8. Do not assist a person who has fallen without caution.

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"Could you tell me more about the chosen children?" Taiichi instinctively felt this might be related to his own crossing over.

"I don't know the details either," the Flame Beast said, scratching his head awkwardly. He had only heard the term from a Lion Beast passing through Mount Mihalashi.

"As for related matters... maybe you could ask the Centaur Beast."

"Centaur Beast?"

The Flame Beast nodded. "That's a mature Digimon living in the ancient ruins, and on Farloe Island, it's the one who knows the most about legends and such."

"I see." Taiichi pondered for a moment; it seemed necessary to pay him a visit.

The Flame Beast continued, "If you keep going forward, you’ll first pass by the mechanical factory where Andoru Beast resides. Andoru Beast is a powerful Perfect-level Digimon, one of the strongest on Farloe Island, but he always guards his factory and never ventures far. Getting his help might be difficult."

"Perfect-level, huh..." The Perfect level is a further evolution beyond the mature stage, with power vastly superior. Thinking of that, Taiichi instinctively glanced at Zeromaru, who was playing with the Pygos Beasts.

He wondered what kind of Perfect-level form Zeromaru would evolve into.

After helping the Flame Beast rebuild the village, Taiichi and Zeromaru once again set out on their adventure.

"Be careful from now on; don’t let the Black Gear control you again."

The Flame Beast nodded. "The same trick won’t work on me twice."

"Is that so... well, that’s a relief." Taiichi awkwardly smiled, feeling like he might have just set a flag.

Before leaving, Zeromaru specially reminded the Flame Beast, "Protect the Pygos Beasts’ village, okay?"

"Zeromaru, don’t forget us!"

The Pygos Beasts looked at Zeromaru with reluctance. Taiichi also grew fond of these adorable little creatures; perhaps it was the feeling of an only child seeing others with siblings. Seeing kids outside always stirred a protective instinct in him.

"Don’t worry. Once our business is settled, we’ll come back to see you."

As they left far behind, the Pygos Beasts’ village disappeared from sight, and Mount Mihalashi became just a small black dot in Taiichi’s view.

Following the Flame Beast’s directions, Taiichi and Zeromaru headed toward Andoru Beast’s mechanical factory.

First, they had to cross a scorching wasteland.

During the journey, Taiichi didn’t forget his earlier decision and trained together with Zeromaru.

In the Digital World, Taiichi’s physical body essentially transformed into data. Perhaps for this reason, training directly produced data growth, vastly improving his physical abilities at an efficiency unimaginable in the real world. Now, if Taiichi wore a red and white cap, he could easily cosplay as a Super Rookie.

One day, while running with a weighted load on the sand, Taiichi suddenly noticed black smoke drifting in the sky.

Exchanging a glance with Zeromaru, Zeromaru immediately jumped down from Taiichi’s back, and the two ran toward the smoke.

As they approached, an industrial-looking mechanical factory appeared before their eyes.

Inside the factory, the constant sound of machinery filled the air. A glance revealed unattended assembly lines automatically building unknown machines. The smell of machine oil permeated the air, and strange symbols were painted on the walls with a thick black liquid resembling oil.

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This was a factory permeated with an eerie atmosphere—not overwhelmingly so, but the chilling feeling crept into one’s soul.

"No matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem like a place where nothing happens," Taiichi realized after all the previous incidents.

Each time a new area unlocked, there was always a fight with local Digimon.

As they walked, they reached a door marked with the symbol of a power supply room.

Due to his size, Taiichi went in alone while Zeromaru waited outside.

Inside, a dangerous red glow filled the room. At the center was a huge battery, with dense wires connected through a massive adapter linking it to the factory’s machinery.

Was this enormous factory powered entirely by this giant battery?!

On the side of the battery was a small door. After thinking for a moment and seeing no warning signs about hazardous materials, Taiichi opened it.

Inside, the battery was hollow, and various patterns were painted on the inner iron surface with black fuel.

Taiichi didn’t know much about power sources, but by common sense, a battery’s interior shouldn’t look like this.

"Taiichi, come see this," Zeromaru called from outside the door.

Taiichi rushed out and found that the assembly lines, which had been building machines moments ago, were now dismantling the machines back into parts.

After dismantling, they reassembled the parts again. The entire factory was endlessly performing this pointless work.

At this point, Taiichi couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Even if a silver-haired factory manager suddenly appeared, holding a jar with two tentacles claiming this was the factory producing "Just A Way," Taiichi could accept that.

But this scene was just too bizarre.

"Let’s find Andoru Beast quickly and get out of here."

Staying in this creepy place too long would make anyone lose their sanity.

Passing through a corridor, Taiichi finally spotted a robot lying on the ground.

Getting closer, he saw the robot’s lower body was stuck in the factory’s gears. The gears tried to turn one by one but were jammed by the robot’s body.

It was clear the robot was solidly built; if a human leg got caught in those gears, they’d probably be crushed.

"Is this Andoru Beast?" Taiichi guessed.

After wandering so long, this robot was the only thing in the factory besides him and Zeromaru that had any connection to a living being.

"Let’s rescue him," Zeromaru said, pressing against the gears and applying force to dismantle them.

"Wait, there’s no surveillance proving we’re rescuing anyone. If we dismantle this place, what if they come after us for compensation later?" Taiichi said, his self-protection instincts kicking in.

Peering through the gap between the leg and gears, Andoru Beast wasn’t injured—just stuck.

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"Anyway, let’s wake him up first, then we can figure out how to free him."

Saying this, Taiichi forcefully patted Andoru Beast’s head at a 45-degree angle.

The 45-degree diagonal pat—a mechanical repair technique!

Unexpectedly, after coming to the Digital World, his ultimate skill still made a comeback, and it was even applied to a Perfect-level Digimon.

Taiichi felt somewhat emotional as he accidentally bent Andoru Beast’s head.

"Zzzzt..."

With the sound of electric current, Andoru Beast opened his eyes, glowing faint blue, making Taiichi break into a sweat.

Andoru Beast scanned Taiichi and Zeromaru with his internal computer, then said coldly, "Intruder detected. Initiating justifiable defense protocol."

"Taiichi, you hurt him," Zeromaru scolded.

"Uh, not really, is it? Isn’t he Perfect-level?" Taiichi twitched at the corner of his mouth.

As Andoru Beast’s body began to move, the gears trapping him shattered layer by layer, and in no time, he stood up from the pile of fragments.

"Rotating Energy Sword."

Andoru Beast’s palm rotated like a drill, transforming into a blue energy-drill.

He swung his arm, and a blue crescent moon slash shot toward Taiichi and Zeromaru.

The two felt a chill on their scalps and instinctively crouched to dodge the attack.

When they stood again, Taiichi felt the air refresh.

Looking back, the entire factory had a skylight opened by that slash, letting fresh air rush in.

The factory’s thick metal steel plates couldn’t withstand Andoru Beast’s attack!

Taiichi had never seen such attack power from any Digimon other than Zeromaru—truly worthy of a Perfect-level!

"Zeromaru...!"

"Oh!"

Zeromaru stood in front of Taiichi with perfect coordination. Facing this unprecedentedly powerful enemy, the sense of crisis activated his ancient species’ power-up buff even before the battle began.

"A Perfect-level? Who do you think we are!"

"Come on, get ready to fight!"