Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Isis was the first to use Duel Monsters to fight the Dark High Priest, also known as Diaband of Arcnadi. She was seriously injured once, and she was also the first to be tricked by the Bone King during the retreat. After that, she continued to maintain the summoning of the Slate Monsters.

As a result, the doctors gave a diagnosis: if Isis stays away from all dark forces, whether it's the Millennium Item, the Gladiator's Disk, or the Stone Tablet Monster, and takes good care of herself for at least a few months, she can recover completely. Otherwise, her physical condition is very likely to deteriorate rapidly, and in severe cases, she may even be completely destroyed.

Therefore, although Isis was one of the few people who kept the Gladiator's Disk in working order, she was strictly ordered by Yami Yugi not to use any of the related items. The Millennium Jewelry continued to be kept by Maric, and the Gladiator's Disk was temporarily borrowed by Hayato...

And then there's Aknadi.

Bakura recounts that Aknadi was aroused and had his inner darkness and desires magnified because of Bakura's methods, leading him to fall into the dark high priesthood. During this time, there was naturally a lot of indoctrination of evil thoughts and the erosion of dark power. Not to mention that Bakura decisively used Aknadi's GM item "Restriction Removal" on him when Aknadi was about to lose his usefulness.

As we all know, powerful items often come with great risks. The extent of the power that "Restriction Release" exerted on Aknadi naturally determined the extent of its impact on him. Even though Aknadi, who was brought out by Yami Yugi, received treatment from the doctors, he remains unconscious and may very well remain so indefinitely.

Even so, Hayato still made sure that before returning to the stone slab to rest, Mahad and Mana set up a seal on Aknadi to control his movements and the mobilization of his power, and to prevent him from becoming unruly if he woke up at any time.

Even though Bakura has already taken the blame for Aknatti's corruption, no one can guarantee that Aknatti, once freed from Bakura's control, can return to his former self, nor can anyone confirm his current stance. In short, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

As the group walked across the desert toward Dark Game's tomb, Dark Game spotted several people approaching them from a distant sand dune.

Even from a great distance, Yami Yugi was able to use his excellent eyesight—which allowed him to see the effects of cards on other people's duel disks—to clearly identify one of the people among them with a colorful starfish hairstyle that matched his own. It was a distinctive feature, and it must be Yugi and his group.

"It's Aibo and the others!"

Seeing Yugi getting excited just because he saw the game, Hayato remarked, "Does your eyesight have some kind of boost when you're looking for Yugi? It's a bit too much to be able to see clearly from this distance."

However, a relaxed smile appeared on Hayato's face. Despite his teasing, his eyesight was actually quite good; looking towards Yugi and the others, he immediately spotted Nefertari and felt a surge of joy.

Another point is that it seems that the game team has already taken the name of Dark Game from his grave, which means that Dark Game, having obtained his own name, can now begin to summon that invincible being.

It's not some exaggerated, negatively-enhanced "invincibility," but true invincibility, the only "Creator God Race," signifying the ultimate existence of light and the sun that created the world, [Creator God of Light - Herakdi].

Once Yami Yugi obtains his true name and summons this being, not only the monsters released by the Netherworld Tablets, but also the true form of the evil will within the tablets, and even Orichalcos, would all be no match for him.

There's nothing to be afraid of anymore.

With a light and cheerful mood, the group quickened their pace upon seeing the game and its companions, quickly traversing a short distance. The group successfully brought the nameplate engraved with Yami Yugi's real name to his side.

"Aibo!" "Another me!"

Not long after they parted, yet it felt like an eternity, Yami Yugi and Yugi embraced, calling out to each other affectionately.

"Hmm!" Hayato watched the two of them, who were clearly displaying their bromance, and sighed, feeling that he couldn't possibly get involved in their relationship.

Beside Hayato, Nefertari greeted him cheerfully, "Good afternoon, Meliamon. Honestly, next time you're going on a long trip, can't you at least tell me in advance? Suddenly I can't find you anywhere."

