"A small game?"
Clark frowned slightly, puzzled by what kind of scheme Godwin had up his sleeve.
"Yes, just a simple little game... No, it's not even a game, really simple."
Yugen took out a die and placed it flat on the table.
"We're going to use this die to see who rolls higher. If I roll a higher number, you have to answer my question and tell me the secret of the Perpetual Motion Machine.
If you roll a higher number, then I promise not to ask about anything anymore. From this day on, wherever you can use the services of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau, I, Godwin, will do my best to help without refusal.
How does that sound?"
At first, Clark thought the idea was absurd, but after staring at the small die in his hand for a moment, he felt somewhat tempted.
He pondered for two seconds and asked, "Just one roll of the die, that's all?"
"Just that simple."
Clark squinted his eyes.
He didn't know what madness Godwin was up to, but it's just one roll of the die; it cost nothing.
If he won, and if the other spoke the truth, Godwin's promise would be quite valuable in this city. Though he had Taiyi as his major backer behind the Perpetual Motion Express, they treated him more like a tool than a backing. They just worked for Taiyi, but as for how many privileges and conveniences they'd get in this city, it wasn't certain, and these were all things the Public Security Maintenance Bureau could offer him.
And if he lost... he would continue to play dumb.
Even if he agreed to reveal the hidden secrets behind the Perpetual Motion Express should he lose, who decides which secrets to reveal? He could still feign ignorance or fabricate lies, and how would Godwin differentiate between truth and falsehood?
"Alright, since the officer still has such interest, I might as well give it a try." Clark pushed up his glasses and chuckled.
Caught the bait.
Yugen squinted his eyes.
Sure enough, this guy seemed unfamiliar with the concept of the "Dark Game."
Though indeed, in 5DS the depiction of the Dark Game was far less than in the previous works. The only ones in the entire story using the Dark Game were the early Dark Markers, and they seemed only to use basic Dark Games, like card duels determining life and death, far from the diverse forms in the first generation.
The true masters of the Dark Game in the first generation didn't necessarily need to rely on card games to initiate a Dark Game, nor were the stakes solely about life and death. The forms of the game and the stakes on victory were far more varied.
Even just a simple die could accomplish it.
"Then I'll go first, draw... Ah, haha, sorry, I meant, roll the die!"
Clark threw the die. It spun on the table twice before stopping its rotation.
The number 6.
"Wow, looks like my luck isn't bad, officer," Clark laughed softly, "seems like I won."
"Impressive. But as the legendary duelists often say, you never know the outcome of a duel until the last moment. Even if it's just a dice game..."
Yugen flicked his thumb, sending the die soaring into the air, where it spun mid-air.
Clark squinted his eyes, smiling.
His chance of victory was five out of six, unless the opponent rolled a six as well, resulting in a tie. And even then, it was just a matter of another round...
..."Nani!?!?"
The next moment, Clark widened his eyes, staring incredulously at the die that landed.
The die... cracked!
It was as if it shattered upon landing, splitting down the middle. One die became two halves, each rolling twice before coming to rest with two faces upward.
One face was one, the other six.
"Seven points!"
Yugen chuckled.
"What a pity, looks like I created a miracle."
Clark: "..."
Is this even possible?
But of course, it was possible. Yugen was paying homage to the royal style from the comics. Early in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" IP, before it was tied to card games, there was originally a story of a king possessing the tabletop game player, using various strange Dark Games to punish evil and promote good.
Rolling dice was one of the Dark Games the king used early on to punish opponents. The king also split the die into two, rolling a seven-point die...
"Well, looks like I won." Yugen clapped his hands, smiling, "So according to the agreement, tell me the secret of the Perpetual Motion Express."
Though Clark was a bit speechless about the cracked die, as it was just a small game he had no interest in saying much more, he decided that no matter what the other party asked, he'd just play dumb and not say anything.
So Clark shook his head, about to deny knowing anything, but unexpectedly his words turned into: "This is a 'Taiyi' anchor point set to modify history, deep within lies a time-space machine capable of rewriting history..."
Clark realized immediately after the words left his mouth, hurriedly covered his mouth in shock, and looked at the counterpart with astonishment.
Why?
He hadn't intended to reveal these secrets!
"Well, I've learned all about it." Yugen said with a gentle smile.
"So, you must have a way to contact the Three Emperors here, yes? I want to have a word with them."
Before the other could respond, he added.
"Don't try to deceive me, you should realize that's futile. From the moment you lost the game to me, you've lost the power to refuse or hide anything."
Clark's pupils contracted as if recalling something extremely terrifying, calling out in horror: "Dark... Dark Game!"
"Oh? You've heard of it." Yugen chuckled, "You're quite perceptive for a Taiyi lackey."
Clark was horrified.
Indeed, he had heard of it. But the Dark Game in this era had become almost a legendary existence; not many knew about it nowadays.
Moreover, wasn't the Dark Game supposed to require a duel to take effect?
Additionally, it was certain that the Dark Game could kill and even obliterate souls. Though Clark had heard of the past when masters could freely manipulate others' souls with a Dark Game, he had always considered it a legend, not taking it seriously.
Yet now the legend became reality; this Godwin had such capabilities.
Wasn't this akin to the ultimate power held by past legendary dark masters?
Thinking it over, he found himself uncontrollably speaking again: "Through the central control room... you can contact the Three Emperors. Those three are hiding within the subspace gaps, and devices hidden here allow entry... Ugh!"
Clark suddenly screamed in pain, arcs of electricity sparking across his body. Black smoke rose from him as he slumped to the ground, convulsing and unable to rise.
Yugen frowned, looking toward the doorway.
Standing in the doorway was a person in a white hood, masked, with a long sword at his waist.
Clark, seeing the newcomer, his eyes filled with terror and despair.
"Taiyi... Executioner!?"