Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

The power of Tragodia was easily broken without any effort. Moreover, when Ramses II learned that Tragodia's "planetary alignment" also included a portion of the sun's power, the pharaoh directly ordered the holes in the already damaged stone slab of Tragodia to be enlarged again, and the "star power" that made it stronger was forcibly separated to prevent it from causing trouble for others in the future.

The seahorse, who had expected to hear some good stories, ended up only hearing Karim's blatant praise of Ramses II. He couldn't help but say, "Boring. I want to see rivers of blood."

"Now that Tragodia has been dealt with by that Ramses II, you still haven't answered my question: what is the purpose of bringing me here?"

Hearing what Kaiba said, Kalim shook his head: "The problem is solved? I thought so a few years ago, but the problem is that before you, there were other people who accidentally wandered into this place. The boy who fell in here was attracted by the gravity emanating from the stone slab of [Tragodia] and spontaneously approached and touched him."

"He was a kind child, though his personality was a bit dark. But perfect people don't exist in the world. He still had flaws in his heart, and this flaw and oversight was exploited by [Tragodia], who turned the boy into its puppet."

"In the years that followed, the boy returned several times, each time bringing some cards with him. I recognized those cards; they were clearly the power of the stars that Pharaoh Ramses II had separated from Tragodia."

"Three thousand years have passed, and the 'Planetary Alignment' will reappear before our eyes. At that time, the power of [Tragodia] will grow to its greatest extent, but Pharaoh Ramses II will not exist in this era."

Kalim looked at Kaiba and said solemnly, "That boy hasn't appeared for a year or two, but I believe that [Tragodia] is still somewhere controlling him, trying to resurrect itself. Please defeat the trouble that we carelessly left for future generations, Seto Kaiba. This is my request for bringing you here!"

As he spoke, Kalim lowered his proud head and earnestly pleaded, much to the disbelief of the seahorse.

Seahorse didn't rush to agree, but frowned and said, "Before that, you forgot something, Kalim. You still have one question you haven't answered: why are you here when you should be dead? And why, knowing so much, did you just stand by and watch instead of taking action to stop [Tragodia]?"

Hearing the seahorse's words, Kalim sighed, "It's not that I don't want to, but that I can't. Let me show you something..."

As he spoke, Kalim raised his hand, and a wisp of golden light suddenly rose from his palm and condensed into form—it was actually the Millennium Scales!?

“Three thousand years ago, in order to fight against the Dark Evil God summoned by the Dark High Priest, we priests fought with all our might to protect the Pharaoh. I sacrificed my life at that time.” Looking at the slightly transparent [Millennium Scales] in his hand, Kalim was quite emotional. “I thought my fate would be to fall into the underworld and wait for the judgment of the Grim Reaper, but what I did not expect was that the [Millennium Scales] actually has a very special hidden power.”

"The most famous legend about Anubis, the god of death, is that he weighs the heart and a feather to decide the fate of the dead. Perhaps this is why the Millennium Scales have the power to deal with death. After I died, I was able to take a part of the power of the Millennium Scales with me and become a wandering ghost in the world."

Looking at the Millennium Scales in his hand, even Kalim said somewhat embarrassedly, "Unfortunately, the real Millennium Scales seems to have been affected by this and lost some of its power, becoming slightly weaker."

Kaiba is now adept at forgetting supernatural topics that don't interest him, and he doesn't remember what Kalim is saying at all. However, if Hayato were here, he would probably understand why Shadi was so weak when using the Millennium Scales after hearing Kalim's words.

He stretched out his hand and watched as his palm passed straight through Kalim's body without any obstruction, without feeling any contact with anything. In an instant, the seahorse "understood".

"I see. It must be because the so-called 'millennial artifact' made of gold has a special internal structure due to the backward forging level of the ancients. It can retain a certain magnetic field for a long time. Since human thought is essentially the transmission of electrical signals, a segment of electrical signal can remain active and not be consumed within a special magnetic field. This is the real reason why Kalim can 'exist' for thousands of years."

"That's great, I'm starting to understand everything."

Seeing that Kaiba had suddenly become excited, seemingly inspired again, and unlike the chronically procrastinating Pegasus, was full of energy and eager to go back and take action immediately, Kalim said again, "The [Tragodia], who has retrieved its 'Star Power' and is hiding in the shadows waiting for the 'Planetary Line'..."

"The fate of humanity and the future of the world are in your hands, Seto Kaiba."

As if the signal was weak, Kalim's figure in front of the seahorse suddenly became blurry, and the scene before him changed abruptly, like a painting fading. In the blink of an eye, the seahorse found himself back in the street, having left the tomb?

Chapter 872, Brother Shooting, It's Already at 1000%!

