For the first stop of his conquest, Aomori chose Etemon's territory.
Under DemiDevimon's guidance, Pidgeot crossed vast distances and arrived at a desolate wilderness.
"Great HellKnightmon, Etemon likes to travel around in its trailer. We can catch its subordinates first and interrogate them for its location." Seeing Armormon get rewarded, DemiDevimon was highly motivated to perform well, hoping to receive a reward or a larger territory of its own.
"Mhm," Aomori replied flatly.
Taking this as encouragement, DemiDevimon immediately agreed and flew to Pidgeot's side, saying flatteringly, "Brother Pidgeot, please fly that way."
"Piijo!" Pidgeot flapped its wings powerfully, flying far away in the blink of an eye, riding the gale.
DemiDevimon was stunned. "Brother Pidgeot, I haven't gotten on yet! Wait for me!"
After some struggling, DemiDevimon finally made it back onto Pidgeot's back, and they successfully located Etemon's subordinates.
"What? You're saying Etemon went out to sea long ago?" DemiDevimon was shocked.
"Yeah," a Devidramon lying in an oasis said boredly. "I don't like the rocking feeling of ships, so I didn't go with them."
"This is bad, this is bad, Great HellKnightmon!" DemiDevimon flapped its wings and immediately returned to report.
"He ran away?" Aomori was slightly disappointed; he had wanted to see what kind of confidence Etemon had to keep calling itself "Strongest in the World."
"Since Etemon is gone, let it be. It's no big deal."
The priority was to occupy the Server Continent; maritime affairs could wait. With the existence of the "Newbie Village," File Island, going out to sea was inevitable. Finding Etemon was only a matter of time.
However, with Etemon gone, this entire area became ownerless land, and it would take some effort to plant his own flag.
Thus, Aomori used the simplest method: whenever he encountered a Digimon village, he would reveal his overwhelming aura. He would then dispatch the surrendered Digimon to spread out like a web, searching for the next village or settlement.
He and Absol only stepped in when they encountered troublesome opponents; the rest was handled by his proxies.
In this way, more and more Digimon swore fealty to him, and his territory grew larger and larger.
Ten days passed. On Aomori's thirtieth day in the Digital World, he finally completed all the Main Quests, earning 9 Stars.
The permanent Dungeon is secured, Aomori breathed a sigh of relief.
Opening two Dungeon Chests, he obtained two design blueprints.
Looking at the familiar Digimon patterns on them, Aomori's eyes narrowed slightly.
Ding!
[Congratulations to Player Aomori for completing all Main Quests. You may choose to stay or end the Dungeon immediately to return to the Main World.]
Aomori chose to stay. He had a hypothesis that needed validation the next day, and those two blueprints were stored back into the system.
The next day, Aomori woke early and immediately opened the system.
"As I suspected, no system prompt asking me to spend Points."
Normally, once a Dungeon reaches the thirty-first day, the system would send a notification about a stay-over fee. The fact that there wasn't one meant the "thirty days" specified in the system didn't refer to Digital World time, but rather to the time in the Real World where Tai and the others lived.
"There's actually a benefit like this?" Aomori felt this system certainly wasn't a copycat of the big-name greedy game companies.
Since time was plentiful, it was time for some serious "farming."
Aomori looked at the blue sky of the Digital World with an ambitious smile.
…
Six months later, Aomori's influence spanned the entire Server Continent. He was, in name and fact, the King of the Continent.
Under his vigorous development, Iron City had expanded to four production lines. The two added lines were for Guardromon. Unlike Mekanorimon, they didn't require an operator, making them much more convenient.
Units of Guardromon were shipped to various locations to serve as sentries, helping him better control the world.
Aomori's self-developed new mechanical Digimon was showing progress. The recruited Nanomon and Andromon were helping him with the final polishing; it would be ready for production in a month or two.
Having finished his immediate tasks, he prepared to set sail for File Island.
He had a feeling the DigiDestined were about to arrive, and he needed to lay some groundwork. Furthermore, the Devimon on File Island was far more skilled at utilizing dark energy than Myotismon. As a Champion, the Black Gears it created could even control Ultimate-level Digimon. It was a rare talent.
This time, he didn't plan to ride Pidgeot. Instead, he commissioned a massive ship, bringing a hundred Guardromon for a grand departure.
Akihiko Kayaba, Absol, and Ditto remained behind to handle emergencies and manage affairs, while Aomori took Pidgeot, Darkrai, Salamon, BlackAgumon, and DemiDevimon.
Setting out from the coast near Etemon's former territory, Pidgeot soared freely in the blue sky as an escort.
Standing at the prow, Aomori looked at the majestic blue ocean. Feeling a burst of heroism, he chanted: "Oh Ocean, thou art... full of water!"
Salamon, though confused, thought it sounded impressive and followed suit: "Whoa! My mouth is... full of wind!"
DemiDevimon chimed in from the side: "A masterpiece! Truly a masterpiece!"
In the shadows, BlackAgumon curled its lip. "Boring."
It was about to head back into the cabin to train when it saw a circular lens pointed at it. Its heart skipped a beat, and it almost blurted out: 'Darkrai-senpai is always lurking around.'
Darkrai held a camcorder, quietly recording everything.
Amidst laughter, the large ship braved the wind and waves, leaving the Server Continent far behind.
File Island was a small island in the ocean, home to many Digimon.
In the very center of the island stood a towering peak, inhabited by a Devimon who had mastered dark energy. It was the most powerful being on the island.
At this moment, several guests were visiting Devimon's palace.
"Gazimon, you say you're here on behalf of Etemon, the strongest in the universe?" The slender Devimon sat on a high throne, looking down with a faint smile at the two rabbit-like Digimon below.
"That's right!" With Etemon backing them, the Gazimon didn't lose their nerve against a Digimon many times stronger than them. "Great Etemon sent us to inform you that this island belongs to us now. You have the honor of becoming a subordinate of Great Etemon."
"Hahahaha!" Devimon spoke as if it had heard the funniest joke in the world, its voice dripping with contempt. "A mere stray dog dares to talk big in front of me?"
"You!" The Gazimon grew angry. "Do you want to die? How dare you speak to us like that?"
"Even if your Great Etemon stood before me, I would only call it 'trash'." Devimon completely ignored them, waving a hand to swat the two Gazimon out of the palace. "If you want to cooperate, tell Etemon to come here itself."
The two Gazimon looked at each other, seeing only panic. Just now, they felt as if they had taken a trip through hell.
"What do we do?"
"Let's go back and report to Great Etemon."
"Right!"
Black energy condensed into Black Gears flying about aimlessly. Devimon, still seated on its throne, wore a sinister smile.
"HellKnightmon? Heh heh heh..."
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