Chapter 131: Upheaval in the Secret Realm

“How is this possible?!”

Everyone looked at Angewomon hovering in the sky, then at SaberLeomon pinned to the ground. Each face was tinged with bewilderment.

The result was rather different from the script they had imagined.

“He really is a super genius.”

Seeing this scene, Hua Mantian finally let out a long breath of relief. Judging by his standards, that Angewomon already possessed combat strength approaching the second stage of the Ultimate level.

As for the SaberLeomon, it was still far behind. It had not even fully grasped the first stage yet.

Its defeat was hardly unjust.

“He’s become this strong already?”

Hua Feihua stared blankly at Angewomon flying through the sky. In less than a year, Zhao Jie had raised two Digimon, and had even successfully achieved super evolution with one of them.

She truly wanted to ask him: Are you even human?

On the battlefield, Zhao Jie turned his gaze toward Du Sheng, who had already become somewhat lost and helpless.

“Someone of your caliber can actually serve as a substitute on the university team? That’s truly disappointing!”

Hearing this, Du Sheng raised his head blankly. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but after pressing his lips together, he ultimately failed to utter a single word.

“Having defeated you, I’m a substitute on the university team now, right?”

Every university had a university team, whose purpose was to prepare for the National Tournament.

The university team was divided into official members and substitute members. There were only five official members, while the number of substitutes could reach ten.

With Zhao Jie’s defeat of Du Sheng’s SaberLeomon, he had become a substitute on the university team—and the youngest substitute at that.

Becoming a member of the university team immediately after entering university was unprecedented in the history of Xiang University.

After the battle ended, Zheng Qilin, representing Xiang University, announced the punishments for Du Sheng and Gu Quanwei. Being assigned to guard a secret realm could be considered either a severe punishment or a lenient one.

Everything depended on their luck while on duty.

If they were unlucky enough to encounter a rampaging beast tide, they could only resign themselves to their fate.

After that battle, virtually the entire university came to know Zhao Jie.

The title of “Eighteen-Year-Old Super Genius,” coined by Zheng Qilin, eventually spread throughout Xiang University.

From that day onward, Zhao Jie’s life once again became peaceful. Without his elder brother to support him, Du Zhongping also began keeping his head down and behaving himself.

Zhao Jie did indeed become a substitute on the university team, and he successfully met the team captain, Zhuge Ke—a person whom Zhao Jie found extremely interesting.

However, when Zhuge Ke invited him to join the student union, Zhao Jie rejected him without a second thought.

He had no time to participate in student administration.

After settling with Zheng Qilin the resources he was entitled to receive for joining Xiang University, Zhao Jie first formulated a strengthening plan for Gatomon. Gatomon’s previous performance had disappointed him far too much.

After that, he began researching Greymon’s super evolution. Having invested nearly a thousand Digital Points, Zhao Jie finally found an energy ore capable of suppressing the power of that strange corrupted code.

The research took an entire month.

“Mission accomplished!”

Zhao Jie glanced at Gatomon, who was still training diligently, and stretched lazily.

His theoretical work on Greymon’s super evolution had reached perfection. Under normal circumstances, there should no longer be any problems. He could even publish it immediately.

“Master, you have a call!”

The digital phone emitted a synthesized electronic voice. Zhao Jie answered lazily.

“A super-large Digital Secret Realm beneath Sha City has erupted into chaos!”

Before Zhao Jie could speak, the voice of Zhuge Ke, whom he had met once before, came through the phone.

“How is that possible?!”

Zhao Jie shot to his feet, his face filled with disbelief.

There were five super-large secret realms within the borders of Hua Country. Each one was roughly the size of Earth, and there were more than twenty such super-large secret realms across the entire world.

As one of the five super-large secret realms, the government had invested heavily in the one beneath Sha City. Moreover, every secret realm was guarded by a large number of elite-level Digital Tamers.

How could anything have gone wrong?

“Although it does sound unbelievable, it’s the truth. The university has issued orders. All members of the university team are to enter the secret realm and provide support.”

“You have two hours to prepare. In two hours, assemble at the university gate!”

……

“Crash!”

A teacup was hurled onto the floor, shattering into several pieces.

“I told you long ago that we must not divide our forces! This is a diversionary tactic to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but none of you would listen. And now look what’s happened! A super-large Digital Secret Realm that hasn’t erupted into chaos for years has gone into turmoil. What are we supposed to use to hold it back?”

“That isn’t entirely fair. If we completely ignored the possibility of unrest in the other secret realms, our troubles might be no smaller than they are now. The most urgent matter is to transfer personnel and send reinforcements to Super-Large Secret Realm Number Three.”

“Transfer personnel? How? What if we move the guards from the other Digital Secret Realms and those realms erupt into chaos while they’re gone?”

