Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Of course, as is customary, given Jonouchi's personality, he naturally did not compromise the authenticity of the story, but only retained the most important overall narrative, while adding a lot of embellishments and giving himself a significant role.

"Wow, summoning the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] to delay that dark evil god named Zorc from harming others, and at the last moment, together with Yugi and his brother-in-law, leading the summoning of the powerful [Creator of Light - Harakti]." Malik's face showed an expression of knowing everything. "Are you sure you didn't change Seto Kaiba's role onto yourself, Jonouchi-san?"

“That’s not true. Look at all the people we’ve entered in the Stone World, where is that guy Kaiba?” Jonouchi didn’t even blush when he was coaxing Malik. Despite the teasing look Honda gave him, he nodded firmly. “Obviously, every word I’m saying is true.”

If Seto Kaiba can use his wealth and power to target me in every way, then if I, Jonouchi, were to remove that arrogant jerk's role from the story and replace it with myself, there wouldn't be any problem at all.

Malik shrugged and spread his hands, saying, "I'll take it seriously."

Compared to Malik, Pegasus didn't care much about who each character in the story described by Jonouchi was. The story itself was already very interesting to him. If they weren't currently in a car on their way to their next destination, he probably would have already started using the inspiration he had recorded to make cards.

As Jonouchi continued his rambling, modified version of the story from the back seat, Hayato smiled, looked ahead, picked up a bottle of water, and handed it to the passenger in the front seat next to him: "Have some water."

"Ah, thank you." The reserved white-haired boy reached out and took the water bottle, looking at Hayato who was focused on driving the vehicle, and thanked him.

He was wearing the same blue and white striped sailor shirt, and his face was the same too, but just the change in his hairstyle made the white-haired boy feel completely different from the guy who always caused Hayato and Yugi so much trouble. The person sitting in the passenger seat—who else could it be but Bakura?

In the world of memories, after the evil will of Dark Bakura, who is also Zorc, revived Zorc, he felt that he had won and could not possibly lose. He merged with Zorc and was fully revived.

Because of that ultimate dark game, once Zorc kills Atem and leads his country to destruction, he will be able to be resurrected in the real world as well, achieving complete victory. However, as we all know, powerful cards are often accompanied by great risks. There is naturally a price behind the actions that are so beneficial to Zorc. That is, once Zorc is destroyed in the memory world, Zorc's will will also perish in reality.

Then He was instantly killed by the invincible Light Creation, and Bakura, who had been controlled by Zorc in the real world, also successfully woke up.

However, the current Bakura is no longer the "Dark Bakura" controlled by Zorc's evil will, but the real Bakura, Hayato's former classmate, the gentle and introverted boy whose personality is somewhat similar to that of the game.

After Hayato and his companions awoke from the underground cave where the King's Memory Tablet was located, Bakura, who had been with them, also awoke from his unconsciousness. Unlike Hayato and his group, who had entered Egypt through proper channels with complete documentation, Dark Bakura hadn't been so honest as to go through customs; he had illegally entered Egypt using his own methods, making him essentially an undocumented immigrant in Egypt.

Not having an identity would be one thing, but what's worse is that Bakura isn't like Zok; he's only ever learned the English taught in foreign language classes. Although English is now one of the main languages ​​in Egypt besides Arabic and French, the Egyptian-accented English combined with the notoriously Japanese-accented English makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to understand what the other person is saying—it's practically a stroke of luck.

Although Dark Bakura had done many infuriating and unpleasant things before, none of them had anything to do with Bakura himself. In fact, Bakura was also a victim of Dark Bakura. The group, unable to abandon Bakura who was unfamiliar with Egypt, obtained the consent of the tour organizer, Pegasus, and let him join the team.

Holding the water bottle, Bakura kept looking at Hayato's profile beside him. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Um, Hayato-kun, thank you so much."

"Hmm? It's just a bottle of water, isn't it?" Hayato glanced at Bakura's hand; it was indeed just an ordinary bottle of water. "Is it really necessary to thank me so formally?"

"No, no, no, it's not about the water," Bakura quickly waved his hand to explain when he saw that Hayato had misunderstood. "It's about the person who controlled me. Thank you so much for everything you've done, Hayato-kun."

After a pause, Bakura's face showed an embarrassed expression: "Although I was controlled by that person the whole time, I did not fall into a deep sleep. I have an impression of what that person did while controlling my body. I was really happy to regain my freedom, but when I think about the irreversible things I did before, I feel that I don't have the right to be happy."

