The instant Narumi Akira stepped through the Digital World gate Negamon opened and set foot in Puppetmon's forest domain, he witnessed just how much control the weakest of the Dark Masters had over his underlings.
Swarms of Veggiemon, Birdramon, and BigPlantmon poured out of the woods, surrounding him in a formation so chaotic it barely qualified as "surrounding," and tried to attack.
This kind of disorganized, undisciplined street-gang mob—where they couldn't even coordinate a group volley—was supposed to be the Jungle Troopers?
That "Troopers" part… was the "troopers that make the enemy laugh to death" kind of troopers, wasn't it?
Watching the weakest Dark Master's "army," Akira felt his childhood memories shatter across the ground. He sighed at his partner.
"At this level, don't dirty your hands."
"I understand."
Black lightning flickered from Negamon's fingertips and struck one of the Veggiemon.
In an instant, the Digimon's body swelled grotesquely. Vines erupted in savage growth, twisting and knitting into multiple horrifying serpent heads.
As those heads formed, torrents of venom spilled from its body—soaking the ground, corroding plants, and turning the surrounding forest into a toxic swamp at a visible pace.
Faced with that nightmare mutation, the so-called Jungle Troopers lost the ability to speak—lost even the strength to run. They stood frozen, blankly staring.
By the time they finally snapped out of it and tried to flee—
it was already too late.
The poisonous marsh had eaten through their shells, turning their data into nourishment.
When the battlefield was "cleaned," the venom dragon lowered its head obediently and knelt before Akira, silently offering submission.
[Image: Hydramon]
"We're black-eating-black, sure…" Akira said, unable to stop himself, "but isn't this… a bit excessive?"
"And that's Mega-level Hydramon, right?" Akira stared at the Mega Digimon Negamon had casually catalyzed into existence. "You're wasting power like this—are you sure that's okay?"
"If you require it, I can mass-produce Digimon of this level," Negamon replied. "This amount of power is still less than one day of negative emotions spread online by Tokyo's people."
"Tokyo netizens have a lot of negative emotions, huh." Akira muttered, then immediately added, "Let's not mass-produce these. It's terrible for the environment."
"I understand." Negamon asked, "Then should I retract the power and restore this area into forest again?"
"Keep it," Akira decided.
"Hydramon can DigiXros with Puppetmon into Cernumon, anyway." He pulled out the Darkness Xros Loader and stored Hydramon inside. "If worst comes to worst, we'll have Cernumon restore the environment."
After capturing Hydramon, Akira stepped out of the toxic swamp and began observing Puppetmon's forest.
Even though Puppetmon controlled the entire region, the forest was still lush and lively—showing no sign of being corroded by darkness. It made Akira frown.
"…This used to be Qinglongmon's Sacred Beast Forest, right? Why doesn't it look changed at all?" Akira asked Negamon. "When was Qinglongmon defeated?"
Negamon's tentacle-hair reached into the void, and after a moment it produced an answer.
"According to the Digital World's records, Qinglongmon was defeated one month ago—roughly half an hour ago in real-world time."
"That explains it." Akira sighed. "It's only been sealed for a short time."
After the complaint, Akira searched his memory of the lore and confirmed another detail.
"If I remember correctly, the previous generation only had five DigiDestined. Four of their partner Digimon became the Four Sovereigns. The fifth—Himekawa Maki—had Tapirmon, which was only Perfect-level as Megadramon, and she died sealing the Dark Masters… is that right?"
"Mostly correct, but there are deviations," Negamon corrected. "Precisely speaking, it was under Homeostasis' intervention that the DigiDestined gained the Four Sovereigns."
"Additionally, the previous generation's fifth DigiDestined—Himekawa Maki—was Homeostasis' miko. Tapirmon's intended evolution line was Kirinmon, a Vaccine-type Holy Beast, not the Virus-type modified Megadramon."
"…That happened?" Akira blinked, surprised. After thinking, he sighed with mixed feelings. "That makes sense. If the other four could become Sovereigns, then Kirinmon fits better than Megadramon."
"Then that means…" Akira's suspicion sharpened. "If Tapirmon's 'proper' path was Kirinmon, then its Mega would've been…"
"Huanglongmon?"
"Yes," Negamon confirmed. "Originally, Homeostasis planned long-term stability: the Four Sovereigns guarding the four directions, with Huanglongmon in the center managing the whole. But Tapirmon did not become Kirinmon—it became Megadramon—so Homeostasis treated it as a consumable and sacrificed it."
Akira suddenly felt that not being chosen might not be such a terrible thing after all.
Because Homeostasis' moral deficit was starting to look like it belonged to a colonial empire.
But there was still one thing Akira couldn't let go.
"If Homeostasis had already set the evolution path… how did Tapirmon become Megadramon?" Akira asked.
"Who interfered? Apocalymon? Yggdrasill? Or Homeostasis itself?"
"The records contain no such content and show no sign of tampering," Negamon replied. "From records alone, the culprit cannot be deduced. But a change to the flow of history without leaving traces strongly points to a single Digimon."
Akira's eyes narrowed.
"You mean…"
"Millenniummon?"
"Yes," Negamon said. "Based on this world's historical trajectory and Digimon evolution routes, only Millenniummon can accomplish this."
Damn it—Millenniummon's heavy hand.
After a brief thought, Akira nodded grimly.
"Millenniummon has both the ability and the motive to prevent Huanglongmon's birth," Akira said. "With Huanglongmon around, it's hard to say whether even Chimeramon could be born."
"Then Himekawa Maki really was unlucky." Akira couldn't help the bitterness in his voice. "Dragged away at ten years old to be Homeostasis' laborer-miko, her partner gets set up by Millenniummon, and when the mess happens Homeostasis can't be bothered to fix it—so it just uses her partner as a disposable firework. Not even a DigiCore left behind."
