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

He watched the surveillance footage sent back by the gatekeeper with a sense of irritation. This divine general reserve rode out on a white horse, and then a whole bunch of things followed behind it.

Angewomon, a cloud of auspiciousness, sits a monkey, a turtle, a pig, and two Digimon that appear to be in their Rookie stage, snoring on the cloud.

They seemed so relaxed and carefree, not like they were on a mission, but more like they were on a spring outing and picnic.

"Riding my beloved little white horse, it will never get stuck in traffic..." Cheng Yuan hummed a tune as the shadow of the "white tower" covered in spider webs gradually appeared at the edge of his field of vision.

"Master, what are you humming about?" the white dragon horse asked.

"What do you think of this must-have song for commuting and exploring the map?"

"The song is very well written, please stop singing it."

Cheng Yuan: "..."

Chapter 638 The Marriage Proposal

"Shh!"

In the dark jungle, the sound of a blade cutting through the air.

While Kugamon's massive pincers were still raised in mid-air, its body had already slid to the other side.

It turned its head blankly to look behind it, where stood a Digimon covered in hideous black armor. Dark red light flowed through the gaps in the armor, like uncongealed blood.

Cheng Yuan flicked the Blood Evolution Demon Blade upwards, and the blade spun twice in the air before snapping back into the beast-head bracers.

He clapped his hands and said to the dissipating Guga Beast, "Insects of the Spider Tower, my Sea Heart Tower has joined forces with the beast tamers of Honest City to annex the surrounding Dark Towers. Don't be offended."

Kugamon's eyes emitted a burst of electrical waves, then its upper body tilted to the side, and its upper and lower haloed dissipated, leaving a dark red Digicore on the ground.

The FireGirlmon emerged from the shadows of a nearby tree, clutching a data collector, and scanned the spot where Kuwagamon had vanished: "You're really heartless. You were about to kill it, so why did you try to fool it?"

Cheng Yuan bent down and picked up the digital core from the ground, weighing it in his hand: "I was originally the captain of the decapitation squad of the Dark Sea Heart Tower. Did I lie?"

"you……"

Even the Fire God Princess Beast was speechless: "You're really into pretending, aren't you? The other person is already dead, who are you trying to fool? You're even deliberately suppressing your aura to be at the Champion stage, who are you trying to fool?"

“You don’t understand.” Cheng Yuan put the digital core into the Arc Machine. “Many Digimon have secret means of tipping off others. What if we encounter one that can send a message to the Spider Tower? Even if only half of it is sent back—‘The Heart Tower and Honesty City have joined forces’—the rest can be left to their imagination.”

The Firegod Princess Beast rolled her eyes, squatted down, and continued scanning the remaining data on the ground. "Who would believe that?"

They had already intercepted and killed quite a few insect Digimon along the way. Cheng Yuan sighed, "These insects are really innocent. Their brains are limited. When I said I was from the Sea Heart Tower, they actually believed me."

Basdi leaped down from a crooked tree beside her, landing lightly with a poisonous vine coiled around her tail. She licked her paws and said slowly, "To be honest, the aura of darkness in your death armor is even stronger than that of the legion commander of the Sea Heart Tower. People would believe you were the vice-commander."

Cheng Yuan looked down at himself. The armor in the form of a dark beast was indeed intimidating. Dark red patterns flowed across the black shell, and the edges of the shoulder armor were lined with sharp barbs. The seven blood-red eyes were incredibly eerie. The whole look made him look like he had crawled out of hell.

It's not surprising that the Dark Heart Tower forces are here. Currently, the Spider Silk Tower and the Heart Tower are considering forming an alliance, and the two sides are in negotiations.

Meanwhile, around Cheng Yuan, the Holy-type Angewomon and Jeanne d'Arcmon had returned to Arc Mech, accompanied by Vulcanmon, Bastimon, and the three idiots from Journey to the West, all of whom looked formidable. Under Cheng Yuan's leadership, they exuded the aura of the Heart Tower delegation.

When they encounter a lone insect swarm, they will deliberately let one or two escape. They'll send them back to their nest to spread the message: "Seaheart Tower and Honesty City have joined forces to annex Spider Tower!"

This tactic was used in the last battle between Honesty City and the Dark Twin Towers, and it worked surprisingly well. Confusion and suspicion are more effective at dismantling the enemy than knives.

