In Ore Town, the body of SkullMeramon had completely dissipated. The escaped data fragments drifted in the air, but they failed to ascend toward the sky; it was as if an invisible bag had been placed over them.
Aomori had used his telekinesis to create a containment field, temporarily preserving them.
"What should I do next?"
Keeping them contained forever wasn't a solution. He needed a good strategy to recycle this "waste"—something economical, environmentally friendly, and conducive to sustainable development.
While he was deep in thought, Pidgeot and the others returned. They brought back a crowd of Digimon: aside from the captured subordinates of Myotismon, the rest were low-level Digimon who had been oppressed and forced into the mines.
"Hey, hey! Master, Master! I defeated a bad Digimon!" Salamon ran to Aomori's feet, frolicking playfully. The Violet-Gold Knight Set couldn't fool the little one's nose.
"Good girl. Salamon is the best," Aomori rewarded her with a pat on the head.
"Hehehe." Salamon rolled to the side, looking thoroughly satisfied.
After praising Absol, Pidgeot, and Ditto in turn, Aomori kept the data fragments held within his telekinetic shield. Continuing his role as the mysterious and powerful HellKnightmon, he addressed the liberated Digimon:
"SkullMeramon has been slain by my hand. This place is now under my jurisdiction. Those who wish to leave may do so freely; I will not stop you. Those who choose to stay in Ore Town will receive the protection of HellKnightmon. You need not fear the retaliation of a mere Myotismon. In exchange, however, you will work for me."
Low whispers erupted among the crowd. Many Digimon shifted their feet, preparing to depart.
Then, Aomori added, "Unlike the bloodsucking Myotismon, I am merciful. You will only be required to work twelve hours a day. Furthermore, room and board are included, three meals a day!"
"Only twelve hours?!"
"And three meals a day?!"
Compared to their previous life of sleepless nights and constant hunger, this was practically heaven!
Comparison is the thief of joy, but in this case, it was the catalyst for loyalty. All the Gotsumon chose to stay. For them, mining was a way of life that hadn't changed for generations; if they were going to mine anyway, they might as well do it here, at least they'd have three meals and the protection of a seemingly invincible leader.
Most of the other Digimon hesitated but eventually stayed; only a few chose to leave.
"Very well. You will not regret this choice."
Aomori then commanded, "Gotsumon, stand on one side. The rest of you, on the other. I'm going to take a headcount."
The Digimon followed his orders and formed two lines.
With a single glance, Aomori mapped out their numbers in his mind.
"47 Gotsumon, 1 Mojyamon, 4 Centarumon, 12 Mushroomon, and 14 Elecmon. A total of 78 Digimon."
This was his current foundation.
The Mojyamon and Centarumon were Champion-level, while the rest were Rookie-level. No wonder a single SkullMeramon had been able to keep them all under his thumb.
"Gotsumon, start repairing the damaged houses. Mojyamon and Centarumon, assist them. The rest of you, find all the supplies left behind by Myotismon's army and gather them here."
Having assigned the tasks and left Absol, Pidgeot, and Ditto to supervise, Aomori finally caught a break.
He was still short on talent.
"Wait, how could I forget Kayaba?" He was technically a digital lifeform; perhaps he would undergo a miraculous transformation here.
Aomori pulled out his Laptop. Once it was open, Akihiko Kayaba's avatar popped up.
"Kayaba, your tour of the other world has begun."
"Is this another world? It feels... familiar..."
As he spoke, the Laptop screen glowed brilliantly. Under the startled gazes of Darkrai and the others, a snow-white hand reached out from the screen, followed by a second hand and a head, then the torso and legs.
Akihiko Kayaba had crawled out of the computer screen like Sadako!
"As expected," Aomori said, unfazed. In this Network World made of data, Kayaba, himself a digital existence, could act freely. He could practically be considered a type of Digimon now.
Should he be called Humanmon?
Aomori wondered if he could reproduce here.
"Boss, I feel like you're thinking about something very disrespectful." Kayaba had completely emerged. He looked exactly as he did in the real world of SAO, complete with his white lab coat.
He stretched his limbs, the joy on his face evident. "This is the body I've always dreamed of."
"Congratulations." Aomori briefed him on the situation in the Digital World, and Kayaba became genuinely excited.
"This world is incredible. It's exactly the world of my dreams. A self-evolving natural environment, autonomous digital lifeforms... it represents infinite possibilities!"
Judging by his expression, he clearly wanted to create such a world himself.
Ever the scientist, he quickly regained his composure and apologized to Aomori. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away. I will complete my assigned tasks before starting my own research."
"Good. Truly a model employee."
Aomori first showed him the data fragments. During this time, many of the fragments had begun to fuse together, forming glowing bands of data. Perhaps a Digi-Egg would be born from them soon.
"See if you can control this data." Aomori moved the mass of data in front of him and released the telekinetic shield.
"Understood." Kayaba reached out and touched the hovering data.
Gradually, the data cluster stopped its upward drift and settled peacefully in his palm.
"What a beautiful arrangement," Kayaba marveled. He reported to Aomori, "There's a barrier between me and this data. While I can't directly absorb or control it yet, I can gain control over it by modifying parts of the code."
Is there a "biological" barrier? Kayaba was like an external virus; given enough time, he might be able to seize control of the entire Digital World.
Unfortunately, they didn't have much time here.
"How long can this data stay in this state?"
"It has a tendency to aggregate. To keep it in this 'data band' state, I would need to modify the parameters every two days."
"Alright."
Aomori then looked at Salamon, who was listening with a confused expression. He shook his head, used his telekinesis to grab a Numemon, and said, "Can you inject the data into its body? Let's try a small segment first."
"I understand."
Kayaba severed a piece of the data band and placed it into the vacant-looking Numemon.
The Numemon's face twisted in pain. Its body emitted a white light as its size gradually increased. Aomori tossed it to the ground.
When the light faded, the Numemon had turned into a turd-like Sukamon.
"Was it a success?"