Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

"【Reptile Fairy】? Isn't this your card, Dad?" Taking a stack of cards from his adoptive father, Rick looked up at the tall man in front of him with a puzzled expression as he gazed at the cute reptilian girl on the card.

Professor Cobra's fierce face softened only when he looked at the boy before him, revealing genuine tenderness: "Today is Rick's birthday, and this is my birthday present for you. Don't you like it?"

"No, rather, I love it!" Rick said with a smile as he unfolded his deck. "Thank you, Dad."

Whether it was due to the boy's weak grip or the strong airflow, a gust of wind suddenly blew from the side, sending the Duel Monster cards, which Rick hadn't even warmed up yet, flying towards the road just a step away.

Instinctively, Rick took a step forward and reached for the cards.

"Beep beep beep—!!!"

As the large truck almost brushed past him, Rick's face turned pale with fright. Still shaken, he looked at his left hand, only to see that Professor Cobra, as if he had foreseen this, had grabbed his hand and pulled him back the moment he moved.

If it weren't for this, I'm afraid I would already be—

"Be careful, Rick, the streets are dangerous." The deck that had been blown away inexplicably flew back into Professor Cobra's hand. He earnestly warned Rick, "I'll be sad if something happens to you."

"I'm sorry, Dad."

With one hand seemingly supporting the air as if holding a deck of cards, Professor Cobra stared unfocused ahead, tears welling in his eyes and streaming down his face. He murmured, "Ricky."

However, the sight of Professor Cobra talking to thin air was extremely terrifying to Jaden and the others. Just moments ago, he had been saying during the duel that his adopted son named "Rick" was dead. Now, who was he calling that name to?
“Look how happy he looks.” The energy being standing in front of Jaden and the others spread his arms, looking pleased for Professor Cobra. “He has such deep love in his heart that I was able to uncover such profound dark power within him. And as his love reached its peak, his final and strongest darkness was also unearthed, allowing me to have a good meal.”

"It's you! What did you do to Professor Cobra!" Manjoume frowned, glancing at Jim beside him. Jim was also holding his prepared magnetic field monitoring device, pointing it at the mysterious entity that had appeared before them. The magnetic field pointer was stable at its maximum value, pointing straight ahead. Needless to say, the entity before them was the target of the energy collected by the "Death Gloves."

Furthermore, is it very possible that the very entity that gave Professor Cobra his inhuman arm and the mysterious power to materialize Duel Monsters, which he hid in the underground research facility of SAL, is indeed not underground, but has come here, just as Amon Garrum said?
"What did I do? I thought you heard what I said to Klaus just now." The golden energy life form looked quite helpless—although it had no facial features, its body language could still express some emotions. "Of course, I gave him the 'miracle' he craved."

"His greatest love was for his adopted son, but when Klaus lost his adopted son, that immense love naturally turned into darkness of the same magnitude. I knew this, so I promised him that after I was resurrected, I would help him see his adopted son again and let his adopted son be with him forever."

"Look, isn't this wish quite obvious? No one can live forever, and besides, one of them is already dead. So there's only one way to fulfill this wish from the beginning—that is, I will use the darkness in his heart to construct the illusion he wants to see, so that his adopted son will appear in front of him and die under such circumstances."

"In this way, he not only saw his adopted son, but he can also stay with his adopted son forever. I am sincerely fulfilling his wish."

“But Dr. Cobra doesn’t know that, does he?” Jim said coldly, looking at the golden energy life form. “What he craves is clearly two different things from what you can actually give him. You’ve been hiding this from him and using him, haven’t you? And now you want to kill him!”

"What's wrong with being immersed in the world of illusion! Isn't this exactly what he wants?" the golden energy being said righteously. "And how do you know if Klaus, who has experienced too many cruel things in his life, still has any attachment to reality?"

"Why would you do something like that! And who exactly are you?!" Jaden also said.

When others spoke, the golden energy life form remained calm, like someone who felt helpless but indifferent after hearing the barking of a wild dog. However, when Judai questioned her about who she was, the golden energy life form's attitude changed immediately.

