“What exactly do you want? Can’t you be less shameless, stealing my things again and again!”
“If you want data, can’t you find your own targets?”
Facing Ruki’s furious questioning, Bai Yu’s face showed no hint of guilt. He was so composed, it was as if he was the one in the right.
He even playfully swung the grotesque bone club in his hand, feeling its weight.
That’s just how Bai Yu was; he either didn’t do something, or once he did, he would never let himself sink into a quagmire of mental self-torment.
Having a clear conscience was one of his life’s creeds.
With a thought from Bai Yu, the bone club vanished from his hand, and the Typhoonmon Watch reappeared.
Then, with another thought, the Typhoonmon Watch was put into the system space.
Afterward, Bai Yu looked at Ruki, whose small face was flushed with anger, and said in a teaching tone, “Don’t be so angry. Little girls get wrinkles when they’re angry.”
“Besides, I’m doing this for your own good.”
“For my own good?” Ruki laughed, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world, her anger turning into mirth.
“Stealing my spoils of war and saying it’s for my own good? What exactly is your face made of?”
Bai Yu shrugged indifferently and continued, “Don’t think that letting Renamon absorb other Digimon’s data is a good thing.”
“While it’s true that it strengthens one’s own data, there are also significant hidden dangers.”
To Bai Yu’s words, Ruki replied with an undisguised snort.
She looked at Bai Yu disdainfully, as if he were an ignorant layman who knew nothing.
“Digimon constantly fight and absorb each other’s data to become stronger and ultimately evolve—this is a law! It’s an unchanging rule among Digimon! Don’t you even know that?”
Ruki’s words were full of contempt for Bai Yu.
Bai Yu’s smile didn’t falter; he knew Ruki would say that.
“It’s a law, true, and wanting to evolve is also true.”
At this point, Bai Yu’s gaze sharpened, looking directly into Ruki’s eyes.
“But have you ever considered what you want your Renamon to evolve into?”
Hearing this, Ruki instinctively opened her mouth to answer, “Of course, it’s to evolve…”
However, her words stopped abruptly halfway through.
Yes, evolve into what?
Ruki desperately wanted Renamon to evolve and become stronger, but she seemed to have never truly considered what specific form it should take.
But Ruki quickly reacted and said, “Of course, it’s to evolve according to the Digimon’s evolution chain!”
At this, Ruki once again looked at Bai Yu with disdain.
“Don’t tell me you don’t even know what evolution chains those Digimon have, do you?”
Bai Yu chuckled softly, shook his head, and said, “The problem lies precisely in this evolution chain.”
Bai Yu then took a step forward, stared at Ruki, and threw out another question she couldn’t avoid.
“Is a Digimon’s evolution chain fixed?”
This question didn’t even need Ruki to answer.
Anyone who truly understood Digimon knew the answer was no.
Digimon evolution was full of infinite possibilities; the so-called evolution chain was merely a “template” of what had already occurred and been recorded.
Seeing Ruki’s silence, Bai Yu knew she understood.
“A Digimon’s evolution chain, one could say, is constantly being updated.”
“For example, when an Agumon evolves into a Greymon, then the ‘Agumon-Greymon’ evolution chain is established.”
“But if one day, a Gabumon also evolves into a Greymon, then the evolution chain will add ‘Gabumon-Greymon’.”
“Many seemingly unique evolution chains are only because other examples haven’t appeared yet; once they do, it represents a new possibility.”
Bai Yu continued to explain in depth, his tone gradually becoming more serious.
“Digimon evolution, to put it nicely, is a grid-like evolution, full of possibilities.”
“But to put it not so nicely, it’s chaotic evolution.”
“Those on land can evolve into sky creatures, sky creatures can evolve into sea creatures, and sea creatures can evolve back into land creatures.”
“The root cause of this is the indiscriminate absorption of data.”
“Absorbing all kinds of data, good and bad, matching and mismatched, ultimately turns oneself into a data hodgepodge.”
“In such circumstances, what it ultimately evolves into naturally becomes completely uncontrollable.”
At this point, Bai Yu’s expression became more serious than ever. He gazed at Ruki and said, word by word, “Ruki, if you don’t want your Renamon to evolve in a completely unknown, or even unacceptable, direction.”
“Then from now on, stop this habit of letting it absorb just any data.”
“Switch to self-training, both for Renamon and for yourself.”
“Your own strength is the best help for Renamon; you must remember this.”
Listening to Bai Yu’s lengthy discourse, Ruki’s pretty face, which had been tense with anger, slowly relaxed.
It was replaced by a thoughtful expression.
Seeing Ruki like this, Bai Yu knew that she had taken his words to heart.
If she could truly break the habit of indiscriminately absorbing data, it would undoubtedly be a good thing for both her and Renamon.
Strictly speaking, among the Chosen Children of these generations, only the third generation engaged in this behavior of absorbing other Digimon’s data.
For example, the first and second generations never did such a thing.
It’s not that the first two series didn’t have this setting; in fact, they did, but it was much more subtle.
Vamdemon is the clearest example; when he evolved into Venom Vamdemon, due to insufficient data, he devoured several of his subordinates, including Impmon.
For Digimon to maintain their ‘bloodline purity’ is actually a very important point.
As for the fourth generation, they only needed to develop their Spirit, and the data obtained after battles was stored in a ‘scanner’; they didn’t use it themselves at all.
The ‘scanner’ was the fourth-generation Digivice.
Just as Bai Yu’s thoughts drifted, the thick fog enveloping everything around them began to thin at a visible rate.
The Digital Field was about to disappear.
Seeing Ruki still deep in thought, Bai Yu decided not to linger. He held Calumon, turned, and prepared to leave.
However, as soon as he took a step, Ruki’s voice came from behind him.
“Wait, stop right there! We’re not finished yet!”
Bai Yu stopped, turned his head, and looked at her with amusement.
“What? I’ve already given you such important knowledge for free. Don’t you know how to say thank you? Are you still going to pester me?”
“Why are you so ungrateful?”
Ruki snorted coldly, the flames of defiance rekindling in her purple eyes, staring sharply at Bai Yu.
“One thing at a time. Don’t think that a few words can make you feel justified in taking the fruits of victory from me and Renamon!”
Bai Yu looked at the expression on Ruki’s face, already roughly guessing what she wanted to do, but he still feigned ignorance and asked, “So, what do you want?”
Ruki stepped forward, her fair little fists clenched tightly, and declared to Bai Yu without hesitation, “Let’s fight again!”
Hearing this, Bai Yu’s face showed an expression of “I knew it would be like this.”
Stealing her data was one thing, but more importantly, her previous defeat clearly still bothered her.
Now, she wanted to get even.