"In short, I'm very sorry and very grateful to Hayato-kun!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bakura lowered his head and closed his eyes. After venting his pent-up feelings, he finally felt relieved. Although there was an element of impulsiveness involved, now that he had brought up this matter, he was prepared to be scolded and resented by Hayato and the others.

It is an indisputable fact that harming innocent people and killing innocent lives, even if it is not of one's own volition, is done by that person through their own body.

However, instead of being cursed, Bakura received a hand that reached out from the back seat, placed it on his shoulder, and gently patted him.

Opening his eyes, he looked over and saw Yugi Muto, whose demeanor was slightly different, smiling at him: "You don't need to blame yourself for everything Zorc did to you, Bakura. You were also a victim who was used by Zorc."

“This isn’t just my opinion; Aibo thinks so too.”

No, this tone doesn't sound like Yugi Muto, but rather like Yami Yugi from Millennium Puzzle, right? Bakura, who didn't even know Atem's name, thought to himself.

Not only Yugi Muto and Atem, but also Kyoko, who was sitting next to Yugi, said to Bakura, who looked apologetic, "It's okay, Bakura-chan. The one who was wrong was Zorc. He has already paid a heavy price for what he did."

“Yeah, yeah, back then, [the God of Light - Harakti] raised his hand and with a ‘whoosh—bang!’ he killed that Zorc, so there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore, Bakura.” Jonouchi also gave a thumbs up in encouragement.

"It's not about being afraid that Zorc will come back. You idiot, you weren't listening to anyone at all, so don't chime in." Honda, standing to the side, rubbed his forehead with a helpless expression, but then looked at Bakura seriously and said, "Although Zorc has done a lot of bad things using your appearance, and even now, just looking at you makes me a little angry and resentful, it's not directed at you, Bakura. You don't need to take these feelings of guilt that don't belong to you to heart."

With one leg draped over her knee, Pegasus, who remained quite elegant even in the car, nodded: "That's right."

With his arms crossed behind his head and resting on his arms, Malik grinned and said, "That's right, that's right."

"Could you two former villains please shut up?" Hayato retorted. "I didn't realize something was wrong until you two had said something, but there are three villains crammed into this small bus."

“But haven’t I already reformed?” “Me too, brother-in-law,” Pegasus and Malik said with grins.

Although it sounded like a joke, Hayato knew they weren't lying, so he ignored them and focused on driving while saying to Bakura beside him, "In this memory world, there was actually someone just like you, not in terms of appearance, but in terms of what happened. That guy also did many irreversible things under the distortion of external forces."

“I understand your guilt about this. After all, there is no such thing as a life without futile efforts. No matter what age humans are, they will make irreparable mistakes. However, if you are trapped in guilt, nothing can be changed. Turn that regret into the power to cultivate your spirit and grow from it.”

Gazing at Hayato's profile bathed in the warm sunlight, Bakura remained stunned for a long time before nodding, his cheeks slightly flushed. "Yes, I'm not entirely sure, but since Hayato-kun and everyone else have said so, I'll do my best."

"If you can't find a direction to work towards, I can give you some advice. You can forget about becoming the Duel King, but you still have a good chance of becoming a Pokémon Master. You'll definitely succeed when you become a ten-year-old with twenty years of battling experience."

"No, even I can tell that such a thing is simply impossible. Don't joke with me, Hayato-kun."

Facing the sun, the vehicles carrying everyone headed towards their next destination—Luxor in Upper Egypt.

Chapter 830 The Lowly Poor Ghost

Luxor, the jewel of Upper Egypt, is a treasure trove of ancient Theban artifacts and is hailed as the world's largest open-air museum.

However, Hayato and his companions chose this place as their next destination not because they were interested in artifacts, but because after comparing the modern map of Egypt with the map recorded in the world of the King's Memory, Hayato and Atum both discovered—

After Atum's father, King Aknamqanun, moved the capital, the new royal city remained unnamed until Atum himself passed away a few days after ascending to the throne. The priests and others simply referred to the new city as "the royal city."

However, perhaps it was Set, who succeeded Atum as Pharaoh, or later Pharaohs such as Ramses II, who gave the city a formal name for ease of reference—Thebes.

Although everything from three thousand years ago is now history, and the ancient city of Thebes located in Luxor is now just a Theban ruin, Atum still wanted to go there to take a look, as did the other gamers.

Malik and Bakura, who joined the tour halfway through, were just along for the ride. After Pegasus also became interested in the Theban ruins, the group drove to Luxor to visit them. However—

"Two thousand dollars!? You *Egyptian swear word* This is robbery!" Malik looked at the Egyptian in front of him, his face full of anger.

