"Boss, communications are still down."
Fatty came to Iwao, looking dejected.
"No surprise," Iwao said, waving his hand.
Kira had already checked his own comms—he'd lost all signal since arriving, as though the town was sealed off from the outside world.
"Let's go over the plan."
Iwao spread a map on the table and explained to Kira.
"We'd already decided on an operation, but now that we have a powerful duelist like you, we can adjust our teams for better odds.
Here's the goal: we're getting everyone out of here, survivors and all, using that train."
He pointed at a train on the tracks. Warm light glowed from the windows; people moved about inside, as if it were a makeshift camp.
"But to move it, we need to restore power and get the traffic control system running."
Iwao pointed at two red circles on the map.
"That's the power station. The zombies took it over—it's probably their main base, and there's likely a really tough one there."
"A dueling zombie?" Kira asked.
"Yeah. We had two strong duelists try to break through, but neither made it back."
Iwao's face darkened. He turned to Kira solemnly.
"If things go wrong, you run. Don't try to be a hero. Got it?"
"No worries. I'll be fine," Kira answered easily.
He had a feeling Kira was answering quickly, but not taking it seriously.
"Alright. The power station will be dangerous, so I'll go myself. You're strong—you're with me.
But remember: if I say run, you run. Got it?"
"Sure," Kira said. "But is there anything else besides the power station?"
"Of course. Even with power, we need to restore the control system. Another team will handle that."
He turned to Mai: "That's your job."
Mai shrugged, arms folded.
"If there's no problem, that's the plan."
Iwao rolled up the map. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel⦿fire.net
"It's all or nothing. Everyone has to make it out alive."
At dinner, everyone gathered under the dim lights, chatting and eating. The food wasn't great, but in these circumstances, it was enough.
"How about it? Think you can do it?" Mai appeared behind Kira.
"Who, me?" Kira shifted over to give her a seat.
"Who else?" Mai sat down, staring at him for a moment. "I know you're strong, but you still seem... well, young. This kind of thing..."
"No problem. I've been through worse," Kira smiled.
"Guess I was overthinking it," Mai nodded. "Still, you feel like someone who's really been tempered by battle. And you're so young...
Anyway, let's hope tomorrow's operation goes smoothly, and we all get out together."
"Actually, I'm not sure I'm leaving," Kira said.
Mai looked at him in surprise. "You're not... You want to stay in this hellhole?"
"Yeah," Kira shrugged.
If he really wanted to leave, the zombies couldn't stop him.
"I'm here to find someone and investigate. Now that I know something's wrong here, of course I want to get to the bottom of it." Kira smiled. "From experience, the root of any weird incident is almost always a card.
And the bigger the incident, the more extraordinary the card."
Mai met his gaze, thinking for a moment.
"So, you're one of those duelists who chase after power, huh?" She nodded, then smiled. "Reminds me of my old self... or maybe I'm still like that."
"So, Mai, why are you here looking for Joey?"
"Because of an email from him."
She took out her phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Kira.
He hesitated: "You're okay with me seeing this?"
"It's fine," Mai shrugged.
Kira took it. The message read:
["Whatever you do, don't come to Shimizu Town, Mai. Absolutely do not come."]
"So, he told you not to come."
Kira handed her phone back.
Implying—are you just naturally rebellious?
"Tch, if he says that, of course I have to come." Mai pouted. "And after that message, I lost contact with him. No way I could just leave it at that."
After a moment of silence, Kira looked at her thoughtfully.
"Mind if I ask a rude question?"
"What's your relationship with Joey?"
Mai's expression froze for a moment, then she huffed angrily.
"What relationship? He's my rival—someone I've got to beat, no matter what."
She muttered, annoyed,
"He beat me so many times, and then just wants to walk away like nothing happened? No way. Not happening."
It's true—since their first duel in Duelist Kingdom, Mai had never beaten Joey, and that was probably her best chance—back then, he was a clueless rookie.
But Joey's growth was rocket-fast, and even when Mai turned to the darkness of Orichalcos, she still couldn't truly win.
But no big deal. If you can't win at cards, there's always the chance to flip things in the future...
"That's all?" Kira asked.
"What else?" Mai glared at him.
"You two never thought of, say, getting married or anything?"
She gawked, utterly flustered, and leapt from her seat in a panic.
"With that guy? Are you kidding? Where'd you hear... No way, absolutely not, not in this lifetime."
She denied it three times in a row, then stomped off, fuming.
"So worked up... Really..."
Kira rested his chin on his hand.
Looks like Joey still has some work to do...