Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

“I’ll go call Issy for dinner; she’s still sleeping upstairs.” Hayato nodded to Rishid. “You guys eat first; I’ll eat with Issy later.”

"By the way, why did my sister get up so late today? It's only seven in the morning, actually." Malik checked the time and realized it was indeed quite early, so he couldn't help but yawn.

“Lord Malik, you didn’t sleep all night, how about you go and rest for a while?” Lishid asked.

"Huh? No way! I'm going to beat this game I'm currently playing! Then I'll become a top streamer with my first playthrough video—and then I can connect with all my favorite VTubers!"

Malik said excitedly, while Lishid blinked, somewhat unable to understand the combination of the words "single push" and "those".

(Nanai: I've already hinted at it this much, Char, you shameless guy)

As Hayato walked upstairs, he answered Malik's question: "You know, although there is no evidence, it seems that becoming a New-Type results in a certain physical enhancement, which can make men, who are originally the relatively weaker party, stronger than women in terms of sustained combat ability."

"For example, Amuro, who has strong Newtype abilities, can be called the 'stud mule', while Char can only show a helpless expression when facing Nanai."

"Really? Why are you telling me this?" Malik suddenly became expressionless, just like Mark after hearing the words, "I love your mother, but she's more like a pet to me."

"It's nothing, I just wanted you to know."

After saying that, Hayato went upstairs while Malik watched him leave.

Not long after, Hayato and Isis came downstairs. However, Isis did not walk down by herself, but was carried down by Hayato in a princess carry. She did not care about Malik's gaze at all, and intimately leaned close to Hayato's ear, saying something.

"Are they showing off their love? Showing off to us two single dogs?" Malik turned his head and complained to Lishid, "Ugh, what a cheesy couple, and they happen to be my sister and brother-in-law, now they look so pathetic."

Because of their long-standing dietary habits, neither Isis nor Malik liked meat much, so Lishid prepared a breakfast for them that was made according to the English full meal, including tomato-braised red kidney beans, parsley omelet, rice sausage, and Egyptian coffee.

Hayato and Rishid didn't have any dietary restrictions or food aversions. Rishid prepared a fried fish with Egyptian-style braised broad beans for himself, while Hayato's breakfast was a simple sweet flatbread with savory tofu pudding—carbs were the only thing he ate.

"In Asia, shouldn't we usually eat savory flatbread with sweet tofu pudding or something like that?" Malik scooped up a spoonful of pasta and looked at Hayato's breakfast combination. "Why is your combination so strange, brother-in-law?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, you three-year-old? Tofu pudding is of course supposed to be savory, okay? I've been eating this combination for almost forty years, how could I be wrong?"

"Brother-in-law Mingming, you're only twenty-four years old this year, right?"

"Never mind that for now. I think just crispy pork and garlic sauce aren't quite enough; it's a pity we're out of sesame paste—"

Halfway through his sentence, Hayato's phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly rang. He put down his spoon, took a bite of his flatbread, and opened his phone to find a message from Kaiba.

"Strange, what does Kaiba want from me so early in the morning?" Hayato asked, puzzled, as he opened the message. "Could it be that his card-playing addiction has flared up again? But he just played a game with Jonouchi yesterday."

“Maybe it’s because Seto Kaiba has very high standards for Duel Monsters, and you, as his brother-in-law, can’t satisfy him,” Malik said with a smile.

The message loaded, and Hayato quickly read it. In the message, Kaiba said that the "hanging loops" that were scattered throughout Domino City had been working perfectly for many years, but just now, a large area of ​​the "hanging loops" suddenly malfunctioned.

Because of the heavy reliance on "hanging loops," not many surveillance cameras have been installed in Tongshino City, as that would be redundant. Therefore, Haima Group is currently unable to find out what happened in that area in a short period of time, or what caused the current anomaly.

The "haze loops" in other areas can be moved there. After all, the "haze loops" that exist at almost the nanometer scale are floating in the air and are comparable to dust particles. Mobility is also one of their advantages, but it takes time to move them.

