Boom boom boom!
Gunshots, shouts, followed by a series of explosive sounds.
Half a minute later, Yugen walked leisurely through the room, leaving a heap of henchmen sprawled across the floor.
In this world, henchmen with guns could only meet such an end.
The door was blasted open, and Yugen stepped out into the hallway. Walking down the corridor, he had barely taken a few steps when a figure emerged around the corner.
Black suit, sunglasses, dressed as if straight out of "The Matrix." But unlike the small fry from before, who were all armed with guns, this one wielded a Duel Disc.
"Kid, you actually dare to break in here. Do you know what this place is?"
"Hmm... a baby supply company?"
"Very funny." The man in sunglasses sneered, activating the Duel Disc, "But I'm afraid you'll have to bring your sense of humor to the grave with you."
Yugen also activated his Duel Disc.
Moments later.
"Submarine direct attack."
"Submarine No. 2 direct attack."
"Speed Attack Magic 'Instant Fusion', fusing the two submarines on the field, Fusion Summon Double-Rider Bicycle Robot, direct attack again!"
"Speed Attack Magic 'Fusion Dispel', dispelling the fusion of the bicycle back into two submarines."
"Submarine direct attack."
"..."
Yugen put away his Duel Disc, stepping over the man in the black suit as he continued forward.
The man in the black suit looked dazed, his pretentious sunglasses tilted to one side, his body twitched occasionally, his mouth slightly open, uttering indistinct sounds of no apparent meaning...
There were two more Duelists on the way, each confident upon arrival, boasting that they would teach the ignorant intruder a lesson. It seemed they had been formidable adversaries in the past, quite proud of their skills.
Of course, after Yugen quickly and succinctly shared his insights on dueling with them, they appeared to change their minds.
The innermost room must certainly be where Kagemaru resides.
The heavy reinforced metal door was tightly locked, requiring dual password and fingerprint authentication for access. Naturally, Yugen still chose silent magic to open the way, blasting it open with magic.
Inside, there was no light, and with a glance, it was pitch-black, where even an outstretched hand could not be seen.
He walked in slowly. Almost as soon as he stepped in, mechanisms on the walls on both sides activated.
They appeared to be two machine guns.
Automatic guns, triggered upon detecting an intruder. The barrels aimed directly at Yugen, unleashing a barrage with a series of rattles.
The muzzle flames surged forward. Yet, just like before, they all crashed into an invisible barrier at a distance of about half a meter from Yugen's body.
A white Magic Array bloomed around him as countless transparent ripples, like raindrops hitting the river during a downpour. The deformed bullet heads spun off, clattering to the ground, bouncing up with a ding-ding sound.
Yugen had not made a single move, leisurely walking through the hail of bullets.
A phantom of a Swordsman briefly appeared behind him, drawing a sword. Two transparent Sword Qi slashed to the left and right, slicing the steel guns in half, exploding them into fireballs with two booms.
Taking a few more steps, at a certain step, he felt the ground slightly sink beneath his foot, as if another mechanism had been triggered.
Then came a loud bang from above, as if the ceiling was collapsing down. It turned out that a solid metal block was concealed in the ceiling, triggered to crash down with a thunderous force upon passing over someone.
If this block hit solidly, anyone would be immediately crushed to mincemeat.
Yet Yugen still seemed completely unaware. Another phantom flashed by, Sword Qi slashing upwards. The massive, heavy alloy block was domineeringly cleaved in one sword stroke, passing by Yugen's side to the left and right, crashing heavily into the ground.
The Silent Magician waved the Magic Staff, casting a Lighting Technique. A mass of magic power flew into the air, white light bursting forth, illuminating the room as bright as day.
An incredibly eerie room, illuminated by the light bullet, yet still cloaked as if by an invisible haze.
Rows upon rows of tall shelves nearly touched the ceiling, stacked densely with various instruments, reflecting a faint cold light. Behind the shelves were various instruments and devices, including electronic equipment and alchemical facilities.
He even saw something similar to Teacher Dade Temple's card, "Alchemy Cauldron - Chaos Refinement," a massive Alchemy Cauldron.
If these remained within the research scope, what appeared thereafter became hair-raising.
One by one, transparent glass pods. The ones at the forefront contained various animals, or rather specimens. Some spread their wings as if to fly, others curled up in corners. They had diverse shapes, vividly capturing the moment living beings were frozen in this limited space, even their actions seemed to be telling stories of life.
And a few steps further, the jars began containing humans.
People of all kinds, fixed like specimens, as if their last moments of life were frozen in place.
Some were even mummy-like, resembling the dried corpse he had found of Teacher Dade Temple, appearing as if they'd been dead for long, or drained of every last drop of essence.
Yugen halted before a particular jar.
Inside was a girl.
Unlike most of the other "specimens," her expression was frozen in a moment of pure joy, as if she'd encountered something worthy of celebration, perhaps not foreseeing the arrival of the God of Death until life's end.
A hoarse, aged voice arose in the darkness.
"Her name is Kanon."
Yugen turned around. An elderly man in a Life Support Pod, supported by mechanical arms, slowly emerged, standing beside him and gazing at the girl in the pod.
"Three months ago, she was taken away."
"By a certain Dark Duelist, who used the power of darkness to carry out his abductions. His methods were extraordinary, an ordinary security bureau naturally couldn't stop him.
She was sealed within a card and carried away, a fate that may have destined her to be sold into an unknown corner of the world to live a slave's life for her remaining years, along with the other victims taken with her."
"But her luck turned when she met me."
"I tracked down the perpetrator's whereabouts. I defeated him, dealt him the punishment he deserved, and ensured he suffered before his death."
"I rescued all of them."
"And now, except for Kanon, the remaining twenty-nine have received substantial assistance. I helped them begin new lives, resolved their living difficulties, granting them a perfect life they couldn't have dreamed of before."
"I saved them and gave them rebirth."
The elderly man's voice was raspy, his gaze piercing.
Yugen calmly stated, "You're not implying that taking a life becomes justified because you saved people, are you?"
"No."
The old man replied serenely.
"I'm merely telling you that my life is worth more than hers, more than any of theirs."