"Um, good afternoon, Nefertari." Hayato paused, scratched his head, and said somewhat perfunctorily, "I'll definitely do it next time, next time, I promise."

Hearing their conversation, Honda frowned, muttering to himself in confusion, "I've always been a little concerned about that name... Nefertari isn't... and there's Meliamon, I remember it's..."

"Huh? Honda, what are you saying?" Jonouchi asked, not having heard what Honda said. Honda shook his head. "No, nothing."

Jonouchi didn't seem to care much; in fact, he had just asked casually.

Releasing his grip, Yugi took out his treasured nameplate from his pocket and solemnly handed it to Yami Yugi.

“Aibo, this is—” Staring intently at the nameplate in his hand, Yami Yugi could feel a unique attraction it possessed. “My, name?”

“Yes, with this nameplate, you will never lose your name again, your other self.” Yugi said, looking at the Dark Yugi in front of him, feeling a deep empathy for the urgency he felt that needed no words to express.

Three thousand years had passed since he slept within the Millennium Puzzle. When he awoke, everything had changed beyond recognition; not even his memories remained, and he could no longer feel the sorrow of things being so different. Now, Yami Yugi's memories are being gradually recovered, and most importantly, his name will soon be back in his hands. Yugi is genuinely happy for him.

Holding the nameplate, Yami Yugi looked at the name engraved on the front of the nameplate amidst everyone's expectant gazes.

However, the expected special reaction did not occur after Yami Yugi stared at the nameplate for a long time; everything was perfectly normal, which made Hayato feel a little strange.

"Have you remembered your name, Pharaoh?" Seth asked, looking at the silent and motionless Dark Game.

Dark Game continued staring at the nameplate, and after a long while, he shook his head helplessly: "I can feel that this is indeed my name, but for some reason, even when I see my name in front of me, I can't recall it, and I can't even read the words on it."

“I have a feeling, as if I’m not ready to bear the weight of this name yet, it’s just a gut feeling in my heart.” Dark Game looked somewhat dejected, his arms hanging limply as he said helplessly, “I’m sorry to have made you all come for nothing, Aibo, everyone.”

"No, you're being too formal. Game, we're friends." Jonouchi said casually. "Even if you can't remember it right now, as long as you still have this nameplate, you can take a look at it anytime, and you'll remember eventually."

Kyoko nodded and said, "Yes, but as for names, there's probably no rush to remember them, right?"

“I do remember that in ancient Egypt, people considered names very important, on par with the soul, body, and life itself, believing they possessed special magic.” The observant Honda noticed the expectant expressions on the faces of the others when Yami Yugi received the nameplate, as if they wondered what would happen after Yami Yugi remembered his name.

With his keen observation, he asked, "What happened when you went to that thief village, Hayato? Yugi?"

"That's a long story." Hayato briefly explained what happened in the Thieves' Village to the group, mentioning Bakura's death in the Valley of the King's Long Sleep, and finally the six Millennium Items that were taken from the Netherworld Stone Tablet. "That's roughly how it happened."

“The nameless pharaoh’s name is the foundation of this world’s existence and the most basic legal system. If he were to successfully remember his name in another game, he would surely gain enough power to defeat the monsters released by Bakura.” Hayato paused and said helplessly, “I just didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”

Hayato was already prepared to welcome the arrival of the invincible Kouzo. After all, in the original story he knew, Yami Yugi had also successfully recalled his name after obtaining it, and then, under the guidance of his father, who had transformed into an "Egyptian ghost," he successfully summoned Kouzo.

However, right now, not only has Kouzo failed to be summoned, but Hayato can understand that, since the official cards from the K Foundation still require the sacrifice of the Three Egyptian God Cards to summon him. But the fact that Yami Yugi can't even remember his name is somewhat unexpected for Hayato.

Furthermore, the current situation is indeed quite different from the original storyline, with phrases like "not yet capable of bearing the weight of a name." However, these changes should not have affected Yami Yugi.

