Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1723 You're no longer human!
"Has the duel begun?" When Judai and Asuka arrived, they saw John and Keith Hunter facing off, about to begin their duel.

"These strange devices are all..." Asuka looked at the many capsule devices placed in this vast space with a puzzled expression. Although she couldn't see the spirits inside, considering what John had mentioned earlier about the capture of the [Jade Beast - Blue Pegasus], she asked Jaden to confirm her guess, "Jaden, could it be that these devices are all holding card spirits?"

“Yes, although we don’t know the principle behind it, the spirits are all bound to those devices. Not only John’s [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus], but also many other spirits.” Looking at the devices above their heads, Jaden said, “And they all look like they’re in a lot of pain.”

"I see. Hey kid, you must be Jaden Yuki, right? You seem to be highly regarded, but you don't look that impressive to me. After all, you needed help just to get to me." Keith Hunter noticed Jaden and his companion the moment they arrived. Hearing Jaden's words, he sneered, "And this is nothing. If this is considered painful, then this must be excruciating."

As he spoke, he pressed a button on the handle of a leather whip at his waist. Instantly, the room was illuminated by the capsule devices that suddenly lit up. The bright light came from the electric current emitted from inside the capsule devices. Stimulated by the leaping lightning, Asuka found that she could actually see the card spirits that she couldn't see before!

"Hmph, if only people like us can see spirits, how can I prove the authenticity of these Duel Monster cards that were originally just ordinary Duel Monster cards but have become quite rare because they house spirits?" Keith Hunter proudly introduced, "Lady over there, come and admire the lifelike appearance of these Duel Monsters, which far surpasses what the virtual projection system in Duel can reproduce."

"These capsules are specially made to capture Pokémon. Because they require manual locking before use, they are limited equipment that can only be used by special ability users like me and those two kids over there who can see Pokémon. They also have the function of interfering with the magnetic field by stimulating the electric current, so that the Pokémon inside, which was originally invisible to ordinary people, can be revealed and made visible to ordinary people."

"Isn't this amazing? Even if a Duel Monster has a Spirit residing within it, most people can only see its movements as stiff and puppet-like in the virtual projection of the duel. The virtual projection that performs special actions under the control of a Spirit is only available to a select few who can see the Spirit."

"But as you can see, this thing perfectly recreates the vivid image of the card sprite. Isn't this technology far superior to that of the famous Seahorse Group?"

“But just for that reason, you imprisoned the elves in those cramped spaces!” John said angrily. “If you could see the elves, you should be able to hear their cries of agony! Your actions have brought them suffering!”

However, Keith Hunter remained unmoved by John's rebuke. He even picked at his ear out of boredom, and after John finished speaking, he flicked his ear away, revealing a contemptuous expression: "So what? What do I care about the life or death of those elves?"

“Oh, I forgot to mention, the magnetic field and current that reveal these sprites don’t actually harm them much—at least compared to the effects of the capsule itself,” Keith Hunter sneered. “The sprites trapped inside these capsules will die from ‘oxygen deprivation.’”

As they were talking, inside a capsule high up behind Keith Hunter, the card sprite of the [Baby Cockroach] was stimulated by the electric current and manifested, but it just lay helplessly at the bottom of the capsule, struggling to grab onto something but unable to break free from the capsule's confinement. Under everyone's gaze, it actually turned into specks of light and dissipated!?
“【Baby Cockroach】?!” John’s eyes widened. Although he had witnessed human life and death before, this was the first time he had seen a card sprite “die.” His left fist clenched tightly as he gritted his teeth and said, “Keith Hunter! How dare you!”

"It's such an interesting struggle, and you're really wasting your rare talent by not being able to enjoy it." Seeing John's anger, Keith Hunter, while inwardly gloating that his tactic of provoking John had been so easily achieved, didn't forget to add fuel to the fire, "But shouldn't you be worried about your pet's condition?"

"It's just a little baby and it lasted for almost ten minutes. The perseverance of [Baby Cockroach] has even increased. But how long can [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] last? Fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes? At least I've never seen a Pokémon that can last more than half an hour. I hope [Jade Beast] can show the tenacity that matches its great name."

