Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1706 "The Three Knights"

Just like on another timeline, although there were some changes in the personnel of Jaden and his group, they still managed to find the research institute deep in the forest under Jim's leadership.

"Isn't this the research institute where SAL was captured? Could it be that Professor Cobra is hiding in here?" Seeing the abandoned building in front of him, Judai clapped his hands. "That makes sense. After all, it's definitely more convenient to use an existing one and modify it than to dig out a secret base from scratch."

Meanwhile, Manjoume looked at O'Brien, who was surveying his surroundings. Just as he had said, he had never trusted O'Brien from the beginning and had been observing him all along: "Hey you over there, what are you looking at?"

Knowing that Wan Zhangmu was calling him, O'Brien didn't hide anything: "I noticed that there were traces of something being fixed to the trees around here, like someone had installed surveillance cameras."

“I had noticed before that there were many hidden cameras on this island, but those cameras had been there for several years. However, the traces exposed here show that those cameras were installed no more than a week ago, and they were removed within two or three days.”

“I see. The camera was probably installed by Professor Cobra so that he could detect anyone approaching even when he was hiding in his ‘nest’,” Asuka speculated. “This makes us even more certain that this is Professor Cobra’s hiding place, or at least a special location that he values ​​highly.”

“But it’s strange, isn’t it? On the one hand, they use surveillance cameras to monitor people who come near here, and then after hiding, they remove the cameras and don’t even bother to clean up the traces they left behind.” John frowned, somewhat puzzled. “It doesn’t seem like he doesn’t want people to find out about this place, or does he think it doesn’t matter whether people find out or not?”

“I’ve already sent the message to Rei, and she said she’ll send us the route map of the building right away.” Judai waved the terminal in his hand and said smugly, “Rei said that she found out that after this place was exposed and abandoned, it seems that the Kaiba Group did come here to conduct a structural survey, and the file is kept at the school.”

"Ah, she has already sent the map. I will forward it to your terminals."

After a few quick actions, Judai sent the map to everyone. Thanks to Saotome Rei staying at the school to provide them with support at any time, this greatly saved them the time and effort of figuring out the route after entering the building.

Jim opened the map sent by Jaden and was stunned. He said in surprise, "Really? Jaden, is there a forest underground in this place? Is Duel Academy headquarters really that rich?"

"The northern branch campus has less than 1% green space, and this place is so extravagant that they've even created a jungle underground." Even John couldn't help but complain, "Although there are climate reasons involved, even putting aside the greenery, how could they abandon such a research institute headquarters?"

"These are not important, don't worry about these details." Judai waved his hand, not caring much about these things. "In short, in the structural drawings that Rei found, most of the buildings on them are just insignificant disguises. The real entrance to the SAL Research Institute is located in the center of the underground forest."

"As long as we find the elevator on the ground and go down, then follow this and that path, we'll get there."

“Good idea, Judai, but I doubt Professor Cobra will let us break in so easily.” Jim thought for a moment and said, “If he’s underground and cuts off the power as soon as he confirms we’re in the elevator, wouldn’t we be trapped inside? You know, according to the structural diagram, the drop between the ground and the underground forest is tens of meters.”

Hearing Jim's words, the others nodded in agreement. After all, not everyone has the body of a seahorse that can safely land after a fall from a height. If they dared to perform a "superhero landing," their kneecaps would show them what "shattering" really means, not to mention the impact on their internal organs from falling from a height.

However, Judai blinked: "But Rei said that in the electrical design of this building, the main power supply is on the ground, right?"

"..." Seeing the location of the main power supply that Judai pointed out, Jim felt that it wasn't a good thing to be overthinking things. On the other hand, what was the designer thinking here? Why didn't they design the main power supply underground but instead placed it so conspicuously on the ground?

“In other words, not only do we not have to worry about encountering danger halfway through the elevator ride, but if we leave someone on the ground or use something to remotely control the main power supply, we can even actively shut off the power while underground,” O’Brien suggested. “However, it is also possible that Professor Klaus added a backup generator underground to avoid being controlled by the main power supply on the ground.”

“Anyway, we can always try it out first. It’s always better to be prepared than unprepared.” John agreed with O’Brien’s idea and looked at Judai, saying, “Then let’s go, Judai!”

“Oh! Professor Cobra is doomed now.” Jaden nodded. “Even just to prevent him from bypassing us and escaping to the ground via the elevator, it’s necessary to do something to the power source. He can’t exactly fly away, can he?”

"It's hard to say. Who knows what kind of modifications he made to the SAL lab, or how different the current underground area is from the blueprints we have?" Asuka said, expressing her guess.

After agreeing on their plans, the group immediately set to work, entering the building through an unlocked automatic door and using the map to locate the elevator leading underground and the main power source above ground.

O'Brien, who had previous experience as a mercenary, was in charge of tampering with the main power supply. Of course, it wasn't as simple as just planting a bomb. After all, they still needed to return to the surface after finding Professor Cobra. If they blew up the power supply, how would they get back? The specific solution was that O'Brien left behind two of his own electric pullers, which could be used to physically pull the main power supply on and off remotely. It was simple and effective.

The elevator leading underground didn't have any complicated card-swiping or communication features, and there were no floor selection options, only up and down. After O'Brien finished dealing with the power supply, the group of six immediately took the elevator down and saw the true face of the primeval forest hidden underground.

