People in Yu-Gi-Oh! The hyper-converged audience is also integrated

Chapter 283 Group Photo

Attention all candidates!

Please return to Zhangdao Island in an orderly manner and await further instructions.

After the spaceship broadcast its announcement high in the sky, its engines roared low as it changed direction, carrying the more than 20,000 eliminated individuals, and gradually disappeared into the horizon, leaving the Youlan Islands, where a brutal survival game had just taken place.

Soon, several large cargo ships sailed in, their sides lined with uniformed workers who skillfully threw orange lifebuoys and thick ropes at the bubbles floating on the sea.

The candidates were pulled out of the bubbles one by one, stepped onto the deck, dripping wet, and then guided into the cabin.

The boat cut through the waves and soon delivered the two hundred still-shaken lucky people to the crescent-shaped beach of the island.

Stepping onto the slightly warm sand, a long-lost sense of security came from the soles of their feet. Many people's legs went weak and they collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

A salty sea breeze blew, carrying the unique, damp scent of the island's vegetation, and the sun shone warmly on the soaked clothes.

"Oh, finally, I made it!"

"Mom, I didn't embarrass you!"

All around were whispers of survivors, suppressed sobs, and a few slightly neurotic chuckles.

These two hundred people were dressed in rags, their hair sticking messily to their cheeks and foreheads, their faces and bodies covered in salt stains left by the dried seawater, looking extremely disheveled.

They subconsciously looked around, their eyes searching the crowd, as if looking for a familiar friend, a memorable opponent, or... the figure representing the blue team in the underwater arena.

"Where is Lin Chen?" someone asked softly, their voice hoarse.

"I don't know, I didn't see him come up."

"Hey, is that Lin Chen with you?" Another person nudged Lu Li's shoulder.

Lu Li pursed her lips, recalling Lin Chen's words, "After passing the test, don't get involved with me." Finally, with red eyes, she shook her head and said, "I don't know you."

Upon hearing this response, the group exchanged glances, puzzled but not pressing for further details.

As soon as Tang Xin helped Li Guanqi to his feet, a group of people surrounded him, chattering excitedly about surviving a close call and flattering the strong.

"Dude, you're amazing at hand-carving those magic bullets! It's incredible!" A guy with a buzz cut exclaimed, his eyes shining as he demonstrated the action of firing a gun.

“Yes, yes, yes! I was completely stunned watching from the other side. The way they managed to pull resources, the attention to detail—it felt like they were 70-80% as good as that guy!” another girl wearing glasses excitedly added.

"Wow, that last card combination was amazing! I was wondering what would happen if the blue side set up [Graveyard Hole]?"

"I never expected that Geka would be..."

"Handsome, the assessment is over, can I have your contact information? Are you single? I'm also from Bian Yuelong." A bold girl squeezed forward, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Li Guanqi.

Immediately, someone nearby started to jeer: "Hey, don't you have any sense? Didn't you see he was just hugging this beautiful woman?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Xin's cheeks flushed red instantly, as if she had been burned. She quickly let go of Li Guanqi's arm, took a small step to the side, and looked away with a flustered expression, pretending to tidy her wet hair.

Surrounded by the crowd, Li Guanqi listened to the compliments and forced an awkward smile, vaguely replying, "It's...it's alright."

His gaze swept across the enthusiastic crowd, searching the beach.

Why isn't that person here?
Because he didn't have a D-view scope and couldn't hear the commentary, he didn't know his opponent's name until the very end.

Li Guanqi didn't understand. That person was able to withstand Ye Mudan's club and a barrage of gunfire and force his way to the blue team's control panel. In game terms, that would be an S-level defense. How could he not survive the final ocean current?

Everyone else couldn't hold on, so it shouldn't be him who couldn't hold on, so why was he eliminated?

What a pity, it's rare to see such an interesting duelist.

Just then, the atmosphere on the beach suddenly changed.

A buzzing roar came from high above as several dark green armed helicopters broke through the clouds and hovered over the beach, their menacing weapon systems clearly visible beneath their bellies.

On the distant sea, several gray warships cut through the white waves and sped towards the shore, their dark cannons pointing towards the horizon.

