Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Speaking of which, Maeda-kun, because you didn't enter the same year as us, I still don't know what deck you're using."

Because Maeda Hayato's personality isn't the type to enjoy duels or constantly think "Fight! It's so much fun!", even Misawa, who is an expert in intelligence warfare, didn't gather much information about Maeda Hayato.

However, high-level intelligence gathering only requires a fairly simple method. Even though no intelligence was gathered from other places, Misawa could have simply asked Maeda Hayato what deck he was using in front of him.

When Misawa asked about his deck, Maeda Hayato smiled a little embarrassedly: "My deck mainly consists of Beast-type monsters like the Death Koala, unlike Jaden's or Sho's decks which have a clear theme series. If I had to name it, I'd probably call it a Beast deck."

As he spoke, Maeda Hayato showed off his cards. In addition to "Death Koala", there were also "Death Kangaroo", "Lord of OZ", and other cards that Jaden and Sho had obtained from opening card packs. These cards were useless to him but could be used by Maeda and were given to him. His deck looked like a collection of wild animals from Australia.

Misawa glanced at Maeda Hayato's deck, roughly noted down the general structure, and analyzed it in his mind, but then felt a little strange: "Looking at the composition of your deck, Maeda, it has no shortage of combinations that can cycle resources, and it also has powerful monsters that can make the final blow. Logically speaking, the deck is quite balanced and not bad."

"And Maeda, while your theoretical exam results weren't exceptionally outstanding, they were still average. Considering both factors, why is your dueling record...?"

As if he had thought of something, Misawa asked, "Could it be the same question as that senior, Oyama-daira?"

When the Seven Stars invaded, Maeda Hayato was with Misawa. While pursuing Tanya, they unexpectedly encountered the missing Blue Dormitory student, Ōyama Hei, in the dense forest. Ōyama Hei was an excellent student in theoretical knowledge, consistently ranking among the top five in his grade, but his performance in actual combat was tragically poor.

Specifically, this manifests as follows: after the opponent summons "Junko - Psychic Shocker," which negates all field trap cards, you can only draw trap cards for three consecutive turns; even with only five high-level monsters in your deck, you draw all of them in your starting hand but have no monsters to use as tributes; and after setting up a perfect defense, your entire back row is wiped out by a single "Great Storm," etc.

The missing Ōyama Hei's goal was to change his tragic fate of drawing cards. His self-cultivation through close contact with nature resulted in him gaining extraordinary card-drawing abilities, not only for his own but also for deciding what cards others would draw, though the latter's success rate was not very high. However, he encountered Tanya, one of the Seven Stars. After a round of maneuvering tactics, he was met with a stunning counterattack from Tanya's card combo.

After that, Da Shanping felt that his training was still not enough. Although he returned to school to prove that he was still alive, he soon ran into the dense forest again to continue his training. He would never leave the mountain until he had mastered the ability to 100% determine what card the opponent would draw. He had the aura of a "Sword God of Shili Slope".

Maeda Hayato shook his head: "No, while I can't exactly draw whatever card I want, my luck is only average. It just means I can perform at a decent level when drawing cards in a duel. The problem is..."

Slightly embarrassed, Maeda Hayato mustered the courage to speak out about his shortcomings: "During duels, I often get so nervous that I can't think straight, and my use of cards becomes completely subconscious, unable to unleash the full power of the cards."

Holding the card "Death Koala," Maeda Hayato looked slightly remorseful. "I even went so far as to summon 'Death Koala' in attack position as a Flip Monster."

"As expected, I'm really bad at this. I can't even use my favorite card properly..."

“Don’t say that, Maeda. You’re just not used to dueling. But your love for Duel Monsters is undeniable. We all know how much you love Duel Monsters.” Jaden put down his pen and comforted Maeda. “And there’s more to it than just dueling with others.”

"When the time comes, you must show the spirit that will convince your father and personally prove to him your love for Duel Monsters!"

