Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Wait, wait a minute, why did they have to destroy my [Darkness and Annihilation Dragon] in the back row!?" Only then did he suddenly realize that the Equip Card of [Millennium Eyes Revenge] had been destroyed. He said in surprise, "They actually went that far with their own monster? Shouldn't they have prioritized destroying [Magician's Left Hand] and [Magician's Right Hand]?"

"Huh? Why would I go through all that trouble to get rid of those two insignificant cards? Duel Monsters, at its core, is still a game of reducing your opponent's Life Points. Anyway, your Millennium Eyes Revenant is in Attack Position, right? I can just clear your Life Points by attacking it, can't I?"

Wan Zhang said indifferently, "As for the destroyed [Dragon of Darkness and Annihilation]? It was just a necessary sacrifice!"

With the preparation phase over and the main phase underway, Manjoume drew a card from his hand and said, "However, since [Dragon of Darkness and Annihilation] has returned to my graveyard, let it return to the field to vent its controlled rage!"

"Spell Card [Gospel of Resurrection] activated! You can target a Level 7/8 Dragon monster in my Graveyard to activate this effect; Special Summon the targeted monster!"

Manjoume retrieved the card that had just returned to his graveyard. "The card I Special Summoned is this Level 8 [Dragon of Darkness and Annihilation]!"

"Dark dragon, emerge from the endless darkness! Level 8☆, Special Summon!"

"【Dragon of Darkness and Annihilation】!"

【Darkness and the Dragon of Annihilation】【8☆/Dark】

[Dragon Clan/Effect]

[2600/2100]

"Now I have two tributes on my field!" Manjoume said, playing another card from his hand. "I will Tribute [Dragon of Darkness and Annihilation] and [Dark Knight - Gaia Warrior] on my field to perform a Tribute Summon!"

"O dragon that negates all things and phenomena, clear away all obstacles before me!"

"Level 8☆! Offer up the dual offerings of darkness and light, come forth, Wagatsumashi!"

Its azure eyes suddenly lit up, and a colossal dragon with angelic white wings and demonic black bat wings descended upon the vast arena, letting out a majestic roar—the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] made its grand entrance!

【Dragon of Light and Darkness】【8☆/Light】

[Dragon Clan/Effect]

[2800/2400]

In exchange for two monsters, the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] descended. With a wave of his hand, Manjoume said, "Enter the battle phase. I will use the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] to attack. The target is [Millennium Eye Najima]!"

"Explosive Gale Bullet of Light and Shadow!"

The black and white energies converged at a single point, and a ball of interwoven black and white formed in the mouth of the [Dragon of Light and Darkness]. She then spit it out towards Xie Wan. If this attack hit, the duel would end as Xie Wan's remaining 900 life points were cleared.

However, Xie Wan did not panic because of this attack. Even though he had no cover cards in his backcourt, he still had ways to deal with the attack.

“In my first turn, I sent a card to the Graveyard, do you remember, Manjoume?” Manjoume said smugly, taking a card from the Graveyard area of ​​the Duel Disk. “That’s this [Bone Boar Throw]! During a monster’s Battle Step, by banishing this card from my Graveyard, I can negate that monster’s attack. This effect can also be activated during your opponent’s turn!”

"Of course, I also know that the effect of your [Dragon of Light and Darkness] will nullify the activation of [Bone Boar's Last Throw], right? Even if you don't want it, [Dragon of Light and Darkness] will force its effect to activate."

"And all I need is this moment to fulfill the activation conditions of my [Millennium Eye Sacrifice] effect and steal your [Dragon of Light and Darkness] as my Equip Card!"

The smug Xie Wan glanced at Wan Zhangmu and said, "You could have easily wiped out my remaining Life Points by simply attacking with two monsters, even with the [Bone Boar Throw]'s attack being ineffective. But you chose to summon the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] at this crucial moment. You really did suffer from the 'Traitor Dragon' again."

In other words—you scumbag!

Just as Xie Wan said, the chain unfolded. In response to the attack of the [Dragon of Light and Darkness], the [Bone Boar Throw] in his graveyard jumped out to try to block the attack. Faced with the provocation of the [Bone Boar Throw], the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] automatically released its effect, just like the [Dragon King of Light and Darkness] that was provoked by the [Imitation Fantasy Master] before.

Also linked to the effect of [Dragon of Light and Darkness], [Millennium Eyes Nassage], having met the activation conditions, once again opened its "Hundred Eyes and Thousand Gazes" barrier, which can absorb opponent's monsters as its own equipment, attempting to seize the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] shrouded in golden light.

