"You two are strong indeed…"
Unable to grip his holy staff any longer, Angemon looked down at the claw marks torn into his chest, his voice devoid of discernible emotion as he praised them.
"However, this world is not meant for us. You will understand that, sooner or later."
His voice hadn't fully faded before Angemon felt an irresistible call from the depths of the Digital World. His severely damaged body dispersed into scattered data fragments, returning to where it came from.
"..."
Renamon silently watched as the badly wounded Angemon vanished into thin air before their eyes. She said nothing, as if the intense battle just moments ago had been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Chen Ze, on the other hand, surveyed the devastated streets around them, gaining a deeper appreciation for the danger the Digital World posed.
Digimon whose combat strength rivaled weapons of mass destruction…
And the unseen "God" who observed the battle from start to finish without ever showing itself…
Indeed, Chen Ze was certain the fight between Renamon and Angemon had been observed by this "God." Otherwise, there was no explanation for Angemon's sudden disappearance.
These past few hours have been more thrilling than all my days as a regular cyber-hacker combined.
He muttered this absentmindedly. It wasn't that Chen Ze disliked the rush of adventure—if he did, he wouldn't have become a hacker in the first place.
He just felt a little regretful—regretful that he hadn't discovered Digimon sooner, that he hadn't experienced adventures like this much earlier.
But why did I cross worlds again?
And exactly how is 'EDEN' connected to the Digital World?
Chen Ze strongly suspected the world he'd first reincarnated into was also a Digital World—just one he knew nothing about. Renamon's existence was evidence enough for that.
After all, besides the few anime he watched as a child, there were numerous Digimon-related manga, games, and novels he'd never had the chance to explore.
Grumble…
Just as Chen Ze pondered the connection between these two worlds, his empty stomach let out a loud protest.
"I'm hungry too…"
Renamon, who had remained silent until now, spoke at just the right moment.
According to the logic of the Digital World, Digimon could replenish themselves not only by consuming ordinary food, but also by absorbing the scattered data released when other Digimon died.
Unfortunately, though Angemon had been defeated, his data hadn't remained in the human world—it had been reclaimed directly by that hidden "God."
As the main participant in their earlier battle, Renamon was even hungrier than Chen Ze.
"All right, let's find something to eat."
"A vending machine?"
Standing before the vending machine with her head slightly tilted, Renamon glanced at Chen Ze, confusion written clearly on her face.
"Yeah, a vending machine."
If this had been any other time, or any other place, Chen Ze wouldn't have been confident in finding something like this.
But this was late-20th-century Japan. While vending machines hadn't yet become universal, they were far more common here than anywhere else.
Even more importantly, Japan's concept of "vending machines" went beyond that of most other countries.
Aside from drinks, alcohol, cigarettes, and snacks, Japanese vending machines even sold certain "services."
These services included—but weren't limited to—money changing, video rentals, station tickets, and temporary storage lockers.
The machine Chen Ze and Renamon had found was specifically for instant noodles.
He had actually hoped for one that dispensed ready-made meals. Unfortunately, perhaps due to their cost or the limits of this era, he couldn't locate such a machine despite searching extensively.
"You should have these in the Digital World too, right?"
Chen Ze wasn't surprised that Renamon knew about vending machines; rather, he was curious if the Digital World matched his "memories."
As a mirror of the material world, anything existing in the human world theoretically could manifest as a projection in the Digital World through network data.
Cars, ships, refrigerators, phone booths, power poles…
From Chen Ze's memory of the original Digimon Adventure, practically every electronic product humans used had an equivalent somewhere in the Digital World.
But due to dimensional differences, most lost their original functionality, leaving only a select few operational.
"We do have something similar, though they're different from your human machines."
If an endlessly refreshing machine providing unlimited food every twenty-four hours could also be called a "vending machine," then yes, such things definitely existed in the Digital World.
"I recall human vending machines require money, correct? Do you have any money?"
Having stayed in Chen Ze's computer for quite some time, Renamon naturally learned various human customs—using money to buy things was among them.
"I don't have money, but I do know how to use this machine."
Encountering a familiar field after all this time, Chen Ze openly displayed his excitement.
As an accomplished cyber hacker, Chen Ze's expertise wasn't limited to coding or programming. Various electronic components and their underlying technologies were also part of his knowledge.
From reading basic circuit diagrams to manually assembling electronic devices…
Without exaggeration, as long as he had sufficient materials, Chen Ze could build a crude radio transmitter on the spot.
A more sophisticated device like a computer, though?
That exceeded manual assembly—integrated circuits and semiconductor chips were something only major corporations could produce.
The difficulty gap was like building a DIY bicycle compared to assembling a DIY car—technically possible, but impractical.
"You plan to hack into this vending machine?"
Renamon, having seen the private server Chen Ze had modified, had no doubt about his skills.
However, she couldn't help wondering how he planned to infiltrate a simple electronic device that had nothing more complex than a few basic buttons. Wasn't that beyond human capability?
"It's not as hard as it looks. As long as there's an operating interface, you can alter its internal programming."
Chen Ze had done similar things many times before. His very first hack involved exploiting a vulnerability in a public phone booth to access the public network, eventually infiltrating his own laptop.
Wherever there's an internet connection, there's vulnerability. And wherever there's vulnerability, there's a hacker.
The vending machine before them was no different; in fact, it was even easier.
Because it wasn't connected to the internet, all he had to do was modify its internal programming slightly, and the intrusion would be complete.