However, when the forest appeared before them, it was pitch black, as if it were nighttime with no light at all. This was clearly inconsistent with what they had seen on the map, because the structural diagram clearly showed that in order to maintain the ecological balance of the underground forest, dozens of lighting systems were installed above to simulate sunlight. Even to simulate the day-night cycle, low-brightness lighting was used to simulate moonlight.

But at this moment, even though they hadn't turned off the power on the ground and were still descending in the elevator, none of the lighting systems in the sky were turned on.

However, as they descended, Jaden and the others clearly saw a beam of light shining from the forest near the elevator exit, as if someone was moving around and illuminating the surroundings.

"Ding—" The elevator opened, and the group, including Jaden, who had safely arrived in the underground forest, stepped out. Jim glanced at the map and the magnetic field detection device in his hand.

The magnetic field is noticeably stronger in the direction marked on the map leading to the actual SAL lab than in other directions, which suggests that Professor Cobra's "death glove" signal transmission terminal is very likely located there. However, the place where the light just appeared and is still lit is in another direction.

It was as if they were deliberately making Judai and the others, who had come to the underground, face a choice.

"What do you guys think?" Jim asked the people behind him, shaking the device in his hand. "If we want to find something that can solve the 'Expose Duel,' following the map is the right thing to do."

“However, it’s hard not to pay attention to those beams of light over there.” Manjoume crossed his arms and looked at O’Brien beside him. “Aren’t you very concerned about that Amon Garlem? So now you can leave the team and investigate over there.”

“To be precise, I’m only concerned about Amon Garlem’s disappearance itself. I’m not that concerned about Amon Garlem,” O’Brien corrected. “Besides, even if I left the team, you probably wouldn’t be at ease, would you?”

“Of course! What if you’re on Professor Cobra’s side? That beam of light over there could very well be Professor Cobra himself hiding in the woods. What if you bump into him, send him back to the ground, and then cut off our way back?” Manjoume said, pointing to his eyes and then to O’Brien. “I’ll be watching you.”

“Hey, don’t fight. We’re partners now, so let’s trust each other a bit,” Jim stepped in, smiling. “Rather than surveillance, it’s more about preventing accidents. Traveling in pairs or more is always necessary.”

"John, boy, do you know how to use this device?" Jim asked John, handing him the device.

John took the data and glanced at it, nodding and saying, "Just looking at the size of the data is quite simple. But what do you mean, Jim?"

“Hmm, perhaps splitting up would be more efficient?” Jim said, standing between Manjoume and O’Brien. “It wouldn’t be right to leave that spot with the beam of light lying around, since, as Manjoume said, that could also be where Professor Cobra, the culprit, is.”

“At the same time, we really can’t just ignore the ‘Death Grip’ terminal that’s right here,” Asuka added.

Judai looked at everyone and nodded, saying, "I understand. Then, I, John, and Asuka will be one team. I'll leave Manjoume to you, Jim, and O'Brien."

"Hey, what do you mean by talking like I need someone to take care of me?" Manjoume said unhappily. "You idiot Judai, you'd better hurry up and do something, or we'll have Professor Cobra caught and you still won't have turned off the 'Death Gloves'."

"The one who calls others stupid is the stupid one," Jaden retorted, then gave Manjoume a thumbs-up and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, I will absolutely not let you, Manjoume, have any reservations about the duel when you are capturing Professor Cobra because of the 'Death Gloves'."

Urged on by Manjou, O'Brien first shut off the main power supply above to prevent Professor Cobra from using the elevator to return to the ground. Then the group split up, all of which was observed by Professor Cobra.

"Luckily I prepared a backup power source underground. So, he actually followed Jaden Yuki and the others, Ossin O'Brien?" Professor Cobra sneered to himself, looking at the footage captured by the extremely well-hidden camera installed at the elevator exit. "He chose to split up. Just as I expected."

"It's a real pity, though. The Duel Academy reacted so quickly. They ordered the 'Exposé Duel' to stop so soon after I turned up the power of the 'Death Gauntlet'. If they had been any slower, I think that person could have fully recovered."

He turned and glanced at the glass capsule where orange energy was constantly surging; that was the location of [Yubel]. However, before his duel with Hayato, Yubel had mostly used illusions to make Professor Cobra believe that Yubel was physically disabled and unable to move, thus lowering his guard. Now, Yubel's body was truly broken and battered.

In order to banish Hayato from this world, Yubel had to withstand the attacks of Hayato's Pokémon with her already collapsing body. That's why she needed more dueling energy to recover afterward. Urged on by her, Professor Cobra turned the "Death Gloves" up too high, causing the Duel Academy to immediately stop the "Exposé Duel."

But in fact, even before it was turned on at maximum power, Professor Cobra had been gradually increasing the power of the "Death Gloves" a few days earlier to improve Yubel's recovery speed. Therefore, even though the "Expose Duel" had been suspended for more than a day and no new duel energy had been gained, Yubel's body had already recovered somewhat.

However, it is surprising that it is still far from being fully restored.

"But it doesn't matter. These reckless brats will provide you with the final dueling energy you need." Professor Cobra, who had arranged for people to deal with them beforehand, smiled coldly as he watched Jaden and the others split up. "We'll use the 'Three Knights,' who were modified after obtaining a portion of that person's power!"

"—The greedy hunter! The hateful knight! And the jealous king!"

In the surveillance footage, as Wan Zhangmu and his group moved forward, they arrived near the unusually conspicuous light source in the forest. In the shadows around them, a figure was quietly following them.

　No witty remarks today, just the usual request for recommendations~
　　

(End of this chapter)