Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"It feels inferior to [Blue Eyes], right? Even I could guess what you were going to say, Kaiba." Even Yugi couldn't help but retort to Kaiba, sizing up [Tears of Elegy - Merlo Mermaid]. "But 'Merlo Mermaid'... if its prototype is from Irish legends, is it the mermaid 'Merrow' Merloo?"

"Probably, but [Melo Mermaid] doesn't wear the hat that 'Meloo' wore in legend, which grants her the ability to travel between land and water." Hayato shrugged, letting his butler, Radiant Dragon Girl, coax Little Blue back into the deck, and waved, "Then my strategy continues. If [Tears of Elegy Mermaid] is successfully Summoned or Special Summoned, I will activate its effect to send the top three cards of my deck to the Graveyard."

Seeing this, Yugi wouldn't just stand by and watch. Although he didn't know why Hayato considered the [Tears of Elegy Mermaid], which had almost the same effect as the [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl], to be worthy of being called "Duel Monster 2.0", Hayato's confident demeanor didn't seem fake, so Yugi naturally took a serious attitude and gave it his all.

"Don't underestimate the existence of such a huge [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider], Hayato. Once per turn, I can chain the effects of Spell, Trap, and Monster. Discard one card from my hand to activate its third effect!"

The green gadget in his hand was discarded as a cost, and the game pointed at the [Tears of Elegy Tribe Mermaid] on Hayato's field, "Neglect and destroy that activation, and increase the attack power of [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight] by 1000 points!"

Under the game's command, [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] immediately raised the spear in his hand, which served as a magic wand, and firmly locked onto Hayato's [Tears of Elegy Clan - Mermaid of the Mermaid of the Pearl] on the field. With his other hand, he skillfully swung it and cast a mysterious magic circle into the air.

Suddenly, several beams of light were released from the clouds and pointed at the weak and powerless mermaid girl, seemingly intending to blast her to pieces on the spot!

Chapter 1270 Pearl Tears, Appearance of the Underworld, without bringing ancient elite soldiers or ancient guards, can still turn people into stupid soldiers!

"[Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight] effect: Discard the [Green Gadget] from my hand, negate and destroy the effect of your [Tears of Elegy - Mermaid], and increase the attack of [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight] by 1000!"

Regardless of Hayato's confidence, at least from the game's perspective, it's always better to negate the graveyard effect of [Tears of Elegy - Mermaid]. Otherwise, given the "purity" of Hayato's deck and his mastery of utilizing graveyard cards, who knows what tricks he might pull.

The magically summoned beam of light struck the location of [Tears of Elegy - Mermaid of the Pearl Clan], but Yugi frowned because he clearly saw a red light bloom from Hayato's hand just before the magic cannon hit its target.

It seems that destroying that monster won't be so easy.

Sure enough, after the magic cannon's light flashed, a strangely abstract monster appeared on Hayato's field, which only had a pair of wings and hands, no human form, and was also extremely abstract.

"When my opponent activates a monster's effect, I can only activate its effect by sending 'Crimson Radiance' and one of my Fairy-Type monsters from my hand to the Graveyard." Hayato, revealing 'Crimson Radiance' from his hand and sending it along with another Mysterious Monster to the Graveyard, pointed to 'Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight' on the field and said, "Negatively destroy that effect's activation!"

"This is an era of tears; let the outdated old things just roll into the dust!"

In the dueling environment Hayato had experienced in the past, "Red Daddy," as a heavyweight card from the 20th Anniversary pack, quickly became an extremely versatile card due to its easily fulfillable entry conditions and powerful effect. Many players who didn't use "Dark Magician" or "Red-Eyes" decks were willing to risk drawing two useless ordinary cards just to add it to their decks. It wasn't until ten months after its release that it was finally locked up by the infamous Foundation K.

Hayato's "Tears of the Goddess" is a new-era Duel Monsters deck, known as "Duel Monsters 2.0." However, it was released after "Red Daddy" had died, and even "Phoenix Daddy," who was later known as "Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix" alongside "Red Daddy," had already been killed by "Fusion Fate." The two never met. It was only because Hayato and Yugi were dueling because of the four-player brawl initiated by Kaiba that they had no chance of facing each other.

