Digital Hackers' Memories

"In the end, Ida is the 'guardian' appointed by your mother. Do you really expect her to betray her own family for the greater good?"

In fact, based on what Youko X knows about Date Makiko, even if Chen Ze really did something wrong, Date Makiko would discipline him, but she would also cover it up for him.

As expected, Reijumon X was not surprised at all by Makiko Date's reaction, as all of her reactions were within her expectations.

Even if some extreme situation were to occur, Youkomon X was confident that it could use its magic to make the other party forget everything that happened today.

Of course, this is on the premise that Chen Ze does not stop the fox spirit X and allows her to erase some of Date Makiko's memories.

Judging from Chen Ze's personality, he would definitely not allow the fox spirit X to harm Date Makiko in any way, so this extreme situation only exists in the fox spirit X's imagination.

"Of course I don't want that, I just think your reaction is too lukewarm."

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Chen Ze naturally didn't want any rift to appear in his relationship with Date Makiko.

But the fact that the other party accepted the premise that "my child is a hacker" without saying a word still left Chen Ze feeling somewhat speechless.

"He's just a 'hacker,' an identity that's not unusual in Japan these days."

"What's more, Ida is a member of the 'Computer Crime Investigation Division,' and she's probably dealt with more hackers than you've ever met."

What Reijou X said was true; the "hacker" profession may seem mysterious and dangerous to ordinary humans.

But for the members of the "Computer Crime Investigation Division," whose main duty is to apprehend and pursue this group, Makiko Date was at most somewhat worried that Chen Ze might get involved in some dangerous incident.

As for Chen Ze's hidden identity?

This was not a big deal to Makiko Date at all.

"Speaking of which, what's the story behind your form of address?"

"You and Ida-nee only just met, right? Why are you able to call each other so intimately?"

Renamon X calls Date Makiko "Date-nee", while Date Makiko calls Renamon X "Renamon-chan"...

To be honest, when Chen Ze came to his senses and heard how the two addressed each other, he felt like his entire worldview was about to collapse.

It's one thing for the oblivious Date Makiko, but why would Renamon X call her "Date-nee" so intimately?

"This is what friendship between girls is all about! A single guy like you who's never even had a girlfriend would never understand."

Under the pitiful gaze of the black-eared beast, the "Chen Ze" was sunk with a single sentence...

[That Reijomon is getting more and more outrageous!]

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Are there 'partner' relationships between humans and Digimon?

Staring blankly at the daily bickering between Youkomon X and Chen Ze, Black Big Earmon gently swayed its ears, its face full of confusion and bewilderment.

Since arriving in this strange world, Black-eared Beast's values ​​have been tested time and again.

First, he got separated from his good friend Patamon and was pursued by a ruthless special forces team.

Then he ran into members of a yakuza organization in Tokyo Bay and almost became their pet.

After finally encountering Makiko Date, who had goodwill towards Digimon, she was given to a strange "Digimon partner" to look after temporarily.

Throughout the entire process, the Black-eared Beast remained in a daze, only knowing that it was temporarily safe.

However, precisely because of this, Blackearmon is now very curious about the relationship between Renamon X and Chen Ze.

Based on what it had learned over the past few days, the relationship between humans and Digimon was either one of complete hostility or one of one-sided enslavement and control.

Even when encountering humans like Makiko Date, BlackEarmon can sense that the so-called "goodwill" is actually more of a feeling of pity.

Only between Renamon X and Chen Ze did Blackearmon not feel any barrier between the two species; instead, it felt a natural and intimate feeling, like that of family.

Are you partners?

After letting Renamon X play with him like a toy for a while, Black-eared Beast looked at Renamon X, who was still bickering with Chen Ze, and suddenly asked in a timid voice.

"partner?"

With a rather strange blink, the fox-mon X, which possessed incredible power in the eyes of the black-eared beast, hesitated briefly before asking a question with a complex emotion that it could not yet comprehend.

What is your definition of a 'partner'? A friend? A partner? Or family?

"what?"

Stunned by Renamon X's question, BlackEarmon pondered for a moment before answering in an innocent yet pure tone.

"My partner is like Patamon to me. Even if it disappears while crossing the 'dimensional wall,' I will still go find it."

"What if we can't find it?"

Ignoring Chen Ze's hesitant expression, the Fox Beast X, disregarding the fact that the Black-eared Beast's mental capacity was only equivalent to that of a young child, continued its "cruel" questioning.

What if you still can't find it?

"What if you never find Patamon in your entire life?"

"Then keep looking!"

This time, the Black-eared Beast did not hesitate and spoke in a firm and serious voice.

"As long as I don't give up, I will definitely be able to find Patamon!"

This childlike, innocent reply immediately silenced the fox spirit X, while also causing Chen Ze, who was standing to the side, to show a thoughtful expression.

What exactly is my relationship with the fox spirit?

Chen Ze glanced furtively at the fox spirit X and realized that their relationship had deviated from the simple friendship or partnership since he returned from the original world.

[Partner? Family? Or something else?]

Chapter Thirty-One: The Bullfighter

In Nogi Yu's private space.

"Digimon are more than just tools."

Ryuji Mishima, exuding an aura of villainous boss, stood proudly in mid-air. Below him, Arkadimon was engaged in a fierce battle with the mutated Oni-masked man K.

Unlike the masked man who fought alone, Arkadimon, with the help of Ryuji Mishima's hacking skills, gained an absolute advantage without any doubt.

"tool?"

It seemed to be a rebuttal, yet it also seemed to be a mockery...

