The Anywhere TV's rocket soared into the sky, flying high among the clouds at tens of thousands of meters.
Hattori operated the joystick, selecting the top 10 islands for detection.
According to the tournament guide, the first 10 islands of the Thousand-Star Archipelago mostly hosted King-rank Espers from within the Alliance.
These matches were broadcast live and were considered high-stakes, high-quality battles.
"I want to see what the high-end combat power in this world is really like." Hattori opened the receiver with interest, and the picture appeared.
…
"What everyone is seeing now is the Alliance's rising star, the 'Frost Bitch' Lofis! She's using it! Her signature move, Thousand-Mile Frozen Earth - Eternal Permafrost!"
On the helicopter, the host excitedly commentated on the battle taking place on Island No. 006, pouring out his lifetime's worth of talent and lavish praise.
Meanwhile, Hattori watched the scene and frowned.
"This is it? Wasting massive energy to create useless ice, didn't even freeze the opponent, barely lowered the temperature, just made the ground slippery... and this is a King-rank Esper?"
To be honest, the Espers in this parallel world used their abilities very crudely.
Due to the era of peace, most star players in the Alliance tended to favor flashy moves, prioritizing performance.
In the eyes of a pure pragmatist like Hattori, it was full of holes, utterly lacking merit.
"If this were the Naruto World or One Piece World, a pure physical fighter could just kick them, regardless of their superpower, and take them out first." Hattori drank his coconut water, complaining speechlessly.
The broadcast continued.
"Facing the Frost Bitch is the veteran King, Hellfire Kalu! He's moving! His body is wreathed in flames, like a demon from hell!"
"Meanwhile, news from Island No. 009! The Five-Star King, Shepherd of Sin, has defeated the rising star King, Sky Hunter! It seems summoning abilities still counter these single-target burst types!"
"Wait! A tsunami on Island No. 004! It's the Seven-Star King, Poseidon! He's enraged! He single-handedly eliminated all contestants on the island! Is this the power of a Seven-Star King?!"
The host was shouting excitedly,
But Hattori's frown deepened, and he shook his head repeatedly.
"Too painful to watch."
If he didn't have worlds like Naruto, One Piece, and Scissor Seven for comparison, he might have found it entertaining, even applauding.
But after witnessing the battles of Naruto and the others, these flashy contests devoid of tactics and experience
It genuinely made him feel physically uncomfortable.
The so-called Hellfire was just releasing fire energy on the body surface for a cool burning effect, utterly useless.
Even a simple fireball would be more powerful.
The Shepherd of Sin sounded impressive, but he just summoned a group of demonized goats. The ability user hid among the goats, slowly wearing down the Sky Hunter.
The only somewhat decent one was the superhuman calling himself 'Poseidon', holding the Alliance's highest Seven-Star King rank.
"His ability probably isn't controlling seawater. I didn't see him use other water-based abilities. It might be some kind of contract with the ocean, a mystical-side ability." Hattori narrowed his eyes, analyzing calmly.
Among the contestants appearing in the preliminaries so far, only the strongest Seven-Star Kings felt like they were on his level.
The rest, like the Gold, Diamond, and rising star Kings, were mostly just actors with flashy appearances, relying purely on ability power to overwhelm opponents.
They had no real combat technique to speak of.
"Forget it, I'll stop watching. Watching too much might affect me negatively. I'll wait until I advance." Seeing such low-level matches, Hattori shook his head, feeling annoyed.
He decided to put his Wood Clone into a temporary hibernation state, a dormant mode.
Just then, in the group chat, an avatar that hadn't lit up for a long time suddenly flashed online.
The moment it came online, it sent several window shakes, frantically pinging the Group Owner.
[True Love Is Agumon: @Dark Group Owner, Boss Group Owner, are you there? Urgent situation!]
[True Love Is Agumon: @Dark Group Owner, Boss, please show yourself! This is really important! Need your judgment, Boss!]
[True Love Is Agumon: @Dark Group Owner, @Dark Group Owner, @Dark Group Owner!]
[Dark Group Owner: ???]
[True Love Is Agumon: Finally online! Boss Group Owner, urgent situation!]
At this moment, in the Digital World…
Taichi, draped in a dark cloak, stood on the head of a giant Mammothmon, an aura of a conqueror emanating from him.
Behind him, thousands of Champion-level Digimon formed a massive Dark Army, standing in orderly ranks.
However, that wasn't the most surprising part.
The most astonishing thing was the shocking ruins Taichi had just discovered before him.
[True Love Is Agumon: Boss Group Owner, following your method, over the past month, I've brought about one-third of the Digital World under my rule.]
[True Love Is Agumon: But when my Dark Army's iron tread reached the area around the Steel City, the perfectly synchronized footsteps caused a resonance, cracking the ground, and actually, actually...]
[Dark Group Owner: Actually what? Don't leave me hanging.]
Taichi swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on the seemingly endless metallic expanse before him.
[True Love Is Agumon: We actually unearthed the ruins from the peak era of the Metal Empire!]