Main Quest Item?

In Yu Ming's view, the seating arrangement around the round table was actually quite interesting.

First were Sergeant Machine Soichiro Ota, Nightmare Penguin, Deepsea Warrior, The Judgement, and Jinzo, all seated together.

Meanwhile, the Nine-Tailed Fox and Red Oni sat relatively close to each other, while a loyal guard stood behind the small, frail demon.

There were also zombies, skeletons, Taoists, and ninjas.

At a glance, the seating seemed chaotic, but a closer look revealed the factions within it.

"Yokai, demons, zombies..."

These nonhuman beings clearly had factions of their own, but the humans... or rather, the "humans" Yu Ming knew were not entirely united either.

The widely known Big Five formed their own faction, while Keith sat closer to that wild, unnamed fisherman, though they were clearly more independent.

And finally, there was Noah Kaiba...

"What is it? Just find a seat anywhere."

Though he said that, when Yu Ming looked at him, he realized Noah had positioned himself precisely between those "factions."

So this was what you meant by "anywhere," huh?

Rolling his eyes, Yu Ming followed suit and found a relatively independent seat.

Noah then withdrew his gaze and raised a hand to operate the device on his wrist.

Before Yu Ming could continue surveying the room, a device rose from the center of the table, followed by...

Bzzzz.

A projection unfolded, and an utterly unfamiliar green map appeared in the center.

He recognized none of the surrounding areas, but New Domino City's location was clearly marked on it.

"I believe everyone understands the current situation. Not only has the frontline Defense Zone been destroyed, but our city was also attacked at the same time. I believe you have all encountered the invaders to varying degrees."

Noah spoke.

"While New Domino City is not quite in ruins, there are still many issues that need to be resolved. So I hope everyone will speak freely."

By the time Yu Ming came back to his senses, he felt as though he had seamlessly entered some sort of circle.

So my introduction got skipped?

Yu Ming wanted to complain about it, but he actually quite liked this arrangement.

No nonsense, no pleasantries. It was not entirely substantive, but at least there was none of that messy, irritating intrigue.

"Yu Ming, what do you think about this situation?"

"?"

So you were starting with me, huh?

When Yu Ming looked at Noah, he only saw that unchanged, almost formulaic gentle expression.

"You fought alongside me before. I would like to hear your opinion."

Yet in stark contrast to Noah's mild attitude were the looks from everyone around them.

Including the nonhuman yokai and demons, those probing, scrutinizing gazes made him feel as though he had been placed over a fire.

"I just got here, okay? I don't know anything about the situation here."

Forget understanding it—he had not even had a proper look around this so-called New Domino City.

But...

"If I had to mention something, there is one thing that concerns me."

"What is it?"

"The timing."

Yu Ming spoke.

"If I remember correctly, you received a phone call at the time."

"Yes, that was Ota reporting to me."

He looked toward the "Sergeant Machine" present, who nodded.

"At that time, demons suddenly invaded the city through one of the passages."

"And after that, we were attacked."

"What?"

A clear note of astonishment emerged from that muffled, speaker-like voice.

Soichiro Ota could not help looking at Noah, only to see the boy slowly nod.

"That is true, but we have already dealt with it."

Noah made it sound casual, but the crushing weight of reality silently settled over the entire meeting room.

The meeting room, which had still contained faint murmurs, abruptly fell silent.

Amid that silence, only Yu Ming's voice, stating the facts and his thoughts, echoed through the room.

"I don't know about anything else, but I think this is strange."

Yu Ming shrugged as he looked around at the increasingly grim expressions of the humans and nonhuman races.

"How should I put this? It is as if they knew this city inside and out, as if they knew where Noah was from the start. Combined with the news that the frontline Defense Zone was breached, this becomes... very interesting."

And following that line of thought led easily to a conclusion:

"There is a mole."

Keith sneered.

"And one who knows the city's and Defense Zone's secrets."

That bomb dropped by the American exploded, adding a suffocating, burning pain to the already heavy atmosphere.

No one wanted to speak at that moment. Nearly everyone looked at one another.

Humans, yokai, demons, zombies.

What spread through the meeting room now was not unity or righteous outrage, but a faint yet palpable hostility.

And under such circumstances, there was only one thing that could quickly resolve the situation:

"Enough."

Noah spoke, breaking up the argument that seemed as though it would never end.

"There is no point in continuing to argue like this."

"But Lord Noah, if we do not handle this matter quickly, there may be serious trouble later."

The one who spoke was the penguin.

Of course, technically speaking, he was not a real penguin.

Yu Ming remembered his identity—Shuzo Otaki, former head of personnel at Kaiba Corporation and one of the Big Five.

"If there is a mole within the group, it means all our plans and secrets are exposed right under the enemy's nose!"

The penguin jumped up and screamed.

"Forget that this is a life-or-death crisis—even in business competition, this would be unacceptable!"

"Then, Mr. Otaki, tell me—what result can we achieve through arguing alone?"

"This..."

Faced with Noah's calm question, the penguin's agitation abruptly stopped.

Whether from shame or humiliation, a bead of cold sweat involuntarily trickled down his head.

"I apologize, Lord Noah. I was simply too anxious."

"There is no need to be anxious, Mr. Otaki. Catching the mole is actually very simple, but right now, I would like to discuss something else first."

Noah said with a smile, calming his subordinate.

He then operated his wrist device, and the projected map changed along with it.

"According to the message O'Brien sent an hour ago, the Necromancer King's army has completely broken through our mech Defense Zone, and the joint defensive line we constructed has also been torn apart."

As he spoke, a filthy darkness appeared on the map. Like ink dripping onto white paper, it slowly spread and flowed, advancing toward the city below at a visible pace.

The target was obvious.

"So, they intend to launch a massive assault on this city?"

Yu Ming asked.

"Yes."

"Then what we experienced earlier was merely an appetizer."

"Yes. Their regular army will arrive in another two hours."

As his thoughts became clearer, that simple plan gradually surfaced.

"I see. First, they tried to take the initiative through assassination, then their regular army launched a long-distance raid..."

Yu Ming gradually understood everything.

But precisely because of that, he did not know what to say for a moment.

How should he put it?

"That is quite a show of force. The Necromancer King really thinks highly of you."

Faced with Yu Ming's clearly teasing tone, Noah could only return a helpless smile.

"You know what it relies on to create such a spectacle."

"Red-Eyes."

After all, this scenario was called Legend of Red-Eyes Undead. This thing was clearly an important main quest item and clue, and everything naturally revolved around it.

"Ten years ago, he used the Red-Eyes he obtained to sweep across the Underworld, becoming the King of the Dead he is today. Because of that, knowing the power of the Dragon Eyes, he would never allow the other eye to fall under the control of his enemies."

At this point, Noah suddenly smiled.

"Come to think of it, you have probably always had this question, haven't you?"

"Huh?"

"The demons are all so fierce, each of them possessing the power to fly through the sky and burrow through the earth, yet we have been able to resist them until now and even build such a massive city."

"By playing cards?"

"..."

Yu Ming's brief response without the slightest hesitation froze Noah's smile.

"That... is indeed one reason."

The boy clearly seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he merely sighed.

Still, having said this much, what he wanted to convey was already obvious.

"I possess another Red-Eyes."

"Oh, badass."

"..."