Chapter 1859: with translation of chapter title

NO. 474: That also counts as a monster world.

The seven demon kings cooperating wholeheartedly with each other is possible, but seven demon kings who are wholeheartedly cooperative are unlikely.

The seven deadly sins are merely the most outstanding aspects of each self, not that aside from the ultimate sins they bear toward each other they are otherwise perfect.

Greed and gluttony are the two most common sins in the Hei'an region, followed by envy and wrath.

Lastly are sloth and lust.

It's not hard to understand, after all lazy fellows find it difficult to survive in the Hei'an region's jungle-law plus intense involution equals meat-grinder environment; those who can afford such leisure are usually the top-tier existences.

As for lust…

Indeed, the hearts of Digital Monsters can indeed sprout love and thereby develop sexual differentiation, but that is not common.

Without love it is naturally hard to have lust, after all Digital Monsters differ from humans; humans can still exhibit flamboyant suppression under hormonal and environmental influences, whereas Digital Monsters can only point to unhealthy abnormal data appearing in their own digital cores—of course that too is an extremely rare phenomenon.

Thus what disappoints many humans is that the lust represented by the Lilith Beast is not fixed on the concept of intercourse, but rather a pursuit of all sensory stimulation distinct from greed.

If one must give an example, it is roughly the lust found in the Warhammer IP.

However, the cultural development of the Digital Monster realm is primitive and simple; even when doing evil, it is merely very simple and concise harm.

Moreover, due to the data construction of Digital Monsters simplifying details such as blood and internal organ wounds, the torturous arts spoken of in human culture as varied and elaborate have become for Digital Monsters an unattainable far-off horizon.

Therefore one cannot conclude from this example that the Lilith Beast could devise some super‑extreme, perverted play—it simply lacks the conditions.

Digital Monsters cannot undergo malformation or splicing unless you are a programming expert; otherwise even a Chimera Beast can only be cultivated normally by seeking known evolution trees.

And if you are a programming expert, then assembling fusions would seem too simple, except that you might well be pursued by net police, net detectives, tamers, and the like.

Such days would not be easy to get through.

If an individual could be more concealed, more at ease, and better at living freely than an organization, then the monster tamers of other worlds would have no need to form any monster cults.

Unless your individual strength is already great enough to shake a group, otherwise only another group can shake a group, and moreover the premise is that the two groups must be of comparable size.

Otherwise one can only creep about in the dark like a street‑rat, devoted to changing appearance wherever one goes, suspicious and paranoid.

Do the seven demon kings not understand this point?

Aomo supposes they know.

Knowing does not mean acting; there are many who understand that forbearance prevents great schemes yet still cannot resist being driven by emotion—both ordinary folk and sages alike cannot escape that fated impulse.

Only for some does the point of unbearable endurance become a ladder to success, while for others it is simply a straightforward downfall; the difference between them is nothing more than a difference in ability.

As the saying goes, the strong do not complain about the environment.

Because the environment is what the strong destroy.

When a new heaven and earth are opened, the adapted thrive like fish in water, the unsuited are eliminated en masse, and most of the strong do not care about the latter.

Arrogance is their common trait, strength is their weather vane.

They judge value by strength, then let value drive their steps.

On that road there are no unsuited ones, and they also always refuse to look back behind them.

Applying this reasoning to the seven demon kings, the unsuited referred to naturally means their armies and the wanderers on their territories.

Yes, wanderers, not subjects.

The seven demon kings have never been proper administrators; even though Barbamon and Lilithmon are known for their operation, they are too lazy to expend effort cultivating any ruler‑subject sentiment.

The law of the jungle is the underlying logic here; only the most outstanding warriors can earn the king's praise and favor, whereas the bottom‑layer folk‑like existences are undoubtedly seen by the demon kings as waste and fodder.

Used to raise small fish, then let the small fish nurture big fish, the big fish gain the right to be absorbed into the demon king's army—that is, the Perfect level. In the main world of the Digital World this counts as a mature stage of a lone wanderer, but in the Hei'an region it is usually considered low‑rank; only upon reaching Perfect does one qualify as a rank‑and‑file soldier, otherwise one remains merely a low‑grade attendant or similar consumable.

However, even after becoming Perfect, and after enduring countless hardships in internal army struggles, stepping into the realm of Ultimate and becoming the commander of a legion, it does not mean competition ends there.

Otherwise Astamon would not have to risk his life to run for Belphemon.

Such an ecological environment seems to Aomo not at all normal, yet he is also grateful that this perpetually fixed abnormal environment provides him an opportunity for refinement.

He will distill from it each of the seven demon kings' governing styles, and further distill from those styles their innate nature!

——then fill it into the personality model that was already under construction.

