Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1726 Trust John, for trust needs no reason.
John Anderson: 4000LP, 3 in hand

【Jade Beast - Yellow Jade Tiger】【ATK1600】

【Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth】【ATK1700】

【Jade Beast - Amethyst Cat】【ATK1200】

Backstage: [Bridge of the Heart] [Jewel Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle]

Keith Hunt: 4000LP, 1 in hand

Keith Hunter, with his entire board empty and only one [Summon Demon] in hand, blinked, completely bewildered as to how he had ended up in this predicament. Just moments ago he had the upper hand, how could that brat be about to annihilate him in the blink of an eye?
As John's declaration entered the battle phase, he hurriedly said, "Wait, wait a minute!"

"Hey kid, are you really going to attack? I've already captured your pet, haven't I? In your hyper-realistic pretend play game, you call this [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] 'Family,' right?" Keith Hunter threatened, pointing at the [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] beside him. "Aren't you afraid I'll take it down? No matter how fast your monster attacks are, they can't outrun the speed at which I press a button, can they?"

"No, don't worry about me, Johnny!" the [Jade Beast - Azure Pegasus] inside the capsule shouted with difficulty, "Kill this guy, I'll be fine!"

"No matter how you look at it, this guy doesn't seem to be alright, does he?" Keith Hunter said quickly upon seeing this. "If you attack, I'll take him down!"

“What a despicable fellow!” John frowned, but then his brow relaxed as if he had suddenly realized something. “No, I see through you. You’re just bluffing. With your goal being the Rainbow Dragon and the Jewel Beasts, how could you possibly bear to kill Sapphire?”

"I refuse to accept your threats!"

Seeing John so quickly understand and then decisively reject him, and even raise his hand as if to give the order for the monster to attack, Keith Hunter's eyes twitched, and cold sweat poured down his back.

This is bad, this is extremely bad! What's wrong with this kid? Should I call him rational or emotional? He's completely unaffected by my threat, and his analysis is absolutely correct. I really don't want to kill the [Jade Beast - Azure Jade Pegasus], otherwise wouldn't I have wasted so much time for nothing?

"Get your brain working! Come up with a plan!" Keith Hunter kept thinking about what he could do at this moment as he watched John move around on the field, eager to tear apart the [Jewel Beasts] that housed his spirits. Keith Hunter felt a lot of pressure.

—Oh, right, elves!

Keith Hunter's eyes lit up as he remembered something crucial. He took something out of his pocket and said, "You're right, I really don't want to destroy the [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] spirit, but I have more than one hostage!"

"I only stole that kid's card, Tos or Thomas, because I didn't like it. It's not actually worth much. Even with the spirit's possession, [Candy Bean Warrior] is just a piece of trash." Keith Hunter sneered, showing off the card. "If you dare attack me, I'll tear this card apart!"

Although Duel Monsters cards have been updated and iterated over the years, with the quality of the cards improving year by year, and they are not only waterproof, oxidation-proof, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant, but also easy to use for card-throwing attacks, special paper cards are still just paper cards and can be easily torn in half by hand.

Holding the [Candy Bean Warrior] card tightly in both hands, a pose completely replicated from a famous white dragon enthusiast's early domestic violence incident, Keith Hunter glanced at the terrified [Candy Bean Warrior] sprite beside him and sneered at the stiff-moving John, thinking: 'As expected, just a brat after all. Excessive kindness will only bring you destruction!'

"Tom's [Fall Guys]... Damn it!"

If it were duelists like Hayato or Kaiba, facing Keith Hunter's threat, they would at most say something like, "You're holding him hostage, why should I stop?" As for Ryuzaki, Ed, and the others, it goes without saying that since they can't see the spirits at all, they wouldn't even think that tearing off a single [Fall Bean Warrior] card, which is as numerous as the stray dogs on the roadside, is some kind of inexplicable threat.

But John has a kind heart, and his dream is to become a bridge of communication and understanding between humans and elves. How could he just stand by and watch the [Jade Bean Warrior] card be torn up? His movements froze. On one hand, he was eager to defeat Keith Hunter and retrieve the [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] to rescue him. On the other hand, he couldn't bear to watch an innocent elf have his card torn up because of his attack.

Card spirits are quite magical beings. They influence each other with their respective cards. Cards that lose their spirits become blank or unable to summon monsters. For example, Yusei Fudo in the past experienced the disappearance of the monster images on his cards when his Stardust Dragon was stolen. When the Three Phantom Demons absorbed the power of the spirits, although the cards appeared normal to ordinary people, the spirits in the cards would gradually wither and even turn into dried-up skeletons in the eyes of the spirit users.