“*Egyptian swear words,*Egyptian dialect*” But even though Malik looked fierce, the Egyptian in front of him still acted like a brat, shaking his leg and looking smug, as if he was sure that Malik couldn’t do anything to him.

Even after Malik walked away from him, the man remained indifferent, as if he had already figured out that Malik would ultimately have no choice but to come to him.

"You look so angry, what happened, Malik?" Honda, who was unaware of what had happened because Malik had been communicating with the Egyptian in Arabic, asked when he saw Malik's displeased expression upon his return.

“Just to visit the Thebes ruins, a ticket seller is asking for two thousand dollars. You'd be angry too. And it's not just everyone, it's two thousand per person, *Egyptian swear word*.” Malik turned around and glared at the ticket scalper who was standing there leisurely, and said irritably.

"Two thousand dollars? Ha, it's not like I'd be losing money if I let someone like that make money." Hayato frowned, somewhat annoyed.

“Although I’m not short of money, just like Hayato-boy said, even if I have money, it’s not for those kinds of people to make a profit.” Bekas shrugged helplessly. “Making that much money just by printing a piece of paper, even robbing a bank wouldn’t be that fast.”

Upon hearing this, Jonouchi couldn't help but glance at Pegasus. Others might have some right to say that, but Pegasus, a card printer, isn't he the kind of person he described himself as? He can sell a single card for thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions. What right does he have to say that "just printing a piece of paper makes money faster than robbing a bank"?

A ticket price of twenty dollars is only considered somewhat expensive. Even at two hundred dollars, it's somewhat tolerable. But a ticket price of two thousand dollars is simply ripping people off. Even pigs struggle and resist when they're being slaughtered. Only a fool would buy such a price. Anyone who does is an idiot.

Yugi looked at Malik and asked, puzzled, "Can't we just have someone else buy the tickets?"

Malik said with some helplessness, "Although the Thebes ruins are managed by the local government, the sale of tickets is monopolized by local gangs. That bastard is a member of the gang, and he said that it would be the same if it were anyone else. This is the price we foreigners pay, take it or leave it."

"It's only because I've cultivated my character that I've been able to do this. Otherwise, I would have had to use the Millennium Scepter on him to make him think he's a fish that's been diving in the Nile for two or three days."

"Foreigner?" Hayato glanced at Malik's clothes. Because it was a bit hot, Malik took off the black jacket that he was wearing on the outside, which looked decent, revealing a shirt covered in ahega characters that was hard to look at. "To be honest, I'm not surprised at all. I told you, you three-year-old, to dress more properly."

"Brother-in-law, what do you know? What I'm wearing isn't clothes, it's love!"

"You mean the kind of love you're talking about, making those female characters make that kind of expression?"

"Is it wrong for me to like NTR characters?"

Kyoko also turned her head away, somewhat reluctant to look at Malik's artistic attire, which was premature for humans, and said to the game, "It seems we can't buy tickets to go in now. Should we give up on this attraction for the time being?"

“We’ll have to do this then. We can’t possibly go inside the attraction without tickets, can we…” Bakura said in a low voice. But as soon as he finished speaking, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, startling Bakura.

“Nothing is impossible for a true duelist. Your idea is brilliant, Bakura!” Giving Bakura a thumbs-up, Hayato looked at Malik and said, “What do you think, Malik?”

"I think it's worth a try, brother-in-law!"

"How many times do I have to tell you who your brother-in-law is?!"

"It's too late to correct it now; you've already tacitly accepted it several times!"

Bakura tilted his head, somewhat confused. "Huh? Huh...did I just suggest anything?"

And so, the group began implementing a plan whose very purpose was unclear even to the person who proposed it. Ten minutes later—

"Oh, oh, oh, this is really interesting! Even for me, this is the first time I've ever done something so sneaky, desu~" In the dim space, Pegasus's face, illuminated by the beam of the flashlight, was full of excitement.

"Hoo hoo hoo, even though there's no ticket, we can just sneak in from somewhere where no one can see us by bypassing the ticket checkpoints. As expected of Bakura, he can come up with such a cunning idea so easily. Even I am a little ashamed of myself, hahaha!"

Hearing Hayato's words, Bakura looked anxious and hurriedly argued, "N-no, it wasn't my idea! I didn't even think of that. It was Hayato-kun who wanted to—"

"You're something else, Bakura!" "I already said it wasn't me!"

