Europe, International Fantasy Association Branch.
The man was dressed in an exquisite white suit, with a black tie. He held a cane in his hand, walking with a composed and steady gait, as if merely walking exuded the confident aura of a successful person.
He stood at the base of the International Fantasy Association building, gazing at the vast sea of people before him, and smiled slightly.
The International Fantasy Association recently unearthed some supposedly remarkable items, a series of stone slabs deemed by the industry as potentially having immense potential. In the future, they might even form a Rare Card Deck, potentially causing quite a stir in the Dueling Realm.
Moreover, even if it's not a powerful series, it is already unusual for a complete system of stone slabs to be unearthed.
Duelists from the nearby region, having heard the news, all wanted to catch an early glimpse of this set of slabs, and from early morning, the area beneath the building was jam-packed.
"Please step back, step back a little..."
The security guards at the entrance were struggling to maintain order.
The man in the white suit walked through the noisy and enthusiastic crowd, smiling as he showed a card to the guard in front of him. Although it looked like a Duel Monster Card, it was actually not a card used for dueling, but a pass used exclusively by the International Fantasy Association.
The guard, seeing this, nodded to him respectfully and stepped aside. The man in the white suit walked to the turnstile at the back and gently swiped his card on the sensor.
The facilities of the International Fantasy Association are always equipped with strict security measures, especially now when important artifacts are stored within the building.
The turnstile system periodically restarts itself, with each official pass card being custom-made according to the unique code of its holder. Even the world's top experts would find it difficult to crack it easily.
However, what the man in the white suit held was not any pass issued by the Fantasy Association, but one he designed himself.
What the card could do was not limited to just gaining access. He had fully understood the operating mechanism of the lobby's security system and mastered the timing of each system restart.
And just now, he swiped the card at the exact moment the system was restarting. It's the moment when the entire system is most vulnerable, a mere brief instant, but in that instant, he injected a virus into it through the card.
The man exited the elevator on the thirteenth floor, and a few seconds later, all the elevators in the building were forcibly shut down.
By this time, they should begin to realize something was wrong. The security personnel would next try to sound the alarm immediately, but they would soon find that the system was also malfunctioning. Their communication was disrupted, unable to notify the whole unit of what happened.
Bang!
A heavy door was forcibly blasted open from the outside with astonishing impact.
The cane was the first to probe through the smoke; the man in the white suit walked in leisurely.
"Stop! Right there!"
Security personnel inside immediately pointed guns at him.
"No need to be tense, gentlemen."
Paying them no heed, the man in the white suit continued walking, smiling as he spoke.
"This is just a simple security drill."
His voice was magnetic, almost magical. The moment all the guards holding guns heard it, it was as if they were enchanted, frozen as if a stop button was pressed.
Subsequently, a faint white light flashed in their eyes, and their gaze turned vacant.
One by one, they woodenly holstered their guns and mechanically muttered.
"Yes, just a drill."
"No cause for alarm."
The man in the white suit brushed past them: "That's right."
He slowly raised his hand, and the heavy black cane gently tapped on the deepest alloy door.
With just a light tap, it seemed to possess immense force; the door gave way with a thunderous crash, the deformed door panel thudding heavily to the ground.
The man in the white suit strode in, surveying the surroundings, quickly spotting the surrounding array of stone slabs around the room. Ancient and solid, as if excavated from the forgotten dust of history.
Sealed within them were autocratic emperors, fearless warriors in the coliseum; from the simple brush-stroke illustrations on the slabs, it was as if icy, sharp glares were shooting out.
"This must be the King's Card Deck."
The man in the white suit smiled.
"Interesting. Well then, let me personally confirm this power."
He said, raising the black cane in his hand slowly.
White light emanated from the cane, ripples spreading rapidly, being absorbed into the dormant stone slabs.
Then the slabs seemed to awaken.
Those ancient warriors, the emperors who ruled over lands, each awakening from the abstract stone illustrations in the form of Duel Monsters. They hovered transparently like ghosts in mid-air, as if an army of kings had awakened across endless time restraints.
All eyes gathered on the man in the room.
The man in the white suit lowered his cane and raised his empty left hand.
He made a strong fist gesture in the air.
In an instant, it was as if a silent command was issued in the sealed room.
All images disappeared at once. Those kings and warriors were suddenly enveloped in white light, gradually disintegrating, turning into countless white light points.
Those light points slowly swirled, forming a miniature galaxy vortex in the dark room. And the hand the man raised was the center of the vortex. All light points spontaneously gathered, merging at his palm, turning back into material form.
Cards began stacking up in the man's hand, forming a Card Deck.
At this moment, voices came from outside the door.
"Stop!"
Slowly, the man in the white suit turned around, narrowing his eyes.
The newcomer was a woman. Blonde hair, dressed in a long black dress, wearing a black headband, her skin unnaturally pale.
Tilamuk, one of the top operatives of the International Fantasy Association, a Professor Card under Pegasus Nightwalker, the original holder of Cursed Vampire in the manga, and one of the professors responsible for intercepting Muto Yuugi back then.
She was also the dueling power accompanying the European excavation team this time.
"I don't know who you are," Tilamuk said, "but do you know whose territory you've come to steal from?"
She paused, glancing at the violently smashed alloy door, then at the security guards around, standing woodenly as if brainwashed, and let out a soft chuckle.
"Or perhaps, rather than theft, it's more of a blatant robbery."
The man in the white suit appeared unfazed at being caught red-handed, even looking a bit pleased upon seeing the Duel Disc on Tilamuk's arm.
"Finally, someone presentable showed up at least."
"What?" Tilamuk frowned.
The cane in the man's hand twirled lightly twice, then suddenly transformed. The mere cane unscientifically morphed into the image of a Duel Disc, attached to his arm.
He inserted the newly appeared Card Deck into the Duel Disc.
"So let's see how capable this Card Deck truly is, I'll let you help me confirm that."