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

After the dust settled, the shell-like beast lay dying in the ruins, its once indestructible shell mostly shattered, revealing its fragile data core inside.

Tailmon also knelt weakly on one knee, but its azure eyes remained as bright as stars, and the sacred pinky ring and the shadow ring on its left ear flashed with a faint light.

However, something even more disturbing happened.

The energy storm caused by Gatomon's low-powered "Chaos Demotion" should have subsided, but the space inside the arena continued to distort strangely.

The golden-purple energy aftershocks did not dissipate; instead, they acted like a sharp blade, carving a tiny crack in the crystalline wall between the real and digital worlds.

"This is..." Cheng Yuan's pupils contracted suddenly, and his heart pounded faster.

The crack resembled ripples on the surface of water, rippling with strange waves. Unstable data streams flickered at its edges, and a faint buzzing sound of electricity could be heard.

Cheng Yuan's pupils contracted sharply; he keenly sensed that something was wrong.

Logically speaking, given Gatomon's current strength, its low-level version of "Chaos Degradation" shouldn't have caused such strong spatial disturbances.

As Cheng Yuan pondered, the rift had already expanded to the width of a palm. Through that faintly visible spatial rift, he saw a chilling sight—

A pale yellow fog permeated the gray sky and earth. It was not ordinary fog, but "death data" composed of countless tiny data fragments, each exuding an aura of decay.

In the distance, withered black trees could be vaguely seen with their branches twisted and tangled, covered with humanoid data fragments that seemed to wail silently.

The ground wasn't soil, but some kind of translucent grayish-white substance that would create ripples when stepped on.

In this desolate world, countless ghost-type Digimon marched in long lines in silence.

Leading the pack was a colossal Death Beast, its empty eye sockets beneath its black robe burning with eerie blue flames, its massive sickle dragging across the ground, leaving cold marks on the data swamp.

Behind it, hundreds and thousands of ghost-type and undead-type Digimon—Ghostmon, Red Candlemon, Will-o'-the-Wispmon, Demonmon, Ghostmon, Ghost Soulmon… their figures were illusory and blurry, as if drawn by some invisible force, moving forward in unison.

What's even more chilling is that these Digimon don't wander aimlessly; instead, they are as disciplined as an army. Their steps are heavy and uniform, each one seemingly treading on the depths of the soul, sending shivers down one's spine.

Occasionally, a Digimon will stray from the group, and the surrounding mist will suddenly condense into chains, roughly pulling them back into the ranks.

"The ghostly soldiers borrow a path..." Cheng Yuan murmured to himself, the ancient phrase flashing through his mind.

“Ghosts… Digital space fusion?” Cheng Yuan suddenly recalled the information he had reviewed before the competition. The location of the Penguin Sports Center was once the largest mass grave in Pengcheng a hundred years ago. During the post-war reconstruction, countless souls buried there were hastily relocated, leaving behind a deep-seated resentment. Later, as the digital world merged with reality, this land filled with the aura of death was most likely to form special digital space nodes.

In addition, the low-end version of "chaos degradation"—the termination of light and darkness—caused spatial turbulence, accelerating the erosion of this area.

Cheng Yuan broke out in a cold sweat; he'd gone too far again...

The cheers for Guan Xingxi's rescue came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone saw what lay beyond the crack, and a strange chill swept through the stadium.

A faint, lingering smell of decay drifted through the air, a mixture of mold and death, causing one to unconsciously hold their breath.

"What is that?!" The girl grabbed her companion's arm in horror.

"Don't, don't be afraid," his companion tried to remain calm. "It must be an AR effect put up by the organizers to celebrate the final results..."

"Yes, yes! It looks so real, you'd think it was another cyber intrusion!" someone nearby chimed in, their voice trembling uncontrollably.

Guan Xingna Siwei Minghui Yuehe's clothes revealed a mocking smile, and even shouted and screamed at the "actors" in the crack, exclaiming that they were awesome.

but!

At the guest table, Li Xiaochun suddenly stood up, his face terribly grave.

As one of the Twelve Divine Generals, she understood better than anyone else what this meant.

"Oh no! A digital space rift!"

The special Tyrannosaurus Rex in her hand has the ability to detect spatial tremors, and at this moment, it is constantly issuing warnings of extremely violent earthquakes.

The staff below were in complete chaos. Someone shouted, "Why did a digital space suddenly appear? The monitoring system didn't give any warning!"

"This kind of digital space is obviously a disaster space!"

"Look at the organization of those Digimon! This is a fully-fledged viral army!"

"There's a fully-fledged team... the initial assessment is that it's a large-scale digital space..."

"Quickly use a digital satellite to probe, is it a terrifying... dark area?"

She quickly pressed the communicator, her voice low and urgent: "Immediately summon the professional beast tamer pioneering team and the garrison team! A high-risk digital crack has appeared at Pengcheng Sports Center! Arrive there as quickly as possible to deploy the firewall!"

However, it was all too late.

The crack seemed to be drawn by some force, and was expanding at a visible speed.

Death Beast seemed to sense the gaze of the real world and slowly raised its skull.