"Personally... wait a minute, what does that mean?" Upon hearing this, Manjoume stopped creating, leaving behind a rather abstract painting before looking up at Judai in confusion. "Didn't you just say that one of us should go and duel with Professor Chronos?"

“No, even if that were to succeed, the only one who would reap the joy of victory would be the student who defeated Professor Chronos, right? But that wouldn’t be a way to truly prove Maeda’s talent and his love for Duel Monsters to his father,” Jaden said earnestly. “Just now, Maeda hesitated a bit, probably because he was thinking about personally dueling with his father, right?”

“There is no better way to communicate than through a duel. Maeda will definitely be able to persuade his father through a duel!”

"Don't think you can get away with just a few words of encouragement. How did you even figure out what other people were thinking? You're omitting way too much!" Manjoume said, annoyed. "We're 100% guaranteed to defeat Professor Chronos, and now you're suddenly saying we should make that guy defeat his own father? Don't create unnecessary complications!"

(Professor Chronos, clutching his empty wallet while maintaining order in the exhibition hall: Achoo! I feel like I've been looked down upon somewhere, oh no, that's really annoying!)

"It's not an unexpected complication. Big Brother must have his reasons for thinking this way!" Marufuji Sho immediately stood on Judai's side. "Besides, even though Maeda's father is a professional duelist, there's no reason why someone who has never been a student can't beat a professional duelist!"

"Of course, I wouldn't have a problem with that kind of thing, but sending a student who isn't even proficient in the normal summoning of cards to duel a professional duelist is just ridiculous!" Manjoume said, and seeing that Jaden was unmoved, he changed the subject, "Besides, I came here because I heard that I could get specially customized cards. If he has to fight on his own, who will give me the cards I'm missing!"

“Once Maeda becomes a full-fledged card designer, will he still be short of those few cards of yours?” Asuka said, looking at Hayato Maeda. “Although it sounds very difficult, if Jaden believes it, then I can believe it too.”

"Right? Even Tenjouin-kun thinks it's no problem," Marufuji Sho said, patting Maeda on the back. "Then my [Machine] deck's enhancement cards will all depend on you, Maeda!"

"Hmph, I'm just afraid that when people create enhanced cards based on your ideas, they'll find that the [Machine] deck without yours is stronger when used alone."

"Huh!? How could this be?!"

"Can it be done? No, there's no point in thinking about that now. All we can do is believe." Misawa wanted to ask Maeda Hayato if he had the confidence to defeat his father, but he gave up on the question. Because no matter what Maeda's answer was, there was only one thing he could do: try his best to do his best and defeat his father, Maeda Kumazo.

Without hesitation, Misawa erased Professor Chronos and Ameruda's names and the information listed below from the blackboard. While flipping through information on his phone, he wrote down the information on the blackboard: "As a professional duelist, Mr. Maeda Kumazo's deck information was made public last year. I recorded it at that time. I think knowing the opponent's deck in advance will help Maeda-kun in the duel, so I will take care of the analysis."

"Huh? Gojo-kun, you can even find out other people's decks?"

"Don't underestimate my intelligence network!" Mentioning his area of ​​expertise, Misawa smiled smugly, pointing at Marufuji Sho with his marker. "Many people have the habit of including cards featuring their favorite idols in their decks, even if the card has absolutely no synergy with their deck. Marufuji, you don't have [Thunder Goddess] in your deck, do you?!"

Although it was a question, Misawa spoke with absolute certainty, as if he were stating without a doubt that one should exhale after inhaling. Marufuji Sho, upon hearing Misawa utter the card name "Thunder Goddess," looked utterly terrified, as if he had seen a ghost: "How did you know!?"

"If you want to know, first pronounce other people's names correctly."

After Misawa finished speaking, he saw Marufuji Sho look troubled and immediately covered his forehead: "What's with that look on your face when you hear that it's your turn to fight Ryoumen Sukuna? Don't act like remembering my name is some kind of century-old problem."

