Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"what?"

"Caesar, Edward..." Jaden looked at the two of them with suspicion, "Why are you two here too? Do you also want to—"

"Although Hayato-sensei satisfied my curiosity, in the end, I still haven't dueled with John Anderson." Caesar crossed his arms. "If my desire for victory isn't fulfilled, I'll be very unhappy."

"As for me, I haven't avenged my defeat against Caesar yet. So I won't miss the chance to compare myself to Caesar." Edward also gave a cool "Wink". "Besides, I'm a hero enthusiast too. Didn't you say, Jaden, that a hero can't desert his post?"

"And don't say anything like 'there's no reason'." O'Brien adjusted his gun-shaped duel disk to make sure it was working properly. "Not only you, Jaden, but John was also a comrade-in-arms we fought together in another world."

“Me too, I’m going to get revenge on that Yubel.” Amon seized the opportunity to join the conversation. “I heard everything. There’s a way back to the Elven world, right? The people of Garham don’t like owing favors. John Anderson saved us, so we should save him to repay the favor.”

"Everyone..." Looking at the crowd in front of him, Jaden could no longer find the words to refuse.

“Me too. Even if it’s a journey that risks your life, I won’t just stand by and watch you die alone, Jaden,” Asuka said, taking a step forward and holding Jaden’s hands. “At least, I’ll stay by your side.”

"Wow, have you thought it through completely, Asuka-chan?" Following Caesar and the others, Fubuki arrived at the door of Jaden's room and happened to see her interaction with Jaden. She asked in her usual flippant tone, but her words were full of seriousness and earnestness.

“Of course, I made the choice based on my own will.” Asuka glanced at Judai and answered without hesitation.

"Dead or Alive, is this the trial we're about to face? But Karen and I are both prepared." Jim patted Karen, the crocodile behind him, and she responded with a low growl.

As everyone made up their minds, Hayato had already arrived at Duel Academy. On his way from the island to the academy’s main campus, he naturally saw a large group of people gathered on the second floor of the Red Dormitory. After instructing the school staff to help him transport the things he needed back, he jumped off the car.

"They've all gathered at Jaden's dorm. Is it because I told them I would open a 'singularity' and return to the Spirit World?" Hayato wondered, muttering to himself. "No, it's probably because of Jaden. They all gathered here because Jaden wants to go to the Spirit World, so they're following their 'leader'."

"Without realizing it, I've become a very influential person. Because of the Judai's actions, others will follow suit, and my own will will influence the decisions made by others."

Hayato paused for a moment, then said, "However, I hope that oblivious Jaden hasn't realized this yet. He's the only one who hasn't noticed it yet."

"It's like only you, Master, think your duel is pure love?" Alai chimed in.

“Whenever I want to show you some respect, Alai, you just say the word…” Hayato glanced at the elf beside him, picked up the card, and slapped it back at him. Thinking that most of his “expeditionary force” members had gathered here, he decided not to go back to school. Instead, he remotely notified Vice Principal Samejima, who had already returned to school and was assisting with school affairs, and headed straight for the Red Dormitory.

However, instead of going to the second floor where Jaden's dormitory was located, he went straight to the cafeteria, which served as a common area. After opening the door, he saw a large cat "climbing" on the table—the orange cat "Pharaoh".

Because Daitoku-ji lost its physical body, and no one stayed up late to keep the cat company during the day, the "Pharaoh's" routine quickly returned to "sleeping during the day and living like an immortal at night." Its afternoon nap was disturbed, and it was unclear whether it opened its eyes, which were basically just slits, to glance at Hayato. After yawning, it leaned back and fell into a deep sleep.

Hayato simply patted the orange cat, and "Pharaoh" didn't resist at all. As long as Hayato didn't disturb its sleep, it didn't even react when Hayato touched its belly. Instead, it slept even more soundly and started snoring.

However, Hayato wasn't there to pet the cat. Instead, he looked up at the roof beams—more for their architectural purpose than their function as cat trees for the "Pharaoh"—where a ball of light was leisurely swaying around.

"Hashley sori yo~ Kazeenno you. Zikomihana oh~ Padoro Padoro~"

"If we unfreeze this now, what will we listen to this Christmas, Daitoku-ji Temple?"

Hearing the voice, the ball of light trembled, then noticed Hayato's arrival. It floated down from the roof beam, revealing the spirit form of Daitokuji: "It's Principal Hayato! You suddenly called my name, which startled me—though I no longer have a heart that can stop from being startled, meow~"

"And I'm just practicing for this year's Christmas event."

“Christmas… it’s almost here, not long now.” Hayato nodded. “But you didn’t go to comfort Judai, that’s strange. Isn’t he the successor you value highly?”

