Digimon: I really didn't want to be the Digimon Emperor!

In this era where Digimon strength is directly equivalent to military power, requesting cross-border assistance is virtually impossible.

Zhao Zheng's stubble seemed to have turned completely white overnight. Zhao Lu bit her lower lip tightly, tears welling up in her eyes but stubbornly refusing to fall.

Cheng Yuan stared at the guardian beast on the hospital bed, his chest feeling as if a huge rock was pressing down on it.

On one hand, the Guardian Beast was injured while participating in the battle against the Demon Beast, and the Demon Beast's evolution was more or less related to him, including leading it into Savage Valley and taking it to investigate the Demon Beast's intelligence... On the other hand, this hero who had protected the city for fifteen years should not leave like this.

He opened his notebook, which was filled with his ideas and memories of Digimon in this world—several pages of which included all his memories of Andromon.

Every frame of the anime from his past life flashed through his mind: the streamlined silver armor, the retractable missile launcher on the chest, the iconic spiral sword on his right arm...

Even the most insignificant settings were recalled and recorded one by one.

Because he had used these memories to escape danger more than once.

“Vaccine type...mechanical modification...chronic digital metal…” he muttered to himself, then his eyes suddenly lit up, “Wait…chronic digital metal?”

The notebook fell to the ground with a "thud," its pages covered in scribbled diagrams and annotations.

“I have a bold idea,” Cheng Yuan said excitedly. “Perhaps we can try a different approach.”

Having fought side-by-side through the night, Zhao Zheng had developed a deep trust in this young man. Although the guardian beast's perilous situation unsettled him, he forced himself to listen attentively.

"What's your idea?" All eyes were on Cheng Yuan.

“Since opposing energy attributes isn’t working, perhaps we can try suppressing racial attributes.” Cheng Yuan quickly drew a diagram on the whiteboard.

“Dark Gear originates from the Virus-type Devilmon, while Guardianmon is a Vaccine-type…” His pen drew a clear dividing line between the two.

Zhao Zheng's eyes lit up: "Vaccines have an inherent inhibitory effect on viruses!"

“That’s right, Guardian Beasts have managed to hold on this long precisely because of this advantage. But Devilmon’s power is just too overwhelming…” Cheng Yuan took a deep breath, his pen slamming heavily on the drawing paper. “If we could raise the level of the Vaccine Species, for example… directly evolve it into its Ultimate form, and use the Ultimate Vaccine Species’ constitution to suppress the Adult Virus attribute…”

"Evolved into...the complete form?" The crowd gasped in disbelief.

Chapter 70 Time-Digital Metal

The air in the ward seemed to freeze, with only the regular "beep" of the medical equipment.

"In the web-like evolutionary path of Electric Mousemon," Cheng Yuan's voice broke the silence, "mechanical modification evolution is the most mature path for Gearmon. By accumulating sufficient combat data and combining it with mechanical modifications, it can evolve into mature forms such as Guardianmon, Armored Vehiclemon, Machine Vehiclemon, and Tankmon. I think everyone agrees on this."

Just as Zhao Zheng was about to speak, the female expert Wang Shu pushed up her glasses and interrupted, "But the complete form, that won't work. The evolution of guardian beasts into their complete forms is a national-level technological challenge. There are at least nearly a hundred guardian beasts nationwide that meet the data storage standards but are stuck at this bottleneck." Her glasses reflected a cold light. "It's not just the robot type; the complete forms of vehicle types, armed types, and other branches have all failed to be achieved. Currently, only the Divine Eagle Nation has succeeded."

Cheng Yuan did not immediately refute. His gaze swept across the ward—Xu Xin thoughtfully touched her chin, Zhao Lu's eyes were red but she stubbornly pursed her lips, and Zhao Zheng's eyes held a deep despair. These reactions were all within his expectations.

In this world, the most technologically advanced country is the Kingdom of Shin'yō. Even the advanced chips for the Digimon—chips that support the growth of mature Digimon—mostly need to be imported from Shin'yō. Although the Kingdom of Tōdai is already capable of producing mature chips, the quality still lags behind, and there is a risk of overheating and burning out under overload.

As for chips that support full-scale growth? They are basically available but not in demand.

