Knights of the Digital World

"Alright, I won't say any more and take up your time. Please take good care of Nanako-sama, Emu. Come visit me again sometime."

After Nanako's interference, Crimson Knightmon didn't want to say anything more. He nodded to Emu and was about to stand up.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Here, Emu, this is the strange machine that Mercurymon found in the remaining data of Barbamon after killing him. Magnamon and the others have already recognized it; it's the machine that Barbamon used to forcibly fuse with Lord Yggdrasil."

We don't know what to do with it. Keeping it is too dangerous, but destroying it seems a waste. After all, a machine capable of forced fusion is unheard of before... So, we've decided to give it to you. We trust your character and believe you'll make good use of it.”

Crimson Knightmon suddenly remembered something and handed a strange machine to Emu.

Emu didn't examine it closely, first putting it away, then waved vigorously at Gallantmon and Bancho-chanmon, saying:

"Indeed, it's time for me to set off. Don't worry, I'll come back to see you all once things are settled in the other world!"

"It's settled then!"

The group of people who were seeing Emu off nodded vigorously.

Seeing that the farewell was over, the Darkship did not linger. It sounded its horn, gradually accelerated, and then pierced through the world barrier.

Goodbye, Saviors World!

Chapter 1, Darkness Loader and System Recovery

"Xiao Meng, come play with me!"

Nanako, pulling Parad along, chased after the lion cub through the carriage, their silvery laughter ringing out from time to time.

As she passed by Emu, she enthusiastically tugged at his sleeve, inviting him to join her.

"I'll pass, you just play with Parad and the others. The carriage is so small, don't run too fast, be careful."

Emu smiled and shook his head, declining Nanako's invitation.

Unlike Mikihara Noren, who prefers a quiet personality, Nanako is a lively and active child. She likes to be given nicknames, and she loves to run and jump around. Even when sitting, she'll be shaking her little feet; she's never still.

Such children are indeed more likable, but taking care of them is also very energy-consuming. Fortunately, Parad and Lion Cub help take care of Nanako, otherwise Emu would also have a headache.

Nanako pouted and made a face at Emu: "Emu is so lazy, he doesn't like to move at all. Little Pa-neechan, let's ignore him and go catch Ah Huang!"

"My name isn't Ah Huang! That's a dog's name! If you're going to use a nickname, at least make it sound nice!"

The young lion stood on the back of a seat not far away and loudly complained. The resentment in its words was almost palpable.

One more thing: Nanako's naming skills are terrible, and not everyone can accept her nicknames.

At least the lion cub strongly resisted being called Ah Huang; it sounded too much like a dog!

"Ah Huang, don't be shy~ Come on, let me pet your fur~"

Nanako pounced on the lion cub with a grin. The lion cub rolled its eyes, nimbly jumped back and forth on the seat back, and darted into another carriage.

Nanako laughed and swayed as she chased after the lion cub.

Parad smiled and shook his head, then followed after them.

Yongmeng watched the three disappear into another carriage with a smile. After thinking for a moment, he took out the strange machine that the Crimson Knight had given him and examined it carefully.

The machine was entirely black, covered in fangs, with a dim screen, and exuded a repulsive aura.

"This... it really is DarknessLoader. It can force two Digimon to fuse, and the fusion can never be reversed. Even Yggdrasil has been affected."

Emu carefully examined the DarknessLoader in his hand, frowning as he pondered:

"But shouldn't DarknessLoader be in DarkKnightmon's hands? It's his trump card against Bagramon, right? Why is it in Barbamon's hands? DarkKnightmon would never give up this trump card, would it? This is really strange..."

"Compared to this question, I can understand it more if it appears in the fifth season's world. After all, Bagramon in the sixth season already has the ability to travel through time and space, and it even gathered the protagonists from all the seasons at the end. Ah, speaking of which, I've saved several worlds before, will they pull me there? I'm so looking forward to it."

"Speaking of saving the world, I've managed to complete the game while completely dizzy again... It's ridiculous. Last time I didn't see how Lucemon was defeated by Takuya and the others, and this time I didn't see how Barbamon was defeated either."

Every time, I'm the one who has to lower the enemy's health while others finish them off. Am I just the ultimate workhorse? At least let me see the ending CG or something... It makes me feel so uninvolved..."

"In the end, it's all Brother Shi's fault. Why did he have to touch my fragments? Ah, I miss my level 100!"

As she pondered, Emu's thoughts drifted off into strange directions, and she completely forgot about Darknessloader.

Just then, a familiar, cold, electronic voice suddenly echoed in his mind:

"Beep... System fragment self-check in progress... No abnormalities found."

"Beep... Knight's Power self-check in progress... No abnormalities found."

"Beep... Cartridge self-check in progress... Numerous advanced data detected, corresponding cartridge generation in progress..."

"Beep... The Royal Knights Card has been generated. You can use this card to transform into a member of the Royal Knights at will. After transformation, the level is locked at lv99."

"Beep... Mercurymon cartridge generated... Melvamon cartridge generated... BanchoMamemon cartridge generated... BanchoLeomon cartridge generated..."

A flood of information echoed in Emu's mind, with numerous prompts and instructions about the cartridge being generated constantly ringing out, causing Emu to rub his forehead and mentally urge to stop:

"Stop, stop, stop. Don't talk about the information from these cassettes anymore, it's giving me a headache."

