"Yo—didn't expect to see a humanoid Digimon here."
Just as Chen Ze finished purchasing the information he needed and was about to pick a set of identity data for Renamon, a slightly mocking voice sounded behind them.
"This Digimon belongs to you?"
With Renamon giving him a blatant look-how-fun-this-is expression, Chen Ze turned around in confusion—only to find three ridiculously dressed hackers standing behind him.
More importantly, beside those three stood a humanoid Digimon wreathed in flames—Meramon.
As for the teen hacker selling information, he instantly took several steps back, clearly assuming the posture of I'm just a passerby, none of this has anything to do with me.
"…Who are you?"
Glancing briefly at the sluggish-looking Meramon, then at the trio whose intentions were very obviously bad, Chen Ze made a face that could only be described as What am I even looking at?
Never mind how these three bizarre hackers even knew what a Digimon was—their expressions alone made it obvious they weren't here for friendly conversation.
And what annoyed Chen Ze even more was—
Renamon was clearly the reason all this was happening, so why had these fools come to bother him instead?
And what was with Renamon's completely detached, enjoying the drama from the sidelines attitude?!
They're coming for you, you know!
"We are… who?"
The trio blinked. They clearly hadn't expected to meet someone in Snowden who didn't recognize them.
"You're asking who we are?"
Chen Ze nodded innocently, feigning the demeanor of a clueless newbie—while internally trying to figure out what was going on with that Meramon.
How did these three manage to partner with a Digimon?
And why did that Digimon look so… vacant?
"We are Snowden's Three Musketeers! You seriously don't know who we are?!"
The leader stepped forward dramatically, trying to look down on Chen Ze with a lofty, arrogant pose.
"Three Musketeers?"
The confusion on Chen Ze's face instantly shifted into flat contempt. He straightened his back, using his height to deliver a proper downward glare.
"Then do you know who I am?"
The sudden pressure in Chen Ze's voice startled the leader so badly he forgot the speech he'd obviously rehearsed a hundred times.
"Y‑you… who are you?"
He stammered, backing up several steps until he'd escaped Chen Ze's shadow, completely ignoring the shocked looks from his own teammates.
"Who am I?"
Just as the trio braced themselves, expecting Chen Ze to drop a terrifying name—
His expression changed again, and he said cheerfully:
"Actually… I'm just a newcomer. If you don't believe me, ask him."
"W‑what—"
The teenage seller stared blankly at Chen Ze pointing directly at him. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but before he could—
The Three Musketeers had already realized they'd been played, and their rage exploded instantly.
"You dare mess with us?!"
This time it wasn't the leader who spoke, but the hot-tempered member standing half a step behind him.
"You brat—you're asking for a beating."
Faced with their overt threat, Chen Ze only rolled his eyes.
"Do you not realize? The moment you said that, your fate was sealed."
He paused deliberately, raising his voice just enough.
"If I respond to your provocation next, it means you're proper villains."
"But if I ignore you… you're nothing more than background mob characters."
He hadn't even finished speaking when the teen hacker beside him burst into laughter, forgetting entirely his earlier instinct to avoid involvement.
"You're pretty interesting."
Now that the trio had lumped them together, the teen hacker no longer bothered explaining. He stepped forward, firmly choosing Chen Ze's side.
"You three have exactly two options: leave on your own, or I throw you out."
Like flipping a switch, the teen hacker's previously mild expression darkened instantly, sharp and predatory like a hawk's.
"Get him! Meramon!"
Seeing this, the Three Musketeers wasted no time. They issued the command.
Hrrrngh!!
Like a puppet being yanked forward, Meramon advanced with a heavy step. The scorching heat radiating off him hit like a furnace blast.
"Renamon!"
Not wanting to reveal himself, Chen Ze called out immediately, signaling Renamon to stop spectating and intervene already.
"A mere Meramon."
The gentle smile on Renamon's lips sharpened into a cold smirk. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from where she stood—reappearing behind Meramon.
Her claws extended, wrapped in dense, tangible fox aura, and struck at Meramon's exposed back.
—Power Paw!
Renamon's signature close‑quarters technique—wrapping spiritual energy around her limbs to strike.
"AAHH!"
In an instant, the blazing flames were ripped apart, and the unguarded Meramon howled in pain.
But that brief moment of agony seemed to jolt Meramon's own consciousness awake. The puppet-like emptiness vanished, replaced by a savage, feral snarl.
"[FIRE FIST]!!"
Without even turning around, the flames enveloping Meramon erupted violently—as if someone had dumped fuel onto a raging fire—and surged backward toward Renamon like an exploding geyser.
Fwhooooom!!
The floor melted. The surrounding air warped.
Inside this fully digital space, Meramon's power was amplified far beyond anything possible in the real world.
"Oh no—Meramon's gone berserk!"
In mere seconds, the Three Musketeers realized the danger and immediately chose to flee.
But even then, one hacker failed to react in time, his avatar swallowed whole by Meramon's flames—converted directly into part of the data composing this digital space.
It was pure luck they weren't using their real Digital Avatars…
Because if they had, the loss would've been worse than any hacker attack imaginable.
---
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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