After collecting the battlefield data, Gokumon leaned against a nearby vine and yawned. "How about we lure a few Ultimate-level monsters to come and fight them?"

Cheng Yuan said irritably, "Do you think fully evolved beasts are so easy to kill? Besides, if our movements are too obvious, they might come as a group. That would cause a huge commotion. We're here to find the Illusionary Blade Beast clan and spread some smokescreens, not to wage a full-scale war." He waved his hand, "Forget it, you guys go to sleep on your somersault cloud. I'll be more efficient traveling alone."

Without a word, Wukong Beast somersaulted onto the Somersault Cloud. Pigsy Beast and Sandy Beast followed suit, while Little Demon Beast and Marine Angel Beast squeezed on as well. The Somersault Cloud floated lightly a hundred meters behind Cheng Yuantou, following him.

Cheng Yuan was a little envious. The White Dragon Horse Beast was a sacred-type digital beast, which was far too conspicuous in the poisonous gas-filled territory of the Spider Tower. The white light on its body could be detected from two kilometers away. He had just recalled the White Dragon Horse Beast into the Arc Light Machine, and now he could only rely on his two legs to trek through the sticky jungle, one step at a time.

……

An hour later, Cheng Yuan smiled and crushed the head of a poisonous spider beast, sighing, "We were almost at the point of becoming sworn brothers, and I almost couldn't bear to kill you."

The Fire God Princess Beast squatted down to collect data and said, "You talked to it for a full half hour. Is there really that much to talk about?"

"What's wrong with chatting?" Cheng Yuan stood up and said, "I'm asking for directions and gathering some information. This guy is quite interesting; he wants to introduce me to the fully-formed leader of his clan, saying he wants to recommend me to be the Spider Princess's son-in-law."

Bastimon, who had been licking its paws, stopped upon hearing this, its golden cat eyes narrowing. "A son-in-law?"

"It's about going to the marriage contest," Cheng Yuan said. "This guy was talking to me about it with great enthusiasm, saying that each of the seven princesses of the Spider Tower is incredibly beautiful, and that if you're chosen by someone, you can instantly evolve into your complete form. He insisted that I definitely go and give it a try."

Basdi lowered its paws, its tail tip swaying slowly behind it. "If you ask me, you might as well just follow it. Go straight into the Spider Tower and become a lord, that would save you a lot of trouble."

Cheng Yuan glanced at her. "What are you talking about? You think I don't know? The spider demons of the Spider Tower will devour the data of their temporary Digimon partners and then cultivate spider eggs to enhance their own strength." He stood up and dusted off his knees. "Although I may look like a dark type, I'm not stupid."

Cheng Yuan sent out some vocal birds and beasts to explore the surrounding area, saying as they walked, "Guess how many fully evolved ones are in this silk tower?"

"How many?"

Cheng Yuan said with a burning gaze, "49. This is only what this mature spider beast knows. There are actually more than 49."

Cheng Yuan continued, "The Spider Tower is mainly guarded by seven spider demons, who are fully-formed Akali beasts. They are called the 'Seven Princesses' by the other fully-formed lords in the Spider Tower's forces. Each princess has a group of fully-formed 'sons-in-law' under her command. They are nominally family members, but in reality, they are just henchmen and breeding resources. The Seven Princesses plus their sons-in-law make up at least twenty fully-formed beasts in this force alone. Add to that the other independent insect king lords in the Spider Tower, and forty-nine is a conservative estimate."

Bastimon's tail stopped wagging. "Forty-nine Ultimate-level monsters? That's more than half the fighting force of Honesty Castle, isn't it?"

"And that's not all," Cheng Yuan continued. "You know the insects' reproductive capacity. Nearly 100,000 mature insects, and countless more during their growth period. Even the Seventh Princess herself is working hard to find a husband and lay insect eggs, so how could her insect soldiers and generals not be working hard? Just think about it, how many digital eggs can a spider demon produce in a year?"

The Fire God Princess Beast curled her lip indifferently. "What's the use of knowing all this? We're not going to fight our way in."

Cheng Yuan laughed. "It may seem useless now, but it might not be useless in the future. Look how easily I obtained this information; Honest City might not even know everything. After all, Honest City and Pan Si Tower have only had minor skirmishes on the periphery; their high-end combat forces have never even met face-to-face."

The Dark Heart Tower and the Spider Tower are neighbors and potential allies, with far wider intelligence networks than Honest City. If this intelligence gets back, Major General Lin Zexian will have to slam his fist on the table three times.

