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

Wukong Beast, with a blade of grass in its mouth, chimed in from the side, "If you ask me, we should just kill them with a stick. Why go through all this trouble?"

Cheng Yuan glanced at it. Ever since this monkey evolved into the Monkey King, it had become increasingly reluctant to use its brain. If it had to solve everything with a stick, what was the point of planning?

The team traveled a long way through the dark jungle, completely away from the border area between the Sea Heart Tower and the Spider Silk Tower, before summoning the Somersault Cloud again.

This time, it didn't deviate from its course and flew straight towards Honesty City.

The somersault cloud swept low over the gray-white wasteland and sparse dead trees, and signal bars began to appear on Cheng Yuan's arc light machine screen.

The outline of Honesty City appeared on the horizon.

It was a gray-white steel and concrete stronghold, with thick walls and numerous watchtowers. Beams of searchlight swept back and forth in the dim sky. From a distance, it looked like a giant beast lying on the ground, silent and vigilant.

Red Spider stood at the edge of the cloud, her fingers slightly clenching her sleeves.

"Is that Honesty City?" she asked.

"Ah."

"A city entirely populated by humans?"

“Not entirely,” Cheng Yuan said. “There are many Digimon in there. It’s just that they are partners and family to humans, not the kind that are enslaved.”

Cheng Yuan took out the arc light machine and dialed Lin Zexian's channel.

The communication was quickly established.

"Major General Cheng?" Lin Zexian's voice was visibly relieved. "You're back? Thank goodness you're alright. I was so worried about you these past few days, I almost had to issue a search order from the Digital Center."

"There was a slight delay on the way," Cheng Yuan said. "General Lin, I need to report something to you. I've brought a guest back, and he'll be entering the city gate in a bit. Could you please let the guards know?"

"Guests? What guests? Did they rescue other animal trainers from the wild?"

"No." Cheng Yuan paused for a moment. "It's the Spider Princess of the Spider Tower."

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the communication.

"...Say that again?"

"The Aquila lord of the Spider Tower, in its final form," Cheng Yuan said. "But it's a humanoid mimic, looking no different from a human. I'll tell you the details in person."

Lin Zexian was silent for a while, then sighed: "Wait here, I will personally come to the East Gate to pick you up."

The Somersault Cloud landed outside the east gate of Honesty City.

When the guards at the city gate saw the white cloud descending from the sky, they raised their Dinosaur Machines. Their partners looked over alertly, but Lin Zexian waved them off.

Dressed in casual clothes, he stood in the shadow of the city gate, watching the group of figures jumping down from the clouds. His gaze swept from Cheng Yuan to Vulcan Beast, then to Basti Beast, and finally landed on Red Spider.

"Spider demon... cough, where's the Argenta?" Lin Zexian asked.

Cheng Yuan pointed to the red spider.

Lin Zexian stared at the red spider for several seconds.

She had the appearance of a human girl, the face of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, bare feet covered in mud, and pink pollen from a sea of ​​flowers on the hem of her skirt.

He couldn't sense any data fluctuations from the Digimon, not even the slightest abnormality.

“Are you kidding me?” he said. “This is clearly a human being.”

“I also think it’s pretty outrageous,” Cheng Yuan said. “But she is indeed an Argentinian. The Eastern Argentinians from the Spider Tower are born with perfect humanoid mimicry abilities that digital instruments can’t detect.”

Lin Zexian frowned slightly, then relaxed his brow.

Cheng Yuan had no reason to lie to him about something like this.

He looked at Red Spider and softened his tone: "Welcome to Honesty City, Spider Princess of the Spider Tower. It was a bit rushed, and I apologize for not greeting you properly."

Red Spider bowed slightly and politely replied, "Thank you."

While Lin Zexian was sizing her up, she was also sizing him up.

This was the first time she had ever seen a human officer up close.

Honesty City, in the rumors she had heard, was a place full of evil Digimon enslaving humans, but the tone and attitude of the person in front of her were quite different from the "evil human tamer" she had imagined.

"Major General Cheng said you've come here to seek temporary refuge?" Lin Zexian asked.

Red Spider glanced at Cheng Yuan and nodded.

"Then please settle in comfortably." Lin Zexian did not ask for details. "Although Honest City is not as prosperous as Spider Tower, it is safer. Within the coverage area of ​​regular patrols, very few wild Digimon of the Ultimate level dare to approach."

Red Spider nodded again, without saying much. She did need a place to stay in her current state, and since she had come with Cheng Yuan anyway, she would just wait and see.

Lin Zexian turned to Cheng Yuan: "If you have time, why don't you come along? I can show you the changes that have taken place in Honest City recently. You are a great contributor to Honest City; without you, Honest City wouldn't be where it is today."

Cheng Yuan originally wanted to slip away, but since Lin Zexian had said so, he felt embarrassed to just run away directly.

"Okay, let's take a look around then."

Lin Zexian led them through the city gate and along the main street into the city.

Red Spider followed behind Cheng Yuan, curiously examining the buildings on both sides.

