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Chapter 670: Grey Tower
"Don't underestimate the experience this old man has accumulated over a lifetime!" Hearing Joey's grumbling, Grandpa Muto immediately retorted and began recounting his experiences from decades ago.
For Joey and the others, who were hearing the story for the first time, the tale of young Grandpa Muto venturing through the tomb's layers of mechanisms with two Grave Robbers was certainly interesting. However, Yugi had heard his Grandpa tell this story countless times since childhood.
Whether it was "using a cigarette butt to test the traps ahead," "ancient Egyptian text that only Grandpa Muto could read appearing in the burning flames," or "stepping forward with his left foot to avoid the attacking stone statues," these details sounded truly outrageous.
Especially the final part of the story: the Grave Robber, thinking there were no more traps, shot Grandpa Muto to steal the treasure after a series of challenges, but instead activated the final trap. A monster sealed in a tablet less than a meter from the treasure swallowed the entire person. The art style instantly shifted from *Indiana Jones* to *The Mummy*.
Even more outrageous was that young Grandpa Muto, who was shot by the Grave Robber at the time, only avoided falling into the cliff by desperately holding onto the edge. However, because he was injured, he was completely unable to climb up and was even continuously losing strength due to blood loss.
But just as Grandpa Muto was about to let go, he was pulled up from the edge of the cliff by a person wearing gold and silver, whose face he couldn't see, in the tomb which should have been empty. The person was also saying something like, "I've been waiting for you, Simon."
However, when Muto lost consciousness and woke up again, he found himself lying safely on the ground alone. The Grave Robber who had died tragically was gone without a trace, and he had arrived alone before the final treasure, bringing that treasure back to Japan, which later became the Millennium Puzzle completed by his Grandson, Yugi.
However, because he didn't complete the challenge by himself in the end, Solomon Muto stopped wearing suits after that and instead put on the denim overalls he had decided on. He buried this obsession with the game in his memories, only naming his Grandson "Yugi" as a commemoration.
"The earlier parts can be explained by saying Duel Monsters already existed in Ancient Egypt, but that last part is just a ghost story Master Muto made up with artistic embellishment to scare us," Joey said assertively, crossing his arms over his chest.
Honda and Téa also nodded beside him.
"I wouldn't make up stories in a place like this, these are all true!" Hearing that Joey and the others didn't believe anything he said, Solomon Muto got a bit sulky like a child and said excitedly, turning to Hayato, "Hey, Hayato, you believe what I said, right?"
Hayato knew that what Grandpa Muto said was indeed true, whether it was the method of breaking through the mechanisms or the miraculous rescue at the end. However, he deliberately said, "Even I, who am simply me, don't believe everything, Grandpa Muto."
"How could you..." Too lazy to even rant about how Hayato was "simply me," Solomon Muto was a bit dejected, sighed, and said helplessly, "In short, over the years, as Duel Monsters has become more and more popular, Egypt, being the origin of Pegasus's inspiration, has seen more and more people trying to get rich through Tomb Robbing. When you go to Egypt, don't just find any Tour Guide like I did."
Hearing this, Tristan gave Solomon Muto a mysterious smile: "Hehe, you don't have to worry about that, Grandpa Muto. We have a Tour Guide who is super familiar with Egypt, and absolutely trustworthy."
Half an hour later, Domino City Airport.
"Lord Marik, please be careful on your journey." With a solemn expression, Rishid handed a large backpack to Marik, carefully instructing, "Besides changes of clothes, I've also prepared a sandproof tent and sunscreen. Also, I put the hemostatic bandage and anti-inflammatory medicine in..."
"There's too much unnecessary stuff, Rishid, and stop nagging like an old mother." Taking the package Rishid handed over with one hand, Marik was almost bent over by the unexpectedly exaggerated weight. He quickly handed the package to the Staff on the Airport ground crew to put the luggage in the Aircraft Cabin, while his other hand remained covering his ears.
