Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

The principle is actually quite simple. Hayato simply opened his system's "Shop," navigated to the card recycling function, and selected to recycle all the cards sold in this card shop. The system's feedback to him was that they were all fake cards.

Good heavens, there wasn't a single genuine item among the counterfeits. Hayato suspected that if this store continued operating, it might eventually resort to a "tenfold compensation for fakes" scheme, giving away eleven fake cards. The store's name was such a mouthful; Hayato had already come up with a new name for it: "Nimiya."

"Hmph, this is really annoying." Kaiba snorted, feeling somewhat embarrassed that he hadn't been able to tell the card was fake. It wasn't a big deal that he couldn't tell the difference himself, but the real problem was Hayato. He was just observing the card through the packaging, just like him, so how did he manage to tell the real card from the fake one?

Ignoring the piles of fake cards, Hayato walked around the shelves and straight to the cashier at the back of the card shop, saying to Kaiba as he went, "By the way, Seth, do you have any knowledge of store layout?"

Kaiba crossed his arms and remained silent, offering no answer to Hayato's question. It was obvious; he was Seto Kaiba, not a mall worker—why would he possibly research such trivial matters?

Hayato didn't expect Kaiba to answer; he was just asking casually. With a flip, he jumped into the now empty checkout counter, muttering to himself, "In a shopping mall, the most popular and best-selling items should be placed at the farthest end, so that customers have to walk the longest distance to buy them. On the way, the likelihood of a customer catching their eye and liking a particular item is maximized."

"The store's cashier should be placed at the entrance, both to prevent people from skipping out on their bills and to ensure that customers can be served as soon as they enter."

As Hayato spoke, he bent down and rummaged around in front of the cashier, using a "desktop cleaning master" move to sweep away the scattered pens, notes, and desktop decorations, leaving only a fixed computer monitor.

"I see." Hayato had already explained it so clearly, so Kaiba naturally understood what Hayato meant. This store completely deviated from the normal store layout; the most popular items were placed at the entrance, while the cashier, who was always there, was located at the very back of the store.

The location of this cashier counter probably hides some secret, which is why it's always guarded and why rare cards are used to attract customers' attention and prevent them from lingering deeper into the store.

Hayato fumbled around at the bottom of the computer screen for a few moments, then smiled and said, "Found it! What a lucky guy."

He pressed his finger lightly, and at the same time, the wall behind the cashier suddenly moved, slowly sliding open to both sides to reveal an entrance.

"Please, President Kaiba~" Hayato smiled and pushed open the barrier at the entrance to the cashier for Kaiba.

Kaiba didn't stand on ceremony. He walked up to the open entrance and said coldly, "Stay close, Hayato Kobayashi. I'm not going to bother saving you."

The two walked into the entrance one after the other, and behind them, the sliding wall slowly closed.

Chapter 223 Seahorse Suffers a Tragic Attack by Minotaur

As they walked forward through the passage, Hayato and Kaiba could feel themselves gradually descending, albeit in small increments. After walking for several minutes, they finally reached a large door at the end of the passage.

The door was half-open, and before Hayato could even push it open, he could hear several people talking inside:

“Lord Epimetheus, if I remember correctly, it shouldn’t be time to hand over the profits yet.”

"Idiot! Didn't you hear what Seto Kaiba announced today?!"

“Uh, Lady Pandora, you mean the ‘Duel City’ thing? Kaiba Corporation has already delivered the Duel Disks to the store.”

"Since the start of Duel City, those duelists would rather hunt on the streets than spend money to buy cards in stores. What business can you possibly have? Besides, they're just fake cards; they'll be exposed sooner or later!"

"Pandora, it seems your subordinates aren't very bright."

Hayato and Kaiba exchanged a glance. After listening for a while, they were pretty sure that there were only three people talking in the room, and from what they could hear, two of them were at the same level, while the third was their subordinate, belonging to one of them called "Pandora," and very likely the owner of this card shop.

The other one is called "Epimetheus". As you can guess from the name, he is usually Pandora's partner in the same team.

Hayato raised his fingers to make a "3," and Kaiba nodded. As Hayato's fingers curled back into a fist, the countdown reached zero. Hayato and Kaiba moved in perfect unison, simultaneously kicking the door open and sending both doors crashing to the ground!

To the two men's surprise, one of the three men speaking was unfortunately hit by the kicked-down door and pinned to the ground, unable to move. The other two men in the room sprang up from their positions like cats with their fur standing on end, looking warily at the two unexpected intruders: "Who goes there!?"

"Just two duelists passing by. Remember that." Clapping his hands, Hayato stepped through the fallen door and into the room, looking at the two masked men before him. Hayato had a hunch when he heard the name "Pandora," and sure enough, they were Pandora, the magician who had a chainsaw duel with Yugi in the original future.

As for the other person, Hayato didn't remember much. After all, Glus was an international theft organization, and it would be strange if its members were only the people Hayato knew.

