Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Since I saw [Gorgeous Venus] at Pegasus Moonwalker's place, I've seen the third card in the [Planet Series] deck. And I haven't forgotten the card that Bakura took from the KC Cup, which looks like [Tragodia].

"Dad, where did you get this card?"

"Hehe, are you interrogating me, Kobayashi Hiroyuki? This condescending attitude is not how you ask for advice—ouch!" Kobayashi Hiroyuki, who was sitting on the sofa, was lightly tapped on the head by Kobayashi Sumire. Although the tap was not very strong, Kobayashi Hiroyuki acted as if he had been hit hard.

“Give me a serious answer when the child asks you a question!” Kobayashi Sumire seemed to have gotten used to her husband’s occasional Dio-like expression and casually complained, then looked at Hayato, “But, that card, the other [Half-Dragon Maid] cards were bought and opened by your father himself, but I happen to know the origin of that card.”

Hayato learned about the origin of the "Tyrant Neptune" from his mother, Sumire Kobayashi.

The story begins when the couple was still in London.

While preparing to board their flight to Domino City at London Airport, the couple encountered a mysterious man whose face was concealed by a baseball cap. The man claimed to be the host of a secret event being held at the airport, and that Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Sumire Kobayashi were the lucky passengers.

As a prize for the lucky passengers, the couple received a free pack of Duel Monsters cards. What cards were inside, just like with any other card pack, was entirely up to luck. Following the principle of "why not take it if it's free," the couple naturally accepted.

After handing the two cardholders to the couple, the "mysterious man," whose appearance was obscured, whose build was thin and who appeared to be quite young, and whose white hair could be seen through the gap in his baseball cap at the back of his head, left.

"That guy, could it be Bakura?" Hayato casually remarked. Although Bakura wasn't the only one with white hair—Pegasus also had white hair—when it came to causing trouble, Bakura was definitely the first person that came to mind.

Hayato looked down at the card in his hand again. "So, this card was opened by Dad, right?"

"No, your dad's luck wasn't that good, it was Mom's~" Kobayashi Sumire gave a smug smile. "Your dad said something about 'betting my dignity as a duelist' and in the end he only drew three [Heavenly Treasure Cards]. I drew that card, but it was too ugly, so I gave it to your dad."

"Drawing three 'Heavenly Treasures' from a card pack... I don't even know whether to call this a top-tier lucky draw or an extremely bad one," Hayato complained.

【Heavenly Treasure】This single card can unconditionally replenish your hand to a full six cards. Even though it has the drawback of allowing the opponent duelist to also enjoy this effect, it cannot overshadow the card's power, making you want to include three copies in your deck.

After Duel Kingdom, the power of "Treasure from Heaven" became widely known among duelists, reaching its peak in Duel City. Basically, you could find one "Treasure from Heaven" in the deck of any duelist in Duel City, and some even had three in their decks.

Under such circumstances, the price of "Heavenly Treasure Cards," which originally belonged to the same category as "Pot of Greed," "Angel's Charity," and "Foolish Burial"—cards that no one wanted—naturally rose, reaching almost its peak in Duel City.

Following this, in order to maintain the Duel Monsters environment and ensure its long-term development, International Illusion, the copyright holder of the Duel Monsters cards, and Kaiba Entertainment, the copyright holder of the virtual projection system used by Duel Disks, introduced the "Banned/Limited Card List." While Chaos Emperor Dragon and Yata-Gurug were both banned from being included in the deck, Treasure Card from Heaven was also limited to one card.

Just as scalpers, seeing the price of the "Heavenly Treasure Card" soar and a new business opportunity emerge, began buying and hoarding the cards, they were devastated to discover that the "sea view property" had collapsed and the price of the "Heavenly Treasure Card" had plummeted.

Kaiba and Pegasus didn't care about the losses of the scalpers. However, due to the "ban/limited card list," Illusion International adjusted the number of "Heavenly Treasure Cards" when printing cards to prevent too many of them from being released and causing duelists to draw useless cards.

Previously, one out of every hundred cards could yield a "Heavenly Treasure Card," but now, to obtain one, you need at least 1000% of the original number, which is one thousand cards. However, Hiroyuki Kobayashi obtained three "Heavenly Treasure Cards" in a row, making the probability almost one in a billion.

Amazed by his father's incredible luck, Hayato looked at the card in his deck that was placed below Tyrant Neptune: the Fusion Monster Half-Dragon Maid - Dragon Butler.

The elegant butler maid in the card art noticed Hayato's gaze, smiled gently, and gave a half-bow. Hayato wasn't surprised, after all, he already knew about the Card Spirit in the [Half-Dragon Maid] deck during the previous duel.