"Once per turn, when an opponent's monster effect is activated, I target [Light and Darkness Dragon] on the opponent's field and activate the effect of [Millennium Eye Requiem], equipping it as an Equip Card to [Millennium Eye Requiem]!"

Upon seeing this, Manjoume sneered, "Have you ever played any Paradox games?"

Fans of Paradox Interactive's games often jokingly refer to themselves as "war criminals" because of the extreme nature of their gameplay, but only if they lose the game. As long as I don't lose the game, who can take me to a military court for trial?

"Similarly—if I lose the duel, summoning the [Dragon of Light and Darkness] would be considered a terrible move, but if I don't lose the duel, it can only be called 'the victor's composure'!"

With the last card in his hand played, Manjoume sneered, "Quick-Play Spell Card [Dragon's Shadow]! Activate the effect of the chain [Millennium Eye Sacrifice]!"

In his past duel with Caesar, Manjoume used the first two effects of [Dragon's Shadow Light], and he usually used the first two effects as well. However, this does not mean that only the first two effects of [Dragon's Shadow Light] are useful. At this moment, he is using the third effect of [Dragon's Shadow Light]!

"Of the three effects of [Dragon's Shadow], I can choose one to activate once per turn. This time, I've chosen the third effect of [Dragon's Shadow]—when the effect of a card that targets a Dragon-Type monster on my field is activated, I can activate it to negate that effect!"

Manjoume pointed at the [Millennium Eye Sacrifice Demon] and shouted: "[Dragon's Shadow Light], resist everything!"

Behind the [Dragon of Light and Darkness], the phantom of its evolved form—the [Dragon King of Light and Darkness]—appeared. The power of light and darkness, white and gold, black and purple, converged and transformed into a shockwave that wiped out everything. It instantly cleared the golden barrier that the [Millennium Eye Sacrifice Demon] had just set up. The blinding light not only shattered its golden light in an instant, but also forced the thousand eyes on its body to close, as if it had gone blind!

Without the golden light blocking its path, [Dragon of Light and Darkness] successfully negated the effect of [Bone Boar Throw] that jumped out of the graveyard with its own effect, and then its breath hit [Millennium Eye Nassage] directly!

【Dragon of Light and Darkness】【ATK2800→2300】

【Millennium Eye Sacrifice to the Demon】【ATK0】

"Whoa!!!"

[Xiewan: 900LP→0]

As the basic division was cleared, the screaming Xie Wan vanished without a trace. After all, he was just a mirror image created by the [Imitation Illusionist] based on Manjoume. With his disappearance, not only did the Duel Disk on his right arm, which was opposite to Manjoume's, fall off, but a card also floated out of Xie Wan's body and landed on the ground.

Wan Zhangmu stepped forward and saw that the card was indeed the true form of Xie Wan—[Imitation Fantasy Master].

"Yo, isn't this [Imitation Fantasy Master]?" Seeing [Imitation Fantasy Master] trembling and crouching in the corner in the card image, completely unlike his previous arrogant attitude of "I, [Imitation Fantasy Master], am the boss here," Manjoume picked up the card and mocked him mercilessly.

"【Imitation Fantasy Master】I was wrong, I will never talk nonsense in duels again." With his card in the hands of Manjoume, the 【Imitation Fantasy Master】who seemed to have French blood also surrendered very pragmatically.

[Disruption·Huang] couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing [Imitation Fantasy Master's] words, "Wow! Now that Wan Zhangmu has knocked [Imitation Fantasy Master] to the ground, he's definitely going to capture it and make it his slave!"

"What's the point of having such a vivid imagination, you piece of trash?" Manjoume said, then realized that it was [Disruption Yellow] who had spoken. He frowned and turned around. "Wait a minute, you just disappeared suddenly, and you didn't run away?"

"Hehehe, I just left the scene as soon as you encountered [Imitation Fantasy Master], so as not to disturb your duel~" [Disruption Yellow] wiggled his butt and grinned cheekily.

"Heh, I think you just want to distance yourself from me to avoid being targeted by this guy, right?" Wan Zhangmu sneered, brandishing the [Imitation Fantasy Master] card in his hand, directly exposing [Disruption Yellow]'s lie. "You're pretty quick to change your tune, not only protecting yourself at the first moment, but also daring to come back shamelessly afterwards?"

"Because, even though I was forced, I promised Manjoume I'd be your guide, cough cough cough—" She patted her chest, then coughed uncontrollably from the force, causing Manjoume to wipe away the spittle with her sleeve in disgust. [Disruption·Yellow] paused before continuing, "Because promises must be kept~"

"Hmm? Contrary to his appearance, he's actually quite trustworthy?" Manjou looked at [Disruption·Yellow] with some surprise.

