Digital Hackers' Memories

On the other hand, although Nogi Yu is the one being bullied, Chen Ze now seriously doubts whether these three brainless delinquents can outmaneuver the other party.

"I know...I know."

Carefully covering his face, Yuichi nodded shakily, not daring to look at Chen Ze even once throughout the entire process.

"Thank you."

Just then, Nogi Yu, who hadn't said much, lowered her head and thanked Chen Ze.

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Secondhand shops in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan.

"Thank you for your patronage, Ze-kun."

After packing everything Chen Ze needed, Nogi Yu bowed respectfully to him again until he had completely disappeared from her sight before slowly raising her head.

"Even if he's from 'that world,' he's a kind and gentle person."

Gazing in the direction Chen Ze had left, Nogi Yu recalled the warm smile he had shown when she happened to see him talking to someone in the hallway after that "bullying incident."

A person with that kind of smile can't be a bad person.

Just like Keisuke—that's the kind of gentle smile that only someone destined to become a "hero" can possess.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Goggles? Protagonist Aura?

"You don't seem to like that person named 'Nogi Yu'?"

After a long period of silence, the voice of the fox spirit X finally resounded in Chen Ze's earpiece.

"It's not a matter of liking or disliking; I just don't want to have too much contact with people who have 'stories'."

Chen Ze initially thought Nogi Yu was the kind of "weak person" who offered no resistance, which is why he risked being deported to intervene in the "school bullying" incident.

However, when Chen Ze learned that Nogi Yu was not the "sheep" he had imagined, but a "wolf" in sheep's clothing, he felt like he had been deceived.

Of course, feelings aside, if Chen Ze were to make the choice again, he would still stand up to stop this "school bullying".

After all, no matter how scheming Nogi Yu is, he is still just a teenager, a victim of school bullying, and he himself has done nothing wrong.

It can only be said that Nogi Yu's thinking was immature and her considerations were not thorough enough. She simply adopted a way of "resisting" that caused great harm to everyone.

Chen Ze, who is not a "direct victim," does not intend to defend himself on anyone's behalf.

Because he firmly believes in one sentence: bystanders can never understand the feelings of those involved, and anyone who advises others to be magnanimous without thinking is a "saintly hypocrite".

In fact, compared to the "school bullying" incident that he had stopped, what really made Chen Ze unwilling to associate with Nogi Yu was an event that happened afterward.

Following that school bullying incident, three delinquents, including Yuichi, were hacked, and their personal information was seriously leaked.

This directly resulted in the three students having to temporarily suspend their studies and wait until their information files were re-established or the data was retrieved before they could return to school.

This is another drawback of a highly information-based society—all information is tied to one's identity, and once identity information is lost, one is no different from an "unregistered resident."

Although there was no evidence, Chen Ze still suspected that the temporary suspension of the "delinquent trio" was related to Nogi Yu.

"Are you doubting Nogi Yu?"

The fox spirit X, who was constantly under surveillance, naturally knew the whole story and had some understanding of Chen Ze's suspicions and doubts.

"Don't you think so? It's such a coincidence."

Chen Ze gently shook his head. He knew that it was not a good thing to judge a person's character based on his suspicions alone, but he still couldn't help but wonder about the truth behind it.

"So, that's why you didn't choose to buy EDEN from this store?"

Although he had already found suitable EDEN devices, Chen Ze did not choose to buy them. Instead, he bought some unimportant electronic devices and game discs.

While Fox Spirit X could understand Chen Ze's caution, he couldn't help but feel that it was a bit too much.

"That's one of the reasons, isn't it?"

Without denying the fox spirit X's claim, Chen Ze glanced at the messy things in the bag and revealed a mysterious smile.

"Don't you think that goggles are standard equipment for a hacker who owns a Digimon?"

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"Don't you think that goggles are standard equipment for a hacker who owns a Digimon?"

Standing in front of the counter of another secondhand store, Chen Ze casually picked up a pair of pilot goggles and asked the same question to the fox spirit X on the other end of the headset with a smile.

"I don't think so, I just think it's stupid."