On both sides of the beach, dozens of well-equipped special forces soldiers dressed in black combat uniforms quickly emerged from the forest, spreading out in combat formation. The weapons in their hands gleamed coldly, their movements swift and silent, and the K9 badges on their chests were particularly eye-catching in the sunlight.

Mickey, Qi Mengsi, Chu Chan, and the invigilators, including Qi Qi who always had a cold face, also rushed to the shore, scanning the group of candidates who had just escaped danger with different expressions.

"What's going on? Wasn't it over?" one examinee asked in confusion, his joy still lingering on his face, before he was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"Still on alert?" another candidate muttered in confusion. "Is there a follow-up assessment?"

Li Guanqi frowned slightly. He saw a lithe female special forces member in front of the crowd. She was none other than [K9-17 Izuna], whom he had seen in the duel before.

Izuna's sharp eyes, and the gazes of all the special forces members behind her, were all fixed on the same direction—at this angle, on Natsumi, who was standing obediently.

"Does arresting a single examinee require the combined efforts of the army, navy, and air force?" Li Guanqi wondered.

The other candidates obviously didn't think that much about it; instead, they were somewhat inexplicably excited.

"Wow! Is that the legendary K9 Special Forces? Iizuna himself is so cool!"

"My goodness, the Spirit Control Division seems to really value our class! Look at the spectacle!"

"I get it! My outstanding performance must have caught the attention of the higher-ups, and this must be a special reward for me!" A boy puffed out his chest proudly.

The forces that came to support did not take immediate action, but instead surrounded Xia Sheng, forming an invisible encirclement. The atmosphere was tense and ready to erupt at any moment.

Xia Sheng stood there, looking at the warship on his left, then at the special forces on his right, and then at the helicopters circling overhead, stunned for a moment.

Then, raise your hands to show surrender.

However, the K9 special forces did not rush to capture the person. Their orders were to rush forward and subdue the target if he showed any aggressive tendencies, and to pretend they did not see anything if he did not show any aggressive tendencies.

Mickey was also confused. He looked around at the heavily armed forces and then at Xia Sheng, who looked completely innocent, and muttered to himself, "What's going on? Is this some kind of procedure?" His task was to wait for the examinees to come out, take a group photo, and then dismiss them for dinner and rest.

This setup is like guarding against a thief—no, even guarding against a ghost wouldn't be this exaggerated.

“Mickey, can you hear me?” Langley’s serious voice suddenly came through the earpiece.

Mickey jumped up and quickly replied, "Report, I can hear you, signal is good!"

"Are you familiar with that examinee named Xia Sheng?" Langley asked.

"Xia Sheng?" Mickey paused, then turned to look at the young man surrounded in the distance. "We chatted for a bit, what's wrong?"

He didn't dare say whether they were familiar or not.

Langley's voice deepened: "He attacked the proctor underwater and seized the control panel. Go ask him what he's trying to do."

Although the initial assessment is that Xia Sheng only intended to release bubbles to save people, attacking the invigilator is a matter that can be considered a big deal or a small deal; the key lies in one's attitude.

If the attitude is bad, then the nature of the matter is completely different.

"Oh my god?" Upon hearing this, Mickey's temper flared up instantly, and his voice rose sharply. "How dare a test taker attack the invigilator?! He's gone too far!"

He angrily pushed through the crowd, rushed to Xia Sheng, and, ignoring the special forces soldiers on guard, pointed at Xia Sheng's nose and launched into a tirade: "You think you're so great! Xia Sheng, right? You're so young and already doing bad things, attacking the proctor?!"

"Assaulting a detective from the Department of Spirit Control is a crime, do you even know that!"

He shouted loudly, like a supervisor reprimanding a disobedient employee.

When Izuna saw Mickey so rudely reprimanding someone with an epic card, his pupils contracted and a chill ran down his spine.

She instinctively lowered her voice and issued the order through the tactical channel: "All personnel on alert! Suppress any unusual movement from the target immediately!"

Upon hearing the sound, the surrounding special forces soldiers tensed up to the limit, subtly adjusting the angle of their guns and quietly disengaging the safety; the battle was about to begin.

