Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Because Hayato secretly applied dark energy during the Five Divine Dragons' attack, even though his health points increased instead of decreased, Otogi Ryuji's face was extremely pale and contorted with pain as he lost a full 7200 base points in one go. However, even in such intense pain, he still did not let go of his obsession.

"You failed, Hayato Kobayashi. You kept saying you could take me down this round, but I survived!"

Upon hearing this, the Five Divine Dragons snorted disdainfully, seemingly annoyed that it had attacked twice but still failed to eliminate the troublesome insect.

Hayato shook his head and activated the last two cards in his hand: "No, I told you, that was the final blow. Although it didn't kill you outright, it was enough to inflict damage on you."

"The last two cards I have are [Death Meteor] and [Spiritual Exophysis]. I guess you've studied my battle strategies, right?"

Ryuji Otogi instinctively recited the effects of the two cards in Hayato's hand: "【Summoning Exophysis】 allows you to release a monster during the End Phase, dealing damage to your opponent equal to half of that monster's ATK. And 【Death Meteor】 reduces your opponent's Life Points by 1000 if they have 3000 or more... Ma-Masaka!"

Now, not only Yugi Ryuji, but even the Five Divine Dragons, who had just been acting arrogantly like they were the best in the world, were no longer calm.

"Hayato Kobayashi, what are you doing? Your monster is crying!"

"Roar~!"

"I haven't even shown my full strength yet; I still have a chance to defeat you!"

"Hoohoo!!"

At this moment, the battle lines of [Five Divine Dragons] and Otogi Ryuji are completely united; neither of them wants to see Hayato unleash his combo.

Unfortunately, once Hayato is determined to do something, no one can change his mind.

"Activating [Death Meteor] will deduct 1000 of your base points. Then, after activating [Spiritual Exophysis], my turn ends." Pushing up his non-existent glasses, Hayato smiled like a super strategist, giving [Five Divine Dragons] goosebumps. "You've been strengthened. Go for it, [Five Divine Dragons], this is a necessary sacrifice."

"boom!"

At that moment, the Five Divine Dragons transformed into light.

【Yuga: 3500LP→0】

Watching Ryuji Otogi be defeated by the self-destruct attack of the Five Divine Dragons, and even knocked off the duel platform by the impact simulation system at its maximum, Yugi was half happy for Hayato's victory and Jonouchi's regained freedom, and half sighed at Hayato's indescribable and strange way of winning: "That Hayato guy, he's still the same old thing."

"When I saw such a powerful monster as the Five Divine Dragons, I thought Hayato had changed his dueling style," Honda said with a helpless smile. "It really is a very standard O. Henry ending. Unexpected, yet reasonable."

Clearly, Hayato sending his Tamashii, Tamashii, and Tamashii to the graveyard during duels has become a recurring theme, completely accepted by Yugi and his team.

Chapter 212 Isis

With Otogi Ryuji's life points reaching zero, the outcome of the duel was decided, and the virtual projection system shut down. However, aside from Otogi Ryuji's [God-Demon Ogre], there was nothing else that could dissipate.

Jonouchi, who was being controlled by Otogi Ryuji's fans, couldn't help but excitedly shout, "Yay! Hayato won!"

However, he didn't break free from the control of Otogi Ryuji's fan club immediately, and the reason was...

Although he was being pinned down, there were quite a few beautiful women in Otogi Ryuji's fan club. The soft touch from behind through his pajamas made Jonouchi's imagination run wild, and he was reluctant to break free from the embrace of the beauties.

After being blown away and lying on the ground, Ryuji Otogi realized that his long-planned revenge duel against the Duel King had been lost.

How could they lose the duel when there were still so many more possibilities in their deck that they hadn't even shown yet? They hadn't even proven that Kobayashi Hayato and Muto Yugi had defeated Pegasus through some underhanded means.

Even as she was thinking this, Otogi Ryuji recalled the deadly continuous attacks from the Five Divine Dragons during Hayato's last turn.

With 5000 attack power, 10000 attack power, and 2500 effect damage, this is probably the limit that Duel Monsters can reach.

If faced with such a terrifying combo, it wouldn't be surprising if Mr. Pegasus lost, would it?

Sitting up from the ground, Ryuji Otogi looked at Hayato, who had walked up to him, and said with a wry smile, "You won, Duel King."

"Hmph, wasn't that something we already knew before the duel?" Hayato scoffed. "If you still refuse to acknowledge our abilities and continue to question the authenticity of our victory over Pegasus, you're welcome to challenge me anytime. I can keep you occupied for a whole day."

Looking at the 500 DP given by the system settlement, and the [Treasure Card of Destiny] that Hayato had long envied, Hayato appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he wished he could play a few more rounds with Otogi Ryuji.

Who would have thought that Ryuji Otogi would be such a juicy target? Hayato fought Jonouchi so many times and never got this card, but this guy managed to get it.

But Ryuji Otogi shook his head at Hayato's disappointed gaze: "No, your duel has impressed me. It was a duel of true kingly style, Hayato-kun."

“I apologize for everything I did before. You are a true duelist, and I believe your partner, Yugi Muto, is the same.”

"A verbal apology is utterly worthless," Hayato said, his eyes glancing at the posters plastered on the walls behind him. "Hey, can I have a [Dark Magician Girl] monster Lungmen Dice?"

Having already prepared himself to be humiliated by Hayato in the same way, Otogi was slightly taken aback when he heard Hayato's request, and then smiled and said, "No problem at all. In fact, I'm glad that even the Duel King likes my Monster Lungmen Dice."

—Making friends through cards, I activate the Demon Bell Cave—

Because of Otogi Ryuji's defeat, Jonouchi regained his freedom and reluctantly took off his dog-head onesie and left Otogi's fan club.

"It's just a monster Dice, why does Ryuji Otogi have so many fans?" Jonouchi's tone was slightly sour. "I was a top four player in Duel Kingdom, why don't I have a fan club?"

"In the end, apart from the final match between Hayato and Yugi against Pegasus, none of the Duel Kingdom matches were broadcast, right? I doubt many people even know you were in the top four, so where did you get any fans?" Honda complained.

Jonouchi was somewhat surprised: "What? Is that so? Damn it, then I got this top four spot for nothing! They didn't even record my heroic performance during the duel, that's unforgivable, Pegasus!"

"How can you say it's free? Don't forget, the prize money from the game and I paid off Shizuka's surgery fees in full." Hayato fiddled with a few monster Lungmen dice in his hand. It was rare to find such a generous person to take advantage of, so Hayato took several of the highest rarity monster Lungmen dice from Otogi Ryuji in one go.

Then, Jonouchi, the god of gacha pulls, also bought a few Dragon Gate dice since he had them all.

Lady Luck's lover, Jonouchi, suddenly realized and slapped his palm: "Oh right, I've taken care of Shizuka's surgery fees."

Thinking of his younger sister, Jonouchi's disappointed expression vanished instantly, replaced by an indescribable gentle smile: "Shizuka's attending physician said that she can have the surgery in about two months, and the recovery rate after the surgery is 99%, so it is almost impossible for anything to go wrong."

"Congratulations, Jonouchi." Honda was genuinely happy for Jonouchi and gave him a high five.

"Hehe, thinking about it this way, it seems that my efforts were not in vain."

The group walked back to the front of the Kamekichi Game Shop, which was not far from Otogi Ryuji's Black Crown Game Shop, only to find that the Kamekichi Game Shop had already closed early, with a "Closed for Business" sign hanging in front of the door.

"Why is it so quiet here today? The shops are closed too," Hayato said, puzzled.

The game guessed, "Perhaps it's because Grandpa took an early break due to poor business?"

"Don't worry, although Monster Dragon Dice is very popular recently, I think the most popular game in the future will always be Duel Monsters. The impact on Ryuji Otogi is only temporary, and the business of Kameji Game House will pick up again."

