One week remains until Duel City begins.
"Special mission?" Youyu asked with some curiosity, standing in President Tosawa Mukuro's office.
"Yes." Tosawa Mukuro nodded, "You mentioned to someone before that you've had issues with the Ghouls, right?"
"That's right." Youyu replied, "I encountered the Rare Card Hunter from the Ghouls, Pandora the Magician, just as I arrived in the city."
"Oh? Pandora is quite a formidable opponent. His 'Dark Magician' is notoriously skillful, and many renowned duelists from the Underworld have been defeated by him." Tosawa Mukuro raised an eyebrow, "Did you beat him?"
Youyu remained silent, instead showing his 'Dark Magician' card.
Tosawa Mukuro gave a thumbs up: "Impressive."
It's unheard of for the Ghouls, who are known for stealing others' possessions, to have their Rare Card Hunter's card stolen—it's a first for the President too.
"They sent people to attack once more afterward, but I dealt with them." Youyu shrugged, "I guess I'm at odds with them now."
Tosawa Mukuro laughed and patted his shoulder: "It's not a problem. It just so happens that our group has some grudges with them too — that's the nature of this mission.
You know that Duel City is going to host a tournament next, right?"
Youyu nodded.
"Originally, this was supposed to be a good thing. The whole city's functions are put on hold for such a large-scale duel tournament, something only the Kaiba Group would pull off.
For our local Dueling Association, it should be beneficial... but some are planning to stir up trouble during this tournament in our territory."
"Ghouls?" Youyu quickly realized.
"Exactly." The mention of the name made President Mukuro angry, "That bastard Marik, armed with the Egyptian God Card and Millennium Item, does whatever he wants.
He's nearly broken all implicit rules established by dark organizations worldwide, rampantly stealing duelists' rare cards and creating fake cards to disrupt Duel Monsters' ecosystem.
Not to mention their disgraceful methods; they will go to any lengths to achieve their goals. Our Underworld duelists' reputation has been completely tarnished by these people."
President Mukuro spoke with such resentment that Youyu even thought that this president wasn't a controller of dark powers but a sect leader from a reputable sect.
"So... are we preparing to take action against them?" Youyu partially guessed.
"Not officially declaring war, but we've located one of their hidden bases in Domino." Tosawa Mukuro snorted, "Tonight, we're planning to raid it.
At least give Marik a warning, letting him know that Domino has its own masters, and to be cautious when acting so that Duel City doesn't cause too much trouble when it kicks off."
Youyu fully understood now.
In essence, it's a show of strength to the Ghouls, sending the message—your actions in Domino are under our watchful eye. You'd better keep it in check, don't get too arrogant.
"Usually, missions like these are only open to members who have enough tenure and excellence." President Mukuro continued, "But you are an exception. If you're willing to join, I can specially approve your participation in this action."
The trigger and process complete; the system finally displayed the task prompt to Youyu.
"Mission: Raid the Ghouls Group's stronghold!
The Ghouls Group is getting out of hand, with increasing numbers of rare card hunters appearing in Domino's streets. Someone must take action to curb their arrogance!
Team up with the 'Nightwalker World' raid squad to attack the Ghouls' stronghold. You can choose to accept or decline this mission."
Indeed, this is a task type where players can actively decide to accept or not.
Accept, of course!
Not to mention anything else, seeing a string of experience and Crystal Stones in the task reward below made Youyu feel it would be a disgrace to his conscience to decline.
Where else to find such generously rewarded tasks?
Without hesitation, Youyu nodded: "It's an honor to contribute to the organization."
President Mukuro beamed with a wide grin—though it made his already apologetic face look even more so: "Great! With you on board, I feel much more at ease."
Having swept through the Underworld for so long, President Mukuro had confidence in his strength. However, his dueling ability was utterly inadequate in front of Youyu, making him see great promise in Youyu.
In his view, unless top-tier experts like Pegasus, Kaiba Seto, and Muto Yugi were involved, most people were no match for Youyu.
...
That evening, as dusk settled, a group of Dark Duelists commenced their operation.
The target location was an abandoned warehouse at the dock... naturally with nothing particularly strange about it.
Everyone knows that abandoned warehouses at docks have long housed assorted bizarre forces, including but not limited to gangsters, terrorist organizations, aliens, supervillains...
No matter the country or background, bad guys always have a penchant for abandoned warehouses at docks.
The timing was about right.
The team leader, Kusunoki Manager, made a gesture, orders given, everyone moved in unison.
The black-clad, burly Dark Duelists infiltrated through every entrance. They smashed open doors, shattered windows, charging into the warehouse like the enemy invading a village, immediately raising Duel Discs as weapons.
For a moment, Youyu found the scene slightly amusing.
Can you imagine a group of macho men dressed like CIA agents breaking in, each eagerly brandishing their Duel Discs ready to face off in card games?
That was the sight before him now.
Yet to everyone's surprise, upon breaking doors and windows into the warehouse, it was eerily empty, not a soul in sight.
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
Could the intel be wrong?
Kusunoki Manager led the way further inside, followed by the others.
Darkness enveloped the warehouse, a musty smell permeating the space, with no trace of living souls. The moon projected a pale ray of light through the ceiling window, dust particles gently dancing in that light.
Halfway through the warehouse, they finally spotted a figure at a corner deep inside... though it was hard to say if it was even a living person.
It was a bald man, lounging limp like noodles in a dust-covered chair, his head lolling to one side.
He blinked not, stiffened muscles twisted his features. From all aspects, he resembled a corpse, though the slight rise and fall of his chest indicated his body was still fighting to breathe and sustain life.
As the group wondered what scene they were witnessing, the limp body suddenly twitched. It jumped as if electrified from the chair, limbs spasming uncontrollably, startling those around.
The bald man's spine abruptly straightened like a rod, eyes wide, a golden third eye opened on his forehead.
Then his lips moved mechanically, producing a voice not his own: "Welcome, Nightwalker World members. My name is Marik Ishtar, and what you see is one of the puppets I'm controlling. Delighted to make your acquaintance."