Digimon: I really didn't want to be the Digimon Emperor!

Cheng Yuan typed with a wry smile: [The puppy's dark stats are skyrocketing... I wonder if this will affect its evolution.]

A new message popped up immediately: "Pengcheng Digital Evolution Research Institute, give me your name when you arrive."

"Evolution Research Institute?" Cheng Yuan frowned and muttered, "Isn't she the nursery nurse at the Digital Center's nursery?"

He remembered that Zhou Mo's work ID clearly had the words "Pengcheng Digital Center" printed on it.

Around noon, Cheng Yuan, holding the little dog beast, stood in front of a tall, silver-gray building. The builder's signboard bore the words "Pengcheng Digital Evolution Research Institute" in gold lettering.

Through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, one could vaguely see many staff members in white coats hurrying by.

"Woof?" The little dog shook its ears uneasily; the unfamiliar environment made it slightly uneasy.

"It's alright, little beast." Cheng Yuan gently squeezed its paw. As the automatic sensor door slowly opened, a blast of cold air rushed in.

The receptionist looked up: "Hello, do you have an appointment?"

"Zhou Mo sent me." Before the words were finished, a familiar voice came from the end of the corridor—

"Cheng Yuan! Over here!"

Zhou Mo was wearing the research institute's standard white lab coat uniform, with a "Junior Researcher" badge pinned to her left chest. Compared to when she was at the Digimon Nursery, she had a more serious demeanor.

She crouched down, her pupils focused on the holy ring around the Digimon's neck, and the moment her fingertips touched it, the holy ring rippled with a faint light.

“Interesting…” she murmured. “The purity of light and holy energy can reach this level, which is rare among Rookie Digimon.”

"Of course," Cheng Yuan thought to himself, "I've spent a lot of wealth points on the Light and Holy factions."

"Sister Mo, didn't you work at the nursery before?" Cheng Yuan couldn't help but ask, "How did you suddenly become a researcher?"

Zhou Mo chuckled upon hearing this and led him through two automatic sensor doors into the laboratory.

"My main job is at the research institute. Last month, I went to the Nursery House for exchange and learning. There are occasional learning and exchange sessions between the Institute of Evolution and the Digital Center."

"Your little dog-like Digimon is the Digi-egg we brought from the lab that time—although it was a breeding sample from the research institute, according to the Digimon Rights Bill, it is also qualified to become a tamer's partner."

On the central platform of the laboratory, several precision instruments were humming softly.

Zhou Mo skillfully adjusted the parameters of the testing station.

"Put the little guy on the examination table." She placed a ring that shimmered with blue light onto the little dog's sacred ring. "Don't worry, it's just a routine check-up."

The little dog nervously shrank its neck, but its attention was quickly drawn to a high-purity data cube that Zhou Mo handed it. It hugged the cube and started gnawing on it, completely unaware of the indicator lights on the surrounding instruments.

"Look here." Zhou Mo pointed to the holographic screen, which displayed the energy spectrum of the little dog beast. Golden holy energy flowed like a tide, but within the energy spectrum, there was also a dark energy; the two were clearly distinct yet coexisted in a strange way.

“The vaccine is of the Holy type, with very high energy purity,” Zhou Mo pushed up his glasses, “but it also contains dark energy.”

She pulled up another set of data, "This dark energy is a bit restless, like a grumpy little black cat."

"If this dark energy is allowed to grow unchecked, it may affect its future evolution."

"Will it affect evolution? Evolve into what?"

Zhou Mo laughed and said, "It's hard to say. After all, the evolution of Digimon is still being explored, and there aren't many patterns yet. The evolution path of the Holy type Digimon with the puppy face hasn't been fully explored yet. Currently, we've only explored up to the Champion stage of Gatomon, let alone the Dark type."

However, Cheng Yuan was very clear that in the original world's animation, the puppy beast did indeed have a dark evolution path.

[Puppymon → BlackGatomon → LadyDevimon.]

LadyDevimon, fair-skinned and beautiful, in a tight leather bodysuit, long legs and a slender waist... that doesn't seem so bad... No, no, no, Angewomon is my childhood dream... LadyDevimon in a tight leather bodysuit, alluring and sexy, isn't bad either... No, no, no, Angewomon in a white bodysuit isn't bad either...

Seeing Cheng Yuan's absent-minded look, Zhou Mo mistakenly thought he was worried that Dark Evolution would cause Digimon to go berserk, and gently comforted him, "Actually, Digimon that undergo Dark Evolution will not necessarily lose their minds and go berserk. Last year, a college student tamer successfully restored a Digimon to its senses."

She gently removed the monitoring ring from the puppy's neck. "I recommend that the puppy be monitored regularly. Please bring it in for a check-up once a week this month, is that alright?"

Weekly testing? That seems more frequent than the regular quarantine for virus-type Digimon?

According to the Digimon Quarantine and Inspection Law of the Eastern Kingdom, Digimon of the Virus type need to undergo monthly quarantine inspections to prevent corruption and rampage.