On the bustling street, an area that was normally intact was now surrounded by several temporary signs that read "Road Construction," indicating that there was some problem with the road surface.

But if someone walks to the open space enclosed by the sign, they will see that there is nothing wrong with the road surface, but there are several people standing there talking about something.

"Is this the place? The place where Kaiba suddenly disappeared?"

Guiping nodded, recalled the previous situation, and said to Hayato, "My brother and I were walking down this street, eating pita bread and chatting, when suddenly my brother disappeared."

Because of his brother's sudden disappearance, Keihei quickly shed his role as the "lively younger brother" by Kaiba's side and returned to being the shrewd and capable vice president of the Kaiba Group.

In addition to using a backdoor to hack into the electronic map that Hayato had stolen to inform them of Kaiba's disappearance, he also used the influence of the Kaiba Group's gradually established local branch to interfere with the Transportation Commission and achieve the goal of sealing off the area. At this moment, facing Hayato and his group who rushed over, he also provided them with all the information he knew without reservation, so that they could help him find his brother as soon as possible.

"So, were there any unusual signs before or after? Like someone suddenly starting to dance in the rain, or kneeling down in front of a public phone while playing music?"

"Are you sure you're talking about something a normal person could do, Hayato? Or are you just projecting your own thoughts onto others because you think you could do something like that?" Keihei looked at Hayato and teased him, but then thought about it seriously for a moment. "Back then, it didn't seem like anything was wrong. I was eating pita bread and chatting, and suddenly my brother disappeared."

“Uh, right, I remember now.” As if thinking this might be useful, Guiping added, “Before my brother disappeared, I felt like I was about to trip over an uneven spot on the ground, and I even had the illusion that the pita bread in my hand would slip out of my grasp. But in reality, I didn’t fall at all; I was standing perfectly still, and the pita bread was still in my hand.”

"At that same time, I discovered that my brother was missing."

"Hmm, I had the impression that I was about to fall, but I didn't actually fall. And the seahorse disappeared in an instant, as if some super fast person helped Gomamon up, picked up his Pita bread, and took the seahorse away in an instant."

Hayato analyzed quite seriously, "I understand, this is time stop. We just need to find suspicious people who always have a strange device like a stopwatch in their hands to find the culprit."

"Who's Gomamon? I'm Keihei! And speaking of strange and suspicious things, isn't the strangest and most suspicious one you, Hayato-nii, the one with the most displeasure?" Keihei pointed at the plaid trench coat Hayato was wearing with a disgruntled expression.

Adjusting his deerstalker hat, Hayato said with a serious expression, "You don't understand, Lambo. This is the legendary Great Detective Set, which can enhance my detective reasoning ability to 1000%. With it, I can destroy any solar monster."

"Who would understand what you're saying..." Keihei sighed, even too lazy to complain that Hayato still couldn't pronounce his name correctly. "So, Hayato-san, whose abilities are 1000% of what they were, have you figured out where your brother went?"

“Hmph, basic deduction, my friend. Although the ‘Seto Kaiba Disappearance Case’ still seems quite perplexing to others after you provided the information, I’ve already seen through everything.” Hayato said, crossing his arms and tilting his head slightly to look behind him. “It seems that this incident only involves you, Naruto, and Kaiba, but in reality, there was a third person who witnessed Kaiba’s disappearance!”

"You've been spying on me, haven't you, you hiding bastard!"

"Hmm? There's no one else here, Hayato-kun." Keihei said with a smirk, "Although it's not like when we could rent out the whole city of Domino City, the Kaiba Group's branch in Egypt is located in this city. The police and the transportation commission were very cooperative in sealing off this area and driving away irrelevant people."

"They can even do something like this?!" Jonouchi mumbled, "Does having money mean you can do whatever you want?"

He bought some popcorn from the roadside and held it in his hand. It was rare for him to be so patient and not in a hurry. He stood aside and waited for Hayato and the others to solve the problem and find the seahorse. He was waiting to see if the seahorse would be embarrassed or make a fool of itself.

Honda followed suit, buying a bucket of fries and standing by the city gate, grinning as he said, "Sorry, rich people really can do whatever they want. Like last time when Haima hosted the KC Cup, didn't you participate because Haima gave you so much money?"

"Hmph, you don't understand. Honda, with Haima's personality, inviting me to participate in the competition is like the sun rising in the west. Besides, if I win the prize, I'll be getting Haima's money. Why wouldn't I participate?"

"Ah, about the KC Cup, actually I invited you, Jonouchi, in my brother's name. After all, with my brother's personality, let alone inviting you to participate, if he saw you on the list of participants, he might act like a child and use his power to trip you up."

"I've already had someone check the area, even the security footage, and there's no one else around," Guiping said casually. "You must be mistaken, Hayato-nii."

