Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"As a result, we just missed this package from the International Illusion Society and missed out on the enhancement card." Miya took the card from Miya's hand and looked at it. "I heard that the kid who beat us also received a package this morning, which contained an enhancement card given to him by Mr. Hayato."

"If we could get those two enhancement cards, the final outcome would be uncertain. It's such a pity." In his hand was a spell card, [Dark Element]. When there is [Guardian of the Gate] in the graveyard, you can pay half of your Life Points to Special Summon a [Guardian of the Gate] monster of Level 11 or higher from your hand, Deck, or even Fusion Deck, ignoring the Summoning conditions.

The monster in Miya's hand that corresponds to this spell card is 【Dark Guardian - Dark Guardian】, which is treated as 【Guardian of the Gate】 under the rules. It can be Special Summoned directly from the Deck using the effect of 【Dark Element】, or Normally returned one of each of the "Three Demons" from the hand, field, graveyard, and banished zone to the Deck, and Special Summoned from the hand or graveyard. It also has strong resistance to being destroyed by battle and unaffected by the effects of other monsters and the opponent's spell cards.

The appearance of these two cards perfectly fills the gap in the Labyrinth Brothers' current deck, which lacks a way to recover the banished "Three Demons". Originally, if they wanted to recover those three "Three Demons" that needed to be banished frequently in order to summon "Guardian of the Gate", they could only use "Burial from Another Dimension" and the effect of a few other cards that can be used once per turn.

If Miyako had obtained these two cards during the previous duel, she could have used the effect of "Called by Darkness" to help Miyako add "Dark Element" to her hand, and the outcome would have been different.

It's a pity, but the Labyrinth Brothers aren't the kind of people who rely on "what ifs" for everything. And while power-up cards can certainly help in duels, it doesn't mean they're useless without them.

"But speaking of which, brother, if we consider our duel with that kid as a contest between Mr. Yugi and Mr. Hayato," Miyako said, looking at Miyako, "does that mean we caused Mr. Yugi to lose once?"

"What's there to worry about if Mr. Game loses? He doesn't care about those things, and he didn't offend Mr. Hayato." Mi said casually, not taking it seriously. "I heard that a new employee in the card design department actually wanted to design a card to counter the legendary 'God Card' [Ra's Winged Dragon of Ra]. Mr. Hayato is so petty; he deducted a month's salary from that guy's salary because he stepped into the company with his left foot first."

"Is that so? That Hayato-san is so petty—"

"I am the storm that is approaching!"

Abruptly, the phone hidden on Mi's person rang. He had set a special ringtone for each important person, and coincidentally, the ringtone that rang was the special ringtone for Hayato, whom they were just talking about. When Mi heard the phone ring, he immediately stopped talking, and Mi quickly answered the phone: "Mr. Hayato?"

"Although I have no evidence, I always feel that someone is talking badly about me."

Hayato's calm voice came from the other end of the phone. Cold sweat broke out on Mi's forehead. She quickly said, "How could that be? Mr. Hayato, you are the idol of countless people. As the strongest man in the world, who would dare to say a bad word about you?"

"Including you?"

Mi said solemnly, "There can only be one sun in the sky, and in my heart there is only one sun: Mr. Hayato!"

Upon hearing the line that Malik had just recited a couple of days ago, Hayato retorted, "Where did you guys learn such a sycophantic line? It's not the first time I've heard it."

"It's a pinned post on the professional duelist forum... No, there's nothing there, this is just my honest opinion." Mi, not caring whether Hayato on the other end of the phone could hear her, flashed a fawning smile. "Mr. Hayato, we admire you!"

"Alright, enough with the flattery. You guys should have received the expedited cards by now, right? It's a shame your package got cut in line during shipping, otherwise you might have been able to use those two cards in the duel." Hayato, using his unlimited principal privileges and cutting in line for his package for Jaden before the Labyrinth Brothers, said nonchalantly, "While I'm somewhat interested in the expedited duel, I'll go back and watch the recording later."

"What were the results of your investigation at the academy?"

Hearing Hayato's words, the Labyrinth Brothers finally took it seriously.