"Although I no longer have a physical body, and very few people can see me after I return to the human world, I still think it's best for the dead to avoid appearing in front of the living, meow~" Daitokuji, though in spirit form, still retained his old verbal tic. "If Judai sees me and talks to me, his impression on others will become strange, right?"

"Before you, he was already out of place because he could see spirits. It's just that he's carefree, so he doesn't care about other people's strange looks." Hayato spread his hands. "Isn't this kind of 'spirit user' ability pretty much in line with your alchemists' aesthetic? You gain something, you lose something else."

"Having gained more elf friends, but also made it harder to gain human friends? That certainly fits the concept of an equal exchange." Daitokuji's soul nodded, and the light spot swayed up and down. "I see. That's why he's particularly concerned about John Anderson, who is just like himself."

"Among the people he knew in the past, although Manjoume was also a 'Spirit Master,' his relationship with the 'Dragon of Light and Darkness' was still mainly that of partners. Manjoume, who usually had a rich extracurricular life, would not regard the cards as his only family because of loneliness. But Judai and John are different. One of them has not had family companionship for many years, and the other has even lost both parents and only has a foster father who is also busy making money. The cards are their most valued partners and family."

"Should we say 'birds of a feather flock together' or 'birds of a feather flock together'? Judai will probably place John's importance in an extremely high position. I'm a little worried that he might be too impulsive after going to the spirit world and ignore everything around him, meow."

Hearing Daitokuji's words, Hayato raised an eyebrow: "You see things very clearly too, regarding Jaden's unusual mental state."

“It’s not just me, there are probably quite a few people in the school who have noticed it, right? Besides Principal Hayato, Professor Chronos and Mr. Sato probably noticed something as well, and even Kaiser Ryo and Fubuki probably have.” Daitokuji thought for a moment and said, “In the years since Judai entered the school, he has grown, but he hasn’t grown at all.”

"He likes heroes, so he does what heroes should do. He likes dueling, and it just so happens that saving others requires dueling. Thus, at least on the surface, Judai's purpose and means conform to popular values, making him seem like a very gentle and passionate person. However, Judai does not have a correct self-awareness, but actually thinks he is a gentle and kind 'hero'."

At this point, Daitokuji paused for a moment, "Sometimes I think that saying is right, it's the one 'Darkness' said about Jaden—'When you want to be a hero, you've already lost the right to be a hero.'"

"That's a really scathing review."

“Principal Hayato, aren’t you the same? Aren’t you still looking down on Judai as he continues down the wrong path, even though the mud ahead is about to swallow him up?” Daitokuji rarely asked Hayato a question in return. “Besides, don’t forget who I am—in the end, I am also an alchemist who disregards morality and human ethics and ignores life. For me, it is enough for Judai to survive and continue on the path of alchemy. I don’t really care about the path of ‘hero’ that he pursues and yearns for.”

Despite his cold words, Hayato immediately saw through Daitokuji's true thoughts: "Trying to provoke me into teaching the Judai a lesson?"

"Huh? How did you see through it so easily, meow?" Daitokuji's carefully constructed serious demeanor crumbled instantly. "I finally came up with this idea after a lot of effort. I'm just a dead alchemist, not a qualified teacher. You might be better at handling the students' psychological problems with Principal Hayato—that's what I thought, meow. But why did you see through it so easily, Principal Hayato?"

"Because you're a comedic character, it's really hard for me to be serious all of a sudden, especially since you didn't even use that 'meow' verbal tic, it felt like you were just reciting lines."

"That's so mean, meow! I'm not a comedian!"

"So you don't deny memorizing lines, right?" Hayato retorted, glancing at the ceiling above him as if looking at the situation on the second floor. "Jūdai's pursuit is too idealistic. He wants to be like a knight who descends from the sky, stepping forward to turn the tide when everyone expects a hero. But the reality is that even heroes can't solve all problems like in movies and TV shows."

"He wanted to be a hero too much. Such a strong desire would certainly give him considerable leadership charisma and make people admire him. However, being too obsessed would cause Jaden to subconsciously ignore the followers behind him and only care about himself and the goal ahead when he was moving forward."

"People who see trash but don't pick it up can be corrected by external forces, but what can correct Judai is not a strong enough obstacle that makes him bruise his head, but only to make him turn around and look at the scenery behind him. In other words, it is to make him, who 'cannot see the trash and does not pick it up,' able to see the trash."

"【Yubel】is a 'trial' from the past of the Tenth Generation, and it is also the whetstone I chose that is most suitable for the Tenth Generation. This trip to the Spirit World is to rescue John Anderson, and it is also a true 'Great Expedition'."

Hearing Hayato's words, Daitokuji understood everything: "I get it now, 'realistic' blood is shocking enough, meow? Then I'll lend you a hand, Principal Hayato—Pharaoh!?"