It is estimated that it will take nearly an hour for the "hanging loops" in other areas to be exchanged with the area where contact was lost by the natural flow of wind. Haima asked Hayato to go to that area to see if there was any situation.

As for why Kaiba didn't go there himself but instead asked Hayato for help... it's because Hayato would have gone there anyway.

The area where the "hanging loop" lost contact is basically in the old capital. If you want to find the center of this irregular area, you can roughly pinpoint it to the area around the Gamer's Kameji Card Shop. Hayato originally planned to visit there today.

Also, Kaiba said he had come up with a solution to improve the new dueling device they tested yesterday. He would be leaving Domino City for a day, since the Kaiba Group was managed by Keihei and he didn't need to worry about it.

As for whether something might happen in the lost contact area, Hayato wasn't too worried. After all, even if some terrorists were to attack Domino City, and if they really found a way to block the "hanging loop," the game was still in the lost contact area.

Atem has been staying in the underworld recently and will not return to reality for a while, but he can come back to fight alongside Yugi whenever he wants. But even without Atem, Yugi is not weak. The awakened spirits on his cards also have the ability to interfere with reality.

One man against an entire nation, one person against an armored unit, one man taking down nine Dom in three minutes (lol)... I wouldn't call it that, but it's not impossible for him to dismantle a Gundam with his bare hands.

At least in a one-on-one situation, even if the opponent has a machine gun, they might not be able to kill Yugi. Even if a sniper fires a shot, Yugi's Kuriboh will automatically jump out to block the bullet. Therefore, Hayato is very confident in Yugi.

Anyway, the "hanging line" will return to normal in another hour. Even if I don't take any action, Haima can find out why the communication was lost. And with the game around, nothing serious will happen.

Therefore, I might as well finish my breakfast first and then go check on the situation on my way later; there's no need to rush.

Before Hayato could even take a sip of the tofu pudding, his New-Type intuition suddenly sent a slight, electric-like throbbing pain through his forehead, as if it were warning him of something.

The next moment, he suddenly raised his hand, and a card suddenly flew out of the card box on the table not far away and jumped into Hayato's hand, shining brightly!

At the very moment the card in Hayato's hand emitted light, the ceiling above his head suddenly exploded, and the flames that shot out were like a calamity from the sky, instantly engulfing all four people at the dining table!

A man wearing a helmet stood in front of Kobayashi's villa—or rather, the ruins of the villa—as he watched the three-story building being destroyed. He spoke in a calm, almost emotionless voice: "Coordinates: Villa District, Domino City. Target location destroyed. Now proceed with death confirmation."

Pushing open the door, which stood forlornly behind walls that had been blown up on both sides, the helmeted man casually closed the door. But before he could take another step forward, a large hand suddenly reached out from under the villa ruins and grabbed his body!

Chapter 2097 D4C!

"—That really gave me a big fright."

Hayato, his face grim, maintained his raised hand gesture. In sync with his movement, Shadow Doll Nephilim, holding the helmeted man who had attacked the villa, slowly rose to his feet, suspending him in mid-air.

Thanks to Hayato's timely reaction, Isis and the others were not injured. They were all protected by the barrier that Hayato created using the [Absorption Shield] the moment they were attacked.

However, although the impact of the explosion was blocked, the surrounding dust was something that was hard to contain. Hayato's salted tofu pudding, which he hadn't eaten a bite of, was now covered with a layer of dust and was no longer edible.

Let alone Hayato, look at how good-natured Chin Genji is. When his ginseng fruit tree was knocked down and he went to demand an explanation, he laughed heartily. But even he would get angry and furious if he saw his own pot being smashed. How much more so Hayato?

And that's not all. For some reason, even though Hayato blocked the attack and Rishid and Isis were both unharmed, Malik inexplicably fell unconscious.

"Although I don't know who you are, you blew up my house, knocked out that three-year-old over there, and even ruined my tofu pudding. You're asking for death!"

As Hayato spoke, [Kamikage-Nephilim]'s enormous hand suddenly clenched tighter, as if trying to squeeze the helmeted man he had grabbed with pain.

However, faced with this dangerous situation, the helmeted man raised his hand without hesitation. Although [Shadowy Nephilim] immediately used the purple threads to bind him tightly, he had already taken out something and pressed it when he raised his hand.

