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

These questions bombarded the five beast tamers like a machine gun. However, they were surprised to find that their memories of the Qilin were surprisingly vague—even though they had only been separated for a short time, they couldn't recall any of its features.

The news quickly spread to the headquarters of the Beast Tamers Association. The spokesperson for the Twelve Divine Generals organization convened an emergency meeting overnight: "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! When did we acquire a reserve officer codenamed 'Qilin'?"

The research and development department was in complete chaos. The white-haired professor slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Armor evolution technology? Armor enhancement technology is already giving us a headache, and it can even make Digimon armor evolve? Who is that Kirin? Find him immediately!"

The operations department reacted most strongly.

Operations Chief, and also one of the Twelve Divine Generals codenamed Yin Hu, Tang Lihu directly dialed the hotline codenamed Chen Long: "Chairman! If this technology is true, our Rookie-level Digimon on the front lines can all gain Champion-level combat power! The defenses of several fortresses in the Dark Zone are currently in dire straits, and this will be the key to changing the course of the war in the Dark Zone! I must find Qilin! And have the Rat from the R&D Department hand over the person!"

The association building was brightly lit late at night, and phones in various departments rang incessantly. Even a high-ranking figure secretly contacted the quantum beast in Lark City via satellite phone, only to receive a cryptic reply: "How bizarre! By the way, settle your debt of computing power to me immediately!"

"But why does this secret realm suddenly have such a high computing power requirement? This is a huge expense, equivalent to..."

Quantum Beast: "Your chips are so inferior, a whole batch burned out, is it my fault?"

The other party quickly replied, "No, no..."

The quantum beast stood atop the Golden Bell Tower, a slight smile playing on its lips beneath its mask.

Her [Time-Space Chaos] perfectly protected the boy's secret. In her eyes, Cheng Yuan's greatest value wasn't his groundbreaking technology, but rather helping the Ancient Music Beast rediscover the light of evolution. As for other matters, she couldn't be bothered to interfere.

The next morning, Cheng Yuan walked to school as usual, completely unaware that his fabricated identity had become the focus of the entire beast tamer world.

Gatomon perched proudly on his shoulder, the holy ring on its tail gleaming in the sunlight.

Tailmon

[Vaccine Type - Sacred Beast Type]

[Maturity Stage]

[Skills: Holy Ring, Meow Punch, Long Claws, Cat Eye (Confusion and Control)]

[Description: A cat-shaped, sacred-type digital beast with a signature sacred ring on its tail, adding a touch of mystery and holiness to its overall appearance. It is extremely curious, loves to play pranks, and often explores the world around it with boundless energy.]

Cheng Yuan looked at the data on the Arc Light Machine and shook his head slightly. This publicly available data simply couldn't reflect the special features of his Gatomon—four main attributes coexisting perfectly, and it could switch freely through the Earrings.

However, the lack of the long-clawed gloves copied from SaberLeomon does significantly reduce the power of Meow Meow Punch.

"I need to figure out a good pair of claws for you." Cheng Yuan rubbed Tailmon's head. The little guy comfortably squinted its eyes, and the fire ring and shadow ring on its left ear swayed gently with the movement.

Aside from Cat Punch and Cat Eye, all the skills from the puppy beast era have been preserved.

Extreme speed collisions have evolved into regular extreme speeds, and Gatomon no longer relies primarily on physical impacts.

The puppy's roar interruption and control skill has been upgraded to cat eyes. In addition to interrupting skills, these cat eyes also have a certain chance of controlling the skill.

The Divine Barrier remains usable and can be switched to a barrier of other attributes, allowing for more effective defense through attribute counterplay.

Needless to say, energy balls can be switched at will with various attributes, but the number that can be released at the same time is limited to eight energy balls of the same attribute.

There are still many attributes and abilities of Gatomon that he and Gatomon need to develop together. On the way to school, Cheng Yuan was already thinking about it.

The current Gatomon is very well-rounded, with good speed, skill variety, and combat prowess. However, their biggest problem is that they lack a powerful, decisive skill that can deliver a fatal blow.

Whether it's the Holy Light Ball, Shadow Ball, or Fireball, which combine holy and light powers, they are very suitable for close combat and adaptability, but they are scattered and unfocused, lacking the explosive power to win with a single blow.

Developing skills with powerful explosive potential has become the most pressing training challenge.

He recalled the plan he had conceived during his growth period: to fuse the Holy Light Bullet and the Shadow Sphere under high pressure to create a powerful hybrid energy bullet.

