EDEN Free Area, Kowloon Lv. 5.
Unlike the first three levels, which still retained a rough sense of structure, Kowloon Lv. 4 had already blurred the very concept of space.
Up, down, left, right—none of these held clear meaning here. Distance and terrain weren't obstacles so much as vague suggestions.
Once an outsider stepped into this place, it was like drifting into outer space. Aside from the occasional data fragments that could be used as footholds, most of the time one had to rely on floating or flying to move around.
In a sense, this was the true network world—a realm with few rules, no framework, an unfiltered, unrestricted net.
The 1995 network space that Chen Ze and Renamon had entered during the Hikarigaoka Incident was the prototype of this world—an incomplete form of Digital Space.
In truth, before the formal establishment of the EDEN virtual network, only Digimon—these data lifeforms—could exist here.
Only after Kamishiro Enterprises developed EDEN technology could humans convert their mental data and, through specialized equipment, upload their consciousness into this realm.
After that, supported by the super-server—the Valhalla Server—Kamishiro slowly established the first outpost amid this chaotic, disorderly network, expanding outward to create the EDEN we know.
Aesthetics suited to humans, habits suited to humans, order suited to humans…
With the EDEN public areas as the core, Kamishiro's continuously evolving technologies reshaped this network space, remaking it into a human-approved "EDEN Network."
The so‑called Free Area was, put simply, the borderland at the edge of Kamishiro's managed zones—the boundary between the traditional internet and the EDEN network.
Here, data existed in its most fundamental form. The "rules" that defied human understanding and habit were the original state of this world.
And once an outsider ventured deep enough into Kowloon Lv. 5, even those occasional data footholds vanished entirely, returning to the network's most primal form.
"This is the real network world."
Taking a deep breath, Piddomon hovered atop a drifting data chunk, wings slowly beating as he whispered to himself.
He'd had enough of those digital spaces built according to human rules. Only here, in an environment close to the raw network, could a Digimon's power be fully unleashed.
"Those two blockheads will figure that out eventually."
Watching Keisuke and Leomon—unable to find him, heading off in the opposite direction—Piddomon, normally so stern and domineering, let out a helpless sigh.
"If I didn't owe Chitose a favor, the two of you wouldn't be leaving here today."
In this chaotic, primordial Digital Space, Piddomon had every confidence he could defeat Leomon, a Digimon raised in the human world—just as he was confident he could escape Keisuke and Erika's pursuit.
In the end, Digimon were data-born by nature, and a mature‑level Digimon like Piddomon—able to blend into human society—was a top-tier existence.
Crack…
Just as Piddomon decided to ignore those two and return to Kowloon Lv. 4, a sound like shattering glass suddenly echoed behind him.
"Wha—"
His instincts as a warrior kicked in immediately. Piddomon beat his wings fiercely, darting away from where he had been floating a heartbeat earlier.
And then he saw them—Renamon, whom he'd met once before, and a blue‑and‑white Agumon appearing at the entrance to Kowloon Lv. 5.
Floating beside that unusual Agumon was a constantly rotating, mechanical-looking "eye."
"Did we lose that thing?"
On the other side, the moment Chen Ze and Renamon slipped into Kowloon Lv. 5, they didn't even have time to check whether the Eater had followed them—because they immediately spotted Piddomon staring at them in stunned silence.
"Uh… if we say this is just a coincidence… will you believe it?"
Seeing him, Chen Ze could only land on the nearest data chunk and offer an awkward smile.
"Coincidence?"
Piddomon clearly didn't buy that explanation. He wasn't like Leomon—some fool raised in the human world. He understood far too well how dark this place could be.
And judging from their behavior, these two Digimon had obviously noticed his battle with Leomon… perhaps even witnessed his transformation from "human" into Digimon.
"Renamon? Then you're… that 'human'?"
Giving Renamon a brief glance, then studying the "Agumon" in her shadow, Piddomon finally nodded in sudden understanding.
"No wonder you get along with Renamon so well. Turns out you weren't human in the first place."
He needed no further explanation. Piddomon had already concluded that the "human" earlier had merely been this Agumon in disguise—and simply assumed Chen Ze was a Digimon skilled in hacking, just like him.
To someone as experienced as Piddomon, this wasn't surprising at all.
In his memory, Digimon like this weren't rare. In fact, quite a few famous hackers were Digimon disguised as humans.
Aside from being unable to enter the real human world and unable to mimic a human avatar in the EDEN public zones, the boundary between Digimon and hackers wasn't as clear-cut as humans imagined.
In fact, beyond Digimon disguised as humans, Piddomon had seen far stranger ones:
Rosemon who loved flirting with human men through online chats and text messages…
LadyDevimon who holed up deep inside her server and only came out occasionally to sell bizarre items…
Wisemon who lurked in an online library and tried reading every novel on the entire server—crashing the site in the process…
Tankmon who fell in love with a game, transformed itself into an NPC, and started slaughtering every human player…
Most ridiculous of all, he'd once seen an Invasimon publicly protesting on major video platforms because it was dissatisfied with human governments' "immigration policies."
Compared to Digimon like those, a Digimon merely pretending to be human to perform hacker work was practically the most well‑behaved kind of oddity.
"So why are you two following me?"
Remembering the Trojan program Chen Ze had planted on him earlier, Piddomon immediately pieced together the likely explanation—they had simply traced him through it.
"Wasn't our deal already finished?"
Unwilling to engage with Chen Ze any further, Piddomon made his decision quickly. Instead of bothering with them, he turned away, heading toward the entrance back to Kowloon Lv. 4.
Compared to these two overly curious Rookie‑level Digimon, Piddomon wanted nothing more than to shake off Keisuke and Leomon, those two stubborn idiots.
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A/N: All those bizarre Digimon mentioned in this chapter are planned mini‑stories of mine. I'll see if there's a chance to insert them later.