Chapter 481: The King and the Reporter

Night had fallen, but this decaying, ancient, fixed world did not settle down in the dark night; instead, it operated at high speed.

In front of the largest hospital in the Upper City, a group of reporters surrounded the hospital gate, and countless lights hit the gate. The light from the camera flashes was continuous, as if it would never stop.

A sturdy middle-aged man with a refined appearance and a smile on his face stood with his hands behind his back, facing everyone.

Because there were too many reporters, the police here had to form a human wall to prevent them from sticking microphones into the man's face.

"Director Goodwin, what do you think about the recent failure of the security police pursuit duel? I heard the opponent is an Otherworlder. Is it true that Otherworlders are invading our world!?"

"Director Goodwin, it has been half a month since King Jack Atlas lost to Yusei Fudo at the Fortune Cup, and we haven't seen Jack appear again. There are rumors that you secretly disposed of Jack; please explain!"

"Director Goodwin, there is reliable news that you conspired to harm a group of elderly nobles and forced the nobles into a half-year-long interest confrontation with you. May I ask what stage it is at now?"

Goodwin was not nervous at all. He just smiled and answered the questions of the questioners one by one without any hesitation, appearing very calm.

However, just at this moment, a reporter from some small newspaper who didn't know which one it was crawled out of the crowded reporter group with all his might and aimed a microphone at Goodwin.

It was a female reporter with thick round-rimmed glasses and a Hime-style long straight black hairstyle.

Goodwin saw her sudden appearance and was not surprised at all.

He recognized who the other party was instantly.

Carly Nagisa, a reporter for some small newspaper, a reporter from an ordinary family in the Upper City who wanted to get ahead; there were countless such people in this world.

"That, Director Goodwin, may I ask you a question? During the Fortune Cup finals, red lights lit up on the hands of Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas. What was that?" Carly Nagisa asked with all her might.

Goodwin's pupils shrank violently. This was the first time he had been surprised, and he was even slightly nervous, changing the position of his hands behind his back.

This female reporter was the only person in such a long time who realized and asked this question.

To actually be able to realize the Dragon Mark...

Goodwin observed Carly Nagisa roughly.

It seemed this was just an ordinary country girl; he didn't expect her to have that kind of "talent."

"What's there to be surprised about? It must be the resonance of two powerful duelists, then producing some kind of spirit power—isn't that what those humans from the Otherworld say?"

"That's right, which newspaper office are you from? Hurry up and go aside!"

There are different levels of people in the Upper City. A reporter like Carly Nagisa actually occupied so much of the time of Goodwin, this newly appointed "Security Bureau Director," and they still had questions to ask?

It was hard to encounter an opportunity where Goodwin was willing to answer reporters' questions; how could they waste time on this kind of question?

"Regarding this question, perhaps you will understand it yourself in the future, so there is no need to explain." Goodwin still gave a little face and responded to Carly Nagisa.

As for the others, he had no interest in answering.

Especially rumors like "he killed the Council nobles," he had even less interest in answering.

Although he did kill some boring flies, these things were completely "non-existent" for ordinary people.

The reason is simple. Although there is indeed a "Council" in the Upper City, in order to control the City and hide their existence so as not to become the primary target of rebels, the highest management organization publicized to the outside world is only one, which is the "Security Bureau." He, this Security Bureau Director, is the nominal leader of the City.

For ordinary people, the Council doesn't even exist. Even he, who climbed to the top with all his might, only suddenly knew that there was a deep government when he became the Security Bureau Director.

Last time, taking advantage of the Friendship Cup held by the F Dimension and their Synchro Dimension, he took the opportunity to kill everyone in the Council. Although the cleanup was perfect, the nobles could still find from the clues that he was the mastermind behind the scenes.

However, it wasn't that he looked down on those nobles.

It can only be said that those nobles acted exactly as he expected.

Originally, a new radical who dared to kill the "representative" chosen by their nobles should have been hit hard directly to show power and killed at once. As a result, those nobles hadn't encountered a "ruthless person" like him for a long time, so they didn't know what to do for a while. Some wanted to kill him, some wanted to win him over, and some even wanted to replace the dead nobles and join them.

After all, although the elders were killed by him, the nobles still occupied nearly 99% of the assets and capital of the entire City.

