President Kaiba received the invitation from Pegasus and was filled with fighting spirit, immediately taking Mokuba down to the company's basement. In his words, this was called "unlocking the sealed Card Deck."
Following the president down, Youyu found the sealing of the president's Card Deck to be quite interesting. This place looked like the underground vault of Kaiba Company. To enter, you first had to pass through multiple security doors, undergo fingerprint, iris, and facial recognition processes, and finally arrive at rows of heavy-duty safes.
President Kaiba swiped the card hanging on his chest, and a password dial appeared in front of the safe. He then inputted a complex set of numbers, and the heavy metal door opened with a deep hum.
Kaiba meticulously retrieved a metal briefcase from the safe, entered another intricate password, and with a "click," the box popped open. Inside laid a Card Deck, quietly resting in the large box.
Out of curiosity, Youyu wanted to ask if all the safes in this huge vault were filled with cards...
...but he dared not ask.
Actually, the behavior of Pegasus in the email video was quite suspicious. Having watched the animation, Youyu knew that this Pegasus was actually not the real one but Amelda, one of the Doma Three Musketeers, in disguise.
It was unexpected that Amelda, who seemed quite serious and handsome, was so skilled in ventriloquism. This crude blend of Japanese construction site accent and Pegasus's fragmented English must have been tough for Amelda to perfectly mimic...
However, after the Duelist Kingdom tournament ended, Pegasus had promised he would never strike at Kaiba Company again. Pegasus's promises were generally reliable, so this incident was indeed quite strange.
How astute is President Kaiba? Youyu thought if he could think of this layer, the president surely could as well. Yet, even so, the president was determined and insisted on confronting Pegasus today... with his Card Deck in hand.
Youyu felt he had good reason to speculate that what the president was really thinking was, "I don't care, I just want to find someone to duel..."
From here, though, events started to deviate from their original course.
The invincible Uncle Izono appeared in the office before the president's departure. Poor Uncle Izono was just outside leading the black-suited men to hunt down the Doma Three Musketeers a few hours earlier, and now he was back in the company building running errands, like a cold office machine.
"President, someone wants to see you!"
Kaiba impatiently replied, "Tell him to come another day, I'm busy now."
"But he claims to be Pegasus's son!"
"I said, I'm now... Hmm, wait, what did you say he is?"
"..."
Ten minutes later, a man dressed in black with light blue hair, elegantly appearing like a gentleman, stood before them.
"President Kaiba, and Duel King Youyu," the man politely bowed, speaking calmly, "I'm honored to finally meet you. My name is Tenma Gekko, as previously introduced, I am Mr. Pegasus's son... or perhaps more accurately, his adopted son."
Youyu raised an eyebrow.
Mr. Pegasus's... adopted son?
That was somewhat unexpected.
"Pegasus's man? Perfect," Kaiba coldly inquired, "In that case, you can answer my questions on his behalf. Pegasus claimed he was acquiring a lot of Kaiba Company shares, and since you dare to stand in front of me, you must have prepared an answer, right?"
Tenma Gekko closed his eyes lightly.
"About this... I have no comment."
"What?" Kaiba squinted, his face full of "Are you looking for a duel?" expression.
"As you must have noticed, President Kaiba," Tenma Gekko calmly said, "the issue of Kaiba Company shares being acquired has nothing to do with our Industrial Illusions Society.
In fact, the interests of Kaiba Company and our Industrial Illusions Society coincide in this matter. Our Society is now essentially under enemy control, and President Pegasus... is currently restricted in his actions.
Our entire company... no, even the Inner World forces under President Pegasus have suffered significantly. If we cannot unite and take action, Kaiba Company will soon follow suit."
"Hmph!" Kaiba dismissed it disdainfully, "Don't compare me to Pegasus; I won't be defeated by such pathetic tricks!"
Youyu reminded, "President, your company is almost at risk..."
Kaiba turned his head and glared at him fiercely.
Youyu closed his mouth and said nothing more.
But it didn't matter; Youyu wasn't intimidated. After all, his favorability with the president was stored up high enough... even a little too high. Occasionally saying something inappropriate in front of the president to slightly reduce the favorability wasn't a bad thing.
Among men, a favorability of sixty to seventy is just right for a strong friendship. If it goes over ninety, it might cause issues, like a fencing duel...
...but why did a "Favorability +1" icon appear over the president's head again?
Is everyone nowadays inclined to raise favorability at the slightest disagreement?
Kaiba snorted and asked, "Since you're here, I assume you know the enemy's identity, right?"
"That's correct," Tenma Gekko replied in a deep voice, "It's an organization called 'Doma'."
Kaiba furrowed his brows, glancing at Youyu.
That name again!
Is this Doma really that formidable?
"We only recently noticed it, but this organization should have existed in the world for a long time, long enough to have no traceable past," Tenma Gekko stated, "But recently, they've started to act. I don't know what the trigger was, but several Inner World Dark Duelist organizations have already fallen to them.
They grant followers a powerful force called 'Orichalcos,' and many people, unable to resist the allure of power, have chosen to ally with the organization."
Gekko paused here, turning to Youyu: "The Nightwalker World is their next target."
Youyu frowned slightly: "Is it because... of me?"
"Partly, they also consider you a key figure," Gekko explained, "But it's also because of you that the Nightwalker World is gradually becoming a leading organization. More and more Inner World's duelists are coming to join, naturally attracting Doma's attention.
This is one of the reasons I came to give a warning. Recently... Doma might act here soon."
Youyu's brows knitted tighter.
Is Doma going to start a war in Domino?
"Hmph, tedious," Kaiba coldly remarked, "More of that supernatural stuff? You expect us to believe you just based on these words?"
Gekko calmly responded, "So, President, what would make you believe me?"
Kaiba had been waiting for this. Without a second thought, he raised his Duel Disc: "Let's duel! If you can defeat the cards in my hand, I'll consider your opinions!"
Youyu: "President, you..."
"Duel? That's fine," Gekko said, "I actually intended to propose it. However..."
He turned to Youyu.
"...If possible, would you be willing to be my opponent, Youyu?"
Youyu was startled, looked at Gekko, then turned to the furious-looking president beside him.
Dude, I suspect you're deliberately making me the bad guy...