The eerie blue flames in its eye sockets suddenly surged, and two icy gazes pierced through the spatial barrier, staring directly at the bloody scene within the arena.

Cheng Yuan felt a chill run down his spine.

That wasn't ordinary hostility, but a more wary gaze at an unfamiliar world.

He instinctively hugged Gatomon tightly and found that the little guy was bristling – Gatomon, which possesses both Holy and Dark types, is most sensitive to the aura of death.

Just then, dozens of dark red data tentacles suddenly emerged from the edge of the rift, spreading toward the real world like living things.

The nearest tentacle was so close to the girl that she collapsed to the ground, watching helplessly as the tentacle coiled towards her...

"Shh!"

A golden light descended from the sky, precisely severing the tentacle.

The Jade Rabbit Beast, its entire body enveloped in data, descended from the sky, its two hands transforming into two giant axes, the blades imbued with divine power.

It shattered the tentacles with a single axe stroke, and the aura of its divine, complete form stirred the dormant legion within the rift.

"All mature Digimon trainers, summon your Digimon immediately!" Li Xiaochun's voice resounded throughout the venue through the loudspeaker system, cold and devoid of any emotion. "I am Li Xiaochun, the Digimon trainer of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac! According to Article 37 of the Digital Crisis Response Act, you have been temporarily conscripted by the Digimon Trainer Association!"

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of digital lights lit up the entire venue.

Members of the Beast Tamer Association, guests, leaders from the Ministry of Education, and school leaders present responded to the call, and clusters of digital light illuminated the entire battle arena.

A dozen or so adult-level Digimon lined up behind Jade Rabbitmon, facing the cold gaze of Deathmon from the spatial rift.

In the VIP room, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses pushed up his glasses and said, "There are no cowards in the Celestial Hunters Guild either, it's the unanimous belief of beast tamers worldwide..."

"It's about sealing off darkness from the human world!"

Several data halos lit up on the other side of the venue, and a few more adult-level Digimon joined the defense.

The entire venue was filled with a tense and deadly atmosphere, and all the animal trainers were on high alert.

Gatomon looked up at Cheng Yuan, its eyes gleaming with a questioning light.

Cheng Yuan took a deep breath and nodded vigorously: "Go, Gatomon. This is what a true Beast Tamer should do!"

Chapter 122 Domain of Light

When the term "pioneer team" exploded in Cheng Yuan's ears, Xu Xin's words immediately came to mind: "Every newly emerging digital space needs someone to be the first to step into it."

He initially thought it was just a metaphor, never expecting it to be a real profession.

"Pioneering Team" was a new profession that Cheng Yuan heard about, which involved professional animal trainers.

Rather than a profession, it's more like a job forged with one's life—a unique position for explorers in the digital age, born from the advent of the digital space.

Cheng Yuan stared intently at the spatial rift ahead, watching the Jade Rabbit Beast leading a group of beasts in full battle array, and suddenly understood the significance of the pioneering team's existence.

Behind every newly arrived digital space lies an unknown digital ecosystem.

The pioneering team's mission is to rush into this unknown world as soon as possible, measure its boundaries with their lives, record the types of Digimon within, and assess the danger level.

Are the Digimon in this digital space friendly, neutral, or hostile to humans?

What are the levels of the Digimon inside? Are there any ferocious species that threaten humanity's existence? Are they aggressive? Are they beyond the tolerance of the human world? Should they be destroyed, or should the surrounding people be organized to cooperate?

Is the space entrance stable? Will it exist in the long term? Or will it be closed in the short term? Or has it already begun to merge with the human world and evolve into a "wild" area within it?

Just like the Savage Valley Digital Space in the northern suburbs of Pengcheng, that outpost was established ten years ago. Before its establishment, the pioneering team went through countless pioneering journeys, using blood and lives to explore the boundaries of Savage Valley and the distribution of powerful Digimon. With the lives and blood of professional trainers and their partner Digimon, they explored Savage Valley Digital Space very clearly.

The pioneering team is the most dangerous and frontline position among professional beast tamers. Without a lofty sense of mission towards the human world, it is impossible to join and stay in this position.

The pioneering team consists mostly of professional beast trainers from the Beast Tamer Association. A small number of those who are not professional beast trainers from the association are either soldiers or members of some planned digital hunter guilds, and they must follow the code of conduct for professional beast trainers.

Normally, if the Beast Tamer Association detects a suspected digital space opening through spatial monitoring, the exploration team will be on standby in the surrounding area, ready to enter the digital space as soon as it opens.

In general, the pioneering team's responsibility is to assess the newly created digital space as soon as possible. If it has value, they will keep it. If it may pose a threat to the human world, they will try to repair the firewall and block and isolate the digital space.

Sometimes, in order to keep Digimon from invading the human world, they even seal themselves off in digital space.

These professional trainers enjoy social privileges not only because of the power of their Digimon partners, but also because, unbeknownst to ordinary people, they bear the responsibility for the survival and safety of the entire human world, and the well-being of every ordinary civilian.