“You just said, ‘Who exactly are you?’ That’s a good question, Judai, but those annoying guys around you can ask that question, not you!”

"Who am I? What are you talking about! Have you forgotten me? Forgotten my name, forgotten my love for you, forgotten your love for me?"

With only her materialized left arm covering her chest, the golden energy being couldn't help but want to use its energy to heal its injuries and stand in front of Judai in its true form. However, after noticing Asuka's hand still supporting Judai, its eyes suddenly sharpened.

"So that's how it is! So that's why that annoying woman caught your attention, right? That's why you didn't really remember me and easily cast our eternal love into the corner of oblivion, right!"

Using two consecutive "Is that right?" to question Judai, the golden energy life form's voice shifted from mockery and contempt to utter coldness, "So, if I drive them all away from you, so that you can only see me and think about things related to me, you'll never forget me again, right?"

"What are you saying?" Jaden stared blankly at the golden energy life form that had decided to do something on its own.

“Nonsense, I can’t understand it.” Wan Zhangmei said, taking a step to the side, which blocked half of O’Brien’s body. Under his cover, O’Brien quietly drew his gun-shaped duel disk, which he had already loaded, preparing to find an opportunity to kill his opponent.

“Very good! I’ll do it right now!” The golden energy entity clenched its fist and tapped its materialized left palm, then continued, “If you kill the person you care about most from the beginning, won’t your heart become numb by the end? True love is called ‘pain.’ You, Judai, personally taught me that, and I have enjoyed the love called ‘pain’ that you gave me for so many years. Now it’s my turn to give you, Judai, my love!”

"I won't let anyone here go, starting with this useless guy who has the worst relationship with you, Jaden. After all, I promised him I'd grant his wish, and I like to finish what I start." With a wave of his hand, the golden energy body seemed to be trapped in an illusion, and Professor Cobra actually started moving, continuing to walk towards the edge of the platform.

Watching Professor Cobra stand up like a puppet and suddenly walk step by step towards the edge of the platform, even knowing that the other party was the instigator of a series of events since the beginning of this semester, John couldn't just watch him jump off and die. He was about to take a step forward to stop him: "Professor Cobra!"

"Tsk tsk, it's not your turn yet, don't cut in line!"

Like kicking away a person who had hanged themselves and then angrily shouting "No swinging indoors!", the golden energy body waved its left hand, and a black shockwave struck John. But at the same time, from the card box at John's waist, seven [Jade Beasts] jumped out and blocked the attack!
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

However, the seemingly powerful lineup of spirits only resulted in a slight reduction in attack power. A casual strike from the golden energy lifeform injured and repelled all of John's [Jade Beast] spirits back into the deck. Although the smallest [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] was not destroyed on the spot, it was still hit by the attack and crashed into John's arms, sending John flying!
"John!" Judai quickly stood behind John and caught him as he was thrown backward, preventing him from falling off the platform. The impact from John caused Judai, who wasn't fully recovered, to cough.

John wasn't much better off. Although the force of the blow was reduced and it wasn't fatal, he almost coughed up blood on the spot. Others might not have heard it, but John himself clearly heard the sound of bones breaking in his body, knowing that he was definitely seriously injured.

"John!?" Noticing John's pale face, Judai quickly asked with concern.

"It's alright, Judai, it's not a fatal wound." Clutching his injured stomach, John stubbornly insisted, though he roughly estimated that he had broken one or two ribs. He still forced himself to stand up. "Compared to those... Jim!"

"I don't know what you are, but it seems like all your attacks are launched with your left hand." While Judai and the others were distracted, Jim launched a sneak attack, using his whip to entangle the golden energy life form's only materialized left hand. "Got you! Give it your all, Kallen!"

"Gah!" With a twist of her neck using the whip, the crocodile Karen, together with Jim, actually pulled the golden energy life form's hand to the other side, causing the other to stumble.
Meanwhile, O'Brien had already taken aim, and Jim's harassment was merely a cover for him; his real killing move was the gun-shaped duel disk that he pulled the trigger on!
"Om-!"

