Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Hmm? This feeling... is that Jaden?" Hayato glanced back in the direction of Duel Academy, frowning. "It looks like he's dueling someone."

"How can you sense meow from such a distance?" Daitokuji looked in the direction Hayato was looking with a puzzled expression, sniffed the air with his nose, but only inhaled a noseful of sand and dust and almost choked to death.

"Cough cough, I can't feel anything at all, meow. Is the so-called 'New-Type' really that sensitive?"

After a pause, Daitokuji asked again, "Moreover, it's really not scientific at all. Is the 'New-Type''s perception speed the speed of light? It can receive any movement instantly, even if the other party is not in its line of sight. It's simply outrageous."

"The speed of light? In fact, the perception of 'New-Type' has never relied on any medium to transmit information. Just like that 'communication duel device' that you saw before, Daitokuji, does the information exchange between the input and output of that device rely on extremely high transmission speed to achieve zero-delay communication?"

Upon hearing Hayato mention the communication duel device that had recently proven incredibly effective and which Hayato used to defeat the approaching asteroid "Surtur," Daitokuji blinked and said, "I may not be very knowledgeable about science and technology, but isn't that how it is?"

"Then let me ask you, even at the speed of light, or even faster than the speed of light, how do I manage to receive information from space—where even light takes several seconds to travel—without delay while I'm on the ground, and then transmit the corresponding response back into space without delay?"

In the time it takes for the signal to travel back and forth, the perceived delay in signal transmission will double, and even the most astute duelist's reaction will become sluggish. If a signal traveling at the speed of light were used to link the input and output of the communication duel device, how could Hayato possibly defeat "Destruction Light" in space? He would have been defeated long before his opponent could activate the effect because he was too slow to keep up with the chain!

Without giving Daitokuji too much time to guess, Hayato gave the answer directly: "For 'New-Type' who can overcome the barriers created by differences in space and time, the primary prerequisite for the ability to sense each other's hearts, understand each other, and even further develop 'love' between them is to have a correct insight into all things."

"If a person possesses this insight, then that person can correctly deduce the observed situation from all things and phenomena before their eyes, and can further accurately predict the direction of the situation as time and space progress, and what kind of situation will emerge as a result."

"For example, watching a large white goose fly over a lake and seeing two giant mobile suits fighting at sea twenty years from now; watching the fine sand on the beach that you pick up and then let slip through your fingers and seeing an asteroid being thrown into space several years from now. Such abilities were what people living in the early 20th century called 'precognition'."

Daitokuji was stunned by Hayato's words: "Really? 'New-Type' actually has this kind of ability that's practically predicting the future? That's incredible, meow..."

"I see, I understand now. So the essence of the communication duel device is probably not as simple as 'real-time transmission of duel information'. Rather, it allows users on Earth to know what will happen in space tens of seconds in advance, so they can react early. Then, when the information finally arrives at the output end in space tens of seconds later, it coincides with the input end on Earth, allowing users to see the future scene, thus achieving the actual embodiment of 'real-time duel'."

"...Hmm!? Wait a minute, so it seems that the so-called 'communication duel device' is just a replica of a 'New-Type's' precognitive ability, which is to say, a 'oracle', right? Meow!?"

"That's why I said that Kaiba's talent in scientific research is simply outrageous." Hayato spread his hands. "Even though duelists have the ability to 'determine their own future through card draws,' which transcends the constraints of fate and prophecy, Kaiba managed to exploit a bug to allow duelists to create a fixed future themselves."

Saiou and Isis have repeatedly demonstrated with their prophetic abilities that mere "prophecy" cannot bind the possibilities of duelists. Although fate may constrain the endgame to a fixed course, duelists can, through their own will, transcend fate, change prophecies, and even break free from the constraints of gravity.

However, Kaiba also involved the duelist's will, which transcends the constraints of fate, in determining the "prophecy." It wasn't just the user's will; for example, in the recent space duel, even the power released by "Destruction Light" was converted into part of the information transmission and participated in the constraints of fate, truly using the opponent's power to fight the opponent himself.