Li Guanqi's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively grabbed Tang Xin's arm and pulled her back a few steps, away from the center of the tense standoff. Tang Xin was confused, but seeing Li Guanqi's serious expression, she obediently followed and nervously watched the scene unfold.

However, what happened next surprised everyone.

Despite being pointed at by dozens of guns, Xia Sheng showed no anger or aggression in the face of Mickey's roar. Instead, he acted like an employee who had done something wrong, bowing his head sincerely and replying softly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Mickey."

The respectful tone and humble attitude of that "Mr. Mickey" stunned even Mickey, who was spitting as he spoke.

He had prepared a whole host of rebukes, but they got stuck in his throat.

What's going on with this kid? That way of addressing him... it sounds kind of nice?
Izuna was stunned and incredulous. She quickly gave the order again through her earpiece: "Lift Level 1 alert, remain vigilant."

Her elite special forces soldiers were bewildered, but military orders were paramount. They slowly lowered their guns, which they had already aimed at, their eyes still locked on Xia Sheng, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Over the communications channel, the team member responsible for on-site recording stammered as he reported to command center: "Target...target has been suppressed and currently shows no signs of attack; their attitude is good."

"Suppressed?" the command center replied. "Who's that capable?"

"Investigation Team Two, Intelligence Officer Mickey... Mr." The reporting team member hesitated for a moment, but still added that strange honorific title.

On the other end of the communication, there was an eerie silence that lasted for ten seconds.

On the beach, seeing Xia Sheng's good attitude in admitting his mistake, Mickey's anger subsided considerably.

He cleared his throat, feeling that as an invigilator, it was necessary to give these newcomers, who had just undergone a brutal test, a bit of ideological education.

So he turned around, faced the two hundred still-shaken qualified candidates, put his hands on his hips, and, with the air of a dean of students, began to shout:
"Listen up, all of you! Let me tell you, is it easy for the Bureau of Spirit Control, especially our Fifth Department, to organize an examination? Huh? It's time-consuming, expensive, and exhausting, not to mention us invigilators, who are risking our lives to work! And yet, some of you dare to attack the invigilators! What kind of behavior is this? This is a serious violation of discipline! Do you understand?!"

Most of the test takers were still in a daze of surviving the ordeal. After being yelled at by Mickey, they subconsciously nodded slightly, like obedient students listening to a lecture. A few of the more timid ones even shrank back.

Li Guanqi's lips twitched, thinking to himself that this guy was quite eloquent.

Xia Sheng lowered his head again, his voice sincere: "It's my fault, Mr. Mickey."

"You don't need to apologize to me." Mickey waved his hand dismissively, exuding an air of authority. "Rules are rules. You should apologize to whoever you hit. Go!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Sheng turned around, bowed deeply to the two divers on the shore, and said sincerely, "I'm very sorry."

"No, no, no! No, no, no, no, no need, no need!" The two divers were startled by Xia Sheng's sudden gift and waved their hands and backed away.

They cannot bear such a bow!

Seeing the two divers so frightened, Mickey frowned and turned his attention to Xia Sheng, raising his voice again: "So you are! Did you threaten them? Huh? At such a young age, you're already behaving badly, not only resorting to violence but also threatening and intimidating them?!"

Xia Sheng: "..."

He felt he was being wronged.

Honestly, I had no intention of threatening anyone.

Under the shade of a tree not far away, Qi Mengsi watched the farce unfold, a playful smile playing on her lips: "Even fools have their uses."

"Hmm." Qi Qi nodded expressionlessly and uttered a few words: "Stupid as a pig."

Qi Mengsi chuckled. Whenever she was with Qi Qi, her threshold for laughter would become exceptionally low.

"Alright." Qi Mengsi stopped smiling, interrupting Mickey's lecture, and called out to him, "It's getting late, time to take a group photo." She glanced at Xia Sheng, who was still looking down, looking like he was being lectured.

Upon hearing this, Mickey stopped pressing Xia Sheng, as business was more important.

He stepped back a few paces, cleared his throat, cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted loudly to the two hundred qualified candidates, whose expressions varied after just experiencing a fierce battle: "Take a picture—be alert! This is your first group photo since entering the Spirit Control Bureau, a precious memory!"

(End of this chapter)