Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

With perfect coordination, Judai and Kenzan extended their dominant hands, clenched them into fists, and bumped their fists together with each other's, which were also clenched. They then bumped their fists together once on top of each other, and finally raised their right fists together, saying in unison, "The result of this duel is!!"

"Yujo Judai—Victory!!!"

Chapter 1439 The Visitor is Not Friendly

"【E·hero Eternal Warrior】...I've never seen 【E·hero】 before. Could it be that Jaden Yuki's strongest card?"

"Hiss... The power of [Last Will] is truly terrifying. However, in terms of attack power, it seems that there are more low-attack monsters in the [D·hero] group than in the [E·hero] group. Perhaps I can also include one of these in my deck."

"Although he is a dinosaur duelist who is far less powerful than Ryuzaki, he was able to defeat him in one round without taking any damage. I have to admit that Jaden Yuki is indeed a very strong opponent."

Putting down his binoculars, Edward confidently stated, "However, from my observation, it's nothing special."

"The reason he was recognized by Caesar is probably just because he is one of the few people in the academy who can fight Caesar, right?" Not knowing that the actual result of the duel between Jaden and Caesar was that Jaden won, Edward thought that Jaden was just the second best in the academy. "Perhaps Caesar only grew rapidly after graduating because he was away from this greenhouse environment, and he is not on the same level as Jaden Yuki who is still in the academy."

"What do you think, Prince Sai?"

"Um, Edward, aren't you underestimating that Jaden Yuki a bit too much?" On the other end of Edward's call, Saiou put the phone on speakerphone, placed it on the table, and then pulled a card from a stack of cards and placed it on the table. The card was an upside-down monster card, [Arcane Power 0 - Fool]. Upon seeing this card, he couldn't help but say this to Edward on the other end of the phone.

This card is a divination performed by Saiō on Jūdai. The reversed "Secret Power 0 - The Fool" in Tarot symbolizes the reversed "The Fool," which means risky actions, plummeting results, or misinterpretation leading to failure.

This doesn't mean that Jaden will encounter this situation, but rather that if Edward were to challenge Jaden to a duel, this would happen. At least, that's what Saiou meant by the divination result. In other words, the divination showed that Edward's judgment seemed to be wrong—otherwise, he should have divined the "chariot" symbolizing victory for Edward's duel as always.

"How could that be? I've watched Jaden Yuki's duel. This is my analysis based on my professional duelist experience. A professional duelist should dare to make judgments." Edward confidently stated that his judgment was absolutely correct, and even analyzed it with Saiou on the phone. "Although I can't hear what they specifically said, all aspects of the duel seem ridiculously naive to me."

"Can you believe it, Saiou? Someone actually included all four famous Normal Monsters from the [E·hero] deck in their own deck? But that's not a big deal, since the monster he used, which seems to be called [E·hero Immortal], specified three of them as Fusion Material."

"However, he actually added those spell cards that are bound to specific targets to his deck. I'm afraid even the Duel King, Mr. Kobayashi Hayato, would have a hard time dueling properly with his deck, which, although it's full of [E-Hero] monsters, is almost as numerous as his deck. That guy seems so relaxed and cheerful during duels, it doesn't look like he's engaged in a serious duel at all!"

Edward said this with a serious expression: "The dueling arena is an important place for duelists to fight with dignity and burn their souls to win, not a place to satisfy personal expectations. That guy's fighting is more like a dance than a martial art. I can't sense from his cards that he is carrying any heavy burden - in other words, that guy is not on the right path that fate has ordained."

“Edward, what you said makes a lot of sense. However, I still hope you can observe more.” Saiou was somewhat persuaded by Ed, but after performing a divination for Ed while he was speaking, he discovered that it was the reversed [Arcane Power VII - Chariot]. Knowing that the reversed “Chariot” represented sudden defeat, Saiou still advised Ed, “You don’t want to lose to a student from the Duel Academy after losing to Caesar, do you?”

"Was that a divination performed by you, Prince Sai?"

"Ah."

"once?"

"No, twice. Once was with that Yuki Jaden, and the other time was with you, Edward."

The specific result is...

"It's 'The Fool' and 'The Chariot,' but both are reversed."

A conflicted expression appeared on Edward's face. On one hand, he was very confident in his judgment, but on the other hand, his friend's divinations over the years had never been wrong... almost never wrong, with an accuracy rate that had always remained at an extremely high level. If his divinations had shown the same result not just once, but twice in a row, then they were still worth taking into consideration.

After some deliberation, Edward raised his binoculars and glanced in Jaden's direction: "Tsk, this guy uses cards like that to build his deck. Can such a lackluster duel be worthy of the title of 'hero'?"

Through Edward's telescope, Jaden was organizing the cards on the Duel Disk and putting them back into his deck, including the card that dealt the final blow to Kenzan, 【E·hero Bubble Man】.

Edward, who was far away, only saw the card image and didn't look at the effect in detail. Since he couldn't hear the sound, he naturally didn't hear the amazement that Kenzan made when he saw the specific effect on Jaden's card.

"It can activate its effect and draw cards simply by having an empty field? And it requires having no cards in your hand? What kind of cheating card is this?!"

"Big brother, I really regret it! If I hadn't controlled the useless [E·hero Golden Blade] during the duel and instead used [Monster Resurrection] to control [E·hero Bubble Man], wouldn't I have been able to draw two cards too? The outcome of the duel might have been different!"

"Hahaha, no way, because it doesn't matter if you get any other monsters on your field." Jaden laughed and showed Kenzan the three cards he had been holding in his hand: Lava Demon, Lightning Storm, and Called by the Grave. In fact, he could have used Called by the Grave to banish the Hybrid Dinosaur from Kenzan's graveyard to negate its effect and then used Lightning Storm to clear the field and quickly end the duel.

However, in order to bring a smile to Kenzan's face during their duel, he still maintained a bit of his seniority, deliberately holding back a few cards until the end of the duel. It was only when Judai noticed Kenzan's changed mindset that he revealed the cards in his hand—if it had been Kenzan before the duel, he would have genuinely been angry if Judai had held back even the slightest bit during their fight.

Although Edward didn't hear what Jaden and the others said, he clearly saw Jaden's hand, which was one of the reasons he thought Jaden was no good. Jaden had clearly found a way to end the duel faster, yet he made many unnecessary moves as if he were just playing around, showing he was simply an immature brat—although Edward was only the same age as Kenzan, a year older than Jaden, and there was a significant height difference between them.

(Jūdai: Ōmata on the head of the jellyfish)

However, maturity and aura cannot be judged by height. The best example is the game. His height in high school was so regrettable, but when he was replaced by the spirit behind him—that is, Atum—his aura was so powerful that there were no five people in the world who could match him.

The same goes for Jaden and Edward. Having experienced major family changes at a young age and entered society and even the professional dueling world early on, Edward, regardless of his height, looks much more mature than Jaden, who is always laughing and joking and seems carefree and without worries.

“Speaking of which, Saiou, I remember you did a divination for me before, didn’t you?” Edward said. “Not about duels, the future or anything else, just a divination for myself? Just like the divination you did for yourself.”

“Yes. Ed, your divination result is—'The Pope,' just as mine is 'The Wheel of Fortune.'” Saiou’s voice was somewhat helpless. “My divination seems to be able to help people glimpse their future destiny, but knowing the future itself cannot provide the power to change it. On the contrary, sometimes the act of trying to change the future will lead the future to the shape that destiny has depicted.”

"In this light, the 'Wheel of Fortune' tarot card, which represents the unpredictable nature of fate, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad, is the most fitting description of fate for me."

"Although I don't understand Tarot cards, I've managed to remember it after you mentioned it so many times. It seems that the interpretation of 'The Hierophant' involves 'advice from a trustworthy person,' right? And you, Prince, are my most trustworthy friend. I believe in your divination and your judgment."

As Edward spoke, he sighed. In the end, he chose to believe the divination result of his friend Saiou and did not rush to challenge Yuki Judai to a duel to test his "capacity".

“It’s good that you think that way, Edward.” After a pause, Saiou’s voice carried a hint of surprise. “By the way, I also performed a special divination for that Judai Yuki. His divination result surprised me somewhat, because he turned out to be the ‘Fool’ himself.”

“'A young man, dressed in splendid clothes, walks along the edge of a cliff, his light steps unhindered by the obstacles on the ground. His ideals are in his eyes, he holds a rose in his left hand and all his possessions in his right, while the little dog beside him reminds him not to keep going.'”

Hearing Saiou's voice on the phone, Edward felt a little helpless, but he seemed to be used to his friend's reaction: "Speak like a human being."

“I told you before, Edward, that I, representing the ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ cannot control whether I will ultimately face darkness or light, because it is not the wheel itself that turns this wheel, but fate. However, fate has two hands that drive the wheel, which means that there are two people who can change my fate.”

"One of them is Edward, who represents the 'Pope' and symbolizes the awakening of conscience and goodness, while the other is 'The Fool,' who symbolizes purity and victory and is also the beginning and starting point of the Tarot cards. That is, Judai Yuki!"

"Perhaps your focus on Jaden Yuki is also part of your destiny, Edward, because the two of you are destined to fight, and this battle will inevitably be fraught with thorns and obstacles!"

Upon hearing Saiou's words, Edward laughed instead: "After all, he is someone that Caesar values. Even if he is just a child in the Duel Academy who has not experienced any hardships, he must have some skills. That dinosaur user may not have been able to test Yuki Jaden's full power."

"Thinking about it calmly, I think what you said might be right, Sai-o. If I were to rashly engage in a duel with that guy underestimating him, even I might have ended up in a tough battle and suffered a lot. It would be really unfair to you, Sai-o, to so easily start a duel that is so closely related to your fate."

During the phone call, Saiou asked, "Edward, do you also think that you'll run into trouble if you go up against Judai Yuki now?"

“After all, I only saw the general outline and didn’t know the full picture of his deck. Even the duels were just watched from afar like this, and I didn’t even try to understand his personality.” Edward’s lips curled up. “Even professional duelists need to do prior intelligence research, otherwise it will be troublesome if they are targeted.”

Will we lose?

“We will win,” Ed said matter-of-factly. Last year’s Pro Duel World Champion, Ed Phoenix, declared his victory!

Seeing that Judai and the others were about to leave, Edward was about to put down his binoculars when he noticed something moving rapidly in the forest between the clearing where Judai and the others were and his own.

At first, he thought he was seeing things. He moved the binoculars over but found nothing. However, when he looked away, he saw something moving through the dense forest out of the corner of his eye.

Ed simply kept an eye on the moving shadow out of the corner of his eye. When he got the chance, he looked again and finally saw what kind of creature was moving through the forest. It turned out to be a black-haired young man wearing a Hawaiian-style beach t-shirt, with two branches tied to his head and a branch in each hand to disguise himself as a tree!

Upon realizing that Ed had noticed him, the young man neither dodged nor avoided the point, but instead pointed directly at Ed, as if he could see Ed looking at him from afar without needing binoculars!

Edward, who was being pointed at, suddenly turned his head, covering the observation end of his binoculars as he looked away. He frowned as he looked at the young man who had walked out of the forest and arrived at the foot of the cliff where he was: "He's exuding an aura of dominance, and it seems like he's not here with good intentions."

“Although I don’t know what you’re going through right now, Edward, I still have to give you a little reminder,” the King of the West said helplessly on the other end of the phone. “You are the one who came here.”

Chapter 1440, Part 10: Join!

"Hey, confused young man, I've never seen you at school before."

Looking at Fubuki who was standing not far in front of him, Edward forced a fake smile: "Because I'm a freshman who just came to school this year, senior. I just arrived at school by boat today."

"Eh? That's true, quite a few new students have come to school recently." Fubuki said with a grin. "But actually, even if they weren't new students, I wouldn't recognize them, since I only came back to school last year."