That being said, Keith Hunter didn't intend to torture [Sapphire Beast - Pegasus] to death. After all, his real goal wasn't so much [Sapphire Beast], but rather [Ultimate Sapphire God - Rainbow Dragon] in John's possession. And to obtain [Ultimate Sapphire God - Rainbow Dragon], [Sapphire Beast] was also necessary. All he needed was to use [Sapphire Beast - Pegasus] to force John Anderson into a duel.

“Sapphire isn’t my pet, he’s an important member of my family!” After correcting Keith Hunter, John looked at the [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] trapped in the capsule in the air, panting heavily and looking very uncomfortable. “Wait a moment, Sapphire, I’ll be right there to rescue you.”

"Hmph, do you think you can do that?" Keith Hunter preemptively drew his card, seizing the first move. "I've got the first move. Let's begin the pleasant hunt! John Anderson—my turn, draw!"

Keith Hunt: 4000LP, hand 5→6

After gaining the initiative, Keith glanced at the card he had just drawn, proudly placing it on the field and saying, "I really did draw a pretty good card right off the bat. I'll set one card face down and then activate the Spell Card [Hand Elimination]!"

“Both players discard all their cards from their hands, and then each draw the number of cards from their decks equal to the number of cards they discarded to the graveyard.” Without hesitation, Keith Hunter sent the remaining four cards from his hand to the graveyard. “So, because I discarded four cards, I can draw four cards.”

“Me too.” John glanced at the [Jade Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle], [Jade Beast - Emerald Turtle], and [Jade Beast - Amethyst Cat] in his original hand and apologized to them, “Sorry everyone, I’m sending you to the graveyard right off the bat.”

"There's nothing we can do about it." "Just remember to get us out of here as soon as possible." "Let's get Sapphire back first."

The various [Jade Beasts] did not blame John, who had done nothing wrong. They each offered John a word of encouragement before entering the cemetery.

However, John only drew four cards.

"Huh? Why did you only draw four cards?" Keith Hunter was puzzled, seeing that John had also sent all his cards to the graveyard, but only drew four cards.

Just then, a bright eye suddenly opened in the shadow beneath John's feet, and the number of eyes multiplied rapidly as if they were copies. John then explained, "Although I did lose all five cards in my hand just now, one of the cards was not sent to the graveyard with the effect of [Hand Elimination]. Instead, I chained it to your activation of [Hand Elimination], and I sent it to the graveyard to activate its effect."

"During both players' turns, I send this [G-Crypto] card from my hand to the Graveyard to activate its effect. During this turn, its effect applies. Each time my opponent Special Summons a monster, I can draw one card from my Deck."

John Anderson: 4000LP, hand 5→4→4

"Can I draw cards just by Special Summoning a monster? Tch, disgusting cards, and those things aren't cockroaches, are they?" Keith Hunter glanced at the unidentified entity in the shadows at John's feet, then waved his hand. "Anyway, I'll activate my face-down card in my back row first—the Spell Card [Monster Resurrection]!"

“This card can Special Summon a monster from both players’ Graveyards to my field. I heard what your spirit said, which means you sent a monster card to the Graveyard, right? And it was definitely one of those ‘Crystal Beasts.’” Pointing to John’s Graveyard, Keith Hunter said smugly, under John’s wide, angry gaze. “Then I’ll take your precious monsters!” “Awaken, ‘Crystal Beasts’!”

With the power of [Monster Resurrection], Keith Hunter randomly selected a card from John's graveyard for Special Summon. A green emerald first appeared on Keith Hunter's field, and then limbs and a head emerged from the turtle shell beneath the emerald.

“Although I did say ‘remember to get us out of here as soon as possible,’ I’ve only just entered the cemetery and haven’t even had a chance to find a good spot to rest yet. How did you manage to get me out so quickly, Johnny? You could have taken your time.”