Before Guiping could finish speaking, a male voice suddenly interrupted him. The lid of a roadside trash can was flung open, and a man with short, reddish-brown hair jumped out.

"As expected of Hayato Kobayashi, he actually saw through my perfect disguise!"

The dark green trench coat had been replaced with a white robe resembling a chef's uniform, which was now open. His mushroom-shaped hair had also been cut shorter, making him look somewhat like someone who didn't know how to play cards. However, this did not prevent the people present from recognizing the strange guy who had come out of the trash can at first glance.

However---

"It came from the trash can!" "How did it end up there?!" (Frantically munching on fries)

Jonouchi and Honda exclaimed in surprise, though their expressions were genuinely surprised, not because they were surprised at Ameruda's appearance, but because they were surprised that he had popped out of the trash can.

"You two, Katsuya Jonouchi and that other guy, what's the point of your surprise? Why do you look like you knew I was going to show up?"

Ameruda's face showed displeasure, and upon hearing his words, Hayato helplessly spread his hands and said, "Honestly, even if you want us to put on a 'Wow~ why is Ameruda here~' expression, it's really too much of a stretch. First Raphiel, then Baron, did you 'Three Musketeers of Doma' conspire to show your faces and get screen time?"

“Hmph! First of all, I’m not one of the ‘Three Musketeers of Dorma,’ but rather the former ‘Three Musketeers of Dorma.’ And speaking of which, I betrayed Dorma and Dartz even earlier than you, Hayato Kobayashi.” With his arms crossed, Ameruda snorted coldly. “Secondly, I haven’t been in contact with Baron and Rafiru recently. Their arrival in Egypt is probably just a coincidence.”

"Well, Baron actually said the same thing." Hayato glanced at Ameruda's clothes and said with some surprise, "Are you working as a chef now?"

"Hmph, you figured it out, Hayato Kobayashi. That's right, I'm a chef now." Ameruda said smugly, pulling a chef's hat out of nowhere and putting it on his head, seemingly quite satisfied with his current profession.

However, the others in the castle seemed unable to understand why Ameruda was so proud.

“If I remember correctly, Ameruda, you should also be a powerful and excellent duelist.” Jonouchi said with some surprise. Although the two hadn’t interacted much, he had witnessed Ameruda’s duel with Rafael on Doma Island and knew how strong this man was. “You just gave up the duel like that?”

“Duel Monsters, what a fun game! In your hands, it can bring joy and smiles to people. Unfortunately, I can’t do that.” Ameruda said with some emotion after hearing Jonouchi’s words. “In the past, I have brought too much pain to people through duels. My dueling style is completely fixed and cannot be changed. I can’t bring joy to people through my duels.”

“However, I discovered that food can. Even someone like me, who is like an executioner, can make delicious food and bring smiles to people’s faces.” After a pause, Amelda looked at Keihei and said, “I have severed my ties with Seto Kaiba and the Kaiba Corporation, so I have indeed put down Duel Monsters.”

"Grandma once said that the only person who can bring happiness with a knife is the one who cooks." Ignoring Malik's rare moment of silence when he asked, "Is the grandma you're talking about yourself?" Hayato looked at Ameruda and gave her a thumbs up. "Go for it, Ameruda."

"But I'm still a little curious. When it comes to cooking, there shouldn't be any difference between countries, right? Why don't you stay in America and instead come to Egypt?"

Hayato's words only made things worse. The moment he mentioned America and Ameruda, his mood turned sour and his face turned pale, as if he had swallowed a bomb. It was as if he were talking about Seto Kaiba in front of Ameruda, who was still trapped in the past and obsessed with hatred.

"Those Americans? I'd rather throw all the cooked food into pig feed than feed them!" Overcome with emotion, Ameruda was even awakened to memories etched into his very being. As he spoke, his hands involuntarily clenched into fists and he gestured wildly. "I, Ameruda, would rather starve to death, die outside, or jump off a building than cook a single meal for those Americans!"

"Not only do they put pineapple on Margherita pizzas, those bastards even break pasta into pieces to cook it!"

"Those people are committing a crime! Don't they know they've broken the law?!"

"If I had known it would be like this, I would have definitely discussed it with Dartz before betraying Dorma. When we were wiping out all of humanity, we should have prioritized wiping out those damn heretics!"

Hayato could tell from Ameruda's eyes that his last words didn't seem to be a joke.

Come to think of it, Hayato himself couldn't accept some of the strange ways of eating, such as mapo tofu with strawberry jam, yogurt cake with chili sauce, Goubuli steamed bun soup, and rice porridge.

Back in school, he would forget to bring his lunch and would rather go hungry than buy oily, dry fried noodles from the convenience store. But later, Isis would prepare lunches for Hayato, and he never went hungry again.

