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

"Let's do it!"

At Cheng Yuan's command, the entire jungle seemed to come alive. The ground suddenly collapsed, and the two wild beasts were caught off guard and fell into the trap carefully prepared by the pangolin.

"Boom!" The two pangolins, their increased weight from their hardening abilities, descended from the sky like two small tanks, slamming precisely into the savage beast. Cheng Yuan even heard the "crack" of bones breaking.

"Holy crap..." His lips twitched, "Who taught you this 'Mount Tai Press' move?"

The vines of the Flower Beast coiled around the ankles of the third Wild Beast like living snakes, while the thorns of the Baloo Beast bound the fourth one like a dumpling. The two unfortunate creatures struggled desperately, but the entanglement only tightened.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" The Gear Beast's flying saw sliced ​​through the air, accurately striking the fifth Savage Beast in the shoulder. Taking advantage of the moment, the Candle Beast sprayed out sticky paraffin wax, firmly pinning the Savage Beast's legs to the ground.

"Ah-da!" The mineral beast, like a professional baseball pitcher, hurled the crystal condensed above its head at the last savage beast at a rate of three shots per second. The data sparks that erupted as the crystal hit the savage beast illuminated the excited faces of the students.

"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~" The screams of the wild beasts rose and fell, just like a group of cats whose tails had been stepped on.

Then came the barrage of attacks...

Cheng Yuan shuddered, nearly collapsing from fright at the sight. He stared dumbfounded at his usually quiet classmates, who were now all incredibly excited, as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

"Are you guys on drugs? That's strong?" he muttered under his breath, suddenly feeling that his little dog was simply a gentle little angel.

"Little Dog Beast, let's go too!"

Meanwhile, in a clearing at the edge of the jungle.

Wang Lin lay leisurely on the grass, a wild fruit gathered by a flying insect dangling from her mouth. Cao Jin, on the other hand, paced back and forth like an ant on a hot plate.

"Are you sure you don't need to come along? What if there's danger..." Cao Jin raised his concerns for the nth time.

Wang Lin lazily rolled over: "Don't worry, the wild beasts in this area have been mostly cleared out long ago."

She spat out a fruit pit, "Letting them get used to the wild environment first is better than throwing them directly into the Savage Valley."

"But......"

Wang Lin gave a mysterious smile: "But isn't this exactly the effect Team Leader Xu wanted?"

"Relax, Mr. Cao. Sometimes, the digital world is the best university for a tamer..."

Chapter 41 The Cage

After successfully killing five savage beasts, only corpses surrounded by data streams remained on the battlefield.

Wenrou cautiously approached with the digital data collector. A flash of blue light appeared, and the savage beast's corpse gradually turned into data and was sucked into the collector.

All that remained on the ground were a few rough wooden sticks, tattered animal hides, and five round digital cores that gleamed faintly.

"The material of these wooden sticks is quite unique." A boy picked up the wild beast's weapon and gently tapped the tree trunk, which produced a crisp, metallic sound. "They're very hard; they'd be very valuable if used to make beads."

"Don't just focus on collecting junk," Cheng Yuan reminded with a smile. "The digital cores are the key; the outpost is buying them for 20,000 each."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately sprang into action, hurriedly collecting the spoils. Wenrou carefully put the five digital cores into her backpack, while the savage beast's wooden stick was tied to the pangolin's back.

The spoils brought smiles to everyone's faces, and the tense atmosphere from before vanished.

"That's too easy!" A boy wearing glasses pushed up his glasses. "Let's keep going and try to complete more tasks."

“Exactly! This is much easier than training,” another girl chimed in, her eyes sparkling. “At this rate, we can earn enough for a month’s worth of training fees today!”

Cheng Yuan did not respond immediately, but silently put the stone digital egg entrusted to him by the mischievous monkey beast into his backpack.

He noticed that although the students were in high spirits, the Digimon had already used up more than half of their energy.

The battle just now seemed easy, but it was actually because they used a perfect ambush tactic.

