Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

No matter how hard Wan Zhangmu racked his brains, he couldn't recall when he had seen a golden energy life form that looked like a little boy. He could only glean this few details from the other party.

"Alright, alright, you can talk, but don't lay a hand on Lady Judai—especially you old woman!" Seeing that Judai had perked up, Saotome Rei finally couldn't help but speak up, directly prying Asuka's hand off. "Stop taking advantage of Lady Judai, old lady!"

"O-Auntie!?" Asuka was annoyed by the address and pointed at Rei Saotome, saying, "How dare you call me that—and what are you doing right now!"

"Hmph, wasn't it you who made those threats in the communications before?" Rei Saotome said smugly, taking over the hand that Asuka had been holding in Judai's hand. "As you can see, I'm doing the same greedy thing as you, and I've stopped you!"

"What are you trying to prove, you little brat?"

"Did I offend you by being born smart?"

"Alright, alright, ladies, stop arguing here." Jim decisively stepped in to interrupt Rei and Asuka's quarrel. Watching John take the opportunity to rescue Judai from their clutches, he said, "Our most urgent task right now should be to find a place to rest. Everyone has been fighting all this time and must be exhausted."

The duel between Jaden and Professor Cobra lasted until nightfall. After that, the golden energy life form transferred the Duel Academy space to this other world. Although there were three suns in the sky, Jaden and the others' biological clocks were indeed in the middle of the night.

They were actually exhausted and hungry, and apart from Asuka, the others had also suffered some injuries in the previous battles and desperately needed to recover their strength.

Although it's easy for conflicts to arise when they meet because the topic involves Judai, neither Rei Saotome nor Asuka Tenjouin are particularly emotional people. They quickly calmed down and regained their rationality on key issues. Rei gave Asuka a provocative look and then looked at everyone and said, "Before the spatial transfer, apart from everyone who was gathered in the gymnasium because of the 'exposing duel,' there were still quite a few people in the school. Some people saw that even three dormitories were enveloped by the light curtain of that spatial transfer."

"However, after the light screen disappeared, all we could see was a vast desert. According to Senior Marufuji Sho, he had been to a world with three suns in the sky that seemed to belong to the Card Spirits. So, Professor Ayukawa temporarily took charge of leading all the students in the school to gather in the gymnasium. He then asked me to check the situation at the school gate and try to find Professor Chronos and the others, who should have returned to the school by now."

"Is Ms. Ayukawa in charge now? I hope she can manage everyone well. After all, being transported to such a dangerous world is too easy to cause negative emotions and psychological pressure among the students, such as fear and anxiety." Asuka said worriedly, recalling her experience of almost being buried alive as a sacrifice in the Valley of the Royal Sleep.

Although Ms. Ayukawa is a health and physical education teacher, the head of the school clinic, and the head of the girls' dormitory in Obelisk-Blue, she usually manages the girls well and the boys obediently follow her instructions in class. However, attending classes in the stable real world and surviving in this dangerous world of card sprites are two different things.

The students at Duel Academy are at a rather delicate age, and it's not uncommon for them to do some outrageous things that will leave people speechless. Asuka had heard of a strange student nicknamed "the ultimate masterpiece of the dark room" who came from a school called "Advanced Duel Academy" that tried to imitate Duel Academy by creating a completely closed campus. Who knows if a problem child with a head full of bizarre ideas might also emerge from among the many students at Duel Academy.

"Were the three dormitories also surrounded and teleported to this world?" Manjoume frowned. "It seems they were sent to other places? That's bad news."

"What do you mean by that?" John asked, puzzled.

Manjoume spread his hands and said, "The people in the academy were teleported here because the main campus of the Duel Academy was teleported. So, naturally, the students who were reassured by the teachers to suspend the 'exposing the duel' and stayed in their respective dormitories should also have been teleported along with this transfer, right?"

"This means that the people involved in the transfer are not only us, but also everyone in the academy. Although there is more strength in numbers, it also means that the consumption of resources is greater than before."

“More importantly, the three dormitories are not near the academy. Even if the academy has an abundance of supplies, it cannot send them to the three dormitories, and each of the three dormitories has limited supplies…” Jim did not continue, but everyone understood what he meant.

“This is exactly what Manjoume was worried about. Not only do the students who have collapsed in the academy need medical supplies, but the students in the three dormitories that were separated and teleported to different places also need to be found before their supplies run out,” Judai said with a serious expression. “Especially the Red Dormitory.”

(With six tables and a kitchen, the common areas of the red dormitory are quite small.)