"Rishid carefully prepared your luggage for this trip for a long time, Marik. You should at least listen to him," Ishizu stood beside Rishid and naturally noticed that Marik had been covering his ears the whole time, clearly not listening to Rishid.
Hearing Ishizu say that about him, Marik couldn't help but glance at Ishizu: "Before you talk about me, please put your own hand down, Older Sister."
"..." Using silence as an answer, Ishizu pretended not to hear Marik and instructed him, "I've already notified the Tomb Keepers. Although you've been disowned, with the reason of traveling with the Nameless Pharaoh, the Clan won't make things too difficult for you. It's been so many years, it's rare to return to Egypt, go visit the Clan."
"That place, why would I need to go back..." Hearing Ishizu mention this, Marik looked unwilling, "Besides, if we need a guide, aren't Rishid or you, Older Sister, more suitable than me?"
Many years ago, because Marik violated the Tomb Keepers' rule of living in seclusion and ran off to the prosperous city without permission to see the motorcycles he was very interested in, the then Gravekeeper's Family Leader, who was the father of Marik and Ishizu, subjected Marik and Rishid, who was responsible for watching Marik, to extremely severe punishment.
Marik was originally a person with a dark personality. At that time, he had already split into the dark personality "Dark Marik" due to the influence of the Millennium Rod's dark power, only suppressed by Rishid's influence in the past. Upon seeing Rishid wailing in pain and the hideous marks burned onto his skin by hot metal, Marik's dark personality erupted. Using the small knife hidden within the Millennium Rod, he killed his father.
Since then, Marik fled from the Tomb Keepers with Rishid and never returned to Egypt. Within the Tomb Keepers, Marik's identity was abolished due to his crime of patricide. Along with that, Marik also lost the qualification to inherit the Clan Head position, which had to be inherited by the deceased Clan Head's eldest daughter, Ishizu.
At that time, Marik was only eleven years old, and most of his childhood was spent being forced to live within the Tomb Keepers' Tribal Land. He had hardly ever been to the Outside World. Although he knew the interior of the Tomb Keepers' Tribal Land like the back of his hand, knowing where to play hide-and-seek and where to hide things, once he left the Tomb Keepers' Tribal Land, he didn't know the way at all.
Why would he, a traitor of the Tomb Keepers, become the Tour Guide?
In contrast, Ishizu and Rishid were different. Rishid was not originally a member of the Tomb Keepers clan but an orphan abandoned by his parents. He was picked up by Marik's father and brought into the clan, and his status was not that of a formal clan member, merely a servant serving the Tomb Keepers' Clan Head and future Clan Head.
Although the Tomb Keepers have always remained isolated from the World for the sake of the duty and mission they bear, they are still people, not deities. They ultimately have material needs. The exchange of supplies with the Outside World has never been interrupted for a thousand years. The important part of being "isolated from the World" is merely not exposing the specific location of their existence, and servants like Rishid were responsible for bringing supplies from the Outside World.
And Ishizu, ever since Marik and Rishid rebelled against the Tomb Keepers and were disowned, and her father died by her younger brother's knife, Ishizu had to bear the mission of the Tomb Keepers' Clan Head. She lived in Egypt for twenty years until Battle City, when she brought the Obelisk the Tormentor card to Domino City in the Far East.
You should know that Ishizu is different from Marik, who is a wanted criminal, and Rishid, who is an undocumented person without even identity proof. She is a legitimate Egyptian government official, the Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, and naturally knows how to get to some special places in Egypt.
"You know this, don't you? This time you're going to Egypt through the proper channels, so Rishid can't go back either," Ishizu sighed and said helplessly, "Because of the Egyptian Antiquities Traveling Exhibition, I have to stay in Domino City with those important tablets and mummies. Also, a batch of tablets will be sent back to the country in a couple of days, and then another batch will be sent over. I must stay here."
Although as an official, Ishizu could often use the power of the Egyptian Government for convenience, she was also subject to certain restrictions. After all, even middle school students learn in textbooks that rights and obligations are linked together.
