Knights of the Digital World

Based on Emu's previous performance, he judged that Emu seemed to have the ability to "predict" things, so he didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his thoughts.

“Captain Satsuma, nice to meet you. Since I’m willing to make contact with your DATs, I naturally won’t hide my intentions and purpose. But are you sure you want to talk here?” Emu said with a smile.

He truly had no intention of hiding anything. His first Ultimate Gacha cartridge would most likely end up with this middle-aged man in front of him. Furthermore, if he wanted to deal with Kurata, he needed someone influential in the upper echelons of Japanese society who could speak on his behalf and make decisions. Satsuma Rentaro was an excellent candidate.

However, he wasn't sure if Kurata had made any arrangements here. Or rather, it wasn't Kurata who arranged it, but the Japanese government. After all, DATS possessed the power of Digimon, and Digimon were, in a sense, high-risk weapons. Even if the Japanese government trusted DATS, necessary precautions would still be taken.

If Emu were to blurt everything out so casually, and Kurata were to intercept the information, Emu wouldn't be able to predict what might happen.

The power of the butterfly effect was already evident the moment the giant chicken beast evolved.

Rentaro Satsuma understood the meaning behind Emu's words. He hadn't thought of this before, not because he was less intelligent than Emu, but because he was absolutely loyal to the government and was certain that he had nothing to hide.

However, judging from the implication in Emu's words, there might be something wrong with the Japanese government? Or perhaps someone with influence within the government has the ability to intercept relevant information. That's why Emu doesn't want to reveal information here.

Satsuma Rentaro pondered for a moment, then said to his team members, "I'm taking him to discuss some matters. You guys take care of things here for now. Contact me if anything comes up."

"Okay, Captain!" the team members replied.

Satsuma Rentaro nodded to Emu, signaling Emu to follow, and then turned and left the hall.

DATS headquarters is large and includes dormitory area. DATS team members don't necessarily have to live here, but a room will be reserved for them if they wish.

Satsuma Rentaro led Emu into a room, closed the door, and said, "Please find a place to sit. This is my room; it's very safe."

Emu wasn't shy either. The room was quite large and even had a sofa. He casually picked one, sat down, and sighed comfortably, saying, "As long as it's safe. Let's put my purpose aside for now. I can tell you some information first. Some reasons why the barrier between the Digital World and the Real World has collapsed."

Rentaro Satsuma adjusted his glasses. Not knowing Emu's purpose beforehand would be a disadvantage in their subsequent exchanges. However, the information Emu was providing was too important to ignore, even if it meant suffering some losses later. So, he said, "Please continue. If your information is accurate, whatever your purpose, I will do my best to assist you within my capabilities."

Rentaro Satsuma was very careful with his words; he felt that Emu was nothing like an 11-year-old child. Therefore, he didn't use the word "DATS" in his speech, but only referred to himself. Even if Emu made any unreasonable demands later, he would bear the consequences alone.

In truth, Emu hadn't thought too much about it. He was indeed older than 11, but he hadn't experienced much of the harsh realities of society in either his past or present life, and he wasn't familiar with the treacherous nature of people. His wariness in the lobby earlier was a result of watching too much of the dark side of life. He wasn't capable of shamelessly using his connections to gain personal benefits like a politician.

The reason I mentioned the information before the purpose was simply because I disliked Kurata and wanted to improve his favor so that the eight-legged beast would put in more effort during the tutorial.

Emu, completely unaware of Satsuma Rentaro's inner thoughts, revealed everything he knew after receiving Rentaro's promise: "The collapse of the barrier is related to one person. His name is Kurata Akihiro, a member of the Digital World Expedition Team..."

Emu told Satsuma Rentaro all the relevant information without reservation. Satsuma Rentaro was a little puzzled by Emu's straightforwardness; given the boy's previous behavior, this shouldn't be the case.

However, Satsuma Rentaro was soon drawn to Emu's information. Gizmon, Bio-Digimon, one of the Seven Great Demon Lords, Time-Space Vibration Bomb... Kurata Akihiro's actions enraged Satsuma Rentaro.

They, the DATA, worked tirelessly to maintain the security of the real world, hoping to achieve an equal coexistence with the digital world and avoid unnecessary losses caused by war between the two. Little did they know that someone was plotting against them from behind!

With his partner, Mizuki Rentaro's understanding of the Digital World's power levels surpasses that of most. His partner's strength is equivalent to a small nuclear bomb—a mobile one at that. And there are about a dozen such small nuclear bombs in the Digital World!

Moreover, the digital world doesn't actually have many resources worth plundering by humanity. Even if it did, the cost of plundering them would be far too high.