Its concept is no less than that of Gaia receiving Agul's power and becoming V2, then Agul sublimating himself and becoming V2, then Gaia V2 receiving Agul's power and becoming Gaia SV, Agul V2 receiving Gaia's power and becoming Agul SV, and Gaia SV receiving Agul SV's power and becoming Gaia SSV, truly "stepping on the right foot to ascend to heaven".

"...That's true. That person casually created the ultimate fruit of alchemy and then just threw it away." Touching his own body in front of him, Daitokuji said helplessly, "It's a pity that it was ruined before I could test the limit of this new body's active lifespan."

At this moment, Daitokuji was not appearing beside Hayato in a normal human body, but rather floating in mid-air as a semi-transparent ghost, or perhaps truly in ghost form. This was not the first time he had entered this state; he had been in this form for a long time after completing "human transmutation" and transferring his body, and also after his body collapsed following being defeated by the Jade Emperor, without a new body.

However, to ordinary people, the spirit of Daitoku-ji Temple cannot be seen; they can only see a golden, firefly-like point of light flying around in the air.

Previously, when [Sword of the Hour] attacked Osiris-Red Dormitory, Daitokuji suffered too many poison injuries with his own body. Even though Hayato came to the rescue in time, it only prevented Daitokuji from dying on the spot. Not long after Hayato ended the duel, Daitokuji fell into a state that was infinitely close to death.

Daitokuji was also straightforward, directly abandoning his body, which had become a complete burden and constantly inflicted pain upon him, and continuing to exist as a soul. In the human world, a soul like Daitokuji's would quickly dissipate and truly die if it wasn't preserved. But perhaps it was a characteristic of the spirit world that, at least here, Daitokuji's soul didn't have to worry about naturally dissipating.

The number of students who remained in the Red Dormitory and were transferred to the Spirit World was not large, only ten. However, even fewer were the supplies in the Red Dormitory. Even if the [Swordsmen] had not been watching the Red Dormitory before, if Hayato had arrived here even half a day later, the students in the Red Dormitory would have had to leave the dormitory and go out to find food.

—The reason why [Si Jian] found the Osiris-Red Dormitory was because someone went out and was spotted by [Si Jian], who followed the student who fled back to the Red Dormitory and found the location of the dormitory.

Fortunately, there were only so many people in the Red Dorm, so Hayato didn't need to escort them back to school. He could simply summon a monster with the ability to carry people and send them back to Duel Academy along the same route Hayato had taken. Hayato had killed quite a few wild Pokémon on his way here, so it was safe to send the students back to school.

As for the Osiris-Red dormitory itself, Hayato left it where it was for the time being. Although he could move the entire Red dormitory back to the vicinity of the school, that would be too time-consuming, laborious, and unnecessary, especially since Duel Academy is now attracting many Pokémon due to the continuous activation of the "Duel Energy Distributor," and moving the dormitory there would only add to the risks.

After Aleister and the others casually released some kind of concealment barrier to prevent rats or wild dogs from breaking into the Osiris-Red Dormitory, Hayato changed into a new vehicle—the Cursed Dragon—and began searching for the dormitory that needed to be found sooner than the Red Dormitory—the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory.

Huh? You're asking me what to do with the old car I'm replacing? Of course, I'll just turn around... cough cough, that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking why I didn't go to Sun God - Huang's Dormitory first?

So, the first thing to clarify is that Hayato has never stated that the order in which he searches for student dormitories is based on the students' strength or weakness; otherwise, the students in the Osiris-Red dormitory would never have been ranked first. The truly crucial determining factor is the urgency at which the student dormitories are found.

The reason why the Red Dormitory is ranked first is the "scarcity of supplies" mentioned above. The reason why the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory is ranked second is not only because the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory is the farthest from the school except for the Osiris-Red Dormitory, unlike the Apollo-Yellow Dormitory which is near the school, but also because of the special nature of the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory - it is clearly divided into male and female dormitories!

At least in Hayato's Duel Academy, there was never a setting that "girls are only assigned to the Obelisk-Blue dormitory," which was somewhat of a gender-preferential arrangement. In fact, both the Osiris-Red dormitory and the Apollo-Yellow dormitory theoretically had girls.