The biggest difference is that, in addition to Yami Yugi, Hayato also participates in this memory world as a player. It's impossible that just because there is an extra Hayato, the weight of the memory world has changed to a level that Yami Yugi can't handle at the moment, right?

Hayato could only guess that perhaps the time was not yet ripe, and it was not yet time for the invincible Light Creation to descend.

The problem is that before Bakura, who is comparable to Guangchuang, reveals his trump card, or rather, before Bakura's true form sealed in the Netherworld Stone Tablet descends, they currently cannot even deal with the monster released from the Netherworld Stone Tablet after placing six [Millennium Artifacts].

Even without Kou, they still needed to find a way to strengthen their forces and gather as much power as possible to defeat Bakura. With things having come to this, Hayato made up his mind and walked towards Mariko behind him.

“Maric, I remember you said before that Seth… I mean, Kaiba asked you to use the power of the Millennium Jewelry to help him awaken the spirit within him, right?”

"That's right, to be honest, I was a little surprised myself that it actually worked. Looks like I'm pretty good after all." Mariko was a little puzzled as to why Hayato had brought this up now, but he nodded nonetheless, then said somewhat impatiently,

"You're not here to ask me again what kind of spirit Seto Kaiba awakened, are you? I already told you I was unconscious and didn't see anything. When I woke up, I saw Kaiba next to me. I didn't see anything like 'Kaiba-man'."

"No, it has nothing to do with that. As long as you successfully used the Millennium Jewelry, that's fine." Hayato had previously asked Mariko for confirmation of the connection between "Seto Kaiba" and "Kaiba Man," but as Mariko said, there were no results. At the same time, Kaiba himself refused to admit it. However, he is not here to see Mariko for this matter.

Taking out a treasured item from his person, Hayato solemnly asked Mariko, "The Millennium Jewel, which possesses the ability to foresee the future. What kind of power can this item unleash?"

The GM item in Hayato's hand is called "Stardust Crusaders," which has the ability to record a used GM item and copy its effect. At this moment, it records Bakura's use of "Restriction Removal"!

Chapter 801 Knowing the Script in Advance Comes at a Price

With the six Millennium Artifacts already in Bakura's hands, the remaining Millennium Jewelry must not be left unused and wasted.

It's important to know that although in Isis's hands the Millennium Jewelry seems to only have the ability to see a certain moment in the future, Hayato, who has a somewhat good relationship with Isis, knows all too well the true power it can unleash.

Simply by wearing it, one can routinely predict everything that will happen in the next few minutes. If one is a little serious, it is easy to read what others will do in the next few days. If one goes all out, one can even foresee the future far into the future, but in that case, even the person seeing it will not know when it happened.

Hayato was genuinely startled when Isis casually mentioned seeing someone in the future riding a motorcycle into the sky and turning into a golden statue.

Although Isis is currently unable to unleash the full power of the Millennium Jewelry due to her own limitations, and is even unable to continue using it due to her physical condition, and can only temporarily entrust it to Maric for safekeeping, Hayato believes that with the support of the "Stardust Crusaders" who have copied the "Limit Release," even Maric is not without the possibility of unleashing the power of the Millennium Jewelry.

Yes, Hayato and his friends currently have no way to defeat Bakura. Even though they obtained Yami Yugi's true name, they don't know why it's unusable, since there's no instruction manual for it.

But it doesn't matter. As long as we use the [Millennium Jewelry] to see if they've figured out how to use the true name of the Dark Game in the future, that's fine, right? Although watching other people's walkthrough videos when you're stuck on a puzzle in a game might give the impression of low purity, Hayato feels that his purity is already quite high. Watching walkthroughs isn't shameful.

However, while Hayato's idea was good, Mariko refused, saying, "I don't want to. You have no idea what happened when I used the Millennium Jewel on Seto Kaiba. Using the Millennium Item, which is not suitable for me, is too risky. If you want to use it, you can use it yourself."

With that, Mariko casually shoved the Millennium Jewelry into Hayato's hand.