Conversely, the same applies to cards. Damaged cards make it uncomfortable for spirits to live in. While the card replacement service of the International Illusion Society cannot replace card sales as the main source of profit, its annual income is still considerable, partly due to this reason. Although spirits can transfer from one card to another, this must be done within a sufficiently short time. Any damage to the card they were originally in during this period will directly affect their lives.

The Fall Bean Warrior card held in Keith Hunter's hand obviously had no chance of transferring the spirit to another Fall Bean Warrior card, and a monster as weak as Fall Bean Warrior couldn't possibly withstand the damage of the card being torn apart and survive!
"Hey kid in the back, don't even think about doing anything sneaky!" Keith Hunter not only threatened John, but also turned to Judai and said something. He had noticed Judai's actions. Judai, who had rested for a while, felt that he had regained some strength. He was about to greet Asuka and ask her to cover his escape so that he could find another way to sneak behind Keith Hunter and retrieve the [Fall Bean Warrior] card to prevent John from being threatened.

"If you also leave your original position without permission, I will tear up this weak monster's card as well!"

"Tsk, even our side has been discovered." Now that he knew Keith Hunter had found him, Jaden had no choice but to stop and stand back next to Asuka. He looked at John apologetically, "I'm sorry, John, I can't help you rescue the [Fall Guy]."

Jaden himself didn't realize that behind his enthusiastic act of helping was not an attempt to save the weak "Drop Bean Warriors," but simply because it could help John, whom he cared about.

"Hmph, that's right, that's exactly it. You kids have far too many unnecessary emotions, treating Duel Monsters as friends and Card Spirits as family. Such emotions are completely a burden. But thanks to that, I've successfully made good use of this card." Holding the card in his hand, Keith Hunter laughed smugly.

He knew, of course, that if his threat approached John and Jaden's bottom line, they would still choose to go all out even if he still held the [Fall Guy] card. Therefore, he had to control the situation carefully and maximize the value of this "hostage" without exceeding the limit. So, he should start by winning this duel.

Judai couldn't help but wonder, "In this situation, is the only hope that a sage will come to the rescue?"

Just as the situation was at a stalemate, a typical "hostage situation" that would last twenty or thirty minutes in a typical drama, a "whoosh" sound suddenly rang out from somewhere, attracting the attention of everyone present.

Looking towards the sound, Judai and Asuka were surprised to find Jim, Manjoume, Amon Garram (who was there for some unknown reason), and O'Brien standing on a wall not far away. O'Brien was holding his gun, which could transform into a duel disk, and the "whoosh" sound seemed to have come from him.

Looking again, Keith Hunter's left hand, which had been holding the [Jack-o'-the-Bean] card, was now covered in blood. A cut in the web of his thumb had rendered him unable to grip the card, causing it to fall to the ground. A [Volcano Bomb] card, embedded in concrete nearby, was still swaying, as if reminding everyone that he was the "bullet" O'Brien had fired. Meanwhile, Manjoume, having recovered from the exhaustion of the duel, patted O'Brien on the shoulder with a boss-like air and looked smugly at Judai, saying, "I heard you clearly, Judai. Do I look like a sage?"

"Ughhhhhh!" The belated pain made Keith Hunter scream. His injured left hand couldn't grip anything, but in this seemingly out-of-control state, his other right hand silently reached for the [Jelly Bean Warrior] card on the ground by using the action of gripping his left hand.

However, another [Volcano Grenade] awaited him, almost grazing his fingertips before piercing the ground. O'Brien, still not lowering his gun, remained expressionless and coldly stated, "My shooting skills are not so bad as to miss the target, so this is just a warning, and there will be no next warning."

“O’Brien probably means, stop trying to use underhanded tactics, Mr. Poacher over there,” Jim translated, his gaze towards Keith Hunter equally unfriendly. Although he hadn’t heard the full story, threatening someone with cards was an act that any duelist would find hard to resist.

"Manjoume, and everyone else!" Seeing that they had all arrived safely, Judai asked curiously, "How did you all find this place?"

"Don't forget this, Judai~" Jim said with a smile, waving the magnetic field detection device in his hand. "Although the magnetic field amplifies to the point where communication devices are unusable after entering the underground laboratory through the main gate, you can still find Judai boy and Asuka girl with this device."