Not wanting the conversation to linger on this frustrating situation, Misawa proactively changed the subject, saying, "Now that we've confirmed the opponent and that Maeda will be playing, there's only one thing left to do before I write out my detailed analysis."

“While other people’s design ideas may not be able to create cards that will be helpful to you, they might be able to help Maeda find some inspiration when he’s making cards for himself.” Holding the design of the unnamed Shrine Maiden Monster card, which was basically just a sketch of Jaden’s face and hairstyle with some minor modifications to his clothing, Asuka openly handed it to Maeda in front of Jaden. “However, it’s a bit of a shame that we can’t actually make these cards.”

"Huh? It's actually me?" Seeing the shrine maiden in Asuka's design sketch with a wise smile that he would never normally show, Jaden looked at her face, which was almost identical to his own, and said, "I thought you would draw me as a handsome hero, Asuka."

"Isn't that necessary? Judai, aren't you already a hero?" Asuka smiled, glancing at the design Judai handed to Maeda. It only contained a bunch of matchstick-like monsters, but one could barely make out their features as Judai's favorite monster cards. She couldn't help but mutter a complaint: "It's just that having Duel Monsters on your mind is really..."

"Hahaha, am I that good?" Jaden, who only heard the beginning of Asuka's words and didn't hear the rest, laughed smugly. He saw Marufuji Shoya handing over his and Manjoume's design drawings to Maeda Hayato and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Speaking of which, what were you thinking about when you were designing the cards? As for me, I was thinking about the fun times I spent with the heroes."

"Since I received the [E·hero] deck from Hayato-sensei when I was a child, four or five years have passed in the blink of an eye. We've been through so much together."

Upon hearing this, Manjoume also showed a rather displeased expression: "When you said 'experienced many things,' you weren't mocking me, were you? You've just been beating me since childhood, so don't be so smug!"

"No, it sounds like you have every right to be proud, that your rivals have always been the ones winning since you were a kid." Marufuji Sho retorted. "Instead of that, talking about design ideas that are even more impressive than your older brother's memories might be able to turn the tables."

"Hmph, do you even need to design this? Can't you just find some pictures of guns and ammunition online, pick the strongest one, and modify it a bit?"

"Alright, now we know you're just a hardcore player." Asuka shook her head helplessly, not embarrassed at all, and said to Maeda Hayato, or more precisely, to Jaden who was standing next to Maeda, "I just looked at Jaden and drew what I subconsciously wanted to draw."

"What? Big brother, you're actually a girl in Tenjōin's heart?" Marufuji Sho said to Judai with a smile. "It seems my design idea is the best. Well, actually, I have a friend who has lived in the shadow of his much more outstanding older brother since he was a child. No matter how hard he tries, he has no ability to step out of the shadow's coverage. He is often frustrated and the only companion he gets is his family's old toys, such as kendama, spinning tops and toy cars."

"I want to gain faster speed, to get out of the shadow that always looms over me, to catch up with the people ahead who I can only look at from afar, and to tell them that I have the power to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. The card I want to design is a robot that is faster than the [robots] that are just means of transportation. Perhaps it can be called 'Swift Robot'."

After a pause, Marufuji Sho added, "Of course, I was talking about my friend's affairs, not me."

"Yes, yes, Xiang, you're telling me your friend's story. But there's no one else here. Xiang, can you tell me who the figure you're trying to catch up to is?"

"It's... no, how would I know who my friend was trying to catch up to?" Marufuji Sho said, embarrassed and annoyed. "Big brother, you're so annoying!"

While Jaden and Sho were playfully fighting, Maeda Hayato had some thoughts.

"When everyone designed their cards, they all carried their true feelings at that moment, whether it was a greater strength, an unforgettable past, past experiences, or the beauty of the present..." Holding other people's artwork, Maeda Hayato placed one hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. "And what about me? What's on my mind?"

In a daze, he heard the cry of the Death Koala, and the sunlight streaming into the classroom through the window reminded him of the sunrise he had seen on Ayers Rock a year ago.

