Digital Hackers' Memories

This is the online world, where everything is detected and analyzed from a data perspective; there is no such thing as something "suddenly appearing" that defies logic.

In other words, the fact that the fox spirit could appear behind her without warning could only mean that her hacking skills were powerful enough to shield the traces of data transmission.

But that's obviously impossible, because Chen Ze himself is a top-notch hacker, and he's currently searching for data and information, so it's impossible for him to ignore such a powerful data stream as the Fox Demon Beast.

"I ran into an annoying guy."

Seemingly sensing Chen Ze's confusion, the fox demon simply said something understated.

"That guy is a hacker; his skills are probably better than yours."

Although Chen Ze really wanted to ask if there were any hackers in this era who were better than him.

Am I a future hacker who is more than one level ahead of this era?

However, considering that Renamon has no reason to lie, and that hackers are generally known for their mystery, it's not surprising that there are one or two exceptionally talented individuals among them.

Moreover, is the hacker that the fox spirit mentioned really just a "hacker"?

Chen Ze neither confirmed nor denied it.

After all, this is a world of existing Digimon and homeostasis, hiding too many unknown and mysterious entities.

Let alone a hacker with more advanced skills than himself, even if a hacker from the future suddenly appeared one day, Chen Ze wouldn't find it strange.

"Since you don't want to talk about it, then I won't ask."

With a flick of his two long ears, Chen Ze simply shut down the virtual screen projected in front of him.

There's a common saying in the hacker world: never use programs from unknown sources unless they've been tested over a long period of time, as that will only put you in danger without your knowledge.

The same applies when facing the unknown. Chen Ze didn't want to dwell on who the unknown hacker the fox demon was, because he didn't want to get involved in any unknown dangers.

Anyway, if the other party really had contact with the fox spirit, he would find out the other party's identity sooner or later—this was Chen Ze's intuition as a hacker.

Are you alright now?

After a long silence, Chen Ze finally expressed his concerns in a somewhat tactful way.

"It's okay now."

Although the curve of her lips didn't change, the fox spirit's expression clearly brightened; she enjoyed being cared for.

Since leaving the Founding Village, Youkomon has had no emotional interactions with anyone for a long time.

On the one hand, it's unnecessary. In the world of Digimon, the survival of the fittest and the plundering of evolution are timeless themes. Interacting with other Digimon would only create an unnecessary weakness for oneself.

On the other hand, it was also because the fox spirit itself was rather aloof and difficult to get along with. Even after she accidentally broke into Chen Ze's private computer, it took her a long time to gradually become familiar with him.

This can be seen from Chen Ze's initial impression of the fox spirit. At that time, he didn't really welcome this "hacker" who didn't understand human relationships and liked to mess around on his computer.

However, as time went by, the two gradually became familiar with each other.

It wasn't until this inexplicable accident happened that the fox spirit and Chen Ze's originally simple "online friend" relationship was further elevated to the level of "friends".

"That……"

Just as Chen Ze was about to say something, the fox beast suddenly changed its expression, then picked him up in his snowball beast form and ran back.

Boom!

In an instant, a violent explosion swept away the place where the two had been standing.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

It sounded like a giant fighter jet roaring, or like an incomparably large bird crying out...

A surge of data, far exceeding the network capacity of the Hikari Hill region, is pouring into this space from the depths of the network, from another world.

Crackling...

The rampant electrical currents immediately paralyzed the electronic devices connected to this network, and this terrifying trend was spreading towards the Hikari Hill area.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

In a daze, a colorful parrot with four limbs and huge wings appeared in this virtual Internet, accompanied by the flow of electricity and the network.

Although it was just a fleeting illusion, the powerful data and force it contained were enough to make everyone who saw it tremble with fear.

"A parrot beast?!"

Once he came to his senses, Chen Ze instantly remembered the identity of the newcomer—it was a fully-formed Parrotmon.

In its previous life, in the first Digimon movie, it descended into the real world as "Homeostasis Messenger" and perished together with the abnormally powerful Greymon.

As a messenger of the gods, Parrotmon, like Angemon who descended before it, is a Holy-type Digimon, possessing evolutionary potential far exceeding that of ordinary Digimon.

This can be seen from the anklets on the parrot's limbs, because the two anklets on its forelimbs are the famous "Holy Rings".

It's important to understand that even Angemon, which received divine favor in its evolutionary path, only evolved a "holy ring."

In Chen Ze's memory, apart from Parrotmon being defeated by the Champion-level Greymon, all the other Digimon with multiple "Holy Rings" were powerful Digimon capable of easily defeating those of the same level or even challenging those of higher levels.

"This guy...is that amazing?!"

Before this, Chen Ze had always thought that Parrotmon was a "disgrace to the Ultimate level," unable to even defeat a Champion-level Digimon.

It wasn't until he faced the power of the Parrot Beast head-on that he realized he might have underestimated this "disgrace of the Perfect level".

The reason why the opponent lost to Kari's Greymon was simply because that Greymon was overpowered, and it does not mean that Parrotmon itself was weak.

Or rather, Parrotmon's strength, even among Ultimate-level beings, is among the best, having been chosen as a messenger by homeostasis.

"This world still has such ancient Digimon."

While also intimidated by the abilities displayed by Parrotmon, Renamon from the Digital World was more concerned with the existence of Parrotmon itself.

The Digital World is not static; from ancient times to the present, the Digimon living in it have changed many times over.

It may be a short lifespan, low intelligence, physical disability, or a fixed potential...

Besides the successful evolution paths of Digimon, there are countless failed paths with evolutionary errors and serious flaws.

As for the Ultimate-level Parrotmon, in the era of Renamon, it had long been excluded from the evolution list of most Digimon due to the difficulty of its evolution path.

