The storyline had already been thrown completely off course by Xiao himself—but he was no babysitter.
His attitude toward Maine and the others amounted to little more than a faint goodwill born from having watched the anime in his previous life.
If it were V, Xiao might have been willing to play caretaker. After all, game protagonists were practically like raising a daughter—there was a strong sense of emotional immersion.
But when it came to Maine's crew?
Aside from the adorable Rebecca and the cat-eared Sasha, Xiao had no interest in any of them.
Meanwhile, the debate surrounding controversial issues in The Boys World was finally drawing to a close, yet contradictions were only intensifying, conflicts escalating by the day.
Xiao knew very well that under such circumstances, he had to return there personally to resolve everything in one decisive stroke.
After careful consideration, he ultimately chose to leave behind a nano-material clone.
This clone would continue to live according to Xiao's behavioral patterns and possessed a limited self-aware AI. It could remain in the cyberpunk world in his stead, handling daily matters and observing changes.
Through a mental link, Xiao could remotely monitor everything.
Once the plot progressed to the point where V appeared, he would return without hesitation.
Because V's story didn't just signify the complete maturation of Relic technology—it represented a hidden, high-stakes contest.
And the prize for the victor was nothing less than Night City itself.
That kind of struggle was far beyond what a mere nano clone could handle.
When the time came, Xiao would have to act in person.
Before leaving, however, Xiao preserved one final blueprint.
And among all his designs, the most important were the two mature Digimon.
Now possessing fully developed forms, they were finally ready to embark on their own journey—and begin demonstrating their true value.
Ever since Xiao had discovered the abnormal changes within the cyber dimension and created Digimon, he had been planning something far larger.
A pioneering settlement.
A birthplace.
The Founding Village.
This village would be built as a dedicated incubator for Digimon.
As time passed, human consciousness within the cyber dimension grew increasingly active and complex. Xiao had no intention of letting those precious thought-energies rot into meaningless Dark Data.
Relying solely on wandering AI to process them was far too inefficient.
So Xiao devised a new system.
Using living Digimon to absorb and disperse excess cognitive energy.
Through fierce Digimon battles, those chaotic thoughts would be refined—transformed into purer, higher-quality base data, which would then be used to strengthen and expand the cyber dimension itself.
In doing so, resources would be fully utilized, and the cyber dimension's growth would accelerate dramatically.
In Xiao's design, Digimon were divided into three core categories:
Data Type.
Virus Type.
Vaccine Type.
They restrained one another, yet each had a distinct role.
Data-type Digimon acted as digital cleaners.
They fed on discarded, obsolete, or redundant data, converting it into usable information—or erasing it outright. Like scavengers in nature, they maintained order within the digital ecosystem.
Virus-type Digimon, by contrast, survived on Dark Data.
They didn't purify corruption like angelic Digimon—they devoured it.
They were Dark Data incarnate, growing stronger as corruption accumulated.
They could even consume Data-type Digimon to enhance themselves, stacking data endlessly like building blocks.
But this method came at a price.
Chaotic accumulation led to instability, madness, and distortion.
During evolution, Virus-type Digimon wandered blindly through fog, prone to failed or twisted evolutions. Once corrupted, this distortion became irreversible—a curse that could only be left to fate.
Unless they forged an entirely new evolutionary path, the system would never guide them again.
They would stagnate—sealed within darkness.
This, in fact, was Xiao's deliberate control mechanism.
And because of it, any Virus-type Digimon that did survive and mature were absolute elites—geniuses among billions.
They would become Xiao's sharpest blades, his most terrifying combat force across the heavens and worlds.
Finally, there were Vaccine-type Digimon.
They possessed a natural suppressive advantage over Virus-types, as though born specifically to counter them.
At the same time, they served as guardians of the Data-types—maintainers of balance and stability across the entire digital ecosystem.
They were the arbiters of order.
Together, these three Digimon types encompassed all forms of data within the cyber dimension, gathering and processing every scrap of "garbage" generated within it.
When Digimon devoured chaotic data, they didn't merely consume it.
They processed it.
The Digimon core's AI actively sorted, refined, and reorganized corrupted information. In this critical process, useless "trash" was transformed into valuable resources.
Externally, this manifested as hunger.
When a Digimon felt hungry, it meant all chaotic data within its body had been fully digested—and it needed new input.
As Digimon absorbed more disordered data, they gained strength.
But fate was never predictable.
If a Digimon was defeated and destroyed, its refined base data would be reclaimed by the cyber dimension during dissipation.
Any remaining chaotic data—still undigested—would be passed on to the next Digimon, becoming fuel for its evolution.
Thus, the cycle continued.
Endless devouring.
Endless refinement.
Endless transformation.
Until all data was reduced to its most primitive form—zero and one—forming a solid foundation for the cyber dimension's expansion.
Digimon were, in essence, the clockwork that kept the cyber dimension running.
Without them, it would inevitably collapse into a cesspool of subspace corruption.
To Xiao, the creation of the Founding Village was a treasure beyond measure.
And he did not keep this reward to himself.
Instead, he returned its fruits to Kiwi and Lucy—who spared no effort in perfectly realizing Xiao's design through their programming.
This village…
Was only the beginning.
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims