Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Unbelievable! The quality of this year's newcomers is shockingly high!"

"Having only been in the professional dueling world for two months, Ryo Marufuji has already successfully defeated last year's world champion, Ed Phoenix!"

"This does not mean that Edward became the champion by luck as rumored, because everyone can see that he is not a pretty face but a powerful duelist."

"However, Ryo Marufuji is just too strong. He successfully completed the challenge that was initially not favored by most people, proved the value of being an outstanding graduate of Duel Academy, and also proved his own strength!"

"No, perhaps we shouldn't call him by his name anymore. Just as contestant Edward has the title 'The Prince of Destiny,' let's all cheer for the winner!"

"'Caesar'!"

"'Caesar' is on!"

"'Hell Caesar'!"

The voices of the commentators and the audience were still ringing in his ears. Ed could hear their shouts clearly, but his brain was temporarily unable to process that information. All that echoed in his mind was the attack that the [Electronic Terminator Dragon] had just delivered.

Seeing Edward being sent flying and lying on the ground by the [Electronic Terminator Dragon] attack, which should have been intangible but seemed to be real, Caesar didn't care about his defeated opponent, but just shook his head with a slight regret.

Although he couldn't help but compare Edward to another user of the [Hero] deck, Jaden Yuki, during the duel, he was well aware that Jaden and Edward were completely different. The best evidence was that Jaden could beat him, while Edward lost to him.

【D·hero】? It feels... not as good as 【E·hero】.

Although the animation when he activated [Future Fusion] was cool, Kaiser is not like Hayato, who can have the spirits in the cards he throws retrieve them. So, as the price for showing off his deck, Kaiser now has to honestly pick up the deck he left scattered around and slowly organize it.

Therefore, instead of turning around and heading straight for the exit like most winners, Caesar had to approach Ed, who was sitting on the ground, to pick up the cards.

When Ed noticed Caesar approaching him and bending down to pick up the card in a rather unsettling manner, he looked up at Caesar, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "Your power... actually broke the cycle of fate?"

"First of all, let's redefine what 'fate' means."

Caesar said as he picked up a "Cyber ​​Laser Dragon" card. Since he had flipped through twenty cards in one go, he couldn't pick them all up at once, but he had time to say a few words. He wasn't good at comforting people, but he was very good at taking the opportunity to say some derogatory things, after all, that's what he was taught in school.

"Redefine 'fate'?" Edward frowned. "Fate is fate, what else could it mean?"

"What determines your so-called 'fate'?"

Reflecting on the fates he had encountered—the tragic fate that led to his father's early death, the epic fate that brought him together with Hayato Kobayashi on that night, and Saiou's confident divination before the duel—Ed answered without hesitation: "What determines fate is fate itself."

“No, that’s not right.” However, upon hearing Edward’s answer, Caesar immediately rejected it. “What’s the difference between that answer and ‘Why climb mountains?’ or ‘Because they’re there’? It sounds profound and impressive, but it’s just a piece of garbage that’s not even as good as a riddle.”

Caesar's assessment displeased Edward, especially since he had just lost to him and couldn't even silence him with a duel. Caesar's lack of consideration, seemingly aimed at undermining Edward regardless of his potential response, prompted Edward to retort, "Then tell me, what is destiny, and what determines destiny?"

Ed thought Caesar wouldn't be able to answer his question, but to his surprise, Caesar gave his answer without hesitation: "It is power. Without a doubt, destiny is a powerful force, and it is a powerful force that determines destiny."

"...Power?" This answer was a completely new perspective that Edward was encountering for the first time, and he looked at Caesar with a face full of incomprehension.

"As I said at the beginning, true duelists never succumb to so-called fate, because fate is something that duelists are meant to conquer and even trample on. Why do birds fly? Because as the weak, they are destined to fly. But if birds had enough strength, they would not have given up competing with their kin like dinosaurs and would have continued to stand on the earth."