The next moment, the attacker who had been caught by Hayato suddenly self-destructed!

The burst of fire from her palm even snapped many of the threads of [Shadowdress Nephilim], but fortunately, her threads were actually woven from magic and shadows, and they were restored in the next moment.

However, even Hayato was somewhat taken aback by the other party's decisive self-destruction.

Where did these suicide bombers come from? They inexplicably attacked their own home, then inexplicably self-destructed—that's just too much!

"Huh!?" Hayato's eyes suddenly changed. Several vines suddenly sprang out from under the grass hidden by the building ruins and caught a bullet that was attacking Hayato from another direction. The explosive bullet that was detonated twice was completely blocked by the biting vines and failed to harm Hayato in the slightest.

Relying on his New-Type intuition, which allows him to react even to sniping, Hayato looked in the direction from which the bullet had just come. Not far away, on the street, a helmeted man openly wielding a sniper rifle showed no fear even after being discovered. He calmly ejected the bullet and fired another shot.

"Tsk, again and again, it's never going to end." Hayato looked at the other person's attire and remembered that they seemed to be Fanny Valentine's bodyguards. Yesterday, when the other person arrived at the Domino City dock, they landed in a military formation and actually followed Fanny Valentine into Domino City.

However, while Domino City welcomes anyone who can pass the duelist ranking assessment, it still maintains strict control over contraband such as firearms. How did the other party manage to bring such a large sniper rifle into Domino City?

However, Hayato could at least confirm that the people who attacked him were inextricably linked to that American president. Didn't they see that they hadn't even changed their clothes and were just openly appearing in front of him?

Since the other side had already fired, Hayato assumed that these people were also prepared to be killed by others. The [Predatory Plant - Spikeleaf Vine Trident Hellflower] that emerged from the ground rushed towards the helmeted man with the sniper rifle.

As a result, after the second sniper shot was blocked, the opponent also decisively chose to self-destruct.

"Hey!" Hayato frowned and called out in annoyance. Although he had only encountered two attackers so far, his intuition told him that there must be a third or even a fourth person hiding in the shadows.

He simply stood there, closed his eyes, and began to "listen" to the sounds around him.

"Ding--"

A sensation like an electric shock flashed through his head, and Hayato suddenly opened his eyes, gripped the [Holy Sword of Light - Dennell], and unleashed a sweeping attack, aimed at the ruins beneath their feet.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, a person jumped out from under the ruins. It seemed that the person had taken advantage of a blind spot in common sense and hid under the ruins in a place that ordinary people would not think of, until Hayato forced him out with a sword.

Upon seeing the person before him, Hayato frowned: "You're... Fanny Valentine? The American president on TV?"

"What a keen intuition, Hayato Kobayashi." Having narrowly dodged Hayato's attack, Fanny Valentine, who emerged from the ruins, seemed slightly different from the man Hayato had seen on television yesterday; he appeared to be a bit taller.

"Is this your ability as a 'New-Type'? I'm so envious." Fanny Valentine paused, about to continue, but the next second, Hayato pierced him with a sword.

"Who wants to listen to your rambling? If you're going to fight, then fight! What's with all the nonsense?"

Although Hayato is someone who wants to maintain a normal life, killing the president of the United States would inevitably bring considerable turmoil to his life. However, the problem is that the other party has already attacked his family. Hayato is not going to care about such things in this situation.

So what if he's the President of the United States? How dare he lay a hand on his family? And more importantly, right after Hayato pierced the other man's chest with his sword, he could sense something changing.

As Hayato drew his sword, the dead Fanny Valentine fell to the ground, followed by a burst of applause: "Clap, clap, clap."

Hayato turned his head and saw that Fanny Valentine, whom he had just killed, had reappeared on the other side of the street. As if he hadn't seen the "other self" lying at his feet, he calmly said, "And, he's just as ruthless as he was seven years ago."

"Seven years ago... So, you are Fanny Valentine from seven years ago?" Despite his words, Hayato acted without hesitation, casually tossing his sword at Fanny Valentine, watching as the other fell to the ground, his head blown off by the flying sword.