Chapter 1259 A True Father-Son Scheme

After putting the academy-issue Duel Disk on his wrist and watching it automatically tighten and adjust to fit the size of his arm, Maeda Kumazo said with some surprise, "The Duel Disk from the Duel Academy is supposed to be given to students for free, right? Why does it feel better to use than the ones sold on the market?"

"Instead of asking, who is more suitable to be the test subjects for the newly developed products than students?" Hayato said, looking at the students counting on their fingers. "The Northern Branch School, located in the Arctic, and the Southern Branch School, located in the tropics, can test the impact of extreme climates on the performance and battery life of the Duel Disk, while the Western Branch School and the Eastern Branch School can test its use in extreme outdoor environments."

"If products that should be paid for for people to use and experience are given to students as prizes, the money saved will be more than just a little bit. In fact, students will think that the college is pretty good."

Upon hearing this, Maeda Kumazo couldn't help but smile: "Mr. Hayato, a strongman like you, still has to worry about money? But I'm more curious, it's understandable that the Eastern branch of Duel Academy has a tradition of liking outdoor battles, but why is the Western branch set to such an extreme outdoor environment?"

"In the wild, rain, dust, and humidity in the jungle have a slightly greater impact. It's nothing like the extreme conditions in America where the Eastern Branch is located. Don't be fooled by the fact that these duel disks are made of very light plastic; they have some bulletproof capabilities."

As he spoke, he noticed that Maeda, wearing a Duel Disk, was about to come out of the passage on the other side and enter the dueling arena. Hayato also slightly composed his expression and said seriously, "It seems that Maeda-kun is ready. The duel between Maeda Hayato-kun and Maeda Kumazo-san is about to begin. Both duelists, please take your positions in the arena!"

Under the direction of Hayato, who was acting as the referee, Maeda Kumazo stood on one side of the dueling arena, watching his son walk firmly onto the stage and stand opposite him.

"Not only did you choose me as your opponent, but you also chose to duel me yourself..." Maeda Kumazo smiled contemptuously at his own son, "Do you think of me as some kind of half-baked duelist that you could handle, kid!"

Shaking his head, Maeda Hayato looked at Kumazo opposite him, straining to open his small, beady eyes and revealing a determined expression: "On the contrary, I know how strong you are as a duelist. That's why I want to duel you, because even if I win by relying on someone else, it won't prove my love and ability for Duel Monsters."

“In this duel, I want you to admit that I am not a half-baked player…” Maeda Hayato lifted the Duel Disk, his deck was filled into the slots, and the Duel Disk unfolded to display his Life Points. “…Father.”

"You only have a passion for Duel Monsters for a mere ten years or so. Can your resolve compare to the decades of legacy I've carried?" Maeda Kumazo inserted his deck into his Duel Disk, watching the signals connect between the two players' Duel Disks. "You really dare to talk big, kid!"

"Duel!" x2

[Kumozang: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Maeda: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

As he drew five cards, Maeda recalled the analysis Misawa had made of Maeda Kumazo's deck not long ago.

—“Mr. Maeda Kumazo’s deck, because of the continuous spell card [Table Flip], can literally 'flip the table' and destroy cards on both sides’ field. When combined with the [Jug] card which has the effect of reducing life, it can play a series of effect damage combos.”

Tapping the black and white cards drawn on the blackboard, Misawa analyzed, "Therefore, with the second turn, Mr. Maeda Kumazo's strength is quite formidable. If possible, it would be best to reverse the situation, letting him gain the first turn, and then breaking through his monsters with the second turn."

"What, aren't you going to take the first turn?" Kumazo's voice rang out, bringing Maeda back to his senses. Looking at his father, who wasn't in a hurry to draw a card, Maeda shook his head and said, "If I take the first turn, then you'll be the second, right? That would be very disadvantageous for me."

"Oh? You even did your homework on my deck?" Maeda Kumazo was slightly surprised, but still drew a card and said, "But it was probably based on your friends' results rather than your own, right? It doesn't matter, the result is the same no matter who it is."

