Chapter 1169: Fell from the sky?

"I'm telling you, Astral..."

Tsukumo Yuma was currently staring with wide eyes, struggling with a crooked-neck tree in front of him.

"This island, this forest... there must be something wrong, right?"

He swore he had just made a mark on the bark five minutes ago as a sign—Yuma felt this was a genius idea, one he had seen on a TV show. This way, if he walked back the way he came in this forest where every fork looked the same, at least there would be a marker to help him distinguish it.

However, the mark he had made not long ago looked like a brat's graffiti, and no matter how he looked at it, it seemed to be mocking him.

The ghost-like Astral floated beside him, arms crossed over his chest, looking indifferent.

"No, I think it's simply that your sense of direction is too poor, Yuma." Astral said leisurely, "At least from what I can see, there's nothing strange about this forest; it's not some kind of barrier that one can't walk out of."

"I think you're just lost, Yuma."

"Ahhh, don't say it out loud!"

Yuma clutched his head. Just at this moment, the rumbling of his stomach mixed into the scene, louder than the harsh cawing of the crows flying overhead.

Even more mocking.

Yuma lay on the ground, limbs splayed.

"So hungry, I really want Grandma's duel rice balls..."

Astral leaned over to him.

"Yuma? Hey, Yuma?"

"..."

Yuma had only been lying down for a short while when he felt the side effects of the physical exertion from the previous fierce battle catching up with him. The hunger was initially just a fine, stabbing pain deep in his stomach, like a dull knife slowly sawing at the empty cavity wall. He tried to swallow saliva to relieve it, only to find his throat already as dry as a riverbed after exposure to the sun. At the same time, the fatigue he hadn't noticed during the fierce battle surged up from the depths of his limbs the moment he lay down.

His consciousness gradually became murky. He heard the sound of a stream flowing in the distance, but it was as blurry as if separated by frosted glass. The chirping of insects among the grass blades was sometimes near and sometimes far, like the distorted noise of an old radio. His eyelids drooped uncontrollably, and every time he closed his eyes, it was like falling into a deeper vortex; Astral's calls in his ears also seemed to be getting further and further away.

Before falling asleep, he vaguely felt like he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and it seemed there was also a woman's voice...

Tenjoin Asuka finally came over to check the situation.

She couldn't say why, but she had felt a vague ominous premonition since hearing the thunder in the sky earlier. In the end, she couldn't suppress the unease in her heart and followed the sound to check.

And then she discovered this shocking scene in the forest.

A boy was unconscious in the dense forest outside the academy, and about a kilometer away from him was an astonishing giant crater, looking like it had been smashed out by a meteorite. Combined with the messy, muddy traces on the boy's body, the absurd thought of "Could it be that this child fell from the sky and smashed this big crater" appeared in Asuka's mind...

Of course, such an absurd thought was quickly dismissed by her shaking her head.

How could that be possible.

Our world has to be scientific. This child looks like he's only about elementary to middle school age; judging from the depth and scale of the crater on the ground, if it were really smashed by a person, they would have long since become meat paste.

If it were really smashed by this kid, it would mean he fell, left a big crater, and then climbed up and walked a kilometer before losing consciousness—and apparently, he was still hungry. If that were really the case, then this kid was either a fighting-race member with a tail behind his butt or an alien in red underwear worn on the outside; in any case, it absolutely couldn't be a human.

Asuka brought the child back to the school infirmary. The very large Nurse Emie in the infirmary quickly gave a diagnosis—the child only had some minor abrasions, and other than that, it was just extreme fatigue and hunger; he should be fine.

"But, where did this child come from?" Asuka felt strange, "No outsiders have landed on the academy island recently, he's not wearing a school uniform, and judging by his age, he shouldn't be a student at this school..."

"I don't know." Nurse Emie also said, "Then let's ask him when he wakes up... Hmm!?"

In the time it took for Emie to turn her head after chatting for a few sentences, she instantly widened her eyes in astonishment.

Where was the person?

In the time it took to say two sentences, how did the person disappear?

Asuka also noticed at this time that the lobster-headed boy who had been lying on the bed was now gone, and couldn't help but be shocked. The two hurriedly turned back to look for him, only to see that the boy didn't know when he had already gotten off the bed—still with his eyes tightly closed—it seemed he hadn't woken up at all, but was walking shakily in a sleepwalking state, as if attracted by something. Looking at the direction, he seemed to be walking toward...

The rice ball on the table.

Nurse Emie: "Ah? That's the rice ball I bought from Aunt Tome for lunch..."

Then she saw the boy in his sleep grab the rice ball and start devouring it.

Asuka was shocked: "This is... what an obsession with rice balls."

To be able to smell the fragrance of the rice ball in his sleep and find its location in a sleepwalking state?

Such an obsession instantly made people feel awe.

"Mr. Fujiki You Xuan, please check if this is the card you wanted."

A supervisor from a certain card development department handed a card to Fujiki You Xuan.

Field Spell - Zombie World.

All monsters on both sides of the field and in the Graveyard become Zombie-type, and when both sides perform Tribute Summons, they can only summon Zombie-type monsters.

"But, why are you interested in Zombie-types?" The supervisor asked strangely, "As far as I know, Zombie-types don't seem to have been a popular theme..."

Before this, the most famous Zombie deck user was the player Bakura during the Battle City period, but ever since that player's dark personality was blasted★away by the legendary Pharaoh, it seemed to have remained unpopular.

"Could it be that you've also discovered the potential of Zombie-types?" The supervisor tried to probe the King's thoughts.

After all, everyone knew that any deck and its research department favored by the King eventually took off; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he held half the academic world in his hands.

"No, not yet, don't think too much." Fujiki You Xuan smiled, "But don't you think it's interesting to turn the opponent's monsters into Zombie-types? It might have miraculous effects against specific opponents."

"Is that so?" The supervisor was a bit disappointed.

He thought the "salted fish" Zombie-types he was in charge of were finally going to take off. He didn't know when their department would see spring...

Just as they were talking, there was a knock on the door. Fujiki You Xuan looked back and saw a tall female doctor with long black-silk legs and cat-ear glasses tentatively ask: "Can I take a moment of your time?"

Fujiki You Xuan nodded to signal the supervisor beside him to go out first, then said helplessly: "Speaking of which, Mina, why are you still being so polite with me?"

The spirit of the Black Scorpion Thieves, Mina, instantly threw off her white coat and changed back into her classic leather-clad, whip-wielding thief attire, laughing: "It's not like there are outsiders here, I have to protect my secret identity a little bit."

The few members of the thieves' group were almost never used in actual combat now; they were all used by Fujiki You Xuan as spies and informants, moving freely outside.

"What is it?" Fujiki You Xuan asked.

"It's Duel Academy; it seems like an outsider has come." Mina said.

Fujiki You Xuan raised his eyebrows: "An intruder?"

"No, I don't think so. That child looks harmless, but he always gives me a strange feeling."

Mina scratched her head.

"Anyway, Boss, if you have time, why don't you go back and take a look yourself?"

Fujiki You Xuan was puzzled.

"A child?" ===== CHAPTER 1170 =====