Want to play cards? I'll use my King's Deck!

He leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets, and hadn't said a word since Mashiro Kaiba entered the room, only breaking his silence now.

"However, I didn't expect you to use this on Mashiro, boss. Haven't you been spoiling her rotten? Are you really willing to turn her into a doll?"

“There is a difference between her and a doll. Mashiro has her own will, and I will not distort her mind and personality.”

Kaiba Sojin put away the golden scepter and said calmly, "This time there was a reason for it, and I wouldn't have done this if I hadn't had to. But as you said, we don't have that much time to spend fooling Mashiro, so we have to resort to some extreme measures."

Mashiro Kaiba is very sensible when she is old enough to understand things, but because of her personality developed from childhood, she can be really naughty when she gets angry.

Kaiba Sōto originally arranged for Saki to hold off Mashiro, but judging from the fact that Saki came here alone, it's clear that Saki was shaken off by the young lady whom he knows so well.

Whether there was any deliberate manipulation or whether Mashiro was truly that skilled at hide-and-seek, Kaiba Sōjin had no idea.

But no matter what, he couldn't let Mashiro cause trouble here, nor could he let her know or get involved in this kind of thing.

“Let her sleep for a day. By the time she wakes up tomorrow, the entry time for the Tower of Four Heavens will have long passed. She will only think that she overslept and was late, and will not think anything else. And once the incident breaks out, she will be able to completely extricate herself from this matter because of the lingering traces of the Thousand-Year Staff in her mind. However, you are different.”

Seahorse Soren's gaze fell upon the people in the study.

Those who are here are all his most trusted confidants.

"You should all be pretty much ready by now. Once you follow me and do this, if you fail, you'll never have this position again."

"of course."

Without hesitation, Amagi Meito replied, "If Master has any business to attend to, I will do it. I have always kept those words left by the Kaiba man in my heart, and now it is time for me, as your disciple, to fight for you."

The biker gang-like man shrugged: "Naruto has said everything he needed to say. Besides, you saved my life before and pulled me out of that muddy pit. It's no big deal to give you back now."

"me too."

Eliza, who had been lurking in the shadows behind Kaiba Soujin, said, "From the very beginning, I have been Soujin-sama's shadow and eyes, and I will follow Soujin-sama for the rest of my life."

"Well."

Kaiba Cangren nodded, then picked up the phone on the table and made a call.

The call was answered in less than three beeps.

"Hey."

A deep male voice came from the microphone.

Kaima Cangren said, "Have you thought it through? Do you want to cooperate with me? I may be the only person in the world who can help you. You won't find another person with my power, or a diviner under my command who can foresee the future."

"...You keep your word, right?" The man paused for a second. "As long as I help you, you will help me find my sister."

"Yes."

Kaiba Sojin affirmed, "I always keep my word."

"Alright, I agree. But let me make this clear: if you dare to lie to me, my 101 is no pushover."

"That day will never come, don't worry."

Chapter 288 The Tower and Conflict and the Blue-Haired Girl

"Wow! This is the Tower of Four Heavens! It's so big and magnificent!"

A girl's exclamation reached their ears. A few seconds after tearing off the card-like invitation, just like on the duel island of the Star Cup, Yuki and her group were no longer in the original room.

The shoes they had put on beforehand stepped onto a solid, flat ground. A gentle breeze blew by, and before them appeared a colossal tower that seemed to reach the heavens and the earth.

The tower has a simple and ancient architectural style. It is built entirely of white stone bricks and looks solemn and dignified. It has a history of more than a thousand years.

In Yu Xi's world, there is a legend of the Tower of Babel, which is said to be able to reach the heavens when it is completed. Although the giant tower in front of him is not that outrageous, Yu Xi still can hardly see the top when he looks up.

Conservatively estimated, it is at least 500 meters high.

Such ingenious creations are rare even in modern times; it's hard to imagine how they were made in ancient times.

But when I think about the wonders of my original world, it doesn't seem so strange anymore.

"Seeing is believing, and the real thing is much more impressive than all the news on the internet."

Izayoi Yuki also stared intently at the magnificent tower, captivated by its overwhelming sense of history, her face full of curiosity—no matter how mature and composed she was, she was still only 16 years old.

It's the age when you're curious and excited about everything.

But before she could continue observing the tower, flashes of white light appeared not far from You Xi and the others, attracting their attention.

Within these flashing white lights, unfamiliar figures appeared one after another. Their clothing, skin color, and appearance varied, clearly indicating that they came from different parts of the world.

They didn't know more than 90% of them, and could only tell from their similar age that they were geniuses from other places. Of course, there were also some old acquaintances.

"Yo, Kiyosumi's friends, you've already arrived."

Good morning, Senior Yanxiao.

A young man with fiery red hair, still wearing the uniform of Feng Huo Academy, met the gaze of You Xi and the others who were looking around. He immediately smiled and walked over to greet them.

—The person who came was Yan Xiao.

Although Feng Huo lost to You Xi this year, Yan Xiao only narrowly lost to Tian Cheng Ming Dou of Xing Feng in the last year, and of course, he also received an invitation.

