At the same time, in Domino City.
In a forgotten corner of the city stood a former steel mill, like a silent elder, still in the dust of time.
Moonlight fell wordlessly over the ruins, giving the cold steel frames a silver edge. The rusted furnaces and chimneys had become monuments of a bygone era, giants eroded by years.
This was an abandoned corner. The steel mill's owner had gone bankrupt. It was slated for demolition next month. Rumor had it KaibaCorp would buy the land to build a new Kaiba Land.
But that was for later. For now, like docks and derelict plants everywhere, it was a favored haunt for those working in the shadows and for criminals.
Today was one such day.
"We've got visual on thirty-plus members of the Hammer Gang on-site."
In a truck parked by a corner outside, a headset-wearing liaison sat before multiple screens. Around him were feeds from hidden cameras placed around the steel mill.
"Deal expected on the second floor."
"Good. Assault team, position on the second floor. Backup team, lock down the exits—nobody in, nobody out."
Standing tall in the center of the truck, commanding the operation, was none other than Kirk Dixon, an Industrial Illusions Card Professor under Yako Tenma, known in the original as the Mecha Guy.
The man who'd faced not one but two Duel Kings—Kirk Dixon had been doing well. Promotions had come in quick succession; his status among the Card Professors was now top tier, one of the leadership cadre.
Hence he was leading today's op.
Today was an illegal deal between card thieves and a local gang called the Hammer Gang. Normally, smuggling and such wouldn't require elite Industrial Illusions operatives. But if it involved cards illicitly leaked from the Industrial Illusions, that was different.
And that was the exact situation now. Someone had stolen a batch of experimental cards not approved for the market and sought to pump them into underground illegal dueling.
Sometimes law enforcement handled such cases; other times, when the threat level was high, the company dispatched its own people.
Kirk Dixon, now among the top of the Card Professors, outclassed most ordinary duelists. This wasn't his first rodeo. It should have been easy.
It should have been.
At nine sharp, a car pulled up outside the mill. Three men got out side by side.
"Card thieves spotted."
Voices chimed in over the Industrial Illusions action team's comms.
"Ready to take them anytime."
"No rush," Kirk said. "Wait until both sides are in position. Confirm our target cards are present, then move."
He was confident everything was under control.
Until now.
The next moment, every screen in the truck went dark. Snow and static replaced the feeds.
"What's going on?" Kirk frowned. "Where's the feed?"
He pressed his earpiece—no response.
Comms seemed to be cut as well.
Only then did Kirk sense something was wrong.
He immediately disembarked, strapped on his Duel Disk, and headed for the mill. Circling to the back door, he found the backup team who was supposed to be positioned there had vanished—no sign of anyone nearby.
His anxiety grew. The op was likely blown. The enemy probably knew their deployment. He tried the door—it was locked from the inside. He stepped back two paces and activated his Duel Disk.
"Machina Soldier!"
As the words fell, the card slapped onto the Disk. The Disk flared, a projection blooming on the field before him: a steel warrior whose silver blade flashed coldly in the moonlight.
Kirk Dixon wasn't a duelist with dark powers; in fact, few Card Professors had them. They relied on tech.
The Industrial Illusions cooperated closely with KaibaCorp. Their Duel Disks were self-developed but incorporated KaibaCorp's latest military tech, capable of semi-solidifying holograms, drawing out a measure of a duel monster's real power through technology.
That's why Card Professors served as Pegasus's elite operatives.
The steel warrior's blade sliced down, shearing the lock like butter. Kirk kicked the door and entered at a run.
Still no one in sight.
The comms remained dead, no matter how he tuned them. The assigned positions for his team were empty. Not a sign of life anywhere.
Kirk swallowed.
Some primal instinct told him he shouldn't go any further. This was a terrible idea; the operation had likely failed. He should retreat immediately and call for backup.
But he didn't.
Partly because he couldn't abandon subordinates already deployed. Partly because of his confidence.
He was a top-tier duelist who had faced the absolute pinnacle—twice.
And now he was equipped with the strongest tool to manifest card power in reality. What was there to fear?
Even so, when he reached the second floor and saw the scene, his heart seemed to stop.
There were his missing teammates, the thieves they were after, and the buyers.
Everyone was there, bathed in a serene yet eerie light.
They stood in formation, three opposing groups now oddly like one family, eyes vacant, all staring straight at him. It set his skin crawling.
"You guys… what—?"
He caught something in their eyes and shouted without thinking, "Machina Soldier!"
Already summoned, the Mecha Soldier moved with his thought, blinking behind Kirk and swinging its blade down in a vicious arc.
A ringing clang. A black cane intercepted the steel blade. A man in a white suit rotated the cane along the blade's edge, then casually tapped the Mecha's wrist.
It barely looked like an effort, yet the iron gauntlet on the Mecha Soldier's hand shattered with a bang.
The man flipped the cane and flicked the tip against the soldier's steel chest. An invisible force punched through it; the chest erupted with a boom.
Kirk Dixon's eyes bulged in disbelief.
What did he just see?
A man—barehanded—took out his Mecha monster?