Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Crossing the dense jungle and the calm, shallow lake, with the group's pursuit and Chunzi's guidance, they quickly and tacitly cornered the monkey at the edge of the cliff.

Beneath this towering cliff, there is a thick tree trunk growing at an angle, and below the trunk lies the bottomless blue sea.

At this height, even a monkey leaping from the top of the facility would not be able to escape unscathed.

In the current situation, it has truly been driven into a corner...

"don't want……"

Looking down at the sea, which resembled a ferocious beast with its gaping maw wide open, Junko felt a surge of terror welling up from the depths of her heart.

Not only the monkey, but she was also driven into a corner.

"Hehehe... Now you can't escape, can you? Hurry up and surrender!" The burly man in the suit shouted at the monkey that was hiding in the tree trunk and howling at him menacingly, letting out the standard villainous laugh.

"Squeak!!!"

Upon hearing the burly man's shouts, the frightened monkey immediately took Junko, whom it had bound, hostage.

Its meaning is obvious.

You lot, stay away! If you come any closer, I'll jump down with this girl!

The monkeys, equipped with various devices, seem to possess a certain level of intelligence, even knowing how to rely on hostages to protect themselves when facing a crisis.

"Hmph! You think you can scare me like that? If you don't want to get hit by the tranquilizer gun, you'd better get down here obediently!"

The burly man, completely unfazed by the monkey's behavior, was about to give the order to his security personnel to shoot.

214 Wildness Unleashed, Monkeys Duel!

"and many more!"

Just as the burly man was about to give the order, the elderly man at the head of the group raised his hand to interrupt him.

"That uniform... belongs to a student from Duel Academy?!"

Looking at Junko's Obelisk blue school uniform, the old man adjusted his glasses and couldn't help but show a look of surprise and uncertainty.

On this small island in the Pacific Ocean, Duel Academy is like a local tyrant!

Behind Duel Academy is a behemoth like the Seahorse Group, a force that these people simply cannot afford to provoke!

"What are you standing there for? Put the gun down right now!"

Seeing the burly man being stopped by the old man, the security personnel standing nearby were somewhat puzzled, but they did not put down the tranquilizer gun in their hands. Seeing this, the old man quickly urged him to hurry up.

Monkeys can be replaced! There are plenty of substitutes on this island. But if a student from the Duel Academy gets hurt, that would be a real problem!

"Huh? Oh..." Upon hearing the order, the security personnel put down the tranquilizer gun in their hands and obediently stood behind the old man, keeping a close eye on the monkey holding the hostage at the edge of the cliff.

“Squeak?!”

Seemingly realizing that the hostage-taking tactic was effective, the monkey couldn't help but let out joyful cries.

"Help me... everyone..."

Seeing Yusei and the others catching up with the researchers, Junko quickly called out for help. After all, she felt more at ease with her familiar classmates than with the unfamiliar men in suits.

"Tch! That damned beast! He's so cocky just because he got a hostage!"

The burly man, who was locked in a stalemate with the monkey, couldn't help but smack his lips.

Damn it! Just wait until I catch you, you'll be sorry!

"Speaking of which... I've been wanting to ask you guys since earlier, who exactly are you people?" Yusei, who had just arrived, was relieved to see that Junko was still relatively safe, and began to inquire about the origins of the men in suits.

"Hey? Yusei, look, that monkey's arm... looks like a Duel Disk..." Jaden Yuki said uncertainly, pointing to the monkey confronting the group on the edge of the cliff.

While the monkey was running around, the others didn't have time to observe its appearance, so it wasn't until now that Yuki Jaden finally noticed what was special about this monkey.

"It's definitely a Duel Disk..." After staring at the monkey for a while, Yusei couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression: "Could it be... that this monkey can duel?"

"Hahaha... Just what you think!"

Upon hearing Youxing's words, the elderly man at the head of the group turned around and began to introduce the monkey's origins with a smug look on his face: "That monkey is no ordinary monkey!"

"Hey?"

"That monkey was raised and specially trained by us—the dueling monkey!"

"What the hell... Duel Monkey???" Upon hearing the old man's explanation, Yusei and his group couldn't help but show expressions full of confusion.

Even in a world where dueling is so widespread, like Yu-Gi-Oh!, there are still many people who don't understand the rules of dueling. And you, a monkey, know how to duel? You must be a demon!

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me…” Seeing the expressions on everyone’s faces, the old man’s face showed a “I knew it” expression, and then he continued to explain: “The full name of this monkey is [Super Animal Learning], which is the [Super Animal Learning System], or [SAL] for short!”

"You're bragging so much, but it's just a monkey." After listening to the old man talk for a long time, Marufuji Sho still had a disdainful attitude.

A monkey is a monkey. Even if you learn how to fight, so what? You'll never be a match for a human!

"Doctor..." Seeing that the old man seemed about to continue boasting about his great achievements, the burly man beside him quickly spoke up to remind him, "The rest is classified..."

"Oh no... I accidentally let it slip..." Perhaps because he had been neglected for a long time, the old man suddenly opened up and said almost everything he could and couldn't say when he saw that someone was willing to listen to him ramble on.

"Ahem... That's right, this monkey escaped from us, so it's our turn to retrieve it." Clearing his throat, the old man, realizing he had misspoke, turned and prepared to approach the monkey.

"Wait!" Seeing that the group seemed to be planning to force their way through, Yusei quickly suggested, "Since that monkey is a special monkey that can duel, let me handle this!"

"Huh? You? What can you do with it?"

