Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Grandpa Shuangliu said nothing, only smiled wryly as he took a box from his pocket, opened it, and revealed his treasured "Blue Eye." However—

"This...this is...! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon card is torn! It's Grandpa's most treasured card!" Rebecca clenched her fists so tightly that she almost snapped the neck of her teddy bear, Terry. "No wonder, no wonder you didn't intend to give it back to me in the first place!"

"That's not how it is, Rebecca-chan." Sugoroku looked somewhat embarrassed. Her old friend's precious card had ended up like this, and she couldn't come up with any excuse. "Actually, I was just about to return it to you..."

"Lies! Excuses!" Rebecca was furious. "If I weren't the victor of the duel, you were planning to keep this a secret forever, weren't you!"

"That's not how it is, Rebecca." A voice came from behind Rebecca. "The winner is actually Game-kun."

"Huh?" Rebecca turned around in annoyance, wanting to see which idiot was spouting nonsense. The game had already been surrendered; she should be the winner. But when she turned back, she was dumbfounded: "Grandpa?!"

Chapter 184: They've Fallen for Each Other

"Grandpa!?" Rebecca looked surprised. "Why are you in Japan?"

"Arthur?! You're Arthur, right?" Sugoroku looked surprised. "It's been such a long, long time since we last met."

"Hmm, long time no see, Sugoroku-san." Compared to the spoiled Rebecca, her grandfather, Professor Hopkins, was quite different from her, being rather gentle and refined. "My wild little granddaughter has caused you a lot of trouble, haven't she? I'm so sorry."

"grandfather!"

With a smile on his face, Professor Hopkins walked over to Yugi, who hadn't yet left the dueling ring, and asked Ai, "Yugi-san, may I take a look at your deck?"

“Hmm, no problem.” Yugi turned slightly to the side, revealing the deck he hadn’t had time to organize on the dueling platform. Professor Hopkins nodded his thanks, but didn’t pick up the entire deck, only flipping over the top card.

That was a card that the game had just drawn and put back into the deck.

“Sure enough, it’s the same as back then.” Professor Hopkins showed Rebecca the card.

Rebecca's face lit up with surprise when she saw the card: "How could this be?! [Soul Release]?! A spell card that can banish monsters from the graveyard! If it's activated, won't my [Shadow Ghoul] be destroyed by [Dark Magician]?!"

“Years ago, my duel with Sugoroku-san was exactly the same as this duel between you two, even this card is the same.” Hopkins looked at the card in his hand nostalgically. “I desperately piled up the number of monsters in the graveyard in order to win. But Sugoroku-chan made the same choice as Yugi back then—to concede.”

“Well, before that duel, we would have a duel, and the last drop of water in the jug would be given to the winner. But Hopkins was already on his deathbed at the time,” the old man said somewhat embarrassedly. “It was just the outcome of a duel, nothing compared to the safety of a good friend.”

"The most important thing is not the duel, but life."

"So you two are both in bad shape, how come you can still play cards?" Hayato thought to himself.

“Rebecca, back then, I was just like you, blinded by the desire to win. I kept sending monsters to the graveyard to strengthen the Shadow Ghoul. But we must also pay respect to the monsters that are sacrificed, whether it's dueling monsters or archaeology that excavates the graves of the dead.”

Professor Arthur Hopkins crouched down and gently patted Rebecca's head, looking at his granddaughter who still had a hint of resentment on her face: "You should have respect for your dueling opponent. It was with this mindset that I gave the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Sugoroku-san, who taught me this principle."

With direct testimony from both parties involved, the misunderstanding was finally cleared up. Rebecca, realizing she had been making things up all along, blushed with embarrassment and stammered, unable to face the game.

"It's a bit embarrassing to say, Arthur." Sugoroku walked apologetically to his old friend whom he hadn't seen for many years. "I failed to take good care of the precious Blue-Eyes White Dragon that you entrusted to me."

"Hmm, it's alright, Sugoroku-san." Arthur smiled gently, not caring at all about the torn Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Sugoroku's hand. "The most important thing isn't the card, but the friendship we share on it, isn't it?"

"That's true, hahaha."

The two elderly people, both over sixty, smiled at each other. Although they hadn't seen each other for a long time, their friendship remained unchanged, and in fact, it had grown even stronger because of their reunion.

Hayato also took the opportunity to come up behind Yugi and watch him organize his hand.

Watching Yugi stuff several red and green cards—clearly not good cards—back into his deck, including [Lightning Strike] and [Divine Shield - Mirror Power], Hayato glanced at Rebecca, who was peeking at Yugi from behind Arthur, and thought:

"Seeing that the other side was a little girl, did you actually learn to hold back and hide your true, treacherous nature? Game, you're so kind."

"Listen up, Rebecca." Noticing his granddaughter hiding behind him and watching the game, Arthur, sensing her thoughts, revealed a rare sly smile and said to his granddaughter, "Cards represent the heart, and a wonderful duel can foster a friendship."

"If you can't understand this, you're not qualified to be a national champion. Go apologize to the game."

Rebecca didn't notice her grandfather's strange smile; instead, she was genuinely persuaded and hesitantly approached Yugi: "Yugi, I..."