The other cards are less clear, but [Half-Dragon Maid - Dragon Butler] has definitely awakened its card spirit. However, whether it was awakened by the father's own strength and Duelist's Soul, or by the influence of [Tyrant Neptune], is unknown.

Hayato nodded in response to the butler's greeting, then stopped looking at the deck. He pulled out the Tyrant Neptune card, his expression turning slightly serious, and said to Hiroyuki Kobayashi, "I've found the card I was looking for."

"Hmm, is that card what you're looking for?"

"I can only say that those who know, know; those who don't, I can hardly explain to you." Hayato spoke in the standard riddle-like manner, and said solemnly, "In short, there are many secrets behind this card, and if possible, it's best not to use this card anymore."

It's not that Hayato is exaggerating. Although Pegasus Gekko, who possesses the [Magnificent Venus], performs quite normally in all aspects, there are also negative examples like Tira Muku, who was controlled by her own [Vampire Demoness].

Hayato wanted to trust the card spirit of [Half-Dragon Maid/Dragon Butler], but he ultimately didn't have Pegasus's [Millennium Eye] that could see through people's hearts, and he couldn't always stay by his father's side in case something happened.

He could only trust that [Half-Dragon Maid/Dragon Butler] wouldn't turn on its master like [Vampire Witch], and that [Tyrant Neptune], the "source of pollution," would be removed from Kobayashi Hiroyuki's deck.

Hayato thought his father would be very unhappy or wouldn't listen to his advice, but to his surprise, Hiroyuki Kobayashi waved his hand dismissively: "Whatever you want. Don't just take that one card, you can take the whole deck if you want."

"Hmm?" Hayato tilted his head in surprise.

"Hmph, I've disliked this deck for a long time. All the monsters are like girls, lacking any real power. It's not even as good as that 'Kiyoshi' you just used." Kobayashi Hiroyuki looked disgusted when he mentioned the [Half-Dragon Maid] deck. "Besides, I haven't had this deck for very long. I didn't rely on this deck to dominate London back then."

Hiroyuki Kobayashi wasn't lying, because he had only had the Half-Dragon Maid deck for less than a month and used it very few times. The deck he used to dominate London wasn't the Half-Dragon Maid, but another Zombie deck.

What he didn't tell Hayato was that the reason he gave Hayato the "Half-Dragon Maid" card was because ever since he started using the "Half-Dragon Maid" deck, although his wife Sumire Kobayashi always seemed to really like the "Half-Dragon Maid" card and looked very happy, the way she looked at him each day was becoming more and more strange.

It even gave Hiroyuki Kobayashi the illusion that he would receive an extremely long text message and hear the kettle boil.

Furthermore, Hiroyuki Kobayashi's original strategy with the Zombie deck was to dump monsters into the graveyard and then trigger various tactics. Back then, Kobayashi was invincible because of his precise graveyard dumping.

However, ever since he started using the [Half-Dragon Maid], and because of his past habit of directly stuffing three [Laundry Dragon Girl] cards into the graveyard, his previous accurate graveyard placement has completely disappeared, leaving only one graveyard placement accident after another. He has been annoyed with Xiao Lan for a long time, and no matter how he thinks about it, it's all Xiao Lan's fault for his inaccurate graveyard placement.

Although Hayato was unaware of his father's thoughts, he politely replied, "How could I possibly do something like that?"

"That's true, but you've already stuffed it into your pocket. You're too skilled at it." Malik teased Hayato, who was already used to putting his deck into the card box with practiced ease.

As Hiroyuki Kobayashi transferred the [Half-Dragon Maid] to Hayato, Hayato, for the first time in a long time, heard the system's voice:

[Achievement Completed]

[Achievement Name: Your wife is amazing, but she'll be mine in the next second]

Chapter 488 Amazing! The Era! The Future!

Domino City, shopping district.

As the most bustling area in Domino City, and also because the Haima Group is located near the shopping street, the Domino City shopping street is always crowded with people, even on weekdays from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays and Sundays, when children don't have to go to school and adults are resting, the flow of people is even greater.

However, even compared to a normal Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, there were far too many people on the shopping street today, even though it's Friday.

The last time Domino City's shopping street saw such a large flow of people was on the eve of the opening of Duel City, when Kaiba gathered a large number of duelists and arrived by helicopter, shouting the news of Duel City.

However, today's events have nothing to do with that guy Kaiba. Ever since he made a name for himself in the American market with the KC Cup, he has been working hard to expand into new markets. However, he did not abandon the Japanese market that he had already captured, but handed it over to Keihei to take charge of.

In a world where Duel Monsters is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, it's not too difficult to gather so many people today. Any big news related to Duel Monsters, whether it's a major tournament or the release of new cards, is easily achieved.

