Chapter 1741: with translation of chapter title

NO. 355: Smooth, the earth gives rise to killing intent.

NO. 355 Smooth, the earth gives rise to killing intent.

Detective Beast hides around the shop facade, waiting for a chance to reveal itself and strike up conversation with the target.

As the source of its name, it is a Digital Beast of Espionage and probing activities; it is a naturally agile investigator, skilled at catching rumors and using them to delve into dangerous situations to seek the truth.

Although it is merely a growing-stage Digital Beast, its performance in infiltrating investigations can be more reliable than most Perfect and even Ultimate levels.

But obviously, such occasions have always been quite rare in Xiangyu Tuohai's adventure tale.

For that net detective leader who is passionate about intensity and efficiency above all, the field where he confronts opponents head-on with force and strategy is his main arena.

Although he was only sixteen during his most dazzling exploits, in the Digital World, sixteen-year-olds are indeed the most suitable age to save the world.

Even a bit younger could burst with infinite potential, but it's hard to say that would be mature enough.

A bit older and one is easily pulled by various real-world pressures, making it hard to say they remain pure enough.

Sixteen is just the right age, allowing him, with inexhaustible energy and determination, to together with his sister constitute the main force responsible for the ultimate battle team.

But it's inevitably regrettable.

Regrettably, the friend who once showed great passion and understanding for Digital Beasts is not by his side.

Thinking, if it were him, he could display what kind of style and exploration path in that adventure, and what kind of Digital Beast companion he would grow with, perhaps even greatly easing that predicament back then……

Such thoughts, lacking sufficient understanding, ultimately prove fleeting and vague, soon cast from the mind, awaiting a day when his mental state is poor and even his dreams are chaotic, serving as part of the material for constructing those dreams, only later to sigh, as if he had indeed thought of it before.

And so it is to this day.

Not only did that friend return, but he even truly gained a Digital Beast partner.

How to put it? Compared to the brief casual chat before, this opportunity to travel together now is something Xiangyu Tuohai will not let slip.

From coming alongside Jiex Beast to lend aid, to now Jiex Beast being temporarily driven away while he himself naturally blends into the action team, his mood has remained quite excited.

Wanting to talk, wanting to show off, wanting to put on a display, and wanting to see……

All these thoughts mixed together lead to his current talkative liveliness and that little mischievous taste, while the little Aomo still somewhat doubts his memory, wondering whether Xiangyu Tuohai's performance differs from that of the person before him……

That net detective, who reverts to a youthful mindset before old friends, feels no problem at all and summons full motivation.

Dispatching 'Command Team Two', he outlines three necessary roles, but then, overly excited, he forgets that these three are actually forming a team for the first time, and only after Aomo points it out does he realize and go to mediate.

He says on the surface that Aomo is being too nitpicky, but deep down he knows that if his sister were here, he would already have been directly pointed at and instructed.

But fortunately, she hasn't arrived yet.

The arrangement of inviting the director to eat in advance and then leaving a pile of unwashed dishes and utensils really works.

In an agency not particularly focused on smart equipment, whether brewing coffee or cooking, everything is done by hand, naturally including washing utensils. Ami always eagerly does these chores; although she is also quick and capable, able to finish them swiftly, that brief span of time is precisely when she can get ahead in responding to Aomo's summons.

Sorry, Ami.

For those siblings who are both extraordinarily talented in the Digital realm, both love interacting with Digital Beasts, and both exert themselves in the same agency, either their fields of interest are so far apart as to have no overlap, or they excel equally in the same endeavor, leaving little chance for any competitive ordering.

And when the opportunity arises to outdo the brother/sister in something, neither of them will let it slip.

"Although I don't mind serving as a catalyst to deepen the siblings' feelings, I still wouldn't recommend you do the same with others."

In the black market, inside a small shop marked with the few words 'Monster Industry R&D'.

Aomo, disguised in the form of a Dark Beast/Gloom Beast, stands with his head bowed at his stall, uttering self-talk that no one else pays attention to.

Because this place is already noisy enough.

"Boss! Is this also a product!"

"Boss! How exactly do you purchase this item!"

"Boss! Could you help me get that thing?"

"Hey! I saw it first!"

"You saw it first? I could say I saw it first too! You haven't even taken it!"

……

Like a typical small general store, cluttered and old, the space between display counters and tables is somewhat cramped, packed in this Dongyan-style shop are over twenty Digital Beasts of various sizes.

The presence of beings like Violent Dragon Beast and Large Stag Beetle Beast directly proves that this shop is not as narrow as it appears; the spatial expansion technology common in the human world is also evident here in another form.

But this manifestation is still somewhat conservative.

Having expanded yet still crowded is a fact.

A humanoid guise with a relatively conservative build like his already shows considerable respect for the shop; the only thing comparable would be Bellstamon taking the form of Saber Leomon/Sayamon.