"I am Daitokuji, meow! Pharaoh, what are you doing, meow!"

Because Daitokuji shook his head and Hayato was talking to him, the "Pharaoh" who still couldn't sleep well felt the same way he used to be kept awake by Daitokuji during the day. He looked up at his head with a grumpy expression.

Having confirmed that Hayato was no match for him, "Pharaoh" roared and pounced on Daitoku-ji Temple.

Chapter 1834 The Great Expedition

Near the ruins leading to the [Valley of Royal Sleep] in the back mountain of Duel Academy —

Hayato appeared here with a group of students who had decided to join the "Expeditionary Force," curiously observing the strange distortion in the air in front of them.

For some reason, Hayato felt that this twisted so-called "singularity" looked familiar, and its aura gave him the feeling that he had definitely encountered it somewhere before.

"Curry!"

Upon hearing the cry of "Rainbow Kuriboh," Hayato, who automatically translated the "Kuriboh language" in his mind, was reminded of a distant memory.

"Back during the KC Cup? It does seem a bit like that. No, considering that the spirits that appeared in the 'singularity' opened by Raphael and the others were also Harpies, maybe they were leading to the same world at all."

Long ago, Baron, Raphael, and Amelda, who were still the "Three Musketeers of Doma," plotted the "KC Cup" incident to cause harassment. In that incident, with the help of Dartz and the power of "Orichalcos," they opened the door to the world of spirits, bringing the spirits from the other side into the real world.

Although the scale is different, the hole in front of us, which is probably too narrow even for a short person to squeeze through, is undoubtedly the same as the passage opened during the "KC Cup". Because of this, after experiencing the relevant events back then, the seahorse was prepared and its years of research results finally came into play.

"Ta-da! Ta-da!"

"Portal Gun!"

Mimicking the sound effects of "Doraemon," Hayato picked up a device that had been moved nearby—a strangely shaped pistol. However, instead of a muzzle, the front of it resembled a three-tube traffic light, and instead of a magazine, there was a container filled with an unknown liquid on top. Overall, it looked less like a gun and more like a supermarket checkout scanner.

"...Okay, actually I feel it's more like the one from 'Rek and Modi'." Hayato picked up what appeared to be yet another infringing work from Haima Group, made a sarcastic remark, and instead of starting it up immediately, glanced at the weapon beside him.

The "pistol" was used in conjunction with a calibration device. Compared to the lightweight gun itself, the machine looked much bulkier and had a long cable that connected to the Duel Academy's circuit network, which had been urgently repaired.

"I thought the equipment from Haima Group would use a more advanced power supply solution." The person operating the instrument was none other than Misawa Kaimi, who had learned a lot about dimensions from Dr. Bein Stein, while Saotome Rei, who wanted to help Judai, was assisting him. "So it turns out it just uses electricity directly?"

“Thanks to the power station on Academy Island, electricity is the most convenient, abundant, and stable energy source we can obtain,” Misawa said without looking up, his hands still manipulating the equipment to calculate something. “You have to understand that this ‘singularity’ isn’t something that ends once it’s opened. We must also solve the problem of how to bring back the people from that place while we’re at it.”

“Since this ‘dimensional fluctuation’ is caused by the ‘ripple echo’ that occurred when that guy named ‘Yubel’ opened the portal last time, then theoretically, as long as we provide enough output, we can expand the portal and make a ‘singularity’ of the current scale reappear in the future, right?”

“It’s not that simple. Outputting such a large amount of energy at once might get more people caught in it, which is too dangerous.” Misawa rejected Rei’s idea. “But if we change our approach, instead of creating a huge ‘ripple’ all at once, we could continuously output it multiple times, causing the ripples to keep echoing…”

"You can still make 'singularities' appear, and even control the timing of their appearance relatively reliably, unlike this time when it was so rushed? I see, you're really amazing, Senior Four Arithmetic!"

"It's Misawa Daichi!"

Even if the person in question is a junior, Misawa wouldn't let them call him by the wrong name without correcting it. He said sternly, while inputting the data he had calculated into the device to synchronize it with the "portal gun" in Hayato's hand: "Hayato-sensei, the instrument has been calibrated and is now synchronizing the data. It is expected to take another minute."

Jaden asked somewhat nervously, "Won't we miss the right time because of this?"

"Don't worry about that. The 'singularity' will last for at least an hour or two, which is more than enough time to collect data, analyze and adjust, and open the dimensional gate." Misawa reassured the anxious Jaden, glancing at the energy fluctuations collected by the instrument. "However, after this 'singularity' appeared, the dueling energy in the surrounding area became quite abundant, almost like we've returned to the Pokémon world."