He didn't tell Hayato that when he was awakening the Pokémon that he hadn't seen yet and didn't know if it had been successfully awakened, it wasn't just Kaiba who was affected by the power of the Millennium Jewelry that he couldn't control; Maric himself was also affected.

When Mariko, the seahorse, and the Millennium Jewelry formed a link, the magic penetrated deep into the seahorse's heart and memories to awaken the sleeping spirit. However, Mariko also saw many scenes from the seahorse's memories.

For example, there's the "Pyramid of Light" that isolates the Egyptian Gods, the Egyptian Gods confronting each other on a towering island tower, and even Maric saw a scene where someone who looked exactly like him was controlling a monster made of lava in battle.

Although the images in the seahorse's memory were not the main reason for Marik's coma, Marik was still greatly shocked by them. He even wondered if the power of the Millennium Jewelry had burned out his intelligent brain, otherwise how could he have seen such strange images?

As for the [Millennium Jewelry], if it weren't for the fact that ordinary people can't touch it casually, he would have wanted to get rid of it long ago. He is currently very resistant to this thing. However, the scenes he saw did have some influence on him. At least when he saw "himself" in those scenes holding the [Millennium Scepter], he became more and more certain that the thing was still suitable for him.

As for whether Hayato's use of the Millennium Jewelry would be affected, Maric wasn't worried at all. He knew about the different categories of Millennium Items. Even the priest Mahad had to use his magic to seal and suppress the strongest "dark" Millennium Item—the Millennium Wisdom Wheel. Hayato could use it freely, so there was no need to worry about using the Millennium Jewelry.

Maric's lack of cooperation was not within Hayato's expectations, but after thinking about it, he felt it didn't matter. It was the same whether Maric used it or he used it. He had tried using the Millennium Jewelry with Isis before. Although it wasn't as smooth as using the Millennium Wisdom Wheel, he was still able to use it skillfully.

“I’ll do it.” Holding the [Millennium Jewelry], Hayato didn’t wear it around his neck like the two women, Isis and Isis. Instead, he simply clipped it to the collar of his clothes with a button.

The Millennium Artifact has never required being worn to be used. It can be used as long as there is simple contact or even just being close enough. The way that Aknadi and some unscrupulous card dealer from three thousand years later wore it, which directly destroyed one of the eyeballs, can only be said to be a design flaw of the Millennium Eye and a sign that the user was not very smart.

They don't even realize how clever the tapir is. They didn't gouge out its eyes and replace them with gold ones. Anyway, it can be used close to the body, and it works the same whether you put it in your mouth or not. It's just that it gives people a slightly disgusting feeling.

Before using "Stardust Crusaders," Hayato also informed Yami Yugi and the others of his plans.

"Using the [Millennium Jewelry] to see how our future selves would act? You're really something, Hayato, to think of such a use!" Jonouchi exclaimed with delight. "I always thought the [Millennium Jewelry] was the most useful of the seven pieces!"

However, Honda curled his lip and said, "Tch, didn't you tell me before that the 'Millennium Eye,' which can see through a woman's heart, is the most useful thing when you made Xiaowu angry?"

"Huh? But I remember when we had a picnic and didn't bring a fruit knife, didn't Jonouchi say that the Millennium Scepter was the most useful?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow and looked at Jonouchi teasingly.

Even the game added insult to injury: "Jounouchi did tell me that the heaviest and most valuable [Millennium Puzzle] is the most useful one."

"Ahem, that's not important. What's important is that we need to help another game find a way to use its name." Even Jonouchi blushed slightly and quickly interrupted the others who were about to continue teasing him. "But, I remember we said before that the ability of the Dark Game created by Bakura and the Millennium Jewelry to foresee the future was restricted, right?"

“That’s right, but as long as we use this item, there won’t be any problems.” Hayato said, taking out “Stardust Crusaders” again. “This GM item records the power of ‘Restriction Release’ that Bakura used on Arcana when he was still the ‘Dark High Priest’. Using it to enhance the power of the [Millennium Jewelry] will definitely break through the dark power’s blockade on the future.”