“In fact,” the female expert Wang Shu continued, “a secret organization of the Eastern Kingdom obtained several data frameworks of the complete evolution of Guardian Beasts from the Divine Eagle Kingdom, and Commander Zhao’s Guardian Beast was one of the test subjects at that time.” She paused deliberately, “but all the evolutions failed.”

“Perhaps the problem isn’t with the data,” Cheng Yuan’s words once again drew everyone’s attention, “but with the material—Time Digital Metal.”

"Chrono-digital metal?" Zhao Ming frowned. "The kind extracted from ore in digital space..."

“That’s right.” Cheng Yuan nodded, pretending to organize his notes, creating the impression that he had been researching for a long time. “Currently, mechanical modifications mainly use real metals, which can barely cope before the maturity stage. But the energy level of the complete form… has exceeded the carrying capacity of traditional real materials.”

"No wonder the Eagle Nation smuggles so much digital metal from our country every year!" Zhao Ming suddenly realized. Xu Xin was already on the phone communicating with the Beast Tamer Association.

Cheng Yuan showed several sketches: "If we decide to try it, we need to prepare metal armor of time. These are my design ideas." The lines on the drawings were messy and the ink was not yet dry, but the functional labels of each part were exceptionally clear.

Silence fell over the room. Zhao Zheng squinted, trying to make out the abstract lines, while Wang Shu's glasses reflected an eerie light.

“This is…” Zhao Zheng frowned: “A masterpiece of the soul?”

Zhao Lu suddenly reached out her hand: "Give it to me, Soul Painter, you tell me what to draw." She took the notebook, and her pen danced across the paper.

Cheng Yuan was surprised to discover that this top student also had an amazing talent for drafting.

Ten minutes later, a futuristic mecha warrior leaped off the page—sleek silver armor, a missile launcher concealed in the breastplate, a spiraling sword extending from the right arm, and head sensors arranged in a majestic faceplate. Every design element considered both aesthetics and practical combat needs.

Zhao Zheng's gaze was fixed on the design drawings before him. The lines depicting the robotic warrior were strikingly similar to the RoboCop he had admired in movies when he was young. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice tightened slightly: "This is..."

"Andro Beast".

Wang Shu took the blueprints, his eyes widening: "This design... requires at least 1.3 tons of high-purity time-bound digital metal..."

“The Public Security Bureau’s vault has some reserves.” Zhao Zheng immediately took out his communicator. “The smuggled goods seized last year can be used first. Report back to me and I will replenish them later.”

"Wait!" Wang Shu stopped him. "Even if we have metal, how do we solve the technical problems of casting, circuits, and weapon systems? It's not as simple as you make it out to be."

"Let's start preparing. I'll go apply." Zhao Zheng's voice carried a resolute determination, as if he had nothing to lose.

Wang Shu, the young female mechanic, said, "Captain Zhao, this concerns the complete evolution of the Guardian Beasts, which isn't a project our Security Bureau alone can handle." She paused, then continued, "Our security system's technology supplier—Yushu Technology—is definitely interested in the evolution of the Guardian Beasts. I forgot to mention… my brother is currently the actual controller of Yushu Technology…"

Zhao Zheng was stunned. He looked the mechanic in front of him up and down. He hadn't expected her to have such a family background.

"Alright, let's put the pleasantries aside for now." Xu Xin hung up the communicator and strode in, the hem of his trench coat still smelling of gunpowder from the battle. "The association has already coordinated everything. Although the entire city is currently dealing with the Dark Gear epidemic, the evolution plan for the Guardian Beasts has been listed as the highest priority—all of Pengcheng's resources will be given the green light for this project."

"Thanks, Xiao Xu." Zhao Zheng's tense face finally relaxed, revealing a rare smile.

With the concerted efforts of all parties, the relocation work has progressed exceptionally smoothly.

The guardian beast was sent to the Pengcheng Digital Evolution Research Institute—a modification center with a national-level laboratory, where all equipment was now ready for this special case.

It was late at night, and Cheng Yuan went home to rest for the night.

The next morning, he returned to the Pengcheng Digital Evolution Research Institute—a place he knew all too well.

As a regular visitor who comes every week, he even had the dark gears cleaned from the dog's body here the night before last.

Turning the corner of the corridor, a familiar figure was leaning against the laboratory door, flipping through a data board.