"How does it feel? This place is breathtaking, isn't it? It's a treasure trove that everyone can only visit once in their lifetime."

Yan Xiao asked You Xi for her impressions of the place, and the latter honestly replied, "To be honest, it is indeed shocking, but how should I put it... it's not quite what I expected."

Yan Xiao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"How to say?"

"After all, the Four Heavenly Towers are very famous, and they're touted as something amazing online. I thought this building would be even more legendary, and that it wasn't just one tower, but four towers or something."

"Yes, many people do have this misconception."

Yan Xiao nodded in agreement: "After all, the name gives people the impression of four towers standing side by side. However, it's hard to say that this impression is really wrong, it's just a little different from what you imagined."

"Oh? It sounds like you know a lot, Senior Yanxiao." Xing Yewu showed just the right amount of curiosity. "We couldn't find anything about this online."

"Because everyone who has participated in the Tower Trials has to sign a very high level of confidentiality agreement, so of course many things cannot be revealed casually. But this agreement is an exception for those who receive an invitation; as long as they also abide by the confidentiality agreement, they can share this information. And unfortunately, my family's school has a rather long history."

Yan Xiao shrugged.

As the perennial runner-up that has rivaled Star Peak Academy for many years, Feng Huo Academy certainly has more than one duelist who has entered the Tower of Four Heavens.

This is the advantage of having a master to mentor you.

"I understand, I understand. This is what they call the privileged class, right? Ah, it's truly enviable and makes one jealous."

"So, Senior Yanxiao, could you tell us about this tower?"

Ignoring Hoshinobu's strange remarks, Izayoi Yuki went straight to the question she was concerned about.

Yan Xiao smiled mysteriously in response.

"Actually, not knowing isn't a big problem. I think it would be more interesting that way."

"Seriously? Are you trying to be a riddle solver?"

Xing Yewu said disdainfully, "Don't you know that riddle people are the most annoying kind of people, Senior Yanxiao?"

"Don't say that. I just don't want to give away any spoilers that might affect your gaming experience. Isn't there a saying that goes, 'It's better to play a game without a guide on your first playthrough'?"

"So Senior Yanxiao also plays games."

"DL is so popular, there's no way I wouldn't play it."

After answering You Xi's slightly surprised question, Yan Xiao continued, "Speaking of which, You Xi, you guys also have accounts on DL, right? Let's add each other as friends when we get back, and play together then."

With this sentence, the conversation between You Xi and the others and Yan Xiao began to veer off-topic.

As they chatted, more and more people gathered outside the tower.

The most eye-catching and famous among them is, of course, Alicia, the new saintess of the Angel Church who recently became the core protagonist in the ceremony in Valhalla.

She stood a little distance away from the crowd, as if she were detached from the world.

Her presence is so strong that no one can ignore her.

However, Youxi and Xingye Wu did not plan to go over and greet her for the time being.

There are too many people and distractions here; it's not a good opportunity to do this.

Alicia clearly thought so too.

After noticing Alicia's appearance, You Xi immediately focused his gaze on the blonde girl beside him, a hint of joy appearing on his face, but he did not immediately approach her like Yan Xiao did.

Aside from Yan Xiao and Alicia, there were very few other familiar faces left participating in the trial.

At least, looking around, Yu Xi only recognized Amagi Naruto; the rest... and so on.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"What's wrong, Xiaoxi?"

A hint of surprise and confusion escaped You Xi's lips, and Xing Yewu, with her keen ears, immediately stopped her discussion with Yan Xiao about the strategy for the DL New World mission and looked at him.

Yu Xi didn't hide anything and said directly, "I didn't see Mashiro."

"What? Mashiro hasn't arrived yet?"

Xing Yewu was surprised when she heard this. She turned her head and looked around, but after looking at everyone's faces, she really couldn't find the bunny-eared loli who was only a little over a pound tall.

"That's impossible. Mashiro also received an invitation, so why isn't she here?"

"Could it be that I overslept?"

Yan Xiao guessed, "They might arrive a little later?"

"That's possible, but since Amagi Naruto is already here, Kaiba Mashiro shouldn't be any later than him, right?"

Izayoi Yuki and Kaiba Mashiro weren't actually very close, but from the few days they spent together during the Star Cup, she could clearly see that Amagi Naruto had a lot of authority over Kaiba Mashiro.

Furthermore, Amagi Naruto was very strict with Kaiba Mashiro, and on many occasions when Kaiba Mashiro lingered there and refused to leave, he was strictly ordered to go back.

Given this, it's hard to imagine that Amagi Naruto would let Kaiba Mashiro oversleep and not bring her along on such a momentous occasion as the Tower of the Four Heavens.

Rather, it's an incredible thing in itself.

Unlike them who need to use their phones to set alarms, Mashiro Kaiba has a whole bunch of maids and servants to wake her up. For example, there's her ever-present personal maid named Saki.

Considering this, one can't help but worry about Mashiro's situation.

"There's no point in just thinking about it here. Let's go ask them anyway."