Chapter 41: Field Card — Bet Your Soul!

"A duel?" Li Guanqi was taken aback, not expecting such a response.

This strange world was not an animated series, yet it shared the same spiritual tradition. Saving the world through card games?

"The headquarters has apprehended those pathogens several times," Mickey shrugged, "but unfortunately, we lost the containment duels, and they managed to escape."

"There was one lunatic who even came knocking at our door to challenge us."

"Wow," Li Guanqi remarked, "you guys really blew your chances."

"Not exactly. The one who challenged us was beaten to a pulp, so he ended up surrendering anyway."

"So the Spirit Detention Bureau still has some talent, then."

"Of course! The universally acknowledged strongest duelist is our Bureau's King Hand!"

Li Guanqi's eyes lit up. "The strongest duelist?" He was curious about how this world defined strength.

"Look at this." Mickey pulled out his smartphone and opened the Dungeon Bounty Board. "This is a bounty issued by the Bell Organization."

Li Guanqi glanced at it, and the bounty amounts for the top three shocked him.

Rank 1: The avatar is a figure in black robes with cyan eyes. Bounty: 5.04 billion.

Rank 2: The avatar is a Narcissus mermaid. Bounty: 1.527 billion.

Rank 3: The avatar is the "Glacial Beasted King of the Super-Trident," the Branded High Spirit. Bounty: 888 million.

"Do they not provide photos for these bounties?" Li Guanqi asked, surprised and confused. With only an avatar, how are bounty hunters supposed to catch them?

"I don't know," Mickey shrugged. "I only know that the first-ranked is our Bureau's King Hand; I don't recognize the second or third."

Li Guanqi looked at the Narcissus mermaid and then back at the first-ranked avatar. "Is there someone even stronger than that mermaid?"

The avatars for the second and third ranks hinted at their deck themes, but the first-ranked avatar wasn't even a card, making it impossible to guess. Cyan eyes... surely it couldn't be a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?

*Ding—*

The Dungeon Bounty page refreshed. A familiar avatar appeared before them.

"Huh?"

"Huh!"

"Don't panic!" Mickey stabilized Li Guanqi's nerves first. "Maybe it's just a coincidence. Let's click on it and see."

He tapped on the third-ranked rookie bounty avatar to view the details. It read:

ID: Civilian 0748. Bounty: 300,000. Alive only.

Below it was a dashing photo of Li Guanqi—one that Mickey had taken himself.

"Hiss—" Both of them gasped and leaned back in tactical retreat.

"Buddy, you've debuted."

"300,000 for a debut? The future looks bright."

Li Guanqi looked hopeless. "This isn't exactly the kind of debut I wanted. Am I in danger now?"

"Don't be afraid, don't be impatient," Mickey consoled. "Once we enter the main city, the Spirit Detention Bureau will protect you."

"And before we get in?"

"Before we get in..."

*Vroom—* A thunderous roar of an engine erupted from the left end of the Bridge of the Beyond. A dilapidated car at the bridgehead, driven by some mysterious force, eerily roared to life. It accelerated violently, charging straight toward them. The engine scream grew wilder, the tires screeching against the pavement, accompanied by the rhythmic ticking of a time bomb.

The two took a deep breath, sprinted toward the main city district, and shouted in unison, "Run!"

"Unlock these handcuffs!"

"If you run, how am I supposed to hand you over?"

"Then use whatever tricks you have! Argh, it's catching up!"

"I'm an intelligence officer, for crying out loud!"

"How are you so useless?"

"Stop yelling! Use that move of yours that tore apart eighteen gang members!"

"I don't know how!"

"How are you useless too!"

The two deadbeats sprinted for their lives, shouting insults the whole way, until they finally dove into the main city's barrier.

*BOOM—*

The driverless, rusted car smashed into the barrier and exploded.

Bai Zhi leaned against the bridge railing, looking down at her broken pocket watch before glancing up at Li Guanqi, her face flushing slightly. "Even running for your life looks so cool." She smiled, turned, and walked toward the satellite district, slowly disappearing into the distance.

"Phew—" Li Guanqi hunched over, panting. "I'm not going to have to live like this every single day, am I?" Being a wanted criminal was way too intense.

"Don't be afraid..." Mickey gasped for air. "Trust the Spirit Detention Bureau."

Li Guanqi added, "I was wearing a mask. How did they recognize me?"

"Wait, do you have a bounty on your head too?" He now suspected the driverless car had been after Mickey.

"Cough—" Mickey coughed heavily. "I'm in the lowest tier. Just 5,000."

"Not even worth as much as that bomb."

"A total loser," Li Guanqi concluded.

Mickey raised his hand, still panting. "It's fine. I'm really good at taking photos. Look, very photogenic." He pointed at Li Guanqi's bounty photo, shamelessly boasting.

To be fair, the photo was actually quite good; it had a certain seductive charm to it.

"Then thank you very much!" Li Guanqi spat out.

A commotion erupted in the distance. The two looked over to see Chu Zhan pursuing a man with a twisted, ferocious expression. The man stumbled wildly down the street, knocking over several pedestrians.

"Sanity rating at 40%. He’s about to have a full-blown episode!" Chu Zhan communicated through his headset to Le Tong. "Clear out the 16th Street."

Le Tong and her robots quickly set up a perimeter at both ends of the street as pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way. The infected man's movements became increasingly frantic; his fingernails grew longer, his skin took on an unnatural bluish-black hue, and dark, sunken circles appeared around his eyes.

"Don't you need to help?" Li Guanqi asked instinctively.

"It's fine," Mickey said calmly. "Trust Brother Zhan."

The infected man moved with astonishing speed, grabbing a passing female student and pressing his sharp nails against her pale neck.

"Give me the inhibitor!" the man roared, his voice hoarse like a dying beast.

Mickey remained relaxed, even pulling out his camera to aim at the scene.

"Aren't you worried about someone getting hurt?" Li Guanqi frowned. The man's nails were digging into her skin, and this guy was still taking pictures?

Mickey smiled. "Then you need to watch closely. The Spirit Detention Bureau is fundamentally different from the Fortress Squads."

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, focusing on the hostage situation. Chu Zhan’s pupils constricted as he pressed a button on the Spirit Summoner on his left wrist.

A cold, mechanical voice announced:

[Chain Domain - Bet Your Soul!]

[Activation]

An invisible ripple expanded from Chu Zhan as the center. The streets, buildings, and pedestrians all distorted and warped within the ripple, ultimately dissolving into a void of dark space.

Chu Zhan and the infected man were forced into a one-on-one confrontation.

*Beep—*

Chu Zhan’s Spirit Summoner emitted a long, sustained beep before switching into duel disk mode.

To escape the containment domain, one must defeat the initiator—through a duel.

"As if I'm afraid of you!" The infected man’s eyes flashed with malice as he deployed his own duel disk.

"Duel!" (X2)

[The first move goes to]

[The Red Side]

[Duel Start]

As the cold voice of the automated referee faded, Li Guanqi stood in a daze. At that moment, he finally understood the fundamental difference between the Spirit Detention Bureau and people like Qin Dongzhu.

It was this forced-duel domain card.

If Qin Dongzhu had this card, he wouldn't have been swarmed by the gang; he could have simply picked one person to enter the domain, turning raw violence into a duel. If you were invincible in a duel, you were invincible in reality.

At that moment, Li Guanqi felt an unprecedented desire for something. He vowed to himself: He had to join the Spirit Detention Bureau and get his hands on a domain card.