Chapter 95: The Black Tyrant Dragon (Thank you for your support)

"You lied to me!" Zhao Jie gritted his teeth as he glared at Zhou Jie.

At first, he had thought this professor was a good person and had let his guard down entirely. Zhou Jie had taken the initiative to pick him up, both to appear approachable and to keep him and Agumon under his control.

"Naive," Zhou Jie responded with an indifferent laugh. Lies or not, these were nothing more than petty tricks, insignificant in his eyes.

"Roar! Roar!" While the two spoke, the restrained Tyrannomon continued to howl in anguish.

Zhao Jie ignored Zhou Jie and turned his gaze toward Tyrannomon. A tremor ran through his heart. In the creature's eyes, he saw only coldness and madness—no trace of sentience remained.

"So? Are you satisfied with my masterpiece?" Zhou Jie's smile widened at Zhao Jie's furious expression; this was exactly the reaction he craved.

"You..." Zhao Jie shot Zhou Jie a murderous glare.

"Yes, that's it! I especially love that look on your face. Keep it—don't lose it. The real show is just beginning." With his mask cast aside, Zhou Jie looked slightly deranged, laughing as he slammed his palm onto a control button before him.

Immediately, the chains binding Tyrannomon trembled violently. Digital energy surged through the restraints, pouring into the creature’s body.

"Roar! Roar!" Agonized cries erupted from Tyrannomon's throat. Its once yellow-and-blue skin gradually darkened to black under the onslaught of energy.

"Angelicmon, go—get Tyrannomon out of there!" Zhao Jie barked.

Sensing his urgency, Angelicmon said nothing. The Sacred Bow materialized in her hands. She drew and fired—a golden arrow streaked toward the device constraining Tyrannomon.

As the sacred arrow struck, a black, diamond-shaped crystal the size of a grown man's fist atop the machine burst into a pitch-black shield.

Bang!

The holy flames on the arrow were snuffed out by the darkness before they could ignite.

"That's a fragment of Apocalymon! And it's so large?!" Angelicmon exclaimed, staring at the top of the device.

She had thought whoever captured her had only managed to obtain a sliver of Apocalymon's digital gene fragment by luck. Now she realized she was wrong—they possessed a considerable amount.

"Another fragment of Apocalymon?" Zhao Jie, too, had noticed the black crystal atop the machine. The dark power it radiated was the antithesis of Angelicmon’s holy energy; as one grew, the other waned.

"Heavenly Grace!" Angelicmon soared, golden energy gathering on her wings.

Whoosh!

She unleashed a beam of radiant gold, embodying beauty and goodness, straight at the shield wrought by Apocalymon's power.

Rumble...

This time, the black barrier was shattered. But in an instant, darkness surged and mended it anew.

"Attack the enemy!" Zhao Jie ordered.

From what he’d seen, Angelicmon could do little against Apocalymon's gene fragments. In that case, they would deal with Zhou Jie—the orchestrator—first.

As soon as Zhao Jie spoke, Angelicmon loosed another sacred arrow.

Zhou Jie’s expression remained unchanged, even as the arrow sped toward him. He merely flashed the remote control in his hand at Zhao Jie, utterly unconcerned for his own safety.

Caw!

At that critical moment, the giant Ravenmon arrived. Seeing Zhou Jie in danger, it seemed to draw on some hidden reserve of strength, its speed suddenly doubling.

Just before the arrow landed, Ravenmon appeared above Zhou Jie.

Bang!

The arrow did not hit Zhou Jie. The exhausted Ravenmon intercepted it instead, and was driven to the ground, holy flames searing its body.

Caw...

Ravenmon paid no heed to its wounds, gazing at Zhou Jie with gentle eyes.

"Worthless," Zhou Jie sneered, showing the creature no kindness. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it aside, his face twisted in disgust.

Huh?

Zhao Jie frowned. How could Professor Zhou Jie treat his Digimon like this? Typically, those who forged pacts with Digimon saw them in one of two ways: as partners, or as tools—beast tamers, essentially. But neither attitude warranted such clear revulsion.

Recalling a news article he’d once read, a suspicion crept into Zhao Jie's mind.

"Roar! Roar!"

The delay had allowed the darkness to fully corrupt Tyrannomon; all its fur had turned black.

Thud! Thud!

Transformed into Black Tyrannomon, it hurled itself again and again at the machine imprisoning it, each blow sending tremors through the chamber.

"Do you like Tyrannomon in this state?" Zhou Jie rolled up his sleeves, crushing the remote underfoot as he gazed at Zhao Jie with amusement.

Tyrannomon...

Zhao Jie’s expression darkened to the point where it seemed almost to drip. The creature had been corrupted by the darkness, becoming Black Tyrannomon—just as the Dark Wukongmon in the Digital Secret Realm had been.

He now suspected the man before him was the true culprit behind the Digital Secret Realm’s chaos.

"I, for one, adore this Black Tyrannomon. Soon, I’ll like it even more!" Zhou Jie said after a pause, seeing Zhao Jie remain silent.

His voice was feverish, carrying a hint of madness, eyes shining with admiration as he watched Black Tyrannomon batter the machine again and again.

Yes—just like this... Just like this...

Once Black Tyrannomon finally transformed into a Dark Zombie Tyrannomon, his life’s greatest masterpiece would be complete.

"Those black rings—are they your handiwork?" Zhao Jie asked.

Zhou Jie scoffed at the question. Such crude things hardly counted as his creations, though he didn’t say this aloud. After all, he’d had a hand in their manufacture.

His contemptuous smile spoke volumes: at the very least, Professor Zhou Jie was either privy to or involved in the black ring scheme.

PS: Thanks to Zainao Bugitang, Dream Son of Heaven Z, Luoshui Yitian, Niu Aitang, and Xiao XQY for their generous support. Posting two chapters late at night to show my sincerity—please consider bookmarking, recommending, voting, or subscribing. If the recommendation votes reach 200 today, there will be four chapters as thanks.