Honesty City's architectural style is straightforward, lacking the twisted and ornate patterns and vine decorations of the Spider Tower. Instead, it consists entirely of square stone and steel structures, with digital inscriptions and numbers engraved on the walls.

Occasionally, a few Digimon would walk by on the street. Some were transport types, some were patrol types, and some were engineering types. When they saw Red Spider, they would just glance at him and continue on their way.

Lin Zexian led them to the square in the center of Honest City.

In the center of the square stands a huge metal monument, its body dark gray, its surface covered with dense digital inscriptions and array patterns, emitting a soft glow.

“This is the city emblem of Honesty City,” Lin Zexian said. “More than twenty years ago, it was with the blessing of this emblem that the pioneers blocked the first wave of the dark forces’ counterattack, drove the invaders back to the Collapsed World, and established Honesty City here to guard the passage.”

He looked at Red Spider and softened his tone: "I'm not saying we're invading you. Back then, Spider Tower didn't send troops to participate in that invasion. Although there have been border frictions with Honest City in recent years, we haven't fought any large-scale wars. Compared to Sea Heart Tower and Twin Towers, Spider Tower can be considered a friendly neighbor to us."

Red Spider paused for a moment.

“I don’t know any of what you’re talking about,” she said. “I was a spider egg back then.”

When she mentioned "digital eggs," her tone was flat, but Cheng Yuan noticed that she slightly clenched the hem of her clothes.

She had never seen her mother, nor did she even know which digital egg she had hatched from. The way the lords of the Spider Tower changed hands meant that the life of a humanoid Akelimon like her was predetermined from the very beginning: birth, growth, marriage, laying eggs, and being parasitized.

“There’s no need for that,” Cheng Yuan suddenly said.

Red Spider looked up at him.

“If you are willing to become a friend of humanity, then when a friend is in trouble, help will come from all directions,” Cheng Yuan said. “We can help you find a solution.”

Red Spider paused for a moment, then looked away without replying.

Lin Zexian changed the subject at the right time: "By the way, there's another new project. I'll take you to see it."

He led the group across the square, along the inner side of the city wall, all the way to the back of Honesty City.

There was a cliff overlooking the sea, beyond which lay a gray-white sandy beach and shallow water.

The sea area behind Honest City was originally as gray and lifeless as the land, but as soon as Cheng Yuan approached, he noticed something was wrong.

Color appeared within a range of several hundred meters.

Green grass, brown rocks, and yellow sand. There are even a few palm and coconut trees on the shore, their trunks straight, their leaves swaying gently in the breeze blowing from the sea. Sunlight shines through the gray clouds onto these colors, making them seem surreal, as if someone had used a paintbrush to force a layer of color onto a black and white photograph.

“This is…” Cheng Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"The pilot results of terrain reshaping technology," Lin Zexian said. "A 'continental terrain and data energy circuit reshaping technology' developed by the Animal Tamers Association has been adapted and modified by the Huadu Digital Environment Research Institute after being assigned by the National Digital Technology Research Institute, and is now being officially piloted in Honest City."

Cheng Yuan stared at the green expanse, his mind racing.

[Continental Topography and Data Energy Circuit Reshaping Technology]!

This technology was derived from the Molecular Beasts of the Sandba Continent, a secret realm of time and space. The Molecular Beasts' most prized 'continental terrain and data energy circuit reshaping technology'.

He knew the molecular beast's technology best; he had heard her explain the principles up close on the Sandba Continent back then.

Moving mountains and filling seas, reshaping energy circuits, and transforming the barren land of the Digital World into an environment suitable for Digimon to grow. At the time, he thought it was something far-fetched, but he never imagined that it would have already taken root in Honesty City so soon.

"Did you know that this massive computing power was provided by your Qilin Group?" Lin Zexian smiled. "The Gear Beasts transferred a portion of the Data Ark's computing power for pilot testing."

"team leader?"

A familiar voice came from over there.

Cheng Yuan turned his head and saw a girl in a light green engineer's uniform peeking out from behind a palm tree.

Standing beside her was a bird-dragon type Ultimate Digimon covered in green metallic wing armor, almost twice the size of its previous form, with bluish-white wind patterns flowing along the edges of its wings.

Chen Mingzhen, and her partner, [Strong Wind Royal Beast]!

She once teamed up with Cheng Yuan as a member of a team to enter the Time-Space Secret Realm, go to the ancient continent of Shaba, and return to the real world with the results of their adventure and digital technology. Together with Cheng Yuan, they won the title of National Outstanding Beast Tamer!

"What are you doing here?" Cheng Yuan asked, somewhat surprised.

"That's what I should be asking you!" Chen Mingzhen jogged over and punched Cheng Yuan on the shoulder. "I'm here in Chengshi City on behalf of Huadu Xunda to pilot this technology, and I've only been here two days. What about you? What are you doing here?"

"It's a publicly funded trip," Cheng Yuan said.

Chen Mingzhen rolled his eyes, not believing it.

