Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Ecology of the Founders’ Village

Perhaps due to his earlier intense concentration, Feng Xue had not realized the commotion surrounding him. As his attention shifted outward, a cacophony of laughter and crying began to fill his senses. In truth, Digimon did not possess perception in the human sense; although they appeared to have noses and eyes, what they actually sensed was data—at least within the Digital World. Upon entering the real world, this information would convert into entities resembling proteins, endowing them with organs analogous to those of living creatures. Yet, this presented no real problem, for what ultimately reached consciousness were still images and sounds, much like how humans only receive electrical signals sent from the eyes to the brain.

This was the Village of Beginnings, nestled in the innermost layer of the Digimon World—the earliest and most primordial of realms. In the third series, aside from a few pocket worlds, the main Digital World was structured as a set of concentric circles, with the real world at the very core, each layer radiating outward, and the lands of the Four Holy Beasts encircling the furthest edge. Do not ask how Feng Xue knew all this; it was as if such knowledge was innate, just as he now knew himself to be a Digimon without drawing upon any memories from his previous existence.

“Wait a minute—if I know I’m a Digimon, then I should also know my species, shouldn’t I?” This thought preoccupied Feng Xue, for at this moment, he could not see even the slightest bit of his own body. He was, after all, just a ball—unlike the baby form of Youkomon, which sported a tail. It was like trying to see one’s own face unaided, and besides, most Fresh Stage Digimon didn’t even have noses.

“Heihei-mon.” When this name surfaced in Feng Xue’s mind, he was utterly bewildered, for he had no recollection of any Digimon by that name.

Yet, perhaps that was only natural; at the Fresh Stage, even those that appeared in the official lore were vanishingly few, and in the anime, only a handful ever made an appearance. In the first series, eight appeared, but only Botamon and Poyomon were named; the others didn’t even get that much. In the second series’ movie, the earliest forms of Upamon and Black Upamon showed up; in the third, only a background character named Chiolomon; as for the fourth and fifth, there was hardly anything to speak of, and the sixth series dispensed with the concept of stages altogether.

Still, he wasn’t Botamon, and that left Feng Xue more than a little frustrated. There was an old saying that all things begin as spheres: vaccines lead to Agumon, and the Botamon family could evolve into nearly any branch of Digimon—some even evolving into angelic types in a near-direct lineage. Conversely, Chicomon, the baby form of Veemon, could transform into any dragon-type Digimon, making it one of the most promising lines in the Digital World.

But Feng Xue had become something virtually unknown, so obscure that he couldn't even conjure an image of himself in his mind from the name alone.

Moreover, the Village of Beginnings, perhaps to prevent the vulnerable newborn Digimon from inadvertently hurting themselves, was devoid of water, mirrors, or anything else that might reflect one’s appearance.

“Hold on a second.” Feng Xue’s gaze fell upon a newly hatched Chiolomon nearby, and a thought struck him—wasn’t this thing practically a mirror?

Chiolomon’s body gleamed with a metallic sheen, resembling a mouse-shaped piece of polished metal. Its red eyes shone with a faint light, but perhaps because it had only just emerged from its egg, it could not yet speak. (In the third series, one Chiolomon could speak, but in the first series’ Village of Beginnings, none of the newborns could, nor could the Botamon in the Botamon Village later on. Poyomon, however, could, suggesting that Digimon are generally silent at birth but gain speech with time.)

No matter—Feng Xue had no intention of conversing with these infants. Even if they retained some memories, they would be scant. When a Digimon dies, its core data returns to the Village of Beginnings and becomes a new Digimon, but most memories dissipate with death. Though it’s known that not all is truly lost, no Digimon ever treated death lightly. Only a rare few, gifted with exceptional talent, could retain some memories after reverting to an egg—like Takeru’s Tokomon in the first series.

Feng Xue quickly hopped over to the Chiolomon, and in the next instant, the silvery, metallic surface reflected a pale violet sphere. Two conical protrusions rose where its ears would be, its mouth formed a ^ shape, and two semicircular black eyes, angled at forty-five degrees, gave it a perpetually angry expression.

But Feng Xue could swear to the heavens, he absolutely was not angry—it was just that this Digimon’s mouth and eyes were naturally shaped this way!

At the sight of his own face, Feng Xue gave up on deducing his evolutionary line. This was nothing but a random doodle! He had no distinctive features at all; aside from his color and expression, he was nearly identical to Botamon. Change the color, and he’d become YukimiBotamon; change it again and add a bump, and he’d be Bunimon. He had none of the unique traits of Elecmon, Kyubimon, or Motimon, and he hadn’t the faintest clue what he might evolve into. Judging by his current pale violet hue, perhaps he might become a demon, fallen angel, or beast-type Digimon, but there was no guarantee. After all, Digimon sometimes underwent drastic color changes upon evolution—Botamon famously turned white to become Poyomon.

In the Digital World, time was the cheapest commodity. Under the gentle sun and the caress of the breeze, days passed by in tranquil succession. The Village of Beginnings in the third series differed from the first and fourth; here, it was not cared for by Digimon, but by mysterious beings known as Digital Sprites. These were likely the native species of the Digital World, embodiments of the will of data. They drifted aimlessly, immune to all attacks, never attacking any creature themselves, and seemingly unfamiliar even with the concept of death. They were enigmatic in every way.

Though such a description might suggest a ghostly apparition, Digital Sprites had physical form, and they provided the very first nourishment to the utterly helpless Fresh Stage Digimon.

Despite possessing knowledge far beyond that of ordinary newborn Digimon, Feng Xue could only passively accept the Digital Sprites’ offerings. He was not, after all, a naturally gifted YukimiBotamon, born with the power of ice and snow. As an ordinary Fresh Stage Digimon with only a generic acidic saliva skill for defense, he could not even learn Ripple Breathing, that technique requiring nothing more than breath. He was, after all, just a ball, with no lungs at all. Even if he could inhale, it would be no different than a balloon, air drifting in and out, never producing even a ripple of energy.