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

The new form of Gear Beast X shocked Zhao Zhengtong.

The ruthless sheriff's expression seemed to be frozen, his lips trembling slightly.

"Dad, this is my partner, Gear Beast X." Zhao Lu straightened her back, her eyes flashing with a stubborn light. "I can do better than you."

Zhao Zheng's shoulders jerked violently, as if struck by an electric current. Cheng Yuan clearly saw a complex mix of emotions flash through the tough man's eyes—shock, disappointment, relief, and finally, pride.

"Good! Good!" Zhao Zheng suddenly burst into laughter, which gradually turned from a soft chuckle into a hearty laugh. "Hahaha... Yes, the younger generation surpasses the older generation. What am I, Zhao Zheng, anyway!"

Xu Xin interrupted the heartwarming father-daughter scene at the right moment: "Alright, that's the end of the touching part." He shoved Cheng Yuan forward, "You're conscripted now."

"???" Cheng Yuan was holding the little dog, looking completely bewildered.

"Hello Uncle Zhao, I'm Cheng Yuan." He introduced himself politely. "Teacher Xu said she needs my help..."

"I know you." Zhao Zheng's sharp gaze swept over Cheng Yuan. "Lulu's a rising star in her class, I often hear her mention you." He turned and strode towards the depths of the corridor. "Come with me."

The deeper you go into the medical department, the more pungent the smell of disinfectant mixed with the rust of metal becomes.

Cheng Yuan had to hold his breath and follow Zhao Zheng through three airtight doors.

"Hiss—" The moment the door to the ICU slid open, Cheng Yuan gasped.

The once majestic guardian beast now lies on a specially made hospital bed, with 90% of its armor removed, and black patterns crawling across its exposed mechanical structure.

The most shocking part was the right shoulder area—the entire right arm and half of the chest had disappeared, and black oily substances kept oozing from the tear, dripping onto the collection dish and making a "sizzling" corrosive sound.

"The wounds left by Devimon's dark energy," Zhao Zheng said hoarsely. "Every time a part is replaced, it gets infected immediately. The Dark Gear has already corroded to the edge of the Digicore..."

"Uncle Guardian Beast!" Zhao Lu's hands trembled as she stroked its armor. Seeing the Guardian Beast that had accompanied her as she grew up hanging by a thread, tears welled up in Zhao Lu's eyes.

Cheng Yuan stared at the writhing black matter, a chill running down his spine: "Is this the power of ink?"

"Go ahead, try it with divine energy," Xu Xin said to Cheng Yuan.

The puppy beast walked to the guardian beast's side, and following the method Xu Xin had taught it before, its little paws were gradually enveloped in a layer of soft, holy white energy, looking like a pair of glowing little gloves.

It leaped lightly and landed on the guardian beast.

"That's it. Try to remove the Dark Gear, but be careful not to damage the Digital Core!"

The little dog beast's white-glowing claws, like a precise scalpel, gently inserted into the center of the black oil, carrying holy energy as they entered the gears of the guardian beast's internal mechanism. However, when the holy light touched the dark gears, the surging holy energy was like mud entering the sea, without any reaction.

Suddenly, a stream of black oil shot out and nearly entangled the little dog's front paws.

"Retreat!" Xu Xin grabbed the little dog beast and shook his head: "The energy level difference is too great. This is semi-complete level dark energy, and the little dog beast's current holy level is not enough."

"Bang!" Zhao Zheng's fist slammed against the wall, blood seeping from his knuckles.

Just as Zhao Zhengzheng was about to say something, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded. An urgent report came through the communicator: "Captain, the 38 Gear Beasts from the Public Security Bureau have started rioting again."

"Devimon has started summoning Dark Gears again." Xu Xin's face darkened. "Cheng Yuan, Guardianmon can't handle it, you're in charge of the other Gearmon."

But those are 38 Gearmon… Cheng Yuan and Puppymon exchanged a glance. Seeing Puppymon's exhausted appearance, Cheng Yuan said with heartache, “Puppymon, I know you're tired. This is hard, but Devimon's Gear crisis is upon us. We all have the responsibility to protect our families and our homes. With great power comes great responsibility. Although I'm just a human, all I can say to you is to hang in there and persevere. But I will always be with you. I'll buy you some Holy Data Snacks. Can you just hang in there a little longer?”

In fact, Puppymon was about to collapse. The attempt to remove the Dark Gear from the half-complete Devimon had already exhausted most of its holy energy. It still had to heal dozens of others. Could the little Puppymon withstand such a burden?

"Cheng Yuan, I'll listen to you, woof." The little dog took a deep breath and nodded resolutely.

"Why are you filming an inspirational drama?" Xu Xin interrupted. "Why are you buying so many snacks? Such a huge expense, the Public Security Bureau won't reimburse you, they'd be embarrassed themselves."

"Of course, of course..." Zhao Zheng said hurriedly, "The Public Security Bureau will reimburse all expenses."

"Go for it. Using and outputting this to the extreme, and then absorbing and compressing the sacred data energy, is even more effective than ordinary training." Xu Xin patted Cheng Yuan on the shoulder. "Besides, the Public Security Bureau is an official body; you don't usually have access to such good things."

"What good stuff?" Cheng Yuan asked, puzzled.

At this moment, Zhao Zheng directly called the finance department: "Hello, finance department, this is Zhao Zheng! Immediately allocate all the Sacred Data Crystals and send them to the medical department, yes, the entire inventory!"

"Holy Crystals? The entire stock?" Cheng Yuan's eyes widened, and the little dog beast also perked up its ears and wagged its tail involuntarily, showing no signs of being on the verge of death just now.

"The Public Security Bureau has a reserve of sacred crystals worth 1.5 million, which were seized in a previous crackdown on smuggling. We'll use them now, and I'll submit a report later."

"One and a half million! System, can this be counted as wealth points?! Calling the system! System!" Cheng Yuan almost bit his tongue; this number was a bit beyond his expectations. One and a half million wealth points was enough to raise the attributes of the little dog beast by several levels.

"Ding! Because the ownership of this resource belongs to the Public Security Bureau, the host cannot sell or resell it, and it cannot generate wealth points."

Everyone was stunned to see Cheng Yuan's initially excited expression suddenly turn into a cold shower, his rapid change of expression leaving them speechless and wondering what he was thinking.

Zhao Zhengxin understood and said, "If you can deal with the gear beasts here, I can leave the rest to you. I'll report back and think of a solution."

Cheng Yuan instantly regained his composure, raising the little dog beast with high spirits: "Mission accomplished!"

Xu Xin smiled, glanced at his wristwatch, and said, "The association has tracked down Devimon. I'm going to hunt him down."

The medical staff of the Public Security Bureau brought up a holographic projection, displaying a floor plan of the Public Security Bureau's underground area.

"All thirty-eight infected Digimon have been quarantined, including 31 Gearmon and 7 other Rookie-level Digimon. We have categorized the infected into three levels based on the severity of the infection..."

Cheng Yuan followed Zhao Zheng and the staff to the third basement level. The moment the elevator doors opened, Cheng Yuan was stunned by the scene before him.

The entire underground level was transformed into a temporary isolation area, with dozens of restraint beds neatly arranged, each bed with an infected gear-like beast bound to it.

The air was thick with the smell of rusty metal, and the clattering and groaning of the gear-like beasts echoed throughout, sending chills down one's spine.

Perhaps summoned by the Dark Gear of Devimon, they no longer obeyed the commands of the nearby security tamer and struggled incessantly on the restraint bed.