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

"The Dark Gears have clearly been cleared, so what's with this mysterious voice?" Cheng Yuan frowned, but now was not the time to delve into it.

"This is the only way, no matter what." He turned to the five sheriffs and animal trainers. "Regular purification methods have failed, but we've thought of a special method that might bring about some unknown changes..."

"Could things get any worse?" Zhao Zheng smiled bitterly.

The five animal trainers exchanged glances and said in unison, "We accept whatever the outcome."

"Okay, little puppy!"

A resolute glint flashed in the little beast's eyes, and dark gray light gathered at the tips of its claws, a power completely different from divine energy flowing around its body.

"Dark energy!" exclaimed the female expert named Wang Shu. "It can actually manipulate two opposing types of energy simultaneously..."

The operation has begun.

The shadow energy transformed into the most precise scalpel, each cut precisely piercing the point where the Dark Gear and the Digicore clashed. Even more astonishingly, the puppymon was able to fill the gaps in the Digicore with its own stable shadow data, forming new energy circuits.

"This...this is unbelievable..." Expert Wang Shu's voice trembled so much it was almost inaudible. She stared intently at the fluctuating data curves on the monitor. "It's gradually replacing those violent dark data with stable shadow energy...Although these two energies originate from the same source, their properties are completely different..."

She excitedly turned to her colleagues: "Look! The dark energy within the puppymon exhibits an unusual stability; I'd call it 'Shadow Energy.' This energy retains the characteristics of the dark attribute without triggering data rage. My God, what kind of Digimon is this? It can perfectly balance the opposing forces of Holy and Shadow!"

As the last piece of dark fragment was replaced, the puppy beast suddenly exerted its strength. The viscous black oil on the gear beast's shell quickly dissipated like the receding tide, revealing a brand-new black metallic shell that gleamed coldly under the light.

"The attributes have changed..." Expert Wang Shu took off his glasses and rubbed his red eyes vigorously. "It has transformed from a data species into a virus species, but has completely broken free from the control of the Dark Gears..."

The subsequent treatment proceeded like an assembly line operation. By the time the fifth gear beast had completed its transformation, the eastern sky was already turning a pale white, and the first rays of dawn streamed into the laboratory through the windows.

Cheng Yuan carefully picked up the exhausted little dog. The little guy curled up in his arms and fell into a deep sleep, a satisfied smile on his lips. Although he had exhausted all his strength, Cheng Yuan knew that this extreme operation would surely lead to a qualitative leap in its energy capacity and control.

Before the remaining sacred crystals could be counted, a series of hurried footsteps shattered the laboratory's tranquility. A young researcher rushed in, panting, "Commander Zhao! The guardian beast's vital signs are rapidly declining!"

Inside the intensive care unit, the oppressive atmosphere almost solidified.

"At most... we can hold on for another day." Expert Zhou Qin's voice seemed to come from a great distance, each word striking everyone's heart heavily.

Cheng Yuan looked around and saw that everyone's face was filled with despair—in the Eastern Kingdom, the scarcity of Champion-level Holy Digimon far exceeded expectations.

"There are only eighteen Holy-type Digimon registered in Pengcheng, all of them in the Rookie stage," expert Wang Shu said, pulling up the data. "The only one close to Champion, Kutsubomon, evolved into the Wind-type Riftmon two months ago..."

"Holy type evolving into wind type?" a young medical worker muttered under his breath, "This evolution attribute is too erratic, it's just outrageous..."

Zhao Zheng scratched his already messy hair in frustration: "Isn't there a Pegasus in Victoria Harbour City?"

"We've already made contact. They entered a digital space in another province three days ago to carry out a mission, and their whereabouts are still unknown."

Cheng Yuan's heart sank to the bottom. He knew Devimon's strength—even Pegasusmon would have difficulty contending with it. In his memory, it would take multiple Champion-level monsters plus Angemon to match it, but now…

"Yangon in the West is a gathering place for Holy Digimon." Expert Wang Shu smiled wryly. "Not only are there angels, but also Holy Beasts... and their cathedral houses Holy Digimon at the Ultimate level."

"Distant water can't quench a nearby fire." Zhao Zheng slammed his hand on the monitoring device, which emitted a piercing alarm. "The approval process alone for foreign-related matters takes two weeks, and then there are layers of review by the International Digital Monster Cross-border Transportation Security Committee..."

A deathly silence fell over the room. Cheng Yuan recalled the news from last week—Yangon had just rejected a batch of vaccine-generated Digimon's export applications, citing "national security" concerns.

In this era where the strength of Digimon 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, feeling as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest.

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

He opened the notebook, which was filled with densely packed Digimon ideas and data memories about this world—some 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 has used these memories to escape danger more than once.

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

The notebook fell to the ground with a "thud," and everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see that the paper was covered with scribbled diagrams and annotations.

"I have a bold idea," Cheng Yuan said excitedly, "maybe 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 energy attribute confrontation is not working, perhaps we can try racial attribute suppression." Cheng Yuan quickly drew a diagram on the whiteboard.

"The Dark Gear originated from the Virus-type Devimon, 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 held on this long precisely because of this advantage. But Devimon's power is too overwhelming..." Cheng Yuan took a deep breath, his pen slamming heavily on the drawing. "If we could upgrade the Vaccine type's level, for example... directly evolving it into its Ultimate form, using the Ultimate Vaccine type's constitution to suppress the Adult-level Virus attributes..."

"Evolved into...the complete form?" Everyone present gasped.