It can be said that the appearance of Parrotmon proves some of Renamon's inner speculation—that the Digimon in this world are still in an era of ignorance.

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Chapter Thirty-Five: A Safe Place

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

There were no words spoken, or perhaps they simply did not understand the language of the human world.

Parrotmon, whose true form was still sandwiched between the Internet and the digital world, hissed softly, and a powerful current materialized into a bolt of lightning.

Silence—Boom!

A massive current, comparable in power to an EMP electronic pulse, swept across most of the network space in an instant, nearly hitting the fox beast, which didn't have time to dodge a second time.

Fortunately, at the crucial moment, Chen Ze, who had been held tightly in the arms of the fox demon, played a vital role.

puff!

The shockwave formed by chaotic data spewed out from the mouth of the Rolling Beast, unexpectedly "disintegrating" the aftershocks of the incoming electric current.

—Overload impact!

It is not a physical resistance, but rather a direct disruption of the function of the electric arc itself, so that it no longer possesses the characteristics and power that electric current should have.

Just like renaming a file "electric arc" to its contents, turning originally ordered content into a bunch of meaningless gibberish, the file naturally loses its original purpose.

"Cough cough..."

However, as the subject of the "overload impact," Chen Ze clearly could not control this force well, and his body immediately showed digital marks similar to mosaics.

"Tampering with the data sequence?"

With a slight frown, Youkomon, having learned some hacking techniques, could naturally sense the essence of that power—a power that scrambles ordered programs into gibberish, rendering them devoid of their original offensive capabilities.

Compared to attack methods such as acid bubbles and flame impacts, the ability to directly attack the data itself, such as overload impact, is undoubtedly more in line with Chen Ze's identity as a hacker.

However, as the price for possessing this ability, the user must also bear the corresponding impact.

What is this power?

Before the foxmon's question could be answered, the parrotmon, which was faintly visible behind them, seemed to have noticed the "rolling ball" monster's abnormality, and a huge claw once again swept towards them.

Bang!

At the critical moment, the fox beast used a phantom clone to take its place, temporarily escaping the ferocious attack that was impossible to resist.

At that very moment, countless clones of the Renamon appeared around the Parrotmon.

The fox demon clones scattered and fled in all directions, making it impossible for the parrot beast to distinguish their true forms for a moment.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

A moment later, by the time the parrot beast reacted, the scattered fox beast clones had completely disappeared, not to mention the true bodies hidden among them.

—Fox Transformation!

This is the real Renamon, the golden fox that dares to challenge and hunt Champion-level Digimon while still in its Rookie form.

As a rare fox-human type Digimon, Renamon has been consciously undergoing special training since its infancy.

From this perspective, after successfully evolving into Renamon, her combat experience is far beyond what ordinary Digimon can match.

In fact, besides its slender and delicate figure that surpasses other Rookie Digimon, Renamon's biggest difference from other Digimon lies in its superior intelligence and composure.

Even in the face of certain death, the fox beast remained remarkably calm, never giving up on any sliver of hope.

This is also a key factor in Renamon's ability to kill Angemon and maneuver with ease during Parrotmon's pursuit.

............................................................................................................

"It's safe for now."

Looking down at the Koromon in her arms, Renamon noticed that the mosaic on its body seemed to be fading.

"It is not a wise choice to expose people to the essence of data when the digital core is still in its infancy."

It was only at this moment that Renamon truly realized that something had changed about Chen Ze—Chen Ze no longer seemed to be the hacker disguised as a Digimon.

If Chen Ze was merely using Agumon's remaining data, and his inner self was still human...

So now Chen Ze is a genuine Digimon. Although his Digicore is still weak, he has a complete structure.

In other words, if Chen Ze wanted to, he could absorb data and evolve into a new form just like a real Digimon.

"I never expected that 'overload programs' could evolve."

Unaware of the slightly strange look in the fox demon's eyes, Chen Ze gave a helpless wry smile.

"Overload Impact" is an inherent ability of the Digicore built around the "Overload Program," similar to the special moves or ultimate attacks of other Digimon. It can evolve continuously as the Digicore evolves.

But Chen Ze didn't know this before, because he had only used "Overload Impact" occasionally during the Snowball Beast era.

He never expected that after evolving into Koromon, the aggressiveness and side effects of "Overload Shock" would increase exponentially.

What Mr. Chen didn't expect was that he seemed to be more vulnerable online than in real life.

Or to be more precise, in the data-based network world, without a body constructed by protein-like programs as a buffer, the body of the young Koromon cannot directly withstand "data-based" attacks.

"This has both advantages and disadvantages!"

With a sigh from Chen Ze, just as he was about to look up, he suddenly realized that his and the demon fox beast's current posture seemed somewhat indescribable.

Compared to the fox-mon, which is nearly human-sized, Chen Ze's transformed Koromon looks like a doll, being held tightly in its arms.

Unfortunately, although Renamon has female psychological tendencies, her body has not evolved into any human female form.

Therefore, Chen Ze did not feel any other emotions. He just felt that the fur on the fox demon's neck was very warm and did not look like animal fur at all.

"The data of the parrot beast is too massive to be truly brought into this network for the time being."

Completely unaware of Chen Ze's distraction, and having confirmed that the other party was not seriously injured, the fox beast's attention returned to the parrot beast that had appeared briefly earlier.

"However, just in case, we must leave this network now and head to the human world."

Renamon firmly believed that it was already difficult enough for Parrotmon to forcibly appear on the internet, let alone go further and invade reality.

As long as he and Chen Ze can return to the real world, they won't have to worry about the parrot beast's threat for the time being.

"The human world? I think I know a relatively safe place."