"Because Ani said that anyone who breaks the promise will be stabbed to death by a guy called 'Evil Sword Immortal'~"

"Huh? Another story made up by Hayato-sensei?" Manjoume looked at the cold sweat pouring down [Disruption Yellow] without a care, completely ignoring the cards that had fallen to the ground and walking into the supply station to start looking for food.

"Huh? Manjoume, aren't you going to pick up the cards on the ground?"

[Disruption·Yellow] was somewhat puzzled, but when Manjoume heard his words, he turned around and asked in return, "Why do you think it's normal to pick up other people's cards after a duel?"

"Because that's what Annie always did for him, right?" [Disruptive Yellow] counted on his fingers, "Once, ten times, twenty times... Just like how a person can't remember how many slices of bread they've eaten, I can't even remember how many times Annie stole the opponent's entire deck after winning against them~"

"Besides, the [Requiem Demons] in the [Imitation Fantasy] deck are only in a cooperative relationship with it and don't have any masters themselves."

"A card spirit without a master?" Manjoume found a box of instant noodles and an electric pot, filled it with water from the supply depot, and started cooking the noodles. While doing so, he asked [Disruption Yellow], "Just consider this a way to pass the time. Tell me more."

“Although Annie didn’t say I could tell you, he didn’t seem to say I couldn’t either, so it shouldn’t be a problem to tell you.” [Disruption·Yellow] said with her hands on her hips, somewhat smugly, “Actually, besides some of the monsters on the island being cards that Annie raised himself, a considerable number of them are ‘wild’ card monsters.”

"And those cards came from cards that were discarded by the students at the Duel Academy."

"Although cards like [Millennium Eye Requiem] and [Requiem Fusion] were given to me by Annie, their power is actually based on the self-awakened card spirit of [Requiem]. And that [Requiem] card was one that I personally saw Annie find among the discarded cards of the students. The same goes for [Imitation Fantasy Master]."

"Huh? Even [Sacrifice Demon]? What idiot would discard such a rare card?" Manjoume said with considerable surprise. "Moreover, there are actually trashy people in the school who don't even value their own cards?"

Although Manjoume usually acts like a power-obsessed player who only cares about strength and doesn't care about the interesting stories behind the cards or the beautiful card art, and is also a supporter of the "cup theory" and likes to classify cards into "medium cup", "large cup", and "super cup", he still has a passion for Duel Monsters and will not hide his contempt for those who abandon cards.

“Although Anigei has written relevant regulations in the student handbook, he can’t monitor everyone, can he?” [Disruption Yellow] also sighed helplessly. “With so many cards sold by the Duel Academy, the number of discarded cards is naturally not small either. After all, there will always be people who draw relatively weak cards. With so many discarded cards, they have accumulated a lot of resentment, and it is in this environment that they have awakened their own self.”

"If I hadn't followed Ani-gei back then, things would probably have turned out the same way..."

Blinking its big eyes, [Disruption Yellow] suddenly remembered that its three brothers had awakened not from a Monster Card, but from the Trap Card [Disruption Trio]. That meant it wouldn't be discarded like the other cards? Oh well, that makes sense~

"Tsk, that laugh is disgusting, get out of my way!" Wan Zhangmu looked at [Disruption·Huang] with disgust, casually picked up a sausage from the side and threw it at him, then started eating the noodles he had already cooked.

He needed to replenish his energy and get some rest. Who knew where the older Jaden and Edward were? He wasn't willing to settle for third place.

As for Marufuji Sho, who started even earlier than Judai? Manjoume never imagined that that nobody would have a chance to make it into the top three.

Chapter 1463 Mathematics Doesn't Lie To You

Although both Manjoume and Asuka were worried that others who had started earlier might have already surpassed them by too much, they rested and replenished their supplies at the supply points they found as quickly as possible to recover their strength and prepare to set off again.

But in reality, they overlooked something quite important.

First of all, not everyone knows about the existence of Card Spirits, nor do they know that Duel Monsters can go a step further than virtual images and become physical objects;

Secondly, even if one knows about the card spirits and realizes that the Duel Monsters have materialized, not everyone can learn from their respective spirits that this environment can materialize their Duel Monsters like Jaden and Manjoume, two rare "spirit users." Without a mind like Asuka's, it would be difficult to remain calm and make bold judgments in the face of a sudden crisis.

Finally, although last year's "Duel-Links" seemed to be a trial for a select few, with most people merely spectating and taking a stroll through the virtual world, it cannot be denied that it was precisely because of the experience of controlling real-life Duel Monsters in a game that those who had played the game planted the vague idea in their minds that "I can control Duel Monsters to fight."