But after trying, Cheng Yuan realized that he had oversimplified things. The two types of energy spheres simply couldn't be fused together; the energy would become uncontrollable and explode, most likely injuring himself.

But Cheng Yuan had a premonition that this was a feasible development plan. It was just that he and the little dog beast at the time did not have enough control over light and dark energy. After all, the end of one of the little dog beast's evolution chains, Mostimon, had the skill of "Chaos Price Reduction" that fused light and dark energy. So, it would be possible to develop a super low-end version, right?

However, due to a series of events, including the zombie Satan Beast and the Time-Space Secret Realm, the matter was temporarily shelved.

Speaking of the zombie Satan Beast, the pair of small bat wings on its back, which the system called the Dark Seeds, have now fallen silent along with the system, leaving only the tattoo-like bat wings on its back.

The Dark Seed is a powerful artifact. In the second season of the anime, Ken Ichijouji, one of the main characters, experienced a significant boost in intelligence due to it, becoming a cyborg who controlled half of the Digital World. However, it's also quite sinister, drastically altering the personality of its host. In reality, the Dark Seed was conceived by the final boss, BelialVamdemon's chosen one. Once the Dark Seed absorbed enough dark energy, it would bloom, allowing the user to harvest that energy and use it as a key to enhance their own power.

At that time, this dark seed had tried to seize control of its body, but was eventually stopped by the system.

Obviously, since I have my own system, I'm not afraid of it parasitizing and affecting me. Maybe I can continue to study it after the system is upgraded.

There's also the Light Digital Spirit Seed. I need to frequently visit the research institute to assist Zhou Mo in completing her thesis project, and also to help myself figure out how to use this resource.

There are just too many things to deal with right now: the research on Dark Seeds, the application development of the Digimon Spirit of Light, the skill training of Gatomon... not to mention the college entrance examination is in two months.

There are still two months until the college entrance examination. Before the exam, there will usually be mock exams and college application process, so the next few months will be very busy.

Last week, with the police's approval, Gearmon got its ID card sorted out for its family-owned Digimon. Although it's not yet linked to a Digivice, it's already registered as a member of the Cheng family. Today, Gearmon went to the Pengcheng Evolution Research Institute to report for duty and sign its contract, starting its first day of work. Initially, Cheng's father was worried and insisted on taking it there, but Gearmon refused.

I really want to go to school. After all, according to Cheng Yuan's timeline, it has been more than a month since he went back to school.

Skipping classes is addictive, and he can't let his academic performance, which has just started to improve, drop. Especially now that the learning atmosphere in the special training class is so good, he doesn't want to hold everyone back.

"Cheng Yuan! Wait for me!"

A familiar voice came from behind. Cheng Yuan turned around and saw Zhao Lu panting as she caught up, with the Three-in-One Gear Beast X following behind her.

Chapter 107 The Captain Returns

"Cheng Yuan, when you took leave a couple of days ago, did you know what happened at school?" Zhao Lu leaned closer mysteriously, her eyes sparkling with gossip.

Cheng Yuan looked bewildered: "What is it?"

Zhao Lu lowered her voice: "There are only two months left until the college entrance examination, and all the schools are preparing for mock exams. But this time is different—" She deliberately dragged out her words, "Starting this year, combat subjects will also be included in the mock exams! The Education Bureau will announce the exam format this week."

"Isn't this normal?" Cheng Yuan shrugged dismissively. "The Beast Tamer College Entrance Examination already includes combat subjects."

"The important part is at the end!" Zhao Lu stamped her feet anxiously. "My dad told me that there might be a high school beast tamer battle league held throughout the city this time!!" She proudly puffed out her chest, clearly enjoying the sense of superiority brought by this "insider information".

Cheng Yuan silently gave Director Zhao a thumbs up in his heart—what a good father.

"The Education Bureau hopes to discover promising animal trainers in advance through the league," Zhao Lu continued. "Schools have already begun forming school teams, preparing to make a name for themselves in this league."

At this point, she suddenly became a little embarrassed: "While you're on leave for two days, I'll be temporarily appointed as the team leader..."

Cheng Yuan smiled indifferently. Zhao Lu's Gear Beast X had indeed made rapid progress recently. Not only had its voltage increased to high voltage, but the number of its gear-saws had tripled, and it had also learned a new skill, "Electromagnetic Bomb," which, combined with its existing "Electric Drill Impact," made it effective at both close and long range. In addition, given her family background as a professional beast tamer, it was quite reasonable for her to become the temporary captain.

but--

"The special training course is progressing a bit slowly," Cheng Yuan thought to himself, shaking his head. Even Zhao Lu's Gear Beast X still had a lot of room for improvement in his eyes.

