The view returned to the Snowden digital space—now the battleground between Renamon and the Eater.
"What exactly is this thing?"
Renamon had no idea that Chen Ze had already forcibly logged out the hacker controlling the Eater. At this moment, her entire focus was solely on the unknown creature.
Unlike Digimon, while Eaters were also composed of data and could mutate by absorbing different information, they possessed no consciousness of their own.
In other words, Eaters would endlessly assimilate and consume every piece of data they encountered, until the entire world became part of themselves.
This horrifying trait manifested most clearly in combat: Eaters could directly erode their targets, absorbing their strength to enhance themselves.
BOOM!
In just a brief, explosive instant, the Eater not only destroyed Renamon's three clones but also swept away a large swath of bystanders too slow to escape.
"Dammit! What the hell is this thing...?!"
"Aaaah! My Digital Avatar...!"
"Run! The thing's out of control...!"
Panicked shouts arose one after another from the crowd. These hackers exhausted every method at their disposal, yet none could stop the Eater from corroding their data.
Unbeknownst to them, as their Digital Avatars faded, their minds would also enter the Eater's body, completely losing any chance of awakening in the real world.
Because what the Eater consumed was not merely the information and permissions stored in their Digital Avatars, but also the mental data the hackers had deposited there.
...
"You're on your own now! I'm outta here!"
Seeing the chaos unfold, the teenage hacker gave Chen Ze a quick pat on the shoulder before immediately disconnecting and vanishing from the space.
"Ran off pretty fast."
Chen Ze dismissed any thoughts of continuing his questioning of the boy hacker and instead turned his attention to the increasingly humanoid Eater.
When Chen Ze had hacked the leader's terminal earlier, he had also downloaded a portion of its data—including intelligence on the Eater.
Thus, even without the teen hacker's information, Chen Ze had learned just how terrifying this unknown entity was.
It absorbed all data it encountered, evolving abilities far surpassing ordinary Digimon based on whatever it consumed.
Even without a specialized attribute aimed at Digimon or humans, this ability alone was enough to dominate most Digimon.
Never mind its erosion and assimilation ability—something even more exaggerated than the legendary "Star Absorbing Skill"—just making contact would strengthen the Eater further.
Leaving Digimon aside for now, any humans who directly encountered an Eater would develop EDEN Syndrome, falling into an irreversible coma in the real world!
"I can't let that monster touch me directly!"
Although he desperately wanted to grab Renamon and immediately jump away from this disaster zone, Chen Ze felt a pang of conscience seeing hackers collapsing unconscious one after another, and ultimately couldn't bear to just leave.
In the end, he himself was directly responsible for the Eater's rampage. He didn't have the habit of fleeing after causing trouble.
"Forget it—explaining it to them one by one is way too troublesome. I'll just log them all out forcibly!"
Just as he had previously done with the hacker duo, Chen Ze began indiscriminately attacking every nearby hacker, intending to force them offline.
"Motherf—! Who's the asshole attacking me?!"
"What's with this cartoon fox? Who's hacking me?!"
"Shit! I'm getting forcibly logged out!"
"It's that guy! He's attacking us!"
Accompanied by curses—some angry, some confused—the hackers quickly realized Chen Ze's actions, and naturally, he became their common enemy.
Yet their curses proved meaningless. Chen Ze continued to frantically attack their terminals, forcing each of them offline.
After all, hackers like the teenage boy—those highly skilled and aware enough of the danger—had already voluntarily abandoned this collapsing digital space.
Those left behind were either technically inept or lacking in situational awareness.
Faced with Chen Ze's sudden offensive, only a few managed to react quickly. Most didn't even have time to curse before being forcibly disconnected.
Particularly those nearest to the Eater, with no defensive capabilities of their own, quickly became Chen Ze's top priority.
As for those who resisted Chen Ze's attack, he figured they didn't need his "rescue" anyway.
Chen Ze had keenly observed that among the hackers who sensed danger, several had already begun summoning their own Digimon.
These Digimon might not defeat the Eater outright, but they were more than capable of defending themselves.
Indeed, those hackers aware of the threat had already begun commanding their Digimon, actively assaulting the Eater in self-defense.
...
"Hopeless do-gooder."
Hidden in the shadows, Renamon had immediately noticed Chen Ze's actions. While she didn't know exactly what he had discovered, she quickly realized he was attempting to save these hackers.
This scene reminded Renamon of that night in Hikarigaoka—faced with two human siblings similarly trapped in danger, Chen Ze had chosen to rescue them without hesitation.
"You won't save anyone like this."
Appearing silently behind Chen Ze, Renamon returned to her elegant demeanor and spoke softly.
"That monster is extremely dangerous. The hackers' actions right now are only making it stronger."
Having personally witnessed the Eater absorbing several hackers and Digimon, gradually taking on a more distinctively human shape, Renamon made her own assessment.
"No matter how many we can save, we still have to try."
If Chen Ze hadn't known about EDEN Syndrome, he might have comfortably slipped away without a second thought.
But knowing the true nature of the Eater, Chen Ze simply couldn't abandon them—especially since this chaos was his own fault.
"Utterly meaningless."
Whispering these words so softly that only she could hear, Renamon couldn't comprehend Chen Ze's choice, but instinctively began considering solutions to the immediate crisis.
"We must destroy that thing before it fully becomes 'humanoid.'"
Everyone present could see clearly: the Eater was reconstructing itself, assimilating absorbed data into an even stronger form.
In theory, the only way to stop this disaster from spreading was to eliminate the Eater before it completed its transformation.
---
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