"And so is fate. Why do the weak die? Is it because of fate? No, it's simply because they are weak. What is the fate of the weak in the face of the strong? That so-called fate is determined only by the strong. That is the essence of fate—that is to say, the strong are meant to humiliate the weak!"

"In the same situation you encountered in the round you lost, what is the reason for your defeat? 'My strength surpasses fate'? Nonsense!" Caesar picked up the last card and looked down at Ed, saying, "It's simply because you are a weakling, a weakling far weaker than me."

"What if your revered dueling king, Hayato Kobayashi, had faced that situation? Let me tell you the answer: that situation would never have occurred in the first place. Before your first round even began, Mr. Hayato would probably have completely suppressed my strategy. And my second round wouldn't even have been possible before the duel ended."

If Caesar said this to others, some might think he was exaggerating. How could someone completely overwhelm their opponent before their turn even begins? In comparison, "one-turn kill" (OTK) isn't too exaggerated; it's just that the praise for the Duel King is excessive.

However, Edward had long been a die-hard fan and a devoted follower of Duel King. He had also seen the duel between Caesar and Hayato when Caesar graduated, and knew that what Caesar said was not an exaggeration at all, but a complete reflection of reality, because he was the one who was completely suppressed by Hayato in his own turn and was completely defeated before he could even have his second turn.

Ed had initially scoffed at Caesar's answer, but then Caesar used Hayato as an example? Wow, now he had no choice but to believe him.

"Is the essence of destiny power?"

Hearing that Edward was not only not paying attention to him but was also focusing on belittling him as a weakling and instead pondering the part he had made up earlier, Caesar was somewhat taken aback. However, he continued in a matter-of-fact tone, "That's right. As long as one is strong enough, even the arrangements of fate can be beaten and even changed. Therefore, fate is determined by the powerful, while the weak and powerless can only drift along with fate."

"Divination and prophecy, the so-called 'peeping into fate,' are nothing more than powerful forces arranging the fate of the weak in advance. But as long as one is powerful enough, such fate can be easily broken. Even without considering this duel, the Duel King's duel with an opponent who supposedly has prophetic abilities in the quarterfinals of the Duel City video from the millennium is also evidence."

Caesar has never believed in divination or anything like that, and it's not just because Edward is his rival. The reason is simple: the Duel Academy often shows recordings of the Duel City tournament, which gathers many legendary duelists, during classes. One has to admire the foresight of Kaiba Corporation's Vice President, Keihei Kaiba.

While watching the duel video of the Duel King and his wife exchanging flirtatious glances and seemingly enjoying a dose of romance, and incidentally learning about dueling techniques, Caesar also developed a deep disdain for the so-called fate. If fate truly couldn't be changed, wouldn't Ms. Isis, who could see the future more clearly than those fortune tellers and riddle-telling charlatans, have already defeated Mr. Hayato and become the Duel King herself?

"That immense power is the reason for transcending fate. How could mere tricks like divination possibly manipulate a true strongman?"

"So, fate doesn't matter at all; what matters is power, the mighty Powder!" Caesar sneered at Edward. "My fate is to be defeated by you? That's just an illusion caused by your lack of understanding of your own power. Even if you've won the world championship, you're just an ordinary person active in the professional dueling world without me."

"The Duel Academy is far more powerful than you can imagine. So—" After finishing organizing the cards and preparing to leave, Caesar didn't forget to leave one last sentence to further demoralize Edward, the defeated opponent.

With his index and middle fingers pressed together, Caesar said with a cold laugh, "—Disappear, loser!"

"Tsk, does that guy have to act cool to survive?" Watching the video, Manjoume leaned back in his chair and said with dissatisfaction, "Before he 'turned evil,' he always had a cool face and was incredibly popular. Even after he defeated me and 'turned evil,' he was still just as popular. Do those women at school really like the dark side that much?"