"Thinking about it carefully, it really is too much. Although I left school in the second year, I have to repeat the second year instead of starting from the third year. Even Liang, who is the same age as me, has already graduated, but I have to study for two more years."

"The same age as 'Liang'? That 'Caesar'?" Upon hearing this, Edward couldn't maintain his fake smile and couldn't help but become serious, sizing up the senior in front of him who didn't look like a student at all.

Just looking at keywords like "the same year as Caesar" and "repeated a grade," one might get the impression that this person must have been a terrible student, otherwise why would he have repeated a grade? Especially since he said he is currently in his second year, which means he has repeated a grade for at least two years.

However, don't underestimate Edward's intelligence network. After losing to Caesar, he made a special effort to investigate the past performance of this outstanding graduate of the Duel Academy. Although he didn't have much specific information, he did learn that Edward had shown extraordinary strength in his first year of school, defeating many senior students in succession and ranking among the top three in the academy. He was even known as one of the "Twin Pillars of the Duel Academy" along with another person.

Since it is a "twin wall", it is impossible for there to be only one person. Thanks to the existence of the Duel Academy Exchange Tournament, the video of the previous year is still easy to find, allowing Edward to easily find the information of the other person - a student from the Obelisk-Blue dormitory named "Tenjōin Fubuki".

What puzzled Edward was that, compared to "Caesar" Liang, the other "wall" of the "Academy's Twin Pillars" was relatively unknown. It wasn't that she had no fame at all; on the contrary, gossip from two years ago that leaked from Duel Academy showed that "Tenjouin Fubuki" was much more famous, such as being photographed sunbathing on the beach with more than ten girls and helping them apply sunscreen.

However, all of this ended in the first year. After the second year, there was no news about "Tenjōin Fubuki". It is normal for ordinary students not to be published in the academy's internal newspaper, but compared to Tenjōin Fubuki's performance in the first year, he was too low-key in the second year. It was as if he had disappeared from the Duel Academy.

This situation continued until last year, when the Duel Academy Exchange Tournament was held again at the main campus. Compared to previous years, this year's tournament was much more mysterious, with little information leaked out. However, Edward keenly noticed that the name "Tenjouin Fubuki," which had disappeared for more than a year, was prominently featured on the list of the top eight finalists.

Perhaps Tenjouin Fubuki really settled down in her second year and stopped making headlines? But what bothered Edward was that Tenjouin Fubuki's name was not on the list of graduates released by Duel Academy.

It's important to know that because of the high prestige of the Duel Academy, after the first batch of graduates entered society and demonstrated outstanding abilities, there were quite a few people who thought they were clever enough to forge their Duel Academy graduate status in an attempt to use this to gain access to high-paying positions in large international companies.

Kaiba doesn't mind people taking advantage of him; he's been doing it for years like Hayato has, but only to those with ability. Those who lack the ability to enter the Duel Academy but try to exploit its name and the credibility of the Kaiba Group are, in his eyes, not even fourth-rate scum, and he will never tolerate such people.

Therefore, Duel Academy quickly introduced a "graduate list" that meticulously recorded and ranked the graduates' academic achievements. Since the main campus of Duel Academy, which has the largest student body, only admits around a hundred students each year, and correspondingly, only about a hundred graduate, compiling such a list is not difficult at all. However, it effectively prevents fraudulent activities and also facilitates recruitment of outstanding students by various companies.

If referees and commentators are needed, companies can focus on recruiting those with good theoretical scores. Professional duelist agencies can also select which students to sign to enter the professional dueling world based on their practical performance. Even the students' performance in hobby classes can be used as reference data for companies engaged in Duel Monsters-related industries when recruiting.

However, this is a list, yet Tenjōin Fubuki's name is not on it?

As Edward re-examined the man before him, his nerves tightened: "Could it be that you are 'Tenjōin Fubuki'?"

"Hahaha, being too popular is a problem, isn't it? I can't possibly treat every single fan who idolizes me equally." Fubuki said rather narcissistically, pulling out a marker from somewhere. "So, would you like me to sign something here? This one..."