As they were talking, the four of them jumped down from the wall together. But when they turned around, they found that Manjoume had tripped awkwardly when he jumped down from the wall. His landing posture was not cool at all, which completely ruined the momentum of the group's appearance together.

"Tomorrow Girl" covered her face and Asuka complained helplessly, "Um, Jim, has anyone told you that this is a unique way of addressing me?"

"Honestly, it's actually quite awkward. Could you perhaps use a different form of address?"

“Oh, no—” Jim looked utterly devastated upon hearing this, clearly having previously thought his way of addressing her was quite good.

“This isn’t the time to be talking about this,” Manjoume said, dusting himself off and pretending nothing had happened. “John Anderson over there, just finish your duel and get your animal friend back!”

“Thank you for your help, O’Brien, and of course, Manjoume!” John nodded, looking at his opponent. “Then I’ll be going, Keith Hunter!”

"Damn brat!" Keith Hunter's expression was ferocious as his left hand hung down. Although he had just used underhanded tactics, it didn't mean he had no defensive measures at all. "I'm going to activate the cards in my graveyard the moment my opponent enters the battle phase!"

"One of the first cards I sent to the graveyard using [Hand Elimination] was this [Ice Barrier]. Banish it to activate!"

Although the name might easily evoke a Synchro deck known for frequently traveling to other decks to perform Synchro Summoning, the card activated by Keith Hunter is simply a "barrier" of "ice" in the literal sense, with a beam of blue light bursting from his graveyard.

"You can activate this effect by banishing 'Ice Barrier' from your Graveyard. Send one Level 5 or higher WATER monster from the banished Deck to the Graveyard." He banished the card with his still-functioning right hand, then sent the card retrieved from his Duel Disk to the Graveyard. Next, Keith Hunter retrieved the card he had just sent to the Graveyard. "After that, I can add any WATER monster from my Graveyard to my hand. After this effect is activated, I cannot Special Summon any monster other than a WATER monster until the end of my next turn."

“I’m adding this Level 5☆ WATER monster, Rainbow Serpent, which I just sent to the Graveyard, to my hand.” Keith Hunter said, holding the card in his hand. “And if Rainbow Serpent is added to my hand from the Graveyard by its effect, I can activate this effect by showing it to my opponent!”

"Special Summon it! And banish it if this card Special Summoned by this effect leaves the field!"

【Rainbow Serpent】【5☆/Water】

【Sea Dragon Clan/口口/Effect】

[0/2600]

"Although you dealt with my [Demon Summon] before the battle began, the [Rainbow Dragon]'s defense is 2600 points higher than the [Demon Summon]'s 2500 attack power. Even a legendary beast like [Dragon Knight Gaia] would have difficulty penetrating it!" Keith Hunter's expression was ferocious and maniacal because of the blood on his face. "Your weak [Jade Beast] has absolutely no chance of defeating it!"

—And in the next round, after releasing the [Rainbow Serpent] and resummoning the [Demon Summoning], victory will still be mine!

Before Keith Hunter could even finish speaking, a cat pounced on him and scratched his face hard.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

【基斯·亨特：4000→3400LP，手牌1→2→1】

"After all that talk, it's just a wall monster with no resistance in the end." [Jewel Beast - Amethyst Cat] picked at the flesh under its fingernails and said, "Since it's an opponent that can see elves, I'll explain on Johnny's behalf - my effect is to halve the opponent's attack power and then attack directly."

"You nasty cat!" Keith Hunter, who was trying to abuse the cat, reached out to grab the [Jade Beast - Amethyst Cat], but he couldn't catch the agile creature. He could only shout angrily, "It's just a mere 600 points of combat damage, it's completely meaningless, and you can't directly attack the other [Jade Beasts]!"

"About that," [Jade Beast - Amethyst Cat] glanced behind her, "Trust Johnny, trust doesn't need a reason."

Because [Sapphire Beast - Amethyst Cat] launched the first attack, a card in John's hand was shining brightly, and John shouted, "Although [Rainbow Dragon] is blocking the way, [Sapphire Beast - Amethyst Cat] can reduce its ATK to half and attack the opponent directly. At the same time, when the [Sapphire Beast] monster declares its battle attack, this card in my hand will awaken!"

"Rainbow-Dragon!"

　The Dead Apostle's card effect is really strong. One card with three positive effects, not even a single self-restriction effect. It feels like it could even be used as a Shaddoll power-up to stack mana.
　　The Shadow Cult is correct.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)