Upon hearing Youxing's words, the old man exchanged a glance with the burly man beside him and couldn't help but ask this question.

"Is there even a question? It's a duel, of course!"

Patting his chest, Yusei gave the researchers, who were full of suspicion, a reassuring smile.

When it comes to duels, he's never been afraid of anyone! Whether it's a human or a monkey, they all have to obediently face defeat in front of my groundbreaking deck!

Yusei, being a time traveler, is just that confident!

"Oh! If you leave this to Yusei, then there won't be any problem!" Upon hearing Yusei's words, Judai Yuki's face immediately showed a relieved expression. Having been defeated by Yusei multiple times, Judai Yuki knew his strength all too well.

"Hey! Yusei, are you really going to duel that monkey?" Seeing the serious expression on Yusei's face, Asuka, looking worried, couldn't help but ask.

Previously, Yusei's opponents were at least human, but this time they've been turned into animals... Is that really okay?

"I believe that no matter who you duel with, the hearts of duelists are connected!" Giving Yusei a thumbs up, Jaden Yuki then reassured Asuka, "You can rest assured and leave this to Yusei!"

“…Interesting. In that case, let’s give it a try!” Seeing everyone’s reaction, the old man, who also wanted to test the performance of the dueling monkey, said to the burly man beside him, “Bring out the dueling disk and let this boy duel with the monkey!”

Since there's no loss to be made, winning or losing doesn't matter. Therefore, there's absolutely no reason to refuse.

"……Yes."

Gritting his teeth and showing a helpless expression, the burly man took out a spare duel disk from the bag carried by the security personnel.

"That's it! Leave it to me with confidence!"

Yusei gave the people behind him a reassuring look, took the Duel Disk from the burly man's hand, and started walking towards the cliff where the monkey was.

215 The minds of duelists are connected!

"Hey! You monkey over there!" Yusei pointed a finger at the monkey that was cautiously approaching him and clinging to Junko's arm, and suggested, "If you're also a duelist, then settle your score with me right here!"

Yusei's words at this moment are standard challenge lines from the Yu-Gi-Oh! world. If the other party were a human who could understand human speech, they wouldn't reject his proposal without reason. But now, the other party is a monkey... In this situation, things are a bit uncertain...

“Puff!”

Upon hearing Yusei's provocation, the monkey in front of him reacted just like a human, baring its teeth and making a response, its expression seemingly saying—"A duel it is! Who's afraid of who!"

"Wow, amazing... Yusei is actually communicating with the monkey..." Marufuji Sho exclaimed in surprise as he saw the monkey's reaction.

"See? I told you, duelists are connected at heart! Even though we don't speak the same language, that monkey can understand what Yusei is trying to say!" Yuki Jaden winked at his underling, wiping his nose.

"That monkey... must have been trained to understand some human language..."

Asuka, who didn't believe in Jaden Yuki's communication theory, gave a more reasonable answer: when the researchers taught the monkey how to duel, they must have also taught it some human communication methods.

"If I win, you'll release the hostage!" Yusei declared to the monkey, who seemed ready to accept the challenge.

"Yusei-sama...you really came to save me..." Looking at Yusei, who had come to her rescue at her call, Junko, now a devoted fan, couldn't help but show a deeply moved expression. But immediately, a question popped into her head: "Um...what if I lost..."

"If I lose..."

"Don't worry! There's no way I can lose!" Yusei smiled at the worried Junko, completely unprepared for the possibility of losing to a monkey, and confidently challenged the monkey loudly, "How about it? Dare to fight me! If you win, I might even set you free!"

"Huh? I've never heard of that before!"

Upon hearing that Yuxing had made the decision for them without their consent, the burly man was immediately displeased. If the old man hadn't stopped him, he would have rushed over to the monkey and given him a triple punch...

"How can this be... I can't relax at all..."

Seeing the flames burning in Yusei's eyes, as if he were already immersed in the atmosphere of the duel, Junko, feeling a little uneasy, couldn't help but complain softly.

She and the monkey were now perched on a section of tree trunk jutting out from the edge of a cliff. Below them stretched an endless expanse of azure sea; one wrong step and they would fall straight down…

Falling from that height, even if it's water below, would at least result in serious injury...

If it weren't for the agile monkey, it would have been very difficult to rescue her from here.

In other words, the safest way now is for Yusei to win the duel against the monkey and let it rescue the hostage from this dangerous place on its own.

"..."

After glancing at the star in front of him and then at the fierce-looking researchers behind him, the monkey quickly made a decision.

It placed Junko, who was being held hostage, in a relatively stable spot on the tree trunk, and then, with its limbs together, it leaped onto a large rock in front of Yusei.

Facing Yusei, who was standing not far away, the monkey raised the Duel Disk in his hand, assuming a ready stance.

"Hehe! That's the right way to do it!"

As the Duel Disk automatically unfolded in the monkey's hand, Yusei also placed his deck into the borrowed Duel Disk.

"Great opportunity! That monkey has released the hostage!"

Seeing that the monkey had accepted Yusei's challenge and left Junko's side, the security personnel, seeing an opportunity, quickly raised their tranquilizer guns.

At this distance, even if the monkey could fly, it would have absolutely no chance of dodging the bullets. It would be knocked unconscious by the powerful tranquilizer darts before it could even reach the hostages!

"Wait a minute! At this rate, we might not get any interesting data..." Seeing that the security personnel were about to go back on their word and pull a dirty trick, the old man, who had been thinking, quickly raised his hand to stop them. He stroked his beard and gave his answer.