Seeing Cheng Yuan hesitate, Zhou Mo added, "I'm preparing to conduct a study on the coexistence of sacred and dark forces. If you're willing to cooperate regularly..." She found an agreement, "The research institute can pay a monthly research stipend of six thousand yuan."

The image of Cheng Yuan fidgeting with his pockets in the nursery flashed through her mind.

"Six thousand a month?" Cheng Yuan almost bit his tongue, his fingers unconsciously clenching the little beast's paw.

The little guy barked in pain.

Cheng Yuan felt his throat tighten. The words "research allowance" on the agreement kept enlarging in front of his eyes, translating into wealth points of +6000, +6000, +6000.

"I am willing!"

By the time Cheng Yuan carried the little dog out of the research institute, night had completely fallen. He had a newly issued research funding card in his pocket, and the little guy in his arms was munching on Zhou Mosai's data cube.

"Have we sold ourselves?" Cheng Yuan sat on the shared bicycle and poked the puffed-up cheeks of the little dog beast on the basket.

Pulling out my vibrating phone, I saw a bank deposit notification that read: "[Pengcheng Digital Evolution Research Institute received a transfer of 6000 yuan]".

[Ding! System notification: Wealth points: 43200 (+6000)]

Chapter 19 The Little Dog's Choice

Cheng Yuan originally planned to take the little dog beast to the abandoned factory to train Holy Light Bullets again, but for some reason, he felt a strange sense of resistance towards the abandoned factory.

"Forget it, let's go somewhere else today." He ruffled the little dog's hair. "Let's go to the training park, the sun is nice there."

"Woof!" The little dog wagged its tail happily, clearly having no attachment to the abandoned factory.

Sunlight filters through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Cheng Yuan found a secluded corner, threw his backpack onto the lawn, and the little beast immediately jumped off his shoulder, excitedly spinning around twice, its sacred ring around its neck gleaming in the sunlight.

"Today's goal is—" Cheng Yuan held up one finger, "the accuracy and endurance of the Holy Light Bullet!"

"Woof!" The little dog beast struck a fighting stance with high spirits, its front paws slightly lowered and its tail held high, intending to play the role of a hungry wolf pouncing, but its cute appearance ruined the mood.

Throughout the afternoon, the park was filled with the sounds of "whoosh—pop!" as the light projectiles flew. At first, the trajectory of the holy light projectiles was somewhat erratic, but after repeated practice, the little dog beast gradually mastered the rhythm of energy output.

"Beautiful!" Cheng Yuan whistled, watching the Holy Light Bullet trace a graceful arc and accurately hit the bullseye drawn on the tree trunk thirty meters away.

The little dog proudly raised its head and patted its chest with its little paws, as if to say, "See, master, I'm just that awesome!"

"Don't get too cocky." Cheng Yuan grinned mischievously, picked up a twig, and drew two targets on the grass. "Next, let's try controlling two Holy Light Bullets simultaneously!"

The next step is to increase the power output and endurance of the Holy Light Bolts. Then, we need to increase the number of Holy Light Bolts and practice multi-threaded control of them.

Little Dog Beast, you still have a long way to go.

As evening approached, the training finally ended. The little beast immediately climbed up Cheng Yuan's arm and onto his shoulder, then stretched out its paws to try and open its backpack to find the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"Not now." Cheng Yuan knew it was longing for the sacred meal after its daily training.

"Woof..." Her pitiful little eyes.

Although the Sacred Feast doesn't convert as much into wealth points, it's incredibly satisfying!

Cheng Yuan almost burst out laughing. Ever since his digestive system materialized, this little foodie has made "eating" his top priority in life. Every meal Cheng's mother makes is devoured by him, to the point that Cheng's mother now has to prepare an extra portion when cooking, and she always says, "My good child eats well, so he grows up fast and beautiful."

"Don't rush, we'll eat together at dinner tonight."

Hearing Cheng Yuan say that, the little dog started looking forward to dinner again and began urging Cheng Yuan to go home quickly.

Looking at the carefree little guy, even if he's exhausted and covered in mud, a meal when we get home will make him forget all the pain and troubles of the day.

This kind of mentality is commonly known as being carefree and thoughtless.

He really wants that kind of positive mindset.

But he was different. The academic workload of his senior year of high school and the college entrance examination weighed heavily on his mind.

While waiting for his mother to cook, Cheng Yuan scribbled and drew in his notebook.

"Little Dog Beast." He pushed the notebook in front of Little Dog Beast. "Take a look at this."

"Wang?"

The little dog stared wide-eyed in confusion at the drawing Cheng Yuan had picked up.

On the left page of the notebook, there was a drawing of a humanoid creature with four pairs of wings, and a sacred ring on its left ankle.

On the right page, there is a drawing of a humanoid creature with a jet-black body and bat wings, its entire body bound by chains, and a ghostly flame connected to its back.

They are clearly the Ultimate-level forms of Angewomon and LadyDevimon.

The little dog's ears perked up instantly, and it looked up at Cheng Yuan with its eyes full of questions.

Master, what kind of stick figures did you draw? I can't say I'm impressed with your drawing skills!

