The noise of the New Domino City exam arena seemed to be cut off by an invisible barrier.
At the top floor of the Kaiba Corporation headquarters, the towering skyscraper that pierced the clouds, the chairman's office was exceptionally quiet.
The office featured massive floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city; however, unlike the stereotypical offices of those in power covered with antiques and paintings, the decor here carried a strong sense of personal obsession.
A huge glass display case, which should have been used to showcase tournament trophies and corporate honors, occupied an entire wall.
Inside, neatly arranged in dense rows, were limited-edition figures of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon in various poses.
Sanako Kaiba sat behind a wide office desk. She had long, smooth, silver-white hair and a tailored white modified long coat draped over her shoulders. The KC emblem at her collar gleamed with a cold light.
"Tsuruno, how is the investigation into the Star City incident progressing?"
Sanako leaned back in her chair, her hands clasped under her chin, trying to make her voice sound as cold and imposing as that of her legendary ancestor.
The man standing before the desk wore a crisp black suit. Akihiko Tsuruno, captain of Kaiba Corporation's security division, was known for his efficiency.
"It's mostly complete, Chairman."
"Give me a concise explanation of what happened." Sanako slightly raised her chin.
Akihiko nodded and began speaking without consulting any notes.
"The entire incident can largely be attributed to an organization called 'Arcana.'
"They distributed high-level rare Monster Cards throughout the city; some casually left in hidden corners, others circulated into the market, to fabricate so-called chance encounters."
His voice echoed through the spacious office.
"Many of the individuals involved testified that they initially believed these were gifts of fate, so they naturally used those problematic cards."
What a bunch of amateurs. Sanako sneered inwardly. Not even knowing the limits of their own Soul Power, yet daring to touch such powerful, suspicious cards… how was that any different from courting death?
Power always came with a price.
"However, the truth is their Soul Power was far from sufficient to control or suppress those Monster Cards.
"As a result, their Soul Power was heavily harvested. As for what the Arcana organization intends to do with it, that remains unknown." Akihiko continued, "That said, based on the records at the time, the Spirit World energy index corresponding to the central tower area was incredibly active, even reaching a critical threshold.
"Albeit afterward, everything returned to calm. The incident ended abruptly before causing any unacceptable damage."
Akihiko finished summarizing the situation.
Sanako lowered her hands and leaned slightly forward.
"So someone stopped the whole incident." Her blue eyes locked onto him. "You didn't stop at just this, did you?"
If even this level of information couldn't be uncovered, then the position of security captain would need to be replaced; She would never allow such an uncontrollable incident to occur under Kaiba Corporation's watch.
"Correct."
Akihiko stepped forward.
"When Kaiba Corporation detected the incident, I immediately went from New Domino City to Star City.
"By the time I arrived, it was over. However, at the central ruins where the incident occurred, we found these individuals."
He placed four thick paper files on Sanako Kaiba's desk.
Sanako's gaze swept across the photos printed on the covers.
"Sasori. Yumi Kuga. Rikka Hisetsu. Raku Hisetsu."
Akihiko listed the names one by one.
Sanako's eyes lingered briefly on the first photo. The purple-haired, golden-eyed boy exuded a vicious aura that seemed to spill out of the image itself; someone like that appearing at the scene wasn't surprising.
The second photo showed a frail-looking green-haired girl; the data identified her as the daughter of the Kuga Group and the core victim of the incident.
Then she looked at the remaining two photos.
The silver-haired, blue-eyed girl wore an oversized black coat. That sense of style… Sanako frowned slightly.
In the end, her gaze fixed on the last photo.
A black-haired boy with a bit of messy hair and dead fish-like eyes. In the photo, he was even yawning, his entire demeanor radiating a laid-back, indifferent attitude.
Someone like this? Someone who looked like they might give up a duel at any moment out of sheer laziness… he had appeared at the center of such a high-risk incident? And was even possibly involved in shutting the gate?
"Of these four, aside from Yumi Kuga and Raku Hisetsu, who are still in our First General Hospital…"
Akihiko observed the chairman's expression and added, "Rikka Hisetsu, along with that Sasori, have both registered for this year's Duel Academy entrance exam."
Sanako's gaze swept over the four files. Her slender fingers skipped past the one belonging to the laid-back-looking boy and flipped through the middle documents.
When her eyes landed on the profile page of the green-haired girl, Yumi Kuga, her movement stopped.
