The Lower City Area that had experienced hours of riots was finally met with a crackdown by the police.
Originally, thanks to the presence of the "Earthbound Geoglyph," the ordinary people in the Lower City Area could steal life energy from the police, thus wearing them down until they collapsed.
According to Shinji's plan, at the beginning, many of their comrades might fall, but as long as enough police were defeated, stealing their decks and using them to resist, the advantage would grow larger and larger.
After all, compared to the nobles of the Upper City Area who made up only 1% of the population, they, the bottom 99%, were the majority in this world.
No sacrifice, no victory, so the strategy was to exhaust them.
During this period, he kept doing this. The cards in the hands of their resistance army grew stronger and stronger.
But today, when the Upper Area genuinely "got serious," he suddenly realized things weren't as good as he imagined.
Those security police not only brought out stronger cards but also broke many of the targeted cards specifically prepared to counter Synchro Monsters. Furthermore, some odd security police seemed entirely unaffected by fatigue, hunting down all lower-class comrades ruthlessly like machines.
Even if several people attacked the same opponent, it was surprisingly difficult.
Moreover, the number of police suddenly increased as if cloned, resulting in many police chasing the same person and overwhelming them.
This was completely beyond Shinji's expectations.
What's worse, during their duels with the security police, they had relied on the understanding of the Earthbound Geoglyph, knowing how to cause physical damage using it, thus facilitating combat.
But today, several police officers could summon strange robots outside the geo's range to cause physical damage, directly destroying roads and even indiscriminately harming civilians.
Damned! Damned!
He slammed on the handle, then noticed a police officer closing in behind him, firing a shot that blasted the road ahead into an uneven mess, nearly causing him to crash.
"Bastard—" Shinji's Dark Mark on his left hand began to glow.
He knew his Dark Mark was the lowest tier, but he didn't care about such things. As long as he could resist, as long as he could let the Upper Area's trash see their anger, even the weakest power, he was willing to accept.
However, even after successfully defeating one security policeman, more of them immediately chased after him.
Damn it—
Seeing himself about to be surrounded by three vehicles, Shinji's expression turned particularly grim. Just as he resolved to use the Earthbound Geoglyph and sacrifice his life and soul, a voice echoed from the sky.
"Don't be reckless!"
He looked up to see a giant "Blackbird" descending, causing an explosion that forced some police officers back.
"Shinji!"
Shinji turned to see his familiar friend.
Crow.
At this moment, his black motorcycle had sprouted wings on both sides, functioning like wings to aid Crow's flight.
"Shinji, your plan failed. Hurry and get everyone to leave, hide, and think of a new strategy!"
"Impossible, after mobilizing so many people, even if it means death, we must make those Upper Area bastards feel pain!"
"It's useless!" Crow quickly interrupted his irresponsible declaration, "Haven't you noticed? Many of those security police are not even 'human'! Some are robots, while others are ordinary police manipulated by strange powers. Your actions will only harm ordinary people and those regular working police officers!
No matter how many comrades die, exchanging lives with a few robots is meaningless!
Think it through, Shinji!"
Robots?!
He snapped back to reality, turning his head to look at the pursuing police, finally understanding why his companions couldn't steal life energy and kept getting weaker...
"Damn the upper-class people, how far do they plan to deceive us!" Shinji angrily slammed on his D-wheel's display screen.
Seeing his reaction, Crow felt he might somewhat grasp the situation, turned to glance to the side, and saw a group of police surrounding a child on the road, quickly turned his vehicle: "Shinji, those guys are catching a child—"
"Catching a child?" Shinji heard Crow's words and suddenly seemed to grasp a lifeline, "Ah, right, there's that move?!"
"What? Shinji?" Crow was shocked, widening his eyes, turning to look at Shinji, only to see his eyes completely replaced by black, the Dark Mark on his left arm becoming clearly visible.
What does this mean—
Before Crow could react, Shinji directly turned around, abandoning his escape, speeding towards the Upper City Area.
Crow watched his fading figure in a daze, then heard a girl's scream, shook his head fiercely, and reactivated the glider function of his D-wheel.
Initially, the flight function of his "Blackbird" was supposed to need more preparation time, but Tenjo Hikari had helped modify the machine earlier, allowing it to be used in such situations.
He jumped from the upper road, relying on the power of flight, descending below.
Thunk.
"Eh?"
"It's Crow—"
Several police officers recognized Crow.
And Crow recognized the surrounded little girl: "Rin? What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you and Yugo to hide well today!!?"
Crow was a bit angry.
Although her clothing was different, a bizarre purple uniform, Crow didn't think much of it.
"Hey! Crow, this girl is a criminal ordered by the bosses for arrest. You'd better not meddle!"
"What? Rin is only fourteen; how could she be a criminal—" Though Crow had been invincible in the Lower City at fourteen with his friends, the expectations for kids weren't as high. He instantly accelerated, frightening several police officers to make way.
Then, Crow quickly grabbed the girl and made off amid the stunned police.
"Do we chase?"
"You chase if you want, haven't you seen Chief Ushio slack off?"
The police casually remarked.
"Let me go!" On the other side, the girl on the vehicle fiercely beat Crow's back.
"Stop it, Rin! Hurry and follow me—"
"I'm not Rin; I'm Serena! I'm not the person you mentioned."
Who?
Crow was momentarily at a loss.
"Let me go quickly, Ruri, Ruri fell somewhere!!"
Who is Ruri?!
At this moment...
Yusei moved his limbs, feeling his body being completely under his control again, preparing to go out for a test drive when something strange suddenly fell from the sky.
Bang—
A black-haired girl fell from the sky, crashing into a pile of trash.
"Rin? No, that's not right..." Though she looked similar, it wasn't her.
He looked at the girl with puzzlement.
Meanwhile, there was much commotion outside, clearly coming to capture this girl.
She's not Rin, so where is Rin?
He furrowed his brows; if she was being hunted, then Rin, who looked identical...
Might also be mistaken for her and pursued, right?