Battle Royale in Qidian Village

Goblin Strike!

Fireballs cleared the way, and the fence successfully served as an early warning.

The sun had not yet fully set, and Goblinmon looked especially rampant beneath the evening glow.

"Wooo—"

Their swinging clubs widened the gap in the fence. Goblinmon charged into the village at the front, utterly unrestrained.

"Stay hidden."

With Qian Lai's team's warning, everyone had prepared in advance.

A Lie had gotten a good nap that afternoon and was feeling energetic now.

However, they did not choose to resist the invasion at the fence. Instead, they hid in nearby rooms, ready to show themselves at any moment and draw attention.

There were eight of them as well—two adults and six children. Facing eight Child-stage Digimon head-on, their odds of victory were not high.

After all, their Digimon were still only at the first and second Baby stages.

Even though some of them could evolve through the Digivice, facing the signature attacks of six Goblinmon would likely knock them straight back to their original forms.

So the first step was to split them up. That way, they could create situations where they outnumbered their opponents and perhaps turn defeat into victory.

"Goblinmon!"

Qi Tian appeared at the doorway with Koromon on his head. His shout immediately drew every Digimon's attention.

Poison Mushroom Bomb!

The purple mushroom man flung out a barrage of tiny mushroom bombs, but since Qi Tian had dared to come out and taunt them, he had naturally prepared beforehand.

All he needed to do was dodge to the side, slip out of the Digimon's sight, and then climb out through the window.

The Poison Mushroom Bombs did not cause Qi Tian any real harm.

Goblinmon did not think that much. They hollered incoherently and charged after him.

At the same time, Liu Jie appeared from the side with Horned Beast on his head. He paused briefly, then turned and ran.

The purple mushroom man and the stone man saw Horned Beast, then glanced at Goblinmon, and unanimously decided not to call out to them.

Whoosh!

The swinging plank whipped up a fierce gust, but the two Digimon were moving one after another. The purple mushroom man nimbly twisted in midair and actually dodged Qian Lai's ambush.

Stone of Fury!

Boom!

Hard ore condensed above the stone man's head and shot toward Qian Lai like a cannonball.

But after missing his strike, Qian Lai had already turned and climbed into the house through the rear window. The hard ore merely smashed cracks into the wall.

Poison Mushroom Bomb!

The purple mushroom man followed closely behind and climbed through the window as well. Surrounded by smoke, it raised its hand and unleashed another barrage of tiny mushroom bombs.

Boom, boom, boom—

Explosions rang out inside the house, and poisonous gas filled the entire room. Yet Qian Lai had already slipped away through the doorway on the other side.

He even shut the door behind him.

This purple mushroom man was called Mushroomon. It was nimble, and its signature attack, Poison Mushroom Bomb, could make people laugh uncontrollably and paralyze their bodies.

Although its destructive power was not the strongest, this restraining effect was even more troublesome for relatively weak Digital Monsters.

So they had Smokemon release smoke, then shut the doors and windows, leaving it to wreak havoc inside.

"Stop Golemon!"

Flashing Lightning Strike!

Elecmon suddenly appeared, its body wrapped in electricity as it slammed hard into the stone man—Golemon.

Golemon staggered back several steps, shifting its attention away from the room where Mushroomon was trapped.

The condensed hard ore fired out like cannonballs. Under the effects of the Black Gear, Golemon's attacks were especially aggressive.

Elecmon's combat experience consisted of bullying Goblinmon. It had never seen this kind of blanket bombardment.

Chunks of hard ore condensed and fired one after another. Elecmon let its guard down for a moment and had its leg grazed.

Fortunately, Elecmon had already been preparing to retreat. After being injured, it rolled straight behind a wall, and Qian Lai grabbed it, refusing to continue tangling with Golemon.

Liu Jie appeared at just the right moment with Horned Beast, and Golemon chased after him without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Qi Tian and Koromon were playing hide-and-seek with Goblinmon.

Thanks to his familiarity with the rooms in Qidian Village from that afternoon, Qi Tian climbed through windows and doors, leaping about like a little monkey.

Goblinmon flew into a rage from humiliation and unleashed their signature attacks inside the house.

Six fireballs blasted straight through an entire wall. To keep the others from getting too immersed, the house was simply made to collapse altogether, so they would not mistake the place for one without walls and crash into the scene covered by the Holographic Projection.

"Woo—"

Goblinmon crawled out from the wreckage. Their interactions with the Holographic Projection were not limited by the real setting, and not a trace of clipping could be seen in their every movement.

Lian Jin and Ning Jing also appeared with their Digital Monsters, splitting the six Goblinmon into three groups.

Three chased Qi Tian, two chased Ning Jing, and one chased Lian Jin.

It was clear that they were furious.

"Woo—"

Goblin Strike!

Using the village buildings as cover, Goblinmon's fireballs found it difficult to hit the three people while they focused solely on escaping.

Smack!

One of the two Goblinmon chasing Ning Jing was ambushed. A Lie's plank struck it square in the face, sending it flat onto its back.

Interference Powder!

A Lie's Choromon seized the chance to release iron particles, throwing Goblinmon's AI into chaos.

They were not Artificial Intelligence to begin with, and the Black Gear's control had further reduced their intelligence. This strike directly left the fallen Goblinmon stunned.

But while one was stunned, the other would not stand by idly.

Goblin Strike!

The signature fireball was not especially accurate, and A Lie successfully dodged it with a lazy donkey roll.

Goblinmon looked in the direction A Lie had fled, then at Ning Jing peeking from the corner of a wall. In the end, they still decided to chase Ning Jing.

At least her Piyomon was at the second Baby stage. No matter what, it had more data worth plundering than Choromon.

As for the fallen Goblinmon, it had already returned to normal and was shouting about taking revenge on A Lie.

At this point, A Lie, Ning Jing, and Lian Jin had each drawn away one Goblinmon. Qi Tian had drawn three Goblinmon, Qian Lai's team worked with Elecmon in an attempt to deal with Golemon, and Mushroomon remained trapped inside the room.

The diversion operation was a huge success!

However, the decapitation operation was not going very well.

This was their first time fighting Golemon. Elecmon, their main force, was injured, while the others still had not grasped the trick to evolving.

Or rather, they knew that emotions triggered evolution, but they had always been just a little short of figuring out exactly how to do it.

Plans could not keep up with changes.

Progress against Golemon was slow, but Qi Tian's Koromon suddenly evolved.

As an extension of the Digital World, Qidian Village itself was constructed from piled-up data.

And Digimon evolution was essentially the accumulation and completion of data.

Combined with all the data Koromon had absorbed before, it finally completed its accumulation and refinement of data while fleeing today, successfully evolving normally!

The little yellow dinosaur appeared once more. Agumon jumped down from Qi Tian's head, turned around, and spat a small burst of flame.

Goblinmon refused to be outdone and counterattacked with Goblin Strike.

The collision of fireball against fireball caused an explosion.

Seeing Agumon preparing to go head-to-head again, Qi Tian hurriedly pulled it away and slipped off amid the chaos.

The battle royale in Qidian Village had only just begun. There was no need to decide victory or defeat now.

Besides, the formidable opponent Qian Lai had mentioned did not seem to have joined the battle yet. Qi Tian needed to conserve his strength.

Night fell, and the real battle had only just begun.

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