Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Standing beside Amon, and together they looked down at the panoramic view of the Duel Academy from the high vantage point, Professor Cobra glanced at the thoughtful-looking man beside him with a scrutinizing gaze: "...Do you have any objections to my teaching methods? It's alright, you can tell me directly, I won't get angry."

I won't get angry, I'll just find a way to kill you.

You dare to interfere with my plans? You're asking for trouble!

"No, you're exaggerating."

Amon chuckled and shook his head, having considered this possibility. He then raised the device on his arm and gave his prepared reply: "Perhaps it's because I've been focusing on theoretical knowledge lately, so I've neglected practical application?"

"If that's the case, then that's good."

Professor Cobra, who clearly knew that Amon was pretending to be stupid, did not directly expose his lie.

After hearing Amon's answer, he simply nodded slightly, then looked at Amon beside him again: "There will be a mid-term report for the dis-duel next week. If a temporary transfer student like you doesn't produce any results by the end of this week, you might be expelled back to the East Branch of the Duel Academy, you know?"

"John, Jim, O'Brien and the others... have all achieved corresponding results, but you, Amon, are still in a blank state."

At this point, Professor Cobra suddenly changed the subject: "Heh, if I could, I wouldn't want the young master of the Gallamy Corporation to be treated like this either!"

"...Listen carefully, you must have a dis-duel before 8 p.m. on Friday."

"Thank you for your advice."

After making this announcement, Professor Cobra left with his hands behind his back.

After hearing Professor Cobra's threatening remarks, the expressionless Amon also gave his own reply.

The identity of that young master from the Gallamy Corporation seemed to touch upon a past that Amon was unwilling to discuss.

Therefore, after hearing the relevant information from Professor Cobra, Amon couldn't help but frown.

……

After leaving Amon, Professor Cobra returned to his real base, to the now-abandoned facility called the "SAL Research Institute," where he used to capture monkeys for research.

He planned to review the results of his efforts over the past period and to implement further plans targeting Amon, this guy who annoyed him.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of Professor Cobra's absence from the Duel Academy headquarters, O'Brien, having recovered from his previous exhaustion, sneaked into Professor Cobra's office through the ventilation ducts suspended from the ceiling, avoiding the surveillance cameras.

O'Brien carefully stepped onto the ground, making sure no one was watching him, and began searching through the drawers and cabinets throughout the room.

And in the end, O'Brien did not disappoint, finding a tightly locked secret drawer under Professor Cobra's desk.

"...Looks like this is it."

After hesitating for a moment, O'Brien pulled out a simple lock-picking device from his pocket and, using his experience as a mercenary, pried open the drawer's simple lock.

As he reached into the drawer, he discovered a thick stack of documents hidden there by Professor Cobra, containing various intelligence details about his true plans.

The document he placed on top of the stack of files was an aerial photograph of the island where the Duel Academy was located.

On that aerial photograph, a location was specifically marked with a red circle and the words "SAL-LAB".

Clearly, that was a crucial location for Professor Cobra's plan.

"The SAL Research Institute... now appears to be an abandoned facility... Is this the place where Professor Cobra carried out his plans?"

Looking at the documents in his hand, O'Brien fell into deep thought.

……

"I never imagined the energy had reached this level..."

Back at the SAL Institute, Professor Cobra walked without stopping to the room located at the deepest part of the institute.

As he watched the petri dish, which had absorbed a large amount of duel energy and gradually expanded to become several times larger than before, a look of wild joy flashed in his eyes.

The current progress seems to be happening faster than he had imagined.

And the day when that great man will be resurrected is not far off.

When that adult is resurrected, Professor Cobra will use His power to make amends for the mistakes he made and bring the child who once left him back into his arms.

Professor Cobra, who had transformed his inner self into a demonic being, had already made a firm resolution in his heart.

Having lost Cobra once, Professor Cobra will never let go again.

In order to resurrect his dead child, he has made a deal with the devil and will stop at nothing, using all available resources to achieve his goal!

To him, the students at the Duel Academy were nothing more than tools to provide him with energy.

Once they have absorbed enough energy, these tools will naturally lose their meaning and become worthless.

"Half of the energy here was absorbed from powerful duelists like Jaden Yuki, John Anderson, O'Brien, Jim, and Kenzan..."

"The other half was achieved by subtly increasing the students' ability to absorb dueling energy..."

Professor Cobra glanced at the dueling energy tumbling in the petri dish, a smirk playing on his lips, and stepped back into his chair.

As he turned his gaze to the surveillance equipment in front of him, he began to think about his plans.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that his plan has been discovered by some people.

It seems we need to speed things up a bit.

"Although I know that increasing the absorption rate of the device will have great effects... it does cause a lot of damage to those duelists."