After the introduction, Hayato put on the "Stardust Crusaders" cap, which only had the front half of it, on his head. He grabbed the brim, tilted it to the side, and said with satisfaction, "[Spiritual Exophysis], [Millennium Jewelry], and the GM item, Phowa! It's so delightful! I'm so happy right now that I want to sing a song. I'm so high!"

Hayato, dressed in a JoJo-esque style with a baseball cap and the "Millennium Jewelry" adorning his clothes like gold rings, still speaks with his usual Dio-Dio accent, giving off a subtle feeling.

However, Yami Yugi, who had been pondering for a long time, said at this moment, "If the Millennium Jewelry, after using the power of the 'Stardust Crusaders,' can see the future, it can indeed solve our current predicament. But Hayato, if we use the 'Stardust Crusaders' and the 'Millennium Jewelry,' yet our vision of the future is still obscured by darkness..."

"Wasting time and energy is secondary; Game, you mean to say that precious GM items will also be wasted, right?" Hayato had actually considered Yugi's words beforehand, but he smiled smugly, "But Game, what gave you the misconception that things would be unfavorable for us if we failed?"

“True duelists can even utilize the negative effects of cards. Aknadi was able to seal the Gladiator Disk and the Millennium Items with the power of ‘Restriction Release,’ but he is still unconscious as a result. The same thing will happen to the Millennium Jewelry.”

Dark Game was taken aback: "You mean, you plan to use this negative effect to destroy the [Millennium Jewelry]?"

What an unimaginable road this is!?

"Confined to this world, Bakura has his reasons for collecting the Millennium Items, but for us, their existence is not necessary; they are merely powerful forces. As for me, it's more painful to let others profit than to suffer a loss myself."

Hayato shrugged. "If we can see the future and get the information we need through the Millennium Jewelry, that would be great. But even if we fail, we can still destroy the Millennium Jewelry and nip Bakura's ambition to collect all the Millennium Items in the bud."

"Both situations are in our favor, that's called a win-win situation, we win twice!"

Hmm? Why does Hayato's idea sound so similar to the Russian-style anti-terrorism hostage rescue strategy of "killing the hostage before the kidnappers can kill him"? I suppose this is the wonder of nature.

Although some wanted to criticize Hayato's understanding of "win-win" as seemingly problematic—that only he wins and no one else does—his idea was highly feasible. The group felt that there was no time to lose, so they decided to let Hayato use the Millennium Jewelry to foresee the future right there.

Even if we return to the royal city, the defensive forces available there won't be much less. After all, apart from the old and crippled priests Simon and Shada, almost all the combat power available has already come here with Dark Game. In addition, using the [Millennium Jewelry] to foresee the future won't take too much time, so there's no need to go to great lengths to find another place.

Lowering his hat brim, Hayato became serious, holding the "Millennium Jewelry" in his hands with utmost care, closing his eyes, and earnestly resonating with it.

Around Hayato, the others gathered around, partly out of curiosity about whether Hayato could succeed as planned, and partly to protect him from being disturbed.

Not only Yami Yugi and his group, but Maric also didn't leave after handing the Millennium Jewels to Hayato. Instead, he brought out Isis, who was in poor health. However, he still arrogantly said that he wanted to show Isis the difference between her and others, and how useless she was.

Needless to say, Seth, who was tasked with commanding the army, was the closest to Hayato besides Yami Yugi. He took a gladiator disk that he hadn't brought into the Thieves' Village's underground and summoned his stone tablet spirit, [Duvos], as a guard. Seth stood behind Yami Yugi with his back to everyone else, so no one could see the expression on his face.

Kaiba watched Seth's retreating figure, but a strange frown crept across his face. He didn't know why, but he felt that while he still disliked Seth somewhat, that dislike had subtly changed. Before, it was more of an almost "like-for-like" repulsion, but since Seth returned from the thieves' village and awakened, Kaiba felt he was subconsciously loathing him.