"And look at him now, is he going to fight in a professional duel or to play in an exhibition match? He's only graduated for such a short time and he's already gained so many fans, it's outrageous."

As he spoke, Manjoume mimicked Caesar's gesture and coldly shouted, "Disappear, loser!"

Although his words were filled with various complaints about Caesar, Wan Zhangmu's actions revealed his true feelings—it would be a lie to say that he didn't envy Caesar's popularity.

Manjoume is a very proud person, and this has never changed from beginning to end. No matter how he gets along with Jaden and the others, even if he can get along with the "Osiris Red" underachiever in other people's eyes without any idol baggage, he has never given up his ambition to "become the emperor of Duel Academy" when he entered the academy.

Not only must one dominate the campus in duels, but without popularity, even the strongest is merely a powerful figure who stands alone in the world, far from being an "emperor." While being powerful, being "popular" and having "extreme popularity" are also necessary. Furthermore, one must have male underlings and female fans to be considered a complete entity.

As luck would have it, while surfing the internet during summer vacation, Manjoume accidentally learned about Fubuki's impressive achievements during her school years before her disappearance. He also discovered that the serious Fubuki of the past had popularity and strength that perfectly matched her nickname "King," which is exactly what Manjoume needs right now.

Although he wouldn't actually become her disciple—after all, both Manjoume and Fubuki were among the top four in the Duel Academy Exchange Tournament, and Manjoume considered himself to be on par with Fubuki in terms of strength—he still earnestly asked Fubuki for advice on how to increase his popularity at school.

"Riki-chan, can I have a bite of your cotton candy? — Ah, Manjoume-san, what did you say?" Fubuki, who seemed to be shopping with someone, replied in this way after hearing Manjoume's phone call, "The secret to being popular, huh? Now that you've mentioned it, I'm wide awake."

"I can't go into details because something came up, but I can briefly mention a few points. For example, you need to maintain composure and elegance over a long period, even after losing a duel. People who easily become hysterical or act like brats, resisting the fact of defeat and throwing tantrums, saying things like 'No way! I lost! I'll at least wait ten years!' won't be popular."

"Then you need to be able to say cool and profound lines, such as 'What can't be fixed is the so-called human heart' or 'Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten?' But absolutely do not say lame lines like 'XX is the woman who could be my mother.'"

"Also, there are distinctive poses or gestures, like Judai-san's wave after a duel. Ryo recently came up with a similar gesture at my suggestion, and it seems to work quite well in professional duels; people have started imitating it."

"Hmm? We're in the Ferris wheel queue already? Well, that's about it. Manjoume-san, you can watch some professional duel videos for reference. I'll hang up now, Ciao~"

Coming to his senses and looking at the now-stopped recording, Manjoume stood up, a confident look on his face: "Composed and elegant, I didn't even blush when I lost to that guy Caesar, so I can obviously do that; cool lines, hmph, with my literary talent, that's a piece of cake. But I need to think carefully about distinctive movements."

Walking into the living room, Manjoume, wearing a blanket he'd grabbed as a cloak, spun around, letting the blanket flutter, and then struck an arrogant pose with one finger pointing to the sky: "For example—one, ten, hundred, thousand, Mr. Manjoume!"

Reciting what he thought were extremely cool lines he had just come up with, Manjoume nodded in satisfaction, but when he turned around, he saw the eldest of his three brothers—Manjoume Chosaku.

"Big brother? When did you arrive?"

"...When you came out of the room." He had called Manjoume several times, but his younger brother was completely absorbed in his own world and hadn't heard him at all. Manjoume rubbed his temples. "This is ridiculous. Is this what you're learning at the Duel Academy?"

"I suddenly feel that it is necessary to visit the Duel Academy, Jun, as a parent."

Chapter 1430 The Ambitions of the Manjoume Group

"Manjoume, do you mean your brother plans to visit the Duel Academy?"

