Chapter 125: YGGDRASIL

Chapter 125: YGGDRASIL

After defeating Demon King Piccolo, Yamcha went to Master Mutaito and learned the legendary god-level sealing technique—the Evil Containment Wave. Faced with a hero who saved the world, Master Mutaito was naturally generous and taught him with great care.

After that, Yamcha returned to his Dragon Ball world.

He handed over the report about the Earthlings' trait of temporary breakthroughs to Mewtwo for analysis, while he went to challenge DarkWarGreymon in a one-on-one battle.

As expected, he still couldn't break through DarkWarGreymon's defenses. Even using Ripple (Hamon) energy made no difference—the hardness of Chrono Digi-Alloy was truly beyond imagination. It's unclear how it compares to the Divine Steel of the Dragon Ball universe.

At night, Yamcha, Mewtwo, and DarkWarGreymon sat together, holding a three-person meeting about future development. Though called a three-person meeting, in practice, only Yamcha and Mewtwo spoke—BlackWarGreymon simply listened, rarely giving opinions.

"Lack of manpower is our biggest development issue."

Mewtwo was the first to speak.

In the entire desert base, only two Champion-level Digimon were available for deployment. Calling it a manpower shortage would be generous—there was essentially no manpower at all.

Yamcha didn't just want to become strong himself; he wanted to build a powerful force of his own. Of course, this force wouldn't be like the Red Ribbon Army playing games on Earth—it had to be at least a universe-level organization like Frieza's army.

But creating a force from scratch was far too troublesome. That's why, before Mewtwo's arrival, Yamcha was content blending into the Red Ribbon Army. With Mewtwo's appearance, he officially delegated the task to him.

Actually, Yamcha had considered potential recruits. He had his eye on Master Mutaito's disciples—Roshi, Crane Hermit, and their fellow students.

These martial artists had decent strength, each individually scoring dozens of power points. However, it had been over 300 years. Whether they could adapt to this era's life was another question.

"Loyalty is also crucial," Mewtwo continued.

As the saying goes: if loyalty isn't absolute, it's not loyalty at all. If subordinates couldn't be trusted, they were better off not being there.

"Actually, I've got a group in mind,"

Yamcha said as he stretched, glancing at the unmoving statue-like DarkWarGreymon.

"If I can gain their acknowledgment, I guarantee they'll be the most loyal subordinates."

That world was already part of his expanding territory.

But before that, he had to prepare in another world first.

"Lastly, regarding those wish-granting orbs you told me about—I have a few theories I need you to verify."

A few days later, Yamcha stepped forward into the boundless starry sky.

A new world—

Descends!

In the year 2138, humans used the internet and nanotechnology to develop neural-link systems—computers directly connected to the brain's neural network through a nano-interface and control device.

When playing virtual games, users could feel fully immersed in a world as real as the physical one. It was like actually entering the game world in full sensory VR.

Among the many games constantly being developed, one stood out.

YGGDRASIL

An ultra-mega-massive online game featuring over 2,000 job classes and races. It was hailed for having the highest degree of freedom and was once the most popular game in the world.

Yes—once.

Because tonight, the game was finally shutting down.

At the center of a room stood a massive round table glowing with an obsidian sheen. Surrounding it were 41 luxurious chairs.

But almost all of them were empty.

Once, these seats had been filled. Now, only two figures remained.

One sat in a chair wearing an ornate black robe embroidered with purple and gold trim. His exposed head was a bare skull with empty eye sockets glowing red and black. Behind his head, a dark halo of light shone ominously.

The other figure wasn't human either. It was a shifting mass of pitch-black goo. Its tar-like surface squirmed constantly, never keeping the same form for even a second.

"It's really been a while, HeroHero. Honestly, I didn't think you'd show up today, even though it's the last day of YGGDRASIL."

"Yeah, it really has been a long time, Momonga."

The black goo named HeroHero extended something vaguely hand-like as it spoke.

"After changing jobs in real life, I haven't logged in at all. How long has it been—two years?"

"About that long. Wow, it's really been that long… Kinda scary. I've been working overtime so much that I've completely lost track of time."

These two non-human monsters were chatting like any pair of office workers complaining about their jobs. Rather than saying they seemed human, it would be more accurate to say they were human—in real life.

They just appeared as monsters in YGGDRASIL.

"Sorry for ranting so much. I can't really complain in the real world, y'know?"

HeroHero spoke apologetically to the skull-faced Momonga.

The world outside the game was suffocating—completely repressive.

"It's getting late. I should probably log off soon."

"Already?" said Momonga with clear disappointment in his voice.

At this point, he was still called Momonga—not yet the future Ainz Ooal Gown.

Once founded by 10 people and eventually growing to 41, their guild had even ranked among the top 5 in the world. But with YGGDRASIL's decline, the glory days were long gone.

He watched as the tower rose, as it hosted grand feasts, and now—watched it fall.

A strange and indescribable feeling welled up in Momonga's heart.

He really missed those days of laughter and "battle" together.

HeroHero yawned and said in an exhausted tone:

"I can't fight off sleep any longer. I'm logging off now. I'm really glad I got to see you one last time. Good night."

Watching his last remaining comrade about to leave, Suzuki Satoru (in real life) looked visibly disheartened:

"Yeah… I'm really glad too—"

BOOM!

Before he could finish, the entire palace started shaking. The two in-game players received a system alert:

"An intruder is attacking!"

"A player has invaded the Great Tomb!"

"What the hell?!"

Even the exhausted HeroHero forced himself to focus, utterly confused as he turned to his former teammate.

"It's the last day before shutdown—who would invade now?"

Momonga shook his head and replied with a helpless tone:

"At this point, the only one who'd still invade us… it must be him."

As he spoke, a portal opened in the conference room where they were seated.

A man who looked just as handsome as the readers themselves stepped out from the other side.

"Yo, long time no see, Great Tomb folks."

(End of Chapter)