Don't underestimate this point. It was because of this that Asuka was able to think of this action plan while she was on her way to escape. You know, most people would only think about whether to escape or not. Even if they stayed and did not give up the fight but continued to fight, they would only think about whether they could find any weapons from the surrounding area or use the terrain to fight. No one would be so crazy as to think about using a non-physical Duel Monster image to fight against a real monster in front of them.

Having experienced numerous crises alongside Jaden, Asuka was already aware of the supernatural powers possessed by Duel Monsters. Having also experienced the "Duel-Links" world and even being one of the top four players alongside Jaden in experiencing the incredibly realistic card game in that world, it's perfectly reasonable for her to consider trying to summon monsters when dealing with the Harpies. As for Manjoume, needless to say, the Dragon of Light and Darkness was practically whispering in his ear to exchange information with him.

However, the fact that the two of them were able to repel the materialized Duel Monsters they encountered for the first time and then find a supply point to rest does not mean that others can do the same, including Ed Phoenix, who set off even earlier than them.

Cold...shivering...

Ed Phoenix opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back on a wooden board, the vibrations seeming to have come from the board.

The source of the "cold" feeling... When Edward sat up, he found that the suit he was wearing, and even the long sleeves underneath, had been taken off and replaced with a thin shirt.

"Hey, you're awake, Edward."

A voice came from behind Ed. Because he was facing away from the light source, Ed couldn't see the other person's face clearly, but he could at least see that the other person was holding a hammer as a weapon.

Who are you?!

The wary Edward shrank back slightly to keep his distance from the other person, but this only amused the man, who laughed and said, "What's with that weird defensive posture? It's like I did something to you. I'm clearly your savior, aren't I?"

"My savior?" Edward paused, as if he remembered something.

He seemed to remember that after jumping off the plane and entering the forest, he was on high alert, but he did not expect that there would be living trees in the forest. Their appearance was extremely similar to the Plant-type monster card "Blood Orchid" in Duel Monsters. He barely managed to escape from its attack when he was caught off guard.

Although he knew of the existence of supernatural forces before, the supernatural forces that Edward knew were things like Saio's divination and the souls in the Duel Monsters cards. He had never even seen a card spirit in person, and he never imagined that Duel Monsters could actually materialize and appear in the world.

However, Edward quickly came to understand the special circumstances of the island afterward, learned about the new knowledge of "Duel Monster materialization," and soon connected it with his only supernatural experience so far—being held hostage by [D·hero Blood Demon-D] controlled by DD when he was a child.

To ensure he could protect himself if he encountered another sudden attack from materialized Duel Monsters, Edward decisively stopped advancing and chose to first experiment with materializing Duel Monsters in the forest. His first experimental target was naturally his most trusted card – [D·hero Blood Demon-D].

However, if everyone could simply think about what they wanted to do and actually achieve it, then geniuses wouldn't be called geniuses anymore. So-called talent is something even more cruel than mathematics.

Others may deceive you, but math won't, because if you don't know math, you simply don't know it; and even with math, if it's just an exam, you can at least copy some plausible answers, or at least get a "answer" grade even if you don't know anything. But the talent required for Duel Monsters is so desperate it's suffocating; without talent, you can't even come up with the slightest answer.

Was it about fifteen times? Or eighteen times? In any case, at least ten or twenty times, after Ed understood the special nature of the island's environment, Ed, as an excellent duelist, used his card [D·hero Blood Demon-D], which he had formed a deep bond with and possessed certain special powers. However, the result was not even as good as Harry Potter's performance when he first learned "Palmtopspoof".

Let alone the materialized [D·hero Blood Demon-D], Edward couldn't even summon a wisp of mist without using the virtual projection device on the Duel Disk. His repeated attempts only exhausted him.

In order to use the heating pack from the self-heating food he carried, Edward decided to fetch water from a nearby stream. After carefully confirming that there were no aquatic monsters lurking in the water and no monsters lurking in the surrounding jungle, Edward cautiously approached the stream to fetch water, constantly keeping an eye on his surroundings, ready to run away at the slightest sign of trouble.

Nothing happened until he finished fetching the water. Ke'er never imagined that while the jungle and the water were fine, the water itself was the problem. It turned out the water was part of a Regenerating Slime, and adding it to the heating pack enraged the otherwise harmless Regenerating Slime. Caught off guard, his head was completely enveloped by the Regenerating Slime, causing him to suffocate and lose consciousness.

After thinking it over, Edward realized that the person in front of him really was his savior. Although he didn't understand how someone could have saved him when Mr. Hayato said it was a deserted island, Edward quickly corrected his attitude and sincerely apologized, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you earlier. Thank you very much for saving my life."