Although it may look a bit ugly, the hand trap [Crimson Light Declarator], which can activate its effect from the hand, is filled with a special kind of powerful beauty. Absorbing the power of another card that Hayato sent to the graveyard, it not only protected [Tearful Melo Mermaid] from being destroyed by its effect, but also, with a single burst of power, pushed back the magic cannon summoned by [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight], reflecting it back towards [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight] itself.

However, the counterattack magic cannon did not cause any damage to [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight]. The invalidation of the effect activation does not mean that the effect is invalid. The first effect of [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight], "cannot be destroyed by effects", is still in effect. Even the magic cannon it fired itself was just re-infused into its body without causing any trouble. It's just that the cards played in the game cannot be retrieved.

Since its effect wasn't negated by [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider], [Tearful Melo Mermaid] happily played in the water, creating a wave with its hammer and sending the three cards on top of Hayato's deck to the graveyard.

As he watched the three cards at the top of his deck being sent to the graveyard, Hayato said with a hint of regret, "It's a pity I didn't tell Is to bring her Earth Angel."

"Earth Angels...you mean Miss Isis's [Ancient Guardian - Argento] monsters? They are indeed earth-attribute angel monsters, and it seems there are very few other monsters with such a strange configuration." As he spoke, Jonouchi paused, then looked at Hayato in horror and said, "Are you going to use that same trick that was interrupted five years ago, Hayato?"

He recalled the card Hayato used in the group stage of the Duel City tournament. It was an OTK tactic centered around the card "Reversal of the Real World and the Underworld" that Isis had given to Hayato. However, the first time he used it, it was stopped by Kaiba Noa by cutting off the power to the airship, and Hayato still held a grudge against him. When the group stage was restarted for the second time, everyone was on guard, so Hayato did not use the same trick again.

Could it be that Hayato has been dwelling on not being able to achieve this OTK move back then, and is so determined to replicate it today? Now Jonouchi instantly understands why Hayato started with the graveyard effect of [Tears of Elegy - Mermaid of the Pearl], he was clearly trying to collect the fifteen graveyard cards required to activate [Reversal of the Realm and the Underworld]!

Although he didn't know what Jonouchi was imagining, Hayato shook his head and denied it, saying, "No, I didn't include Reality in my deck this time. Actually, because I don't understand the rules of the virtual world, the deck I'm using right now is practically crippled. The reason I wanted cards like [Ancient Guardian - Argento] is just because if the cards that were just thrown into the graveyard by [Crimson Light Proclaimer] were them, I could use their effects to continue filling the graveyard."

"The effect of 【Ancient Guardian - Argento】is that when cards are sent from the hand or deck to the graveyard, both players send five cards from the top of their decks to the graveyard, right? It's just sending cards from the top of the deck to the graveyard, not randomly selecting cards from the deck to send to the graveyard. It doesn't seem very meaningful for blind decking, does it?" Jonouchi thought for a moment and said, puzzled.

“Blindly stacking four or five cards is nothing special, but what if I could blindly stack forty or fifty cards in one go? Blindly stacking? A fine stacking!” Hayato smiled and raised the Duel Disk that lit up in the graveyard area. “And even with only Melo by my side and no Earth or Sky protection, I, Pearl Tears, am still invincible in the world!”

"The Tragic Death of the Prison Village Actor, which was sent to the graveyard by [Crimson Light Proclaimer], and the Shaddoll Dragon, Shaddoll Hedgehog, and another [Shaddoll Mermaid], which were sent to the graveyard by the effect of [Tearful Lamenter - Mermaid], all have effects that can be activated!"

"Self-chained, C1 [Tragic Death: Prison Village Actor] C2 [Tearful Elegy Clan: Mermaid] C3 [Shadowduck Dragon] C4 [Shadowduck Hedgehog]!"