The man pinned under the door let out a wail due to the weight of Hayato on top of him, but Hayato didn't care about his pain. Jumping off the door, he accidentally shattered the shopkeeper's glasses that had fallen to the ground, and then kicked him, knocking him unconscious.

"Grus's people? Hmph, come to think of it, those cowardly cowards." Kaiba looked around the room and, seeing that no mechanism was triggered when Hayato went in, he also entered the room, looking arrogantly at the two masked men in front of him.

Pandora, wearing a magician's hat, frowned. He had already recognized the two who had barged in: "One of the two Duel Kings of the Duel Kingdom, Hayato Kobayashi..."

"And the Blue-Eyes user, Seto Kaiba?" Epimetheus, standing beside Pandora, narrowed his eyes. "How did you find this place? I thought our cover-up outside should have been perfect."

Hayato pointed to the fluorescent light on the ceiling: "Grandma said that those who know the truth will not be deceived by illusions."

Pandora's mind raced, and she came up with an idea. Although the leader of Gurus had given them the task of hunting down famous duelists after the start of Duel City, the deck he was using was a Spellcaster deck specifically tuned for Yugi Muto. The leader had assigned someone else to deal with Hayato Kobayashi.

Epimetheus was assigned to hunt the Seto Kaiba, but the timing wasn't ideal. If possible, it was best to avoid combat as much as possible.

Actually, we are not—

"I didn't expect you to find us. That's right! We are indeed the elite officers of Gurus, Epimetheus and Pandora, known as the Doomsday Duo!"

Amidst Pandora's expression that seemed to have eaten shit, Epimetheus actually revealed their identities directly: "As two of the elite cadres of Gurus, now that you have discovered our identities, we cannot let you leave so easily!"

"Hmph, I should be the one saying those words!" First, Hayato almost stole his winning line during the duel, and now even some lowly ghoul from Gurus dares to steal his lines? "Are you ready to face the wrath of the Blue-Eyes?"

"Tch, what an idiot!" Pandora looked at Epimetheus, who was facing off against Kaiba and had already set up their duel disks, and noticed that Hayato had also set up his duel disk.

"I hate these kinds of skirmishes. Duels should be like a wonderful magic show, carefully prepared before they begin. This is so inelegant!" Pandora shuffled her deck and inserted it into the deck area of ​​the Duel Disk, looking angrily at Hayato.

"Scared? Then you can always surrender by putting down your deck." Hayato nodded to the Pokémon that had returned from patrolling the room. Before entering the room, Hayato had sent [Disruption Yellow] and the others in to check it out.

After all, this is someone else's lair. Even without a self-destruct mechanism, something like a chainsaw or a pitfall trap isn't out of the question. However, based on the elves' initial observations, it seems there isn't one.

"Don't get me wrong, Duel King. I'm just saying this because I'm not a person who likes to fight. Duel Monsters games can't do anything about that." By reducing the thickness of the cards and using the special shuffling technique "Takumi Goro (censored)," Pandora drew a pretty good hand of cards. "But if we have to compete, I won't lose to anyone!"

"Duel!" x2

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Pandora: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand

"First strike is mine! Draw!" Pandora drew her card faster than anyone else, without even looking at what she had drawn. It was as if Pandora had already planned out the order in which she would use her cards. She activated her hand, "Spell Card [Double Summon], I can perform two Normal Summons this turn!"

"I usually summon the [Dual Form], and then I release it as a sacrifice to perform a Superior Summon!"

[Bivalent][4☆/Dark]

[Undead/Effect]

[1700/1650]

Two ghosts, seemingly conjoined twins—[Dual-Purpose]—appeared on Pandora's field. Despite their relatively good physiques, Pandora unhesitatingly released them to summon an even stronger monster.

Dark magic coalesced into a crimson magic circle, from which a figure that Hayato recognized quite well slowly emerged.

The once magnificent black mage robes were now stained a reddish-brown like congealed blood, and the smooth golden hair had turned dry and pale. The Dark Mage standing on Pandora's Field had even darker skin than the white-skinned version of the Dark Mage in the game, and his face revealed the same evil, crooked smile as Pandora.

[Dark Magician] [7☆/Dark]

[Mage Race/Normal]

[2500/2100]

"Be amazed, Hayato Kobayashi! This is the ace monster of my deck, the ultimate magician, Dark Magician! How do you feel now that your partner—Yugi Muto's monster—has appeared on my field!"

"Thoughts? It feels kind of weird to hear you speak in the same voice as me, and [Negro Director] get lost." Hayato retorted.

While Pandora's Dark Magician is identical to the Dark Magician in the game in other aspects, Hayato is a sucker for good looks, and the dark-skinned Dark Magician is too avant-garde for him to accept.

"Tch, your arrogance won't last long!" Pandora was annoyed that she couldn't see any surprise on Hayato's face. "Two cards are set, my turn is over."