Destroying the environment yet scorning all who do not meet the eye—this is the first common trait manifested by them under Aomo Lindun's summarization.

This trait determines that their emphasis on their own base is a focus on value; in other words, for the sake of profit they will not care about casualties below. At the same time it also means that as long as they have confidence in victory, they may even not mind weakening their own forces to undermine an opponent's advantage, thereby seizing opportunity for themselves.

"So I quite agree with Barbamon. X's view, though it is worth mentioning that perhaps one of the demon kings might differ."

"Uh… that lamb youngster?"

"\"Belphemon. Sleep Form. \" Aomo had long given up correcting Bi Ze's casual way of speaking, but because there are still many clueless listeners in this voice channel, he chooses to convey the information as normatively as possible; if even this seems like a riddle to someone, then all that can be said is that it's not suitable for joining the fun."

"Better leave the chat room early; you clearly still have vacation to spend, training to refine, and combat techniques to study."

"\"The gathered intelligence shows that the sloth demon king, even before promotion, was already the sole legion commander of the original Belphemon, Astamon, and its troops had at the outset of this trial blocked several key approaches to the Gate of Great Sin, screening out a large portion of the candidates. \""

"\"Really just a bit of cleverness. \" Beelstamon shook its head."

"\"Because Digital Monsters find it hard to break through underlying code to change clothes, on this still scorching‑hot beach the Witchmon chose to evolve in order to obtain lower clothing coverage. If Aomo did not think this was really making a mountain out of a molehill, she would probably have resorted to this reason to also unleash her X form. \""

"\"In a world of the jungle, success itself is emphasized more, \" Aomo said, \"but precisely for that reason one can say its success is closely tied to legion authority. \""

"\"As a being that has just transformed and has not yet had time to complete its mental shift, being thrust into this meeting room where everyone harbors ulterior motives and is accustomed to applying pressure, the time required for its thought transformation will only be longer. \""

"\"Before that, it will first realize that it still cannot escape the fate of being dominated, even if it becomes a demon king. \" Luna said faintly, letting the nearby Sirius glance at her if he had personal experience."

"\"Yes, in that state it will retain most of Astamon's thought patterns, and also preserve the interpersonal relationships of that period. \""

"\"Interpersonal? \" Bi Ze blinked, \"Did I miss something? Does he have any original‑body brothers? \""

"\"Huh? I didn't say that? Astamon is well liked by his subordinates, praised for his good nature and upbringing, and called the noble youth of the Hei'an region. \""

"\"Huh? That little black lamb? \""

"\"He doesn't usually talk like that, does he? \" The black goat on Aomo's head, which rarely makes its presence known, said in a flat tone."

"\"Probably he's feeling sour, he has no resistance to such titles. \" Aomo thought‑sent."

Black goat: \"Truly ugly. \"

Aomo treated those words as if he hadn't heard them and continued: \"Exactly Belphemon, so it is likely to care about the lives of its subordinates and also likely to resist this plan. \"

"Its performance at the meeting can't be seen," Bi Ze raised his hand, "rather, that guy kept his eyes closed and didn't speak; we could only judge his mood from his tone."

"If it were you, could you have shown resistance at the time? You experienced it yourself, Bi Ze."

"Um..." Bi Ze didn't make a sound, partly because his girlfriend beside him covered his mouth.

"Truly a virtuous wife."

Aomo made a simple evaluation in his mind, then continued: "In any case, let's put the meeting aside for now; I'll first reveal what I inferred from the High Priest's words and deeds during our confrontation in the digital world——"

"Wait! You couldn't have figured it out earlier, could you? I said before to let the Royal Knights handle that black sheep!"

After breaking free from his girlfriend's hand, Bi Ze's train of thought somehow linked back to the previous line: "When did you have Chen gather data on the Asta Beast? You'd already calculated that killing the previous black sheep would make it the chosen one?"

"It's only a fifty percent chance," although he interjected, Aomo didn't mind explaining, "My decision wasn't to gamble on that, but simply to need a way to convey a message."

"Convey a message?" Bai Ren was somewhat puzzled.

"Just warning the planner opposite, huh," Qianming slurped his iced drink and said casually, "Tell them I saw you, that sort of thing, then see whether they'd play dead or retaliate immediately."

"About right," Aomo nodded, "Then Bi Ze, do you have any other questions?"

"Why not call Chen back too? He's busier than I am; kids should get more vacation, right?"

"First, he's over five thousand years older than you; second, he volunteered himself, I'm not the kind of boss who doesn't let employees rest." The demon sighed.

"Believe me, Bi Ze, compared to hanging out on the beach with a bunch of humans, he prefers that place."

(End of chapter)