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Chapter 888: Title Banished by Runick
KaibaCorp Egypt Branch. The automatic glass doors at the building's entrance sensed someone approaching and opened. Accompanied by a blast of powerful music, which sounded like a very old song by a group called "Village People," four figures stepped into the First Floor Lobby.
"Hey~ Young Man!"
Gah! It was four burly guys who looked like they were really good at Dueling! Their elusive gazes and flamboyant stances clearly marked them as the absolute best among Duelists!
"This is a bit much, Brother Hayato, why are you classifying me as a 'burly guy' or whatever?" Keipei said, hands on his hips, looking annoyed. "And what kind of weird songs have you copied onto your Duel Disk? Your taste is way too retro."
"Hmph, utter nonsense. I can't make sense of it." Kaiba also looked at Hayato, speaking with some dissatisfaction. His music preferences certainly didn't include songs as retro as "Y.M.C.A." However, based on the name, it seemed related to the Christian Youth Association "YMCA," so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Alister, on the other hand, knew the song better than Kaiba. It was quite representative of the 80s. This made him glance at Keipei and exclaim, "To play a song like that for a child like Keipei, Hayato Kobayashi, your influence on teenagers is immeasurable."
"Huh? What's wrong?" Keipei didn't understand what Alister meant. "I think the melody is actually quite nice?"
"Cough cough, it's better if you don't know the deeper knowledge." Alister smoothly changed the subject and looked at Kaiba beside him. "So, we've arrived at your company now, Kaiba Seto. Have you found what you were looking for?"
Since it was the New Year holiday, and the KaibaCorp Egypt Branch had only recently been completed with basic operations not yet fully underway, most employees had received three days off. Only a few Security Personnel were patrolling outside the building, leaving only the four of them in the First Floor Lobby.
Although the group of four seemed to walk easily through the security at the Entrance into the building, the automatic doors on the First Floor were actually equipped with an identity recognition system. Unless someone could shatter the glass, which was strong enough to deflect large-caliber sniper rifle bullets, there was fundamentally no way for unauthorized individuals to break in.
And because most employees were on holiday, even the few who weren't had mostly been transferred by Kaiba to the Airport to maintain his Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet. The group didn't even have anyone they could ask about the building's specific layout.
But this had no influence on Kaiba.
Kaiba was wearing a device on his ear that looked like headphones on one side and half a pair of glasses on the other. It was currently projecting a blue screen in front of him. As Kaiba raised his hand to touch the screen, the image within the screen changed, responding to the interaction.
Interactive projection technology might still seem like something only seen in science fiction movies and somewhat out of reach for the Outside World, but KaibaCorp's internal technology level was conservatively estimated to be twenty years ahead of the Outside World. It wasn't just practical application; Kaiba had long since miniaturized it into the AR glasses he was wearing.
Given time, no one could imagine the extent to which Kaiba's genius could research such products, but the products Kaiba could produce now were already far ahead of the era. In some sense, Kaiba also possessed a "divine talent."
"All doors checked, everything normal?" The screen showed the entire park where the KaibaCorp Egypt Branch was located, divided into countless blocks, neatly arranged by function. But as the AI program's self-check completed, Kaiba only received this report.
"Everything normal? Looks like your so-called tracking program was completely useless, Kaiba Seto, it even had a bug and gave the wrong answer." Alister said with a smile, then glanced at the setup in the Hall. "It's really quiet here, no one's working."
"That's because it's a holiday. KaibaCorp's treatment is very good, you know. Not only are there a lot of holidays, but the salary is also generous. Apart from occasionally having to work overtime to satisfy my Brother's unreasonable demands, there are almost no drawbacks." Compared to Kaiba, Keipei was clearly more suitable as a manager and didn't forget to promote KaibaCorp to Alister.
However, even with Keipei speaking, he couldn't persuade Alister. "Forget it. Although I do need to earn money to guarantee my life, I said I wouldn't touch Duel Monsters again, and I really won't."
His gaze fell upon a huge device in the center of the Hall. "More than that, I'm actually more curious about what that thing is. Is it some new device for Dueling?"
"Although this Industrial Park was funded and constructed by KaibaCorp, many of the supporting facilities are incomplete, such as power supply. Even though KaibaCorp itself has considerable strength in scientific research, the most key foundation of modern technology lies in energy. Without sufficient power supply, even trying to carry out some research projects is like a clever housewife trying to cook without rice."