By contrast, Xiangyu Tuohai's three teammates keep their forms unchanged, while he himself adopts a Black Lion Beast guise, trying to hog all the Lion Beast luck, standing aside feigning ignorance.

"What? I didn't quite catch that."

"Being part of some play isn't something everyone is willing to do."

"Then, I hope you can control your mindset."

"There will still be many chances to cooperate; no need to rush the present."

To onlookers, even the passing black-market guards, he appears as the genuine Dark Beast rather than a disguise, and he continues in that hoarse, cold tone.

And this only makes things seem more absurd.

Whoa! The two humanoid versions of the Hei'an-element warriors among the Ten Warriors are pulling at each other?

"Ahaha," the 'Black Lion Beast' gave a dry laugh, his dark-red eyes beneath the helmet scanning the surroundings, "Really need to be that steady? Your target… isn't it rather easy?"

"Don't forget whose turf this is."

Looking at the similarly look‑left‑and‑right guard machine beast and the strategist beast beside him always stroking his chin, the Dark Beast merely turns his huge eyes elsewhere, then resumes standby.

"They are beings with different desire traits, even exerting some influence, Sayamon, is your data core abnormal?"

"Abnormal?"

"Sudden thoughts, unusually foreign feelings, irrepressible cravings, anger welling up for no reason…… things like these."

"I've got nothing to do here, so I can only think about stuff; as for feelings, cravings, anger……" Bellstamon, choosing to disguise himself as Saber Leomon due to similar build and helmet, fell into thought, then turned his head to look at him.

Isn't it all because of you?

That's an ambiguous expression.

Under the strained gaze of the Black Lion Beast, with even the other Digimon beside it looking strange, the Dark Beast's expression was unusually calm.

Calm as an old monk with a mind like still water, his response was also orderly.

What I'm asking isn't about my attitude after forcefully stopping you, but that you should understand what kind of strange techniques those two you provoked can use.

This world is a data world, but it still has source-energy techniques whose core hasn't changed much, right?

All spellcasting-type Digimon are using this to understand power beyond the content of the digital core.

Just as each spellcasting-type Digimon has two innate spells, if one is willing to study code, study programming, there is also a chance to additionally comprehend spells, increasing spell slots.

In the digital world, knowledge remains a shortcut to power.

That's why spellcasting-type Digimon tend to surpass conventions more easily than melee- or ability-type Digimon. Thus, even though Barbarossa Beast and Lilith Beast, these two demon kings, are never top-tier among the Seven Great Demon Kings, Aomo still finds them dangerous.

Especially compared to ordinary Ultimate forms of the same name, the authority of being a demon king grants them a unique trait.

"Greed", "Lust".

So-called traits of the Seven Great Demon Kings are like the secret techniques possessed by over half the members of the Royal Knights; essentially they are a kind of permission.

This, tied together with desire, is like a not-so-digital permission.

At first glance it seems very core-pointed, but if you just think about the disguise badge shape of Aomo and them, it will make sense.

Yes.

Seven Emblems.

The same numbers, the same not-so-data symbols, which means they aren't opposites between the two sides, but they might essentially be of the same origin.

That's true, but if they really tampered with it, I probably wouldn't notice either.

The Sand Fang Beast gritted its teeth.

I've never been good at analyzing myself.

"Just cultivate this awareness." The Dark Beast said coldly.

As the intensity increases, the signs will become more obvious; you can pay attention, and I will help you more—I brought you here for this, and also to test.

"What test?"

"If that power truly exists, would they then notice your whereabouts because of it?"

The Dark Beast lifted a hook shaped like a poor-quality soft-rubber monster with the tip of its serpentine sword blade, examined it before him, and then said:

"Black Lion Beast, your partner seems to have achieved results."

"Huh? That's fast."

He first startled, then lowered his head to look at the small slip of paper that suddenly appeared at his waist; the Black Lion Beast hurriedly lifted it up.

"Keyword: Hongxin." He whispered it, word by word.

"Four o'clock direction, human-like guise, blond hair."

"He mentioned 'beach', 'Ultraman', and... 'cult'."

"I suggest a thunder strike."

At the moment his words fell, the Strategist Beast interface.

Originally, together with the Web Detective partner, his hand empty of manifested weapons, the name 'Serpent Iron Seal God Pill'—a giant virtual samurai sword blocked by the scabbard and entwined with chains—flickered in and out of existence.

"Even if he goes offline, the Guardian Machine Beast can still remember his data IP, and then, based on... the Dark Beast's provided information about teleportation ability, arrest him on the spot, or shift the battlefield to your more confident human world."

"Can we?" The Black Lion Beast turned its head to look at the Dark Beast.

The Dark Beast merely lowered its sword blade slowly, letting that product slide back onto the stall: "Get ready to act, Sand Fang."

"Got it!"

(End of chapter)