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

Chapter 374 Surprise! (Part 1)
Li Guanqi was stunned.

Bai Shu was also dumbfounded.

But the most bewildered were the people in the preparation areas for both sides below the ring.

"What's wrong with them?"

"Not going to say anything, just staring blankly?"

"Using eye contact to exchange signals, that's interesting."

"Bai Shu must be heartbroken too. The new recruit he just trained has already turned against him. That damned Zhong! He actually put a hostage on the dueling stage!"

The members of the blue team were discussing the matter animatedly, their words filled with worry.

The atmosphere in the Red Team's preparation area was even more bizarre.

Immi X and the Pope's gazes swept back and forth between the two on the stage, their minds deep in thought.

"What are they talking about?"

The two figures acting as the hands of the clock are certain that the two on stage are communicating consciously in some way.

But they couldn't understand why these two people could communicate intracranially.

This ability requires specific media, such as wedges or neural synchronization programs.

Judging from Li Guanqi's pure and undisguised bewilderment, this was probably the first time the two had interacted like this.

What are they talking about in secret?

[Blue side, please choose the order of attack]

The cold, intelligent referee's voice broke the silence on the field.

Bai Shu's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly called out to Li Guanqi in his mind again.

"What exactly do you want me to do? Should I let you make the first move?"

"Judging from your deck, normally you should go first," Li Guanqi replied. "What kind of skill is this? It can even communicate with your mind?"

"That's pretty awesome."

He couldn't help but admire it in his heart, then changed the subject and became urgent.

"Dude, figure out a way to get me out of here."

"We can work together from the inside and outside, I can act it out! Saving my dog's life is the most important thing."

"You didn't know we could communicate through consciousness?" Bai Shu frowned, his thoughts a little confused. "You still want me to save you?"

"You, you didn't let yourself be captured on purpose? Weren't you planning to infiltrate the Pope's inner circle and steal his symbiosis card?"

"What are you talking about?" Li Guanqi was also dumbfounded, his tone full of absurdity.

"Do I look like the kind of great person who gets involved personally?"

"I've really been arrested! I can't get out! They're all around me, it's terrifying!"

"Help me! I'll warn you!"

"No, with your reaction, how could you possibly get caught?" Bai Shu still couldn't understand.

"Don't you really have any plans at all?"

"Really not!" Li Guanqi maintained an inscrutable composure on the surface, but his mind was in complete turmoil.

[Warning, Blue team, please choose your attack order immediately]

The AI ​​referee's voice rang out again, carrying an air of authority.

At the same time, a bright red 15-second countdown appeared on the virtual screen in front of Bai Shu, with the numbers jumping rapidly.

15...14...13...

“I’ll attack first,” Bai Shu blurted out instinctively.

He couldn't show any abnormality any longer; if he dragged it out any longer, the Soul Control Division would definitely notice him.

As a fictional creature created by the audience, his greatest fear is being the center of too much attention.

If even one person at the scene firmly believes he is a fabrication and finds evidence to support that belief, he will "die."

His orders were to assist Li Guanqi in obtaining the Pope's Symbiosis Card.

But how can we assist with this?
Were we taken hostage without any prior planning?

Is this how you play?
Bai Shu took a deep breath and began drawing cards, while frantically sending signals to Li Guanqi in his mind.

"Didn't the master tell you that we were going to steal the Pope's symbiosis card?"

"Who will win this round? How will we stay in touch after the duel?"

"Hello, please reply if you receive this."

“I don’t know,” Li Guanqi replied simply and honestly.

He really doesn't know anything.

Bai Shu felt like he was going crazy, but he still maintained the calm demeanor of an elite.

He drew a card from his hand and placed it into the duel disk.

"Activate the Spell Card, [Fossil Investigation]."

"Add [Dreadnought Frenzy Dragon - Therizinosaurus] from your deck to your hand."

The card popped out of the deck, and without even looking at it, he quickly snapped it up.

"Normal Summon: [Thoraphasine Frenzied Dragon - Therizinosaurus]!"

A dinosaur girl leaps out, her arms adorned with two gleaming scythes.

"Is the last one a dinosaur girl?" Li Guanqi murmured.

In this unexpected team match, neither side had prepared many top-tier, powerful decks for the current meta. Even decks of strength like [Cursed Eye] and [Fearful Peptide] made it to the final game.

"【Fear-like peptide】. Cough."

He glanced down at his hand, and the thought of what he would show his opponent next turn made him want to laugh, but he had to try to hold it in before that happened.