“The guards cannot be moved, certainly. But aren’t there other Digital Tamers available? I’ve already sent invitations to Xiang University, Southern University, the Hua family, and many other factions. I hope everyone can unite and withstand this upheaval.”

“Have we still not rooted out the Di Faction? This secret-realm disturbance was most likely their doing as well.”

“If only it were that easy…”

The voices gradually faded, while the wind outside began to howl without end.

………

By the time Zhao Jie arrived at the university gate, five or six people and their Digimon had already gathered there. Zhuge Ke, whom Zhao Jie had met once before, was nowhere to be seen.

Zhao Jie nodded amiably to them, then waited quietly.

He was not familiar with any of them.

They, however, knew of Zhao Jie. Though they had never met him before, they had all heard more or less about the conflict between Zhao Jie and Du Sheng.

Because of him, two substitutes had left the university team.

The two hours passed quickly. All five official members and nine substitutes had arrived.

There was also one “substitute” who was not actually a substitute: Hua Feihua.

She had originally had no intention of attending Xiang University, yet in the end, she chose to enroll there. Even her father had been surprised by her decision.

She had come together with Zhuge Ke.

“Excellent. Everyone is here. Since we still have some time, let’s briefly introduce ourselves. I’ll go first. My name is Zhuge Ke, and my Digimon is Kabuterimon.”

Zhuge Ke silently counted the people once. Seeing that every member of the university team had arrived, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had truly been afraid that someone would fail to show up.

If that happened, he would have been forced to resort to rather violent measures.

After Zhuge Ke’s introductions, Zhao Jie finally remembered the names of all the members of the university team.

In reality, although they were all members of the same team, most of them were only casual acquaintances. Some had joined during their second year, while others had joined during their third.

The only thing they had in common was that they were all elite-level Digital Tamers.

Well, with the exception of Hua Feihua.

Her Pixiemon was still at the Champion level, and it still had a long way to go before reaching the Ultimate level.

Exactly two hours after the order was issued, a vehicle as black as ink arrived before them with perfect punctuality.

After Zhuge Ke stepped forward and exchanged a few words with the driver, confirming that everything was in order, he motioned for Zhao Jie and the others to get inside.

“I heard that Super-Large Secret Realm Number Three hasn’t experienced an outbreak in five or six years. I wonder what’s going on this time.”

The speaker was Shen Zhihao, one of the official members of the university team. Sitting inside the black vehicle, he anxiously stroked his Digimon, a Gabumon.

The super-large secret realms within Hua Country were named according to the order in which they had appeared. The one beneath Sha City had been the third to emerge, and was therefore known as Super-Large Secret Realm Number Three.

“Who knows? Everyone, try to relax. We’re still students. They won’t send us to carry out missions in dangerous places.”

Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Zhuge Ke burst into laughter and did his best to lighten the mood.

Unfortunately, his attempt at mediation failed.

The entire vehicle remained shrouded in a grave atmosphere.

Less than an hour later, everyone felt the vehicle begin to slow down. That meant they were already close to their destination.

“Rumble!”

After a violent tremor, the black vehicle finally came to a complete stop. When the doors opened, a towering mountain that seemed to reach the clouds entered everyone’s sight.

“This mountain is the entrance to Super-Large Secret Realm Number Three. We call it Electromagnetic Mountain.”

Zhuge Ke was quite familiar with the place. Seeing the confusion in Zhao Jie’s eyes, he smiled and explained.

In fact, everyone on the Xiang University team except Zhao Jie had seen Electromagnetic Mountain before. This was not their first visit.

“Why can’t this enormous mountain be seen anywhere in Sha City?” Zhao Jie asked in puzzlement.

“Because it isn’t a real mountain. Just as its name suggests, it is formed from electricity and magnetism. It exists somewhere between illusion and reality.”

“Of course, if the entire secret realm were ever to fall, this mountain might become a real entity.”

A clear, melodious voice rang out from behind them.

Zhao Jie turned around. The speaker was a spirited young woman in a military uniform. She looked no older than any of them.

“People from Xiang University certainly arrive quickly. I won’t waste time on pleasantries. I’m Yu Mi, the quartermaster here. For now, you’re under my command. Come with me—we have a task for you!”

Zhao Jie and the others had no choice but to follow her. Before long, they arrived at a small courtyard rather than entering the secret realm directly, as Zhao Jie had initially assumed.

“Huh? What is this?”

The moment he entered the courtyard, Zhao Jie was drawn to a painting.

It depicted a city forged from steel. Amid its intricate, densely packed layout stood an especially imposing throne of iron.

Seated upon that steel throne was a Digimon Zhao Jie knew very well—

One of the Four Dark Masters: Machinedramon, also known as Mugendramon.

P.S. A three-thousand-word update. At last, one of the Four Dark Masters has appeared. Those who have been looking forward to this, tell me how excited you are with your recommendation votes.