Noah? Noah!

Who was Gozaburo Kaiba?

The founder of the Kaiba Corporation, a self-made entrepreneur, and a politician.

Kaiba Corp was not the "card game company" card players would come to know later. It was a proper arms manufacturer.

Though the original work never went into detail about Kaiba Corp during its arms-dealing days, the early story was complete enough, and the anime's original additions and expansions showed just how absurdly massive it was.

It casually used small countries as weapons testing grounds and casually developed satellite weapons. The sheer scale of its funding and connections was utterly outrageous.

And then there was this man, practically synonymous with the words "sinister and cunning." He was dead, and he had not died peacefully.

First, he had been outmaneuvered and stripped of everything by his adopted son—Seto Kaiba, then still a villain rather than the second male lead, and the famous dragon cancer patient. Then he had been driven to his death.

As for how he died, Yu Ming could not remember. He had even forgotten whether the original work had mentioned it.

But one thing was certain: this guy had clearly been no good person.

"Hiss."

Remembering a few scattered descriptions of that guy from the anime, Yu Ming suddenly felt a toothache.

"An arms dealer who once sold weapons, created countless tragedies, and might even have had a few lives on his hands suddenly became a pillar of the resistance against the Demon King. That's just absurd."

Compared to this heavyweight, someone like Keith, who merely cheated and picked fights, was as docile as a lamb.

Damn it, how could they possibly build a proper resistance and defeat the Demon King with vermin like this around?

"There's no joke funnier than that, is there?"

"True enough."

Looking at Keith's shameless face, Yu Ming suddenly found him much more agreeable.

"So aside from Gozaburo, who else is here?"

"Like who?"

"Like that wildly imaginative president of yours in America?"

"..."

"Just kidding."

Seeing Keith's obvious stunned expression turn thoughtful, Yu Ming shook his head.

"Whoever it is, Kaiba Corporation can't possibly be the only dominant force here, right? That guy hasn't been dead for long."

Yu Ming remembered that Gozaburo had at least still been alive in the early story, and the power grab and forced takeover had also happened early in the original work.

From Seto Kaiba seizing power to the Duelist Kingdom period, when Keith was confirmed dead, and then to now, even saying a year had passed would be generous.

"What if I told you that the Kaiba Corp here wasn't actually founded by Gozaburo?"

"Hm?"

Yu Ming looked at Keith, but Keith merely studied the cramped scenery inside the elevator, as though the lights and the Kaiba Corp logo were especially fascinating.

Then, amid a somewhat eerie silence, the descending elevator suddenly stopped with a jolt.

After disinfectant mist sprayed over them, the doors slowly opened, revealing another sight hidden beneath mountains of corpses and seas of blood:

Steel.

Even from inside the elevator, one glance was enough to feel the unique chill of a steel factory.

The seemingly endless corridor, the cameras lining it, the mounted machine guns, artillery, and barricades all demonstrated the strict defenses of this place.

And beyond those defensive installations came a series of heavy footsteps.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

A flash of green light appeared, followed by a robot dressed like a commander.

"Sergeant Machine."

Yu Ming recognized the robot's original form, but Keith called it something different:

"Yo, Ota, I'm back."

The champion raised a hand in greeting, seemingly trying to convey goodwill.

Unfortunately, the robot did not seem to appreciate it.

"I heard, Keith. It seems you found nothing."

"I'm unfamiliar with this place too. You can't expect me to find what the boss wants based on a few words from other people, can you?"

Keith spoke helplessly.

But the next moment, Yu Ming noticed him patting his shoulder.

"Still, I picked someone up outside. I don't know what's been going on lately, but it feels like a lot of people have just been dying for no reason..."

"Enough. There is no need to say anything else. This is all people like you are worth."

Though his voice was clearly distorted by mechanical effects, Yu Ming could still hear a trace of mockery in it.

The robot drew the command saber at its waist and lightly gestured with it. The defensive installations, as though they possessed minds of their own, automatically opened a path.

"Lord Noah is looking for you. You can give your excuses to him personally."

Watching the mechanical figure vanish into the shadows, Yu Ming merely looked at the champion beside him.

"Your popularity doesn't seem as good as I imagined."

"Well, he's a senior executive of the corporation, one of humanity's elite. He even uses a machine double whenever he goes out. Meanwhile, I'm just a street thug."

"But theoretically, aren't you pretty strong here?"

In other settings, that sort of difference in status might have seemed quite intimidating.

But this was a world where card games had seeped into people's brains. Yu Ming truly could not bring himself to feel any respect.

"So, introduce him?"

It was not as if he absolutely needed to know the man, but he should at least know who he was.

Keith did not refuse.

"His full name is Soichiro Ota. He's the director of Kaiba Corporation's weapons factory."

"Oh..."

"What, you remember now? He's pretty famous in the news."

"No, never heard of him."

Yu Ming shook his head.

Whether it was the surname Ota or that full name, he truly could not recall anything.

"He's also one of the five major shareholders with real power in the Kaiba Corporation. Along with the others, they're called the Big Five."

"Now I get it."

Card players might not have been particularly familiar with the title Big Five, but mention one card and they would probably remember—F.G.D.

The famous Five-Headed Dragon was their card, with each head representing one powerful shareholder.

Still, just as their name implied—Big Five, big trash—depending on how one looked at it, the Five-Headed Dragon card was probably far more useful than they were.

"He's really not someone worth paying attention to."

"I can tell..."

Though his status was not low, and the anime had repeatedly implied that Seto Kaiba had only successfully seized the corporation and become a genuine "high school president" with their help...

That was all there was to it.

The anime's arrangement had obviously been somewhat mocking, but at its core, it was simply five calculating shareholders being dragged off and purged by the young and capable President.

The anime said they had lost their bodies and become lost in the virtual world, but when one thought about it carefully, hadn't they simply been disposed of?

"But the person you're about to face is no simple figure."

After coming back to himself, Yu Ming heard Keith's reminder again. It was the title Soichiro Ota had mentioned earlier.

"That 'Lord Noah'?"

Yu Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.

Within a strictly hierarchical Japanese corporation, someone addressed that way had to be someone bearing the Kaiba name.

"He is the true founder of the Kaiba Corporation here."

Noah Kaiba?

No, Yu Ming was familiar with another translation.

"Noah! Noah!"

Click.

Along with the sound of a mechanical sliding door opening, Yu Ming heard a somewhat hoarse voice.

And when he followed Keith into the room at the end of the corridor, he heard that hoarse cry.

"Someone! Someone!"

It was a crow.

The black bird circled through the room before finally landing in a boy's hand, as though guiding them.

"Noah! Noah!"

Set against that darkness were bright pale green and pure white, while the steel duel disk around his wrist hinted at something extraordinary.

"Keith, you're back. I've already read the report you sent."

After casually smoothing the crow's feathers, the boy's gaze swept over them.

"I'm very sorry to have disappointed you, but I didn't find anything in the Crimson Ruins."

"It's all right, Keith. It was only an illusory legend to begin with. It doesn't matter if you couldn't find anything."

Behind the childish voice lay elegance and maturity instilled through upbringing from a young age.

"Noah Kaiba..."

So you really are lining up here for the Resurrection Tournament, huh?