Keipei, the Kid who acts like an adult, spread his hands helplessly. "Since the local power facilities are not enough to support KaibaCorp's use, we had no choice but to find a way to resolve the problem ourselves. That device is a clean energy generator, utilizing cold fusion technology. Brother wanted to name it 'Destruction's Gale Burst' before, but I rejected that name. Now its name is 'Arc Reactor'."
"No, this time I actually feel Kaiba's name was better than the one you chose, at least it wasn't infringing, Gon."
"Who's that? I'm Keipei!"
Compared to Keipei and Hayato, who were laughing and joking, and Alister, who was simply bored and joining in for fun, Kaiba had no interest in touring his own company building. He was focused on controlling the screen to inspect the major areas within the park, attempting to find any place that might have been overlooked.
He absolutely did not believe that the program he personally designed and wrote would be wrong. The location information he tracked before was definitely the KaibaCorp Industrial Park, no mistake. The place that was privately manufacturing non-genuine Duel Disks was absolutely here.
However, even though he had come to the central building where the signal was best and could cover the entire park, and had repeatedly reviewed all the information here using the park management AI five or six times, he still couldn't find anything suspicious.
If he still couldn't find it, he might as well just detonate the Reactor and blow up the entire park. Anyway, that thing was clean energy and non-polluting, so as long as personnel were evacuated beforehand, the only loss would be a little money. And as everyone knows, KaibaCorp is almost so poor it only has money left; Kaiba Seto has always had no interest in money.
However, the idea of blowing up the Reactor was just something Kaiba thought about. It was a last resort to vent his dissatisfaction if there was absolutely no way. Keipei had nagged him multiple times about being too extravagant and not understanding how to save. Besides, he didn't think that with his ability, he truly wouldn't be able to find it. It was just that he hadn't gotten serious yet.
Watching Kaiba meticulously examine various industrial modules one by one, Hayato also stopped teasing Keipei and drew several cards from his body.
All of these cards had spirits dwelling within them, and as Hayato called them out, the spirits made their voices heard:
"Cry for my Strength," Cheese Ojama Yellow;
"Ore, Sanju!" Cheese Ojama Red;
"Just so you know, I'm very strong," Cheese Ojama Green;
"Try to take my bait~" Cheese Ojama Blue;
"Is this the World of KaibaCorp?" Cheese Ojama Pink;
"Potato Chips next door are half price~"
The Ojama monsters, striking their respective appearing poses, all looked at Ojama Black after it appeared, leaving Ojama Black a bit confused: "Why are you all looking at me? The potato chips next door really are half price..."
"Ojama Black, shut up!" Led by Ojama Yellow, the rebellious younger brother, the group of Ojama spirits noisily covered Ojama Black's mouth, then struck another pose. "Ojama Sentai - Five-Colored Rangers, Assemble!"
"Ojama, shut up." Hayato treated these noisy guys the same way they treated Ojama Black, looking at them like bugs. "You're too loud. I didn't call you out to watch a comedy show. Be quiet!"
Hearing Hayato's words, the Ojama tribe obediently stood straight, waiting for Hayato's instructions.
Reaching out and grabbing a card, Hayato picked up Ojama Black, who had been released by its brothers, held it in his hand, raised it to his face, and slowly walked towards the "Arc Reactor." Ojama Black, seeing that Hayato had stopped the others from bullying it, was quite moved and said, snot dripping into its mouth: "A-Aniki! You've moved me so much today!"
"So happy, my body feels so light. I didn't expect Aniki to take care of me like this. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."
Hearing Ojama Black's words, Hayato also smiled and said, "Is that so? That's great, Ojama Black. I really need your help right now."
"Since just now, although Kaiba's mechanical devices can't detect it, I've always felt a strange aura coming from under that Arc Reactor. But I can't directly go under that thing myself."
As he spoke, Hayato, who had stopped at the isolation handrail in front of the Arc Reactor, extended his hand. Below Ojama Black's feet was the gap at the edge of the massive Arc Reactor, and beneath that was a pitch-black area.
"So, you need to go down and confirm the danger for me."
"Eh? Eh!?" Hearing Hayato's words, Ojama Black immediately shook its head violently. "N-n-n-n-n-no! How could a weak monster like me possibly do something like that? Aniki, look at Ojama Yellow and Ojama Green, they have more talent than me!"
It was a Joke! Hayato sensed the strange aura beneath the Arc Reactor, did they, the spirits, not sense it too? Although they didn't know what was down there, or if there was danger, as members of the weak Ojama tribe, Ojama Black was very self-aware and absolutely did not want to take risks!