What worries him even more is that Zhao Lu doesn't seem to have started planning the evolution path of Gearmon X yet.

As a special form combining three bodies, Gearmon X's evolutionary potential far exceeds that of ordinary Gearmon, so we must make plans for it early.

"Finally back." Stepping into the familiar school gate, Cheng Yuan took a deep breath, as if he could smell the youth and passion permeating the air.

Inside the gymnasium of Pengcheng No.1 Middle School, the trainees in the special training class are training enthusiastically. The more than 30 trainees are divided into six teams, with five official players and two substitutes in each team.

These substitutes are all newcomers who have recently evolved their Digimon to the Rookie stage, and they are eager to prove themselves.

During a training break, substitute player Wang Dong approached Zhao Lu, who was charging the Gear Beast X, with a bottle of energy juice: "Captain, take a break, I'll watch the charging station for you."

Three of the six girls in the special training class were in this team—Zhao Lu, Wen Rou, and Li Yue. Zhao Lu and Wen Rou, in particular, were the kind of girls who were beautiful even without makeup, and coupled with their outstanding abilities, they naturally became the objects of admiration for many boys.

"Thank you, but I brought my own water," Zhao Lu politely declined, picking up a water bottle with stickers of Gearmon and Puppymon. A few drops of water still clung to the bottle, glistening in the sunlight.

Wang Dong awkwardly withdrew his hand, thinking to himself that this academic genius was indeed aloof.

"Also, don't call me captain anymore," Zhao Lu suddenly said. "Just call me Zhao Lu, because our team's real captain is back today."

"Huh?" Wang Dong looked bewildered. As a new member of the team, he knew very little about the team's history.

"I'm telling you, you blockhead!" Kang Zhao strode over and slapped Wang Dong on the shoulder. "Didn't you do your homework before joining the team? Didn't you notice that we've always been one member short?"

He glared at Wang Dong with exasperation—he didn't train properly, all he did was fawn over others, and he didn't even know the basic situation of the team.

"Who's missing...?" Wang Dong scratched his head, looking confused.

There was a reason why Cheng Yuan didn't come to training in the afternoon. The school leaders specifically called him to their office—last week, the Public Security Bureau, the research institute, and the Education Bureau had all called, subtly indicating that they wanted to give this student special attention, and the Public Security Bureau even wanted to guide him to apply to the Animal Trainer School for Public Security Officers.

Principal Liu Guoliang dared not be negligent.

In addition, Cheng Yuan's grades have been steadily improving recently, and Teacher Liu Liuyan has been full of praise for him. If Cheng Yuan hadn't taken two days off, the principal would have already spoken to him.

"The school has high hopes for you in this Pengcheng mock exam." Liu Guoliang patted Cheng Yuan on the shoulder affectionately. "I have kept the Qingguoshan team of Yeren Valley in place, hoping that you can lead everyone to break through the encirclement."

Cheng Yuan then learned that the principal had gone so far as to arrange Zhao Lu and Kang Zhaodi, who were originally qualified to be team leaders, into his team in order to wait for him to return.

......

After speaking with the principal, Cheng Yuan headed straight for the gymnasium. The moment he pushed open the door, the familiar smell of sweat and metal hit him.

"Long time no see, I've missed you all so much~" Cheng Yuan waved to his former teammates with a smile.

"Don't give me that!" Kang Zhaodi clamped Cheng Yuan's head between his strong biceps. "You only took two days off, don't act like it's a long-awaited reunion!"

Cheng Yuan smiled without saying a word. "Big guys, what's three days for you is a whole month for me in the Time-Space Secret Realm!"

"Here, I'm returning the captain's responsibilities to you." Zhao Lu handed over a folder containing the team members' training records and data analysis.

If someone else had suddenly become the team leader, the team members would have been dissatisfied long ago.

But Cheng Yuan was different—he was not only the undisputed number one in the special training class, but also the school leaders' chosen captain. More importantly, he possessed all the qualities a captain needed: organizational skills, leadership abilities, and a core role in the team.

His experience at Savage Valley earned him the respect of even top students like Zhao Lu and Kang Zhaodi. It's safe to say that Ms. Xu Xin made the right choice in selecting him as class representative.

