Just as Youyu expected, even though Kaiba Company's men in black suits came out in full force, with even the Domino police cooperating, causing a ruckus throughout the city at night, in the end, the Three Musketeers of Doma still got away.
It was inevitable. Think about it, if a few bullets and some planes could solve the problem, why would anyone bother playing cards?
Despite the spectacle of all those men in black suits rushing out so imposingly, not one of them was wearing a Duel Disc, so good luck catching anyone.
As the Three Musketeers of Doma fled, Youyu, as the representative of the Nightwalker World, went to Kaiba Company to discuss the matter with the President.
President Tosawa Mukuro was seriously injured in the previous duel, and a group of muscular men promptly carried him to the hospital.
The doctor in charge of the examination was a kind old gentleman. He conducted a comprehensive examination on President Mukuro from head to toe and then said with a smile that the President was very healthy. Just a bit mentally exhausted and physically weak, he might need some supplements...
...
Youyu followed Kaiba to the company. Kaiba Seto didn't beat around the bush and immediately inquired about information regarding Doma.
Actually, Youyu had tried to warn the President about the organization called "Doma" before.
However, the moment Youyu mentioned it was an organization of Dark Duelists with a history of over ten thousand years, the President lost interest.
President Kaiba impatiently waved him off at the time, telling him to go bother Yugi with such supernatural nonsense and not waste his precious time.
The world of Duelists is really fascinating. Duelists can draw power from all sorts of beings and incarnations. Some believe in deities, some in the Holy Light, some in other divine figures.
As for President Kaiba, he's especially unique as he places his faith in science.
Now it seems that the organization Doma has finally caught President Kaiba's attention, so he was finally willing to listen to Youyu.
But before Youyu could say anything, something unexpected began happening at Kaiba Company.
Mokuba hurriedly ran into the President's office, flustered, saying, "Brother, we've got big trouble, Kaiba Company is about to change ownership!"
Kaiba was shocked, and upon inquiry, he found out that someone had been secretly purchasing massive amounts of Kaiba Group's stock... and the President himself didn't even know!
Even though Youyu had seen this scenario in the anime, he still couldn't help but think to himself, "Holy crap, someone's about to buy out your company and you had no idea? President, are you sure you've really quit your card addiction?"
President Kaiba immediately convened an emergency meeting, demanding all elite executives at Kaiba Group to be present immediately.
Hearing the word "elite," Youyu felt it had nothing to do with him and was about to leave the scene, only for President Kaiba to glare at him coldly and say he needed to attend as well.
Youyu: "..."
Seriously, President, I'm just your card-playing buddy, not a board member. Why drag me into these meetings?
And so he was inexplicably pulled into a crucial meeting about the life and death of Kaiba Company.
Through the reports during the meeting, he roughly understood the situation.
Kaiba Company was wealthy and had never lacked money, being a world-famous enterprise back when it dealt in arms. After switching to the game industry, Kaiba Seto, a business genius, miraculously turned everyone into duelists. Now the whole Earth seems to be progressing toward "solving everything through card games."
Under such circumstances, a company as large as this almost couldn't possibly lack money.
However, the current situation is that some unknown person is frantically acquiring Kaiba Company's stock, with large shares disappearing without a trace. Overall, Kaiba Company seems to be getting wealthier, yet President Kaiba seems unable to spare even a dime...
Listening to the experts discussing at length and seeing the board members with worried faces, Youyu felt like he was listening to gibberish...
What? A company as big as yours lost stock? How did that even happen?
It sounds about as absurd as a kid losing a hundred bucks on the way to school...
Moreover, Youyu vaguely recalled that when Kaiba Seto wrested the company from Gozaburo, he had 49% of the shares, and his brother Mokuba had 2%?
Together, the brothers held over 50%, so shouldn't they have absolute control over the company?
...I don't get it, not at all.
Although he knew the mastermind was Dartz, Youyu still didn't understand how they managed it.
Then again, maybe it's a lack of knowledge on his part, or perhaps poverty had limited his imagination. Dartz wielded great power, capable of mind-controlling and manipulating major political figures, achieving what seemed impossible through paranormal means wasn't entirely out of the question.
After all, according to the anime, even the leaders of all countries fell under Dartz's control. Dartz was preparing to destroy the world, and the armies of the world wouldn't even dare to toss a paper plane, waiting instead for the King and President Kaiba to duel to save the world...
Youyu guessed, Dartz probably bullied world leaders who couldn't duel, challenging each nation's political figures to wager their lives over duels. The more duels he won, the more naturally he conquered the world...
The meeting went on for a long time without reaching a conclusion, but then Kaiba received an unexpected private email.
Upon opening the email, Pegasus from Industrial Illusions Society appeared, reclining in his chair with an insolent posture, his legs alternately propped on the desk.
The video content was simple and blunt. Pegasus promptly admitted, saying yes, all the troubles your company encountered were my doing, all my fault!
But he quickly switched gears, stating he would await Kaiba's arrival on the island of "Duelist Kingdom." Kaiba must immediately come to Pegasus's castle to duel him.
If Kaiba won, Pegasus would immediately and unconditionally return all the stock.
Kaiba was furious, almost cursing out loud, slamming the table.
——"Damn it, if you want to duel me, you could've just sent an email, why all the hassle?"
After watching the video, Kaiba's face remained bleak for a while, then he turned and said, "Mokuba, get ready, we're going to get the Card Deck."
Mokuba hesitated to speak.
He wanted to say, "Brother, it's been less than a week since you quit your card habit..."
Youyu also reminded, "President, I don't think it's that simple. Although I haven't had many dealings with Pegasus, something feels off; he seems a bit odd in the video..."
"There's no mistake, it's definitely him," Kaiba said coldly, "No one else sounds so awkward."
Youyu: "..."
He makes such a good point I have no way to refute it, what do I do?
Youyu cleared his throat, "Even so, there's no rush to go right now, we can try to investigate the situation first. There's also the possibility that Pegasus was coerced, and merely relying on a one-sided account from the video makes it hard to believe that he's behind the stock acquisitions..."
"No need for such trouble," Kaiba said coldly, "We'll know when we get there."
Youyu squinted, "...President, is this just an excuse for you to go duel?"
Kaiba paused, gave him a sidelong glare.
Youyu could roughly interpret the look. Maybe it meant, "Do you want to duel me?"
So Youyu wisely fell silent.
Alright then, if the President wants to go, let him go. Anyway, following the storyline shouldn't lead to any issues...