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

In the center of the city stands a magnificent golden clock tower, its huge gears turning slowly with a dull "click" sound, as if measuring the weight of time.

Cheng Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and found himself standing on an unfamiliar platform. The cold metal floor sent a chill through him, making him realize that this was no dream.

Just moments ago, I was still immersed in Gu Le Beast's words, "Search for the light of evolution," when in the blink of an eye, I was teleported to this unfamiliar platform.

"Where is this?" Cheng Yuan muttered to himself, cautiously looking around.

An old-fashioned steam locomotive was parked in front of the platform, its dark metal exterior marked by the passage of time. Instinct told him this was no ordinary old locomotive; he raised his arc lamp.

【Steam Locomotive Beast (Locomotive Beast)】

[Data Seed - Mechanical Type]

【Complete body】

[Skills: Steam Bomb, Wheel Crusher]

[Description: A transporter traversing the digital world, responsible for delivering critical data. Its entire body is covered in high-strength alloy, and its top chimney can spew out high-temperature steam. Despite its old-fashioned appearance, as a fully-fledged unit, its performance is comparable to newer models.]

"The complete form?!" Cheng Yuan gasped.

To his further surprise, there were five animal trainers on the platform preparing to board the train.

"Woof! Cheng Yuan, look!" The little dog suddenly tugged at his trouser leg. Following the direction the little paw pointed, Cheng Yuan realized that the sea of ​​clouds outside the platform—they were actually high in the sky!

He looked around and found that it was a huge floating platform.

Eight metal tracks start from the center of the platform and extend radially in eight directions. Each track is occupied by a different locomotive—from old-fashioned steam locomotives to the latest maglev trains, all of which are fully operational.

It feels like... a high-speed rail station?

The numerous railways form a shape resembling the Chinese character "米" (mǐ), with a massive and awe-inspiring golden clock tower at its center.

Next to each railway line, there is a platform, and on the platform, people stand waiting for their trains.

Among them were people of both Eastern and Western appearances, and even a few tamers of dark-skinned races. The Tyrannosaurus Rex or Arc Light Machines in their hands indicated their status as tamers.

Cheng Yuan took a closer look and noticed that the five people on the same platform as him all had East Asian faces.

At that moment, the Golden Bell Tower rang its bells, as if urging everyone to hurry up and board the vehicle.

Just as he was about to catch up with the five people ahead, the nearest steam locomotive spewed out a plume of white smoke and made a loud buzzing sound: "Little guys, welcome to Lark! The Time-Space Secret Realm is about to open, hurry up and get on board, toot-toot!"

The deafening whistle forced Cheng Yuan to cover his ears. The moment the hatch opened, the five people in front filed in.

"Hey, you over there!" the train engine beast yelled hoarsely, "If you don't get on the train soon, Master Quantum Beast will throw you back onto land!"

"Quantum Beast?" Cheng Yuan's heart skipped a beat; the name seemed familiar.

Before he could think it through, the train whistle sounded again, urging him on. Cheng Yuan picked up the two Digimon and rushed into the carriage.

"Alright, everyone, buckle up!" the locomotive beast chuckled like an old man.

Meanwhile, at the top of the Golden Clock Tower, a girl-type Digimon wearing a golden mask and a totem robe gazed into the void. Her slender fingers lightly traced a line, and six figures appeared and disappeared before her.

"Hmm?" The brows under the mask suddenly furrowed. At the steam locomotive platform, according to the list of people authorized to board the Time-Space Secret Realm submitted by the Digital World Administration, only five people should have boarded the train, but now there was an extra boy of about sixteen years old with two Digimon.

It closed its eyes, and countless images flashed through its mind. It quickly discovered the anomaly—it turned out that the Ancient Music Beast had granted the boy access to the Time-Space Secret Realm without permission.

"So be it." It sighed softly, its robes fluttering even without wind. "Since it's that child's choice, let's just use up more computing power... Let the Administration reimburse us for the extra computing power we consume."

All passengers at the platforms surrounding the Golden Bell Tower had completed boarding.

The tolling of the bells grew more and more urgent.

At the top of the clock tower, the golden-masked Digimon, Quantummon, shone with a dazzling light. Its hands formed a hand seal, and a brilliant golden beam of light shot into the sky.

Ultimate Skills – [Endless Journey] [Time and Space Chaos]!

The moment the skill was unleashed, all the clocks in the floating city stopped. Countless golden runes rose from the Golden Clock Tower and shot to the ends of the eight tracks.

At the end of the broken railway, space begins to twist and fold, eventually transforming into crystalline time portals that float at the eight corners of the Sky City of Lak.

"Set off, hopefuls," it murmured softly.