Since Ishizu had said all this, Marik could only nod helplessly and say, "Alright, alright, I'll be the Tour Guide then. But I'll say this first, if it's on the way, I'll go back to the Tribal Land, but if it's not, I won't go back."
As he spoke, Marik smiled somewhat wickedly at Ishizu, "After all, I still have to keep an eye on my Brother-in-law for you—ow!"
Covering his head where Ishizu had lightly tapped him, Marik laughed and ran off, walking up the Boarding Stairs, not forgetting to turn back and say one more thing: "See you in a month, Rishid, and Older Sister!"
"This Kid," watching Marik's figure walk into the Aircraft Cabin and disappear from sight, Ishizu smiled helplessly.
Inside the Aircraft Cabin, Hayato, who had already boarded, sat by a table. He glanced at Marik, who had rushed onto the airplane, but didn't pay it any mind. Instead, he reached out and swiped the tabletop.
Only to see that on the ordinary glass material tabletop, a world map suddenly appeared. And as if it was displaying global information in real-time, countless light points flickered on the unfolded flat map of the Earth. The most conspicuous among them was a red spot located in a remote corner of Asia, representing the location of Domino City. That represented the current location of this airplane.
Hayato's action attracted Tristan's attention. He shifted his gaze from a television broadcasting news inside the Aircraft Cabin and looked towards Hayato, asking, "Although you said Pegasus has arranged everything, I suddenly remembered, didn't the news say the Pacific Ocean is almost completely controlled? Is it okay for our airplane to just fly over?"
The commotion caused by Dartz not long ago was too great, causing government departments in almost every country around the globe to more or less learn how powerful the spirit power, which should have been hidden, was. This resulted in a considerably vast sea area extending outwards from the location of the Doma Headquarters Island—the location where Atlantis sank ten thousand years ago—being controlled by the governments of various countries.
Because that section of the sea area was High Seas, strictly speaking, no country had ownership over it, which led to extremely fierce overt and covert struggles, with everyone wanting to excavate some usable prehistoric heritage from there. For safety reasons, airplanes and cruise ships from countries around the globe had stopped crossing the Pacific Ocean route during this period.
Industrial Illusions' merchant ship was also extremely lucky to accidentally salvage the shipwreck carrying gemstones in an unblocked sea area, allowing Pegasus to pick up a bargain. If it had been slightly further in, it would have been a Blocked Zone, and if it had been slightly further out, it would have left the High Seas again, giving the shipwreck a country of ownership.
"The Pacific Ocean? We're not going through the Pacific Ocean." Hayato smiled and pointed at the map, "Although flying from Domino City to the American system does require crossing the Pacific Ocean, Pegasus doesn't plan to wait in the American system to meet us. He plans to meet up after arriving in Egypt, so this time we're not flying from east to west, but from west to east."
Following the direction of Hayato's finger sliding, a dashed line representing the airplane's route appeared on the electronic map. That line didn't cross the ocean but pointed towards the land. According to the trajectory shown by the dashed line, this airplane was going to fly across almost the entire Asian Continent, finally arriving directly at the Capital City of Cairo, Egypt.
Pegasus, on the other hand, would depart from the American system, cross the Atlantic Ocean, and arrive at the African Continent. By acting separately from both ends and meeting in Cairo, it would be much more efficient than going to the American system first and then to Egypt.
Although Pegasus was traveling to find inspiration, it didn't mean his itinerary was leisurely. By choosing the most efficient method possible for meaningless travel, he could have more ample time to spend during the process of the trip.
Under the gaze of Grandpa Muto, Ishizu and Rishid, Joey's Sister Shizuka, and others at the Airport, the airplane accelerated down the Runway and took off into the air. Inside the Aircraft Cabin, Joey was forcefully squeezing Tristan's shoulder, interrogating him about why he kept waving goodbye to Shizuka when they left.
And looking down at the "Hindenburg" displayed on the electronic map, Hayato couldn't help but rant, "First the S.S. Anne, then the Hindenburg. Do rich people have something wrong with their brains when naming airplanes and airships?"
Oh, it was Pegasus who named it. Then never mind.
