Clearly, the Drimogemon working in the valley had already been laboring nonstop for a long time. After all, slave masters never bothered about the survival of their laborers. They only cared that their slaves produced maximum value before dying.
Every slave laborer was assigned a clearly-marked "value," and every subsequent task they performed consumed that value. Before the slaves' "value" depreciated completely, their masters would at least ensure basic survival conditions.
But once their "depreciation value" hit zero—meaning they were ready to be scrapped—the masters wouldn't hesitate to employ the cruelest means to squeeze out their final remaining value. After that, whether the slaves lived or died…
…Who cared?
A Drimogemon collapsed suddenly, overcome with exhaustion, drawing immediate attention from a supervising Gazimon.
"Hey, hey! King Etemon's singing his heart out to motivate you, and you dare slack off?!"
As soon as he finished shouting, a sharp burst of bluish-white electricity shot through the metal collar around Drimogemon's neck. The helpless Drimogemon howled miserably, writhing under the painful shocks.
Zero could only sigh deeply upon witnessing this—but Taichi and Hikari were visibly enraged by such cruelty.
Admittedly, there were countless forms of exploitation on Earth far crueler than this, but ordinary elementary school students from a developed country rarely witnessed society's darker side, their worldview still steeped mostly in ideals of goodness and kindness.
Suddenly confronting such naked brutality of capitalistic oppression inevitably caused deep physical discomfort.
Even more unsettling were those Gazimon overseers.
Gazimon…a Virus-type Rookie-level Digimon, appearing as upright-walking mammals resembling rabbits…
Their special attack was spewing a powerful paralyzing gas. Cruel by nature, Gazimon took great pleasure in tormenting weaker Digimon, excelling particularly in interrogation and torture. They were among the most common low-level minions of the Dark Army.
In truth, Gazimon could only intimidate weaker Digimon below Rookie-level individually. Even grouped together, their chances against multiple Champion-level Digimon were nonexistent.
In other words, based purely on strength, these Gazimon shouldn't have posed any threat to Drimogemon at all.
But clearly, the Drimogemon had been captured and enslaved, forced into submission by collars and by fear of the master standing behind the Gazimon.
Minions who only dared bully the weak by relying on stronger masters were the most detestable kind—regularly serving as expendable cannon fodder in every story.
Zero naturally held no fondness for villains of this mold, immediately whispering to Taichi and Hikari:
"I'll be right back…"
With that, Zero sprang boldly from hiding without another word, immediately blasting out a small flame.
In his current state, even Zero's small flame was comparable to a GeoGreymon's Mega Shot. The fireball expanded rapidly midair—before the Gazimon could even react, it exploded directly among them.
With agonized screams, the Gazimon caught directly by the blast instantly perished. Those thrown aside by the shockwave survived temporarily but writhed helplessly as flames engulfed their fur.
"Who's there?! Which bastard dares ambush us!"
Hearing that, Zero openly stepped forward…
"It was me. Got a problem with that?"
Realizing their attacker was merely a Rookie-level Agumon, the Gazimon's expressions twisted bizarrely. Yet the terrifying force of Zero's earlier fireball made them wary, not daring any reckless movements.
Zero had no intention of evolving—using Champion form against these petty minions would be an insult. His Rookie form alone was sufficient.
"You…have some nerve! Do you even know what you're doing? This is King Etemon's territory—you dare cause trouble here?"
Exactly as Zero anticipated, the Gazimon immediately invoked their boss's reputation, hoping Etemon's power would frighten him off.
But this hollow intimidation couldn't possibly scare Zero—it only made him want to laugh.
"Oh ho, Etemon, huh? Commander of the Dark Army's Vanguard Forces, sounds so impressive~ Who exactly are you trying to scare?"
Zero's voice was playful at first, but suddenly shifted, his tone dropping coldly…
Etemon was indeed a significant force on Server Continent beneath Myotismon, occupying considerable territory. On the surface, he'd joined the Dark Army, but like Myotismon, he secretly gathered strength behind the scenes, plotting his own evolution and eventual betrayal.
Considering the Dark Army's culture, backstabbing wasn't even uncommon. Their specialty was precisely this kind of treacherous internal conflict.
