity has been exposed; the plan must be brought forward!"

Hearing this, a figure stepped out from the darkness. A long, narrow scar ran across his face, from which blood was still continuously dripping.

This was Zero Six, the person Zero Three had mentioned. He stepped up close to Zero Three.

"How could you be exposed? Even if you were exposed, didn't you have a Datamon under your control? Logically speaking, the Digimon of these supply-transporting Tamers aren't that strong. With Datamon's strength, it should have been resolved quickly!"

Zero Three sighed. That was what he had thought as well, but under the sudden burst of power from that MetalGreymon, Datamon had actually been destroyed—something he had never anticipated.

"The captain of this supply team discovered the anomaly at the outpost. If I hadn't been vigilant, I would have made a catastrophic mistake!"

"I gave chase, but I failed to eliminate them. Among them was a MetalGreymon possessing power originating from the same source as ours. Through my own carelessness, I let it blast Datamon into oblivion!"

Hiss!

Hearing this, Zero Six drew a sharp breath.

Although that Datamon wasn't the most powerful Digimon under their command, it was far from weak, yet it had been obliterated by another Digimon.

This made it somewhat difficult for him to believe.

"Cough, cough. We cannot let them return successfully, or our plan might fail completely at the last hurdle. We must go and intercept them!"

Coughing a few times, Zero Three looked at Zero Six beside him and said.

"But... what about the Boss..."

Zero Six looked hesitantly at Zero Three. They had reached the critical moment of the plan. Leaving now might lead to oversights, the consequences of which would be far more severe.

"Rest assured, one of their Digimon was also severely crippled by Datamon. We will make a quick trip there and back; it won't delay the Boss's grand enterprise!"

"Besides, this time we are dispatching LadyDevimon—uh, no, the Arukenimon—I believe we can wipe them out in no time!"

Seeing that Zero Six was still wavering, Zero Three continued to press his persuasion.

"Alright, but we must make haste and return immediately!"

In the end, Zero Six gave his consent.

***

From the main base to this Western Sector Three, Zhao Jie and his companions had spent ten hours traveling at the pace of a Digimon's march.

As for the return journey, even without the burden of supplies, it would take at least five hours—and that was assuming they encountered no interference from wild Digimon.

Even to reach a relatively safe zone, they would need three hours.

Swish! Swish!

MetalGreymon's figure skimmed continuously through the lower airspace. It wasn't that they didn't want to fly higher, but rather that they couldn't.

Doing so might turn them into prey for the Digimon overlords soaring through the upper skies.

By now, Zhao Jie and the others had been flying for an hour. Such all-out flight had left MetalGreymon, who had just emerged from a fierce battle, somewhat fatigued.

In the end, the group dismounted and climbed onto Mammothmon's back, continuing their journey toward the main base.

"Let's hope nothing else goes wrong!"

Wengong glanced at the Koromon in Wang Liang's arms. In little more than an hour, Gabumon had regressed once again into Koromon.

Yet, just as that thought crossed his mind, the previously tranquil ground underwent a sudden change. Thick vines burst forth from beneath the earth, rapidly snaking upward to bind Mammothmon.

"Ambush!"

Thud!

Mammothmon's powerful limbs slammed fiercely against the ground, shattering the rapidly binding vines instantly.

"Cat Punch!"

Gatomon leaped down, arms swinging to continuously clear away the endless streams of vines extending toward their position.

Thud!

A dull, heavy sound echoed from a distant location.

"Terrible! Terrible, run away! Run!"

Immediately afterward, Zhao Jie and the others noticed the surrounding Budmon fleeing frantically into the distance, shoving one another in their haste.

"What is going on?"

Zhao Jie and his companions gazed vigilantly around them, slowly moving forward. As a precaution, Fu Yue's Medusamon had already been summoned.

After advancing for another ten minutes or so, the sound of rumbling vibrations once again emanated from the ground.

Accompanied by this tremor, numerous adult-sized Dokugumon swarmed in from all directions, rapidly encircling the location where Zhao Jie and the others stood.

"Boom!"

A massive black spider, resembling a small hill, pressed relentlessly forward. Across its abdomen lay a marking shaped like a human face, sending a chill through anyone who looked at it.

The vibrations they had felt earlier had been caused by this very Digimon.

"Wail..."

A piercing screech issued from the maw of this Araneamon. Hearing its call, the ordinary spiders on the ground grew increasingly frantic, surging toward Zhao Jie's group with heightened speed.

"We meet again!"

Atop Araneamon's back stood Zero Three and Zero Six, their gazes fixed upon the flustered Zhao Jie and his companions.

"He really did come back! And this time there are two of them!"

Zhao Jie's heart sank. This mountain-sized Araneamon was bound to be far more difficult to deal with than the previous Datamon.

And they were missing a vital combatant—truly misery piled upon misfortune.

"What do we do?"

Although the only Perfect-level Digimon to appear this time was this single Araneamon, the aura radiating from it had likely reached the Overlord tier.

Coupled with the Champion-level spiders still swarming toward them from all sides, this situation was far more perilous than the last.

"Run! I'll hold them off for you!"

Wengong looked at Araneamon's razor-sharp mandibles and said to the three of them with a helpless expression.

An Overlord-tier Perfect-level Digimon dealing with opponents who hadn't yet stepped into the Overlord tier could hardly be described as anything less than utter devastation.

"Together!"

The pale-faced Wang Liang looked at his veteran captain, his tone resolute.

"When we set out on this mission, I told you: during a mission, you obey the captain's orders unconditionally! Now, I'm ordering you to leave!"

Wengong flashed a bright smile, looking from Wang Liang to Hu Yue, and finally to Zhao Jie, who had joined his squad not long ago.

"Xiao Zhi has been gone for so long; I'm going down to keep him company! Listen to me! Split up and run once you get the chance. Whether you make it out alive is up to your own fate."