"Don't underestimate the experience this old man has accumulated over a lifetime!" Hearing Joey's grumbling, Grandpa Muto immediately retorted and began recounting his experiences from decades ago.
For Joey and the others, who were hearing the story for the first time, the tale of young Grandpa Muto venturing through the tomb's layers of mechanisms with two Grave Robbers was certainly interesting. However, Yugi had heard his Grandpa tell this story countless times since childhood.
Whether it was "using a cigarette butt to test the traps ahead," "ancient Egyptian text that only Grandpa Muto could read appearing in the burning flames," or "stepping forward with his left foot to avoid the attacking stone statues," these details sounded truly outrageous.
Especially the final part of the story: the Grave Robber, thinking there were no more traps, shot Grandpa Muto to steal the treasure after a series of challenges, but instead activated the final trap. A monster sealed in a tablet less than a meter from the treasure swallowed the entire person. The art style instantly shifted from *Indiana Jones* to *The Mummy*.
Even more outrageous was that young Grandpa Muto, who was shot by the Grave Robber at the time, only avoided falling into the cliff by desperately holding onto the edge. However, because he was injured, he was completely unable to climb up and was even continuously losing strength due to blood loss.
But just as Grandpa Muto was about to let go, he was pulled up from the edge of the cliff by a person wearing gold and silver, whose face he couldn't see, in the tomb which should have been empty. The person was also saying something like, "I've been waiting for you, Simon."
However, when Muto lost consciousness and woke up again, he found himself lying safely on the ground alone. The Grave Robber who had died tragically was gone without a trace, and he had arrived alone before the final treasure, bringing that treasure back to Japan, which later became the Millennium Puzzle completed by his Grandson, Yugi.
However, because he didn't complete the challenge by himself in the end, Solomon Muto stopped wearing suits after that and instead put on the denim overalls he had decided on. He buried this obsession with the game in his memories, only naming his Grandson "Yugi" as a commemoration.
"The earlier parts can be explained by saying Duel Monsters already existed in Ancient Egypt, but that last part is just a ghost story Master Muto made up with artistic embellishment to scare us," Joey said assertively, crossing his arms over his chest.
Honda and Téa also nodded beside him.
"I wouldn't make up stories in a place like this, these are all true!" Hearing that Joey and the others didn't believe anything he said, Solomon Muto got a bit sulky like a child and said excitedly, turning to Hayato, "Hey, Hayato, you believe what I said, right?"
Hayato knew that what Grandpa Muto said was indeed true, whether it was the method of breaking through the mechanisms or the miraculous rescue at the end. However, he deliberately said, "Even I, who am simply me, don't believe everything, Grandpa Muto."
"How could you..." Too lazy to even rant about how Hayato was "simply me," Solomon Muto was a bit dejected, sighed, and said helplessly, "In short, over the years, as Duel Monsters has become more and more popular, Egypt, being the origin of Pegasus's inspiration, has seen more and more people trying to get rich through Tomb Robbing. When you go to Egypt, don't just find any Tour Guide like I did."
Hearing this, Tristan gave Solomon Muto a mysterious smile: "Hehe, you don't have to worry about that, Grandpa Muto. We have a Tour Guide who is super familiar with Egypt, and absolutely trustworthy."
Half an hour later, Domino City Airport.
"Lord Marik, please be careful on your journey." With a solemn expression, Rishid handed a large backpack to Marik, carefully instructing, "Besides changes of clothes, I've also prepared a sandproof tent and sunscreen. Also, I put the hemostatic bandage and anti-inflammatory medicine in..."
"There's too much unnecessary stuff, Rishid, and stop nagging like an old mother." Taking the package Rishid handed over with one hand, Marik was almost bent over by the unexpectedly exaggerated weight. He quickly handed the package to the Staff on the Airport ground crew to put the luggage in the Aircraft Cabin, while his other hand remained covering his ears.
"Rishid carefully prepared your luggage for this trip for a long time, Marik. You should at least listen to him," Ishizu stood beside Rishid and naturally noticed that Marik had been covering his ears the whole time, clearly not listening to Rishid.
