Chapter 61 Metaverse Duel

Spirit Bureau, Division 5, Second Investigation Group.

Langley sat upright at the central command console in the training hall, her expression solemn as she issued instructions to her twelve elite operatives.

"Gather!"

"Prepare to log in!"

As if bound by a silent mutual understanding, for the dozens of hours following twelve noon on the first day of every month, all operations of the Clock Organization were temporarily put on hold.

This was also the calmest day or two in the entire world of Biyantana.

Upon receiving the assembly order, all the operatives of the Second Group felt a wave of relief. They filed into the training hall, took their respective positions, and one by one picked up a helmet.

The battlefield was merely shifting to another venue.

"Where is Qiqi?" Langley noticed someone was missing and raised her eyes to ask Mickey. "Didn't the two of you conduct the interrogation together just now?"

"Well," Mickey relayed, "Qiqi said she used up all her dueling energy during the interrogation, so she requested a leave of absence to go home and sleep."

"I sent the interrogation report to you."

"Fine, whatever." Langley nodded and then looked toward Le Tong. "How is the Slit-Mouthed Woman?"

Le Tong chewed on a piece of marshmallow and said leisurely, "She's got PTSD. She starts trembling just hearing the words 'Scissor Wolf'."

"Quite pathetic, really. Which Hour Hand does she belong to?"

"The wedge is an eye; she belongs to the Audience faction."

The Twelve Hour Hands were as elusive as dragons, and the deck archetypes they used were not fixed. However, their behaviors and working styles corresponded to certain professions, which earned them code names such as Writer, Audience, Doctor, Director, Puppeteer, and Traveler.

Each Hour Hand would implant a wedge into the back of the neck of the Minute Hand under their jurisdiction for control. The wedge implanted by the Hour Hand known as the [Audience] was a black metal eye.

These wedges were the core items the Spirit Bureau used to track the Hour Hands, and at the same time, they were bargaining chips.

Langley nodded and shouted to the operatives before her, "Take a break, get ready to log in."

Eleven operatives raised their hands one after another, making OK gestures.

On the first day of every month, at 13:00, the system would reset the Metaverse duel rankings, and the Duel King rank would be reset to Platinum 5.

Following the rank reset, the monthly inherent event would commence—[Rush for the Undefeated King].

Every month, the first user to achieve an undefeated run to Duel King would receive various rewards, including honorary badges, custom skins, and gold points.

Of course, this was just the superficial reward presented to the general public.

In secret, there was an unwritten rule.

The Spirit Bureau versus the Clock Organization—both sides staked chips, gambling on who could claim the first victory.

If the Spirit Bureau won, the Clock Organization had to release an informant, which colloquially meant an undercover agent whose identity had been exposed.

If the Clock Organization won, the Spirit Bureau had to return the wedges.

As for how many informants corresponded to how many wedges, the upper echelons of both sides would determine this beforehand and hand the stakes over to a third party.

Among the one million Spirit Bureau operatives worldwide, aside from routine patrols, investigating cases, tracking down targets, and handling administration, there was another extremely important task.

In the Metaverse, log in!

For ordinary diseases to spread, one had to encounter them in the physical world, but the most terrifying aspect of the Dual Shadow Disease was this:

Negative emotions could be transmitted online.

A single set of Red Trap Stun artifacts could very well drive an opponent's sanity rate down by 1%.

With billions of active users daily in the Metaverse, it was unquestionably a fiercely contested battleground.

"Xiao Wei, lock node 10-7748 for me!" Langley shouted toward Victoria.

Generally speaking, matchmaking in the Metaverse was global, but through certain technical means, the matching pool could be narrowed down.

The higher one's clearance level, the narrower the pool could be restricted—a practice collectively known as sniping.

Victoria held up a placard on which was written: "Okay."

Due to physical reasons, Victoria had difficulty speaking fluently and usually communicated by holding up written signs.

"Xiao Wei, lock node 5-1114 for me."

"I'll take node 7-6654."

The other operatives also called out their respective targets one after another, as if they had prior engagements with old foes—see you at the usual spot.

Including the squad leader, twelve helmets connected to the duel disks, lighting up in succession.

"Ten minutes left," Langley said. "Start warming up."

"Connection commencing!"