"Activate the effect of [Terror Peptide Mad Dragon - Scythe Dragon]." Bai Shu declared, raising his hand.

"Descendant Trap Card from your deck and place it face-down on the field."

At this point, we can only play normally for now.

"Chain activation of the effect of [Effect Veiler]." Li Guanqi sent a card from his hand to the graveyard.

"Target your opponent's [Therizinosaurus] monster; negate that monster until the end of the turn!"

A soft light descended from the sky, enveloping the mechanical dinosaur girl, who let out a mournful cry of resentment, her movements becoming sluggish.

Bai Zhu's face showed no change in expression, and he even secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

His initial plan was simply to put on an act.

Pretending to have a bad hand, not taking risks when you can, and not using your abilities when you can, you will naturally lose the game.

If he loses, the main force of the Soul-Binding Division will withdraw from the secret realm and instead lie in wait outside.

Li Guanqi, on the other hand, could remain by the Pope's side and be confined in Latia. With fewer people around, the timing of his attack would be better, and he could also provide backup outside according to the plan.

However, this perfect plan had two fatal problems.

First, the damage feedback in this dueling arena is extremely high. His companion, his lover planted next to the Pope, was seriously injured, and his inside man was rendered incapacitated.

Even more fatal is—

Damn it, the person they're supposed to be supporting has absolutely no plans whatsoever!
He now felt a strong sense of helplessness, as if saying, "We are ready to fight to the death, why has Your Majesty surrendered first?"

When subordinates are all prepared to sacrifice themselves, and they ask what the arrangements are from above, all they get in return is "I don't know" and "Help me!" Who wouldn't be angry in that situation?

"Cover four cards." Suppressing his turbulent emotions, Bai Shu expressionlessly inserted the remaining cards in his hand into the spell and trap zone.

"End of round."

The first round is over.

Frontline: [Dreadnought Frenzy Dragon - Therizinosaurus]

Backcourt: Four face-down cards

Hand: 0
Blue team basic points: 8000
The standoff is of great importance, and the basic score for both sides has been adjusted to 8000.

After doing all this, he pinged Li Guanqi again.

"Do you need me to give you a check card?"

He is still working hard, still trying to complete that plan that never even existed.

The "adults" rarely assigned them tasks of assistance.

Now that he's made the move, Li Guanqi should have some extraordinary abilities.

But the fact is——

"No need, no need, just play normally," Li Guanqi replied in his mind.

"Boss, is there really no way you can get me out of here?"

“I can act too, I can even give you my card.”

Bai Shu: "..."

"Don't call me boss, I can't accept that."

"You're the boss." (Suppressing resentment)

"No, you're the boss, I'm the intern."

"You're the boss! The master wants me to assist you!"

Bai Zhu suppressed her breakdown, trying her best to maintain the loyalty of her subordinates.

The AI ​​referee was urging him on, and Li Guanqi couldn't argue any longer. He raised his hand and waved it towards the deck.

"My turn, draw a card."

Li Guanqi drew a card and glanced at it.

Then, he raised his head, his gaze sweeping past the [Scythe Dragon] and looking at the four cards face-down on the field after White's attack.

The entire audience held their breath as he moved.

The standoff concerns the right to explore one of humanity's greatest secrets.

The outcome of this duel will be a fork in the road of destiny.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Guanqi added the card he had drawn to his hand, the timeline jumped to the main phase, and then he uttered a sentence that made everyone's brains go blank.

"End of round."

The four simple words, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirred up a thousand waves.

The whole place was dead silent.

You can hear the needle drop.

A few seconds later, an uproar erupted.

"Um???"

"No, it's over already?"

Hong Zhong scratched his head, completely baffled by this move: "Dude, are you even acting or not?"

To say that he was prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of the Spirit Control Bureau and for the great cause of humanity, yet in the last battle he fought desperately with a ferocious expression that said, "I don't want to lose."

You could say he was thinking about his own life.

In the deciding round, you attack from behind and then just let it pass? Are you really not afraid of going back to the starting position and getting beaten to death by their chaotic attacks?
“That’s not an expression of admitting defeat.” Xia Sheng stared at Li Guanqi, his voice very soft.

He had sparred with Li Guanqi many times during the training period and knew that this man's fighting style was not on the same wavelength as normal people.

"Did you get stuck?" Tang Xin muttered.

“No surprise,” Iizuna chimed in. “We probably used up all our luck in the last round.”

Red team's preparation area.