Hearing Ishizu say that about him, Marik couldn't help but glance at Ishizu: "Before you talk about me, please put your own hand down, Older Sister."
"..." Using silence as an answer, Ishizu pretended not to hear Marik and instructed him, "I've already notified the Tomb Keepers. Although you've been disowned, with the reason of traveling with the Nameless Pharaoh, the Clan won't make things too difficult for you. It's been so many years, it's rare to return to Egypt, go visit the Clan."
"That place, why would I need to go back..." Hearing Ishizu mention this, Marik looked unwilling, "Besides, if we need a guide, aren't Rishid or you, Older Sister, more suitable than me?"
Many years ago, because Marik violated the Tomb Keepers' rule of living in seclusion and ran off to the prosperous city without permission to see the motorcycles he was very interested in, the then Gravekeeper's Family Leader, who was the father of Marik and Ishizu, subjected Marik and Rishid, who was responsible for watching Marik, to extremely severe punishment.
Marik was originally a person with a dark personality. At that time, he had already split into the dark personality "Dark Marik" due to the influence of the Millennium Rod's dark power, only suppressed by Rishid's influence in the past. Upon seeing Rishid wailing in pain and the hideous marks burned onto his skin by hot metal, Marik's dark personality erupted. Using the small knife hidden within the Millennium Rod, he killed his father.
Since then, Marik fled from the Tomb Keepers with Rishid and never returned to Egypt. Within the Tomb Keepers, Marik's identity was abolished due to his crime of patricide. Along with that, Marik also lost the qualification to inherit the Clan Head position, which had to be inherited by the deceased Clan Head's eldest daughter, Ishizu.
At that time, Marik was only eleven years old, and most of his childhood was spent being forced to live within the Tomb Keepers' Tribal Land. He had hardly ever been to the Outside World. Although he knew the interior of the Tomb Keepers' Tribal Land like the back of his hand, knowing where to play hide-and-seek and where to hide things, once he left the Tomb Keepers' Tribal Land, he didn't know the way at all.
Why would he, a traitor of the Tomb Keepers, become the Tour Guide?
In contrast, Ishizu and Rishid were different. Rishid was not originally a member of the Tomb Keepers clan but an orphan abandoned by his parents. He was picked up by Marik's father and brought into the clan, and his status was not that of a formal clan member, merely a servant serving the Tomb Keepers' Clan Head and future Clan Head.
Although the Tomb Keepers have always remained isolated from the World for the sake of the duty and mission they bear, they are still people, not deities. They ultimately have material needs. The exchange of supplies with the Outside World has never been interrupted for a thousand years. The important part of being "isolated from the World" is merely not exposing the specific location of their existence, and servants like Rishid were responsible for bringing supplies from the Outside World.
And Ishizu, ever since Marik and Rishid rebelled against the Tomb Keepers and were disowned, and her father died by her younger brother's knife, Ishizu had to bear the mission of the Tomb Keepers' Clan Head. She lived in Egypt for twenty years until Battle City, when she brought the Obelisk the Tormentor card to Domino City in the Far East.
You should know that Ishizu is different from Marik, who is a wanted criminal, and Rishid, who is an undocumented person without even identity proof. She is a legitimate Egyptian government official, the Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, and naturally knows how to get to some special places in Egypt.
"You know this, don't you? This time you're going to Egypt through the proper channels, so Rishid can't go back either," Ishizu sighed and said helplessly, "Because of the Egyptian Antiquities Traveling Exhibition, I have to stay in Domino City with those important tablets and mummies. Also, a batch of tablets will be sent back to the country in a couple of days, and then another batch will be sent over. I must stay here."
Although as an official, Ishizu could often use the power of the Egyptian Government for convenience, she was also subject to certain restrictions. After all, even middle school students learn in textbooks that rights and obligations are linked together.