"Since the host has made this request, then we will hide the notification for the currently generated cartridges. If the host has any doubts, they can check the system fragment logs themselves."

The system fragment obeyed and stopped bombarding the system with notifications.

"Phew, that's much better. System fragment, welcome back."

Emu let out a breath and smiled to himself.

Although this system fragment is incredibly lazy, it never neglects its duties. Sometimes, bantering and chatting with it is quite fun. After not communicating with it for several months, Yongmeng has actually started to miss it.

"I am satisfied with how you address me, host. Please continue to do so!"

The electronic sounds of the system fragments conveyed a sense of satisfaction. Its three-month shutdown didn't seem like a waste of time; at least its emotional expression was more genuine.

"Your inexplicable obsession with this hasn't changed. How's it going? Three months of downtime, nothing went wrong, right?"

Emu felt as if he were reuniting with a familiar old friend, and spoke very casually and relaxedly.

"I am no longer the same as the original system. Now, System Fragment is my real name. Calling me System is using the wrong name, and of course I have to correct you. As for these three months, although I was shut down, some of my functions have been restored, and I feel great now!"

The system fragment offered a rare explanation, replying in Yongmeng's mind.

"Oh? Which functions have you restored? Is it that you can transform into a new knight again, or that you can distribute rewards or something?"

Yongmu became interested and quickly followed Kodo.

"Neither!" the system fragment replied proudly. "It's because my anthropomorphic emotional abilities have been greatly restored! Now my anthropomorphic emotions can reach 90% of a real person's level, so you can treat me like a real person!"

"..."

"Oh, that's awesome!"

Emu's smile vanished instantly, and he gave a curt compliment without any expression.

"Hey? Don't you think this repair is amazing? It really restored a lot of my health. Before, I only had 20 left, but now it's 45 times!"

The system fragment spoke in an incredulous tone.

"...So why bother fixing such a pointless feature?"

As Yongmeng listened to the system fragments boasting, he finally couldn't help but complain.

Just as Emu was interacting with the system fragment, the Dark Ship suddenly trembled and stopped, and its voice rang out:

"Emu, we may not be able to go back for the time being."

Chapter Two: The Crisis in the World of Beast Tamers

"Xiaomeng, what happened? Why did Xiaohei stop?"

At the connecting point between the carriages, Nanako was held in Parad's arms, and she leaned out to ask a question.

Before Emu could answer, Darkrai spoke in a consultative tone:

"Nanako, can you please call me something else? Don't you think 'Kuro' sounds a bit weak? Call me An..."

"That makes sense, Xiao Hei makes a lot of sense! So, from now on, I'll call you... Da Hei! Doesn't that sound much more imposing?"

Nanako crossed her arms and nodded seriously as she spoke.

"..."

"Whatever makes you happy..." Dark's voice carried a sense of resignation.

It's naive of him to expect Nanako to come up with any good names.

The young lion patted the carriage wall with a sigh, comforting him, "You're lucky. Think about how she called me? Ah Huang!"

Palad smiled without saying anything. Calling her "Little Palad" or something like that already seems like a high-level performance. It's better not to say anything carelessly. If she changes it to something like "Alla" or "Great De," it will sound too awful.

Emu sighed and slapped the table, bringing the topic back on track:

"Alright, we can talk about the form of address later. What's the current situation with the Dark Ship? Why did it stop? What do you mean by saying we can't go back?"

Getting down to business, Dark Number regained his composure and said:

“Emu, do you remember what I said when I took you away from this world? Because the real world and the digital world overlapped, the world barrier collapsed, keeping me outside. The situation is the same now. The real world and the digital world have overlapped again, and it's even more serious than before. We can't go in until the two worlds separate.”

"The world's barriers are collapsing..."

Yongmeng pondered and began to recall. So much had happened in the past few months that his memories of their initial conversation had become somewhat hazy.

Fortunately, it had only been a month since he left this world. After carefully recalling the events, Yongmeng remembered her communication with the Dark Ship.

"I remember now. The world overlap happened because of the Annihilation Plan! But why would they use Annihilation again? Hasn't Yamaki seen the dangers of the Annihilation Plan yet?"

"No, that's not right either... In the original story, the annihilation plan was indeed used again once... That was because of the invasion of the boar beasts, and the three fully-formed ones couldn't stop it, so the annihilation plan was launched."

However, after being taught by me and Lionmon this time, Guilmon and the others should be stronger than in the original story, and they shouldn't be unable to stop Boarmon.

So, why, why was the annihilation plan used again? Damn it, I have absolutely no idea what's going on!

As Yongmeng sorted out her thoughts, she gradually became impatient.

He didn't know what had happened in the Beast Tamer World, but since the annihilation plan had been implemented, the situation was definitely not good. Emu was very worried about Takato and the others' safety.

"Xiaomeng, what's the rush? Do you want to see what's happening in that world? Nanako can let you see it~"

Nanako noticed Emu's anxiety, raised her chubby little hand, waved it vigorously, and shouted loudly.

"Nanako, you have this ability too?"

Parad surprised and gently patted Nanako's head twice.

"Hmm~ I'm an incarnation of the World Tree, after all. This little thing is within my capabilities! Big Black, Big Black, quickly give me a display screen! Displaying scenes out of thin air is too tiring~"

Nanako was very proud of herself.