But the next moment, another Fanny Valentine walked out from another direction and continued Hayato's words: "You guessed right, whether it is Fanny Valentine who was ambushed and killed by you seven years ago, or the one standing in front of you and lying at your feet, it is me."

Even Hayato hesitated to act for the time being, because he genuinely couldn't understand what was going on with the other party, how they could "revive" in front of him again and again.

"Demand-Design-Done-Depth-Clone, a deep cloning system for demand design, abbreviated as 'D4C'."

After rattling off a long string of English words, Fanny Valentine arrogantly declared, "Don't think that only Haima Group can master such advanced technology that transcends common sense. By combining the power of the entire United States, we can also complete a super cloning system called 'D4C'."

"Although this system has certain requirements for clones, and not everyone can be 100% compatible, I myself, as the original user of the system, have a compatibility rate of up to 1000%."

"Even if one dies in their current body, they can be reborn in a backup body and retain their memories, achieving a different kind of immortality."

After a pause, Fanny Valentine looked at Hayato and smiled, "It really is all thanks to you, Hayato Kobayashi. When this system was completed, I dared not blindly throw my life away. After all, no one could say for sure whether it would function properly and allow me to 'reincarnate.' But you killed me in Egypt, which allowed the system to start successfully!"

"So your way of thanking me is to travel all the way to Domino City and blow up my house?" Hayato said, his face dark. "And even gave my three-year-old child—"

"Cough cough, I'm fine, brother-in-law." Malik, who had been rescued by Lishid, raised his hand shakily. "I just choked, and then I accidentally fell asleep because I stayed up all night. I'm actually fine."

"If you're alright, then you're alright, but more importantly, the accounts for my house need to be settled!" Hayato didn't turn around, continuing to stare at Fanny Valentine in front of him. "I want to see if your reincarnations are infinite."

"Moreover, although you are a clone, it seems that you only have one true main consciousness, which was transferred to another body at the moment of death, right? Although I don't know the process and principle, I can feel it."

Hayato looked around, trying to find if Fanny Valentine had any other bodies hidden nearby.

"The power of this system far exceeds your imagination, Hayato Kobayashi. Although the clone compatibility of others is far inferior to mine, it is sufficient if they are used as tools rather than living people."

As Valentine snapped his fingers, several more helmeted men who had attacked the villa earlier appeared around him. After learning that they were all clones, Hayato understood where the stiffness and mechanical feel they displayed came from.

Looking at Valentine and his bodyguards who surrounded him, Hayato sneered, "You think you can deal with me like this? You're underestimating me too much."

“You don’t even need to lift a finger, brother-in-law!” Malik pulled out his deck and inserted it into the Duel Disk he had just put on. “They almost made me choke to death. I’ll avenge myself for making me lose face. I’ll take down these bastards!”

“We’re not without the ability to protect ourselves, and we won’t be used as hostages to hold you back, Hayato.” Isis also took out her deck, indicating that Hayato could go ahead with confidence.

Hayato nodded, choosing to trust Isis and the others without hesitation. He took a step forward and instantly opened the Dark Game's domain!

The black magic greatly expanded the shadow beneath Hayato's feet. Starting with zero frames, a sphere rose from the ground, enveloping Fanny Valentine and Hayato alone. Hayato looked at Fanny Valentine and said, "I'd like to see if you can still transfer if I use the Dark Game to obliterate your soul."

But Fanny Valentine was unfazed: "Go ahead and try, Hayato Kobayashi, but my patriotism will not waver in the slightest."

"Patriotism?" Hayato was a little confused by the question thrown at him. "What does your patriotism have to do with you provoking me?"

"Let me make it clear beforehand, Hayato Kobayashi, although you killed me once in the past, given that I have already achieved a certain level of immortality through 'D4C,' I will not hold a grudge against you. I just can't help but feel a bit disgusted with you. But my attack on you is not based on personal grudges."

“Because, ‘I have a dream!’” Fanny Valentine said, raising his fist. “That is, every American can control their own destiny, has a truly free land, and can keep their word instead of just talking.”