Chapter 381: Escape Plan

"How is it going?"

In the ruined village, Jim held his hat with his hand and shouted.

"Ready!"

"Good!"

Jim responded loudly.

Over the past few days, he and O'Brien had gotten along quite well with Judai. Although O'Brien still maintained an uninterested demeanor, Jim and Judai had become inseparable, quickly becoming friends—of course, part of this was because in life-or-death crises, one's true inner self is revealed, making it easier to pour out one's heart.

During this time, Judai had indiscriminately rescued all the spirits and humans he encountered on the road, which immediately won Jim's favor, causing Jim's disgust toward Judai's previous lies to diminish significantly.

And after he and O'Brien arrived at this stronghold, they learned through investigation that Judai hadn't "heard about missing people nearby" that day, but was actually "searching for people who had intentionally left." Their favor for Judai increased even further.

As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed; he quite admired the few students from this academy who were conducting rescues.

As for now...

From their vantage point, looking toward the distance, they could see a massive demon army gathering in the sky.

Needless to say, these spirits were definitely heading toward their camp.

Even if they weren't afraid of dueling, if these demons launched a direct assault, there would always be areas they couldn't defend. Fortunately, reinforcements from Kaiba Corporation and the Lightsworn were on the way. They had already contacted Kaiba Corporation previously; as long as they left quickly, like lightning, before the two sides clashed, they could be safe.

This was a necessary risk; otherwise, if they stayed here, they would likely run out of supplies.

And now, they had to seize this moment while the two demon factions were at a stalemate to leave immediately.

Marufuji Sho provided the vehicle, Judai was responsible for the front, he was responsible for the rear, while Kenzan and O'Brien were on the left and right, and then that young man named Dennis assisted in combat.

Because of the addition of the two of them, Judai's side was actually much more relaxed, and the pressure on the students wasn't as great as before.

Once they delivered this group of people to Kaiba Corporation, they could go and explore the scattered areas individually; it would definitely be safer and more convenient than now.

"Why do we have to bring that thing along? Throw it off!"

"You bastard, what are you saying!"

Jim was just thinking about this when, at the entrance of the vehicle summoned by Marufuji Sho, two people began to argue.

"What's wrong!" He rushed over to mediate.

Judai and the others were still preparing over there; they couldn't have problems at this time!

"Why do we have to bring this thing!" A student wearing a yellow uniform, who looked like a student from the Western Branch, pointed at a wolf beside them and cursed, "Why reserve a spot for it specifically!"

The wolf lowered its head, covering its eyes with its front paws, looking extremely fearful, its entire body trembling.

And as the student's words were spoken, Kenzan grabbed his clothes directly, lifting him up and cursing: "Bastard, what are you spouting! It's a victim too; Big Brother risked his life to save it!"

During this time, Judai not only saved students but also rescued spirits he encountered on the road that had been attacked. In his eyes, there was no distinction between races, only victims in need of protection.

To protect this spirit, Judai had almost been injured, so in Kenzan's view, this student's words were pure nonsense.

"Then don't save it! It's just a beast anyway. If that guy gets hurt, what are we supposed to do?"

Kenzan trembled with rage upon hearing his words, and the small spirit on the ground wept even more, covering its eyes.

Jim, who had originally wanted to mediate, fell silent instantly. He walked slowly to the front of that student and threw a fierce punch.

"Boom—"

"Wah!"

The student was knocked to the ground instantly, looking at Jim in shock.

"Jim?" Kenzan looked at Jim, even more shocked.

"Hey, you kid." Jim rubbed his fist. "Don't forget, it was Judai who saved you! What are you saying!"

He was furious: "That Judai who saved you with such difficulty is still working hard to protect you right now, and you're saying things like this!? Don't forget, even Judai has to summon spirits to protect everyone!

Serena was pointed at and felt a bit confused, but still sat down properly, letting Judai observe.

Jim had always carried a crocodile on his back; that was his friend and his family, so when he heard this student say such things, he couldn't control his anger at all.

Of course, there was another reason: they absolutely could not hurt the spirits' feelings at this time.

He gently picked up the wolf-type spirit, feeling a sense of sorrow in his heart.

Even though there were many humanoid spirits on the vehicle, they were treated differently simply because they looked different.

Was such a person really worth saving?

After some effort, everyone and all the spirits were on the vehicle. Judai sat at the front and called out to Sho, and Sho hurriedly activated his deck, letting the train start moving.

At this moment, the advantage of his unique deck became apparent. While others still needed to summon dragons or demons to assist in transport, his large truck could carry everyone away, and it didn't even need gasoline, as long as he had enough energy to provide to the cards.

The Machine-type quickly exerted force, driving toward the target direction. To avoid being drawn into the flames of war, Sho went full throttle from the start, striving to leave quickly.

However.

Just as they left the camp.

Whether it was pre-arranged or for some other reason, the demons on both sides suddenly flapped their wings in a panic, centering on them and flying toward them.

"What's going on!? Didn't Kaiba Corporation say they would wait a few more days before the decisive battle!?" Sho's face turned pale instantly.

Kaiba Corporation had learned about the situation of the two Dark World factions from the Lightsworn and knew that they were still some time away from the decisive battle, which was why they decided to run away early at this time.

But, why?

It was too late to think about that now; they only had one choice, and that was to accelerate, accelerate, and accelerate again!

Amidst the terrified screams of the people on the vehicle, Marufuji Sho took a deep breath and exerted force again, supporting his spirit to move forward rapidly.

A demon rushed out of the line, reaching the Machine-type first. Judai drew a card, Neos's figure appeared behind him, and then he punched the demon away.

But following closely behind were more and more demons!

Just as Judai was determined to exert his strength, on the side, demons from the other faction suddenly flew over, using steel forks and sharp blades to pierce these initial demons, then shouting "Long live Lord Ba Wang!" and clashing with those demons.

"Sho!?"

"I understand, Big Brother!" Sho gritted his teeth; even though he was already in considerable pain, he still gritted his teeth and responded to his Big Brother without a hint of trembling in his voice.

For some unknown reason, the demons seemed to have started their civil war early.

However, their goal remained unchanged.

That was to escape early before the Dark World civil war—

But!

Just as they were struggling to move forward, they discovered that those demons attacking them didn't care about the demons on the other side at all, but were frantically blocking their path forward, as if, as long as they could intercept them, it didn't matter if they died.

At the same time, the demons on the other side were frantically helping them deal with the interceptors, even if it meant death.

"What... what on earth is going on..." Judai stood at the front of the vehicle, becoming increasingly confused by this scene, unable to help but mutter to himself.

Previously, Tiancheng Guang had told him that he would rendezvous with him once he had rescued the scattered people, hoping he could hold on. But in his mind, since his side was already so dangerous, Guang's side couldn't be any better, and he didn't want to make Guang that exhausted.

So, when he learned there was a great opportunity, he hurriedly discussed with his companions to find a way to leave quickly.

But now—

It seemed, he had made a mistake.

It seemed that, just as they had speculated in their discussions, the goal of these demons, from the very beginning, was not all the students, nor was it to plunder the students.

But rather... targeting a certain person.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 382 =====