Judai sat backwards in the chair, his head leaning against the back, and said somewhat strangely, "There's nothing wrong with that, is there? What's the big deal about parents visiting the school?"

Although it's a three-person dormitory, their dormitory is quite empty because Hayato Yoshita graduated early last school year to go to the International Illusion Club, and it's not yet time for new students to officially start school. As a result, Manjoume didn't even stay in the single room in the Blue Dormitory and moved directly to the Red Dormitory.

"This is a huge problem!" Manjoume said, somewhat agitated. "Think about it from my perspective. Imagine if your parents came to school and ran into your classmates, and said something like, 'Take good care of you,' wouldn't that be incredibly awkward?"

“Especially since most people only report good news at home and not bad news, right? They always try to make things look good, but once their parents come to school, everything is exposed.” Marufuji Sho sat cross-legged on the bed looking at Manjoume, and he deeply agreed. “Thinking about it, I don’t want my parents to come to the school to visit either, since they will definitely ask the teachers and classmates about my usual situation.”

"We can't really investigate this, what if we find something?"

"What 'Yes, Duel King'?" Jaden retorted, criticizing Sho's line from earlier. It was clearly a classic line from the recently popular drama series produced by Kaiba Entertainment, featuring the character of the same name played by the big star Ryo Bakura. He then looked at Manjoume, "But that only applies to people who brag to their families, like those who are actually lonely but boast about having ten friends, or those who have no special talents but boast about being a class leader valued by the teacher."

"Wan Zhangmu, you didn't brag about yourself to your brothers at home, did you?"

However, faced with Judai's casual remark, Manjoume silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Um, Manjoume, you didn't actually brag at home, did you?" Marufuji Sho didn't expect that Judai would hit the nail on the head. Judging from Manjoume's expression, he seemed to have been exaggerating his school life with his brothers at home.

"Stop nagging! I only told a few white lies to make my family happy!" Manjoume blushed slightly with embarrassment and shyness. "I just made a small mistake that everyone makes!"

"This is just a minor mistake?"

"Because it would be a big mistake to be discovered."

Seeing Judai and Marufuji Sho chatting easily in front of him, Manjoume scratched his head in annoyance and said unwillingly, "So we absolutely can't be found out. If my brother comes to school and finds out that everything I said at home was just bragging, then I'll be socially dead."

“If we’re discovered, your image as the younger brother will be completely ruined, Manjoume. So let’s make an even bigger noise to cover it up,” Judai said with a grin, standing up and patting Manjoume on the shoulder. “But before that, helping you cover for yourself sounds like a lot of fun, so I’ll help you!”

“Me too! Me too! I’ll do whatever Big Brother does.” Marufuji Sho chimed in, “It’s rare for the usually aloof Manjoume to need someone’s help, so I can lend a hand.”

"Anyway, we're already in second grade this year, so we've had a lot of free time since school started and there's not much to do."

Marufuji Sho's words were true. Unlike last academic year when they were first-year students and were quite busy for a considerable period of time after entering school, with things like setting up their dorms, getting to know classmates, and joining clubs, it took them two or three months to get into a formal study routine. Now that they are second-year students, they are much more relaxed.

Although it's only the back-to-school period and classes haven't officially started yet, the school had already sent out most of the course schedules for this semester to the students during the summer vacation. In the three years at the Duel Academy, if the first year is for laying the foundation for students, then the second year is for students to start developing their own styles freely, in the hope that the "seeds planted will blossom" in the third year.

In layman's terms, the first year is all about studying hard and memorizing, then in the second year you can start stuffing all sorts of random cards into your deck and try out different tricks. You spend a year experimenting and making mistakes, and by the third year you've basically developed your own style and can start refining it.

Therefore, compared to the numerous basic courses in the first year, the second year saw a significant increase in extracurricular classes and club activities. Although the theoretical exams that caused Judai great distress were still unavoidable, the extracurricular activities for second-year students were much more relaxed.