On the surface, the Labyrinth Brotherhood's arrival at the Duel Academy was indeed at the invitation of the Duel Academy Board of Directors, stemming from Jaden's trespassing into the old school building. Normally, no one would know what disciplinary action the Duel Academy Board of Directors would take against Jaden, or who they would invite to conduct the trial duel. However, Hayato was unstoppable by activating "Clairvoyance EX".

Knowing beforehand that the council would invite the Labyrinth Brothers, he had already made arrangements with them to do some work for him. The two additional enhancement cards they received were Hayato's reward, only the designer was Yugi.

And what they were commissioned by Hayato to investigate was—

"The Duel Academy Council had no defenses against us since they had invited us, and let us move around on the island at will."

"As maze experts, we maze brothers have a lot of experience in where to place cameras to observe the facial expressions of maze users as much as possible, and we successfully found many hidden cameras on the island."

"However, according to your meaning, we only tampered with its connection method and added a relay point with the highest control, so that the relay point controls what kind of screen the terminal can see."

The Labyrinth Brothers reported to Hayato, one sentence at a time.

Hayato remembers that in another world, after the seal of the "Three Phantom Demons," the "Seven Spirits Unlocking Gate," was accidentally broken, Kagemaru, who was not originally on the island, arrived at the location of the "Seven Spirits Unlocking Gate" immediately and took away the cards of the "Three Phantom Demons" that had been unsealed.

It's important to understand that at that time, Kagemaru needed to lie in a life support pod. Although he had modified that pod into a multi-functional mobile robot, it couldn't hide the fact that it was cumbersome and required air transport. Even if Kagemaru was ready at all times, it would still take a considerable amount of time for the plane to take off from the land and reach Duel Academy Island. How did he manage to get to the island so quickly?

The answer is simple: this old bastard who should have been rolling in gold coins long ago installed a lot of surveillance cameras on the island. Although the initial construction of Duel Academy Island was carried out by the Kaiba Group, Kagemaru was able to send the "Seven Stars" people to the island in various ways. It was just some surveillance. For him, it was much more difficult to arrange for the [Black Scorpion Excavation Group] to infiltrate the academy.

In fact, over the years, Hayato has indeed found a lot of surveillance cameras on the island that were not included in the Kaiba Corporation's local area network. It would be easy to simply remove these cameras, but that would alert the enemy and make it impossible to lure Kagemaru to the island.

Similarly, it would be easy for the seahorse or someone else to hack those cameras. But the problem is that the seahorse, which never goes to the island, suddenly comes to the island. Anyone would feel that something is wrong.

Since it was still a long time before Kagemaru began his operation, Hayato simply ignored the cameras on the island until the Labyrinth Brothers came to the island and he had them hack them. Hayato also discovered that they found more cameras than he knew. It can only be said that although the two of them are not good at playing cards, they still have some skills to show for themselves.

"Mr. Hayato, you could have just thought about those things and let them go, why did you have to say them out loud?" Mi said helplessly. "Besides, we believe we have some ability, don't we?"

"Since returning to the mainland for further studies, my brother and I are completely different from what we used to be," Gong said confidently.

"Who would have thought there really was a school of thought called 'Invincible East'? There was even an Asian Venerable One who was called the 'King of Hearts' because he always got a straight flush in cards. It's a pity that Domon Kashu is not Invincible East," Hayato said with a sigh.

As professional duelists employed by the International Illusion Society, the Labyrinth Brothers were able to find the "Style of Invincible East" that Hayato mentioned when he wanted to go to the mainland to defeat them. It was Hayato who helped them make the contact through the International Illusion Society's channels. Hearing a familiar name in this card-playing world was an unexpected surprise. However, they did not expect that the environmentalist would still pass away so early in this world.

Like "Electronic Flow" and "Psychic Flow", "Invincible East Flow" is also a dueling style that has been passed down since ancient times in this world. However, the two brothers, the Labyrinth Brothers, failed to pass the test and join the school. In the end, they only studied there for a period of time to improve their "Labyrinth Flow", but they did make great progress in their strength.

Domon Kashu, the contemporary instructor of the "Invincible East School," immediately took a liking to himself for bringing the Labyrinth Brothers there. He said that he was a rare talent with a soul as pure as a blank sheet of paper, a prodigy, and it would be a pity not to join their "Invincible East School." The instructor's personality was also somewhat different from the other person Hayato remembered. He liked to laugh loudly and also liked to stand on high places like street lamps to show off, relying on his high physical fitness.