"Qiang!"

Just as O'Brien fired a [Volcano Bullet] card from his Duel Disk as a bullet, aiming to sever the golden energy life form's arm, the golden energy life form, which had just seemed genuinely caught off guard by the continuous attacks, suddenly sneered, raised its right hand (still an energy form), and created a barrier to block the attack!
"Did I say that I can only activate my abilities with my left hand?" The card that blocked the [Volcano Bomb] was pinched and crushed into powder by the alien's left hand. The golden energy life form waved its hand again, "Can't you all line up properly?"

"Ugh!" "Gah!" "Uh!"

Jim, Kallen the Crocodile, and O'Brien had no time to react and were each struck down by a black current of energy. But it seemed that the golden energy life form had deliberately spared their lives so that it could finish them off one by one in order. After confirming that none of them were able to fight back, the golden energy life form looked at the only two people who could still stand—Asuka and Manjoume—and said, "Don't you want to give it a try?"

"Hmph, if we're talking about who has the worst relationship with Jellyfish Head, it should be me, right?" Stopping Asuka who was trying to say something, Manjoume noticed that the person in front of him had shown murderous intent towards Asuka more than once. "You can't even get the order of killing right. You're just a third-rate nobody."

"Hehe, this kind of friendship where someone would sacrifice themselves to protect their friend is really touching—it's so touching that I'm almost going crazy with jealousy!"

Looking past Manjoume at Judai, the golden energy being casually struck him down as if he were a roadside stray. She didn't bother with Asuka, but instead spread her hands to the side, gesturing for Judai to look in that direction. "Alright, Judai, the troublemaker is gone for now. Let's all enjoy watching this man's demise!"

The more cheerful the golden energy life form's tone, the more cruel the end of Professor Cobra's life that Jaden would witness next would be. Although the sun had set, Jaden could still clearly see the genuine joy and happiness that Professor Cobra showed as he was immersed in a blissful illusion.

"Rick." Stepping onto the edge of the platform, Professor Cobra took a step and fell down right in front of Jaden and the others.

Even though Professor Cobra had committed so many evil deeds, Judai couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy and pain at the sight of others falling to their deaths right before his eyes. At the same time, he looked at his fallen companions, and the pain on their faces made him feel a deep sense of empathy and sorrow.

"You're no longer human!" Standing up, Jaden raised his Duel Disk and said, "I will absolutely, absolutely not let you hurt anyone else! If you're going to attack, start with me!"

However, upon hearing Judai's words, the golden energy life form appeared agitated and distressed: "That's not right!"

"I already killed your Professor Cobra, whom you clearly hated and loathed, right? But why, Jaden, even though you're looking at me, do I only sense your emotions towards others?" The golden energy being, arms outstretched, looked around, utterly bewildered. "You're only looking at me, but why? Why are you still thinking about others? Why—I don't feel your love for me?"

"No! No, no, no! Did I get the order wrong? This can't be!" Grabbing his hair, his materialized fingers ran through the energy being's hair, the golden energy life form suddenly realized something, "Wait a minute... Could it be because of that, because your mind sensed too many irrelevant things, Jaden?"

"By the way, Hayato Kobayashi and his gang called it 'Planar' or 'New-Type,' right? Jaden, you must have sensed too many irrelevant people's emotions to be unable to concentrate on just looking at me and thinking about me." The golden energy life form stomped its foot in annoyance and looked down at its feet with displeasure. "It's all because of Earth's environment, this damn gravity!"

"There will be a way, a way to get you away from the troubles of this human world, Judai. It will definitely make you stop caring about these boring humans!" Thinking this, the golden energy life form said excitedly, "That's exactly right, that's how it should be! After all, Judai's wish is to enjoy dueling, isn't it? The gravity of the human world is indeed too restrictive of your free soul. So—"

"—Come on, Jaden, let's go to the new world that's perfect for you!" (End of Chapter)