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

The sound of their footsteps echoed through the metal corridor of the war zone.

Cheng Yuan opened a high-level battle room, and the holographic projection system immediately started, projecting a holographic image of a standard battle arena in the center of the room.

"All done." Cheng Yuan wiped away non-existent sweat, turned to Zhao Lu and gestured for her to begin her performance. "Miss Zhao, please begin your performance."

Zhao Lu rolled her eyes at him, but had already raised her Digivice high: "Gearmon, come out!"

With a humming sound of machinery, the modified gear beast appeared on the battlefield. Its metal surface occasionally crackled with blue electricity.

Cheng Yuan subconsciously took a half step back: "Wow, you've really gone all out with this modification! A high-voltage electric shock device?"

"The latest achievement from the Public Security Bureau's R&D Department." Zhao Lu patted the gear beast's metal shell proudly. "Want to try it? I guarantee it'll make your little dog beast's fur stand on end."

Cheng Yuan waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, I was just fooling them."

He lowered his voice mysteriously, "There's something more important about opening a battle room."

Zhao Lu narrowed her eyes suspiciously: "What's all this secrecy about?"

"Zhao Lu, could I borrow that X-crystal again?"

Zhao Lu took out the faintly glowing crystal from her pocket. Its shape was exactly the same as the picture in the game from her previous life. Inside the crystal, a striking red X-shaped code string was slowly rotating.

"Zhao Lu, do you remember the joke I made with you before? Evolving Gearmon into a three-in-one Gearmon?"

"Yes, I remember. I've thought about it carefully. It's not impossible, but I don't know how to do it. Currently, the mature-stage Gearmon can evolve into mechanical creations such as Guardianmon, Fightermon, Tankmon, Engineermon, and Armored Vehiclemon, mainly through mechanical modification. But the three-in-one Gearmon you mentioned has never appeared before, and no one has ever explored it."

"What if I said it really exists?" Cheng Yuan shook the X-antibody in his hand, the crystals reflecting a scarlet light under the lamp. "And it didn't evolve into a mature stage, but rather into another form from the same period."

"You mean..." She seemed to realize something and looked at the X antibody that Cheng Yuan was holding in disbelief.

Cheng Yuan: "That's right, the key is this thing. This isn't an ordinary enhancement item; it can activate the potential data of the digital core." Cheng Yuan said, "I have an idea. If you trust me, you can give it a try."

Zhao Lu asked in surprise, "But I heard that wearing it for a period of time will result in some increases in stats, but not like what you said..."

"Actually, it's called the X-Antibody, which allows Digimon to break through the limitations of normal evolution." To cover up his knowledge of advanced information, he could only use Xu Xin as an excuse: "I learned this from Teacher Xu. This X-Crystal is a secret, a top secret, and you must keep it a secret as well."

Zhao Lu said, "Teacher Xu really has a lot to say about you... Okay, I'll keep it a secret, don't worry."

"Okay, then let's do it this way..."

Zhao Lu stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

After going over her thoughts again, Zhao Lu nodded solemnly, then took the X antibody and turned to the Gear Beast.

The gears of the Gear Beast suddenly accelerated, emitting a resonant "buzzing" sound.

Zhao Lu gently stroked its metallic surface: "You're looking forward to it too, aren't you?"

Come on, Gear Beast, let's take it a step further and get into Beast Tamer University together.

The Gearmon nodded its entire body, and then the mask that served as its face opened to the sides, revealing the intricate gear structure and the silver digital core inside.

When Zhao Lu solemnly accepted the X antibody, both of their expressions turned serious.

"Ready, old buddy?" Zhao Lu asked softly.

The Gear Beast responded with a cheerful "click-clack" sound.

The moment the X antibody came into contact with the digital core, a sudden change occurred.

The Digicore emitted its original white light, while the X-Antibody emitted a scarlet light. The two lights began to merge like two torrents of data, and the latent data within the Digimon's Digicore was highly activated, drawing out a potential power that surpassed anything before from the depths of the Digicore.

The gears all over the gear beast's body began to spin uncontrollably at high speed, emitting a sharp metallic grinding sound.

"Is this...is this normal?" Zhao Lu nervously grabbed Cheng Yuan's sleeve.

Before Cheng Yuan could answer, layers of red metallic hexagons burst forth from the digital core, forming a red metallic evolution cocoon that enveloped the Gear Beast like a honeycomb.

The little dog nuzzled nervously against Cheng Yuan's ankle: "Beast Tamer, the data fluctuations inside are so intense..."

The fifteen-minute wait felt like an eternity. When the first crack appeared on the metal cocoon, everyone held their breath.

"Click" —

The cracks began to spread, eventually peeling away to reveal a completely new shape.

Its body is also a giant gear, surrounded by a red border, with two golden drills added to the two gears, greatly increasing its aggressiveness.

Most striking are the miniature gear beasts on either side of its head, with the three gears meshing together at a perfect angle.

"The three-in-one Gear Beast—Gear Beast X Form," Cheng Yuan said.

Zhao Lu's Digimon flashed wildly: [Data volume increased by 50%... New skill module detected...]

She touched the metal surface of Gear Beast X incredulously, and the latter immediately emitted a cheerful triple "click-clack" sound.

"They said... the two small gear beasts on either side of it are meshed together, but cannot maintain their own identities. They can attack and use skills according to the instructions of the gear beasts." Zhao Lu's expression gradually changed from shock to ecstasy.

Cheng Yuan had already retreated to the other end of the battle zone: "Talk is cheap; let's test it in real combat!"

The battle erupted instantly.

Gearmon X demonstrates an amazing three-in-one cooperative combat capability—

The main gear emits a high-voltage electric beam, the small gear on the left performs a modified "gear blade", and the right gear releases a spiral-shaped "drill shock wave".

Three skills attacked from different angles, forming a perfect barrage of fire, forcing the little dog beast to roll repeatedly to barely dodge them.

"That's amazing!" Zhao Lu quickly instructed, "Try this, Triple Gear Storm!"

The three gears simultaneously entered overclocking mode, their rotation speed exceeding the critical value, unleashing a perfect storm of metal and energy.

The puppy beast's "Holy Light Bullet" collided head-on with it, and small shockwaves caused the protective force field of the battle room to flicker erratically.

Ultimately, both stopped fighting at the same time, ending in a draw. However, both understood that being able to fight Gearmon to a draw meant that Gearmon X's strength had undergone a qualitative leap.

"Success..." Zhao Lu rushed forward and hugged her partner, and the three gears made a cheerful "click-clack" sound at the same time.

Just then, Zhao Lu's communicator suddenly rang.

She was overjoyed when she saw her name displayed on the screen.