Chu Linfeng's face was cold, his eyes full of confusion: "What is he doing?"

“That’s the strategy.”

Immy X chuckled softly, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the man on stage with great interest.

"Hehehe, what an interesting man."

"I suddenly want to have a child with him. I feel like the child will be very strong."

She wasn't joking when she said that; for a moment, she did feel that the child she and Li Guanqi had would fulfill her dream of slaying a god.

……

In the arena.

The duel system popped up a chain of prompts for Bai Shu.

Whether to activate the card's effect or not, if not, the time will jump all the way to the end phase.

Bai Zhu's thoughts paused for a moment.

Is this also part of the plan?

He was still fantasizing that Li Guanqi had a 'plan', and kept pinging Li Guanqi.

Li Guanqi's reply came quickly and was very frank and straightforward: "What plan? There is no plan. I'm not a cunning person."

Bai Shu: "..."

He felt that everything was very strange.

After a moment's thought, he finally raised his hand and shouted, "Before the main phase ends, pay half the base score and open the card—"

"【The Frenzy of the Fearful Peptide Dragon】!"

A card was flipped over, and a burst of violent energy instantly swept across the entire field.

【Exhilaration】This card can only be activated during your opponent's Main Phase.

"Send Fusion Materials from your Deck and Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon a [Dreadnought] Fusion Monster!"

"I'm sending the Pteranodon and the Therizinosaurus to the graveyard!"

"Fusion Summon!"

"Come forth! [Thoramine Mad Dragon - Nail-like Dragon Queen]!"

Amidst roars, a mechanical dinosaur queen descends. Her body displays graceful, feminine curves, yet is covered in grotesque metal skeletons and armor, exuding a wild aura.

Blue side's base score: 8000 → 4000
"Pay half of the base points again, and activate the effect of [Dreadnought Rage] outside the graveyard!"

"Gain the same effect as [Exhilaration]!"

"I sent the [Winged Dragon] and [Brocade Dragon] cards from my deck to the graveyard."

"Fusion Summon!"

"Roar! [Thorapeptide Mad Dragon - Rampage Tyrannosaurus Rex]!"

boom!
The ground trembled violently as a colossal mechanical beast in the form of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, even more terrifying in size, appeared on the field.

Blue side's base score: 4000 → 2000
The spectacular and exhilarating series of calls to arms elicited cheers from the blue team's preparation area.

However, Chu Chan frowned deeply: "Bai Shu's [Phobic Peptide] is not as good as the team leader's."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Iizuna asked, puzzled.

"I didn't make a mistake, did I? [Exhilaration] can only be used at this time."

Tang Xin and other interns, including Tsukishima Chizuru, also cast inquiring glances their way.

"【Exhilarating】That's right." Chu Chan shook his head.

"But the [Nail Dragon Queen] shouldn't have its effects activated."

"In a duel with 8,000 base points, if the effect is activated twice in a row, the life points will drop to 2000. [Sariel]'s attack power of 1600 is too much for [Raging Tyrannosaurus Rex] to handle."

"Summoning the [Raging Tyrannosaurus Rex] in advance has no benefits, but it carries risks."

"Risk?" Izuna paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"【Third Battle】!"

She couldn't help but sigh.

"You guys really do subconsciously guard against World War III..."

“It’s not just the Third World War,” Xia Sheng added from the side.

"There are also removal cards that target specific enemies, such as [Infinite Bubble].

“The opponent skipped a turn and immediately retreated to the main phase. They are likely taking advantage of the fact that [Exhilaration] must be activated during the opponent's main phase. They probably have [Three Kingdoms] or [Illusion] in their hand to deal with [Raging Tyrannosaurus Rex].” Chu Chan’s gaze swept over the face-down cards on the field after White’s attack.

"Hopefully, there's something in Bai Shu's backcourt."

On stage, Bai Zhu also realized that there was a problem with the details of her operation.

He subconsciously played according to the strategy of having 4,000 health. With 4,000 health, he could activate the effect twice, reducing his health to 1,000, which would allow him to suppress the Normal Summoner [Sariel] and benefit him. However, if the opponent actually had [Sariel], it wouldn't end the game immediately.

It was an adventure.

However, it's not a big problem.

He also has a [Divine Declaration] in the back row, which can sustain him with half his health to withstand [Three Kingdoms].

As expected, the main phase reverted to a reversal.

Li Guanqi's fingers swept across his hand of cards before finally drawing one and placing it into the duel disk.

