Chapter 368: Good Thing He

The sword light of the Chaos Warrior fell, and the black mist forming the shrimp's body finally gave out, gradually shrinking and collapsing like a puddle evaporating under sunlight.

"Damn. Fine. I've absorbed enough power here anyway; staying longer won't get me any more."

The shrimp glared coldly at Fujiki You Xuan.

"You got lucky this time, but I remember you, Duelist. We'll meet again soon."

As he spoke, he paused, his voice dropping several degrees colder.

"Likely sooner than you imagine."

By the time he finished, his form had fully dissolved, vanishing completely.

"So this guy is the root of all this," Yan Xiong muttered, watching the darkness fade.

"Probably."

Fujiki You Xuan silently picked up the deck the shrimp had just used, stood up, and returned to the motorcycle.

"Let's go. We still have a plan to carry out, don't we?"

"Oh right. Let's hurry."

Yan Xiong quickly turned around. The power station was right ahead; the two charged straight in, one after the other.

From what he'd just heard, Fujiki You Xuan suspected the zombie crisis here was also the shrimp's doing. If we take the manga as reference, the shrimp was unearthed by an archaeological team known as the anime's mass-annihilation engine, but even after emerging, it remained half-sealed, its power less than one-tenth of its original strength.

Perhaps he turned this town into his own dining hall, a source of reanimation fuel. Every "zombie" was a tool to help him absorb more nourishment, and every person attacked and drained of darkness became the next zombie.

Ironically, the process that originally sealed the shrimp was somewhat ridiculous.

He had once possessed a stargazer, and was caught by the priests when attempting to infiltrate the forbidden palace where the Pharaoh stored the Duel Monster tablets.

The priests summoned the spirit "Winged Kuriboh," and from the manga, it's clear that at the time, its feathers were pure white as snow. Winged Kuriboh had the ability to extract a criminal's heart and place it on the priests' Millennium Scale to judge the degree of their sin.

The shrimp sneered as the priests took his heart and placed it on the Millennium Scale. Instantly, the priests were stunned—the side of the scale with the heart crashed violently into the floor, proving the darkness within exceeded the scale's maximum measurable limit.

Only then did the shrimp burst into triumphant laughter, revealing his true form and boasting, "Surprised? Stupid priest fools? Tremble before my power!"

But the priests pulled out their Millennium Items and subdued him in seconds. The shrimp realized his power was barely half his usual strength, and only then did he finally understand.

Wait… where's my heart?

I can't fight without my heart?

Then it hit him.

He'd let Winged Kuriboh take his heart and place it on the Millennium Scale just to show off his bottomless darkness—and forgotten to retrieve it.

The shrimp roared in fury, and was sealed by the combined efforts of the priests.

Cause of death: showed off and sold his own heart.

Probably the most hilariously botched defeat in Yu-Gi-Oh! history.

But even then, the priests were even more stunned to discover that even sealed inside the tablet, the thing retained its consciousness—and still cursed their ancestors up and down inside the tablet. Such a powerful demon was unheard of in their entire priestly careers.

At the time, all the priests wiped sweat from their brows.

Close call. Good thing this demon, though terrifyingly strong, seemed like an idiot. Otherwise, a direct confrontation might have ended badly.

The shrimp said we'd meet again soon—clearly, the one we just faced wasn't the real thing. Though the fragment possessing that man was destroyed, the original still lurked somewhere unknown.

Also, this world isn't identical to the manga; we don't know how fully Tragedy has revived. If he's already recovered his lost heart from three thousand years ago and returned to his full state, this could get very troublesome.

If that's the case, we'll just have to find another way to exploit his brain-dead weakness.

But for now, let's focus on the task at hand.

Boom!

The wall collapsed with a thunderous crash, and Silent Magician burst through the hole.

All the zombies turned their attention, shrieking toward this direction. Silent Magician hovered midair, swept his staff, and magic energy bullets exploded into a shower of radiant sparks.

Continuous explosions echoed with the zombies' piercing screams; the entire hall instantly filled with smoke and dust from the blasts.

The rest was simple.

Silent Magician alone held off nearly all the zombies, covering the two as they rushed into the control room.

Yan Xiong charged ahead into the control room, while Silent Magician unleashed a massive array at the entrance. The wizard zombies who touched the edge of the array were violently repelled, unable to approach.

"Success!" Yan Xiong shouted.

The machinery inside the power station rumbled to life; electricity surged through the cables, spreading rapidly along complex circuits to every corner.

"Ha! Easier than expected," Yan Xiong laughed loudly. "Let's go."

Their escape route had already been planned using the power station's map. All they needed to do now was exit through the emergency passage—the escape point had a new motorcycle waiting. From there, they could ride back to base.

That was the plan.

Fujiki You Xuan walked ahead, exiting first through the emergency passage's exit.

Yan Xiong followed right behind. But just as he saw the exit within reach, he heard a loud bang.

His only way out—the iron door just a few steps away—slammed shut coldly before his eyes.

Yan Xiong froze, then rushed to the door.

Through the iron grille, Fujiki You Xuan stood silently on the other side, moonlight casting an eerie chill across his face.

Fujiki You Xuan, who had exited first, had shut the door without hesitation, locking Yan Xiong inside.

"Why the hell are you doing this?!" Yan Xiong shouted through the iron window, disbelief etched on his face.

"I've already dismantled the magic barrier on the other side of the passage. In about thirty seconds, they should reach here."

Fujiki You Xuan said calmly, watching Yan Xiong trapped inside.

"Why?!" Yan Xiong's eyes bulged. "Aren't we partners?!"

"I don't recall ever agreeing to that."

As he spoke, the sound of zombies came from behind the corridor.

The fastest ones had already squeezed into the passage, advancing step by step toward Yan Xiong. In no more than ten seconds, he'd be swallowed by the horde.

"Open the door!"

Yan Xiong pounded the door in fury.

Fujiki You Xuan waved his hand. "Good luck to you."

He turned and walked away, leaving the giant's furious roars, pounding fists, and zombie shrieks behind him.

But he hadn't taken more than a few steps.

Boom!

An astonishing burst of energy erupted behind the sealed door; the metal panel, warped by immense force, shot out like a discarded scrap of paper.

"Tch. Didn't think it'd be that easy."

Fujiki You Xuan stopped, turned toward the direction.

The door was torn open; Yan Xiong stepped out slowly, his eyes glowing with eerie green light. The zombies that had surrounded him now lay scattered across the floor.

His entire aura had changed completely.

"Of course."

Fujiki You Xuan looked at him without surprise.

"You're not Yan Xiong, are you?"

"Yan Xiong" stopped several meters ahead, sneered, and asked lazily.

"When did you figure it out?"

This one will be longer



(End of Chapter)