"It's alright, Rebecca-chan," Yugi said with a gentle smile.

Watching the two locked eyes, Hayato couldn't help but glance at Kyoko, who looked utterly moved, wondering if a magical green light had appeared above her head. Incidentally, he also overheard the two elderly people with the "cutest height difference" whispering amongst themselves:

"Games are really a good kid."

"Rebecca is pretty good too."

"Looks like we're thinking the same thing?"

"The kids seem to enjoy it too, don't they?"

"Will you get down to business in a few years?"

"Completely OK."

In just a few words, the two old men sold their grandchildren.

However, judging from Rebecca's smile, she probably doesn't have any complaints and is quite happy about it. As for age, that's even less of a problem. Although Yugi is only 17 and Rebecca is 12 this year, in Japan, the man can register for marriage as long as he is 18 and the woman is 16. As for informal folk weddings, there are no age restrictions at all.

The only somewhat surreal thing is that the legal age of adulthood in Japan is 20.

Professor Arthur Hopkins, who was reunited with his old friend after a long separation, was intrigued by the game and the duel with Rebecca. He wanted to play a game of Duel Monsters with Sugoroku to relive his youth and experience the virtual projection system that was currently only available in Japan. Sugoroku naturally did not refuse.

Of course, the virtual projection system used in Haima Park is different from the one installed on the top duel platform of Haima Group. It has the function of adjusting the virtual projection level.

It seems Haima still remembers the time it dragged Grandpa Shuangliu into a duel, which resulted in the old man having a heart attack. Without the ability to adjust projection levels, Haima Group would probably be bankrupted by lawsuits before Haima Park even expanded nationwide.

As the two old men stepped onto the dueling platform, Hayato suddenly heard a voice behind him:

"Hayato-kun, save me!"

Chapter 185 Guiping's Plea for Help

Hearing the sound, Hayato turned around and saw a figure running into the dueling arena in a panic, bumping into his arms.

“Keihei?” Jonouchi recognized the newcomer as Kaiba Keihei, whom they had met not long ago.

Just as Hayato was wondering why Keipai wanted him to save him, several bodyguards in black followed closely behind Keipai and stormed into the dueling arena. Surprisingly, Jonouchi recognized the one leading them.

"It's actually you!"

"Huh? It's you brats? What a coincidence." The leader was none other than Saruwatari, who had betrayed the Kaiba Group to join the International Illusion Society and even threw the game's star chips into the sea. The one who lured Kaiba into this trap, how dare he come to Kaiba Park, a subsidiary of the Kaiba Group?

Hayato was still wondering what was going on when Saruwatari waved his hand dismissively: "I don't have time to waste with you. For the sake of the International Illusion Society, leave Kaiba Park, and leave that brat behind. Otherwise, we won't be so polite."

"Heh, you actually know this is Kaiba Park?" Hayato pulled Keihei behind him, exchanged a glance with Honda standing beside him, and took a step forward. "You traitorous fence-sitter, you actually dare to go back to the Kaiba Group? Aren't you afraid of Kaiba retaliating against you? That guy is very vengeful."

Despite saying that, Hayato had already figured something out—Saruwatari and the group of people following him all had name tags tattooed on the left breast of their suits, with the logo of the Haima Group on them. This indicated that they were there as employees of the Haima Group.

Even a former traitor could brazenly appear at Haima Park, the place Haima Group had valued most recently, and even dared to lead Haima Group's security guards to publicly arrest Haima Group's vice president, Haima Guiping. Therefore, there's only one answer—

"Hahaha, Seto Kaiba? That arrogant guy is already too busy taking care of himself. Whether he'll ever wake up is another question!" Saruwatari said as he walked towards Hayato, extending his hand. "Hand over that brat, or don't blame us for being impolite!"

Several tall, burly men in black suits quickly surrounded them, but just then, one of them noticed something was wrong: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... one is missing? Boss, that little devil with the bullet head is gone!"

In the blink of an eye, the lights in the dueling arena suddenly went out, plunging everyone into complete darkness!

"what!"

"Who goes there!"

"Uh!"

"Ya-me-lo!"

In the darkness, Saruwatari heard the screams of the security team he had brought with him. At this rate, he would be next!

Fight!

With a heavy heart, Saruwatari charged headlong into Hayato's location, which he remembered from his past. Among the group of gamers, Hayato was the tallest and looked the most capable fighter. The other two brats were a different story: one looked like a thug, and the other, with blond hair, looked malnourished. If he were to attack, he would definitely target the most dangerous one.

As for the game, Anzu, and Rebecca? A short guy and two little girls, they were not taken seriously by Saruwatari at all.

Saruwatari pushed off with both legs, slightly shifting his body to position his left shoulder forward, but after taking several steps, he still didn't feel like he'd bumped into anyone. The darkness, depriving him of his vision, amplified his inner fear. Saruwatari's voice trembled slightly: "Come out, face me!"

But it was as if nothing existed in the darkness. The wails of his men had vanished, and there was no sound at all, not even an echo from Saruwatari himself. If it weren't for the tangible feeling of his feet touching the floor, Saruwatari would have almost thought he had been swallowed by a black hole.