Although he was curious whether the rather low-key "Invincible East Style" might also have secret techniques like the "Electronic Style," Hayato ultimately declined his invitation. Master Domon did not insist, but instead gave Hayato a card, hoping that he would reconsider and that he would be welcome to join them anytime if he changed his mind.

Even Hayato had never seen that card before in this world; it was—

Suddenly remembering something, Hayato said to the Labyrinth Brothers, "You guys said you're very strong, right? Well, here's a good opportunity for you to show off your strength."

"Originally, Jonouchi wasn't planning to participate in the World Professional Duelist Tournament this year. He was going on a round-the-world trip with Mai. However, his things were stolen while he was attending a music festival in the Netherlands. After the thief was caught, he said, 'I didn't steal it, I picked it up, fellow countryman.' The Dutch government even said that the thief was a kind-hearted person who helped keep the lost items safe."

Mi raised an eyebrow: "I have a feeling that you're alluding to something, Mr. Hayato?"

"Don't talk nonsense! Don't say anything that's detrimental to unity." Gong quickly covered his brother's mouth and said into the phone, "But what does what Katsuya Jonouchi and Mai Kongjaku have to do with us brothers?"

"Because they were both unhappy, they simply canceled their round-the-world trip. Now they're planning to sign up for a doubles duel. Anyway, Jonouchi has won the championship more than once, but he's never won the doubles championship." Hayato stroked his chin, thinking about whether he should find some free time to invite Isis to participate in the doubles duel as well. "In other words, if you want to win the championship again this year, you'll have a pretty big challenge."

Upon hearing Hayato's words, Mi said casually, "Jounouchi Katsuya? So many years have passed and I don't see him improving at all. He can only manage a close game against anyone, and his championship win is just a matter of luck."

"Judging from their appearance, they are nothing more than cheap bastards!" Gong Ye revealed a confident expression.

(In the final of the World Duelist Tournament - Tag Team event several months later, the Labyrinth Brothers summoned the invincible [Dark Guardian - Dark Guardian], and were then brutally defeated by Jonouchi and Mai Kujaku using a double attack from the [Amazonian Empress] wielding the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword])

Chapter 1106 There is only one answer

After hanging up the phone with the Labyrinth Brothers, Hayato's smile gradually faded, replaced by a serious expression.

While the Jadens were engaged in a tense and exciting battle, Hayato, who was in Domino City investigating the "New Gluth" news, was naturally not idle either, and had been searching for clues from various sources.

Although during this time he found many "outlets" like the "Black Scorpion Card Shop" opened by the "Black Scorpion Excavation Gang," which appeared to be legitimate shops on the surface but actually received supplies from "New Gurus," he even arrested several "New Gurus" members like "Light and Dark Mask" internationally through the International Illusion Society and the Seahorse Group.

However, he couldn't even find out who the leader of "New Gurus" was, nor could he understand why he had his people develop downlines all over the world to collect rare cards through gambling, and then sell them cheaply in Domino City.

At the same time, Hayato also discovered that whenever he was getting closer to the mystery and the truth, something else would always happen to distract him. Putting aside how much power he had to arrange something that would make him pay attention, the fact that these new events arrived so precisely on time was a big point of suspicion.

Just like how Kagemaru was able to arrive at Duel Academy Island in the first instance to retrieve the "Three Phantom Demons" cards, it was as if someone had installed a 24/7 surveillance camera next to him!

Therefore, Hayato did contact Kaiba immediately, since he had set up a comprehensive surveillance system called "Hanging Loop" in Domino City. If there was anything monitoring him, Kaiba Group's "Hanging Loop" was definitely something that couldn't be ignored.

This doesn't mean Hayato doubts Kaiba; he just suspects that Kaiba Corporation's network has been hacked again. After all, it's not the first or second time. Even though Kaiba says that he and Keihei have jointly compiled a brand-new ultimate firewall, which is said to have security levels that are fifty years ahead of its time, it still doesn't put Hayato at ease.

