Chapter Ninety: The Results of Seclusion

A violent bout of nausea seized Qin Fei. The floor lurched beneath him, the lights swam and struck at his eyes, and the clamor grated raw against his nerves until he felt ready to retch up his very soul.

This is awful. It feels like I’m about to die.

No. I can’t stay this helpless. Isn’t this the very method I’ve been hoping for to awaken a digital soul? How could I give up now?

Qin Fei strained with all his might to steady himself, but the heaving ground and blinding glare dragged his consciousness deeper and deeper into a haze, as though he might black out at any moment.

His whole body was already pressed flat to the floor, making movement nearly impossible.

Right. A digital soul. Satsuma said that sensing a digital soul can strengthen the self. Training at this level ought to be nothing.

Gritting his teeth, Qin Fei forced himself to calm down. He shut his eyes tightly to block out the light, covered his ears to dull the noise, and then found that the only remaining problem was the trembling floor.

Little by little, still blind and deaf, he sat up. He no longer looked, no longer listened, and focused every ounce of his awareness on the motion beneath him.

In truth, when Qin Fei first came into contact with the Fifth-Generation Brave Machine, he had already sensed a faint trace of digital soul, a droplet that seemed to gather quietly at the bottom of his heart, slowly becoming a pool.

That feeling seemed oddly familiar. When he had first arrived in this world, some nameless power had been mending his injuries. If he was not mistaken, his body had already begun, back then, to absorb and accept the digital soul.

He simply had not realized it yet.

And now, through training, he meant to bring that power out more clearly, more deliberately, and use it with purpose.

In his previous life, because of the pressure of work, Qin Fei had learned a few simple meditation techniques.

He began to breathe deeply, slowly straightening his back, sensing the contact of his lower body with the floor, his body against the ground.

Then he turned to his breathing, focusing all his awareness upon it, gradually letting the rocking motion lose its hold on him. As he exhaled, he let his chest open; as he breathed out, he relaxed his body, continuing until he could forget the world beyond himself.

It was difficult. Qin Fei could feel it: one moment of carelessness, and he would have to begin again. But he could not grow impatient. The more impatient he became, the more often he would fail.

So he adjusted the rhythm of his breathing, silently reciting simple words, or meaningless syllables, in time with it.

He did not know how long passed, but at last, in a single instant, Qin Fei forgot the rocking beneath him. The pool within his heart rippled at last, and like snow melting from a mountain peak, it turned into a threadlike stream that flowed back into his limbs and bones.

The sensation was wondrous, exquisite; it was as if every trace of fatigue in his body had suddenly been swept away, leaving him refreshed to the very marrow.

The beat of his heart, the flow of his blood, the sound of his breathing... all of it became startlingly clear under the guidance of the digital soul.

His bones and muscles seemed to be slowly remade by that power, growing tougher, fuller, and stronger.

Unconsciously, Qin Fei lowered his hands.

With both palms resting on his knees, he sat unmoved. The noise around him once again thundered like a storm, yet Qin Fei remained utterly untouched, like an old monk in meditation.

If anyone had been in that room at the time, they would have seen that beneath the blinding, multicolored lights, the gray-white radiance of digital soul around Qin Fei remained vividly distinct.

It was like a bonfire doused in oil, swelling ever larger and growing ever more substantial.

So this is a digital soul?

Looking at the gray-white glow winding around his hands, Qin Fei, who had closed his eyes before, somehow opened them. Ignoring the harsh light around him, he studied his palms with bright, focused eyes.

He suddenly felt that the energy within him, the digital soul, responded as naturally as an extension of his own limbs.

The dazzling lights still flashed. The deafening noise still roared. The violently shaking floor still jolted beneath him.

And yet Qin Fei rose from the ground as casually as if walking on level earth, then made his way unhurriedly toward the door.

Creak.

The heavy door opened. The instant it did, the lights, the noise, and the shaking behind Qin Fei vanished without a trace, as though someone had cut the power all at once.

Qin Fei!

The delighted voice of Luo Luo rushed clearly into his ears the moment he stepped through the doorway.

Not only her, but Black Guilmon and Gatomon were also waiting outside, looking at him with joy.

“You’ve kept me waiting...” Qin Fei let out a long, relieved breath, and with it came a faint, inexplicable stirring of emotion.

“Huh? Qin Fei, you feel different somehow!”

Loredo Beast studied him seriously, then moved closer, clearly wanting a better look.

It seemed she meant to inspect him more carefully.

“She’s right. I can feel something on Qin Fei that links him more closely to me...”

Gatomon squeezed in as well, apparently trying to keep the approaching Loredo Beast as far from Qin Fei as possible.

“How shameless. Who’s linked more closely to you?”

Seeing Gatomon wedge herself between Qin Fei and her, Loredo Beast’s face instantly darkened.

“I knew I hadn’t misjudged you. This child has good talent.”

Just as Loredo Beast and Gatomon were about to spark into another conflict, Captain Satsuma suddenly stepped in from outside the door, apparently in the midst of a slow exchange with Wizardmon.

“Captain Satsuma... thank you.”

Qin Fei met the captain’s somewhat gratified gaze with genuine gratitude of his own.

If not for his help, he would still be lingering at the threshold of mastering the digital soul, unable to find the way forward.

“It’s nothing. Helping DATS members grow is part of our duty.”

“Still, what surprises me is that your partner chose Gatomon rather than this... Black Guilmon.”

Satsuma glanced at the Black Guilmon beside Qin Fei, who resembled a fusion of a fox cub and a little dinosaur. Without Qin Fei’s introduction, he would never have been able to identify it.

Loredo Beast, too. Leaving aside her strange human-like ability, even her identity remained a complete mystery.

During this time, Satsuma had read quite a few records concerning digital monsters, but he still could not find any information related to either of them.

Still, he was not overly surprised. Humanity had not explored the Digital World for very long, and the continual appearance of new digital monsters was perfectly normal.

“However, you’ve only just crossed the threshold of using a digital soul. If you want to go further, you’ll need constant training and continued use of it.”

Qin Fei nodded. In other words, if he wanted to grow stronger together with his partner digital monster, they would need the baptism of battle.

He had already expected that much.

“Come along. Only now can you truly be considered an official member of DATS. But as a member of DATS, the work is not easy. It can even put your life at risk...”

As Qin Fei listened to Satsuma’s warning, he followed after him.

Indeed, handling digital monster incidents was dangerous. Human bodies were, for the most part, no match for powerful digital monsters, and even with a partner, casualties could still occur all too easily.

That was also why, later on, the protagonist’s mother, and the protagonist himself, refused to let his younger sister become a member of DATS.

Beep beep...

Suddenly, Satsuma’s earpiece rang. It seemed something urgent had come up.

“What is it?”

“Captain, a digital monster response has been detected in District B4 of the city!”

An anxious female voice came through the earpiece.

“...Where is Daimon?”

Satsuma seemed to want Daimon to handle it.

“That guy suddenly had a falling-out with Agumon. We can’t get in touch with him at all.”

The woman’s voice in the earpiece answered in frustration.

“No choice, then...”

Just as Satsuma was preparing to make other arrangements, he suddenly noticed Qin Fei beside him, and his gaze wavered.

“I think we can try.”

Qin Fei quickly understood what Satsuma was thinking and volunteered himself.

“...”

“In that case, have Shinoha come at once. She’ll act with another person.”

After a brief pause, Satsuma nodded and issued his orders through the earpiece.