Putting everything else aside, even if those Ultimate Digimon don't possess the destructive power of a nuclear bomb like the Royal Knights, they still have the destructive power of missiles. There are at least a hundred of these Ultimate Digimon; they're like mobile, reusable missiles. Most importantly, these Ultimate Digimon are incredibly agile. If pushed too far, they could swarm into the human world and randomly wreak havoc. Humans would be utterly helpless except for finding Digimon of equal strength to stop them.

What's even more outrageous is that almost every Digimon is a warrior. Even a very weak Rookie-level Digimon can easily defeat several adults—which is why Masaru Daimon's hand-to-hand combat with Agumon caused such a stir—in a real fight, the human's chances of winning are not that high.

Fortunately, Digimon are relatively simple-minded and rarely aggressive. Even Virus-type Digimon prefer the Digital World environment and don't care much about the human world. If it weren't for the collapse of the world barrier, so many Digimon wouldn't have accidentally wandered into the human world.

The Digital World and dats initially thought the barrier collapse was caused by natural causes and were investigating how to resolve it. Unexpectedly, it was man-made! And the cause wasn't some deep-seated grudge, but simply a personal act of revenge after being frightened by his own reckless actions!

Satsuma Rentaro almost cursed as he listened. He and Kurata had been teammates before, and the more he heard, the more convinced he was that Kurata would do something like this.

After Emu finished recounting the information, Satsuma Rentaro took a breath and said, "Thank you for the information. I'll have someone verify it. If the information is true, I definitely won't let that Kurata guy get away with it!"

The shrewmon straightened up, patted Samo's face with its little paw, and said, "Take me with you, Samo. I'm going to teach that guy a lesson! Gizmon... Hmph! I'd like to see if you can get rid of me?!" Clearly, this Royal Knight was also enraged.

Samo reached out and scratched the Foxmon to comfort him, then said to Emu, "Anyway, we need to deal with Kurata's matter first. Emu, may I call you that? You may have saved two worlds from a disaster! Thank you again for your help! If you'd like, you can join our dats. I'll have someone arrange a room for you. As long as your purpose in coming to this world isn't something against morality or common sense, we will do our best to help you!"

Chapter Six, Emu's Partner

Emu understood why Satsuma was so eager to deal with Kurata's situation. The situation was already quite dire; the barrier between the human world and the Digital World was crumbling at an increasingly rapid pace. In the original story, Masaru Daimon would soon be chasing the Digizoon into the Digital World. This ability to so easily cross the world's divide already indicated the severity of the current predicament.

Emu was well-prepared for this. His purpose in revealing everything was to capture Kurata as soon as possible and stop his insane behavior. Moreover, he had plenty of time in this world, with the Dark Ship as a backup, so he didn't have to worry about missing the clash between the children and the evil fighters.

"You guys go deal with Kurata first. My goal is simply to become stronger. I might need to use the power of the Fox Beast. We can discuss the specifics after this is over." Emu revealed his purpose directly. After all, there was nothing shameful about it, no need to keep it hidden.

"Get stronger?" Samo and the Kitsunemon exchanged a glance. Although they didn't know what they were supposed to do, Emu clearly had his own methods, and there shouldn't be any problems. They were the only two people who needed help. Therefore, there was no reason for them to refuse.

“Okay. After this is over, Mitsubomon and I will do our best to help you become stronger. Just tell us what you want to do then. Now, let's go out first, and I'll have someone arrange a room for you. Oh, by the way, you don't have a Digimon partner yet, right? We have a batch of Digi-Eggs that we're planning to send back to the Digital World soon. You can go and try them out to see if there's a suitable Digimon partner for you.” Samo said readily.

"Ah? That won't be necessary. I have my own fighting ability." Emu scratched his head and declined.

"Why don't you give it a try? There's a magical bond between Digimon and humans. If you can find a suitable Digimon partner, that would be an incredible stroke of fate," Samo advised as she led Emu outside.

"As Yoshino reported before, you also have a Digivice, right? Without a Digimon partner, your Digivice is just for show. Besides, there might not be a suitable Digimon in those eggs. Choosing a partner is a matter of fate."

"...Alright then. I'll give it a try."

Emu thought about it for a moment and then agreed. He hadn't quite grasped the concept before; after all, he'd always fought alone, so why would he need a partner? But after Satsuma's advice, Emu realized the truth. As a child, he loved Digimon, not only for the various amazing Digimon, but also for the bond between humans and Digimon. This was a rare opportunity to build a bond with a Digimon; there was absolutely no reason to refuse.

Satsuma brought Emu back to the hall. By then, Dai had already finished talking with Yoshino and left. Yoshino had also left the base, presumably to rest.

Satsuma glanced around the hall and called out, "Miki, prepare a room for Emu; he's joined our dats now. Also, take him to the Digi-Egg area to see if his partner is there. I have something to do and need to leave the base. Megumi, keep an eye on things and let me know if anything happens."

"Understood, Captain!" the two female operators of dats replied in unison.

Satsuma nodded, and without further ado, turned and hurriedly left the base. Emu noticed that he picked up his phone as he walked, seemingly contacting someone. It seemed Kurata couldn't cause any real trouble.

Miki, full name Miki, is a young girl named Miki. She is a beautiful young girl with a delicate and graceful appearance. She is also known for her elegant and refined demeanor. She is a beautiful young girl with a delicate and graceful appearance ...

Emu coughed and said, "Could you please not add 'little brother'? Just call me Emu. Let's go find my partner first."

"Oh, still shy?" Miki chuckled, covering her mouth. Emu was indeed a bit too young. While in other Digital Worlds this would be the perfect age for a savior, in the world of the fifth series, he was really just a kid you could tease at will.

Fortunately, the DATs members all had great personalities. Miki smiled and led the way, saying, "Alright, Emu, keep up. We need to hurry, or we'll have to send all those Digi-Eggs back."

In the original work, the DATs had very few members, barely more than two hands' worth. However, as a secret Japanese organization, such a small force was simply insufficient to handle the Digimon appearing in various locations. This was just not shown in the anime.

Furthermore, sending Digi-Eggs back to the Digital World isn't done one at a time as depicted in the anime. It's easy to see that the machines used to break down world barriers require considerable resources to operate. After all, this isn't about opening a breach in the barrier, but rather creating a connection point within a normal barrier. Sending one at a time would require far too many resources.

Therefore, DATS will keep the Digi-eggs that the defeated Digimon have transformed into safe and will return them all at once once a certain number have been collected.

Now, Miki is leading Emu to the room where the Digi-Eggs are stored.

"Alright, this is it." Miki entered a series of verification messages and opened the door. There were two large iron racks here, each divided into seven layers, with each layer able to hold about ten Digimon Eggs. Currently, there were about sixty Digimon Eggs on the racks, with three layers on one side and four layers on the other.

"How am I supposed to determine which Digimon is the right partner for me?" Emu asked curiously, looking at the Digimon eggs. The arrangement of these eggs reminded him of another classic anime from his childhood, Pokémon. If he hadn't just seen Agumon before, he would have wondered if he had traveled to the wrong world.

“It’s simple. Just use your Digital Soul to sense it,” Miki replied.

"Digital Souls? How do I use them? I've never used them before," Emu asked again. Digital Souls is a classic feature from the fifth season, and he, who came from the fourth season, had never actually used them.

“The Digital Soul is actually a manifestation of everyone’s consciousness. You can close your eyes and imagine a warm current flowing through your body until you feel it. That is the Digital Soul. After that, you can materialize the Digital Soul by focusing your consciousness on your hand or another place,” Miki instructed.

Mastering the Digimon Soul isn't something humans can achieve alone. It's not just human consciousness, but also the consciousness of the Digimon. It's a result of the resonance between the two.

Miki's teachings weren't wrong, but if there weren't any Digimon in this batch of Digi-Eggs that responded to Emu's consciousness and resonated with him, Emu wouldn't be able to master the Digi-Soul.

Emu was unaware of this; he simply followed Miki's instructions, closed his eyes, cleared his mind of distractions, and began to fantasize about the warm current flowing through his body.

As Emu's mind gradually calmed down, a strange fluctuation spread outwards from him to the surroundings of the room. This was Emu's consciousness calling upon his destined companions.

As Emu's own consciousness spread out, a Digimon egg on the iron rack began to tremble slightly, and cracks appeared on its surface. The Digimon egg also emitted its own consciousness, which collided with Emu's, slowly changing and beginning to resonate with him.

With his eyes closed, Yongmeng felt a real surge of heat within his body, not just a figment of his imagination. Guided by this heat, he seemed to hear a voice calling and summoning him.

Without opening his eyes, Emu slowly moved towards the sound, walking to the Digi-Egg that was emitting fluctuations, and placed his hand on it. A layer of fiery red energy appeared on Emu's hand—his Digi-Soul!

"Crack!"

A few bits of shell fell off the Digimon egg. Emu opened his eyes, and at that moment, the Digimon egg completely cracked open, revealing the Digimon inside.

This was a completely black Digimon with two small horns on its head. It stared intently around, appearing wary and suspicious. But when it saw Emu, its gaze softened instantly, and it nuzzled against Emu's hand.

"This is... Hehemon, right? Their species is characterized by being reclusive and prone to causing trouble, and most of their evolved Digimon are Virus-type. I didn't expect that Emu's partner would be one of these types of Digimon," Miki said, leaning closer with curiosity.