"No, no, you're underestimating yourself, Ojama Black. You possess a talent that other monsters can hardly match. Forget about Ojama Yellow and the others, Gaia and Rainbow Kuriboh don't have this talent either, even Ra can't do it."
"That is, you are so weak that you are difficult to notice, and you even have protective coloring in pitch-black environments. If you fall into the shadow, you're practically impossible to notice, like a black cat in a dark room."
However, even if Hayato said this, Ojama Black remained unmoved. "Even if Aniki says that, I'm not an idiot who would believe such words. I can't do it, even if you kill me, I can't do it!"
Seeing that Ojama Black was so uncooperative, Hayato, who had put on a gentle expression, also withdrew his smile. He looked down at Ojama Black in his hand. "Can't do it? You have to do it even if you can't. I'm not discussing, I'm just informing you. Get down there!"
As he spoke, Hayato threw Ojama Black downwards. Only to see the resistant Ojama Black struggling in mid-air, snot and tears streaming down, as it fell into that pitch-black area.
The space in the First Floor Lobby was only so large. Even to place the Arc Reactor, they had only dug slightly deeper downwards. However, Ojama Black kept falling for quite a while. Even Hayato, with his excellent eyesight, couldn't see where Ojama Black had fallen in that pitch-blackness. After a moment, he finally successfully heard something fall onto the ground.
It seems like Ojama Black had passed through that shadow and landed. Hayato heard Ojama Black's voice coming from below: "Hiss~~! So painful, my buttocks are almost split in two, even though they were already two halves."
"Huh? There's actually so much space down here. But what is that thing? It looks so strange?"
"Yikes! What is this thing?! Help, don't eat me! I haven't showered in three days, I don't taste good at all!"
"Gah! Don't shake it!"
Hearing Ojama Black's voice coming from below, Hayato sweatdropped. Although it sounded like Ojama Black had encountered danger down there, what was with that last sentence? Why did it sound so strange?
However, one thing was confirmed: there was indeed some kind of problem beneath this "Arc Reactor." Hayato also turned and said to Kaiba, "Seto, is there something under this thing?"
[Image: Runick Player Banishing]
(End of Chapter)
KaibaCorp Egypt Branch. The automatic glass doors at the building's entrance sensed someone approaching and opened. Accompanied by a blast of powerful music, which sounded like a very old song by a group called "Village People," four figures stepped into the First Floor Lobby.
"Hey~ Young Man!"
Gah! It was four burly guys who looked like they were really good at Dueling! Their elusive gazes and flamboyant stances clearly marked them as the absolute best among Duelists!
"This is a bit much, Brother Hayato, why are you classifying me as a 'burly guy' or whatever?" Keipei said, hands on his hips, looking annoyed. "And what kind of weird songs have you copied onto your Duel Disk? Your taste is way too retro."
"Hmph, utter nonsense. I can't make sense of it." Kaiba also looked at Hayato, speaking with some dissatisfaction. His music preferences certainly didn't include songs as retro as "Y.M.C.A." However, based on the name, it seemed related to the Christian Youth Association "YMCA," so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Alister, on the other hand, knew the song better than Kaiba. It was quite representative of the 80s. This made him glance at Keipei and exclaim, "To play a song like that for a child like Keipei, Hayato Kobayashi, your influence on teenagers is immeasurable."
"Huh? What's wrong?" Keipei didn't understand what Alister meant. "I think the melody is actually quite nice?"
"Cough cough, it's better if you don't know the deeper knowledge." Alister smoothly changed the subject and looked at Kaiba beside him. "So, we've arrived at your company now, Kaiba Seto. Have you found what you were looking for?"
Since it was the New Year holiday, and the KaibaCorp Egypt Branch had only recently been completed with basic operations not yet fully underway, most employees had received three days off. Only a few Security Personnel were patrolling outside the building, leaving only the four of them in the First Floor Lobby.
Although the group of four seemed to walk easily through the security at the Entrance into the building, the automatic doors on the First Floor were actually equipped with an identity recognition system. Unless someone could shatter the glass, which was strong enough to deflect large-caliber sniper rifle bullets, there was fundamentally no way for unauthorized individuals to break in.
And because most employees were on holiday, even the few who weren't had mostly been transferred by Kaiba to the Airport to maintain his Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet. The group didn't even have anyone they could ask about the building's specific layout.