After all, Honest City and Spider Tower have only had minor skirmishes on the fringes, and their high-end combat forces have never actually met.

Only the Dark Heart Tower, their old rival, knew so much.

Bastimon took two steps forward, its golden eyes darting around, and suddenly said, "How about I use charm to lure their sons-in-law over, and then let them fight? I haven't used the charm ring's special ability since this clone was created."

Cheng Yuan glanced at her. "No. I can't stand seeing my partner use charm to seduce other Digimon. You can just use mind control."

Bastimon pursed its lips and flicked its tail.

“Besides these,” Cheng Yuan took out the sacred stone tablet from the arc light machine, glanced at it, and then put it back, “there’s another piece of news that’s quite interesting.”

"What?"

"I learned this from other sources. It's said that the seventh princess of the Spider Tower is very beautiful. Every so often, a marriage contest is held in the underground city of the Spider Cave beneath the Spider Tower. Those who perform exceptionally well during their mature stage have the chance to ascend to the highest level and become a fully evolved being... This guy doesn't know much about it; he just wants to drag me to participate. According to him, a relative of his once recruited a contestant who successfully became a 'son-in-law' and evolved into a fully evolved being in one fell swoop. And then..."

"And then what happened?"

"Then, as I just said, that fully evolved form became food for the Spider Princess's reproduction. Its head was eaten and its data was drained." Cheng Yuan shrugged.

"You want to see how beautiful the spider demon is, don't you?" Basty the Beast teased.

“Not interested.” Cheng Yuan strode forward. “They’re not our goal. Put away your gossip, find the Dark Flower Sea, catch a bunch of Illusionary Blade Beasts, and leave. Let’s not cause any more trouble.”

He took a couple of steps and then stopped, listening intently for a while. "Another Digimon is coming. I'll go sound them out again; you guys stay put."

……

After saying that, he vanished into the poisonous miasma.

About ten minutes later, Cheng Yuan returned, the data fragments on the demon blade still not wiped clean. He flicked the blade and sheathed it. "This flying insect beast isn't very friendly. I told it that if it were to be chosen as a son-in-law, it would be fed until it reached its full form and then have its head gnawed off, but it didn't believe me."

The Fire Princess Beast sat with her legs crossed on the rock. "And then?"

"Then it said I defamed the reputation of the Seventh Princess of the Spider Tower, and that I was a despicable person who wanted to eliminate it, a powerful opponent." Cheng Yuan completely sheathed the demon blade into his wrist guard. "So stupid, he deserved to be beaten to death."

Bastymon yawned.

After walking for a while, Cheng Yuan put away the sacred stone tablet and said, "We have arrived at the Ten Thousand Insect Poison Ridge. After passing through the Poison Ridge, the Dark Flower Sea is ahead."

"I thought Ten Thousand Insect Poison Ridge was a small jungle, but it turns out to be a huge mountain range of poisonous forests," said Vulcan Princess Beast.

This place is about 600 or 700 kilometers away from Honesty City.

The rolling black mountain ridges resemble a row of sleeping giants, stretching from here to the horizon.

The mountain was covered with a thick, grayish-green vegetation, with vines hanging down from the top to the bottom, resembling rotten ropes soaked in the poisonous miasma.

There was a pungent, acidic smell in the air, and Cheng Yuan felt a slight burning sensation in his nasal mucosa.

Actually, they weren't that afraid, since with MarineAngemon around, what poison couldn't be cured? It was just too troublesome and time-consuming.

However, they cannot fly directly through the air, because it would be too obvious and would instantly attract the attention of some fully-formed lords nearby.

He took a breath and started walking towards the Ten Thousand Insect Poison Ridge. "It's better to keep a low profile. I'll walk there, kill any insects I encounter, and leave. I won't make a big fuss."

At the same time that Cheng Yuan entered the Ten Thousand Insect Poison Ridge.

At the foot of the Haixin Tower lies the city lord's mansion of Haixin City.

The sound of shattering utensils could be heard from the hall.

"Bastard!"

"Damn it!"

The hall was rather deserted.

A host of dark Digimon, including Fatal Giant Axemon, LadyDevimon, New Species Devimon, Blackdramon, and Strongmon, stood in the city hall, not daring to speak.