It wasn't that Jaden cared so much about Osiris-Red Dormitory because he was in the Red Dormitory; rather, it was because the Red Dormitory was the smallest of the three dormitories, with students sharing the rooms and even the common areas being only the size of a small restaurant.

This directly resulted in Osiris-Red Dormitory not storing much food at all. After all, students could usually just send some supplies directly from headquarters if they needed to eat, and the only freezers could store no more food than the total number of people in Red Dormitory could consume in a day.

Even though there are far fewer students in the Red Dormitory now than when Jaden first enrolled, and several students, such as Kenzan and Sho—although neither of them were students of the Osiris-Red Dormitory—have fallen in the "Exposé Duel" and remained in the gymnasium on the main campus, it is still difficult for the remaining students to survive on the Red Dormitory's limited reserves.

The starving students might even eye the cat food of the "dorm leader" of the Red Dorm—"Pharaoh," though Jaden thought the dried fish actually tasted pretty good. He was even suddenly relieved that Daitokuji-sensei wasn't there, so at least there was one less person to share the food with.

During the exchange of information, Saotome Rei also learned from Jaden and the others that Professor Chronos and Coach Napoleon had also been transferred here. Although they encountered an attack by the native inhabitants of this world, the Harpies, they were fortunate enough to escape unharmed. However, this also exposed the fact that this world is indeed very dangerous.

Besides the bad news, there was also good news: Principal Hayato had returned to his loyal Duel Academy. Although Hayato always gave people a rather dangerous feeling when there was no real danger, his appearance gave Jaden and the others a great sense of security and peace of mind in this real danger situation.

They even complied with Professor Chronos's arrangement to go into the academy to find a place to rest, because just seeing Hayato's appearance made them subconsciously believe that he could solve everything that was happening—which also proved that Professor Chronos's idea was correct. The students really blindly believed in Hayato's omnipotence, even Jaden and the others.

Despite their conversation, the group didn't just stand idly at the academy entrance. Instead, they followed Saotome Rei to the gymnasium. This place had previously been used to house students who had collapsed due to the "death bracelet." Now, after accommodating students who were also caught up in the "Great Transfer" incident, the number of students there had more than doubled. Fortunately, the gymnasium was originally large enough to accommodate all the students in the school.

After some students dismantled equipment that wouldn't be needed for the time being, such as basketball hoops, volleyball nets, and ping-pong tables, as instructed by Ayukawa-sensei, a lot of space was freed up. So when Judai and the others arrived, they didn't feel crowded at all, as there was still room for the existing students.

Meanwhile, Ms. Ayukawa Emi was standing on a specially reserved platform, listening with a worried expression as Aunt Tomie from the convenience store reported on the supplies.

"It just so happens that the next batch of supplies is about to arrive at the school... Luckily, the cafeteria has a week's worth of food stocked for all the students, and Principal Hayato, as if he had foreseen it, has prepared canned goods in advance to ensure a long-term supply." Aunt Tomie paused, then added regretfully, "It's just a pity that medical supplies can't be conjured up out of thin air. If only a few more hours had passed..."

“At this point, there is no other way but to divide the existing medical supplies equally among the students who have collapsed.” Ms. Ayukawa made the decision with resignation. “Although some people may be able to make the decision to concentrate the supplies on some students and abandon others, and call it ‘efficient,’ I simply cannot make such a cold-blooded decision.”

"Mr. Ayukawa, I have great news!" As soon as Rei Saotome returned to the gymnasium, she immediately reported to Mr. Ayukawa, "Not only have Professor Chronos and Coach Napoleon returned safely, they were transferred to this world with us right at the school gate. More importantly, Principal Hayato has also arrived!"

"Principal Hayato!? That's wonderful!" Hearing that there was someone who could make decisions for her, Ayukawa Emi stood up excitedly, not only because of the sense of security Hayato could give her, but also because she could finally relax and no longer have to be so tense in order to calm the students down.

She's just a 30-year-old "young woman," and she was very flustered when faced with such a big thing, but she was just putting on a brave face out of a sense of responsibility.

Meanwhile, Judai noticed that even though they had both collapsed, Marufuji Sho and Kenzan were still full of energy, scrambling in the gymnasium for dinners that the cafeteria had just finished preparing before the relocation and that would be distributed to the students afterward to provide them with a sense of security. They seemed to be in pretty good spirits. Seeing that they still had the energy to grab the fried shrimp in their bento boxes, Judai breathed a sigh of relief.

Asuka, on the other hand, approached a man with a gloomy expression.