“I’ll go first, draw a card! Then I activate the spell card [Angel’s Charity], draw three cards from my deck, and discard two cards from my hand.” After briefly looking at the three cards, I added them to my hand. Then I drew two more cards from my hand. “These are the two cards I’m sending to the graveyard: the monster card [Ground Fighting Ship] and [Big Wooden Golem 18].

"Next, I usually summon [Scrap Metal Thief Dragon]."

[Scrap Metal Thief Dragon] [4 stars/land]

[Dinosaur Tribe/Effect]

[1400/1000]

A "dinosaur" monster resembling an oviraptor appeared on Maeda Kumazo's field, but it only had a general resemblance in shape. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was a dinosaur pieced together from many mechanical parts, many of which were covered in dust and rust, looking like scrap metal recycled from a junkyard.

"That's the 'Scrap Metal' deck, just like 'Ancient Gear,' a mechanical-style deck that mainly uses EARTH monsters, right?" Professor Chronos commented from the audience. "But unlike my 'Ancient Gear,' which focuses on locking down enemies during attacks, 'Scrap Metal' monsters seem to be better at destruction?"

"It's less about destruction and more about 'self-destruction.' But that's also why the 'Scrap Metal' deck can even have some synergy with the Dinosaur deck." Samejima sat next to Professor Chronos, nodding. "The legendary duelist, 'Dinosaur' Ryuzaki, included certain 'Scrap Metal' monsters in his deck, which he supposedly obtained in a trade with Mr. Maeda Kumazo. It just so happens to be this 'Scrap Metal Thief Dragon,' which can barely fit into the Dinosaur deck."

"I remember its effect seemed to be—"

"【Scrap Dragon】can target one monster on my field and destroy it, allowing me to Normal Summon one 【Scrap】 monster this turn, except for the Normal Summon. The target I choose to destroy is the only 【Scrap Dragon】 monster I control."

With a wave of his hand, Maeda Kumazo casually destroyed [Scrap Metal Thief Dragon], but then raised his Duel Disk, which was automatically searching, and said, "Then, if [Scrap Metal Thief Dragon] is destroyed by the effect of [Scrap Metal] card and sent to the Graveyard, its second effect is activated, adding one [Scrap Metal Factory] from my Deck to my hand."

"Then, using the effect of [Scrap Metal Thief Dragon], I Normal Summoned [Scrap Metal Recycler] in Defense Position to my field and activated its effect that can be activated when it is Normal or Special Summoned, sending a Machine-Type monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I chose [Perfect Machine King]."

[Scrap Metal Recycler] [3 stars/location]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[900/1200]

Following the fleeting [Scrap Metal Thief Dragon], a machine filled with discarded parts appeared on Maeda Kumazo's field. As soon as it appeared, it sent the monster from Maeda Kumazo's deck to the graveyard, and the discarded parts it collected filled its storage box to the brim.

The moment the parts box was full, a noise suddenly came from inside [Scrap Metal Recycler], as if some device was running at high power. Maeda Kumazo explained, "Once per turn, I return two Level 4 Machine-Type EARTH monsters from my Graveyard to the Deck to activate the second effect of [Scrap Metal Recycler]. I choose the Level 4 [Land Combat Boat] and [Big Wooden Man 18].

"Then, I drew a card from my deck."

After drawing a card from his deck, Maeda Kumazo played another card and said, "Next, I will activate the Field Spell Card 'Scrap Factory'. This card can increase the ATK and DEF of all 'Scrap' monsters on my field by 200 points, and when a face-up 'Scrap' monster is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Scrap' monster from my Deck."

"Finally, place three cards face down. My turn is over."

[Maeda Kumazo: 4000LP, 2 cards in hand]

[Scrap Metal Recycler] [DEF1200→1400]

[GaiK] X3

Location: [Scrap Metal Factory]

"Huh? Is that all?" Jaden said, somewhat puzzled. "Only one monster with 1400 defense points, and the turn ended so easily?"