Stretching leisurely, the Jade Beast - Emerald Turtle, completely unaware of the situation, slowly looked at the other side: "But then again, why me? Anyway, let me see what kind of weird opponent I'm going to face this time."

After the Jade Beast - Emerald Turtle's small eyes clearly saw the person standing opposite it, it was stunned: "John? Why are you standing on the other side?"

"Wait a minute, if it wasn't John who summoned me, then who was it that specially summoned me from the graveyard—"

"Hmph, so this is the [Crystal Beast] card? Just looking at the card, you can't tell that it was a gem before it was made into a Duel Monster card." Keith Hunter looked at the effect of [Crystal Beast - Emerald Turtle], which had been transferred from John's graveyard to his Duel Disk due to the effect of [Monster Resurrection]. "It feels pretty good. Looks like you take good care of the card."

As he spoke, Keith Hunter pressed the card "Crystal Beast - Emerald Turtle" on the Duel Disk and roughly turned it to face the direction of the card: "I Special Summon 'Crystal Beast - Emerald Turtle' from my opponent's Graveyard in Defense Position."

【Jade Beast - Jade Turtle】【3☆/Water】

[Aquarium/Effect]

[600/2000]

"You better watch your cards!" John yelled angrily at Keith Hunter, drawing a card from his deck. "Even if Emerald, whom you Special Summoned, is my family, because it was you who Special Summoned him, I can draw a card under the effect of [G-Spell Multiplier]!"

John Anderson: 4000LP, hand 4→5

“The cards you’re reluctant to use might get kicked around in someone else’s hands.” Even after John warned him, Keith Hunter continued to do as he pleased. “Then next is my Normal Summon, Defense Position Normal Summon [Thousand-Armed God].

【Thousand-Armed God】【4☆/Light】

[Angel Race/Effect]

[1400/1000]

"Furthermore, based on the effect of [Thousand-Handed God], this card can only be activated when it is Normal or Flip Summoned, allowing me to add one Ritual Monster from my Deck to my hand. I add the Ritual Monster [Demon Descent] to my hand."

Seeing the bronze statue that appeared on Keith Hunter's field, John could only feel disgust: "A light-attribute angel like you using such a monster, don't you find it ironic?"

"Not at all, I'm actually quite pleased with myself." The shameless Keith Hunter was completely unaffected by John's words, and he said matter-of-factly, "In the end, a card is just a card, even a card with a spirit residing in it is still just a card. All that talk about the connection between people and cards is just bullshit."

"No way! What makes you think you can deny the connection between the duelist and the dueling monster's heart? What right do you have to say such a thing!"

Hearing John's words, Keith Hunter sneered and pointed a thumb at himself: "Qualifications? I think the talent we share is a rare qualification in itself, isn't it? Are you trying to say that a brat who can't even see elves thinks that spending a lot of time with a card makes him a close friend who can communicate with it telepathically? Stop talking such laughable nonsense!"

"Humans treat Duel Monster cards merely as tools, or as sculptures they can modify to create any shape they desire—parents, friends, or family. But I ask you, what right do they have to claim a spiritual connection with the cards when they can't even see the spirits?" After a pause, Keith Hunter suddenly uttered something that infuriated John like never before, "Like that brat who calls 'Fall Guy' his friend."

"How did you know?!" At first, John thought Keith Hunter might have overheard their conversation on the way here, but when Keith Hunter pulled out a [Jack-o'-the-Bean] card from his pocket, and next to the card was a [Jack-o'-the-Bean] sprite that was unable to leave the card and could only be tossed around in the air with the card's movement, John immediately understood. "Could it be that you were the one who stole the other person's card back then?!"

"What do you take other people's treasures for! Do you treat friendship like a toy! What's so funny about toying with other people's bonds!"

"You're no longer human!"

　Arknights is really something else. Following the Alipay leak incident, their collaboration with Mujica has also been leaked through an interview with Shanghai TV.

　　And, although Mujica's views have surpassed 100 million, is it highly likely that the earliest banner for mobile game players to pull for Mujica will be the Arknights collaboration banner? That would be incredibly powerful.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)