Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1892 Caesar, you schemed against me!

"Wow ah ah ah!"

His consciousness remained frozen at the moment he fell off the cliff. Marufuji Sho woke up in terror to find himself sitting on a makeshift bed made of dry grass.

"Huh?" He looked around in confusion and found that this was neither the cliff edge where he and Jaden had stayed before, nor did it seem to be in a prison. Instead, it was a cool cave with a breeze blowing from afar, which carried a hint of warmth.

"Could it be that I'm already dead? Is this some kind of hell or hell?" Marufuji Sho remembered that he was thrown off a cliff by the [Skull Priest]. Without his Duel Disk, he couldn't summon any monsters in the air to catch him. Could it be that he died from the fall and is now in some kind of underworld?

However, I could still feel the temperature, my mind was clear, and I could even hear my stomach growling because I hadn't eaten much for a while. So, the feeling after death is still as rich as when I was alive? Well, if you don't feel anything after you die, then the punishments in hell like "pulling out your tongue" and "being thrown into a frying pan" would be meaningless.

When he discovered that his clothes had been changed, Marufuji Sho, who thought he must be dead, didn't pay much attention. After all, in video games, the protagonists who enter their own Velvet Room have to change into new clothes. It seems normal for him, as a "dead person," to have his clothes changed, right?
However, while checking his belongings, Marufuji Sho discovered that his card deck was still in the card box at his waist. The card boxes that the academy distributed to each student were not only waterproof, fireproof, and even explosion-proof, but now he had actually brought his card deck to the "underworld" as well?

No, that's not right. I must have put my deck into my Duel Disk at the time, and when the Skeleton Priest destroyed my Duel Disk, my deck was thrown off the cliff with me. It probably wasn't the card box's doing.

"I didn't expect you guys to come down with me too." After taking out his deck and checking it, Marufuji Sho found that all of his cards were still there, but when he saw the [E·hero Necromancer] card that was the "proof of the bond" between himself and Jaden, he finally felt the sadness of his own "death".

"Alas, they are now separated by death. I wonder if my brother escaped alive. I hope he is alright." After carefully placing the card back into the card box at his waist and closing it, Marufuji Sho looked in the direction that seemed to be the exit of the cave. The air blowing from there carried a slight warmth. Perhaps it was the legendary "Hell Pool"?
Although unwilling, Marufuji Sho still walked towards that direction, preparing to accept his fate as a dead man—

"Hey, Judai's little brother, you're awake." Edward, who was grilling fish over the campfire and seemed to have noticed Marufuji Sho's awakening, turned to look in his direction and greeted him. "Although I didn't really want to eavesdrop on your mutterings, the cave is only so big, and we heard everything you said in there after you woke up."

"But now that you're awake, someone can finally rest easy."

"How long-winded." Caesar didn't even glance at Ed, who was making pointed remarks. He just picked up a piece of charcoal from the side, and without caring about its size, threw it into the fire. The fire burned brighter in an instant, and a faint, special aroma wafted from it, making it seem perfect for grilling.

The blazing flames suddenly shot up, as if Caesar had thrown in fuel oil instead of ordinary charcoal. Ed quickly raised the skewer of grilled fish he was holding higher and complained to Caesar, "Hey, Caesar, you almost burned my fish! You didn't need to add so much charcoal to warm your brother, did you? We only managed to finish one [Large Charcoal 18]!"

"Are you sure that extinct king salmon is edible? This one is practically an 'underage'!"

"Who told that the strong fisherman we took down couldn't handle it and only caught such a small fish? You should be grateful for anything to eat. Or are you going to try and eat those thousand-eyed bream and tarpon?"

(I won't post pictures here; those interested can search for two fish-themed images themselves.)

Even Caesar was speechless for a moment, before finally managing to stammer, "I remember there were three in the Strong Fisherman's basket."

Watching Caesar and Edward interact, Marufuji Sho remained speechless for a long time before finally recovering and saying sadly, "Even you two are dead? Edward, brother."

"I didn't expect that you couldn't escape either, and were wiped out by the 'Overlord Army.' With that, we're all truly annihilated."

Seeing Marufuji Sho talking to himself and becoming dejected, Edward interrupted him with a puzzled look, "Wait a minute, how did we 'die'? Especially the part about why you think Caesar and I are dead too?"

"Huh? Because I was thinking, I must be dead after falling from such a height, so you and my brother who appeared in front of me, even though you're dead, must also be—" Although he had just woken up and his mind wasn't quite clear yet, Marufuji Sho realized something from Edward's reaction. "Could it be? You guys aren't dead? Then I guess I'm also—"

“You’re really lucky, Marufuji Sho.” As was Ed’s habit, he actually wanted to call him “Little Marufuji” or “Marufuji-kun”, but since Caesar was there and the two of them shared the same surname as brothers, Ed had no choice but to call Sho by his full name. “Even though you fell from such a height, you just happened to fall into a pond.”

"While normally falling into water from such a high mountain is basically equivalent to falling onto concrete, it seems that something fell into the water before you, disrupting the surface tension of the water. Even if you fall into the water, you're not seriously injured, you're just knocked unconscious."

“In this situation, if no one had found you, you might have drowned. But luckily, Caesar and I happened to arrive here and found you in the pool.” Edward said, pointing to the card box on Marufuji Sho’s waist. “Although I’m not trying to take credit, I still have to mention that Caesar rescued you from the water, but I picked up all the cards that fell into the water and on the ground around you. Next time, take better care of your cards.”

"Seriously, after experiencing picking up cards from the ground just once, it's exhausting. I don't understand how Caesar manages to scatter cards every time he duels. Doesn't he get tired?"