However, after Kaiba demonstrated the newly compiled firewall codenamed "Ark" to Hayato, Hayato was reassured that Kaiba Corporation's surveillance system had not been compromised. According to Kaiba, the program was based on the virtual world where Kaiba Noa used to live, and its underlying logic had transcended code and transformed into the legendary "artificial intelligence."

—However, judging from the name, it is clear that the programming work was led by Keihei and named "Ark" in honor of Kaiba Noa's past existence. After all, if Kaiba had led it, it would have been called "Blue Eyes" or "White Dragon", or at the very least, "Kaiba☆Full Speed ​​Forward".

Kaiba even planned to recreate a virtual game world based on this system, which was the so-called "Duel-Link" that he had previously mentioned to Hayato.

Despite having been trapped in virtual worlds more than once, this guy Kaiba still has such enthusiasm to create a virtual world for playing cards, which makes one marvel at his boundless energy. One can only hope that his artificial intelligence, which can be called "Ark" or "Ark," doesn't cause any trouble.

After all, the most amazing scene in a science fiction movie that Hayato had seen in his previous life was that an artificial intelligence given the mission of protecting the world actually took five minutes to decide to destroy humanity after reading about all the evil deeds of mankind online. And the name "Ark" also sounds a bit rebellious.

But it doesn't matter. Even if something really happens, Hayato can just go to London again and bring Dartz out of the Clock Tower to see whether data life or artificial intelligence is more powerful.

However, if "New Gurus" wasn't physically monitoring Hayato, then they wouldn't have many ways to keep track of Hayato's progress in finding clues. This forced Hayato to turn his suspicions back to those around him, and he had a few people he suspected.

Under the guise of contacting the Labyrinth Brothers about matters on Duel Academy Island, Hayato, who was temporarily alone and avoiding everyone, made another call. The number was saved on his phone as "Kazama Shunsuke".

"Moshi~ Moshi~"

Upon hearing Hayato's words, a helpless male voice came from the other end of the phone: "International calls are expensive, Hayato. Can't you just call the company and transfer me?"

Hearing the other party's words, Hayato raised an eyebrow: "Don't tell me you're worried about the phone bill. The second largest shareholder of the International Illusion Society?"

“Since I was little, Chicken Sauce has always taught me that a person must find something to do, otherwise they'll be wasting their life. Although the monthly dividends from International Illusion are quite substantial, I don't really feel the impact of that money on my life.” After saving the half-finished sketch to avoid the nightmare of “software unexpectedly becoming unresponsive and forgetting to save the file” that plagues artists, Game, sitting in his private office, leaned back in his chair and continued, “I still prefer to spend the money I earn from my current job.”

"What you're saying sounds like a Versailles scenario where you buy thirty houses and then have to go to work every day of the month to collect rent," Hayato retorted. "Look how carefree Pegasus is with his money. He's recently gone back to his old castle to laze around happily."

“Pegasus? He didn’t go back to Crawford Island?” Game asked, somewhat puzzled. “Ever since the castle on the island was blown up by the people of Doma, he has been living here at the headquarters of the International Illusion Society. Although he had people rebuild the castle, it should have been completed last month, but due to the strike in America, Pegasus’s castle is still not finished.”

"On the contrary, because most of the strikers were workers in car factories, Honda was able to successfully enter the American market and seize market share."

Upon hearing the game's words, Hayato raised an eyebrow in surprise, but remained calm and continued, "To actually cause the workers to strike, that's unforgivable, Pegasus. A slacker like him should be tied to a chair and work overtime like 007."

The game said somewhat helplessly, "But card design isn't something that can be achieved just by hard work. 1% inspiration is more important than 99% perspiration. For example, the new card design for the Labyrinth Brothers was only completed smoothly with your help, Hayato, and it was much more harmonious than the version I initially envisioned."

“Bekas says he’s not inspired now mainly because he was too unrestrained when he was young and squandered too much of his inspiration in one go.”

"You believe his nonsense? Why don't you put those cards in front of him—[Double-Mouthed Dark Ruler], [Two-Headed Thunder Dragon], [Kuriboh], and [The Attic Monster]—and see how he tries to argue then." Hayato shook his head. "Forget it, it's good that he hasn't been sacrificed before someone causes a major incident. Just remember to tell Pegasus to 'keep an eye on your old drawings.'"

"By the way, how are things going with Rebecca and Anzu?"