But this had no influence on Kaiba.
Kaiba was wearing a device on his ear that looked like headphones on one side and half a pair of glasses on the other. It was currently projecting a blue screen in front of him. As Kaiba raised his hand to touch the screen, the image within the screen changed, responding to the interaction.
Interactive projection technology might still seem like something only seen in science fiction movies and somewhat out of reach for the Outside World, but KaibaCorp's internal technology level was conservatively estimated to be twenty years ahead of the Outside World. It wasn't just practical application; Kaiba had long since miniaturized it into the AR glasses he was wearing.
Given time, no one could imagine the extent to which Kaiba's genius could research such products, but the products Kaiba could produce now were already far ahead of the era. In some sense, Kaiba also possessed a "divine talent."
"All doors checked, everything normal?" The screen showed the entire park where the KaibaCorp Egypt Branch was located, divided into countless blocks, neatly arranged by function. But as the AI program's self-check completed, Kaiba only received this report.
"Everything normal? Looks like your so-called tracking program was completely useless, Kaiba Seto, it even had a bug and gave the wrong answer." Alister said with a smile, then glanced at the setup in the Hall. "It's really quiet here, no one's working."
"That's because it's a holiday. KaibaCorp's treatment is very good, you know. Not only are there a lot of holidays, but the salary is also generous. Apart from occasionally having to work overtime to satisfy my Brother's unreasonable demands, there are almost no drawbacks." Compared to Kaiba, Keipei was clearly more suitable as a manager and didn't forget to promote KaibaCorp to Alister.
However, even with Keipei speaking, he couldn't persuade Alister. "Forget it. Although I do need to earn money to guarantee my life, I said I wouldn't touch Duel Monsters again, and I really won't."
His gaze fell upon a huge device in the center of the Hall. "More than that, I'm actually more curious about what that thing is. Is it some new device for Dueling?"
"Although this Industrial Park was funded and constructed by KaibaCorp, many of the supporting facilities are incomplete, such as power supply. Even though KaibaCorp itself has considerable strength in scientific research, the most key foundation of modern technology lies in energy. Without sufficient power supply, even trying to carry out some research projects is like a clever housewife trying to cook without rice."
Keipei, the Kid who acts like an adult, spread his hands helplessly. "Since the local power facilities are not enough to support KaibaCorp's use, we had no choice but to find a way to resolve the problem ourselves. That device is a clean energy generator, utilizing cold fusion technology. Brother wanted to name it 'Destruction's Gale Burst' before, but I rejected that name. Now its name is 'Arc Reactor'."
"No, this time I actually feel Kaiba's name was better than the one you chose, at least it wasn't infringing, Gon."
"Who's that? I'm Keipei!"
Compared to Keipei and Hayato, who were laughing and joking, and Alister, who was simply bored and joining in for fun, Kaiba had no interest in touring his own company building. He was focused on controlling the screen to inspect the major areas within the park, attempting to find any place that might have been overlooked.
He absolutely did not believe that the program he personally designed and wrote would be wrong. The location information he tracked before was definitely the KaibaCorp Industrial Park, no mistake. The place that was privately manufacturing non-genuine Duel Disks was absolutely here.
However, even though he had come to the central building where the signal was best and could cover the entire park, and had repeatedly reviewed all the information here using the park management AI five or six times, he still couldn't find anything suspicious.
If he still couldn't find it, he might as well just detonate the Reactor and blow up the entire park. Anyway, that thing was clean energy and non-polluting, so as long as personnel were evacuated beforehand, the only loss would be a little money. And as everyone knows, KaibaCorp is almost so poor it only has money left; Kaiba Seto has always had no interest in money.
However, the idea of blowing up the Reactor was just something Kaiba thought about. It was a last resort to vent his dissatisfaction if there was absolutely no way. Keipei had nagged him multiple times about being too extravagant and not understanding how to save. Besides, he didn't think that with his ability, he truly wouldn't be able to find it. It was just that he hadn't gotten serious yet.
Watching Kaiba meticulously examine various industrial modules one by one, Hayato also stopped teasing Keipei and drew several cards from his body.
All of these cards had spirits dwelling within them, and as Hayato called them out, the spirits made their voices heard:
"Cry for my Strength," Cheese Ojama Yellow;
"Ore, Sanju!" Cheese Ojama Red;
"Just so you know, I'm very strong," Cheese Ojama Green;
"Try to take my bait~" Cheese Ojama Blue;
"Is this the World of KaibaCorp?" Cheese Ojama Pink;
"Potato Chips next door are half price~"
The Ojama monsters, striking their respective appearing poses, all looked at Ojama Black after it appeared, leaving Ojama Black a bit confused: "Why are you all looking at me? The potato chips next door really are half price..."