"No matter how powerful Etemon is, what's that got to do with you guys? Even if I slaughter every one of you here today, you really think Etemon would rush over instantly just to save your skins? At most, he'll show up afterward and erect a monument in your memory. If he does that, you can already call him Boss of the Year~"
As the words left Zero's mouth, the Gazimon seemed to finally awaken, grasping their current predicament.
Exactly as Zero said—they were merely expendable minions. Whether they lived or died, Etemon wouldn't care in the slightest. Even if all of them perished here, the most reaction from Etemon would be annoyance that his "dogs" got kicked—purely because it hurt his pride, not because he valued their lives.
Understanding this truth, the Gazimon's faces twisted horribly. With desperate roars, they lunged at Zero in unison.
They attacked from every angle simultaneously—those in front spewing thick, yellowish paralysis gas, while others circled around, attempting a coordinated pincer attack.
But Zero barely even moved. Opening his mouth, he unleashed another wave of fire, burning away the paralysis gas instantly. The Gazimon coming from both sides froze in astonishment.
Before they could even react, Zero sprang forward swiftly, his claw piercing straight through one of their bodies, instantly dissolving the unfortunate victim into scattered data, leaving not even a second for regret.
The Greymon line specialized in combat even at Rookie-level, let alone Zero, whose fighting instincts had been honed through genuine life-and-death battles all this time. Neither his reaction time nor combat awareness was something these Gazimon could ever match.
Within moments, over half their group was annihilated. The three survivors glanced frantically around before dropping helplessly to their knees.
"S-spare us…"
Zero approached calmly. "When the Digimon you enslaved begged you for mercy while injured and dying, how exactly did you respond?"
A moment later, three unified screams pierced the air—then silence reigned. Only the annoying music from the loudspeakers persisted.
"Huh?"
On the other side of the speakers, the self-absorbed voice singing finally seemed to notice.
"What's this? How could such unpleasant noise disrupt the great King's beautiful singing?"
Zero lifted his head, calling loudly toward the signal tower.
"Sorry to interrupt your singing—but that 'unpleasant noise' you heard was actually your subordinates screaming in agony as they died!"
After a brief silence, a burst of laughter erupted from the speakers.
"Hahaha, amusing! Who's this reckless punk causing trouble for the Great King?!"
The rescued Drimogemon, previously showing relief, now trembled uncontrollably at Etemon's voice, cowering fearfully on the ground.
Clearly, their experiences with him had left deep psychological scars.
But while they feared Etemon deeply, Zero certainly didn't. In fact, he answered back boldly.
"When there's no tiger in the mountain, even monkeys dare call themselves kings…how laughable! Today I'll say only one thing—your days of comfort are over!"
Etemon immediately laughed uncontrollably again.
"Hahaha! Haven't heard anything that funny in ages. You amused the Great King so much, I'll forgive you for killing those few…uh, what were they again? Meh, whatever—some useless trash, doesn't matter~"
It sounded comical, yet clearly showed Etemon couldn't even be bothered recalling the names of his fallen minions, demonstrating he valued them no more than the slaves they supervised.
"Still, I can overlook you killing that worthless trash, but disrespecting the Great King carries a heavy price! You'd better hope you never run into me, or else…I'll make you pay!"
Zero, having lost interest in pointless banter, fired another flame directly into the loudspeaker, silencing the endless babbling immediately.
"Alright, that wraps things up here…"
Zero approached the Drimogemon, swiftly breaking their collars, freeing them completely.
Taichi and Hikari, called by Zero, emerged cautiously from hiding.
The freed Drimogemon expressed deep gratitude but also anxiety.
"You saved us…but now you've angered Etemon. He'll never forgive someone who crosses him."
Zero simply laughed at that.
"Haha, who said I needed his forgiveness? If he wants to come, let him—I'd honestly be disappointed if he didn't show~"
Etemon's extensive underground cable network, forming a surveillance system monitoring his territory, was quite intriguing technology. If possible, Zero wanted to acquire it too.
Seeing their unease, Zero paused for a moment before suddenly speaking again—
"…In that case, how about you guys follow me instead?"
---
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