“Ed, my name is Ed, Ed Phoenix.” Ed introduced himself and shook his head to deny that he was a fan of Fubuki. “I just learned about you, who is his equal, while I was learning about 'Caesar'.”

"Eh~ It's really heartbreaking. I've actually fallen so low that I have to be on par with Ryo to be known. I thought my reputation was so great that even freshmen would unconsciously admire me." Fubuki wiped away her tears dramatically, then looked at Edward. "But, Edward Phoenix... I remember now, you and Ryo had a duel before, right? I watched that duel too."

Fubuki's words were somewhat like rubbing salt in the wound, because the blow of losing to Caesar in that duel alone took Edward quite a while to recover. But as a highly regarded star professional duelist, the impact of losing a duel was by no means limited to that.

His victory last year was already controversial, with debates surrounding its lack of merit. Losing to a newcomer who had only been in the professional dueling world for less than six months caused his popularity to plummet. If he had lost to other strong duelists, it wouldn't have been so bad, since his female fans tend to value looks more than skill.

However, Caesar is also very handsome and more powerful than Edward. As a result, after Edward lost to him, even the base of female fans who were obsessed with good looks became difficult to maintain. A large number of female fans quickly switched to Caesar's fandom, just like those anime otaku who change their "waifus" every three months with the release of new anime series.

Even those "power-obsessed" players who were initially drawn to Edward's strength were "lured away" by Caesar's coolness and the unique charm of the steel creation. It's even common to see comments online like "You should give up those fancy decks and join my invincible Cyborgron," which come from these Caesar fans who were attracted by the Cyborgron.

So much so that upon hearing Fubuki's words, Edward couldn't even maintain his smile and said to Fubuki in a cold tone, "That kind of thing has nothing to do with you, Tenjouin-senpai, right?"

“Then let’s talk about something related to me, like—what were you looking at just now?” Fubuki continued smiling as if she hadn’t heard Edward’s words, looking at Edward. “Although the academy doesn’t forbid students from bringing binoculars or similar devices to enjoy the island’s natural scenery, it’s not allowed to spy on other people.”

"Hey Ed, were you peeking over there while those other guys were dueling?"

"Me? What need would I have to peek?" Edward denied it outright. "Although I am a freshman at the Duel Academy this year, I have been playing professional matches all along and I don't think much of duels that are too immature."

"On the other hand, couldn't I just find a higher place to observe the terrain around the school to avoid getting lost later? Besides, even if I was watching the duel over there, there's no rule in the school that prohibits other people from watching duels, right?"

"Of course not. Rather, it's not just outdoor duels; even duels held indoors have never been restricted from being watched by others. After all, this can help students grow, and the school encourages everyone to watch excellent duels to learn and improve."

Fubuki paused here, then looked at Edward and said, "However, all of this is based on the premise that everyone's progress is voluntary."

"Huh?" Edward was taken aback, not understanding Fubuki's words. "What does that mean?"

“It means exactly what it says, Ed. No, Ed Phoenix.” Fubuki said with a serious expression, addressing Ed by his full name. “Since you seem to be a very interesting junior, I’ll tell you something.”

"I was once plunged into an endless dark world for some reason, and thus I unexpectedly developed a vague but keen sense of evil forces. I can distinguish between good and bad people just by their scent."

"You're a decent person, though you get upset like a child after being provoked a little, but your character is still quite noble. But your card deck is different. It has the same core, but the cards are covered by something incredibly foul, constantly emitting a smell even worse than vomit!"

Fubuki pointed to Edward's waist, "I smelled this wicked scent the moment you stepped onto this island! It's a scent I've never encountered before! It gives me a nauseating feeling that's colder and more painful than having an ice pick shoved into my back door!"

However, this is a lie.

Although his past experience as "Darkness" gave him the acquired ability of "Spirit Master," his sense of smell is pure nonsense, after all, Fubuki isn't some kind of fierce dog. The reason he says that is actually because Kobayashi Hayato taught him.