Today, Zhou Mo wasn't wearing her usual white lab coat; instead, she was wearing a dark blue researcher's uniform, her ponytail neatly tied behind her head, making her look exceptionally capable.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly when she saw Cheng Yuan, revealing a look of surprise.

"Cheng Yuan?" Zhou Mo quickly stepped forward to greet him. "Why are you back so soon? Did you not clean up the Dark Gear from the night before last?"

Cheng Yuan shook his head and explained, "No, I'm helping out at the police station, so I came here with them."

Before the words were finished, the laboratory's broadcast system suddenly blared: "Attention all personnel, the Guardian Beast evolution process is about to begin. All relevant personnel are requested to immediately proceed to the main laboratory in the modification area."

Inside the main laboratory, the guardian beast was placed on a huge hexagonal platform.

Its original armor has been completely removed, and the exposed mechanical body is covered with a dense array of data connection cables.

Technicians are performing a final purification process on the dark energy remaining on its right shoulder.

At the six corners of the platform float evolved components made of Chrono Metal—a gleaming silver breastplate, arm armor, leg armor, helmet, and the iconic spiral sword, all gleaming coldly under the laboratory lights.

Chapter 71 Evolve, Guardian Beasts!

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the hexagonal platform, his fingers trembling slightly as he stroked the brand-new chip on the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The chip's surface gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen, and the Eagle Nation's certification logo stood out prominently under the lights. Each of these chips, capable of supporting fully evolved Digimon, was hard-won and listed in the FDA's regulatory catalog.

"The Tyrannosaurus Rex chip upgrade is complete." Mechanic Wang Shu pushed up her glasses and checked the final parameters with the experts from the Evolution Team. On the display screen next to her, data streamed down like a waterfall.

Cheng Yuan noticed that although Zhao Zheng's uniform was still crisp, the wrinkles around his eyes seemed to be deeper than yesterday.

He followed Zhou Mo into the laboratory, his gaze immediately drawn to the disassembled mechanical body on the platform—around the guardian beast's digital core, black gears were still slowly turning.

"The Chrono Metal Armor with a purity of 99.8%, the parts were rushed out overnight by Yushu Technology..." Wang Shu's voice echoed in the laboratory, "All preparations are complete, we can proceed to the next step, Dean Zhou."

“Okay, Engineer Wang.” The middle-aged man standing in front of the control panel turned around. Cheng Yuan then noticed that Dean Zhou’s eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Zhou Mo’s, only with a more dignified air about him.

Cheng Yuan's gaze fell on the experimental platform—the guardian beast's mechanical body had been completely dismantled, and around the exposed digital core, several black gears were still slowly rotating, emanating an ominous aura. This sight stirred a sense of unease in his heart.

He recalled the anime scenes he had seen in his previous life: in the first season, even the Ultimate-level Andromon was controlled by Dark Gear; but in the second season, the same Andromon was able to break free from Dark Gear's control on its own. What was the essential difference between the two?

Cheng Yuan frowned, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees as he tried to recall his memories.

Gradually, the image surfaced in my mind: the yellowed group photo of Andromon with the main characters, held in the second part of the series…

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and two keywords flashed through his mind—memory and belief.

Yes, it was those unforgettable battle memories and unwavering belief in protection that enabled Digimon to break through the shackles of darkness.

“Uncle Zhao,” Cheng Yuan suddenly spoke up, “are you wearing a sheriff’s badge?”

Zhao Zheng was clearly unprepared for this question and subconsciously touched the Star of Dawn badge on his uniform hat—a five-pointed star surrounded by a digital code, symbolizing the honor and responsibility of a sheriff.

“I think...beliefs and memories are also a kind of data,” Cheng Yuan said softly.

Zhao Zheng's fingers trembled slightly. He silently removed the cap badge and gently placed it beside the exposed core of the guardian beast. The crisp sound of metal clashing was exceptionally clear in the quiet laboratory.

"Let's begin." Zhao Zheng's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

Zhou Mo pressed the start button, and the hexagonal platform immediately lit up with a ghostly blue light. Under the operation of the robotic arm, the Time Metal components slowly moved and converged towards the guardian beast in the center of the platform. The guardian beast's body was enveloped in blue light and gradually floated into the air.

Cheng Yuan held his breath.