Caesar refused to answer Edward's question, instead pointing to the grilled fish in Edward's hand. Edward realized he had almost burned the fish and hurriedly tried to clean the slightly charred parts. Caesar, on the other hand, cleverly skewered the fish with wooden sticks and placed it near the fire to cook slowly. He then looked at Marufuji Sho and said, "Although I stayed in that town to enjoy the thrill of victory in a duel, did you really think I was doomed?" "Heh, tell us about Jaden Yuki and the others. You were all wiped out before we found you? What happened, and who did it?"

Marufuji Sho organized his thoughts and briefly recounted their experiences over the past few days, from their encounter with the Gold and Silver Demons of the Dark World after escaping the town's refuge, to rescuing the man who looked like "John" after reuniting with Judai, and then being pursued by the Mad King of the Dark World - Bronn.

Amon's betrayal and Manjou's sacrifice; Fubuki and Kenzan staying behind to protect them from the Chaos Wizard; getting separated from O'Brien and Jim during the assassination of the Chaos Wizard; Asuka's sacrifice due to the interference of the Skeleton Priest; and finally, Judai and Sho being caught by the Skeleton Priest; and then Sho being thrown off a cliff by the Skeleton Priest. Only at this moment was he rescued and awakened by Caesar and Edward.

Finally, Xiang realized something: "Oh no! My brother is still on the mountain! The [Skeleton Priest] has caught up with my brother and me and is going to kill us all! My brother has—"

“I’m sorry, I already checked the place where you fell, and Judai isn’t there.” Tearing off a piece of fish and putting it in his mouth, the underage grilled fish was surprisingly delicious, tasting like chicken. After imitating Caesar by sticking the grilled fish into the fire, Edward interrupted Marufuji Sho, “After all, Caesar and I thought your main force should be traveling together. If we accidentally encountered you falling off the cliff, we might be able to find the others on the mountain.”

"After we rescued you, Caesar took care of you while I went up to look for people. But when I got there, there was no one there anymore; all I could see were traces of a battle. I also found two dueling disks. One of them, the one that was destroyed, belonged to you, Sho-senpai. Only half of it remained on the mountain; the other half probably fell into the pond with you."

"And the other one," Edward sighed, glancing to the side, "is Judai's."

Marufuji Sho turned his head sharply and saw a Duel Disk on the cave wall. Having played the Duel Disk toss game with Jaden more than once, and being very familiar with the characteristics of Jaden's Duel Disk, Sho recognized it as Jaden's at a glance!

"The traces of the battle there are terrifying. Even without witnessing what happened, one can imagine how fierce the battle must have been." Edward said this with a hint of regret.

"The Jaden's Duel Disks have all been left there. Although there's no other evidence that the Jaden has died in battle, I think... the Jaden has already—"

"No way!" Rejecting Edward's guess outright, Marufuji Sho suddenly hugged Jaden's dueling set tightly to his chest. "Big brother... he won't die so easily!"

“Right, unlike me who is weak, the ‘Four Heavenly Kings of the Overlord Army’ are capturing powerful duelists. My brother must have been—” The more Marufuji Sho thought about it, the more certain he became that Judai was still alive, but had been captured by the [Skull Priest], or perhaps he simply couldn’t imagine that Judai was dead.

Although he felt that Jaden was very likely captured, even [Warrior-Raz] could escape, so Marufuji Sho thought that Jaden might also be able to come back alive. He decisively picked up Jaden's Duel Disk and showed a resolute expression: "Big brother is definitely still alive. I am absolutely certain of this, and he probably needs our rescue right now!"

"Without the Duel Disk as a weapon, my brother's power is hard to unleash. I'm going to take my brother's Duel Disk to find him and return it to him!"

"Moreover, it's not just Big Brother; Senior Fubuki and O'Brien might still be alive, just captured. If we find the [Skull Priest] and find out where Big Brother was taken, maybe I can bring everyone back!"

Looking at Sho Marufuji, who was holding Jaden's Duel Disk and filled with determination, Edward picked up a piece of grilled fish, took a bite, and smiled at Caesar beside him, saying, "What a fine spirit, isn't it? You must be very pleased with your younger brother's growth. So, shall we give him a hand?"

"The path to hell I walk has no room for such trivialities." Caesar merely sneered, adopting a dismissive attitude, before changing the subject, "However, the 'Four Heavenly Kings of the Overlord Army'? Opponents like the [Dark Demon Realm Warrior Captain - Dark Sword] were not even a warm-up."

“Ah, I agree with that too. [Zul, the Knight of the Dark Realm] is a decent opponent, but he's too weak. There's no real sense of victory.” Hearing Caesar mention the previous battle, Edward nodded in agreement. “It's only because they brought so many 'Overlords' that we might not have been held up for so long.”

"Fighting against small fry doesn't bring the thrill of victory; instead, it wears down my fighting spirit. However, there are advantages to having a large number of them. For example, the number of enemies each side has eliminated is clear at a glance. 301:300, hmm, that's my victory. This is the only place where I can barely feel any joy."

Hearing Caesar's words, Edward frowned and objected: "Wait a minute, isn't it clearly 300:301? The last [Goblin Assassination Squad] chose to ambush me and I took them down. Don't count the [Strong Fisherman] on the way; we took him down together. Even if you count him, it's still 300.5:300.5."

"Where did you learn math? This is clearly a tie!"

"Ha, why do you think I chose to face the [Dark Sword, Warrior Captain of the Dark Realm] back then? Compared to [Zul, Knight of the Dark Realm], he also has a mount, the [Black Fighting Dragon]!"

"To be so despicable for the sake of victory?! I say, Caesar, why were you in such a hurry to get ahead? You actually schemed against me, Caesar!"

After some thought, I'll set the bounty for the first day of next month. After all, it's Chinese New Year next month, so setting the bounty at the beginning of the month will allow for more updates, and more content can be read during the holiday.