The reason for using "theoretically" is that most girls, after knowing their grades are poor, are unlikely to continue down the path of fighting monsters and attend Duel Academy. The most common girl the students in the Red Dorm see is Asuka, who comes to play with Jaden. Before Rei Saotome, as the top freshman, made a special application to enter the Red Dorm, this place was a true "monk's dormitory".

The reason why there are few girls in the Yellow Dormitory is that the vast majority of girls who have decided to pursue the path of Duel Monsters have attended Duel Academy Middle School and therefore almost directly entered the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory. As for girls who have not attended Duel Academy Middle School—why would they come to Duel Academy if they haven't attended Middle School? Would they come to the Yellow Dormitory to experience the atmosphere of studying among a group of straight men? Why not just go to other branch campuses?

It's not that there are no girls in the Yellow Dorm, but the number is so small that there's a saying that "girls who enter the Duel Academy will be directly assigned to the Obelisk-Blue Dorm." But that's impossible—expecting Kaiba, a card addict who doesn't care about family or gender, to give preferential treatment to women? It's better to expect Hayato, a thorough egalitarian who can kick anyone, young or old, who doesn't hesitate to kick them, to give them special treatment.

However, Hayato's reason for looking for the almost adjacent Obelisk-Blue dormitory and the Obelisk-Blue girls' dormitory was not because of taking care of girls or anything like that. As mentioned earlier, he is a believer in gender equality. The reason he wanted to look for the Obelisk-Blue dormitory first was also very simple: the head teacher of the Obelisk-Blue girls' dormitory was Ayukawa Megumi, and the head teacher of the Obelisk-Blue dormitory was Professor Chronos.

Both teachers are currently staying at the main campus to take care of the students. In addition, Asuka, Fubuki, and Manjoume, who have a certain say in the Blue Dormitory, are also not here. This makes the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory the most prone to internal strife among all the dormitories. In particular, most of the students who can enter the Blue Dormitory are somewhat arrogant at heart. Without a strong enough leader, they will fight amongst themselves.

The situation in the Yellow Dormitory was much better. Although top students like those in arithmetic, Kagurazaka, and Kenzan were not in the dormitory, the students in the Yellow Dormitory were much easier to manage than those in the Blue Dormitory. The students in this dormitory, whose presence was never very strong and who lived a "peaceful life like plants" like their dormitory head teacher Kira Aoki, were less likely to have "internal conflicts" than the Red Dormitory, which was full of academic underachievers.

—Unless someone brings up an extremely sensitive topic among this group, such as whether to eat sweet or savory zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), then this group is unlikely to be able to unite.

Of course, another point is that, unlike the Blue Dormitory, although the Yellow Dormitory's dormitory head, Kira Aoki, went on a business trip with Samejima, Kabayama-sensei, who has long served as the acting dormitory head, stayed in the Yellow Dormitory. More importantly, this acting dormitory head, who is as good at cooking as Kira-sensei, especially curry, had just applied for a batch of ingredients before the transfer began to prepare a meal for the Yellow Dormitory students to reward them for their recent physical and mental exhaustion due to the "exposing duel".

With ample supplies, the most well-behaved students, and the same disciplined teachers, and even the dormitory that was geographically closest to the Duel Academy, it's no wonder that Hayato prioritized finding it last.

Another point is that although Ayukawa-sensei usually works in the school's infirmary and most medical supplies are stored at the school, considering the special physiology of the girls, Ayukawa-sensei actually also keeps a certain amount of medicine in the Obelisk-Blue girls' dormitory. In addition, the return of the Obelisk-Blue dormitory, whose students are much stronger on average than those in the Red dormitory, can greatly alleviate the school's manpower pressure. This is why Hayato decided to go to the Obelisk-Blue dormitory first.

(The locations of the dormitories in Duel Academy differ slightly from those in the anime and in the card illustrations; this is for reference only.)