In one graveyard setup, Hayato managed to activate the effects of four cards, instantly building a chain to chain 4. Moreover, due to the self-chaining mechanism, Hayato deliberately placed "Tragic Death: Gokugoro Actor" and "Tearful Lament: Mermaid of the Pearl" at the beginning, while putting the effect of "Shaddoll Hedgehog" at the end. This way, even if Kaiba and his team wanted to use a face-down chain, they could only chain the effect of "Shaddoll Hedgehog" and could not threaten the cards in front.

The other three present were not new to Duel Monsters either, and they could see through Hayato's plan. Even though they knew that [Shadowhedgehog] was obviously just a shield that Hayato deliberately threw out, they would still try to take down one of them.

Compared to Jonouchi and Kaiba, who each only had one face-down card left in their back row, Yugi, who had two face-down cards, was clearly much more resourceful. Following Kaiba's example, he didn't press the button on the Duel Disk that was just for show. The cards he had face-down in his back row were flipped over precisely according to his will, revealing a blond general giving orders to his army.

"Chain with the effect of [Shadowhedgehog] to activate my backrow Continuous Trap Card [Royal Command]. As long as this card is on the field, all activations and effects of Flip Effect Monsters are negated!"

Seeing the card that Yugi played, Hayato was speechless: "What kind of meaningless card is this? Why would you bring such a card to Yugi?"

Although seemingly unremarkable, cards with "Royal Palace" in their names possess a certain degree of significance, such as the card "Royal Decree." The card "Royal Command" is actually no less targeted than "Royal Decree," as its existence negates the effects and activations of all Flip Monsters in any area.

Simply put, although Hayato's Shaddoll monsters' effects are activated in the Graveyard rather than on the field, and the activation is not their flip effect but their second effect activated when they are sent to the Graveyard, simply because they are flip monsters, Shaddolls will be restricted by the Royal Decree, thus negating their effects and activations!

“While I don’t usually use this card, it suddenly occurred to me that most of the monsters in the Shaddoll deck, which includes your favorite Shaddoll Nephilim and Shaddoll Midrash, are Flip Monsters.” The game, shamelessly flipping over such a bizarre counter card and even laughing as it explained its strategy to Hayato, continued, “Furthermore, Shaddoll monsters are very good at accumulating resources as the game progresses, so including just this one card effectively counters them; I think it’s a very worthwhile choice.”

Are you so sure I'll include [Shadowduck] in my deck?

Hearing Hayato's question, Yugi laughed and said, "It's just putting in one card, it's not a big problem, is it? And I did bet right, didn't I?"

It was supposed to be a gamble, but judging from the expression on Yugi's face, there was no surprise at all; all he seemed to have was a sense of "I knew it." It was as if Hayato had already anticipated that he would include the [Shadowdome] card in his deck.

Unfortunately, Hayato didn't have any cards in hand that could be activated at second speed and chained with "Royal Command" to destroy it. He could only say helplessly, "One card can negate the effects of two of my monsters. You're really making a killing, Yugi. But it doesn't matter. It's just that the effects of two "Shadowdoves" have been negated. Let's continue the chain!"

The effects of [Shadowdow Hedgehog] and [Shadowdow Dragon] failed to pass. Hayato, holding three cards in his hand, waved his hand forward and said, "The effect of the card name [Tearful Melo Mermaid] can be used once per turn. Her second effect is activated when this card is sent to the Graveyard by an effect. Fusion Summon the Fusion Material Monsters, including this card in the Graveyard, that are listed on the Fusion Monster Card from my hand, field, and Graveyard in any order they are in, returning them to the bottom of their owner's Deck!"

"【Tearful Melody Mermaid】 and 【Shadowhedgehog】, fulfilling the fusion material requirement of two DARK monsters! The mournful mermaid song and the grieving flame-dead become one, becoming the pointer of time, pointing to a new path! Appear, poisonous dragon with hungry fangs!"

"Level 8☆! Fusion Summon! Wagatsumashi!"