One after another, fully-equipped trains began to start, accelerate, transform into streams of light, and rush into the portal of time and space.

Quantum Beast

[Data Seed - Fairy Type]

Ultimate Form

[Skills: Endless Journey (Opens a portal to time and space), Time Chaos (Manipulates the flow of time)]

[Introduction: The guardians stationed in the floating city of "Lak" collaborate with the Digital World Administration to monitor global crises, utilizing the predictive capabilities of the floating city of "Lak" to detect and prevent global catastrophes in advance.]

However, regarding information about Quantum Beasts, no tamer's equipment can detect their existence—it seems to exist in another dimension.

The little dog beast: "???"

"Little Dog Beast, what are you doing?" Cheng Yuan asked Little Dog Beast, who was looking out the car window at the Golden Clock Tower.

"There seems to be a Digimon over there..." The puppymon tilted its head in confusion.

Cheng Yuan looked over and saw nothing but the clock tower.

Just then, the steam locomotive let out its final long whistle and rushed into the portal of time and space.

The view outside the window distorted instantly, and a colorful stream of data rushed past.

When the view cleared again, a vast, desolate land appeared before me—

The vast land is riddled with cracks, and data storms swirl in the sky. In the ancient Digital World, a fierce war is raging between humanoid and beast-type Digimon.

"Ugh..." Cheng Yuan suppressed the dizziness brought on by the transmigration. At this moment, a gentle voice prompt sounded in the carriage:

【Kind tips】

[This Time-Space Anomaly Projection: The Ancient Digital World - The Era of the Human vs. Beast Race War]

[Train Destination: Ancient Digital Continent - Humanoid Digimon Alliance Territory - Activated Volcano - Forgefire Village]

[Duration of the Secret Realm: 30 days]

[Time Flow Rate in the Secret Realm: 10:1 (10 days in the Secret Realm, 1 day in the Real World)]

[Digital Administration Bureau Mission Requirements: Obtain digital armor forging technology and pass the junior blacksmith certification]

【important hint】

1. This secret realm is a historical projection; the Digimon inside cannot be taken out.

2. Beast tamers will be granted legitimate local identities, be fluent in digital world languages, and their clothing and identities will not arouse suspicion.

3. The Digivice temporarily gains a data scanning function, which can detect Digimon and resource information in the Secret Realm.

Chapter 85 The Twelve Divine Generals in Reserve: Code Name: Qilin!

As soon as the electronic "friendly reminder" ended, the atmosphere inside the carriage became subtly tense.

The six animal trainers began to look at each other simultaneously, their eyes filled with both wariness and curiosity.

Cheng Yuan stroked the Arc Light Machine in his hand, and he already understood—the Ancient Music Beast's special ability had brought him into the digital spacetime secret realm that Xu Xin had mentioned before.

This secret realm is said to be a special space formed by capturing fragments of history from the digital world. Tamers can explore lost histories here and acquire resources and technologies scarce in the real world. Of course, opportunity often comes with danger.

The digital world before them was far more magnificent and complete than the digital space and dark zone that the tamers were familiar with. It was as if a veil of mystery had been lifted, revealing what the digital civilization looked like at its most prosperous period.

However, in the real world, the true form of this complete world remains nowhere to be found; all that humans can access are fragmented digital spaces and dark areas.

The steam locomotive, spewing thick smoke, sped along the tracks toward Forging Village.

Inside the carriage, six animal trainers from different backgrounds each had their own thoughts—three men and two women, ranging in age from eighteen to thirty, plus sixteen-year-old Cheng Yuan.

The boy stroked the sleeping puppy in his arms, having no doubt about Gu Le Beast's arrangements. That instruction to "seek the light of evolution" must be the key that led him into this secret realm of time and space.

"Are there any newcomers here?" A young man in off-road gear broke the silence. His sharp gaze swept across everyone's faces, finally settling on Cheng Yuan.

Of the six, Cheng Yuan was indeed too young.

The other four passengers in the carriage each had their own unique characteristics:

A young man who looked like a college student was sitting by the window, nervously fiddling with his Digimon machine. When he realized that he was surrounded by other people in the same industry, his tense shoulders visibly relaxed.

A man in a white coat, who looked to be in his thirties, exuded a calm and composed aura and was very likely a Digimon doctor.

A sophisticated career woman with impeccable makeup sat diagonally across from me, her legs elegantly crossed, exuding the capable and efficient aura unique to business elites.

The most eye-catching person was the young woman sitting in the middle of the carriage.

She was dressed in the standard uniform of the Beast Tamer Association, and was playing with the latest Arc Light Machine in her hand.