Even as he fought, K the masked man couldn't help but cast a pitiful, pathetic, and laughable glance at the floating head of Ryuji Mishima.

"Digimon are indeed not tools, because you humans are the real tools!"

The voice suddenly rose in pitch, and Nogi Yu, who had transformed into the masked man K, or rather, the bullfighter monster, finally stopped hiding and revealed his true form under the increasingly fierce attacks of Arkadimon.

tumultuous!

In an instant, the entire crimson space collapsed and transformed into a massive amount of data that poured into the masked man K's body like a vortex.

Under the impact of that massive data fluctuation, even the data-fed Arkadimon had to retreat for a time.

tumultuous!

As the turbulent data vortex gradually subsided, what appeared before Ryuji Mishima was a magnificent Digimon with a complete human form, resembling a dancer.

"Complete body?"

His hands were ten slender, sharp swords, and his legs were two gleaming blades...

Beneath that magnificent silk robe lay limbs sharper and more razor-sharp than any blade.

More importantly, as soon as Matadormon appeared, it displayed swordsmanship skills that allowed it to fight Arkadimon on equal terms.

Silence! Silence! Silence!

Its claws, which transform into sword blades, slice through the air; its legs, which resemble scythes, cut through steel and iron.

Within the absolute domain three feet around the bullfighter beast, sword energy overflowed and the air exploded, but its martial-like yet dance-like posture became the most eye-catching sight in this space.

—A solo performance of martial arts!

This is a martial art adapted from a certain folk dance, and it is also a witchcraft ritual used by ancient people to pray to heaven for power and to communicate with gods and ghosts.

Witchcraft, martial arts, dance...

These three distinct skills are displayed in a near-perfect fusion in the Matador Beast.

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"It was only a fully evolved form?"

In Ryuji Mishima's conjecture, for Arkadimon to exhibit such excitement at its Champion level, Matadormon must be some kind of more powerful Digimon.

However, no matter how much he scanned and collected the data, Ryuji's terminal clearly told him that Matadormon was only a Perfect-level Digimon.

A Perfect-level Pokémon capable of briefly contending with Arkadimon in terms of combat power.

What Ryuji doesn't know here is that the current Matadormon is not actually at its peak.

As one of the first Digimon to appear in the real world, Matadormon's earliest appearance can be traced back to eight years ago, during the EDEN beta testing period.

Just like Kingmon, who gave up most of its power to possess Rie Kishibe, Matadormon was also forced to give up most of its power due to the influence of the "Dimensional Wall" and drift in the EDEN Network in the form of a "Persona".

It wasn't until a few years ago, when Nogi Yu discovered this strange "personality mask," that Matadormon's "evolutionary path" was reopened.

Compared to the eight years of accumulation by Swordmon and the research of the Digiwave by the Digi-Shiro Group, Matadormon could only rely on the power of Nogi Yu, this "insignificant human".

Naturally, even if Matadormon possesses the strange sorcery of strengthening itself by absorbing the blood of powerful beings, it cannot compare to SwordEmperormon in terms of power recovery.

So even today, Matadormon, which once possessed power surpassing that of ordinary Ultimate-level Digimon, is now nothing more than a Perfect-level Digimon.

Even so, this is already the limit that ordinary Digimon can achieve.

"The abilities of Digimon have never been limited by their level!"

The sharp martial arts possess extraordinary destructive power, while the gorgeous dance conceals its true attack intentions, all combined with those bizarre and complex witchcraft rituals...

As he himself said, the true strength of Matadormon cannot be determined simply by the evolution level of a Digimon.

However, just like Matadormon, Arkadimon, which is regarded as an "evil god" by other Digimon, is not the kind of being whose strength can be determined by its evolution level.

Bang!

With a single leap and pounce, Arkadimon broke through the absolute forbidden zone of Matadormon's crisscrossing sword energy, forcefully carving out a passage by relying on its ability to devour data.

The next second, Arkadimon suddenly swung its fist with force, and thick veins bulged on its arm like tree roots.

boom!

Fighting with martial arts, defeating techniques with brute force...

The technique that Arkadimon is displaying now is the same Bajiquan that Armored Dragonmon used to fight it.

boom!boom!boom!boom!boom!

Fist, elbow, knee, instep, tail...

Arkadimon, with its extraordinary talent, mastered the essence of Bajiquan and then pounded on Matadormon's body like a storm.

Caught off guard and completely unprepared for Arkadimon's head-on clash, Matadormon, despite its best efforts, could only barely maintain an "undefeated" status.

In contrast, Arkadimon became increasingly unrestrained and frenzied during the process, eventually becoming even more ferocious than Armordramon's Bajiquan.

This is Arkadimon!

This is Digimon!

This is evolution!

With the most outstanding aptitude in the entire Digital World, Arkadimon can evolve into a being beyond the Ultimate level even without learning anything, relying solely on its instincts.

It can be said that since Arkadimon was born, MetalGreymon is the first creature to make it feel pain and the first creature to make it actively begin to evolve and learn.

The first step for Arkadimon to actively evolve was to take the essence of Bajiquan and integrate it into its own body.

After all, no one has ever said that the evolution of Digimon is simply about absorbing data and raising their life level.

Learning, training, and then discovering their own potential are also steps in the evolution of Digimon.

The one who took this process to its extreme was none other than the Stubborn Beast, one of the Royal Knights.

Arkadimon has simply followed the same path, replicating the fighting techniques displayed by Armordramon with its amazing learning ability.

Chapter Thirty-Two: An Encounter with a Butterfly

Near Kamishiro Central Hospital in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.