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

The air in the ward seemed to freeze, with only the regular "beeping" 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 enough combat data and combining it with mechanical modification, it can evolve into mature forms such as Guardianmon, Armored Vehiclemon, Mechanical 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 complete forms is a national-level scientific and technological challenge. There are at least nearly a hundred guardian beasts nationwide with sufficient data reserves that are stuck at this bottleneck." Her lenses reflected a cold light. "Not only the robotic type, but also the vehicle type, armed type, and other branches of the complete form, none of them have been able to break through. Currently, only the Divine Eagle Kingdom 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 deep despair. These reactions were all within his expectations.

In this world, the most technologically advanced country is the Kingdom of the Eagle. Even the advanced chips for the Digivice—chips that support the growth of Champion-level Digimon—mostly need to be imported from the Kingdom of the Eagle. While the Eastern Kingdom can already produce Champion-level chips, the quality still lags behind, and there's 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, "the secret organization of Dongguo once obtained several data frameworks for the complete evolution of guardian beasts from Shenyingguo, and Commander Zhao's guardian beast was one of the test subjects at that time." She paused deliberately, "but all of them failed to evolve."

"Perhaps the problem isn't with the data," Cheng Yuan's words drew everyone's attention again, "but with the material—Time Digital Metal."

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

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

"No wonder the Divine Eagle Kingdom 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 for when needed. 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?"

Zhao Lu suddenly reached out her hand: "Leave it to me, you soul painter, you tell me what to draw." She took the notebook, and her pen flew across the paper.

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

Ten minutes later, a futuristic mechanical warrior appeared on the drawing board—sleek silver armor, a chest plate concealing missile launchers, a spiraling sword extending from the right arm, and head sensors arranged to form a majestic faceplate. Every design element balanced aesthetics with practical combat needs.

Zhao Zheng's gaze was firmly drawn to the design drawings before him. The mechanical warrior depicted in the lines was exactly like the RoboCop he had admired in movies when he was young. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice tightened slightly: "This is..."

"Andromon".

Wang Shu took the blueprints, his eyes widening in disbelief: "This design... requires at least 1.3 tons of high-purity Chrono 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'll replenish them later."

"Wait!" Wang Shu stopped him. "Even if we have metal, how do we solve the technical problems of casting, circuitry, 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 was filled with a resolute determination.

Wang Shu, the young female mechanic, said, "Captain Zhao, this concerns the complete evolution of the Guardian Beasts, which isn't a project our Public Security Bureau alone can handle." She paused, "Our security system's technology supplier—Yushu Technology—is definitely interested in the Guardian Beast evolution. 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 never expected that she would 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 resources in Pengcheng 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 proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

The guardian beast was sent to the Pengcheng Digital Evolution Research Institute—a transformation 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 cleaned the dark gears from the little 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 panel.

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 back, 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 completely clean up the Dark Gears from the night before last?"

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

Before the words were even finished, the laboratory's broadcast system suddenly announced: "Attention all personnel, the Guardian Beast evolution program 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 its exposed mechanical body is covered with a dense array of data connection cables.

Technicians are performing final purification of 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 chest armor, arm armor, leg armor, helmet, and the iconic spiral sword, all gleaming coldly under the laboratory lights.