"Activate the Spell Card, [Triple Warrior]!"

"Choose an effect: Draw two cards from your deck!"

"Counter-Trap!" Bai Shu decisively waved his hand and flipped over the face-down card.

"Pay half of your base points to activate [Divine Declaration]!"

"Invalidated and destroyed the [Three-Battle Talent]!"

A sacred pillar of light descended from the sky, shattering the [Genius of the Three Battles] card image before the bells of judgment could ring.

Blue side's base score: 2000 → 1000
"Beautiful." Chu Chan breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Sheng nodded slightly, seemingly lost in thought: "[In the third battle], instead of choosing to control the monster, he chose to draw two. It seems his hand was indeed not good."

“It’s all been wasted, how good can it be?” Iizuna said matter-of-factly.

"The last one was really..." She was still holding a grudge.

Tang Xin stared at Li Guanqi on the stage, her lips pressed tightly together, and remained silent.

Has the goddess of fate truly turned her back on us?
"These three battles are your last trump card, aren't they?" Bai Shu looked at Li Guanqi, scrutinizing him carefully.

This person is really strange.

On the one hand, he was like a clueless, impulsive young man without any plans.

On the other hand, he also felt that this person was extremely cunning, and every step he took seemed to be calculated.

My lord, how could you allow them to assist such a person?

How can I assist someone if I can't see through them at all?

He even had a feeling that this man in front of him would scheme against even his own people.

Or rather, in this man's eyes, there was no such thing as "one of his own."

"When it comes to selling blood, you [Fear Peptide] are truly amazing," Li Guanqi said, looking at the enemy's battlefield with a tone full of emotion.

"Three effects, and you've reduced your health from eight thousand to only one thousand."

"Tsk tsk tsk, much faster than our [Cursed Eyes]."

"The low blood volume of [Fear Peptide] is a positive benefit, unlike your [Cursed Eye]..." Bai Shu subconsciously explained, but halfway through his sentence, he saw a strange smile appear on Li Guanqi's lips.

That smile sent chills down his spine, making his hair stand on end.

“But—” Li Guanqi lowered his voice, with a hint of disdain, and gently drew the last card from his hand.

"Have you even considered my card?!"

Snapped!
The card was decisively placed into the Spell & Trap Zone, and a light effect illuminated, revealing the selected target to be the [Raging Tyrannosaurus Rex] on the White Field.

"Activate equipment magic!" he shouted.

"【The Water Dance of the Witch】!"

A crystal-clear mist appeared out of thin air and enveloped the huge mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Amidst the mist, the figure of a girl dressed as a shrine maiden appears and disappears. Barefoot, she gracefully circles the dragon on the water's surface, performing a mysterious and elegant dance.

Bai Shu's eyes widened suddenly, as if struck by lightning, and he froze on the spot: "Wh-what—?!"

Below the stage, Izuna's mouth was agape in an "O" shape as she looked incredulously at Chu Chan and Xia Sheng beside her.

"Have you...have you taken precautions against this?"

"Who could have imagined this?" Chu Chan said softly.

"Divine Metal." Xia Sheng uttered only two words, a sharp and incisive comment.

"Hahahaha—" In the red team's preparation area, Imi X laughed so hard he was doubled over.

"This man is so interesting!"

Actually, when they were changing their sideboard cards, they had already given a sharp critique of the cards Li Guanqi took, but when this scene actually appeared in the duel arena, the visual impact was still hard to contain.

"Blasphemer!" the sun roared.

On the stage, Bai Shu stared intently at Li Guanqi, a bold, almost absurd conjecture growing wildly in his mind.

In standoff mode, you can swap 15 spare cards.

This guy, could it be—

Why don't you replace the spindle?

Yes, brother, yes.

Li Guanqi had met him back on Earth.

Someone played the "Surprise" deck, stuffing a set of "Heavenly Cup Dragon" cards into their sideboard, and then immediately swapped it in as the second player, yelling "Surprise!" at the opponent.

Spurred by this, he had a burst of inspiration and added more than a dozen of the [Witchcraft] cards from the starting player Moon's deck.

The [Witchcraft] and [Curse Eye] are both related to equipment magic, so it makes sense to mix them together, right?

“Surprise!” Li Guanqi shouted in a deep voice.

"you--!"

Bai Zhu stretched out his finger, pointing forward with trembling hands, suppressing a torrent of emotions churning in his throat.

This time, it really wasn't an act.

He really was about to lose control.

(End of this chapter)