"Don't get too excited yet, everyone." Cheng Yuan cleared his throat. "Our teamwork still has a lot of room for improvement. That barrage of skills just now wasted too much energy. What if we encounter even more Savage Beasts?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's heads. Indeed, if the situation hadn't been brought under control from the start, leaving the savage beasts powerless to fight back, the battle would never have gone so smoothly.

"Woof!" The little beast suddenly pricked up its ears and barked into the depths of the jungle.

"Wang!"

Reminded by the little dog beast, Cheng Yuan remembered that there was a smashed monkey beast in the grass in the distance, and he figured he could take it down again.

The Digicore of the Monkeymon is more valuable than that of the Wildmanmon because the Monkeymon's activity area is farther away from the outpost, and the Monkeymon is more agile and harder to catch.

So Cheng Yuan led everyone toward the mischievous monkey beast.

When the group arrived at the spot where the mischievous monkey had fallen, the sight before them silenced everyone.

This Digimon was covered in wounds, with most of its green fur burned off and its body exposed data and flesh everywhere.

"Huh?" It's not dead yet.

No halo symbolizing the dissipation of data formed around the mischievous monkey.

“It…is to protect future generations…” Wenrou’s voice choked with emotion.

"We can't just stand by and watch it die, can we?" A girl crouched down, gently touching the wound of the Mischievous Monkeymon, but then recoiled as if electrocuted. "But it's too badly injured, and we don't have any healing Digimon here..."

Cheng Yuan looked around, his brow furrowed. Splitting up to find rescue was too dangerous, but continuing forward with the severely injured monkey beast was also impractical. Finally, he had a flash of inspiration: "How about this, we'll secure it to the pangolin's back. If it can hold out until we get back to the outpost, we'll rescue it; if not... then we'll collect data."

This compromise, though cruel, was indeed the most practical option at the moment. The group hastily made a makeshift stretcher out of vines and carefully secured the mischievous monkey beast to the pangolin's broad back.

After regrouping, they continued their journey along the valley. Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting dappled shadows, and the babbling of the river mingled with birdsong. If it weren't for the ever-present threat of encountering wild beasts, the scenery would have been truly delightful.

"There's something going on the riverbank at two o'clock," Cheng Yuan said in a low voice, signaling everyone to take cover.

The little dog beast had already scouted ahead and could see two wild beasts sitting around a campfire. Chunks of meat from an unknown creature were roasting over the fire, their grease dripping into the flames and sizzling.

"Are they having a picnic?"

“The terrain is too open…” Cheng Yuan carefully observed the surrounding environment. The riverbank was completely exposed, leaving no room for an ambush. “Charging head-on is too dangerous. Their fireballs are no joke.”

After a brief discussion, they decided to repeat their previous tactic, using a decoy strategy—with the fastest puppy as bait. This time, the students learned from their mistake and instead of unleashing all their skills at once, they focused on teamwork and control.

The battle ended faster than expected. After the two savage beasts were lured into the ambush, the vines of the Flower Beast immediately wrapped around their ankles, followed by a precise strike to their knees from a Mineral Beast's flying rock. By the time the savage beasts fell to the ground, the Earth-Splitting Claws of the Mountain Beast were already pressed against their throats.

"Beautiful!" Cheng Yuan couldn't help but exclaim. "That's what teamwork is all about!"

And so, they ventured deeper into the jungle, using the same tactics to take down four more waves of savage beast squads. Their backpacks swelled with digital cores, and the smiles on the students' faces grew ever brighter. With a professional beast tamer providing support from behind, their courage swelled, and they gradually pressed deeper into the jungle.

However, when the little beast suddenly stopped and pricked up its ears warily, Cheng Yuan realized something was wrong. A burnt smell filled the air, mixed with some other pungent odor.

Pushing aside the last clump of bushes, the sight before them made everyone gasp in horror—

This was a forest clearing stained red with blood, littered with the corpses of Wildmanmon and Unrulymon. Some of the bodies were still emitting wisps of smoke, indicating that the battle had just ended. A rough estimate suggests that at least thirty Digimon had perished here.