"...Did you know? When Asuka was little, she was terrified of ghosts. Once, at the amusement park, she was so scared just looking at the decorations in front of the haunted house that she froze. Not to mention, someone accidentally threw her hat into the haunted house, and she had to go in to retrieve it." Fubuki kept talking to the girls in front of her. "And in times like that, only one person could save Asuka from this predicament..."

Noticing Asuka's arrival, among Fubuki's fans, Junko Makita and Momoe Hamaguchi subtly reminded each other, "Um, Fubuki-sama..."

"That's right, that person is, Tian!" Fubuki pointed to the sky and was about to do his signature move when someone suddenly put their hand on his shoulder.

Being interrupted while "casting a spell," Fubuki wasn't angry. Instead, she casually patted the hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't interrupt my story, classmate."

"Hmm? Why are these hands so smooth and soft?"

"Heh, you've stooped so low as to be so enthusiastic about touching your own sister's hand, Fubuki?"

The cold voice startled Fubuki. How could he not recognize whose voice it was? Not to mention that his female fans had already found excuses to leave after Asuka stood behind Fubuki, leaving the two siblings alone.

"Asuka-chan!?"

"Could you please stop calling my name in such a perverted tone? I always feel like my name gets dirty when it comes out of your mouth."

Turning her head with difficulty to look behind her, Fubuki could only see pure killing intent in Asuka's eyes. "And, save me from dire straits? Why don't you say where the dire straits came from? Which bastard brother was throwing my hat around and accidentally dropped it into the haunted house?"

"Huh? Answer me! Speak!" Asuka questioned Fubuki, who couldn't utter a word, "Why aren't you as quick-witted as you are in front of others? Are you praying?"

"...Hey, is it possible to reconcile?"

"At this very moment? You must be joking."

"Croak! Help me, Liang!"

Meanwhile, in the human world, Ryo Marufuji suddenly felt as if someone was calling out to him: "Fubuki (Indifferent)?"

Chapter 1759 The trap was to make the students think they were protected; did the Duel Monsters know that?

"The number of students involved in this 'Great Transfer' that have been gathered within the academy totals 120, and the supplies collected so far are enough to support everyone for a month on average."

Professor Chronos was reporting to Hayato, not in Hayato's principal's office on the top floor of the academy, but in the broadcasting room next to the gymnasium.

After Duel Academy was moved to the Pokémon world, it seems that due to a collision with the "space bubble" where Hayato was located, the three dormitories were not only knocked off their original positions and no longer near Duel Academy. Fortunately, the power station built by Duel Academy was not disconnected from the academy, so Hayato and his friends could still use a considerable portion of the academy's facilities normally, preventing their living standards from regressing to the pre-electric age.

The reason for using the broadcasting room as a temporary office instead of the principal's office is that all the students who need to be managed are currently concentrated in the gymnasium. The broadcasting room not only allows for direct observation of any problems that arise among the students, but it is also much more convenient for someone to look for Hayato or for Hayato to look for someone.

Beside Professor Chronos, Coach Napoleon, whose right eye was rimmed with black, chimed in, "This is all thanks to Principal Hayato! We're so grateful for those canned fast food items that can be stored for a long time. Otherwise, even if we had enough food reserves, some perishable foods like vegetables would have been consumed very quickly."

—The wounds on Napoleon's face weren't from the attack by the Harpy; they were inflicted by Professor Chronos. Of course, Professor Chronos didn't fare any better; as if for the sake of symmetry, his left eye also became a "panda eye." It's clear they fought quite fiercely.

Coach Napoleon's words revealed the crux of the matter: the Duel Academy was facing a shortage of vegetables. It wasn't that anyone in the academy had the dietary habits of a "pure-hearted, scheming widow bassist from the Moon Forest—a long-term vegetarian," but rather that the school's food reserves were mostly meat and pasta dishes. Vegetables, on the other hand, could only be stored once a week. The academy's vegetable supply relied primarily on cargo ships and the cultivation of crops on some reclaimed land on the island.

Many vegetarians have personally verified the consequences of not eating meat for a long time through their own physical changes. However, not eating vegetarian food for a long time and not getting enough vitamins is also bad, especially since many students in schools are in need of comprehensive nutrition to recover.

However, that was under the condition that Duel Academy was stuck in the world of Duel Monsters for a long time, and Hayato had not made any prior preparations. Although there were still some things he hadn't considered, such as insufficient medical supplies, Hayato had prepared a large amount of military rations, instant food, and canned food at the school before the start of the semester this year. Naturally, there were also vegetable reserves. Although they were certainly not as effective as fresh vegetables, they were at least enough for the students to last for one or two months with other supplies.

