Chapter 125: The Behemoth of the Clay Golem Village

After walking for what felt like an eternity, the group finally reached a place that resembled a village.

The hemispherical houses looked somewhat like igloos, yet they were constructed entirely from red mud and adorned with industrial artifacts—fan blades, exhaust vents, and the like. These additions seemed to lack any practical function, serving more as discarded relics, much like the habit of scavenging junk and mounting it onto one’s home. In short, it was an architectural style that screamed post-apocalyptic punk.

Just as the group hesitated on how to initiate contact, Juri Kato suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, "Is anyone there?"

One had to admit, the girl’s audacity was truly rare in this world.

At that moment, the roar of an engine erupted. A strikingly handsome heavy motorcycle charged out from the horizon, barreling straight toward the cluster of buildings.

"That's it!" Ignoring the reactions of the main group, Feng Xue stood frozen. His eyes flared with unprecedented greed, and a voice echoed relentlessly in his mind:

"Take it!"
"It belongs to you!"
"Possess it, and you will be invincible!"

A deluge of chaotic information hammered against his consciousness, but every single impulse urged him to seize the motorcycle.

Feng Xue knew this machine well. It was called "Behemoth." Conceptually, it stood as the counterpart to Leviathan, one of the Seven Great Demon Lords, representing the strongest beast on land. The Book of Revelation even suggests that by capturing Leviathan and Behemoth as a sacrifice, one could prevent the arrival of the apocalypse.

In the Digital World, this motorcycle was the exclusive mount of Beelzemon. In fact, only a Beelzemon who possessed Behemoth was qualified to achieve the legendary Blast Mode—much like how Gallantmon required Grani to reach his Crimson Mode. (As for the anime's evolution via toy gun, that was merely a plot necessity, just like Human-Digimon spirit evolution; Guilmon does not require fusion with a human to become Gallantmon.)

Originally, Feng Xue had planned to wait until he evolved into Beelzemon before coming for Behemoth. Now, however, he wavered, uncertain of what that Impmon might evolve into! If his hesitation allowed the Beelzemon born from that Impmon to snatch Behemoth away, he would truly suffer a double loss.

But then again, was he, currently only at the Champion level, truly qualified to tame Behemoth? Or would he, like other Digimon who had mounted it, be consumed and controlled by its power?

While Feng Xue hesitated, Behemoth had already crushed a MudFrigimon under its wheels and roared off, satisfied.

...

After Behemoth departed, various strange "doors" opened across the semi-circular houses. Dozens of MudFrigimon of varying sizes emerged, surrounding the group before they realized what was happening.

MudFrigimon are a mutation of Frigimon; theoretically, it is impossible for so many to appear at once. Of course, the existence of "theory" implies the existence of exceptions, such as fixed dietary patterns and Digimon clustering.

As mentioned before, aside from reproduction through data exchange or birth in the Village of Beginnings, Digimon could also multiply through mass congregation. This MudFrigimon village was clearly such a case. Eating the same food and absorbing the same data led them to undergo the same evolution. Unbeknownst to them, Digimon born here reached the Champion stage in a remarkably short time, which explained the appearance of so many smaller individuals that were only half or even a quarter the size of a standard MudFrigimon—these were essentially MudFrigimon with only the data volume of an In-Training or Rookie stage.

"Thank you very much for saving our companion earlier," said an elderly MudFrigimon, leaning on a cane and stroking the small MudFrigimon that Takato had rescued. "Come, don't be shy. Eat as much as you like."

However, as the children looked at the food on the plates, which resembled nothing more than balls of mud, strange expressions crossed their faces.

"It’s fine. Everything in the Digital World is data. As long as you can bite into it, eating tree bark is no different from a feast," Feng Xue said, dispelling their hesitation as he began to munch on a mud ball.

Honestly, this Mud Village was so poor they were literally eating dirt. Given the place's reputation as a "Discarded Data Terminal," Feng Xue felt it was better not to tell the children what constituted the "waste" of the Digital World.

"It’s actually delicious! Huh? Feng Xue, aren't you going to eat?" Ruki took a bite and was surprised to find it tasted like chocolate.

"I’m sick of it," Feng Xue shook his head. Rather than eating these things—which could have been derived from any number of questionable data sources (never forget that Digimon waste eventually turns into discarded data)—he would rather rely on his Quincy abilities to sustain himself on thin air.

"Is that so?" Ruki, remembering that Feng Xue had indeed come from the Digital World, didn't press the matter and continued eating.

After they had their fill (though there was no wine to be had), the group began discussing the motorcycle again. Before long, the roar of the engine tore through the sky once more.

"What's going on?" Feng Xue rushed out of the room, only to see that Terriermon had evolved into Gargomon. His eyes narrowed.

"Gargomon and Leomon's attacks had absolutely no effect!" Li Jianliang exclaimed, failing to notice the expected expression on Feng Xue's face.

*Of course they didn't!* Feng Xue thought to himself. If Behemoth couldn't even withstand an attack from a Champion-level Digimon, how could it possibly be the mount of Beelzemon?

As the feral Behemoth charged toward them, the voice in Feng Xue's head grew even louder.

"Shut up!" Feng Xue shouted suddenly. Amidst the bewildered stares of the others, he spoke with a cold, stern expression, "Even if I want that bike, it is because I desire it myself—absolutely not because of your manipulation!"

As his voice faded, Feng Xue suddenly unfurled his wings. Riding a massive surge of data, he leaped directly onto the seat of Behemoth.

The moment his hands gripped the handlebars, a familiar figure tumbled off the seat: it was the In-Training Digimon that Feng Xue had once used as a mirror—Kuramon.

Feng Xue had no time to ponder the fate of the Kuramon. The instant he gripped the handlebars, a powerful, tyrannical will flooded his mind. At the same time, the blurry, yellow-green crest atop his head began to glow.

As Feng Xue struggled against the intrusive will, the yellow-green crest grew sharper and more defined by the second!