"Is...is there a war going on?" Wenrou's voice trembled slightly.

Cheng Yuan crouched down to examine the nearest corpses. The wounds on the savage beasts were mostly from bullets, while the wounds on the stubborn monkey beasts were mostly from blunt force trauma.

The corpses of the two Digimon were intertwined, clearly indicating that they had been in a fierce battle.

"Digital data acquisition device... is there still room for it?" A boy swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming. This was an astonishing fortune.

"Hurry up!" A tall boy impatiently drew his dagger. "Take out the digital core before the data dissipates!"

Cheng Yuan frowned, but still followed his classmates. Wen Rou's digital data collector hummed as it continuously absorbed the data energy scattered across the battlefield.

Several daring boys squatted down next to the corpse, used daggers to cut open the Digimon's chest, and groped for the Digicore.

"Found it!" A bespectacled boy excitedly held up a digital core that glowed green, still covered with some data residue. His movements became more and more skilled, and he quickly collected five or six.

Some of the bolder students even took a knife and stabbed the Digimon in the chest, directly removing the Digicore.

"Cheng Yuan, look at this!" Wen Rou suddenly exclaimed, her voice filled with panic.

Cheng Yuan looked in the direction she was pointing and could vaguely see several rough wooden cages behind the bushes at the edge of the battlefield. Dozens of trembling baby Digimon were huddled inside, including Baby 1 Blackballmon and Baby 2 Woofmon. Those who had read the strategy guides knew that these were Baby Digimon of Mischievous Monkeymon.

"This is... the infancy of a Mischievous Monkey Beast?" Cheng Yuan gasped. According to the textbook, the Black Ball Beast evolves into the Woof-Meow Beast, and then into the Mischievous Monkey Beast. These cubs were clearly captured by the Wildman Beast.

"Oh my god, they're so small..." Wenrou's voice trembled slightly. She crouched down, trying to get closer to the cage, and the Digimon inside immediately let out terrified squeaks.

A burly young man shrugged dismissively: "Why bother with them? We're not here to be caretakers." He brandished a dagger covered in data in his hand. "The important thing is to collect all the valuable digital cores."

"But they're cubs!" Wenrou exclaimed, her eyes reddening with anxiety. "And they look starving..."

Cheng Yuan carefully observed the structure of the cages. These wooden cages were crudely made, but exceptionally sturdy, with each wooden plank as thick as a wrist. The cage doors were firmly bound with vines, which were coated with some kind of pungent slime, probably to prevent the mischievous monkeys from coming to the rescue.

"Woof!" The little beast suddenly perked up its ears alertly and turned towards the depths of the jungle. Cheng Yuan immediately understood and lowered his voice, "There's movement! Everyone, take cover!"

Chapter 42 Save the Children

Cheng Yuan stared at the trembling black ball beast and the dog-cat beast in the cage, and felt as if something had gripped his chest tightly.

The cubs' fur was covered in mud and dried blood, their round eyes were filled with terror, and their tiny claws clung tightly to the cage bars, making faint "squeak" sounds.

“We have to save them,” Wenrou said softly, her eyes slightly red.

"Save them? How?" The bespectacled boy pushed up his glasses, his tone indifferent. "Our mission is to collect data, not to be saints. Besides, what would we do with them if we took them back? Are you going to raise them?"

“But…” Wenrou wanted to argue, but Cheng Yuan raised his hand to interrupt her.

"Don't make a sound." Cheng Yuan squatted down and carefully observed the structure of the cage.

The cage was made of rough wooden sticks and vines, and although it was simple, it was indestructible for a young Digimon. He tried to push the cage door and found that it was firmly held in place by some kind of tough plant fiber.

"Can the little beast bite it off?" Cheng Yuan asked in a low voice.

The little dog approached the cage door and tried to tear at the vines with its teeth, but the vines didn't budge. "Woof! These vines have been specially treated; they're incredibly tough!"