What Pegasus's International Illusion Company did today was the latter. He specially chose Domino City, where the Duel Monster craze was at its peak, as the launch venue for the new card series, and even invited Hayato, Yugi, and Jonouchi to support him.

The reason for inviting Hayato and Yugi is that they are both shareholders of International Illusion Company. They are just here to liven up the atmosphere. It will not cause any loss to Hayato and Yugi, but rather benefit them. After all, if the stock price of International Illusion Company rises, their dividends will also increase.

As for Jonouchi, although he was initially reluctant, Pegasus, like Kaiba, had a keen understanding of Jonouchi's greatest weakness and gave him far too much.

Although Pegasus himself has not yet appeared in the central square of the shopping district, the people waiting there are not at all annoyed. They must be very patient because of their love for Duel Monsters.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there were many beautiful women cosplaying as various Duel Monsters such as "Saint Elf" and "Dark Magician Girl" at the event.

Hayato wasn't sure about the others, but Jonouchi and the old man Sugoroku who had come with Yugi were already lingering in the crowd.

Honda and Kyoko didn't come today, since it's Friday and they have to go to school.

Yes, you heard right, "going to school," a word that sounds so far removed from Hayato and his friends, but it actually happened.

The famous cherry-licking performance artist Hana-in once said that students should act like students. Even though Yugi, Jonouchi, Hayato and the others seem to be having a lot of fun outside, playing cards all the time, they are still just ordinary Japanese high school students.

As everyone knows, students should go to school, and Hayato and his friends are no exception. However, because of Pegasus's invitation, the school approved the vacation applications submitted by Hayato, Yugi, and Jonouchi. As for Honda, Kyoko, and Otogi, they could only regretfully stay at school.

Hayato and Yugi, who each own 30% of the shares in International Illusion Company, did not take photos with beautiful cosplayers in the square like the others. After all, Yugi's own deck includes [Dark Magician Girl], and she has a better figure and a more clingy personality than those cosplayers. Hayato, on the other hand, felt that female cards were more appealing than cosplayers.

In addition, it was also because the two of them knew in advance what kind of tricks Pegasus was going to pull today.

Releasing new card packs is just a publicity stunt. Inviting Hayato, Jonouchi, and Yugi, these "legendary duelists," to the arena is just to create enough atmosphere. Pegasus' real purpose is to hold a Duel Monsters Tournament in Domino City.

The so-called "Duel Monster Tournament" is not a competition-oriented event like "Duel City". It is more like Pegasus's personal art exhibition and a gathering for Duel Monster enthusiasts.

For today's "Duel Monsters Tournament," Pegasus reportedly brought out all his works from his younger days, which he had treasured in his castle. Among them were many of the prototypes for today's Duel Monsters cards, and even copies he had printed from stone tablets during his trip to Egypt. He really went all out.

After all, with all these things and Pegasus himself, it's no exaggeration to say that they are the origin of Duel Monsters cards. Even the stone tablets that record the predecessor of "Duel Monsters"—the "Duel Ritual" of ancient Egypt—are not as precious as these things.

While the ancient "Duel Ritual" is certainly valuable, without Pegasus's development of it into "Duel Monsters" cards, the "Duel Ritual" would have had no possibility of development, let alone becoming popular worldwide.

Despite the large crowd that filled almost the entire square, leaving little room for anything else, and the seemingly chaotic atmosphere where no one knew if some crazy individual might cause trouble, both Hayato and Yugi were well aware that a large number of security personnel were stationed in the high-rise buildings on both sides of the central square of the commercial street. If necessary, they were even authorized to use firearms.

Furthermore, Pegasus's men were actually mixed in with the crowd. Hayato knew that the guy wearing the Rainbow Kuriboh suit who was taking a photo with Jonouchi was one of Pegasus's men, and the Dark Magician Girl who was taking a photo with Sugoroku was actually a cross-dresser.

As for the other aspect of the "Duel Monsters Tournament"—the so-called "Fellow Enthusiasts' Gathering"—it's essentially still a card game, but in a more light and entertaining way. Participants don't use the cards they've collected themselves, but rather use card packs provided by Mirage International to build their decks.

Even professional duelists can lose to novice duelists if they leave their familiar decks and use unfamiliar decks.

After all, no one can guarantee what kind of card they will get. It might be the invincible [Lion Wizard], or it might just be a bunch of weak cards.

In addition to making it more fun, Pegasus randomly included not only previously released cards that the public already knew about in the card packs he provided to the participants, but also new cards that were to be released this time.

In that case, participants would not only have to use cards they are not good at, but also have to face unfamiliar cards with unknown effects.