However, the locations of the red and blue dormitories are at opposite ends of the spectrum, even on the original Duel Academy Island. During this long journey, Hayato got bored and started adjusting his deck. The back of the [Cursed Dragon - Cursed Dragon] deck wasn't very big, but besides that, it only carried the "corpse" of Daitokuji, which was probably useless but might be useful, so it didn't matter if he brought it along. Overall, it was still quite spacious.

The card Hayato pulled out, at the very top, was none other than the new being that had appeared within the body of [Kusanagi, the Supreme of the Mitsu Sword], whom Hayato had previously defeated—[Kousuke, the Prince of the Mitsu Sword].

According to him, he was actually the master of the [Kusanagi no Mi] sword. However, during his daily training, he fed the [Kusanagi no Mi] sword too well, causing it to become stronger than him, its master. As a result, the [Kusanagi] sword turned against him and controlled him. It was not until Hayato defeated the [Kusanagi no Mi] sword that it was finally freed.

Both to repay a debt of gratitude and because he was willing to accept defeat, [Prince of the Sword - Kou] voluntarily became Hayato's card and served him. He also provided Hayato with a lot of information about this desert that even the [Harpie] was not very clear about, but which was the most basic common knowledge of the desert inhabitants.

One of them was about the location of several buildings that had recently appeared in the desert. After comparing the locations of two of the buildings—the Duel Academy headquarters and the Osiris-Red dormitory—Hayato quickly determined that the other three were most likely the Sun God-Yellow dormitory and the two dormitories of Obelisk-Blue.

"It is my honor to be able to help you in this way, sir."

On the card, [Prince of the Snake Sword - Osui] sincerely expressed his gratitude, while Hayato pointed at [Prince of the Snake Sword - Osui] and said to Daitokuji who was standing next to him, "Look, he even has to thank us."

Chapter 1780 Caesar/Ed was really lucky (Confirmed)

However, despite the speculation that "the Blue Dormitory is prone to internal strife because it is full of top students," the actual situation was quite different from what Hayato thought.

Although at the beginning there were indeed situations like "Everyone in the Blue Dormitory is a top student, why should we listen to your orders?", the "leaderless" situation was easily resolved once someone stepped forward.

"Oh my, the juniors really trust you, they practically obey you every word." Standing next to Marufuji Ryo, Edward teased him, "I never expected to see the legendary 'Kaiser' so popular during his time at Duel Academy in this way. I thought I wouldn't have that chance after you graduated."

"It has nothing to do with popularity. I graduated a year ago, and the students I knew during my time at school are already third-year students. The reason I can still command them is simply because I am stronger than them. That's Duel Monster—victory is everything."

Edward raised an eyebrow: "Last year's 'Second World Martial Arts Tournament,' huh? It's a pity I didn't finish the whole tournament because of Saiou's matter. Otherwise, maybe we could have faced off again in the final eight? My deck has changed a lot since then, Caesar."

"Want to win back? But even if your deck changes, the outcome won't change; I'll still win." Caesar said matter-of-factly, but after a pause, he continued, "If you want, this world can too."

"No, let's forget about this world. Although neither of us has put on that dangerous 'death gauntlet,' the loss of life points in this world of card spirits will still translate into real damage. I'm not the kind of person who would be so foolish as to waste my time at a time like this." Edward waved his hand, indicating that he was patient enough to wait until he returned to the human world before challenging Caesar.

In another timeline, Edward and Caesar did not participate in Professor Cobra's "exposé duel," nor were they implicated in the "Great Transfer" incident along with the others in the academy after Jaden's duel with Professor Cobra. However, the current situation is slightly different.

After the "Second World Martial Arts Tournament" last year, Edward and Caesar remained at the Duel Academy. Caesar was more curious about the strength of "John of the Jewel Beast," whom Pegasus had not been able to face last year, rather than having a public duel with opponents he had already fought.

John's public performance with Jaden also pleased Caesar. It not only confirmed that Jaden was still getting stronger and worth the effort to continue dueling with him, but also that John's strength lived up to his reputation. Caesar's card addiction made him somewhat restless, wanting to challenge John to a game to see which was stronger, Rainbow Dragon or Cyber ​​End Dragon.