Pandora: 4000LP, 1 cards in hand

[Black Magician] [ATK2500]

[GaiK] X2

"My turn, draw a card." Hayato drew a card, raised an eyebrow, and let out a smug laugh. "Hehehe, watch out for Pandora, this is my struggle for victory!"

"Activate the Spell Card, 'Angel's Charity,' draw three cards, then send 'Dark Knight Gaia' and 'Cursed Dragon' from my hand to the Graveyard. Next, the Spell Card 'Dragon's Mirror,' this card can only be used to summon Dragon-Type Fusion Monsters, but its Fusion Materials can be chosen from the Graveyard!"

"Descend in a brand new guise, my Tamashi! [Sky Dragon Knight—]"

"Gaia!!!"

On Hayato's field, a pillar of flame rose from the ground. A sharp lance swept across, clearing away the raging flames and revealing the figure of Gaia, who had been resurrected from the graveyard.

Reborn from the flames, even Gaia's mount, the Cursed Dragon, evolved, its bright yellow body turning an orange-red like the infernal flames it spoke of.

【Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia】【7☆/Wind】

[Dragon/Fusion/Effect]

[2600/2100]

“【Dragon Knight - Gaia】?! This is not the form mentioned in the intelligence at all!” Pandora’s eyes widened. “This sense of oppression!”

"You bastard!"

Pandora was interrupted. The words she had just heard weren't from him, but from someone standing next to them.

The seahorse's face was contorted with rage, as if it were seeing its father's killer, and it glared angrily at Epimetheus, who was dueling with it.

However, Hayato could understand his feelings. Because right across from Kaiba's field, on Epimetheus's field, there was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon with a slightly greenish body!

Chapter 224 I am immortal!!!

"You bastard, why do you have [Blue Eyes]!"

Kaiba glared at Epimetheus with murderous intent, but the guy didn't seem to care. Instead, he grinned and said, "Yeah, there are only four Blue-Eyes White Dragons in the whole world, and yet they're in my hands. Why is that? I'm looking for the reason too."

In his impotent rage, the Blue-Eyed White Dragon's attack crushed the Minotaur on his field.

[Haima: 4000→2700LP]

Hayato frowned as he looked at the [Blue-Eyed White Dragon], a certain possibility occurred to him, and he said coldly to Pandora, "Then let me guess, that card is probably just like the Duel Monster cards on the shelves outside, a fake card from your Gurus, right?"

"As expected of the Duel King, you easily saw through our Gurus's perfect forgery technique!" Epimetheus spoke before Pandora, who was trying to trick Hayato, could, and told the truth, "The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is arguably the strongest dragon among Duel Monsters. Only the Blue-Eyes can defeat the Blue-Eyes!"

"That idiot!" Pandora glared angrily at Epimetheus, who was blurting out everything, and then turned to Hayato. "So what if that's the case? As long as we win the duel, whether the Duel Monster is real or not doesn't matter at all."

“You’ve completely gone astray, haven’t you?” Hayato shook his head helplessly. “In that case, I’ll just defeat you head-on in a duel.”

"If [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] is successfully Special Summoned, I activate its effect to add one [Spiral Shot] from my Deck to my hand." After Keipai's modification, a card automatically popped out of Hayato's Duel Disk Deck area, which Hayato caught, and then the Deck automatically began to shuffle. "Then, I immediately activated [Spiral Shot]!"

"This card's effect is that when [Dark Knight Gaia], [Gale Dark Knight Gaia], or [Dragon Knight Gaia] attacks a Defense Position monster, it can deal Defense Penetration Damage. [Sky Dragon Knight Gaia] can be used as [Dragon Knight Gaia]!"

'This combo... could it be that this guy has a card that can rewrite my monster position?' Pandora looked suspiciously at Hayato's hand, which had hardly been used up.

【Angel's Charity】 allowed Hayato to send a monster to the graveyard without consuming any resources. Then, he used 【Dragon's Mirror】 to summon 【Sky Dragon Knight】, which has an attack power higher than 【Dark Magician】. He also directly retrieved cards from his deck and added them to his hand. After this combo, Hayato still had a full five cards in his hand?

Is this the power of the Duel King? Pandora gritted his teeth. Even so, he had reasons why he couldn't afford to lose!

"I activate my card, [Safe Zone]!"

Pandora activated his face card, and a screen of light covered his Dark Magician on the field.

“You can only activate this card's effect by targeting one of my Attack Position monsters. As long as this card exists, my [Dark Magician] cannot be targeted by your card effects, nor can it be destroyed by battle or card effects.” Pandora revealed a smug smile. “You must have a card like [Enemy Controller] in your hand that can change a monster's battle position, right?”

"However, because of the [Safe Zone], [Dark Magician] is not a target for its effects right now! Even if your [Gaia] attacks, it will only deal a negligible 100 points of damage to me, and it won't be able to break through [Dark Magician]!"