It's quite a twisted sense of humor. However, Hayato, Jonouchi, and Yugi all plan to participate, as they also find this kind of gameplay quite interesting.

The official start time was noon. Since Pegasus hadn't arrived yet, Hayato and Yugi, who had no intention of taking photos with the cosplayers, sat in the seats reserved for them. Yugi was passing the time by flipping through a brochure, while Hayato looked at Pegasus's empty seat.

A small mechanism was installed under the table in front of Pegasus. The "Duel Monster Tournament" had prepared a trophy for the final winner, which was stored in that mechanism. With a little trick, the mechanism could be raised to lift the trophy off the table, creating the illusion that the trophy was "rising".

Next to the trophy was a deck of cards containing the latest cards Pegasus was going to release, meaning that the winner of the "Duel Monster Tournament" would not need to buy card packs to open cards and could collect all the cards directly.

Hayato knew what that deck was; it was actually the [E·hero] deck that he had given to Judai beforehand, but it mainly consisted of cards like the four useless Elemental decks and Greedy Knight, as well as cards like Winged Kuriboh.

But that trophy looked strangely familiar to Hayato.

The base is a golden one, resembling a water bottle. A crystal-clear green glass sphere is inlaid at the mouth of the bottle, surrounded by a pair of exquisitely crafted blue wings. Above the glass sphere is a three-dimensional sculpture of a Duel Monster card in a tilted position.

"This trophy, I think this is the first time I've seen it before. Why does it look so familiar? It's so reminiscent of something I've seen before." Hayato muttered to himself, examining the trophy, but he couldn't recall where he had seen it before.

“No, that’s not the point.” Hayato’s eyes suddenly sharpened. “Even a tournament like the ‘Duel Monster Tournament,’ which isn’t even a big event, has a trophy. Why didn’t we have one back in the Duel Kingdom?”

"He actually took a kickback! Unforgivable, Pegasus!"

——————Little Blue's explosive kill disrupts Yellow——————

Florence, Italy, 20XX.

As the birthplace of the European Renaissance and a world-renowned cultural and tourist destination, Florence has always attracted tourists from all over the world, and the Piazza della Signoria in Florence is always bustling with people.

Even in Florence, a city with many squares, the Piazza della Signoria is known as "the most beautiful square in Italy." However, today, this square, which is surrounded by many exquisite and historical squares, is covered by thick smoke and fire.

Above the dimly lit city square, shrouded in thick, oppressive smoke, a three-headed dragon with a mechanical body spread its wings and soared over the earth, its three heads swaying and searching in different directions, as if looking for something.

Suddenly, on the rooftop of a building that the dragon had already swept past, the jellyfish-haired boy in red clothes exerted force with both arms, transforming from a state of suspension on the eaves to a state of standing on the roof with both feet, and drew a card from the duel disk-like device on his wrist: "Yosh, now's the time! Attack [Cyber ​​End Dragon], [E·Hero Gaia]!"

"Earth-Shattering Fist!"

The three-headed mechanical dragon soaring through the air—the [Electronic Terminator Dragon]—noticed the life it had overlooked the moment the boy spoke. However, it was too late to change direction in mid-air. Before the [Electronic Terminator Dragon] could unleash the "Eternal Evolution Flame" from its three heads, [E·hero Gaia], named after the earth, delivered a stylish uppercut, knocking the [Electronic Terminator Dragon] down from the sky.

"Ada Thief!"

Seeing this, the boy with the red jellyfish hair swung his fist triumphantly, but suddenly heard his friend's reminder in his ear: "Judai, dodge at six o'clock."

Without a second thought, the boy followed his friend's advice and flipped backward, just managing to dodge a beam of light that was about to hit his original spot. The light projectile smashed the roof of the building to pieces, and the boy used the shockwave to escape from the roof.

"Thank you, Yubel." After thanking his friend, who was invisible to the others around him, the boy looked up at the entity in the air that had attacked him, revealing his heterochromatic eyes, one blue and one gold.

From the way the boy's friends addressed him and the boy's appearance, it was clear that this boy was Yuki Judai, but he was at least ten years older than the Judai that Hayato knew.

Through the smoke and dust, Jaden's heterochromatic eyes caught sight of the entity that had attacked him, hidden behind the smoke, and his pupils contracted involuntarily. He realized that the monster that had just attacked him was none other than the most famous Duel Monster of his time—the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"Hey, seriously? Even Blue-Eyes White Dragon has appeared. Could it be that Seto Kaiba's card has also been affected?" Jaden said flippantly, but his hands moved quickly, placing another card on the Duel Disk. "This card would be more suitable for dealing with Blue-Eyes, wouldn't it?"

"Go, [E·hero Flame Wingman]!"