Chapter 134: The Devastated Reality

"Is it really this simple to get back to the real world?" After arriving in the Dark Area, Feng Xue and Ruki ended their fusion. This was for the best; after all, being a "dumpling" was far too embarrassing. Even though Digimon have no gender, humans certainly wouldn't see it that way.

"Of course. This is my turf. As long as I give the word, every lackey here has to listen to me!" Feng Xue lifted his chin proudly, gazing at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

It must be said that Feng Xue’s guess was correct. There were no traces of the D-Reaper in the Dark Area. As one of the Demon Lords, he could easily sense the presence of the others, and they all seemed completely indifferent to the D-Reaper’s emergence, as if it were nothing more than a report on the evening news about "foreigners living in dire straits."

Conversely, the Dark Area itself was the place where deleted data ended up. In the structure of the network, it shouldn't exist, yet there were ways to recover deleted data, which meant it *should* exist. Thus, the Dark Area was in a state of superposition between existence and non-existence (Why did that remind me of Schrödinger’s cat, both dead and alive?). Even the D-Reaper wouldn't specifically target such a space; its task was to clear redundant network data, and the Dark Area didn't occupy any actual network capacity.

"Yes, yes, let’s go! My mother and grandmother will be worried sick if I don't go back!" Seeing Feng Xue’s antics, Ruki’s expression finally relaxed as she said this with a smile.

Feng Xue deactivated his Behemoth form. Don't ask him how; ever since he merged with Behemoth, he had gained the innate knowledge of how to separate and re-merge. In essence, it was like harmonization. Although Behemoth was merely a machine, it possessed its own DigiCore and wavelength. If one had to say, it was the same type of existence as Grani. Therefore, as long as he harmonized his own wavelength with Behemoth’s, he could evolve into the Behemoth form.

"Hop on!" He patted the seat of the Behemoth, looking like a delinquent trying to pick up a girl on a heavy motorcycle.

"Will I be controlled if I sit on it?" Ruki looked at Behemoth with some concern, the words of that Calumon still echoing in her ears.

"Daijoubu, mondai nai!" Feng Xue gave a thumbs-up, wearing a smile reminiscent of Might Guy. "I’ve already tamed it!"

Hearing this, Ruki finally climbed onto Behemoth. Where? In the front, of course!

"Hold on tight! The express train to the real world is departing!" Feng Xue warned, twisting the throttle. Ahead of them, a "gate" made of countless mosaic-like patches appeared.

Following a sudden shriek from Ruki as they accelerated to high speeds, the motorcycle plunged straight into the "gate."

After passing through a black tunnel filled with digital runes, just like the one they came through, the bike suddenly appeared inside a pipe with a red background.

"Stop, stop! That’s a wall!" Ruki felt her vision blur, and when she regained her focus, a rusted red wall was right in front of them!

"I already stopped, didn't I?" A mischievous smirk appeared on Feng Xue’s lips as he looked at Ruki with amusement.

"Hmph!" Ruki let out an indignant huff, then hopped a few times where she stood, saying brightly, "Let’s go, let's go home."

"Yeah, let’s go home." Feng Xue shared a smile with her, and they walked along the sewer toward the exit.

***

"What on earth is going on? Why has the D-Reaper appeared in the real world? Or did we never actually leave the Digital World?" Walking out of the sewer, Ruki’s eyes were immediately met by a devastated city, with ominous, magma-like red foam surging between the buildings.

"It looks like something happened before we got back!" Feng Xue’s brow furrowed. According to his memory, the D-Reaper should have been brought back by Juri and only started eroding reality after everyone returned home. However, he and Ruki should have been less than three hours behind Takato and the others. Even if the Ark’s existence as a bridge between the real and digital worlds caused time to synchronize, it shouldn't be eroded to this extent the moment they returned!

"Look! Isn't that Gallantmon?" Ruki suddenly pointed at a white speck in the sky. Feng Xue squinted to look—and sure enough, it was. Though he couldn't help but wonder if Ruki’s eyesight was really that good.

However, the moment Feng Xue thought this, a massive red hand burst out of the slime-like D-Reaper, grabbed Gallantmon, and dragged him inside.

"Damn it! Takato got pulled in by the D-Reaper!" Encountering this right after returning made Feng Xue’s face darken. He twisted the throttle and charged toward the scene with Ruki.

"Are you ready, Ruki?" Feng Xue asked suddenly.

"You mean...?"

"That’s right, let’s fuse!"

"But, you don't like that form, do you?" Ruki clutched her D-Arc to her chest. During fusion, she could feel Feng Xue’s emotions, and she was well aware of his embarrassment.

"If we don't fuse, I don't have the confidence to protect you," Feng Xue said with a shrug, looking quite carefree.

"Is that so?" Ruki’s smile grew brighter, though a thought crossed her mind: *You care more about my safety than your masculine pride?*

"Then..."

"Let's do it!"

They gripped each other’s hands tightly. In that instant, the D-Arc glowed, and the environment around them seemed to be completely digitized. The next moment, Beelzemon appeared once again.

"Flying feels so good!" Ruki, now fused with Feng Xue, said spiritedly. Feng Xue, however, was filled with frustration.

*It doesn't feel good at all! It was much more comfortable flying as Beelzemon. Now I have this heavy burden on my chest that keeps bouncing around. It’s such a hassle!*

"Pfft!" Ruki burst into laughter and teased, "Oh, Feng Xue! There are so many girls who would kill to have this 'burden'!"

But there was no time for jokes. They had just arrived to see MegaGargomon and Justimon facing off against a green, gorilla-like creature.

*So, am I replacing Justimon’s role from the original story?* Feng Xue’s expression soured. The situation was clear: the D-Reaper’s interference with both worlds had caused the flow of time to become unstable. Feng Xue had only spent a few dozen minutes, yet he had missed a full day or two!