"Bang!" A shock came from the back of his head, and Saruwatari was instantly knocked unconscious. Even after being knocked down, he still couldn't figure out who killed him or how.

The arena was brightened again. Hayato looked down at the power switch and saw Honda, standing by the main switch, give him a thumbs-up. Before the men in black could attack Hayato and his companions, Honda had slipped downstairs under Hayato's cover, which explained the sudden darkness.

As for how Hayato and his group launched their attack in the darkness? Hayato and the others didn't actually lift a finger. He simply threw out the cards of [Gaia] and [Sky Magician] that he carried with him. One card was used to knock people unconscious, and the other was used to cast illusions.

After moving the unconscious men in black aside and tying them up with a cable from the dueling arena, Hayato and the others finally had a chance to ask Keihei what had happened.

"My brother planned to get rid of the five old men from the Haima Group who betrayed him last time, but to avoid them retaliating out of resentment, he made a bet with them. The bet was that my brother would complete a 'fully immersive' online game that the Haima Group had just finished."

"Then he got trapped inside the game, and couldn't get out until he defeated the final boss and beat the game, right?"

Hayato's words surprised Keihei: "That's right. But, Hayato-nii, how did you know?"

"The main thing is, the couple are both doujinshi kings, I guess I can't help but know that," Hayato complained. "And I bet those five elders also got themselves some GM privileges to interfere with Kirito, I mean Kaiba's, playthrough, right?"

"Yeah, the game Duel Monster is set in a Western fantasy world where you use Duel Monsters to fight, but the Five Elders stripped my brother of his deck as soon as he entered the game." Guiping said angrily, "If it weren't for that, my brother would have easily beaten the game."

"My brother is currently trapped inside a DM game console and cannot wake up. If the power is cut off directly, the game console will burn out his brain. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the five elders launched a rebellion, wanting to seize the Hippocampus Group."

"I see, that's why they wanted to capture you." Yugi nodded knowingly. With Kaiba trapped inside the game console, if the five elders captured Keipai, the Kaiba Group would truly fall into their hands. No wonder they were so openly trying to capture Keipai.

Jonouchi frowned: "But Keihei, I don't think it'll make a difference if you ask us for help. None of us are skilled in hacking and can crack that DM game."

"Cracking games is so lame. Jonouchi, didn't Keihei just say that all we need to do is beat that game? Besides, that DM game uses Duel Monsters, which is something we can just solve by playing cards," Hayato said enthusiastically. "And when it comes to playing cards, who can beat us?"

Chapter 186 Link Dies Big Head (4/7)

The group first took the two elderly people home, and then, led by Guiping, returned to the Seahorse Park.

Although Haima is currently trapped in the DM gaming equipment in the Haima Group headquarters building, it's easy to see that they wouldn't go there to walk into a trap. After all, that place is now completely under the control of the five elders. If they went there, they might be captured before they could even rescue Haima and Guiping.

According to Guiping, the equipment used to access DM games is not only located at the Haima Group headquarters building. There are also several test machines used during the game's development in the planning hall of Haima Park, which is not yet open to the public.

By the time Hayato and his friends arrived at Kaiba Park for the second time, it was already getting late, and most of the visitors had already left. This was unusual, as Kaiba Park usually stayed open until 8 PM, and it was only 6 PM.

“The Seahorse Group is my brother’s dream. He wants to bring joy to children all over the world by building Seahorse Parks. However, the five elders who have worked for the Seahorse Group since it was an arms company felt that Seahorse Parks could not bring any profit at all,” Guiping explained, his eyes somewhat dim. “I’m afraid that the five elders shut down Seahorse Parks the moment they took control of the Seahorse Group.”

“Grandma said, ‘Those who steal will lose their own treasure.’” Hayato pointed to the setting sun that was sinking below the horizon. “Taking other people’s things without permission is not a good habit.”

Due to concerns about secrecy, only Keihei, Yugi, Jonouchi, Hayato, and Honda came along this time. Kyoko and Rebecca stayed at the Kame-ki Game House to keep Professor Hopkins and Sugoroku company.

With the five elders now in charge of the Haima Group, former loyal employees have been either placed under house arrest or dismissed, resulting in a complete overhaul of the workforce. Even traitors like Aruwatari have been brought back. The original staff of Haima Park have vanished, leaving only security guards in black uniforms.

Because the seahorse entrusted the important seahorse park to Keipai for daily management, Keipai was quite familiar with the park. He easily led his group in and sneaked in without alerting the patrolling security guards.

Upon arriving at the planning exhibition hall, which was cordoned off and marked with a "No Trespassing" sign, Guiping took out a key and unlocked it, saying with some ease, "Those five elders are quite meticulous in their work. This betrayal was probably premeditated. My employee card has probably been revoked by them as well. Fortunately, this place uses physical locks."

Pushing open the doors of the planning hall and turning on the lights, Hayato and his companions immediately saw several large game pods displayed in the center of the hall. There were five game pods in total, four of which had their semi-transparent hatches open and were ready for use. However, to Keihei's surprise, the fifth game pod was already operational.