Chapter 449: Cornered

A certain city, an unknown corner.

Long, narrow, winding stone steps, as if a portal leading to another dimension, slowly sank until they disappeared into a darkness indistinguishable to the naked eye. The air was filled with the smell of dampness and mold, mixed with a faint scent of tar.

In the darkness, an unknown room, the dim candlelight flickered in the breeze. A huge black long table occupied the main space, surrounded by a few high-backed chairs. People cloaked in black robes sat around the table with gloomy faces, either wearing masks or pulling down their hoods, hiding their respective faces.

They were all believers of Orichalcos.

But they were also the last remaining believers in this city.

A week ago, the Battle City GX tournament concluded in New Tongshiye. That match was undoubtedly the most watched event of the year, and its result was subversive for the dueling world and for the whole world.

A new Duel King was decided, and it was even said to be a first-year freshman at Duel Academy. Seto Kaiba's almost invincible myth was broken, and some had already begun to view this as a sign that the dueling world had entered a new era.

Of course, this match had an impact on many fields, but if one had to say which was the most severely impacted, it was undoubtedly the remaining people of the new Xin Xin Duoma.

After one match, their Three Musketeers were all finished, and the true god they believed in was also publicly executed in a global live broadcast, eaten by Lava Golem.

The new Xin Xin Duoma was leaderless, and its internal system immediately fell into chaos.

And at this time, the city where this group of people was located should have been the location of the new Xin Xin Duoma headquarters, the heart of the entire organization. They should have shouldered the burden of the organization at this time to avoid chaos.

But they couldn't do it.

Because it was within this week that the Kaiba Corporation suddenly launched a surprise attack on the location of their headquarters.

Now, facing this leaderless organization, Seto Kaiba was already almost invincible. It was rumored that this time he even brought the newly appointed Duel King You Xuan along, and the two of them combined were even more unstoppable.

The headquarters was almost instantly broken, most of the high-level members of the new Xin Xin Duoma were captured, and the rest hurriedly retreated outward.

But who knew that Kaiba's side had news so well-informed that it was unbelievable, as if they had planted a mole among them, actually knowing everything about the emergency backup bases and the backup bases of the backup bases that their organization hid.

Now the headquarters had reached a critical moment of survival, and the remaining few people were the last confidants of the new Xin Xin Duoma.

"Damn Seto Kaiba, and that Duel King."

One person cursed in a low voice. In the candlelight, his figure was cast on the wall, the shadow swaying, looking like an angry and ferocious demon.

"They actually completely grasped the movements of the organization and knew everything about all the facilities we belong to." Another person said in a deep voice. "Now this city has been blocked by the Kaiba Corporation, and they are conducting a carpet search.

Although we can still hide for the time being, it's only a matter of time before we are discovered..."

"Are there really no branches left?" A black-robed person said angrily. "This city should have been the foundation of the organization. With so many people in such a large organization, could it really be that in just a few short days, Seto Kaiba..."

Everyone lowered their heads in silence.

"... Perhaps we can seek help from others." Someone said in a low voice.

If it were in the past, they would claim to have a true god sitting in town, being the largest and strongest dark organization in the world, never disdaining to form alliances and cooperate with peers in the underground world. But now they were on the verge of collapse; if they didn't seek help from outside, I'm afraid the few leaders wouldn't survive this catastrophe.

Therefore, no one opposed this proposal when it came out.

"Speaking of which..." Someone said thoughtfully, "The development scale of that 'Seven Stars' has been quite good recently."

"Seven Stars?"

Someone said in a daze.

"I seem to have heard of it too, saying that they are recruiting capable people to join on a large scale?"

"Not bad, the requirement is that only dark duelists can accept the review; it's an emerging organization."

One person nodded.

"I've heard of it too. Although it's an organization that has only developed recently, the development speed is really fast.

It is rumored that their organization's core now includes the Vampire clan, Duel Spirits from other worlds who command dark powers, and even a Pharaoh from ancient times, revered as an undefeated god of war, has joined their ranks."

The others who hadn't heard of it were all shocked.

"So powerful!?"

"It's just a rumor; I don't know if it's true or false." The black-robed person who spoke pondered for a moment. "But whether it's true or false, it can't be completely groundless.

And the person behind that organization actually has the strength and resources to win over so many talented generals; they must not be an ordinary person either."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

It was just that the Seven Stars organization hadn't been established long, and even in the underground world, it was full of mysteries. The boss behind the scenes was even more of unknown origin, but the industry generally guessed that it should also be a big shot who covered the sky with one hand and had heaven-reaching divine power.

"Seven Stars seems to be planning a big move recently and is about to take some action, so they are winning over capable people from all walks of life in the underground world. As long as you are confident in your strength, you can apply to join."

That black-robed person thought.

"Actually, it's not a bad place to go."

A person beside him was furious when he heard this: "You guy, are you trying to rebel against the organization by saying this?"

But the black-robed person rolled his eyes at his companion when he heard this accusation.

"So what if I am? Could it be that our great god can crawl out of the Lava Golem's belly and descend divine punishment on me?"

The companion was speechless for a moment when he heard this.

Indeed.

Our true god has already been eaten by someone; what kind of loyalty are we showing and what kind of life are we fighting for?

Finding a good backer quickly is the right thing to do...

Just as he was thinking this, a gust of cold wind blew by. The flickering candlelight in the room went out.

The only light source disappeared, and the quiet darkness immediately shrouded the room. Several black robes surrounded the round table, their appearance looking even more ferocious and dark.

A few seconds of silence.

A black-robed person finally couldn't help it and slapped the table.

"That bunch of idiots in logistics, when can they turn on the power? Seven candles have been extinguished, how much longer do we have to grope in the dark?"

Another person said helplessly: "There's no way, even the backup base of the backup base has been taken by that damn Duel King and Seto Kaiba. Let's just make do..."

But as he said this, he also had the intention to retreat.

Anyway, the boss is dead, why don't we just disband. It's not worth it to be found by the Duel King...

"Hahahaha—"

Just as he thought of this, a three-stage loud laugh exploded like a thunderclap.

Everyone in the room was shocked and instinctively looked in the direction of the sound, only to see that the door in this darkness had been kicked open by someone from the outside with violence.

Seto Kaiba stood at the door majestically, arms crossed, his Duel Disk shining with a ghostly blue light, illuminating his face in this darkness as if he were a demon coming to claim a life.

"You guys can really hide, but it's useless." He shouted. "If you still have some backbone as duelists, pick up your Duel Disks and fight me!"

Everyone's faces turned pale as paper instantly, looking at each other, as if they all saw one word in each other's eyes.

Finished.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 450 =====