BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The battle between Renamon and Meramon quickly drew the attention of everyone inside the digital space.
But contrary to Chen Ze's expectations, none of the surrounding hackers seemed surprised. Instead, they very naturally stepped back, clearing enough space for the two Digimon to fight.
Moreover, Chen Ze even noticed some hackers quietly running recording programs, meticulously capturing every detail of the ongoing battle.
"You really are a rookie, aren't you?"
Realizing he wouldn't need to intervene, the teenage hacker glanced sideways at Chen Ze, who was clearly still unfamiliar with how things worked here, and asked in a tone of complete certainty:
"Is this your first time in Japan?"
Surprised by the teen's quick perception, Chen Ze didn't bother hiding it. The kid had obviously seen through him already; lying at this point would just be pointless.
"How did you know?"
The teenage hacker didn't reply directly. Instead, he pointed at Renamon, still engaged fiercely in battle:
"She's different from ordinary Digimon—she's fighting for herself."
"To be honest, when I first saw you, I thought it was strange. Why didn't you recall your Digimon into the private space of your Digimon Capture?"
"Now I understand: she wasn't captured by you at all—she chose to follow you voluntarily."
Seeing Chen Ze's confused look, the teenage hacker patiently continued, his tone steady as he spun out an explanation that might or might not be fully accurate:
"I've heard of humans and Digimon living together as equals before, but this is the first time I've actually seen it."
Ever since the creation of EDEN, countless strange rumors had circulated throughout this virtual network.
Initially, no one paid attention to these urban legends, dismissing them as mere glitches produced by Kamishiro Enterprises' system. After all, EDEN was humanity's very first fully virtual network—occasional bugs and anomalies were perfectly natural.
Until a group of hackers discovered a very special kind of program hidden within EDEN—a lifeform called Digimon.
No one knew exactly how the first Digimon had been discovered, nor where they truly came from.
All that was certain was that these unique "programs" possessed innate intelligence, the ability to devour vast amounts of data, and the potential to evolve and mutate in response to their environment.
And especially after absorbing huge quantities of data, these "programs" could evolve highly specific abilities. While the manifestations of these powers varied, they all shared one thing in common: they were specialized tools born specifically for manipulating "networks." Their prowess in navigating and exploiting computer systems was unmatched by ordinary software.
Consequently, many hackers classified them as special viruses—believing they were rudimentary artificial intelligences born alongside the EDEN network—and dubbed them "Digimon."
Later, at some unknown point, a mysterious application began circulating within hacker communities: a program known as Digimon Capture.
With this enigmatic software, whose origin nobody could trace, hackers gained the ability to capture Digimon, deliberately triggering mutations and evolutions to produce desirable powers.
Nowadays, owning a unique Digimon had even become a kind of status symbol among hackers.
"In fact, it's not only hackers—even corporate security personnel have started training Digimon of their own."
As he said this, a flicker of hatred crossed the teenage hacker's eyes, although he quickly masked it again.
If hackers captured Digimon primarily to evolve them into viral types, then corporate security teams consciously evolved theirs into Data-type, or even Vaccine-type.
Yet, regardless of what type they eventually became, all Digimon captured by humans inevitably lost their sentience, becoming little more than instinct-driven tools.
"So that's why Meramon's movements seem so mechanical."
Watching Meramon, clearly far stronger yet helplessly toyed with by Renamon, Chen Ze finally understood the unnatural feeling he'd sensed from the beginning.
More importantly, Chen Ze now realized why none of the hackers here reacted with surprise upon seeing Renamon. They even instinctively cleared the battlefield as soon as the fight began.
Apparently, within this fully constructed EDEN network, Digimon were no longer rare and mysterious entities.
Though not yet universally known to the general public, Digimon were already an open secret among hackers with any measure of skill or reputation, many of whom were desperate to acquire one.
This was a huge blind spot in Chen Ze's thinking. He'd always assumed Digimon—especially a special one like Renamon—were still unknown to most people.
He'd believed that the reason no hackers cared about the presence of a humanoid fox was simply due to their typical chuunibyou behavior—their fondness for eccentric appearances.
But now, looking around Snowden's hackers, Chen Ze realized the truth was far simpler: they didn't care about Renamon's presence because they assumed she was simply another Digimon captured and controlled by him.
Sure, openly parading a Digimon around would draw unwanted attention from ill-intentioned individuals like those "Three Musketeers." But given the pervasive chuunibyou syndrome among Japanese hackers, a few individuals acting unusually wasn't really that strange.
Did Renamon know all of this from the start?
Chen Ze couldn't imagine how Renamon must have felt, knowing her kind were being systematically enslaved by humans. But at least he now understood why she hadn't bothered hiding her true form.
Aside from her absolute confidence in her own abilities, Renamon's behavior suggested she'd been aware of this situation all along.
"Enslaving Digimon... this doesn't match the Digital World I imagined."
Whether in the anime and manga from his previous life, or in his limited experiences in this one, Chen Ze's impression was that Digimon and humans were meant to be equal partners, growing and evolving together.
Even in the chaos of Agumon's berserk rampage during the Hikarigaoka Incident, the Digimon had never actually harmed Kari or Tai.
And even the so-called villain, Parrotmon, consciously avoided attacking humans directly.
"Digital World...? Imagination?"
"Imagination and reality are two entirely different things."
The teenage hacker seemed to catch Chen Ze's whispered words. He paused for a moment, then replied with a faint, bitter sneer:
"Apart from the rare ones like you, enslaving Digimon is already the norm in this world."
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