However, because John collapsed after that demonstration duel caused by the "death band," Caesar couldn't find a suitable opportunity. By the time John had finally recovered, the "reveal duel" was about to begin. Although Caesar had long since abandoned the so-called "respect and courtesy" and other formalities, that didn't mean he was a card addict who would disregard others' physical condition for the sake of playing cards.

Because the rooms in the Blue Dormitory were empty, Caesar, who remained at the academy as a "renowned alumnus," was not only spared from being expelled from the school, but his old room in the Blue Dormitory was also preserved and not assigned to anyone else. So he simply stayed in the Blue Dormitory and waited for Jaden and the others to resolve the crisis of the "Death Bracelet." As a result, he was transferred to another world along with the students from the Blue Dormitory.

As for Edward's situation, it's even simpler—he was originally a first-year student who officially entered the Duel Academy last year. However, he signed a special agreement with the school at that time, granting him special freedom of movement. In order to accommodate the arrangements of professional competitions, he was exempted from following the school's teaching assessments and other programs. Professor Cobra couldn't require him to wear the "Death Gloves." He could not only move freely on the island but also attend classes of whichever grade he wanted.

Similarly, because the blue dormitory room was empty, Edward wouldn't mistreat himself by going to the red or yellow dormitory. He also chose a room in the blue dormitory as his own. He wanted to continue learning more at the Duel Academy to improve himself so that he could surpass and defeat his two current targets—Jaden, who was also a [Hero] user, and Kaiser, who had defeated him.

However, he didn't wait for Hayato's teaching class to resume; instead, he witnessed this "great transfer."

Fubuki collapsed and remained at the academy while trying to verify the dangers of the "exposing duel." Manjoume and Asuka, two third-year students who were considered leaders in the Blue Dormitory, went with Judai to deal with Professor Cobra. There weren't many outstanding individuals among the first and second-year students in the Blue Dormitory. Initially, the Blue Dormitory almost fell into internal chaos due to the incident, but Caesar stepped forward and became the temporary commander.

"Speaking of which, how did you get the nickname 'Caesar' in the first place?" Edward asked curiously, as if something had occurred to him.

"Because I'm too strong, no one in my grade is my match," Ryo Marufuji admitted. "Although there were some at the beginning, something happened that caused them to disappear one by one, leaving me as the only one who was precipitously ahead of the other students in the school."

"Is it because of your repeated victories that one can't help but think of Caesar, who famously said 'I came, I saw, I conquered'?" Edward teased with a smile. "The first person to give you that nickname would never have imagined that you would actually become 'Julius Caesar' now, would they?"

“I just hate the messy, chaotic scene. If the people here were to fall into internal strife, I would be very troubled too,” Marufuji Ryo said calmly, then corrected, “And, historically, ‘Caesar’ was always just a dictator, and I have no intention of leading these people.”

“But at least you’ve taken action, haven’t you? Distributing food, reassuring others with your presence—these are things a competent leader would do.” Ed paused, putting on his Duel Disk. “And also, you’ve proactively gone out to search for the missing school.”

"Although I don't know the specifics, there should be more than just people from Obelisk-Blue Dormitory who have come to this Card Monster World. But the only buildings in sight are Blue Dormitory and the Girls' Dormitory. We can't just sit here and wait to die; we have to find the main campus of the academy."

Caesar glanced at Edward and said, "I just want to find out if there are any opponents in this world worth defeating. There's no room for peace and compromise in the hell I inhabit. As for you, why did you come out with me?"

"Wouldn't it be so cool, like a hero, if we could find the academy? We can't just let you have the chance to show off."

Caesar knew immediately that Edward's reasoning was nonsense, but he didn't delve into it. Instead, he casually said, "It's up to you to follow, but I won't come to your rescue if you encounter any danger."

Upon reaching the exit of the Obelisk-Blue dormitory, a considerable number of people had already gathered there. For security reasons, the students from the girls' dormitory, which was not far from the Blue dormitory, had been escorted there by Caesar "last night." In this world, there was no longer any redundancy in considering privacy.