"Ahem..." Cheng Yuan cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. "That's right, these are your future Ultimate stages." Cheng Yuan pointed to the stick figure on the left. "This... Angewomon will be your Holy Route Ultimate form. This one on the right... LadyDevimon will be your Dark Route Ultimate form."

“Woof…Angewomon? LadyDevimon,” the little dogmon stammered, repeating the two unfamiliar words, its eyes glued to the pairs of wings. Although Cheng Yuan’s soul drawing was atrocious, the little dogmon seemed to see its future soaring through the sky through those clumsy lines.

Does having more wings mean you can fly faster?

Although Cheng Yuan's soul painting turned Angewomon and LadyDevimon into stick figures, Puppymon looked at the several pairs of wings that could fly and the holy rings on their ankles, its eyes flickered, and it nodded thoughtfully.

Its little paws pressed firmly onto the Angewomon pattern.

Cheng Yuan let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Having just developed decision-making difficulties, letting the little dog make the choice seemed to have saved his life, pulling him out of the abyss of indecision.

"Enough, enough, it's too early to talk about these things. The most important thing now is for us to train hard, improve our skills, and prepare for the college entrance examination."

"Woof—Awoo~!" The little dog patted the ground with its tail and yawned, indicating that it didn't want to use its brain and only wanted to fight.

I'll leave everything to you, woof.

The next day, as the new week began, when Cheng Yuan appeared at the school training ground, the other students had arrived around the same time.

Meanwhile, when Cheng Yuan entered the training ground, he keenly noticed that there had been changes in the members of the elite class—five students who were ranked lower were gone, replaced by several new faces, and new Rookie-level Digimon had also joined.

"The elimination system is really no joke..." Cheng Yuan muttered to himself, instinctively hugging the little dog beast in his arms tighter. Teacher Xu Xin would score everyone's performance each week, and those with low scores would be eliminated.

Teacher Xu Xin walked in as the school bell rang, looking frighteningly haggard. The dark circles under her eyes were so thick they looked like she was wearing smoky makeup, and she seemed unsteady on her feet.

But the moment he stood on the podium, all his fatigue seemed to vanish instantly, and his eyes became sharp as knives.

"He's a ruthless person..." Cheng Yuan thought to himself.

"Last week, everyone understood the significance of the training and found their own direction!" Xu Xin's voice was firm and powerful. "This week, we will learn about—[Skills Development]!"

That's right, it's about developing skills for your own Digimon!

He surveyed the room, his gaze lingering on each trainee for a moment: "The true value of a Beast Tamer lies not in training Digimon step by step, but in unleashing their limitless potential!"

"This week's scoring criteria are very simple—" Xu Xin held up three fingers, "The strength, applicability, and quantity of skills developed. Those ranked at the bottom will be eliminated!"

A chorus of groans erupted in the training ground. Cheng Yuan looked down at the little beast in his arms; the little guy was tilting his head, looking at him with eager anticipation in his eyes.

"Looks like we need to step up our game..." Cheng Yuan squeezed its little paw, a confident smile playing on his lips. "It's time to get some new tricks up our sleeves with the Holy Light Bullet!"

Chapter 20: The Digimon Growth March

In the training hall in the early morning, Cheng Yuan was doing warm-up exercises, his joints making a slight "clicking" sound.

The little dog squatted to the side, tilting its head to watch him stretch, occasionally imitating him by raising its front paws, looking adorably clumsy.

"Let's continue speed training today." Cheng Yuan patted the huge professional treadmill. "Let's start with a 30-minute warm-up, and then see if we can break last week's record."

The little dog jumped onto the treadmill with a "woof," its sacred ring around its neck glowing slightly, and its four short legs couldn't wait to start marching in place.

Cheng Yuan set the parameters, and with a "beep" sound, the conveyor belt slowly started.

After intensive training last week, Puppymon's top speed has reached 90 km/h. This speed is considered elite among Rookie-level Digimon.

At first, the little beast moved with ease, even having the energy to wag its tail at Cheng Yuan. As its speed gradually increased, its expression became focused, its snow-white fur and droopy ears fluttering in the airflow, and the light of its sacred ring grew brighter and brighter.

When the speed exceeded 100km/h, Cheng Yuan noticed an unusual phenomenon—the little dog's limbs moved with unusual fluidity, each step landing precisely on the optimal point of contact, as if it were a sophisticated machine.

"120km/h..." Cheng Yuan's eyes widened. This speed had already surpassed last week's record, but the little dog beast still seemed to have plenty of energy left!

At this moment, the puppy's body underwent a special change—

At extreme speed, the little dog's figure suddenly blurred, leaving a faint gray afterimage trailing behind it! The shadow moved almost in sync with the main body, and although it only lasted for a few seconds before disappearing, Cheng Yuan saw it clearly.

"You little beast..."

"Wang!"

But Cheng Yuan roughly knew what had happened to it.

Shadow Clone Technique! This prototype of a speed-oriented skill for Shadow-type Digimon has been mastered by Puppymon.

Shadow Clone is a skill that creates clones by moving quickly to disrupt enemies. With practice, it can even create energy clones for even better disruption.