Hearing Hayato's words of comfort, Yugi nodded, "Yeah, then I'll continue to try my best to help Chicken-chan tomorrow and make him happier."

As she spoke, the game pushed open the door of the Turtle Game Shop: "Chicken-chan, we're back~"

But the response they received was not from the old man Sugoroku, but from the magnetic voice of a young man: "Hmph, Yugi, Hayato, and that good-for-nothing? You lot, you've really kept me waiting."

This arrogant and disdainful attitude, acting as if he were the master of the house even though he was in someone else's home, could only be from Seto Kaiba.

"Kaiba! What are you doing here again?!" Jonouchi glared at Kaiba with hostility. The last time Kaiba appeared here, he forced Old Master Sugoroku to a duel at the Kaiba Corporation, causing the old man to suffer a heart attack and be hospitalized. Who knew what he was up to this time?

"Kaiba-kun?" Yugi simply called out "Kaiba" and waited for his explanation.

Seahorse gave them a cold look: "Hmph, if I hadn't been invited, do you think I would have wanted to come to a place like this?"

As he spoke, the seahorse walked straight into the inner room.

Although their doubts remained unanswered, the group quickly followed.

Upon entering the house, Hayato and his three companions saw that Grandpa Sugoroku hadn't gone upstairs to rest as they had guessed, but was sitting on the sofa in the living room, talking to someone beside him. Seeing Yugi and the others return, he quickly introduced them, "Yugi, you're back! Perfect timing. Ahem, let me introduce you."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to introduce the woman sitting next to him: "This is a friend I met in Egypt when I was doing archaeology. She took great care of us during our archaeological work. The Seahorse Boy came here at her invitation."

“Mr. Sugoroku, I only offered a small contribution back then.” The woman stood up with a smile.

Although her face was veiled, obscuring most of it and revealing only her beautiful eyes, one could tell from her eyes alone that she was an absolute beauty. As the old man Shuangliu had described, her attire was Egyptian-style: a plain white headscarf, a white robe adorned with gold ornaments, and smooth, dark brown skin that accentuated her exotic beauty.

The woman's gaze swept over Yugi and the others, lingering slightly on Hayato and Yugi before she slowly spoke, "It's good to meet you all. My name is Isis, Isis Ishdar, just call me Isis."

A remarkably mature and gentle voice.

"Hello, Miss Isis." Hayato knew of Isis's existence much earlier than Yugi and the others. She was a member of the tomb-guarding clan "Ishdar," the holder of the [Millennium Jewel], a top "Riddler," and the famous "Netherworld" duelist.

However, even knowing this, Hayato was still stunned by Isis's beauty the moment he saw her. Compared to her appearance in the anime, the real Isis looked even more beautiful.

However, as far as Hayato knows, Isis shouldn't be here at all right now.

“Actually, Isis is now an important figure in the Egyptian government,” Shuanglu exclaimed. “Wow, time really flies. I remember Isis as just a little girl back then, and now she’s grown into such a beautiful woman, and her figure—”

Then, Grandpa Shuangliu was gently tapped on the tray by Xingzi: "Really, Grandpa Shuangliu, you're being too disrespectful to your elders."

Watching the old man's antics, Isis smiled gently and then looked at Hayato and Yugi: "I am currently working at the Egyptian Cultural Administration. In fact, the Egyptian government had planned to collaborate with Japan to hold a large-scale traveling exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts, with the first stop being Domino City."

“However, that was just a cover for our actions.” Isis paused, then looked directly at Hayato, making him inexplicably uncomfortable. “Actually, the reason I came to Domino City is because two very important Duel Monster cards were stolen.”

Chapter 213 Egyptian Antiques Traveling Exhibition

Hayato was puzzled as to why Isis kept staring at him, and quickly said, "It can't be me. I've never been to Egypt."

