Titan dropped to his knees, both hands on the floor. His hulking body trembled uncontrollably.
"So strong..."
He forced his head up and looked at the vague silhouette on the giant screen, its true face indistinct.
Only now did he realize how laughably naive his earlier thoughts had been when he made his move—why the person behind the screen was the true master of the Shadow Riders, and how vast the gap was between him and mere executives like them.
He had lost. He had recognized the unbridgeable chasm in power, and so he accepted his defeat. But acceptance didn't mean resignation.
Because...
He damn well wasn't the mole!
Yet he couldn't figure it out, not even at death's door.
Why were all his teammates so certain—so unanimous—that he was the mole?
He didn't recall offending any of them, as far as he could tell...
But he had no time left. He feared he'd go to his grave never understanding.
The light faded from Titan's eyes, like a puppet with its soul extracted. He toppled forward with a thud.
The conference room fell into brief silence.
Then Don Zaloog was the first to break it, letting out two dry, awkward laughs.
"Boss is mighty," he said pleasantly. "As expected of the boss—your dueling prowess is truly impressive."
"Yeah, yeah."
Chick hurried to chime in with flattery.
"Boss, you're amazing!"
"And this way, the mole's finally been purged. Hah, I suddenly feel clear-headed—so much lighter."
Yet as they spoke, they were all thinking the same thing.
Well, at least everyone left in the room is on the same page. In a sense, you could say the insider's been purged.
But Kagemaru wasn't so optimistic.
On the other side of the screen, the old man fell silent for a moment, hawk-like gaze slowly sweeping across the people remaining.
He lingered especially long on Lyman.
"Is that so? Let's hope so," Kagemaru said coolly. "Now let's get to the main topic.
The Seven Spirit Keys—we haven't secured a single one. I'm very displeased with this progress."
"..."
They moved on to the normal meeting agenda.
Kagemaru didn't revisit the previous topic, nor did he answer the request that he appear in person. The old fox was cautious; though he didn't say it aloud, it was clear he still didn't trust those who remained very much.
He had shown a glimpse of his strength with that duel to intimidate the others and reinforce his authority, while his subsequent actions signaled his refusal to appear.
But that was fine.
This possibility had been within Kira's expectations from the start. Best case, pressure from the moles would bait the old man out; if he refused, that was fine too.
That's why Kira had said they needed technical support from KaibaCorp.
"Keep the meeting going. Make him talk longer; don't end too soon."
He issued orders to all the infiltrators through the earpiece. As he spoke, Kira was aboard a jet with the KC emblem, engines roaring, knifing through coiling clouds.
The moles in this meeting weren't just his eyes and ears. Each carried KaibaCorp devices for signal localization and tracking.
They would trace Kagemaru's location by tracking the live video signal of his feed.
The old man was cautious; the signal bounced through multiple relays, using various techniques to obscure and shake off pursuit.
Fortunately, Kira's logistics team was top-tier as well.
"Position locked."
The technical consultant Mokuba hired reported to Kira.
"In an office building in L City. The building appears to belong to a baby products company. Uploading live satellite imagery now."
Kira swiped open a projection in the jet and saw the building's image.
"Coordinates received. Adjusting course."
The jet pilot spoke.
Trailing a dazzling plume, the KC jet reached the outskirts of L City in mere minutes. It decelerated sharply, dropping altitude, angling toward the tower.
Incredibly, what looked like a normal office building sprouted turrets on its roof, spewing bright tongues of fire at the jet from afar!
But the KaibaCorp pilot was seasoned. He yanked the stick, pulling the plane up at an almost impossible angle, slipping past the fiery barrage.
"Baby products company?"
The pilot swore.
"Since when do baby products need anti-aircraft guns?"
Kira patted his shoulder and smiled. "Thanks. We're good here—you can head back."
He was already strapping on a metal glider—the same model Kaiba used for his flashy superhero landings in the KC arc.
"You're not planning to—"
The pilot shook his head repeatedly.
"No way, that's insane. You'll get shredded."
"Haha, it's fine. I have a special posture."
Kira waved and smiled, already opening the hatch.
He leapt into the open air. Metal wings unfurled with a clatter, the thruster on his back spitting a cerulean plume. Like a meteor, he streaked toward the office tower at full speed.
"What a lunatic," the pilot muttered, banking the jet away from danger.
The flak switched targets, torrents of fire surging at him. Kira plummeted straight through the storm, heedless. Occasionally, shrapnel flared toward him, but everything stopped a half meter from his body, colliding with invisible walls that bloomed into rings of translucent white magic circles.
The signal source was around the fortieth floor. He locked onto that level and pushed the glider to full power.
The wind goggles he wore had a built-in scanner that surveyed the building as he flew, mapping out the floors.
Multiple targets; several armed... Guns can be ignored. No threat.
Three targets carrying Duel Disks—those would be the main obstacles.
The outer facade scanned as reinforced, specialized ballistic glass. Networked with KaibaCorp servers, the scanner instantly identified the make, model, and specs, including its rated impact resistance.
Theoretically robust enough to withstand a single soldier-portable rocket. Crashing into it would reduce him to paste.
Some baby products company.
But still fine.
Range: 500 meters.
A translucent white light peeled off from Kira's body. The Silent Magician flickered into being, staff already charged, and struck through the air.
A blazing bolt carved a resplendent path, splitting the sky. The ballistic glass shattered with a crash.
At the right distance, Kira jettisoned the glider. Under AI control, it banked away. He kept his trajectory by inertia, angling straight for the broken window and plunging through.
He rolled, dropped into a half squat—a perfect superhero landing.
No wonder the president loved doing this. It was cool. And fun.
He stood, glanced around at the room full of shouting men drawing guns and aiming at him.
He smiled slightly.
Perfect infiltration.