"Actually, it's still a little lacking. At least even when the Pokémon appear from the cards, they won't be in a materialized state like they were in the other world." Looking at the Winged Kuriboh that was comforting Jaden on his shoulder, and seeing that everyone else seemed oblivious to it, Manjoume knew that the concentration of dueling energy wasn't as exaggerated as in the Pokémon world. "However, it's actually high enough that if you get a little serious, you can materialize the cards, even if the Pokémon on the cards hasn't awakened yet."

"Speaking of which, Hayato-sensei, can duel energy also be used to open dimensional gates?" Marufuji Sho asked, remembering something.

“Of course you can. If the conditions are poor and I’m not around, you can summon your powerful monsters nearby and attack the ‘singularity.’ You might be able to force open the dimensional gate.” Hayato watched as the solution in the gun changed from green to gold, and a display screen on the gun showed the text indicating that the process was completed. “However, doing that would not only waste energy on unnecessary things, but it’s also not stable enough. You might accidentally drag in people who don’t want to enter the Spirit World.”

(The teleportation that Jaden and the others opened was stable at first, but it quickly went berserk and dragged others in.)

Upon hearing this, Judai quickly turned to look at Rei: "Rei, you should leave quickly."

"Eh~" Saotome Rei looked displeased. "But I really want to help you, Judai-sama."

"The biggest help you can give is that you don't go to another world and become an easy hostage to be caught." Hayato flicked Saotome Rei's forehead, and the latter clutched her head in pain, glaring at Hayato.

After learning of the existence of the "Expeditionary Force," she intended to join and did not want Asuka and Jaden to have a chance to be alone. However, Hayato refused her firmly because she was underage and lacked the ability to be independent, which made her very dissatisfied. She was even somewhat delighted when she heard that if the portal was opened too wide, it might pull in the people around her.

"This isn't a picnic, so listen to your teacher, okay, junior?"

Upon hearing Asuka emphasize her age in a mocking tone, Saotome Rei quickly shifted her hostility and glared at Asuka.

Raising the "Portal Gun," Hayato called out to everyone, "Alright, the weapons are now fully tested and we're about to set off—so, everyone assemble!"

After Hayato spoke, the others immediately stopped making noise or ended their rest and gathered in front of him.

Jun Manjoume, Asuka Tenjouin, and Fubuki Tenjouin of the Obelisk-Blue Dormitory;

Sho Marufuji, Daichi Misawa, and Dilano Kenzan from the Yellow Dormitory of the Sun God;

Judai Yuki of the Osiris-Red Dormitory, graduate Ryo Marufuji, and second-year student Ed Phoenix;

Exchange students from the branch campus: Jim Crokdal Cook, Ossin O'Brien, and Amon Garlem.

Looking at the students standing in a row in front of him, Hayato nodded: "Exactly twelve people, what an interesting number—this number signifies completeness and perfection. I hope that when we set off, there were just as many of us, and when we return, there will still be just as many of us."

"I need to remind you, Annie, that including what you gave me, there are actually thirteen people in total~" "And weren't you guys going to rescue that brat named John?" "That means there are a total of fourteen people coming back!"

"Shut up, you three!" Hayato slapped the noisy "Disruptive Brothers" away and continued, "I'm just trying to bring good luck for our departure. Of course, I, the leader, and the soldier John we're going to rescue aren't included in the team. Otherwise, according to you, if we have thirteen people in total, wouldn't there be a 'Judas' mixed in?"

"Anyway—it's time to set off." Hayato pulled the trigger without aiming at the singularity not far away. The three "light tubes" in front of the "portal gun" lit up with golden light, and the energy converted from electricity was shot into the "singularity," forcibly opening it into a passage that people could pass through.

Hayato was very satisfied with this. Although he could have simply used the card Pokémon to open the portal according to the original plot, he still went out of his way to ask Kaiba for help. It wasn't unnecessary; he wanted to get a stable portal.

(The three of them were initially opposed to returning to the Elf Realm.)

(The position is one I didn't plan to join)

In the original plot, Jaden, Manjoume, and the others forcibly opened the "Singularity" using the power of the Card Spirits. However, the portal also went berserk and dragged in some people who had no intention of entering the Spirit World. These included Sho, Misawa, and Fubuki who were standing nearby; Caesar and Edward who were just watching the show; Eiko, Amon's childhood friend who joined in voluntarily; and Professor Chronos who was completely unaware of what was happening.

(Professor Chronos: Mamma mia!)

Although such an accident did help later, it also greatly affected the morale of the team. Hayato didn't need such a shortcut. After confirming that everyone was mentally prepared before joining the "Great Expedition," he even asked Professor Chronos to drag the restless Saotome Rei away.

“Then, I’ll go first.” Having great confidence in Kaiba’s technological capabilities, Hayato naturally took the lead and stepped into the golden interdimensional portal that was suspended in the air without hesitation.