Jonouchi was somewhat puzzled as to why Ameruda was so agitated: "If there's not enough room in the pot for the noodles, isn't it normal for them to break? Besides, I think pineapple pizza is pretty good too."

However, he kept these thoughts to himself and didn't say them out loud, because he felt that if he did, Amelda, who had just said that he had given up on fighting monsters, might impulsively pull out his Duel Disk and use Dark Games to fight him to the death.

"In short, I didn't want to stay in America anymore, so I came to Egypt and decided to start from here. Seto Kaiba once said that his dream was to build Kaiba Parks all over the world, right? So, my dream now is to take my cooking to the whole world."

With his hands on his hips, Ameruda said firmly.

Upon hearing Ameruda mention the seahorse, Jonouchi suddenly remembered something important: "We'll talk about those things later. Um, Ameruda, Hayato said you were nearby when the seahorse went missing. Is that true? Also, I'm a little curious, why were you in that trash can?"

"Oh, you mean this? Well, actually, the Italian restaurant I was at was closed today, but I forgot. I only remembered when I got there and found it was closed. But since I was already there, I decided to wander around the nearby streets, and that's when I spotted Seto Kaiba and Keihei right away," Ameruda said casually, shrugging.

"At a glance?" Upon hearing this, Guiping quickly looked down at his clothes. Although he usually preferred to wear suits at the company, he had changed into inconspicuous casual clothes for this trip to Egypt, and he didn't seem to stand out at all. How could Ameruda recognize him at a glance?

“Hmph, it’s not your fault, Keihei, it’s Seto Kaiba. Even from four kilometers away, I can see the buttons on Seto Kaiba’s clothes. As soon as he came to this street, I smelled a special scent on that guy, the scent of a rich man.” Ameruda said, clenching her fist.

"Is that what you call clairvoyance (money)?" Hayato retorted.

Chapter 873 What are you doing? Ouch!

"Anyway, I don't have to go to work today. After seeing Seto Kaiba and Keibei, I followed behind them, thinking about when to appear in front of them and explain to Seto Kaiba what a surprise is."

As Ameruda spoke, she frowned. "However, while I was following the two of them, there were several times when I almost got discovered by Seto Kaiba. That guy's senses are just too sharp. Although I didn't intend to stay hidden forever, it's two different things for me to take the initiative to come out and for Seto Kaiba to find me."

"So you hid in the trash can?"

“That’s not the point!” Ameruda glared at Hayato and put on a serious expression. “Anyway, when I saw Keihei almost fall, I thought that was the perfect time for me to appear and I was about to come out. But at that moment, Seto Kaiba suddenly disappeared, while Keihei, who almost fell, was standing perfectly fine in the same spot.”

"At that moment, Keihei, who might not yet be considered a powerful duelist, probably couldn't sense it, but my keen sense of smell as a duelist detected a very ancient scent."

"Huh? But didn't you just say you'd put Duel Monster down?"

“That’s not the point!” Ameruda said, frowning. “The important thing is that the aura felt very familiar to me, exactly the same as this suspicious card.”

As he spoke, Amelda pulled a card out of his clothes and showed it off, “Not to brag, but even without the power of Doma—that ‘Orichalcos fragment’—I still have the ability to see the existence of spirits, and I can even ‘create my own future’—that is, ‘print cards’.”

"But how could such a card possibly awaken in my [Mech Squad]?"

The card in Amelda's hand depicts an elegant, female-oriented monster wielding two swords, with a classic blue and white color scheme, named "Light Mercury".

Not only Ameruda, but several others who knew that the deck he used was a Machine-type [Mech] deck shared the same opinion. It would be plausible if the Water-type and Water-attribute [Light Mercury] was created by a spirit accidentally awakened by a user of an aquatic deck, but it is impossible for a Machine-type to awaken such a card.

But more importantly, no matter how you look at it, this card is clearly from the "Planet" series!

The mysterious appearance of the "Planet" card in the duelists' decks, and Amelda's earlier statement about sensing a similar aura to [Light Mercury] when Kaiba went missing, make it hard for Hayato not to think of [Tragodia] again.

Could it be that someone is behind the sudden disappearance of the seahorse? And what about Pegasus Night Walk? What is his relationship with [Tragodia], and what role is he playing?

Hayato had no idea. Looking at the [Light Mercury] in Ameruda's hand, he could only say, "This card is a 'Planet' card, belonging to the 'Planet' series. I don't know its exact origin, but this isn't the first time I've encountered a card from the same series."

"Unless it is officially used in a duel, the 'Planet' card is not particularly special. However, once it is used, the card will emit an imperceptible dark energy that will corrupt the user's deck."