The tide stirred up by the Mermaid Melo, which also engulfed her, became a vortex that nurtured the power of fusion. At the very center of that vortex, in a place that seemed to lead to infinity, purple began to spread in reverse.

A pair of fierce eyes opened, revealing dragon pupils full of arrogance and greed. Golden and blood-red orbs lit up one by one. The purple venomous dragon used its sharp claws to pierce out of the vortex, forcefully opening the gap, and stretched out its vine-like ferocious body to come onto Hayato's field!

"【Ferocious, Hungry, and Poisonous Fusion Dragon】!"

[Fierce, Hungry, and Poisonous Fusion Dragon] [8☆/Dark]

[Dragon/Fusion/Effect]

[2800/2000]

"【Hungry Poison】... It's rare that it wasn't summoned by using 【Super Polymerization】 to fuse someone else's monster. But using a monster from the Graveyard to fuse with it is already going too far, not even using a 【Fusion】 spell card." Jonouchi still felt lingering fear about this monster that had caused him and Yugi to suffer a crushing defeat. Although it wasn't a "God Card," the oppressive feeling of 【Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon】 was no less than that of an ordinary ace card.

The reason for this is that its temperament is too evil and vicious. Hayato still likes to use monsters with such a villainous aura.

"Is that the second effect of [Tears of Elegy - Mermaid of the Mermaid]? A fusion of the three zones: hand, field, and graveyard? If there's only one, it's powerful but still acceptable. But if there are several more monsters with similar effects, then 'Duel Monsters 2.0' would truly be a fitting name."

Compared to Jonouchi, what Yugi was more concerned about was the other [Tears of Elegy Tribe Mermaid] that had been used in Hayato's graveyard and then returned to the bottom of his deck. He immediately understood that no matter whether he could use [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] to counter Mermaid 1's graveyard effect, Hayato could take the opportunity to use its second effect and perform a Fusion Summon with almost no loss of cards.

If one of his backrow cards isn't [Royal Command], Hayato can gain an even greater card advantage thanks to [Shadowduck's] ability.

However, one card with such an effect should be the maximum; there can't be several cards with similar effects, right? Looking at the "Tears of Elegy Clan - Mermaid" name, which clearly implies that there are many cards of the same race, Yugi thought with some uncertainty.

Kaiba wasn't worried about the troublesome [Hungry Poison], and since he wasn't a card designer, he didn't speculate whether Hayato's other cards would have similar effects. When he saw [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] appear, he just sneered and said, "The materials used are two DARK monsters in the Graveyard, which means that the first effect of [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] can no longer be used. Without the ability to increase its attack power, it's just a regular Dragon-type monster with a mere 2800 attack power. It feels... inferior to [Blue-Eyes]."

"Is that the so-called 'Duel Monsters 2.0' level of power?"

"Don't rush, Set, my turn has only just begun, hasn't it? The final chain effect is the effect of [Tragic Death Village Actor], which adds one [Death Village] monster from my deck to my hand."

"But before we get to the main plot, let's just let [Hunger Poison] grab something to eat first; the kid's practically starving." After adding a card to his hand, Hayato pointed at Kaiba's field with a smug smile. "Your [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon] seems to have a pretty good effect, but in the next moment, its effect will be mine!"

"The second effect of 【Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon】: Target one Level 5 or higher monster your opponent controls! Negate the effects of that opponent's monster until the end of this turn, then 【Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon】 is treated as a card with the same name as that monster and gains the effects of the targeted monster!"

"Jackrise!"

Chapter 1271 The Water Fairy buried the title

A vine had somehow approached the Blue-Eyes Tyrannosaurus Rex on the field and suddenly pierced its body. Yugi and Jonouchi could see with their naked eyes that the Blue-Eyes Tyrannosaurus Rex's shimmering wings had lost their color and dimmed, and the blue in its eyes had also faded considerably.