However, not everyone knew what happened in Savage Valley, such as Wang Dong.

"Why should he be the captain?" Wang Dong protested. "I think Captain Zhao is more capable and has better results. She should lead us!"

These words had a provocative tone, and even the good-natured Kang Zhaodi couldn't stand it anymore. He sneered, "Oh? Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Let's have a match!" Wang Dong's eyes lit up. "Captain Zhao should fight him! How can we convince everyone if we don't prove our strength in front of everyone?"

Several veteran team members exchanged a strange look.

Even Zhao Lu herself found it amusing—although Gear Beast X had improved a lot recently, she was well aware of Cheng Yuan's strength. Besides, Cheng Yuan had helped her so much; how could she possibly be swayed by such provocation?

Just as she was about to tell Wang Dong to stop, Cheng Yuan's backpack suddenly moved.

A white cat's paw emerged, followed by a fluffy little head—Gitomon yawned sleepily.

"Huh? Why isn't it a puppy beast?" Zhao Lu's eyes widened; she really liked petting puppy beasts...

Could it be? Zhao Lu's eyes widened even more, revealing an expression of disbelief.

The evolved Gatomon became even lazier, spending all its time sleeping in its backpack, claiming it was "digesting energy and data." Its large, azure eyes scanned the surroundings, finally settling on Wang Dong, a glint of red light flashing in its pupils.

Who dares to make things difficult for my animal trainer!

【Cat's Eye】—A skill that manipulates enemies through sharp gaze. Enemies stared at by its gaze will fall into a state of confusion and may even attack themselves.

Wang Dong suddenly froze, then slapped himself hard across the face. With a sharp "smack," he covered his face in bewilderment, not understanding what had just happened, but his face burned with pain.

"Holy crap! Champion level! Gatomon!" someone suddenly exclaimed, almost dropping their Digivice.

Following the Beast Tamer Association, Pengcheng No.1 High School has also been rocked by a huge incident – ​​a high school student actually evolved a Digimon to the Champion stage!

"This...this is impossible..." Wang Dong stammered, his face pale. He finally understood why the veteran team members were all so convinced of Cheng Yuan's abilities.

Zhao Lu strode forward, her eyes sparkling with excitement: "Cheng Yuan, your little dog beast evolved? When did that happen?"

"Just yesterday, didn't you ask for leave?" Cheng Yuan said casually, while ruffling Tailmon's head. The little guy comfortably squinted its eyes, the fire ring and shadow ring on its left ear swaying gently with the movement.

"Alright, now's not the time to discuss this." Cheng Yuan clapped his hands and looked around at everyone. "Since the school has assigned me to be the team captain, we need to prepare seriously for this mock exam. I heard that the exam not only includes individual challenges, but the team challenges are even more important."

He flipped through the training records Zhao Lu had given him and said quickly, "Starting today, we need to strengthen our teamwork training. In particular, we need to develop different tactics for different types of situations."

Kang Zhao grinned and said, "That's more like it! I've been waiting for you to come back and lead us to a great success!"

Zhao Lu nodded, her eyes full of trust: "We will follow your arrangements."

Chapter 108 Penguin Sports Competition Center

The news that Cheng Yuan's puppy beast had evolved into a mature-level Gatomon swept through the entire campus like a whirlwind.

The most overjoyed person was Principal Liu Guoliang, who paced back and forth in his office excitedly, exclaiming repeatedly, "It's even more amazing than Xu Xin's Agumon last year! Our No. 1 Middle School is finally going to be proud!"

Cheng Yuan remained unusually calm in the face of the commotion on campus.

He was already used to this kind of scene—from the enthusiastic treatment he received when the resistance against the Japanese was successful in Qingguo Mountain in Savage Valley, to his core position in the special training class, to his experience in creating the Courage Evolution Armor, and even facing the ultimate level overlord AncientGreymon—he could only say that he was unfazed by the amazement caused by Gatomon.

He was more concerned about the challenges that were about to come.

According to the Education Bureau's arrangements, the Pengcheng City Animal Trainer Simulation Competition is scheduled for April 25th. Each school has 20 days to conduct internal selections and form school teams, with the remaining 5 days used for final tactical drills.

After fierce competition among the six special training teams from Pengcheng No.1 Middle School, the Qingguoshan team emerged victorious and became the main force of the school team.

Since Gatomon made its public debut, Cheng Yuan has unsurprisingly become the core of the school team.