Recalling what he had seen and heard in the Duel Academy's infirmary, Professor Cobra rested his chin on his hand and frowned slightly: "At this point, the teachers at Duel Academy have already noticed the unusual situation I brought. If I cause a similar disturbance again, it will obviously hinder my plans..."

"but……"

Professor Cobra, having thought of something, pressed a button on the device, summoning an image of Amon, whom he had been eyeing: "But if it's Amon who has mastered some kind of secret, then that's a different story."

"Hehehehehe... Once that kid starts his initial dis-duel, I'll just turn the absorption power up to the maximum and suck him dry in an instant!"

Gazing at Amon's image on the screen, Professor Cobra's lips curled into a smug smile: "Amon... can you withstand the maximum absorption of duel energy? Hehehehehe..."

No reply is needed, based solely on prior observations.

Professor Cobra was able to deduce Amon's fate from the students' various reactions.

He eagerly awaited the moment when that guy was destined for destruction.

……

"I think... therefore I am..."

That night, in the Obelisk Blue boys' dormitory.

Back in his room, Amon reopened the briefcase containing the communication device and used the anti-tracking and anti-eavesdropping communication device inside to contact his ally who was guarding the waters near the Duel Academy.

As he shouted out a rendezvous slogan, a corresponding response came from the other side.

"Really? I knew it..."

"Sure enough, this watch-shaped energy device called 'dis-belt' serves to absorb energy... and the extent of this energy absorption can be manually and remotely changed to unlimited absorption."

Looking at the device on his arm, Amon frowned deeply.

Having sensed malice from Professor Cobra during the day, Amon now turned to his allies in the submarine to inquire about further research results.

Then he heard an answer that was pretty much what he expected.

"If we set this value to the maximum... you think... it might be fatal, right?"

Hearing such a clear reply from the other end of the phone, Amon instantly realized Professor Cobra's intentions, and a flash of anger appeared in his eyes.

That damned Professor Cobra... Did he force me to dis-duel my memory just to take my life this way?

If we were to duel, he might kill me with a dirty trick...

If I don't participate in the duel, I'll be kicked out of here because I didn't participate and won't have a record of my performance...

"No, I have to do something. I can't let that guy get his way... If I stop his ambitions, my life will be in danger."

Driven by the life-threatening situation, and unable to sleep all night, Amon finally came up with a solution.

……

"What's wrong? Yusei, Asuka... why are you two here so early in the morning?"

As he walked out of the Osiris Red Dormitory with transfer student John, Jaden Yuki, who was yawning, looked at Yusei and Asuka standing at the top of the stairs and couldn't help but ask a question out of curiosity.

After Yusei stopped spending nights at the Osiris Red Dormitory, his bed was temporarily lent to John, who frequently visited the place.

"...Are you planning to attend the banquet tonight?"

Waving the invitation in his hand, Yusei asked the two of them.

"Wha...what kind of banquet?"

Looking at Yusei, who had come specifically to visit with Asuka, Jaden Yuki couldn't help but show a puzzled expression: "What's that?"

"Huh? You don't have any?"

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Yusei exchanged a glance with Asuka, who also looked puzzled, and then explained to John and Jaden Yuki, "When we woke up this morning, we received an invitation signed by Amon Garham. He invited us to a dinner party that evening."

"Come to think of it... I seem to have received something similar?"

Upon hearing Yusei's explanation, John, with a look of sudden realization, pulled out an invitation from his pocket that was exactly the same as the ones in the other two's hands.

"Hey? John, you have one too?"

Seeing her friends pulling out their invitations one after another, Jaden Yuki, feeling like she was being ignored, grabbed her hair and exclaimed, "Why am I the only one who didn't receive one?"

"I heard that Amon seems to be quite wealthy. He took advantage of this opportunity to study abroad and donated a lot of money to the Duel Academy!"

Looking at the invitation in his hand, John continued, "It seems this banquet was specially organized by him to maintain relationships. I've heard that there are quite a few students at the Duel Academy whose families know him."

"...Donate money?"

Having overheard Yusei and the others chatting outside the dormitory, Manjoume peeked through the crack in the door and began to secretly observe their actions.

Upon hearing that Amon had used the power of capital to corrupt the Duel Academy, he, also a young master of a conglomerate, immediately showed an extremely displeased expression.

685 Lightning Fury!

"Since the banquet was held at the Obelisk Blue Dormitory, it was probably already full just by inviting people from the Blue and Yellow Dormitories..."

Seeing that Jaden Yuki, the only one who hadn't received an invitation, turned his head away and looked like he was throwing a tantrum, Asuka chuckled and then comforted him.

In fact, as the bottom group of Duel Academy, Osiris Red has always been marginalized.