Chapter 132: Meditation and the Soul of the Digital Realm

“Indeed, there is a kind of energy in the digital world that further nurtures the growth of the digital soul.”

Exhaling a breath of stale air, Qin Fei slowly opened his eyes after finishing his meditation training, muttering to himself.

In his previous life, as a corporate drone who often worked overtime, Qin Fei’s health was never robust. Especially since his work involved design-related mental labor, the immense pressure frequently caused headaches and even receding hairlines.

To prevent an untimely demise—or at least to protect his hairline—Qin Fei proactively studied various meditation techniques to alleviate the heavy mental burden.

Techniques such as breath meditation, walking meditation, seated meditation, and so forth... all yielded quite good results.

However, after entering the digital world of the fifth stage, Qin Fei discovered a new, remarkable use for meditation. He found that after each session, his digital soul within would become noticeably more active, as if a few drops of clear water had been added to a pot of boiling oil.

Especially in this digital realm, the effect of meditation astonishingly accelerated the growth of his digital soul.

Regarding the innate talent of the digital soul, Qin Fei knew he could not compare to prodigies like Daimon Dai or Daimon Ei. Yet, with the aid of meditation, he felt he still possessed a fighting chance.

He wondered if, with diligent practice, he might one day be able to knock down a Digimon of ultimate level with a single punch, just like Dai and Ei.

“Maybe in future battles, I won’t even need Lolo’s protection—I can just roll up my sleeves and fight on my own. Ha ha ha.”

Looking at the increasingly solidified digital soul in his hand, Qin Fei instinctively waved his hand.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He opened his clenched fist, curled his thumb inward, and transformed the remaining four fingers into a blade-like shape.

Concentrating, he pressed his digital soul thinly over this “hand blade.”

Qin Fei realized that this gathered, cohesive layer of digital soul truly transformed his palm into a sharp blade, faintly radiating a cutting aura.

“If Daimon Dai’s fist is for smashing, then maybe my hand blade could be used for slicing or cutting…”

Excited by this thought, Qin Fei almost wanted to find a Digimon to test his skills. However, he quickly suppressed this urge, reminding himself now was not the time for distractions.

It had been two days since confirming cooperation with Mercurymon.

Those two days were calm, but Qin Fei wondered how far Akihiro Kurata had progressed in the human world.

Everyone remained somewhat patient, estimating based on the storyline’s timeline that it would take at least three days for Kurata to arrive in the digital world. They hoped that tomorrow Kurata would expedite his arrival.

In fact, recalling the anime, those three bioweapons under Kurata’s command were powerful enough to defeat Daimon Dai, Shuno, and Toma—each possessing the strength of a complete form. It was uncertain whether they had even reached the ultimate level ahead of time.

Kurata also commanded countless artificial Digimon.

Those artificial Digimon were known for their overwhelming numbers, capable of overwhelming ultimate-level Digimon like the Golden Landmon.

Considering this, Qin Fei was not entirely confident he could defeat them all alone. He definitely needed allies—Mercurymon, for instance.

“Qin Fei! …The Jellymon of the Ore Digimon seems to have detected something—a fully armed human squad has appeared in the forest.”

At that moment, Toma’s voice suddenly came through, causing Qin Fei to frown in surprise.

He hadn’t expected Akihiro Kurata to be so impatient as to enter the digital world ahead of schedule.

“Then let everyone prepare. If we’re lucky, we can resolve this quickly.”

...

Arriving at Mercurymon’s staging area, Qin Fei saw that the once casual group was now on high alert.

“Are those guys here?”

Daimon Dai asked as he noticed Qin Fei approaching.

Qin Fei remained silent. This was earlier than he had anticipated... he wondered what had happened.

Originally, Daimon Dai, Shuno, and Toma were supposed to lead Kurata to this location, but without guides, Kurata had arrived here early on his own.

“Could it be because DATS didn’t reform?”

In the original story, due to the presence of Gabumon, the DATS team, once disbanded by Hashiba, was reactivated.

But now, because of Qin Fei’s impact on the storyline, the rebellious Gabumon never appeared, so DATS never reformed.

Without DATS to interfere or guide him, Kurata had to use his own methods to find Mercurymon.

Clearly, he had entered the digital world ahead of time—with his army.

Soon, a man in a white lab coat appeared before them, followed by a group of human soldiers clad in bomb suits and armed with firearms.

“I never expected that to deal with Mercurymon, that Hashiba fellow would send Sakuramoto’s soldiers under Kurata’s command.”

Wait—Qin Fei’s eyes narrowed.

Among the soldiers were three figures both unexpected yet unsurprising.

One was a gray-haired man dressed in blue and yellow, adorned with a lip ring, exuding arrogance and a roguish air.

Another was a tall, burly man with a clean-shaven face and a simple, expressionless demeanor.

The last was a blonde girl wearing a black and red formal outfit with a small hat, her expression proud and haughty.

“It’s those three.”

Without Daimon Dai and the others to guide him, Kurata had brought them along after all.

“Qin Fei, I didn’t find the Gizmon you mentioned…”

Toma approached, having just scouted the area but seemingly unable to locate the threat Qin Fei had been wary of.

“He’s probably hidden somewhere. That Kurata guy has always planned to catch us off guard.”

...

“Yo, so it’s the former DATS members. I thought you had all disappeared.”

Stopping not far from Mercurymon’s waiting spot, the man in the round glasses and white coat greeted Daimon Dai and the others with a surprisingly friendly tone.

“You bastard… so you’re behind all this after all!”

Before Daimon Dai and the others could question him, Mercurymon’s massive figure rose instantly.

It would never forget the heinous crimes those humans had committed in the digital world.

“What’s going on? Is that the Kurata Akihiro you speak of?”

Seeing Mercurymon’s uncontrollable fury, Daimon Dai cautiously asked. Though he had heard of the man, he did not know his exact appearance.

“That man is the culprit who killed our comrades and Snowmon!!!”

Mercurymon roared, seething with rage, as if ready to devour him alive.

Yuren’s eyes trembled as he looked at the man in the white coat, his hatred rising uncontrollably.

“Snowmon loved Yuren from the bottom of its heart, like its own child… but that man tore them apart forever.”

Mercurymon’s eyes gleamed with sorrowful remembrance, yet upon looking at Kurata’s mocking face, his anger surged anew.

“Heh, how about you put away your one-sided story?”

Kurata adjusted his glasses and said, his eyes deep with hatred: “I’m the real victim here.”

“Ten years ago, when the Digital World Exploration Team was formed, we were nearly killed by Digimon. Every day was a living hell, like we were in the depths of despair!”

His features twisted with bitterness.

“We were relentlessly pursued and ambushed by Digimon, only managing to escape to the Infinite Ice Wall… especially that Golden Sword Lionmon, who relentlessly hunted us. If it weren’t for the spacetime shock bomb…”

The expression of recollection faded as Kurata looked up with eyes full of resentment at the Digimon before him.

“That was a close call… if the spacetime shock bomb had detonated a moment later, we would have been wiped out.”

...

The cause was clear: Kurata’s hatred for the digital world stemmed from being relentlessly hunted by Golden Sword Lionmon.

Yet that was no excuse for his wanton slaughter of Digimon.

What Kurata had done had already inflicted grave harm on both the digital and human worlds, nearly igniting a war between the two realms.