"Hey, keep your voices down, what if we get discovered?" Jonouchi interrupted the conversation between the two behind him, looking ahead. "But speaking of which, I never expected there to be a passage here that even the authorities don't know about."

"What's even more remarkable is that this passage still exists after all these years," Yugi said with a smile. "And another thing... Atum said that even he didn't know this passage existed. It must have been built by later generations, right?"

"I saw it in the memories of Meliamon, that is, Ozymandias. It seems that he prepared it for Queen Nefertari and other future generations as a precaution. Given his personality, I guess if the city gates were breached that day, he would rather die in the royal city than escape, although that kind of thing did not happen to him."

Hayato casually remarked, "It seems to have been well-constructed but not used much, and as a result, it became a ruin all the way to Thebes, and even archaeologists never discovered this passage."

"Oh, it looks like we're almost there?" Honda, who was walking at the front, saw the light shining into the dark passage in the distance and said to the others behind him. The group quickened their pace, intending to reach the exit as soon as possible.

After walking up the steps for a distance at the end of the passage, the group arrived at a stone door that let in a few rays of light and was about to push it open.

But just then, a voice suddenly rang out from behind the door, causing Honda and Jonouchi, who were about to push the door open, to freeze in their tracks and quickly withdraw their hands, no longer daring to move.

Immediately afterwards, another voice rang out, seemingly indicating that at least two people were talking behind the door. What was slightly odd was that, at first, the group thought it was just some people from the tourist area talking at the exit, but the two people speaking were speaking Japanese, not Arabic.

Peering through the crack, the group saw that the person outside the door was indeed not Egyptian, but a black man dressed as a soldier in full armor, talking to a white man dressed as a gentleman.

"I didn't expect you to be so capable, mercenary." The arrogant white man looked at the black man and said contemptuously, "You acted faster than I expected. You really didn't waste the generous commission I gave you."

"I need to correct you, sir. You've only given me a portion of the commission; the remaining balance hasn't been paid yet." The black mercenary noticed the other party's dismissive attitude but didn't seem to care, speaking in a serious tone.

"I don't need you to remind me, mercenary, or do you think I'll delay paying your commission?" the white man said with dissatisfaction, his gaze falling on a box next to the black man. He narrowed his eyes, his already somewhat chubby cheeks completely hiding his small eyes in his flesh, but even so, even through the door, everyone could see the greed in his eyes.

Is this what I want?

The Black man glanced at the briefcase beside him and calmly said, "My rule is cash on delivery, so this thing can't be sold until the final payment is settled—"

"How many more times are you going to nag me? I'm not short of your money." The white man said again, annoyed by the black mercenary's words, and muttered under his breath, "Tsk, lowly pauper." However, even Hayato and the others behind the door could hear the white man's words, and the black mercenary heard them clearly, but even so, he still did not lash out.

“I will settle your commission, but only after you take this out and hand it back to me. However, before that, to avoid you wasting my valuable time, I need to confirm that you did indeed receive what I wanted and that it is genuine. Is that alright?” The white man looked at the mercenary and spoke again.

After a moment's thought, the black mercenary nodded in agreement to the suggestion of inspecting the goods in advance. He picked up the box and quickly unlocked the combination lock.

However, before opening the box, he said to the white man with a serious expression, "I have limited time to bribe the gangs here to raise ticket prices, and the staff who were transferred will be back soon, so Mr. Valentine, you have limited time to check, so you'd better hurry."

"Also, I need to remind you that this is just for you to check the items beforehand. You can touch them, but you'd better not let them out of my sight, otherwise I'll shoot even if they're the employer, unless you pay the balance—"

"Enough, you wretched wretch, open that damned box right now!" The obese white gentleman, who seemed to be called "Valentine," had reached his limit and ordered the black mercenary without any manners.

The mercenary simply opened the box in his hand without expression, turned it over, and revealed something inside to Valentine.

In just a moment, Valentine, who had been full of anger, calmed down and looked at the contents of the box with a kind of fascination, his eyes filled with rapture.

"This is it, this is exactly what I've been looking for. Looking at its vibrant colors and luxurious charm, even after thousands of years, it's still so captivating. I can almost see everything from the long history of time reflected in it."

With gloved hands, Valentine reached out towards the treasure in the box that Hayato and the others had not yet seen. He carefully picked it up and said excitedly, "Such a beautiful thing is undoubtedly genuine. Even without professional instruments, my experience as Fanny Valentine is enough to determine that it is an artifact from three thousand years ago!"