She glanced at the string of Digimon behind Cheng Yuan, then at Red Spider, her eyes conveying a "what are you up to now?" look. However, she didn't press the matter; some things between close friends don't need to be said in front of outsiders.

"Come, let me show you the results." Chen Mingzhen pointed to the newly grown green area. "You should be more familiar with the core logic of this technology than I am—through this technology and a large amount of computing power, we can mobilize the underlying stress of the Digital Continent, move forests and seas to deserts, move cities and jungles to wastelands, reshape the terrain, and then, in conjunction with the energy circuit design diagram, focus data energy on specific areas to form a local environment like a 'spirit gathering array'."

As she spoke, she kicked the grass at her feet: "This place used to be a gray, white rocky beach, devoid of any life. Now you see, green grass, rocks, sand, even palm trees can grow here. Although the area is not large, as a pilot project, it has exceeded expectations."

Cheng Yuan crouched down and reached out to touch the grass. It felt real; it wasn't a projection or a data illusion.

"If this thing could be expanded to a wider range..." He didn't finish his sentence.

“That’s a project of another level,” Chen Mingzhen said. “To be honest, when Molecular Beast was researching this system, it probably never thought it would be used in this time and space.”

She looked up at the horizon where the sea met the sky in the distance: "Once the energy circuit system is fully connected, the data concentration in this area will be higher than inside the city walls. At that time, not only will the environment recover, but even wild Digimon may be attracted to settle here again."

Cheng Yuan stood up and patted the grass clippings off his hands.

The area around Honesty City is changing little by little.

From gray and white to colorful, from barren to vibrant place.

He thought of the Spider Tower and the sea of ​​flowers that filled the broken digital world, and a vague idea suddenly popped into his mind—if this technology could really be rolled out on a large scale, could the places occupied by the Dark Tower, the red mist and the spider lilies also be quickly repaired?

A digital world version of the Aura Revival?

Chapter 645 Fallen Redemption - Vega

Chen Mingzhen was genuinely happy to see Cheng Yuan.

She pulled Cheng Yuan along the beach for a long time, gesturing as she walked about the progress of her project at Huadu Xunda.

“You have no idea how much pressure I was under after I went back to school,” Chen Mingzhen said, kicking a pebble at his feet. “After coming back from the Time-Space Secret Realm, the association gave me the title of ‘Outstanding Beast Tamer.’ At first, I was quite happy, but the more I thought about it, the more something seemed off.”

"What's wrong?" Cheng Yuan asked.

"To be honest, you deserve the lion's share of the credit for bringing back so many things from that secret realm," Chen Mingzhen said. "The rest of us just followed along. When the medals were awarded, I was named an Outstanding Beast Tamer, just like Cai Yongying and Zhao Lu."

When I got back, I looked through the list of past award winners. The outstanding animal trainers of the past were either leaders who pioneered new digital spaces, scientists who invented key technologies, or generals with distinguished military achievements.

She sighed: "What do I have to compare with them? Even this technology was something you scraped together and barely managed to exchange with the molecular beast."

Cheng Yuan glanced at her.

"So what did you do?"

“What else can I do?” Chen Mingzhen shrugged. “Just work as hard as I can. Since I’ve received this honor, I can’t let it gather dust. I chose the digital environmental engineering direction and worked on an environmental remediation project with a professor from Huadu Tuoda. Finally, when it was time to pilot the molecular beast technology, I applied for it.”

As she spoke, she pointed to several pieces of equipment under construction on the beach in the distance: "These are the first batch of prototype machines from Huadu, and the computing power is handled by your Qilin Group."

If the pilot program is successful, the Flower City Training Center will send more city beautifiers, along with their partner Digimon, to gradually revitalize and beautify the gray and white areas of Honesty City.

Cheng Yuan looked in the direction she pointed. Several silver-white devices were arranged along the coastline, shaped like inverted bowls, their surfaces covered with densely packed data circuits, gleaming with a soft blue light in the dim daylight.

One of them, resembling a giant crystal, uses a silver digital metal base to support a blue crystal that is in operation.

"Is that the sacred purification crystal device?" Cheng Yuan asked.

“Yes.” Chen Mingzhen led him over. “After being modified by our school’s Environmental Research Institute, the core of the Molecular Beast’s terrain reshaping technology is concentrated in this device. It absorbs computing power and converts it into data particles of various attributes, including divine particles, which are then released into the air and penetrate into the ground to gradually change the digital structure of the surrounding environment.”

She patted the casing of one of the crystal devices, her tone carrying a hint of pride, as if introducing her own child: "Look around here, green grass, yellow sand, and those palm trees. A week ago, this place was all gray and white pebble beach, and Digimon didn't want to come. But now, it's recovered, and more and more people are willing to come here."

She exclaimed, "The digital world is like a patient infected with a virus, and we need to heal it piece by piece. I feel that this is very meaningful!"

Cheng Yuan noticed the light in her eyes; her digital spirit was growing alongside her ideal of purifying the digital world.

"How efficient is the purification?" he asked.