Moreover, Hayato also instructed Harpy 2 to end its patrol and return to Harpy's territory to inform Harpy Queen, requesting that she provide some fruits and vegetables for the Duel Academy. It wasn't intended for direct use as food for the students; Hayato wouldn't be so careless as to allow humans to directly consume Duel Monsters' food—who knows what the reaction would be? But at least it could be used for research first, and once confirmed to be harmless, it could be used as a food supplement.

As for whether the Harp Queen would follow Hayato's orders, Hayato felt that she was probably not an idiot.

(One of the possibilities: eating food from Duel Monsters)

While Hayato was giving instructions to Harpy 2, Professor Chronos and Coach Napoleon were also present. So Professor Chronos continued Coach Napoleon's words, saying, "I just wonder if humans can eat the food that Duel Monsters eat. I hope that humans won't turn into Duel Monsters after eating fruit?"

"It really feels absurd to think about it; we've actually come to the world of Duel Monsters, aru," Professor Napoleon said, looking into the gymnasium through the glass of the broadcasting room.

Ms. Ayukawa has cleverly begun to use the power of Duel Monsters to assist in healing her students. Standing beside her is the Duel Monster she summoned, [Fallen Angel Nurse - Refikul], helping her take care of the students—although Coach Napoleon can't understand how a monster whose effect is to reverse life point recovery into effect damage can heal students.

Not only Ayukawa-sensei, but also some students have successfully summoned their own Duel Monsters, but the number is small, mostly third-year students—after all, only they went to the "Duel-Links" world when they were first-year students and had an experience of directly summoning Duel Monsters that is very similar to what they are doing now.

Even so, there are only a handful of people who actually summon Duel Monsters, such as Kagurazaka from the Helios-Yellow dormitory. This makes Professor Chronos think that perhaps in the first exam of this academic year, this student, who has worked hard for three years and has already forged his own path by "imitation dueling," a dueling style that seems to imitate others, will be able to advance to the Obelisk-Blue dormitory.

But then he realized what was happening and shook his head, lamenting that he had been a teacher for too long and was still subconsciously thinking about the students' education. Even though the entire school was caught up in this massive spatial transfer event, there was no point in talking about exams.

“No matter how unacceptable it may seem, it is still reality. As educators, this is how it is. Students only need to do their own thing, but we teachers have to consider many more things.” Professor Chronos then looked at Hayato and said, “The students have solved their basic living problems, but Principal Hayato, I remember that Harpy saying that the area where the school is located seems to be a territory with unclear ownership?”

Hayato nodded: "Although we generally refer to this desert as the Harpy's Hunting Ground, in reality, what territory could the forest dwellers, the Harpies, possibly have that large as their hunting ground? It's just a piece of desert adjacent to the forest they live in. But we are actually deep in the desert now, a place that even the Harpies and the Phantom Griffins, who compete with them for territory, can hardly reach."

“If it weren’t for the huge commotion at the Duel Academy, Harpy 2 wouldn’t have even ventured this far. This area is actually inhabited by many independent, powerful Duel Monsters, each occupying a region as their own territory. There are also many relatively weaker Duel Monsters roaming between these territories to survive.” Hayato paused, his gaze deep. “Compared to a forest with a unified leader, where defeating one would allow for complete control, this desert is almost impossible to suppress because it’s just too troublesome and chaotic.”

"So, this is why Principal Hayato, you specifically arranged for us to set up traps and obstacles in an area around the academy, huh? To protect those Duel Monsters from invading Duel Academy?"

When faced with Napoleon's question, Hayato shook his head: "Those things only make people feel that the students are under our protection; they're practically just for show."

"Uh, let's have a Duel Monster?" Professor Chronos guessed, recalling the methods of scaring animals he had heard about before.

"No, it's about making the students feel like they're being protected by us, while the Duel Monsters know that they aren't actually being protected," Hayato said, shrugging helplessly.

It's just some barricades and pitfall traps. What can they possibly stop? Harpies in the sky? Earthworms digging holes underground? Forget wild Duel Monsters. Go to the school and find a student like John, or have any of his family members send out a Gemmon or an Amber Mammoth, and they could easily crush those crude defenses.

Just like Hayato said, setting up traps was just a way to reassure the students, whether they were being protected or were assigned to design traps so they didn't have time to overthink things.

Professor Chronos understood Hayato's meaning and skipped the topic: "There's one more thing, which is about the three missing dormitories. Although the students' emotions have been calmed down for the time being, I think it might not be appropriate to involve the students in the search for the three missing dormitories if we're going to organize a team to explore the surrounding area."