However, this ghostly digital space appeared too suddenly. Before there was even time for spatial fluctuations, a mysterious spatial rift suddenly appeared. The pioneering team had not made any prior arrangements or preparations.

"Today, let's be the pioneers!" Li Xiaochun's voice was surprisingly calm, yet it resonated in the hearts of the animal trainers.

After he finished speaking, the spatial rift emitted a sound like shattering glass. Under the pressure of the digital beasts' energy on both sides of the spatial rift, the last layer of the crystal wall membrane shattered.

Jade Rabbit Beast took the lead, leading Yi Xu Z-Monster's partner Digimon into the rift, guarding the rift and refusing any Digimon in the space from passing through the rift and entering the human world.

Just as the Jade Rabbit and other Digimon entered the digital space rift, almost at the same time, a mad bull-like, violent "moo" suddenly rang out.

Cheng Yuan subconsciously looked over and, through the digital space rift, saw an extremely powerful Digimon charging out from the horde of Ghost Digimon.

It has two horns on its head, with humanoid digital corpses strung on the horns. It has a huge bull's head connected to an upright humanoid body, and is wearing broken chainmail.

Cheng Yuan stared dumbfounded at the huge figure that was charging around and trying to attack the temporary pioneering team, his mind a little dazed.

What is this? A bull's head from the underworld?

【Awesome Beast】

[Virus Type - Beastman Type - Dark Theme]

[Maturity Stage]

[Skills: Demonic Tremor, Demonic Armor]

[Introduction: Minotaurmon, a minotaur with a human body, is a Dark Digimon possessing powerful dark side abilities. Its left hand wields a demonic armor that can transform into a suitable weapon.]

This ugly Digimon is over two meters tall, walks upright, has a head full of brown cow hair, a body full of strong muscles, and its left hand's "demon armor" gradually evolves into a giant steel fork.

The hideous Minotaur twisted its head, flung away the digital corpse on its horn, opened its blood-red maw, raised its steel fork, aimed at the pioneering team, and let out a provocative roar.

Seeing the natives of the digital space taking the initiative to provoke them, the pioneering team could not sit idly by. If the other side thought they were easy to bully, they would swarm them.

These natives have a numerical advantage, especially with a large group of ghost-type Digimon behind them, making them even more difficult to contain and suppress.

The seemingly leader, Deathmon, silently watched this scene, seemingly also intentionally probing the strength of this group of unfamiliar Digimon.

A young teacher from Li Xiaochun's Ministry of Education flicked his finger, and a fully evolved Gargomon, transformed from a Terriermon, fired a cannonball, attracting the attention of the Minotaur.

Garuga Beast

[Vaccine Type - Beastman Type]

[Maturity Stage]

[Skills: Vulcan Cannon, Gatling Gun Armor, Dada Uppercut]

[Description: A Digimon skilled in hunting. Contrary to its appearance, it uses agile movements to ensure the elimination of enemies with unparalleled accuracy. Contrary to its appearance, it possesses powerful legs that allow it to leap into the air, and it can even glide by opening its ears, making it a Digimon of a warrior race.]

Minotaurmon and Gargomon engaged in battle on one side.

More and more Champion-level Digimon emerged from the native population, and the Digimon of the pioneering team readily took them on. The pioneering team's Leomon, Wizardmon, Strikedramon, Rheamon, Gaiamon, Wind Lionmon, and Needlemon, among others, all found their own rivals.

“Gi-Tackey, let’s pick an opponent too. These are all Virus and Dark types, so we have the advantage in terms of attributes.” Cheng Yuan and Yi Xu, the Z-monsters, stood behind the rift and spoke to Arc Light Machine.

Suddenly, Principal Liu Guoliang's voice came from behind: "Cheng Yuan, where are you going? You're still a student, what are you doing?"

"Principal, I..."

“You have a bright future ahead of you.” Another leader from another school chimed in, “A young person like you has a lot of room for growth. Don’t let this setback get you down.”

Cheng Yuan could hear the subtext in their words—this battle was likely to end badly.

"Although most of us are Vaccine-type Digimon, we can't withstand the sheer number of them. Moreover, this Digital Space is within the 'Nightmare Legion's' territory, which provides a territory bonus to Ghost, Demon, and Undead Digimon, but suppresses other types of Digimon. Even though we have many Vaccine-type Digimon, we won't gain any advantage."

"That's right. If we were in an adapted field like the Virus Buster, where we would gain a field bonus, we could still fight hard. But now we are suppressing the Nightmare Legion within its territory, and we are facing the same predicament that the Garrison Legion faces in the Dark Realm."

Within his line of sight, Cheng Yuan saw Gargomon raise its Vulcan Cannon, preparing to fire at Minotaurmon, when Ghostmon suddenly appeared and grabbed him from behind.

The power of the curse instantly immobilized Gargomon, and Minotaurmon, seeing this, swung its steel fork, preparing to launch a fatal blow.

The Digimon expedition team is short-handed, with Jade Rabbitmon and Deathmon locked in a standoff. How can they spare any effort to rescue Gargomon, who is being controlled?

"Gi-Oh! Holy Light Bullet!"