Since Ishizu had said all this, Marik could only nod helplessly and say, "Alright, alright, I'll be the Tour Guide then. But I'll say this first, if it's on the way, I'll go back to the Tribal Land, but if it's not, I won't go back."
As he spoke, Marik smiled somewhat wickedly at Ishizu, "After all, I still have to keep an eye on my Brother-in-law for you—ow!"
Covering his head where Ishizu had lightly tapped him, Marik laughed and ran off, walking up the Boarding Stairs, not forgetting to turn back and say one more thing: "See you in a month, Rishid, and Older Sister!"
"This Kid," watching Marik's figure walk into the Aircraft Cabin and disappear from sight, Ishizu smiled helplessly.
Inside the Aircraft Cabin, Hayato, who had already boarded, sat by a table. He glanced at Marik, who had rushed onto the airplane, but didn't pay it any mind. Instead, he reached out and swiped the tabletop.
Only to see that on the ordinary glass material tabletop, a world map suddenly appeared. And as if it was displaying global information in real-time, countless light points flickered on the unfolded flat map of the Earth. The most conspicuous among them was a red spot located in a remote corner of Asia, representing the location of Domino City. That represented the current location of this airplane.
Hayato's action attracted Tristan's attention. He shifted his gaze from a television broadcasting news inside the Aircraft Cabin and looked towards Hayato, asking, "Although you said Pegasus has arranged everything, I suddenly remembered, didn't the news say the Pacific Ocean is almost completely controlled? Is it okay for our airplane to just fly over?"
The commotion caused by Dartz not long ago was too great, causing government departments in almost every country around the globe to more or less learn how powerful the spirit power, which should have been hidden, was. This resulted in a considerably vast sea area extending outwards from the location of the Doma Headquarters Island—the location where Atlantis sank ten thousand years ago—being controlled by the governments of various countries.
Because that section of the sea area was High Seas, strictly speaking, no country had ownership over it, which led to extremely fierce overt and covert struggles, with everyone wanting to excavate some usable prehistoric heritage from there. For safety reasons, airplanes and cruise ships from countries around the globe had stopped crossing the Pacific Ocean route during this period.
Industrial Illusions' merchant ship was also extremely lucky to accidentally salvage the shipwreck carrying gemstones in an unblocked sea area, allowing Pegasus to pick up a bargain. If it had been slightly further in, it would have been a Blocked Zone, and if it had been slightly further out, it would have left the High Seas again, giving the shipwreck a country of ownership.
"The Pacific Ocean? We're not going through the Pacific Ocean." Hayato smiled and pointed at the map, "Although flying from Domino City to the American system does require crossing the Pacific Ocean, Pegasus doesn't plan to wait in the American system to meet us. He plans to meet up after arriving in Egypt, so this time we're not flying from east to west, but from west to east."
Following the direction of Hayato's finger sliding, a dashed line representing the airplane's route appeared on the electronic map. That line didn't cross the ocean but pointed towards the land. According to the trajectory shown by the dashed line, this airplane was going to fly across almost the entire Asian Continent, finally arriving directly at the Capital City of Cairo, Egypt.
Pegasus, on the other hand, would depart from the American system, cross the Atlantic Ocean, and arrive at the African Continent. By acting separately from both ends and meeting in Cairo, it would be much more efficient than going to the American system first and then to Egypt.
Although Pegasus was traveling to find inspiration, it didn't mean his itinerary was leisurely. By choosing the most efficient method possible for meaningless travel, he could have more ample time to spend during the process of the trip.
Under the gaze of Grandpa Muto, Ishizu and Rishid, Joey's Sister Shizuka, and others at the Airport, the airplane accelerated down the Runway and took off into the air. Inside the Aircraft Cabin, Joey was forcefully squeezing Tristan's shoulder, interrogating him about why he kept waving goodbye to Shizuka when they left.
And looking down at the "Hindenburg" displayed on the electronic map, Hayato couldn't help but rant, "First the S.S. Anne, then the Hindenburg. Do rich people have something wrong with their brains when naming airplanes and airships?"
Oh, it was Pegasus who named it. Then never mind.