"Ojama Black, shut up!" Led by Ojama Yellow, the rebellious younger brother, the group of Ojama spirits noisily covered Ojama Black's mouth, then struck another pose. "Ojama Sentai - Five-Colored Rangers, Assemble!"
"Ojama, shut up." Hayato treated these noisy guys the same way they treated Ojama Black, looking at them like bugs. "You're too loud. I didn't call you out to watch a comedy show. Be quiet!"
Hearing Hayato's words, the Ojama tribe obediently stood straight, waiting for Hayato's instructions.
Reaching out and grabbing a card, Hayato picked up Ojama Black, who had been released by its brothers, held it in his hand, raised it to his face, and slowly walked towards the "Arc Reactor." Ojama Black, seeing that Hayato had stopped the others from bullying it, was quite moved and said, snot dripping into its mouth: "A-Aniki! You've moved me so much today!"
"So happy, my body feels so light. I didn't expect Aniki to take care of me like this. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."
Hearing Ojama Black's words, Hayato also smiled and said, "Is that so? That's great, Ojama Black. I really need your help right now."
"Since just now, although Kaiba's mechanical devices can't detect it, I've always felt a strange aura coming from under that Arc Reactor. But I can't directly go under that thing myself."
As he spoke, Hayato, who had stopped at the isolation handrail in front of the Arc Reactor, extended his hand. Below Ojama Black's feet was the gap at the edge of the massive Arc Reactor, and beneath that was a pitch-black area.
"So, you need to go down and confirm the danger for me."
"Eh? Eh!?" Hearing Hayato's words, Ojama Black immediately shook its head violently. "N-n-n-n-n-no! How could a weak monster like me possibly do something like that? Aniki, look at Ojama Yellow and Ojama Green, they have more talent than me!"
It was a Joke! Hayato sensed the strange aura beneath the Arc Reactor, did they, the spirits, not sense it too? Although they didn't know what was down there, or if there was danger, as members of the weak Ojama tribe, Ojama Black was very self-aware and absolutely did not want to take risks!
"No, no, you're underestimating yourself, Ojama Black. You possess a talent that other monsters can hardly match. Forget about Ojama Yellow and the others, Gaia and Rainbow Kuriboh don't have this talent either, even Ra can't do it."
"That is, you are so weak that you are difficult to notice, and you even have protective coloring in pitch-black environments. If you fall into the shadow, you're practically impossible to notice, like a black cat in a dark room."
However, even if Hayato said this, Ojama Black remained unmoved. "Even if Aniki says that, I'm not an idiot who would believe such words. I can't do it, even if you kill me, I can't do it!"
Seeing that Ojama Black was so uncooperative, Hayato, who had put on a gentle expression, also withdrew his smile. He looked down at Ojama Black in his hand. "Can't do it? You have to do it even if you can't. I'm not discussing, I'm just informing you. Get down there!"
As he spoke, Hayato threw Ojama Black downwards. Only to see the resistant Ojama Black struggling in mid-air, snot and tears streaming down, as it fell into that pitch-black area.
The space in the First Floor Lobby was only so large. Even to place the Arc Reactor, they had only dug slightly deeper downwards. However, Ojama Black kept falling for quite a while. Even Hayato, with his excellent eyesight, couldn't see where Ojama Black had fallen in that pitch-blackness. After a moment, he finally successfully heard something fall onto the ground.
It seems like Ojama Black had passed through that shadow and landed. Hayato heard Ojama Black's voice coming from below: "Hiss~~! So painful, my buttocks are almost split in two, even though they were already two halves."
"Huh? There's actually so much space down here. But what is that thing? It looks so strange?"
"Yikes! What is this thing?! Help, don't eat me! I haven't showered in three days, I don't taste good at all!"
"Gah! Don't shake it!"
Hearing Ojama Black's voice coming from below, Hayato sweatdropped. Although it sounded like Ojama Black had encountered danger down there, what was with that last sentence? Why did it sound so strange?
However, one thing was confirmed: there was indeed some kind of problem beneath this "Arc Reactor." Hayato also turned and said to Kaiba, "Seto, is there something under this thing?"
[Image: Runick Player Banishing]
(End of Chapter)