"I can't understand Chen Ze's idea at all," Yaohu Beast X said with his usual sharp wit.

"Instead of buying the most advanced EDEN equipment, you've opted for an antique-level secondhand item. Are you planning to make your opponents laugh at you with these goggles?"

By observing and scanning the goggles in Chen Ze's hand, Youko Beast X had already discovered that it should be one of the earliest EDEN devices.

In other words, the collectible value of this level of EDEN equipment far outweighs its practical value.

"A supporting character who doesn't want to be the protagonist isn't a good extra; this thing comes with its own protagonist aura."

While saying things that the fox spirit X was destined not to understand, Chen Ze took the goggles in his hand to the front desk to pay the bill.

"Always saying things that are incomprehensible, what kind of ancient anime is this line from?"

Having long been accustomed to Chen Ze's occasional chuunibyou behavior and peculiar aesthetic sense, Yaohu Beast X was simply curious about how the other party planned to modify this "goggles-type" EDEN device.

Ultimately, no matter how valuable these goggles are, they are still just a first-generation EDEN device.

In order to increase their profits, capitalists and enterprises usually conduct frantic research on various technological advancements, attempting to use technological barriers to achieve a "temporary" monopoly in the market.

The consequence of this is that while normal electronic products are updated annually and replaced every three years, devices like EDEN, which combine style and functionality, are iterated even more frequently.

According to Reijou X's calculations, even if this "antique" goggles is a three-year-old product, its functionality is far behind the most advanced EDEN equipment by many generations.

"I don't think you have the ability to completely transform this kind of thing."

Reijou X was well aware of Chen Ze's expertise in hardware, but that didn't mean he could upgrade a product from countless generations ago to a level comparable to the latest generation.

This is beyond the capabilities of a normal person; it's almost a fantasy.

"Who told you I needed to completely overhaul this thing?"

Completely unconcerned about the attack from the fox spirit X, Chen Ze settled the price with the shopkeeper and left the used store satisfied, wearing his goggles.

"Ultimately, all I need is a 'digital machine' that can convert data into digital waves."

“Compared to those sophisticated latest products, this old-fashioned EDEN equipment is more in line with my requirements.”

The first step in technological development is always the most difficult. Once you can crack the first few generations of products, the so-called "iterations" that follow are just adding some other functions to the existing capabilities.

At the very least, in the absence of a technological breakthrough, the earliest products are the easiest to glean insights into the operating principles of EDEN equipment.

"Because although digital waves and EDEN technology are related to each other, they are ultimately two completely different things."

"I just wanted to use EDEN's 'shell' to create a machine that could convert 'digital waves', I didn't intend to upgrade this old relic."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Other Digital Worlds

That day, as the sun was setting, a familiar voice came from outside the door at just the right moment.

"Aze! I'm back with steak!"

Hearing Makiko Date's energetic voice, Chen Ze, who had already disassembled his goggles, had to stop what he was doing and hurriedly stuff them all into his toolbox.

"Just come in, didn't I give you the 'pass' option?"

After confirming several times that Makiko Date wouldn't discover these things, Chen Ze finally left the room and sat down in the middle of the living room with a helpless sigh.

With the advancement of technology, traditional door locks have long since disappeared, replaced by more advanced blockchain electronic locks.

Especially in Japan, a society with highly developed EDEN technology, AI with a certain level of intelligence can already automatically grant the appropriate door opening permissions by reviewing the information database of visitors.

"Well, even if you have access, isn't it the most basic 'politeness' to ask the owner for permission before opening the door?"

Carrying a bag of steaks, Makiko Date walked slowly down the corridor, completely ignoring Chen Ze's complaints, still maintaining her carefree demeanor.

"Guys who come here every day to freeload have no right to use the word 'politeness'."

With another helpless sigh, Chen Ze took the steak from Makiko Date's hand and skillfully walked into the kitchen.

"Renamon, come out and help!"

Chen Ze whispered a call to the fox spirit X, knowing that the other party was definitely observing everything outside through the camera.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that Youkomon X inexplicably wanted to learn cooking, Chen Ze wouldn't be in such a predicament right now.