Cheng Yuan squatted down, his fingertips tracing the surface of the vines—tiny metal particles were embedded in the rough fibers, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Try Shadowball."

The dark energy on the puppy's chest rapidly condensed, and a purplish-black energy ball shot out.

The moment the vines made contact with the Shadow Orb, a sickening sizzling sound was heard, and acrid white smoke rose up. The once resilient vines decayed and softened at a visible speed, finally snapping with a "crack".

"Success!" Wenrou was about to cheer when a faint groan came from behind her.

Cheng Yuan turned around abruptly and saw the stubborn monkey on the pangolin's back struggling to raise its head. Half of its face was sunken and deformed, and broken ribs pierced its fur, yet it still stared intently at the cage with its only intact eye.

It opened its mouth as if trying to speak, but its voice was so weak that no one could hear it. At this moment, the pangolin carrying it mumbled a translation: "It said... please save the child..."

Those cloudy eyes churned with too many emotions: despair, pleading, and a sliver of hope on the verge of being extinguished.

The little dog also looked at Cheng Yuan with innocent eyes.

Cheng Yuan took a deep breath and turned to his classmates, saying, "The cubs in the cage are defenseless, so rescuing them won't affect our mission. Besides, if we don't take care of them, they'll become food for the savage beasts sooner or later."

"But we have no obligation—"

“Don’t forget,” Cheng Yuan interrupted, “we are beast tamers, not hunters. Can you bear to watch these little guys get eaten by wild beasts?”

A moment of silence fell over the group, broken only by the heavy breathing of the pangolins echoing through the forest. Wenrou was the first to step forward, gently taking the black ball beast from her: "I'm joining."

Her gear-like creature obediently extended its mechanical arm and carefully lifted up the other cub.

"Count me in." Short-haired girl Li Yue kicked away the wild beast's wooden stick at her feet. Her Baloo had already begun weaving a vehicle from its vine cubs so that the pangolins could carry them.

Zhang Ming, who wore glasses, adjusted his frames, his gaze behind the lenses flickering uncertainly. Finally, he sighed, "...Whatever." But Cheng Yuan noticed that he subtly adjusted his backpack, making more comfortable space for the dog-cat beast in his arms.

Cheng Yuan crouched down in front of the stubborn monkey beast, its shattered chest heaving violently. "Hold on, we'll take them home soon." He asked softly, "Do you remember the direction of the nest?"

The monkey's pupils were already dilated, but it still struggled to raise its front paws, trying to point somewhere. In the end, its arms fell limply, and it fell into a coma again.

"Alright, let's head back to the outpost first! Let's collect the spoils and get moving!" Cheng Yuan quickly assigned tasks. "Li Yue, keep watch; Wen Rou, take care of the cubs; Zhang Ming, use the Digivice to plan the shortest route." He glanced at the setting sun, the shadows in the forest growing longer.

"We must reach the outpost before nightfall."

Cheng Yuan once again directed everyone to collect the spoils of war.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the jungle, Wang Lin's flying insect beast swooped down from the sky, its compound eyes flashing with anxious data streams.

"Still no signal." She stroked the cold screen of the Dinosaur, where all the location signals were displayed as glaring red crosses.

"Should we notify Captain Xu?" Physical education teacher Cao Jin's big-eared beast twitched its long ears uneasily.

Wang Lin looked out at the tranquil jungle, bit her lower lip, and said, "You contact the leader, I'll go in and find it. Flying Insect Beast, let's go!"

The main reason was that he didn't want to be scolded by Captain Xu... Although Captain Xu was young, he was not polite to the older guys like him at all.

Cao Jin: "Well... alright!"

The picnic team returned, but the journey back was far less easy than the start.

There were more than ten baby Digimon, one in each person's hand, and Pangolin was carrying nearly ten on its back.

Cheng Yuan distributed the growth data packages to the Digimon babies, completely forgetting Xu Xin's instruction not to feed the Digimon.

“Hey class representative,” Zhang Ming said, pushing up his glasses with four round, black Digimon perched on his back, “don’t we look like habitual Digimon traffickers?”