The Royal Knights left.
Before departing, they laid down three immensely powerful barriers, which is difficult for ordinary beings to break through.
Not long after they left,
From the depths of the abyss, Taichi and Agumon slowly emerged from the ruins.
They exchanged a glance, a smile of relief after a narrow escape appearing on their faces.
Their ability to escape Omnimon's attack naturally relied on Hattori's help.
[True Love Is Agumon: @Dark Group Owner, Thank you, Boss. Thanks for the 99.9% purity Chrome Digizoid armor.]
[Dark Group Owner: No need for verbal thanks. Just send a red packet later, ahem, you know, a token of appreciation.]
Hattori lay on the sofa, typing with a pained expression.
99.9% purity Chrome Digizoid.
That was a Supreme Masterpiece only possessed by Royal Knights of Gallantmon's level.
On the system's exchange panel, it cost a full 3000 Activity Points.
If he hadn't been frequently active in the group recently, accumulating enough activity points, he might not have had sufficient balance.
However, the current investment is all for future development.
Judging by the progress, once the Digital Civil Strife erupts, Taichi should become the first group member to break through 70%, or even 100%, Darkening level.
When the time comes, Hattori is quite looking forward to the generous rewards the system will give.
Of course, that's all for the future.
Returning to the group chat, Hattori asked curiously.
[Dark Group Owner: By the way, what do you think about the suggestion Kurai gave you last time? Any areas you can start preparing?]
[True Love Is Agumon: Well, although Kurai-san doesn't think highly of my execution ability, to be honest, her inspiration made me think of a path I'd like to try.]
Taichi looked at the data map Hikari had just sent him.
A strange light flickered in his eyes as a bold plan formed.
[Dark Group Owner: Let's hear it.]
[True Love Is Agumon: Just now, Hikari searched through Homeostasis's knowledge database and sent me all the coordinates related to powerful Digimon stored within.]
[True Love Is Agumon: This includes powerful existences like the Ten Legendary Warriors, the Four Great Dragons, and the Four Holy Beasts. I plan to have Koshiro seek them out one by one. With the power of his Crest of Dominion, he might not be able to defeat them on the spot, but through continuous battles, he can constantly learn and imitate, collecting data from powerful Digimon, eventually growing to his peak.]
[True Love Is Agumon: This plan is tentatively named the 'Yggdrasil Cultivation Plan', with Koshiro as the main body, BlackWarGreymon as his enforcer, and Hikari providing support from the side.]
Taichi stared into the void, typing with his thoughts.
BlackWarGreymon's injuries were nothing in the hands of Hikari, who controlled part of Homeostasis, and Koshiro, the Yggdrasil Sapling.
At most, a few days were needed to restore him to peak combat power.
By then, adding a layer of Metal Empire's armor modification would push his strength even further.
[Dark Group Owner: Hmm, the planning in this aspect is good. What about you yourself?]
Hattori nodded, continuing with interest.
[True Love Is Agumon: On my end, I plan to lead the Digimon army to traverse every corner of the Digital World, searching for more Metal Empire's ruins.]
[True Love Is Agumon: If the trigger condition for Metal Empire's ruins is a specific resonance, then by sending out a sufficiently large Digimon army, I should theoretically be able to trigger all the steel ruins.]
Taichi clenched his fist, full of ambition.
The Metal Empire at its peak was an existence feared even by Homeostasis and Yggdrasil.
Even the Royal Knights were equipped with the Metal Empire's highest masterpieces, significantly boosting their strength.
Taichi had also developed a great interest in the Cyborg evolution path.
[Dark Group Owner: According to Kurai's analysis, it's theoretically possible. But, can you get out now? The Royal Knights' barrier is still there.]
A slight curve lifted the corner of Hattori's mouth as he spoke plainly.
[True Love Is Agumon: Hah, dealing with a barrier like this, I have a hundred ways to get out.]
Taichi looked at the powerful energy barrier before him, a trace of a scornful smile on his face.
In terms of absolute power, the Royal Knights undoubtedly crushed him.
But in terms of variety of methods...
Throughout the entire Digital World, even Homeostasis and Yggdrasil couldn't outplay him.
Taichi gently took out the Crest of Revenge from his chest. A strange light flickered.
A powerful dark energy slowly enveloped the energy barrier.
[Beep. Beep. Error sounds.]
As the dark energy encroached, the barrier emitted a piercing screech.
Immediately after, it began to decompose and dissipate bit by bit, like melting ice.
Not a trace remained.
Taichi looked at the scene before him, smiled slightly, and explained in the group chat.
[True Love Is Agumon: The Crest programs bestowed upon us by the Boss, modified by Kurai-san, each contain power that reaches the very origin of the Digital World. After such a long time of research and exploration, Agumon and I have also discovered some methods.]
[True Love Is Agumon: My Crest of Revenge is, in essence, the origin of all negative emotions, a higher existence than even Apocalymon. It directly corresponds to 'Yggdrasil', possessing the ability to destroy and decompose data.]
[True Love Is Agumon: The energy of the Thirteen Royal Knights is too powerful, and the Crests are temporarily not their match yet. But a small barrier, whose total energy output is less than a thousandth of their full power, can naturally be easily decomposed by the Crest of Revenge.]
'So that's how it is.'
Hattori nodded, looked at Kurai beside him, and asked curiously,
"Kurai, do the Crests still have so much power? How come I didn't know?"
"Theoretically, all Crest programs in Taichi's dimension are my sub-programs. The ultimate authority belongs to you, Master. Currently, Taichi has only unlocked 9.19% of their functions. If you wish to understand the subsequent functions, I can explain…"
"Stop! No need. It's fine if you know. Just remind me when they can be used."
Hearing Kurai's string of instructions, Hattori felt a headache coming on and quickly stopped her.
He hated trouble the most.
With a capable and considerate loli like Kurai, why should he bother memorizing so many functions?
Even Iron Man had an AI butler.
"Command received."
Kurai nodded and immediately reverted to her calm loli appearance, standing quietly to the side.
[Dark Group Owner: So, the matters on your end are truly settled for now, right?]
[True Love Is Agumon: Yes. For a short time, it should be a period of lying low, where all parties harbor their own schemes while remaining highly vigilant of each other.]
[Dark Group Owner: In that case, lay low and develop. Before you have the strength to confront the Royal Knights head-on, absolutely do not take any more risks.]
[True Love Is Agumon: Understood. After this, I'll keep a lower profile.]
[True Love Is Agumon: However, at the very end, there is one more thing I must do.]
A look of calm determination settled on Taichi's face as he silently closed the group chat.
Before his eyes, a virtual screen appeared, projecting a scene from the real world.
"Koshiro, help me locate Yamato and Sora's coordinates."
"This time, there will be no interference from Homeostasis, nor any of those clichéd, melodramatic accidents."
A cruel smile curled on Taichi's lips.