"Are you leaving, Caesar-senpai..." Junko Mamuda asked Caesar with concern. She and Momoe Hamaguchi had both been brought to the Blue Dormitory by Caesar, and seeing him about to leave made Junko Mamuda feel very uneasy.

Because of her words, Caesar stopped and looked back at the boys and girls around him. Everyone had the same expression as Junko Mamida.

Seeing this, Caesar calmly said, "From now on, it's up to you. If you distribute the food according to my plan, it should be enough to last you for at least a week. However, if you still haven't received any rescue before the deadline, try going out."

"In this world that is no different from hell, struggling is always better than waiting to die."

Hamaguchi Momoe took Makuta Junko's hand to comfort her friend. Watching Caesar and Edward walk towards the door, the two women looked at each other and said in unison, "Caesar-senpai, Edward-kun, may you have good luck in your battles."

"May your military career prosper!"

Amidst everyone's blessings, Caesar and Edward walked out of the Blue Dormitory. At the Duel Academy, beyond the Blue Dormitory lay a lush green forest, and beyond that, a lake on the island. From across the lake, one could see the villa where Principal Kobayashi Hayato lived—because of this, some even considered "being able to bask in the duelists' talent from the principal's dormitory every day" as one of the special perks of the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory. Crucially, quite a few people actually came to the lakeside to pray for good fortune before each assessment.

However, there are no forests or lakes in front of the current Blue Dormitory, and the principal's villa is nowhere in sight. The only view is a vast sea of ​​sand.

"So, which direction do you want to go next?" Edward asked Caesar. Caesar, a graduate who had studied at the Duel Academy for three years, pointed in a certain direction and said, "When I was still studying at the school, I could see the school from this angle every time I went out. Let's start from this direction and search."

Hearing Caesar talk about his school days, Edward suddenly laughed: "I just remembered a joke, that is, students mostly use old equipment and objects that have been around for who knows how many years while they are in school, but as soon as they graduate, the school immediately renovates and upgrades them. In a way, isn't what happened this time also like Caesar returning to school after graduation and finding that the school is completely different from when he was a student?"

Upon hearing this, Caesar merely curled his lips into a cold smile and said, "Yes, but the changes this time are a bit too drastic. Even the roads on the 'campus' have been filled with quite a few obstacles."

Seeing the scorpions, centipedes, and other monsters in the desert that had been attracted to the two of them not far from the dormitory, Edward laughed: "Isn't there a saying, 'The campus is our home, and civilization depends on everyone'? It's our duty as students to help clean up the weeds and trash we see on the road."

"So—shall we have a contest to see who can clean up the trash the fastest?"

"It suits me perfectly, in fact, it's exactly what I wanted!"

Undeterred, Caesar and Edward voluntarily approached the monsters in the wild, unfolding their respective duel disks and each playing a card:

"Sebatoragon!" "[D·Hero Diamond Man]!"

-----Sudden scene transition dividing line-----

Question: Life needs to take in enough energy to maintain its activities. The main way humans obtain energy is by eating food. So what is the main food for Duel Monsters?

"I see, I understand now!" Misawa said excitedly, his eyes gleaming with dark circles. "So that's how the Duel Monsters' food is made!"

“Actually, you could go back to rest, there’s no need to start researching right away.” Coach Napoleon looked at Misawa and whispered to Professor Chronos beside him, “As soon as he heard that those Harpies had brought the fruit they were eating, he came over to study it immediately, and he reached a conclusion so soon after getting the fruit. Is this student named Yotsushi reliable, ah?”

"In terms of dueling prowess, Liuzhe isn't the strongest in the school, but when it comes to understanding all sorts of obscure theories, he's undoubtedly the strongest!" Professor Chronos said confidently. "Although I don't quite understand what he could have researched in such a short time, hurry up and explain your findings to us, Gojo!"

“It’s Misawa Daichi!” Misawa complained, picking up the cut tree fruit and a makeshift device that looked like it had been hastily made. “Although it’s a makeshift device, the data deviation shouldn’t be too big. Based on my judgment, the composition of the food that the Duel Monsters eats is at least 90% Duel Energy.”