“Data and energy reserves 98%...99%..." Dean Zhou stared intently at the data screen, while Zhou Mo stood beside him making notes. “100%! Initiate the evolution process!”

Cheng Yuan then noticed that Zhou Mo had already entered the laboratory and was intently assisting Dean Zhou with his work.

Zhou... Could it be...?

Before he could think further, he was drawn to the sight before him—the Time-Digital Metal began to melt into a data stream, coiling around the Guardian Beast's body like a living thing.

The first thing to take shape was the breastplate, and familiar battle marks gradually appeared on the silvery-white metal surface—that was the Time Metal reading the Guardian Beast's memory data.

Next, the arm armor and leg armor were completed, each piece bearing the marks of time.

The most astonishing thing was the sheriff's badge. It hadn't been melted down; instead, it was perfectly embedded in the center of the breastplate, the five-pointed star shining brightly against the silver armor.

"Did it...did it succeed?"

Zhao Zheng's voice trembled so badly it was almost incoherent; this iron-fisted sheriff was now like a helpless child.

The Dinobot in his hand suddenly burst forth with a dazzling golden light, which shone brightly against the blue glow of the metallic cocoon.

As the last piece of armor was completed, the entire laboratory was instantly engulfed by a blinding blue light.

In the bright light, Cheng Yuan had to squint, vaguely seeing countless data streams intertwined and swirling in the air.

As the light gradually dimmed, a huge metal cocoon stood quietly in the center of the platform—its surface was composed of countless precisely arranged hexagonal crystals, each of which flickered rhythmically, as if breathing.

Through the translucent crystal walls, one can see energy flowing slowly inside, like the pulse of life.

“This is an evolution cocoon.” Zhou Mo’s voice was soft, but it was filled with undisguised excitement. “It is a dormant state unique to Ultimate-level Digimon during their evolution, and it usually takes 12 to 48 hours to emerge from the cocoon.”

Cheng Yuan looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a tall, imposing mechanical warrior clearly reflected on a hexagonal crystal surface of the metal cocoon.

Most striking is the sheriff's badge on the soldier's chest, which shines brightly in the energy flow.

Even more excitingly, several stubborn black gears were being forcibly expelled from the mechanical warrior's body by some force, and under the purification of the blue light, they turned into wisps of black smoke and disappeared without a trace.

"It really...worked..."

Cheng Yuan then realized that his back was soaked with sweat, and his tense nerves finally relaxed.

He looked down at the little dog in his arms. The little guy was gently rubbing his cheek with its wet nose, its bright blue eyes filled with joy.

Cheng Yuan couldn't help but rub its fluffy head, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Standing at attention in front of the control panel, Zhao Zheng gave the Metal Evolution Cocoon a standard police officer's salute.

His shoulders trembled slightly, but his eyes shone with an unprecedented determination.

What followed was a long wait, but Cheng Yuan didn't waste time waiting.

Lin Ge from the Dragon Club has called. It's Sunday, and he's urging this "little devil" to hurry up and meet the challenge from the "heroes."

Pushing open the glass doors of the Dragon Club, the cold air that greets you is mixed with an intense fighting spirit.

More than a dozen dragon-shaped growth-stage Digimon raised their heads in unison, their scales rubbing together and making a rustling sound.

Their partners—the beast tamers who had been "narrowly defeated" by Cheng Yuan for two weeks—now had flames of revenge burning in their eyes, like heroes going to fight a demon boss.

It was these tamers and dragon-type Digimon who were tortured by Cheng Yuan for two weeks, contributing several waves of wealth points.

The main focus is on providing long-term meal tickets!

"It seems you've all made great progress." Cheng Yuan smiled slightly, his gaze sweeping over his opponents who were poised to attack.

"Stop talking nonsense! This time I'm going to roast your little beast to a crisp!" Little Fatty Wang Baole shouted, patting the pangolin that had grown half a size larger.

"I was careless last time, but this time I'll show you the power of Firewave Beast!" A rich kid pushed up his glasses, and Firewave Beast beside him flapped its heavy wings.

"And my Qi Dragon Beast, it lost by half a move last time, you won't be so lucky this time," said the skinny beast tamer.

"If I don't beat you down today, I'll change my name!" the spiky-haired boy said fiercely.