Cheng Yuan immediately recalled what Xu Xin had said: this high-end equipment is currently only issued to professional animal trainers, and only the most outstanding ones can obtain it first.

Beneath the girl's neat short black hair, her bright eyes were appraising everyone in the carriage with great interest. Unlike the wary expressions of the others, her gaze shone with confidence.

Everyone's Digimon suddenly vibrated, and a new message popped up:

[Secret Realm Teleportation Completed]

【Destination: Ancient Digital Continent - Humanoid Digimon Alliance Territory - Activated Volcano - Forgefire Village】

Historical Background Files (Top Secret Level: A)

In the ancient times of digital civilization, the entire continent was still in a state of chaos and undeveloped potential. Humanoid and beast-type Digimon once coexisted peacefully on this land, exploring the mysteries of the world together. However, as civilization developed, fundamental differences arose between the two types of Digimon in their evolutionary philosophies and ways of life.

What began as sporadic conflicts gradually escalated into a full-scale war that swept across the entire digital world. This protracted battle of forms completely shattered the balance of the digital world.

Shortly after Jeanne d'Arcmon, the first leader of the humanoid Digimon Alliance, fell in battle, the war machine of the beast-type tribes began to operate at full speed. If it weren't for the guardian beasts of the humanoid faction, the beast-type army would have already swept through the enemy lines.

Jeanne d'Arc's sacrifice had a far-reaching impact—as the only link to the angelic race of Sky City, her departure deprived the Humanoid Alliance of its most powerful ally—the angelic race of Sky City.

Amidst internal and external troubles, the second-generation Alliance leader, Dragonmon, used his extraordinary political wisdom to win the support of the dragon-type Digimon race and pioneered the development of Digi-Armor forging technology.

The digital weapons and armor systems he created contain the power to change the course of battle.

Armor made from specially forged ores and materials can provide Digimon with incredible power boosts, making them even stronger.

Under the leadership of the Dragon-Beastman, the Humanoid Alliance, relying on its intelligent armor system and exquisite tactical coordination, finally stabilized its position in the protracted war with the Beast-type tribe.

However, the balance of the war never truly tilted.

Although Ancient Species Digimon possess astonishing primal power, their brutal data copying method severely depletes their life essence. Neither the intelligence that humanoids pride themselves on nor the brute force upon which beastoids rely for survival can break through this fatal evolutionary bottleneck.

Both sides are racing against time, urgently seeking a key evolutionary solution to break the deadlock...

[Current Task Objective: Obtain Junior Blacksmith Certification]

(Note: This information was compiled and provided by the Historical Research Institute of the Digital World Administration.)

"Searching for the method of evolution?" Cheng Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. Could this be related to the "light of evolution" mentioned by the Ancient Music Beast?

As the information was updated, the expressions on everyone's faces gradually changed from confusion to shock.

Did they hear me right?

Learn forging?

It's a rare opportunity to enter a secret realm of time and space, especially an ancient digital continent, and yet they're making us stay home as apprentices to learn a craft?

Don't you want resources? Don't you want historical secrets? Don't you want opportunities to become stronger?

Are you kidding me?

The short-haired woman, who had been full of confidence because she had reached the level of a professional animal trainer, suddenly froze.

"Damn it, is there any more hints?" the short-haired woman snapped, "We've entered a special secret realm themed around war! Shouldn't we be on the battlefield? Are we supposed to learn blacksmithing? Have the old men at the Bureau gone mad?"

The man in the white coat was also surprised and said, "Does that mean we don't need to compete for this special secret realm, and we can just find this village together to take the test? But that's not right, what if there's a limit to the number of tests we can take..."

"Miss, are you Captain Xu Bing of the professional squad stationed at Love Outpost?" The young man in off-road gear sized up the short-haired woman, finding her somewhat familiar. The elite young warriors of each of the Dark Zone outposts were all on the military's roster. "I'm a beast tamer warrior from Courage Fortress."

“Ah, I’m from Honestyburg,” the doctor in the white coat said.

"Ma Yunlin, Strategic Planning Department, Tencent." The sophisticated woman nodded gracefully.

"I'm Lin Xiaoyang from the Shanghai University team, and I'm currently interning at Friendship Castle," the shy-looking young man said.

"Young and promising." Several people gave a thumbs up.

The group looked at Cheng Yuan.

Cheng Yuan was completely bewildered. He had never heard of any of the "fortresses" they mentioned. Only the words "Shanghai University" mentioned by the college student and the Tencent Group mentioned by the sophisticated woman proved that they came from the same world.

Everyone there seemed to have impressive backgrounds, elites in their respective fields. What if I said I was just an ordinary high school student? Would that sound pathetic? Anyway, nobody knows me, and it doesn't seem like I'll ever see them again…