On the other hand, Hayato's [Fierce, Hungry, Poisonous Fusion Dragon], just as insidious as its master, absorbed the nutrients it had stolen from the vines through a sneak attack. Its tail blade even shone with the same gold as the wings of the [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon], and several of the energy storage gems on its body, which were specially used for backup, also emitted blue energy.

"Hmph, once it's eaten, the power surges up, [Fierce Hunger Poison]."

Hayato spread his arms proudly, "Even without looking at attack and defense, the power of my [Fierce Hunger Poison] is 1000% of that of an ordinary dragon monster!"

"He looked surprisingly handsome."

Jonouchi looked at the appearance of [Greedy Poison Fusion Dragon] after absorbing the power of [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon] and said, after a pause, he looked at Kaiba next to him and said, "But Kaiba, you just watched your monster's effect being taken away by Hayato? We don't even know what effect your [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon] has."

"【Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon】is unaffected by Trap Card effects, can attack each of your opponent's monsters once per turn, and can recycle one Trap Card from your Graveyard to your Spell & Trap Zone once per turn at the end of the Damage Step during battle."

Kaiba also had a displeased expression on his face. "I originally planned to use it to defend against the endless trap cards from Kobayashi Hayato and Muto Yugi. At the same time, Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon could also recycle the trap cards in my graveyard for reuse. But now that guy Kobayashi Hayato has taken the effect away."

"So, you're prepared to face my wrath, Kobayashi Hayato!"

"Huh, this isn't what I learned. I remember there's a saying that 'people always like to compromise,' right? If you directly say it's too stuffy in the room and you need to open the skylight, some people will object. But if you say you need to tear the roof off, some people will compromise and agree to open the skylight." Hayato rubbed his chin, looking puzzled. "In my mind, if I were to 'bull' your monster, Seth, you would definitely be very unhappy. But if I only 'bull' the effect of your monster, you should be willing to compromise, right?"

"I don't want you to take away either the monster or its effects without my permission!"

"(ˉ▽￣～)Tch~~, what a stingy guy." Hayato curled his lip at the sight of Kaiba.

"The ability to attack all monsters on the field would be quite dangerous on [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon], but on [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] with 600 less ATK... After all, Hayato, your [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] didn't use its dangerous first effect." Looking at the monsters on his field and then at the monsters on Kaiba's field, apart from Hayato, only his [Yellow Gadget] and Jonouchi's face-down monsters were Normal Summoned; all the other monsters were Special Summoned.

When the [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] is Fusion Summoned using only DARK monsters on the field as Fusion Material, it can instantly increase the combined ATK of all Special Summoned monsters on the field, easily exceeding 10,000. If it then gains the effect of the [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon] on top of that, it becomes extremely dangerous.

In contrast, although it can still attack multiple times, the 2800-attack power of the "Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon" is still quite easy for Kaiba and Yugi to defend against. At most, it can only destroy a few monsters with lower stats. Furthermore, Kaiba's "White Spirit Dragon" has the effect of transforming into "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" with a speed of 2, so it is not afraid of the "Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon" at all.

Only Jonouchi, who has only one face-down Defense Position monster on the field, needs to worry about being wiped out by [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon].

"Actually, I didn't have a choice. If I could choose a target, I would definitely choose the red dragon on your field in the game to get the effect." Hayato spread his hands, indicating that he was also helpless. However, the majestic resistance of [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] meant that [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] could use him as fusion material during [Super Fusion], but could not absorb the opponent's effect under normal circumstances.

Hayato drew a card from his hand and inserted it into the Spell & Trap Zone. He waved his hand and said, "The Spell Card [Crushing Trample] can only be activated if there is a face-up Dragon-Type monster on my field. Destroy one Spell & Trap Card on the field and inflict 500 effect damage to its controller."

"The card I'm going to destroy is, of course, the 'Royal Command' card in your back row, and then I'll inflict 500 effect damage on you!"

With Hayato's command, his [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] raised its golden tail blade high and slammed it into the ground. The airship where the four of them were located shook violently, and the [Royal Command] card that the game had opened was torn apart by the earthquake.

Consequently, the game also suffered damage from the effects, resulting in a decrease in the base score.