... Ha.

What ridiculous and superficial things.

Long-term peace and debauchery made this bunch of things not realize at all that the world was about to change drastically.

But he wasn't interested in those; he just wanted to proceed step by step according to his own plan.

"Director Goodwin, do you know about the Otherworlders—you've been in the hospital, maybe you don't know, let me explain to you..." Another reporter asked this question.

What did he think?

Goodwin could only say that he of course knew what happened. Not only did he know, he also saw the skeletal Duel Horse left by his brother follow a new master—he saw the Duel Horse leave his side with his own eyes.

He saw much more clearly.

He not only knew what the rebels in the Lower City wanted to do, he even knew that those nobles who were too big to fail had united with forces from other dimensions, wanting to accumulate strength to "clash head-on" with him, and thought he didn't know anything.

Dying early or late is the same; there are always some people who are particularly anxious.

He glanced at it.

Without anyone noticing, that Carly Nagisa actually bypassed the guards and security, disguised herself, and mixed into the hospital.

No wonder, having this kind of ability to hide her presence and excellent disguise ability, she was indeed a special talent.

He withdrew his gaze and continued to deal with the reporters casually.

That's fine too.

Dragon Marks and Dark Marks will meet each other. Since she is curious, let her see for herself.

Carly Nagisa sneaked into the hospital.

Relying on her superior, quick disguise ability and excellent figure, she easily disguised herself as a nurse and sneaked into the ward.

She really wanted to interview Jack, but before she found the ward, she saw Jack.

At this very moment, he was dragging his injured body, walking with difficulty while holding the wall.

It seemed that half of his body still had no sensation.

Sure enough!

Carly Nagisa thought in her heart.

At that time, the final showdown between Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo, that terrifying red light, was definitely not a hallucination. The explosion brought by that light must also be real; otherwise, how could Jack Atlas's physique not have recovered after half a month?

However, just when she wanted to say something, she saw Jack almost fall down while forcing himself, scaring her into rushing to support him.

Heaven have mercy, she was a young girl, and she had never been so close to a boy since she grew up. Moreover, Jack was tall and big, and she couldn't even support his weight.

Just when she wanted to lecture Jack, saying that he should honestly stay in the ward while injured, suddenly, the entire corridor cooled down. The hospital seemed to have dropped dozens of degrees in air conditioning, and the air was so cold that white breath could be seen.

Icicles rose on the walls. Immediately after, the two saw a man wearing a security uniform walking staggeringly, looking coldly at Jack Atlas.

There was a strange black mark on that person's left hand, looking similar to the red mark on Jack and the others.

Carly Nagisa didn't know the situation. She only knew that this person's appearance caused ice cones to appear around, and even those ice pillars were attacking them. If it weren't for his quick reaction, Jack and herself might have been skewered.

"Wh, what is this... Ps, Psychic Duelist?" The cold and fear made her unable to speak at all.

Just when she was at a loss, Jack pulled her, pulling her into his arms. She collided with Jack with a bang and had a gaze exchange with Jack.

It was as if something had been knocked open. The eyes behind the thick lenses looked deeply into Jack's eyes.

"You take the Duel Disk, draw cards and place cards for me!!" Jack shouted without question.

Even in a sick state, he still had the bearing of a "King."

Carly Nagisa's heart trembled, but she also knew the current situation, so she stood one by one with Jack, 2v1, dueling that strange, black-gas-emitting human.

I don't know why, but she seemed to start learning to duel again. Every time she drew a card, she could draw particularly powerful cards, and when Jack was in danger, she could help him as if she had foreknowledge.

"Well done—"

After the duel ended, Jack praised this reporter with good luck slightly, then supported his body and left the hospital just like that.

"You're still a patient, Jack!"

"This city doesn't need a sick King!" He said while staggering. "Damn it... Dark Signers... Yusei, those guys will definitely find trouble with you, where have you gone—"

Only then did Carly Nagisa completely understand.

Jack hadn't been unhealed since the end of the Fortune Cup until now, but was forcing his injured body to duel different "Dark Signer" puppets, and then his body became more and more broken.

After Jack forced himself to run out of the hospital and fell to the ground again, Carly had no choice but to try her best to lift him into her car and then bring him to her home.