Seeing Hayato's nervousness, Isis smiled and said, "Of course it couldn't be you, Mr. Hayato. In fact, we already knew who stole that important card."

"It's an international theft organization called 'Grus'. They specialize in hunting rare Duel Monster cards all over the world, and very few of their targets manage to keep their cards."

"Hmph, no matter who they are, if they dare to lay a finger on my Blue Eyes, I will crush them without mercy," Kaiba said arrogantly. "So woman, if you're just trying to tell me this kind of thing, you're simply wasting my time!"

"Please be patient, Mr. Kaiba. I only introduced the existence of Gurus to the three of you to introduce the card I'm about to introduce. However," Isis paused slightly, then looked at Honda and Jonouchi, who were standing with Yugi and Hayato, and apologized, "the fewer people who know the information about the next part, the better."

"Sigh, they've gotten to the most crucial moment, and now they're keeping us in suspense..." Jonouchi said helplessly, pleading, "Miss Isis, we promise we won't let anyone else know about this. Master Sugoroku, could you help me tell them too?"

"There's nothing I can do, Jonouchi. This is Isis's decision, and I can't change her mind."

Seeing his disciple Jonouchi get the short end of the stick, Soroku grinned slyly: "So, you'll have to wait in the outer room for now."

“No, Mr. Jonouchi, Mr. Honda, it’s alright if you stay here. Because what I’m about to introduce is hard to explain in words, but I can take the three of you to see things related to it.” Isis said, looking at Hayato, Yugi, and Kaiba.

"Huh?! Even I can't hear it?" Grandpa Shuangliu was quite surprised, then sat down on the sofa dejectedly. "I thought I could find out what that thing was. It's so frustrating to be kept in suspense like this."

"So now you know how I feel, Master Shuangliu, who told you to be happy so early?"

"You brat, go practice your gacha skills! Kyoko told me you actually lost to the owner of that Black Crown Game Shop, you've really embarrassed me!"

"But I lost because of the dice roll, not because of the card draw!"

"Don't talk back!"

Yugi and Hayato exchanged a glance and followed Isis, who was walking towards the outside of Kame-Ki's game house, with Kaiba close behind.

The reason the game followed Isis was because he noticed that the golden ornament Isis wore on her collarbone was different from the other ornaments she wore. It was engraved with the "Eye of Ugato" mark, and it felt somewhat similar to Pegasus's Millennium Eye, Hayato's Millennium Wisdom Wheel, and his own Millennium Puzzle that he had seen before. If he was not mistaken, it was also a Millennium Item.

The intuition of "Another Game" told him that although he had no memory of his past, since he was residing in the Millennium Puzzle and had lost his memory, the existence of the Millennium Item was very likely related to his lost memories, and every holder of the Millennium Item might know about his past.

Of course, what he didn't know was that the current holder of the Millennium Wisdom Wheel, Hayato Kobayashi, was one of the few current holders of Millennium Items who knew his past best.

The reason why Haima Group followed Isis was quite simple: Isis was the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, and she was representing the Egyptian government at this traveling exhibition of cultural relics. Haima Group was responsible for the reception and exhibition arrangements on the Japanese side.

However, that was only for official business. The real reason why Kaiba patiently accepted Isis's invitation to wait for Hayato and Yugi at the Kame Game House, instead of leaving the contact to Keibai, was one of the reasons Isis gave him when she invited him—that she could provide him with an ultimate power that was even stronger than the strongest dragon, Blue-Eyes.

Having witnessed the limits of his power in the DM world, Kaiba is now searching for even greater power. Although he has some doubts about how a place like Egypt could give him power stronger than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, considering that Pegasus also designed Duel Monsters after returning from his trip to Egypt, Kaiba waits here with some skepticism.

Anyway, if the power Isis gives him is weak, he can simply use it to put pressure on Isis and the Egyptian Antiquities Authority she represents, thereby securing more benefits for the Seahorse Group. In any case, Seahorse will definitely not suffer a loss.