Her brows gradually furrowed, her blue eyes filled with scrutiny.
"Someone declared dead three years ago is now not only alive, but appeared at the center of the incident?" Sanako looked up at the man across from her, her fingers tapping on the desk.
"Yes. I also found this strange, so I investigated records and discovered this."
Akihiko pulled out a slightly aged file from his briefcase and placed a profile labeled "Hisaki Kuga" on the desk.
"This is Yumi Kuga's older brother, and the originally designated heir of the Kuga Group," Akihiko said steadily. "He also disappeared three years ago, during the same period when Yumi Kuga went missing."
He pointed to a newspaper clipping attached to the file.
"For a major corporation like the Kuga Group, the disappearance of its heir was a significant matter at the time. The mainstream narrative was that he became emotionally devastated by his sister's disappearance and chose to withdraw from public life."
Sanako looked at the man in the file: the one with withered-leaf green hair and a smiling, narrowed gaze… and felt he resembled a fox wearing a mask.
Emotionally devastated? If someone like this could be emotionally devastated, then Blue-Eyes White Dragon might as well start meowing.
"However, Sasori was also involved in the incident three years ago," Akihiko continued, pointing out another key figure. "At that time, Hisaki Kuga accused him of being the one who murdered Yumi Kuga. Then, under intense public scrutiny, Sasori struck him down in full view of everyone."
Akihiko flipped to the next page.
"Despite there being no direct evidence proving that Sasori killed Yumi Kuga, the court still detained him for causing severe injury to Hisaki Kuga."
"Detained?" Sanako immediately caught the word.
"Yes." Akihiko nodded. "Sasori was only fifteen at the time. Under the applicable laws, he received detention rather than imprisonment."
Sanako picked up the first file again: the one featuring the purple-haired, golden-eyed boy.
"So he was the culprit?"
Unexpectedly, Akihiko shook his head decisively.
"In fact, Chairman, I do not believe he was the culprit."
"Huh?"
The carefully maintained cold, aloof expression on Sanako's face cracked for a brief moment.
Huh?! So he wasn't? I was just about to blacklist him as a dangerous individual, and now you're telling me he's not the culprit?
Fortunately, Sanako reacted quickly. She swallowed the elongated reaction, straightened her posture, and restored her cold expression.
"Continue," she said, striving to keep her voice perfectly level.
"The reasoning is simple." Tsuruno clasped his hands behind his back, beginning a precise and methodical deduction befitting a security captain. "The incident ended safely. If someone stopped it, then, assuming Sasori was the culprit, that person must have dueled him.
"At the time, energy detection instruments recorded intense fluctuations of a Shadow Duel at the center of the ruins."
Akihiko looked directly at Sanako.
"There is no doubt that a fierce Shadow Duel took place there. Since the incident was resolved, it means that in that Shadow Duel, the one who caused the disaster was defeated.
"If Sasori had been the culprit, after having his Soul Power drained in the Shadow Duel, he would not possibly be physically intact and able to participate in the Duel Academy entrance exam now."
Akihiko delivered his conclusion with firm certainty.
"In other words, the truth is the opposite; he should be the victor."
Sanako followed this highly logical line of reasoning.
"So that means…?"
"It means that Sasori was likely the one who stopped the incident," Akihiko said, even a hint of admiration appearing in his eyes toward the delinquent boy.
Sanako rubbed her temples. What kind of development was this? The person who looked like a dangerous thug turned out to be the hero who saved Star City. She tossed Sasori's file aside.
"What about the other two? That Raku Hisetsu and his sister."
At a Shadow Duel scene of that scale, if there were more newcomers on the level of monsters, how was she supposed to manage as chairman? The Duel Academy already had enough problematic prodigies.
"As for them," Akihiko flipped open the file showing Raku yawning, "according to Raku Hisetsu's testimony, he and Rikka Hisetsu were merely bystanders who were accidentally caught in the energy fluctuations during an evening walk."
He paused, then added a highly authoritative note.
"I personally brought Kaiba Corporation's latest polygraph to the hospital for questioning. He did not lie in his testimony."
Sanako let out a long breath of relief.
That's good… that's good! The academy's current troublemakers are enough to deal with.
She casually pushed Raku's file to the side of the desk and leaned back in her chair.
"If they're just bystanders, then there's no need to waste company resources on them. Focus surveillance on Sasori and Arcana. The Duel Academy entrance exam is still ongoing; I don't want any incidents happening on my watch."
...
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