Hearing this, even though he was already an adult, Yugi's face still blushed slightly. Even though he was alone in the office and Hayato couldn't see him over the phone, he still turned his swivel chair around to face the floor-to-ceiling window behind him and lowered his voice a little: "Rebecca and Anzu, what could possibly happen to them?"

"Come on, when we reunited in Domino City, Honda and I both saw it clearly. During your four years at university, your feelings for Rebecca must have developed to some extent. Only Jonouchi was too clueless to notice anything," Hayato said with a smile. "On one side is Kyoko, who you have a mutual affection with since childhood, and on the other side is Rebecca, who has never hidden her feelings and whom you also have some feelings for."

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a happy problem. Why don't you change your citizenship to the United States sooner rather than later? After all, some states there don't have bigamy laws."

“Not all states are as free as California,” Yugi denied, not answering seriously, because that would definitely get him to say, “So you are considering choosing two at the same time, aren’t you?” Instead, he said to Hayato, “Compared to those, when are you and Miss Isis planning to have one—”

"I don't understand what you're saying. I'll use [Chongguang] to fix it."

"Then I'll activate [Divine Announcement] in a chain to take down [Chongguang]."

"Three-speed counterattack, huh? Then I'll use [Red Reboot], don't you dare counter!"

Like two children, Hayato and Yugi recited the names of the cards over the phone. To onlookers, it was somewhat comical, because they were so serious as if they could actually play any card they wanted, just like they could recite the card names... Did they really?!

After hanging up the phone, Hayato put his phone away, when he heard Tenma Tsukiyuki, who had been standing in front of him for a long time, hand him a glass of cola and say, "You and Mr. Game really have a good relationship."

"Oh, right, this is the cola you requested, Mr. Hayato."

Looking at the perfectly normal-looking Tenma Tsukiko, Hayato took the Coke, examined the label, and said with disdain, "Why is it Coca-Cola? Oh well, I'll just leave it there for a while. If you buy Coca-Cola and leave it there without drinking it, it'll just become a decorative Coke."

Tianma Yuexing blinked: "Was that a joke? Should I laugh a couple of times?"

"There's no need for that. I'm not your boss, so there's no need for me to flatter you like that."

Hayato said nonchalantly, but Tenma Tsukiyuki scratched his head and said, "But even so, Mr. Hayato, you are still my idol. I have always admired you."

“My idol…” Looking at Tenma Tsukiyuki’s gentle face, Hayato asked, “Tsukiyuki, do you have a dream?”

Tenma Tsukiyuki was taken aback, somewhat puzzled as to why Hayato had suddenly brought this up. But after thinking for a moment, he said, "It's a bit strange to bring this up all of a sudden... If we're talking about dreams, I don't actually have anything like that."

"However, I must repay the kindness of Mr. Pegasus who adopted me, so I want to help Mr. Pegasus develop Duel Monsters better. I have no dreams, but I can protect his dreams."

"I see, that's quite a nice dream, it sounds like you're part of the main character. But honestly, you could be a little more self-centered." A faint golden light shone from Hayato's chest, hidden by his clothes, as he continued to gently persuade Tenma Tsukiyuki, "Don't you have a goal of your own?"

"If you put it that way..." Tenma Tsukiyuki didn't notice Hayato's odd behavior and smiled sheepishly, "Actually, I've already said it before, it's you, Mr. Hayato. Back in Duel Kingdom, I was in charge of assisting Butler Crogates and the others with arranging for the audience to enter the final battle, and I was also sitting in the audience when I saw you and Mr. Yugi dueling with Mr. Pegasus."

"When I first saw you fighting in the audience, I was deeply moved by the intense radiance you exuded. Your performance during the duel completely captivated me, and I became your fan from that moment on. The live broadcast of the top eight in Duel City made me even more enamored with your duels."

“Besides wanting to help Mr. Pegasus develop Duel Monsters, I also have a goal: to make Duel Monsters even greater and to bring back the large-scale tournaments that can produce duelists like you.” As Tenma Yuexing spoke, he seemed to have triggered his true feelings from the depths of his heart, and said with some excitement, “Not those professional exhibition tournaments nowadays, which make duelists seem like caged beasts for the audience’s amusement.”