【Muto Game: 2000→1500LP】

"Compared to trampling, that's basically just tapping the ground with its tail, isn't it?" Jonouchi had good balance and wasn't affected by the swaying under his feet, even having the mind to comment, "But why would Hayato include a card in his deck that can only be used when he has a Dragon-Type monster on the field? Does that 'Tears of Elegy' card also have Dragon-Type monsters?"

"If I had to say, Tear of the Gods does have a few pet dragons, but there aren't any dragon-type monsters in the main family." Hayato thought about the [Swamp Mud Dragon King], [Predatory Plant-Rhinoceros Horn Dragon], and even [Dark World Dragon God King] that often appeared in Tear of the Gods' construction. Although none of them were dragon-type, at least their names had "dragon" in them, right? Didn't you see that in the Pokémon movie next door, there was a Flying-type pretending to be a Dragon-type Elite Four member with a bunch of Flying-types whose names had "dragon" in them?

"It doesn't matter if Hayato doesn't include Dragon monsters, since both Jonouchi's Red-Eyes and Kaiba's Blue-Eyes decks have plenty of Dragon monsters."

Back in Duel Kingdom, I witnessed Hayato's strange idea of ​​deliberately bringing a "Magic Wand" even though he didn't have a single Spellcaster monster. The game is already used to Hayato's habit of always pulling out some weird cards. "Whether he uses "Heart Change" or "Easy Fusion" to Special Summon "Thousand-Eyed Narrator", he can easily prepare a Dragon monster on his field."

Hearing Yugi's words, Hayato put his hands on his hips in dissatisfaction: "Do you really think I'm that kind of person, Yugi? You actually think I would use [Easy Fusion] to create something as ugly as [Thousand-Eyed Sacrifice Demon]?"

"So you don't deny at all that you might steal other people's monsters, right? Humph!" Kaiba snorted, clearly having suffered countless losses as a result.

“My ‘Pure Pearl Tears’ deck’s Fusion Deck slots are precious; there’s no room for a monster like ‘Thousand-Eyed Sacrifice Demon.’ If I’m going to include one, it’ll be ‘Millennium-Eyed Sacrifice God.’” After breaking ‘Royal Decree’ and removing the effect negation restriction on Flip Monsters, Hayato flipped a card from his hand, which turned out to be the ‘Easy Fusion’ card that Yugi had just mentioned. “As for Cup Noodles, I have other uses for it.”

Because the card art resembles a cup of instant noodles, the "Easy Fusion" was nicknamed "Cup Noodles." Hayato placed it in his Spell & Trap Zone, saying, "Pay me 1000 Life Points to activate 'Easy Fusion.' Special Summon one Fusion Monster of Level 5 or lower from my Fusion Deck as a Fusion Summoning Ground. Monsters Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack and are destroyed at the end of the turn."

[Hayato Kobayashi: 2000→1000LP]

Despite neither side having entered the combat phase yet, Hayato and his group's base scores have been steadily declining. Hayato, in particular, has voluntarily paid out so many points that he's down to a mere 1000, almost on the verge of collapse. Yugi and Kaiba aren't faring much better, with 1500 and 2600 points respectively. Surprisingly, the person with the highest base score right now is Jonouchi, whose base score is still at its maximum of 4000 points.

However, in a duel, as long as you have Life Points, that's enough. There's not much difference between 10000 points and 1000 points. Ultimately, it depends on what cards each player has on the field. Neither Yugi nor Kaiba believes that Jonouchi, with 4000 Life Points but only one face-down Defense Position monster on the field, would have a higher win rate than Hayato, who only has 1000 Life Points but is still playing.

Upon seeing the appearance of [Easy Fusion], Jonouchi wore a pained expression: "A Fusion Monster of Level 5 or lower... I've seen [Shaddoll] appear before, and I even destroyed the game's [Royal Order] before using it. Hayato, you're not going to Special Summon [God-Shaddoll Midrash], are you?"

Quack! I don't want to unravel the millet anymore!