During this academic year, most students find a specific hobby because they have too much free time. This is also why second-year students are often the main members of various clubs on campus. Incidentally, the disappearances of Daiyama-daira, who went to the deep mountains for training, and Tenjouin Fubuki, who joined the club of Daitoku-ji Temple and was caught up in a dark ritual, both happened during their second year. This shows that this plan also has some flaws. Students who have no homework to kill time are really capable of doing anything.

However, speaking of Daitokuji Temple, it just so happens that Daitokuji Temple appeared at the entrance of the dormitory of the Jadens.

"I thought I misheard! So you guys are already at school, Jaden, meow~" Holding the big fat cat "Pharaoh" in his arms, Daitokuji poked his head into the room through the open window, smiling at the students he hadn't seen for two months. "And Manjoume and Marufuji, it's been a long time, meow~"

"It's only been two months, Master Daitokuji, how can it be a long time?"

"Oh dear, for an old man like me, two months is quite a long time, meow. After all, who knows how much longer I might live?" Daitokuji said with a grin, squinting his eyes.

However, neither Judai, Manjoume, nor even Marufuji Sho took Daitokuji's words to heart. After all, they had all experienced the Seven Stars incident and knew that Daitokuji-sensei was now "reincarnated" into an artificial body manufactured by a medical company under the Kaiba Group. The parts of his body had not even been used for half a year, so it would not be an exaggeration to call him a "newly created person".

Given the quality of Haima Group's products, even this "Unit-01" android's lifespan wouldn't be much different from that of a normal human. Perhaps by the time young people like Manjoume and Judai have all died of old age, Daitokuji, who has been given a new body, won't even have time to die a third time.

However, Judai still welcomed Daitokuji, whom he hadn't seen for two months, and expressed his longing, warmly inviting him into his dormitory. At the same time, Judai also casually mentioned a question he had been wondering about since returning to school: "Daitokuji-sensei, when I came here, I think I saw that your picture had been taken down from the display window in our dormitory?"

"Why has the picture of 'Pharaoh' been replaced in the dormitory head teacher's seat?"

As he spoke, Judai reached out and touched the big orange cat that was sleeping soundly in the arms of the current upright dormitory head, Daitokuji.

"Eh, because of what happened last year, without Chairman Kagemaru covering up the truth, the council found out that I lied about my age, meow." Speaking of this, Daitokuji was also a little helpless. "Although my mental age is over ninety years old, the council deducted all of my seniority bonus from my salary on the grounds that my physical age is very young, meow."

"Not only that, they also reset my age. Last year, I was supposed to work for another 32 years before I could retire, but this year it's changed to 41 years before I can retire. That's just too much, meow!"

At this point, even Daitokuji pinched the chubby thigh of the "Pharaoh" in his arms with some annoyance, making it instantly sober up and start scratching wildly at Daitokuji's face—as if warning Daitokuji that what he had just said were slides that should not be touched.

"But at least, Daitokuji-sensei, you're still alive, aren't you?" Because the pain of an adult who had to postpone his retirement was so intense, Marufuji Sho comforted Daitokuji, who was full of resentment.

"...Marufuji-kun, where did you come from, Yaona? Meow?" After wiping the blood off his face, Daitokuji looked at Marufuji Sho, who had just comforted him with words like "You're still alive, aren't you?" and retorted.

Shaking his head, he quickly recovered from his self-pity, fully demonstrating the resilience of a corporate slave. Moreover, he couldn't deny that what Marufuji Sho said did make some sense—compared to his initial belief that he would die after giving his acknowledged alchemy successor, Judai, his current self was at least alive, and not in the form of a soul, but in a real, living body.

Being alive is indeed more important than anything else.

"Let's not talk about topics that are inappropriate for minors, meow. I just heard you guys talking about something interesting." Daitokuji asked curiously, shifting the topic back to what Judai and the others had been discussing before they came in. "About 'image' and 'mistakes'?"