Young Digimon can understand human speech. Hearing Miki's comment, Hehemon jumped up angrily and opened its mouth to spit a water gun at Miki.

"No, Hehemon. That's very impolite." Emu gently patted Hehemon, stopping her.

Then, Emu said to Miki, "Miki-nee, please don't judge Hehemon based on the characteristics of its species. I believe it will be a great Digimon. It has nothing to do with whether it's a Virus or Vaccine type. I also know of a Paladin type Digimon that is a Virus type."

Hehemon was initially a little sulky because Emu had stopped her, but when she heard Emu defending her again, she immediately jumped up happily and looked at Miki with a haughty gaze.

"I misspoke. I'm sorry, Emu, Hehemon." Miki realized that what she had said was impolite and immediately apologized.

Hehemon was satisfied with Miki's apology and jumped up to show that it had forgiven her. From this, it's clear that Hehemon is indeed quite different from its kind, possessing a much gentler personality.

"Miki-nee, it's nothing." Emu scratched his head sheepishly. He had just wanted to protect his partner, but Miki apologized so readily, which made him feel a little awkward.

"Alright, since you've all forgiven me, let's let this go! Now, I'll take you to choose a room, Emu. It's getting late, the child should go to bed early." Miki was a very magnanimous person, and said with a hearty laugh.

"Please, Miki-nee." Emu picked up Hehemon and followed behind Miki.

There were plenty of rooms at the dats base, and Emu wasn't a picky person, so he just randomly picked one and moved in. The room also came with unopened toiletries. After washing up, Emu sat on the bed, hugging Hehemon.

"Hehemon, now that you've become my partner, let me give you a name to distinguish you from the other Hehemons!" Emei suddenly felt interested when he thought of Taichi naming his V-Dragonmon Zero Maru in the manga and said to Hehemon.

Hehe Beast was also very happy to hear this, and rubbed against Yongmeng's arms.

"Let me think... I've got it! You'll be called Parad!" Yongmeng chuckled. With a little doctor, how could there be no little Parad!

Hehemon didn't object to the name and bounced around in Emu's hand, indicating his agreement.

"Okay! From now on you'll be Parad! Ah~ it's getting late, let's rest!" Yongmeng yawned, placed Hehemon next to her pillow, and got into bed.

Goodnight, Palad!

Chapter Seven, Thomas H. Norshtein

"Dark Night Flame!"

A fireball from a Dark Beast was hurled, and the cockroach-like Digimon that was hit let out a scream before turning into a Digi-Egg.

"Tch, no wonder it's a cockroachmon. Its vitality is too tenacious." A Digimon with purple fur, a red scarf, and red gloves shook its hand and said with dissatisfaction.

"Parad, don't swear." Emu stepped forward, picked up the Digi-Egg, and scolded him.

This Digimon is Emu's partner, Parad. Now, she has evolved into Impmon.

Partner Digimon resonate with human consciousness and can benefit from the human's Digital Soul. This is reflected not only in their ability to evolve at crucial moments using the Digital Soul, but also in their rapid growth.

In the TV series, Masaru Daimon's younger sister, Chika Daimon, obtains a Digimon egg and successfully resonates with it to hatch it. The hatched Waaamon evolves directly into Biyomon. This is all thanks to Chika's Digimon Soul.

If Digimon had the ability to evolve right after birth, there would be no baby Digimon in the Digital World.

In fact, the evolution of Digimon is an accumulation of "data." This can also be seen as an accumulation of energy. Baby Digimon require less energy to evolve, but their bodies are weaker, and they take longer to accumulate energy. Growth-stage Digimon require generally less energy, and their bodies are already developing rapidly, allowing them to accumulate energy more quickly. Most growth-stage Digimon can eventually reach the adult stage.

By the time a Digimon reaches Champion level, its physical development is complete, and it accumulates energy rapidly. However, the gap between Champion and Ultimate levels is enormous, requiring a significantly larger amount of energy. In the very first season, a Crest was needed to evolve into Ultimate, precisely because the required energy was too much for the child to sustain on its own; the Crest amplified the child's inner energy to meet the demands of evolution.

Reaching the Ultimate level signifies reaching the upper-middle tier of combat power in the Digital World. Digimon at this stage have virtually no weaknesses, hence the term "Perfect." They need to accumulate more energy and encounter certain opportunities to evolve further. Even in the main storylines of every Digital World, not all characters possess Ultimate-level Digimon. For example, in the first series, despite the entire battle, only two Ultimate-level Digimon appeared: WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. This demonstrates the immense difficulty of evolution.

The reason why Waaamon can evolve into Biyomon is because she resonated with Chika. When Chika was in danger, she activated the Digimon Soul in Chika's body and filled the energy gap required for evolution.