Dark Knightmon paced back and forth in front of the throne. "That Gluttonous Beast, does it really think the Sea Heart Tower wouldn't dare to go all out to kill it?"

Seeing DarkKnightmon's anger, FatalAxemon said softly, "Commander, that Gluttonous Beast comes from a broken ancient seal and is now rampaging around Mount Evil, insatiably devouring Digimon. Several Dark Tower forces around it have suffered, and they all call it 'Gluttonous Calamity'."

It paused for a moment. "But if we start a war with it now, we won't have time to attack Honesty City with our allies."

"Damn it!" Dark Knight Beast slammed his hand on the armrest of the throne, cracking the stone armrest.

They were unaware of the rampage caused by the Taotie Beasts—Xiegui Mountain was some distance from Haixin City, and by the time the news arrived, a fully-formed leader had already perished.

The threat of the Gluttonous Beast should not be underestimated, as Dark Knightmon is well aware of. However, using the Ultimate power of the Heart Tower to drive away or kill that Gluttonous Beast will inevitably trigger a chain reaction.

If Honest City realizes that the ultimate power of the Heart Tower has left its base, it may take action to threaten Heart City itself at any time.

In order to break through Honesty City, it is currently unable to make a move, or rather, unable to make a full-force move, and its ultimate power must also defend Heart of the Sea City.

It looked down at the group of Ultimate-level monsters below it. Fatal Giant Axemon, LadyDevimon, New Species Devimon, Blackdramon, Strongmon… If it really sent them to cause trouble for Taotiemon, it was hard to say who would kill whom. These guys working together could put up a fight, but if they were to fall, it would affect its control over the Ultimate-level lords within the Seaheart Tower's sphere of influence, and the subsequent plan to attack Honesty Castle would have to be completely restarted.

These are all trusted confidants; it can't bear to part with them.

"Is there any way..." Dark Knight Beast's voice was as deep as grinding a stone, "to make that Gluttonous Beast eat from a different direction? To lure it to another territory?"

Chapter 639 The Lonely Little Princess?

Dark Knightmon vented his anger, and the hall fell silent again.

It sat back on its throne, tapped its fingers on the armrest, remained silent for a few seconds, and then asked, "What did Bean Tower say?"

The Deadly Giant Axe Beast stepped forward and said, "Legion Commander, DouDou City... is unwilling to provoke the Taotie Beast without cause."

"Without cause?" Dark Knight Beast's voice was as cold as ice. "That Gluttonous Beast is invading our cooperative mining factory. Is that what you call without cause?"

The beasts fell silent.

At the boundary where several dark towers meet, there is a large vein of rich minerals.

Since none of them could subdue the others, the three Dark Towers eventually reached an agreement to jointly develop and distribute the resources.

The three towers, Sea Heart Tower, Bean Tower, and Poison Swamp Tower, each occupied one share, and the miners and guards rotated regularly, so they were originally living in peace.

But now, that mine has become a buffet for gluttonous beasts.

"So they're all just going to watch it devour our mine?" Dark Knight Beast's voice was forced out through clenched teeth.

The Deadly Giant Axe Beast, forcing a smile, said, "Commander, the Gluttonous Beasts are currently feeding in the public mines and haven't invaded the core mining areas of any of the three parties. Bean Tower and Poison Swamp Tower are both observing, neither willing to make the first move... because whoever strikes first will suffer losses. And after suffering losses, will the other two take advantage of the situation...?"

It didn't finish its sentence, but the meaning was clear.

"Who on earth is it?" Dark Knightmon's voice suddenly lowered, almost as if he were talking to himself, "Who released this legendary ancestor, the Taotie Beast, one of the Four Ferocious Beasts?"

No one can answer this question.

But one of them, LadyDevimon, knew perfectly well who had released the Gluttonous Beast.

Dark Knightmon squeezed and released the armrest repeatedly, then waved his hand without saying anything, signaling the other beasts to leave.

The hall was empty.

But two or three hundred kilometers away, in that joint mine managed by three parties, the Taotie beast was leisurely feeding.

It was in the form of the Burp Beast, with a round, pink body, wearing the Greedy Horn Mask on its head, and two small, short hands holding pieces of high-quality data ore crystals. It would throw them into its mouth, chew them a couple of times, and swallow them. Then it would take out new ones and roll them into its mouth one by one with its tongue.

It has been doing this for many days now.

It goes wherever it goes and eats wherever it wants; everything except stones can become its food.