After that, Akira forced himself to return focus to the present—
because the guest he was waiting for had finally arrived.
"I was wondering who the enemy was… turns out it's just two human children."
From the forest's shadow, a puppet with a giant hammer and a board of strings on its back stepped out, frowning.
"You're the Chosen Children?" it snapped irritably. "Not bringing your Digimon with you—are you looking down on me?"
Akira almost laughed.
Bro, what?
If the enemy shows up without any escorts, you don't check for ambushes—you feel insulted?
No wonder you're the weakest Dark Master. Your IQ really is… impressive.
For a split second, Akira honestly wondered if his plan—starting from the weakest and picking off the Dark Masters one by one—was… perhaps too conservative.
But jokes aside, he didn't let his guard down.
"Suppress Puppetmon," Akira ordered his partner. "If necessary, you may injure it."
"Wha—"
"Don't look down on me!" Puppetmon's face twisted. It raised its explosive hammer and charged Akira, shouting its technique name at full volume:
"Explosive Hammer!"
Akira knew Puppetmon's finisher might sound silly, but it really did have the power to defeat Qinglongmon.
And yet—
compared to Negamon, Puppetmon's power was laughably small.
The moment Puppetmon met Negamon's gaze, its raging body froze.
Because its emotions and will were caught—seized—by Negamon's eyes.
After Puppetmon was sent into the Darkness Xros Loader, Akira couldn't help asking:
"Apocalymon's underlings are this helpless? Did you use a skill like 'Calming Eye'?"
"No," Negamon replied. "Even without skills, Digimon of this level cannot escape my control."
Too strong.
Way too strong.
As expected of Negamon—casually doing what other villain Digimon couldn't.
Still, Akira didn't let the confidence go to his head.
"This is just a subordinate propped up by Apocalymon. Apocalymon itself should still be dangerous." He looked at his partner seriously. "If we face Apocalymon, can you deal with it?"
"Apocalymon has a large data volume," Negamon answered, face utterly serious. "I can consume it, but I do not recommend doing so."
"Why?" Akira stared at the absurd contrast of his partner's cute human form. "Would eating it give you stomachache?"
"I do not have a 'stomachache' function," Negamon replied with perfect seriousness. "If I consume Apocalymon, I will evolve."
"…Huh? You'll evolve?" Akira swore before he could stop himself. "Wait—what the hell. Are you going to evolve into Abaddomon?"
It wasn't an overreaction.
Abaddomon was that special.
Negamon, despite being "In-Training" on paper, was already the Great Destruction itself—an existence far beyond Mega level, stronger than even some Ultra-level Digimon.
If an In-Training Negamon evolved upward into the Mega-level Abaddomon…
its power would jump exponentially.
And it would become a public enemy of both the Digital World and the human world.
Because Abaddomon wasn't like other villain Digimon.
A being beyond good and evil, it wasn't "evil" anymore—
it was pure void.
No exaggeration: if Negamon became Abaddomon, it wouldn't matter whether Homeostasis and Yggdrasill were still bickering—Apocalymon and Millenniummon would probably join the anti-Abaddomon coalition too.
More than that…
Akira didn't want Negamon to become Abaddomon.
Not just because he'd be the first to suffer—
but because he didn't want his weird, robot-like teammate to become a truly deranged monster.
Thankfully, his fear was unnecessary.
"Apocalymon's data is large, but only enough to evolve me to the Champion stage," Negamon said, pinching her cheek with clinical calm. "The problem is that my Champion-stage data volume is too large. It would burst this body."
"…," Akira fell silent, then asked slowly, "That's the only side effect?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that a huge side effect?" Negamon tilted her head, puzzled. "Didn't you say… this form suits me better?"
"…Right." Akira's expression became complicated.
Can I admit I didn't expect you to care about my words that much?
Akira suddenly realized that calling his partner by her "monster name" while she looked like this was… incredibly awkward.
"So… uh." He cleared his throat. "Since you look like this now, you should probably have a human name."
"I understand." Negamon nodded obediently. "What name do you think I should have?"
"Your template is AL-1S, right?" Akira said. "Then… how about Alice?"
"Based on my research: humans generally associate 'Alice' with a blonde girl in a blue dress with blue eyes. Humans also possess methods like hair dye and colored contacts. My current appearance is black hair and red eyes, which deviates from the traditional Alice image… should I change hair color and eye color?"
"No, no, no." Akira panicked. "Black hair is fine. You don't need to change."
"I understand." In the next instant, Negamon's eyes turned blue. She tilted her head and asked, "Does my current appearance better match the image of Alice?"
This makes you even more like Robot-Alice, okay?!
"…As long as you're happy," Akira said, then sighed. "Fine. I'll call you Alice from now on."
"I understand." The robot-girl accepted the setting, then asked, "Then should I address you as Narumi Akira?"
"That's too distant." Akira shook his head. "Just call me A-Xiao."
"I understand, A-Xiao." Alice asked, businesslike as ever, "Who is our next target? MetalSeadramon? Machinedramon? Or Piedmon?"
"Machinedramon," Akira answered.
"I'm interested in its 'Metal Empire'… and in Millenniummon's influence." Akira's eyes narrowed. "If Millenniummon attacks because of that, can you protect me?"
"Yes." Alice answered seriously. "I will protect you from Millenniummon."
"And you can protect me from Millenniummon, but not from the Royal Knights?" Akira complained.
"Because the Royal Knights are numerous."
"…Fair point. A crowd beating a lone target really does work."
Akira sighed inwardly.
Yeah. We really should not let Negamon evolve into Abaddomon.
Better to keep her at his side as a robot-girl—
instead of a horror chasing pure nothingness.
-------
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