"Second Group will triumph!" With the exception of Xiao Wei, all the operatives of the Second Investigation Group raised their hands and shouted in unison.

Naturally, their goal wasn't actually to rush for an undefeated run; they were well aware of their own limitations.

Their goal was—to prevent the other side from getting an undefeated run.

Achieving an undefeated run oneself versus preventing the opponent from achieving one were not on the same order of magnitude in terms of difficulty.

Duelists bearing the mark of the Clock would be prioritized for matching against duelists bearing the mark of the Spirit Bureau. If a match could not be found within thirty seconds, they would be paired with public users.

Duelists with the same mark would not be matched against each other.

This was also part of the unwritten rules, designed to prevent match-fixing.

On the other side, Li Guanqi looked at the loading progress bar of the projected Metaverse, feeling as though he were staring at a beast riding a skateboard.

Did a first-time login really take this long?

He grew idle enough to pick up his phone, taking advantage of these few minutes to catch up on *Duel Fairies* and finish watching that specific match—[The Duel Against the God].

"Xi'er—" Li Guanqi shouted into the hall before he even started reading.

[I am here. Is there anything you require?]

"Is there food?"

[We have fruit platters, roasted meat, and hamburgers.]

"Xi'er—"

[I am here. Is there anything you require?]

"Is there anything to drink?"

[We have all varieties of fruit juice, milk tea, and water.]

"Xi'er—"

[Sir, if you have requests, you may state them all at once.]

"Thank you."

Upon hearing this expression of gratitude, Xi'er paused for a moment. Then, she turned her head away, a hint of a remarkably human, shy smile tugging at the corners of her lips, much like someone looking at an endearing novice.

[I will go prepare the meals.]

She nodded gently and turned to leave the room.

Preparing food and water before diving hard into a gaming session was Li Guanqi's habit.

He looked back down at his phone, scrolling through *Duel Fairies* until he reached the part where the "Puppeteer" entered the stage.

In this chapter of the plot, it was this very Puppeteer who lured everyone in and trapped them within the ruins, unable to leave themselves, ultimately forcing them to step up and challenge the Divine Pharaoh.

"Well, well—"

Li Guanqi realized this Puppeteer had some genuine skill, standing a tier higher than the previous challengers.

Given that the Divine Pharaoh went first, if the Pot card resolved, victory was assured. But even if the Pot was negated by Ash Blossom, there were still a second and third Pot.

How on earth was one supposed to win this?

The Puppeteer provided his own solution: use PSY-Framegear Gamma to negate one Pot, use Big Welcome to summon Lovely Labrynth and pop a card from the hand, use Lord of the Heavenly Prison to pop another hand card, use Coral Dragon to pop another, and use the Butler to set a trap and pop yet another.

During the Divine Pharaoh's first turn, strip away all five cards in the Divine Pharaoh's hand.

Zero hand cards on the first turn.

Yet the Puppeteer still lost. Stripping all five cards from the Divine Pharaoh's hand and still losing.

Because the card popped by Lovely Labrynth was [Spore], and the Divine Pharaoh used [Spore] to send [Shadow Imprisoning Mirror / Shadow-Weaving Beast] to the graveyard, triggering its effect to revive and start a full combo.

"As expected of you, Lovely Labrynth." Li Guanqi chuckled softly, then paused as a thought struck him. "Wait, why does she even have Lovely Labrynth?!"

[Ding—]

[Metaverse loading complete]

"Forget it, time to play cards!" Li Guanqi's eyes lit up as he let out a joyful yelp. "For a new user logging in, they should at least hand out a hundred free draws!"

According to his simple and unpretentious values,

playing cards online should be like Master Duel—new users are given some virtual currency, you grind through the tutorial missions using a starter deck, build a cohesive deck out of your initial resources, and then hit the ranked ladder.

[Connection successful]

[Humble Silkworm User]

[Welcome to]

[The Metaverse]

[Node: 14号-5678]

"Hiss—" Li Guanqi stared at the bustling sea of people, feeling as though he were in another world, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Impressive, this technology."

The newbie clicked his tongue in wonder.

The Metaverse possessed a certain degree of spiritual impact; Epic-tier cards could knock a person unconscious right through an internet cable, and even higher spiritual fluctuations could cause node malfunctions.