"Really... I've never brought a man home before!" She said angrily.

A sleep, a long-lost sleep, Jack seemed to be in the galaxy, watching two huge red objects colliding in the universe.

That red giant seemed to be the master of the world. A roar could shatter the stars, and a tail flick could make the universe tremble.

Seeing this terrifying scene, he couldn't help but speak out.

"Ah!"

After a scream, he woke up again, surprised to find himself in a strange place. He looked through the window and saw a high tower.

Having not slept or rested for a long time, his body had finally recovered slightly after sleep.

He jumped off the bed and saw Carly sleeping on the table in the living room, but he didn't care about her.

Carly Nagisa was an "Upper City person." Although she was just an ordinary citizen, she was unimaginably richer than the citizens of the Lower City, so he easily found a set of clothes that could cover his face, such as a hat and glasses, and then left Carly's home.

Now he was very confused.

Last time, the duel with Kaiba Seto made him realize his shortcomings, so after that, he returned Stardust Dragon to Yusei and admitted his mistake.

However, at the Fortune Cup, after losing to Yusei, he fell into confusion.

That was, did he, this "King," really have any meaning for existence?

Climb up, climb up... but after climbing up, what existed?

The so-called "King" was just a clown. The Upper City was always held in the hands of nobles; even Goodwin had no way to change all this.

"Really, you just rested for one night, why are you coming out casually?"

A voice sounded. He turned back to look; it was the nurse from yesterday—no, it didn't look like a nurse.

She was rubbing her eyes at this moment, looking sleepy and spiritless.

Jack didn't talk nonsense, turned around directly, and didn't have too much exchange with her.

"Hey, Jack—"

Carly followed, but Jack didn't respond. Carly sighed and didn't chase after him, just following from afar.

Jack came to a shop, looked at the screen of the shop, which was playing the video of him losing to Kaiba Seto and Yusei Fudo. He clenched his fists, snorted coldly, and turned away again.

Yusei had become the new "symbol" of this city. Perhaps now, he should focus on finding "Dark Signers" and, by the way, finding Yusei.

Since the end of that duel, Yusei had disappeared and couldn't be found at all. If it weren't for the fact that they all had the common enemy of "Dark Signers" and could occasionally see Yusei, he would have thought Yusei had disappeared.

But even so, Yusei didn't explain where he had been during this time.

Carly followed behind Jack, watching Jack change emotions, and didn't rashly go up to disturb him.

During this time, because Jack lost to Yusei, the Upper City's evaluation of him reversed sharply. Many nobles even started to pretend and say things like "I knew that Jack wasn't capable" or "I said people from the Lower City couldn't be used," and even the statues and promotional slogans of Jack in the playground where children often went were moved away, leaving only a mess.

Jack sat on a park bench, looking at the setting sun with dull eyes.

He wandered around the Upper City aimlessly like this. The Upper City was discussing Yusei's victory over him everywhere, making him think of what Kaiba Seto said when he dueled him.

His duel wasn't pure enough, his soul wasn't pure enough.

He thought that giving up some "interests" and just dueling Yusei for Red Dragon Archfiend might be able to go further, but he didn't expect that the one who went further was Yusei, and the one who lost... was him.

Sigh...

His eyes were dull.

Just at this moment, a child suddenly discovered him.

Although he was disguised, that blonde hair, as well as that exaggerated figure and height, couldn't be hidden. The child recognized Jack instantly and ran over excitedly, waving at Jack: "King!"

Jack came back to his senses and looked at the child.

"King!" The child cheered, just because Jack looked at him.

Carly gently patted the child's shoulder from behind, and after the child looked over, she said: "Jack is doing a secret job, don't let anyone know! Only you and we know~"

The child immediately covered his mouth with both hands, nodded excitedly, and said as quietly as possible: "I am Jack's loyal fan. Everyone says Jack is a big liar, but I don't believe it. I will always support you!"

—Even though Jack had already heard it before, the child's parent, that noble, was speaking ill of him, the child had no disgust at all, but was full of excitement.

This little guy really treated Jack as an idol, as a bridge connecting the lower and upper layers, a great hero—Jack knew that there were many such children in the Lower City, and the two little guys following Yusei also treated him as an idol...