"On the one hand, it's because only a few students actually have the ability to summon Duel Monsters like Manjoume-kun, and Yuki Jaden, Tenjouin Fubuki, and Manjoume Hayabusa have only just returned to school and haven't even had half a day of rest," Professor Chronos said, glancing at the clock hanging in the room.

—The time in the Elf World seems to be exactly twelve hours different from that in the Human World. It is now six hours after the Great Transfer, which is five o'clock in the morning in the Human World, but the three suns outside the school are showing signs of setting, as if it were five o'clock in the evening.

"On the other hand, they do have more important things to do now, aru."

Coach Napoleon paused, then looked at Hayato and said, "But is what you're saying true? Someone has actually spread a special virus in the school that specifically targets students who have lost their immunity due to the 'death bracelet'? And also—the key to our return to the human world is that exchange student named John Anderson, Aru?"

“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you?” Hayato tapped the file on the table with his pen and said, “Although I don’t know how far it has spread, I’ve asked Ms. Ayukawa to pay special attention to conducting physical examinations for the students. Her previous decision was correct. We absolutely cannot give up on any student, otherwise the lurking virus might start spreading and sweeping across the entire school through the first student who falls ill.”

"As for John Anderson, although he did awaken the dormant [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon] through his duel with Jaden before he traveled to this world, it is clear that he only awakened the power of [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon] as a Duel Monster Card."

If [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon] had been a completed Duel Monster card back then, John's [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon] might have been able to unleash its power accumulated over a thousand years, just like [Yubel] did in the original timeline—sending everyone, including the Duel Academy, back to their original world.

But at least in the current timeline, the [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Dragon] was not completed back then. Even though it was created in the modern era with John's help, its power is ultimately not mature enough and it cannot unleash the same abilities as in the original timeline—Hayato has confirmed this with John.

However, the nature of [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Dragon] is somewhat special. It's not that changing who uses it, like Hayato holding the card, will unleash different powers. There is a strong bond between the [Jewel Beasts] and John. Not only are the [Jewel Beasts] John's family, but [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Dragon] is also bound to John. In another timeline, when [Yubel] took over John's body, he even imprisoned John's consciousness in the gems within the corrupted [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Dark Dragon].

The only card that truly possesses the power of [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon] is itself. The other [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dark Dragon] is merely [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon] cloaked in shadow, manipulated by [Yubel] through John's body. Not to mention the [Sin - Rainbow Dragon] that Paradox will steal in the "past" or rather the "future"—that card doesn't even have the [Ultimate Gem God] title; it's just an empty shell with the appearance of [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon].

"So, you mean John can bring everyone back once he reaches a certain level? Then he really can't afford to fail," Professor Chronos said seriously, as if he would unhesitatingly step in to protect John if anything happened to him. "But duelists need to duel to become stronger, right? However, the 'Death Bracelet' still..."

Seeing Professor Chronos raise his hand and show the "death gauntlet" he was also wearing, Hayato waved his hand to reassure him: "I was prepared for this a long time ago. I didn't activate it before because I didn't want that guy to take advantage of me and increase the intensity of the protection as soon as he saw that the students would be safe. In the end, the students would not be protected and she would get the funding."

“But now, the number of people who will still duel across the school has dropped significantly to a reasonable level, and it’s time to activate that thing.” Hayato said, taking a tube of orange “liquid” from his duel disk. “Let’s use my ‘backup hidden energy’... I mean duel energy to pay for the ‘cost’ that John and the others need for their duel.”

What Hayato was referring to was a byproduct of the "Duel Energy Collection Device" that Hayato had asked Kaiba to create a year ago—not like [Yubel] which collects the duel energy of the entire island into one place, but rather releases the duel energy of one place to cover a certain area, a device that Kaiba named the "Kaiba's Wide-Area Spiral Seahorse Element Dispersion Special System"—yes, Kaiba still insists that "Duel Energy" should be called "Seahorse Element".

In short, with the help of that device, which can be simply called the "Duel Energy Distributor," the duel energy that Hayato has collected from his own duels is enough to support Jaden and the others in their free duels without them collapsing due to the "Death Gloves" draining too much of their duel energy.

However, such a thing certainly has side effects. On the one hand, as Hayato said, Yubel discovered that the extracted duel energy was continuous and did not cause anyone to collapse. She could increase the extraction intensity, and the massive amount of duel energy provided by Hayato would actually benefit her.

On the other hand, back in the human world, the activation of the "Duel Energy Distributor" caused Duel Monsters within an island to materialize. Nobody knows what the result would be if this device were activated again in the Duel Monsters world.