Despite being a Digimon without a physical body, it has developed a fondness for cooking, and prefers to use equipment with a low degree of automation.

If Chen Ze hadn't known the other party's personality so well, he would have suspected that the fox demon X was deliberately tormenting him like this.

"No problem, it's my favorite time of day again."

With a faint smile in his voice, the Fox Spirit X quickly responded to Chen Ze's call.

As she controlled her camera to rotate, she also took over the room's network system.

Then turn on the fully automated appliances one by one, such as the range hood, rice cooker, and microwave oven.

Although these automated "kitchen utensils" could be taken over and started automatically by the system, Youkomon X still prefers to show its presence in this way.

Of course, in the eyes of Makiko Date, who was unaware of the situation, this was just Chen Ze activating a preset system.

"Let's start by cooking rice!"

Under the command of the fox spirit X, Chen Ze skillfully began his cooking career, which he had lost count of how many times before.

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Inside an office at the headquarters of the Kamishiro Corporation.

"Date Makiko?"

Rie Kishibe tapped the table thoughtfully, her eyes never leaving the virtual screen in front of her.

On that screen, all of Makiko Date's data since birth was clearly recorded.

In particular, the records kept after the other party accesses the EDEN network are even more precise, including information such as when, where, and what they did, which involves personal privacy.

This information was clearly not obtained through normal means. Even with Rie Kishibe's current status, she would definitely face legal consequences if her actions were discovered.

Survivors of the "tunnel collapse" incident?

However, at this moment, Rie Kishibe clearly didn't care about any of that; what she wanted to know more about was how the other party had survived that devastating impact.

Keep in mind, that was a white flame powerful enough to destroy Sword Emperor Beast NX.

Even if one is only affected by the aftershocks, an ordinary person would not be able to survive, let alone someone like Makiko Date, who miraculously survived without any aftereffects.

"And this 'exchange student' named Chen Ze also survived?"

Carefully considering everything that happened, Rie Kishibe seemed to transform back into SwordEmperorBeast NX, going through the details in a way that was almost like "memory rewind".

Since possessing Rie Kishibe's body, SwordEmmon has not used its abilities like this for a long time, so long that it has even forgotten that it is still a "Digimon".

"It seems we have to deal with that inexplicable 'white flame beast' first."

Prior to this, Rie Kishibe, or rather, SwordEmbo, had always thought that the white Flamemon was just a simple mutant, and that its relationship with Renamon X was just a simple partnership, and had not taken the other party too seriously.

After realizing the opponent's two consecutive outbursts and its act of "protecting" the two humans, Sword Emperor Beast was surprised to find that it seemed to have underestimated the mutant.

Destroying Rie Kishibe's digital avatar in the Digimon Black Market could be attributed to underestimating her opponent and being careless.

However, in the battle in the tunnel, even though he had transformed into SwordEmperorBeast NX, which was arguably his highest level of combat power besides using his original form, he still lost to WhiteFlameBeast.

Yes, SwordKingmon does not believe that its clone lost to Gankomon's Vulcan Kamui.

The opponent only breached its defensive barrier; what truly destroyed the stability of SwordEmperor NX's body and caused its disappearance was WhiteFlamemon's final rampage.

The ability to disrupt normal data processing and destroy data through constant rewriting is beyond the capabilities of a simple "mutant".

"Wait, is that really a Digimon?"

Unconsciously lowering its head, the Sword Emperor Beast looked at its own human female appearance and suddenly had an unbelievable guess in its mind.

Since she was able to cross the barriers of the world and appear in the real world by taking the body of a human woman.

Are there other unknown beings that crossed the world barrier, came to this world, and took over the bodies of Digimon?

"I remember that white fire beast was 'Agumon' before it evolved, right?"

As all the characteristics of that ice-blue Agumon flashed through his mind again, SwordKingmon was certain that he had never seen similar data anywhere in the Digital World.

In other words, that subspecies of Agumon never appeared in the Digital World.