Although...

Although a large part of the reason why he became "King" was because of the Stardust Dragon he snatched from Yusei.

However, children are the most innocent and pure.

Jack looked at him, reached out and touched his head, then left expressionlessly.

"Jack, you must become King!" The child didn't forget to add another sentence.

Carly followed Jack all the way until Jack walked up to the high tower, looking at the sea from afar.

Carly followed and looked over. The sunset on the sea level looked exceptionally beautiful.

Normally, one might think that Jack was here to see the scenery and relax.

However...

"You can't see the Lower City from here." She suddenly said.

Jack's pupils contracted violently. He didn't expect this woman to guess his thoughts.

"You are a reporter specifically here to interview me, right? Report whatever you want about my affairs."

"I won't report things that slander duelists."

Although her background was good, Carly always felt that the world shouldn't be like this, so she chose a small newspaper office instead of trying to get ahead.

Jack was silent.

"Two years ago, I came to the Upper City from the Lower City, abandoned my hometown, abandoned my companions. I lost everything at that time. In exchange, I got a fictional identity, constantly playing the clown on the road to King."

"The road of a stupid duelist who even forgot who he was."

"Since you understand so clearly, why don't you start over?" This seemingly silly female reporter stepped forward, stood side by side with Jack, looking at the sunset on the sea, and said, "After dueling Yusei, the old Jack is dead. Then, become the real King, isn't that fine?"

Jack looked at the sea level, and the figures of his friends flashed in his eyes, Yusei's figure flashed, Dark Marks and Dragon Marks flashed...

Flashed past that "teaching duel" of Kaiba Seto.

That's right, he should have made up his mind to "live again" at that time, but he only thought it through completely now.

He opened his eyes, threw away his hat, which drifted with the wind, then removed his disguise, revealing the King's coat.

"You're right—"

"I'm no longer confused, I'm going to walk my own path!"

He said firmly.

Now, it's time for him to repay Yusei!

He turned around and left with big strides.

"Wait for me, Jack—" Carly, who had been pretending to be smart for a while, couldn't maintain her image and chased after him anxiously.

"Don't follow me, what I'm going to do is very dangerous."

"Hmm-hmm-hmm~ Are you looking down on me~ I know, you must also be looking for marks, right? I've been interviewing things in this regard for a while!

I found an organization that seems to be related to that kind of mark, called... Arcadia Movement."

Arcadia Movement—

At this very moment, Tenjou Hikari frowned and looked not far away.

Some well-dressed, suit-wearing Upper City people were talking about a lot of messy knowledge, inviting children from the Lower City to try, and saying that as long as they met the requirements, they could get free food, and even entering the Upper City wouldn't be a problem at all.

Doesn't this sound like a pyramid scheme!

However, the problem is that in the Lower City, as long as there is a little chance to step into the Upper City, countless people will flock to it, not to mention, just doing a test, trying something as simple as "Psychic Power"?

If they really test out the talent for Psychic Power, then going directly to the Upper City is really not a problem.

And this Arcadia Movement organization is the largest and most well-known "Psychic Power training institution" in the Upper City.

At this very moment, they were constantly promoting the power of Psychic Power and the future of Psychic duels in a district of the Lower City—because of the appearance of Otherworlders, Psychic duelists could directly use Psychic Power to complete things that spirits could do, instantly becoming a relatively hot project in this world, and there were many supporters in all aspects. Therefore, some Psychic training organizations that received investment also had some privileges.

For example, like now, directly taking people from the Lower City to the Upper City, and there would be no security police obstruction.

Just—

In Tenjou Hikari's eyes.

Their attitude toward those children wasn't looking at students or juniors, but a kind of indescribable madness, as if they weren't picking students, but picking "pork" or "chicken" they liked in a supermarket, which made Tenjou Hikari feel very uncomfortable.

Tenjou Hikari looked down at his left hand.

He had originally made many plans today and was prepared to encounter Dark Signers, but he didn't expect that he wouldn't meet anyone after turning around all day. Just as he was about to turn back and tell Wan Zhang Mu that his deduction was too wrong, he didn't expect to run into these "Arcadia Movement" psychics on the way back to the base.

More importantly—

The Dark Mark was glowing slightly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 482 =====