Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"But who are you, appearing on this island?"

"Ah, I know, I know!" Like a child eager to answer the teacher's question in class and wanting to earn points for his academy, Jaden raised his hand and said, "Although Hayato-sensei said that this island is uninhabited and only brought us to the island, he actually found other duelists to be the island's 'safety officers'."

"This uncle said he received payment from Hayato-sensei, so he must be one of the 'safety officers' on the island to protect us, right?"

“There’s a ‘safety officer’ role? I had no idea.” Fubuki raised an eyebrow and glanced at the blond man whose identity she still couldn’t recognize. “The island is indeed a bit dangerous. I don’t know how Hayato-sensei managed to materialize those Duel Monsters, but even Asuka-chan or Manjoume could easily run into danger. It seems like a safety officer is really necessary.”

"However, it's useless to have ordinary duelists as safety officers, isn't it?"

"Hmph, so arrogant." The blond man snorted coldly, displeased. Unlike Judai, he wasn't so oblivious; he immediately understood that this kid, who looked to be barely an adult, was clearly questioning his abilities as a safety officer and as a duelist.

He had just woken up when Judai bumped into him, and even Fubuki's apology couldn't appease him. What's more, Fubuki was questioning him at this moment. The blond man, whose temper was never much better, stood up and looked at Judai and Fubuki with disdain using his 1.9-meter height: "My strength is not something you two brats from the academy can question."

"Although you sound very impressive, to be honest, I only recognize you somewhat. I don't think you have any reputation that people can question," Judai said, scratching the back of his head as he sized up the blond man in front of him.

"whispering sound."

Upon hearing Judai and Fubuki's words, and seeing that neither of them recognized him, the blond man took off his sunglasses, put his headscarf back on, and asked again, "Now?"

It wasn't until he collected the pair of black sunglasses and the bandana with the American flag pattern that Jaden realized, "Oh, so you're Keith Howard!"

"That 'thief' Keith?" Fubuki only recognized Keith's identity after a while, and said subconsciously, "I really didn't recognize him when he took off his headscarf and sunglasses."

"So, now you know why I'm wearing sunglasses, right? Tsk, if I had other more distinctive features, would I like wearing sunglasses in this dark place?"

When Keith returned to the professional dueling world, he was determined to start over. He thought that since he was going to start a new dueling career, he might as well try changing his image. He did try hairstyles such as starfish head with bangs, jellyfish head, crab head, or even tomato head. He also wore all sorts of random accessories on his chest, such as a pyramid model, a disc split in two, a fishbone-like key, or a crystal pendulum.

Unfortunately, my image has long been associated with the American flag pattern on my headscarf and sunglasses, and it's too late to change it with something more distinctive.

There was even a phenomenon where, after Keith took off his sunglasses and headscarf, many people who knew him couldn't immediately associate him with "Keith Howard." Hayato, who knew about this, once complained, "What kind of Superman is this?" Keith was also nicknamed "Homelander" because his headscarf had the American flag printed on it.

“There’s one more thing—” With a serious expression, Keith pointed to himself with his thumb and stroked his short beard, “I’m only thirty-three years old this year, who are you calling ‘uncle’, kid!”

"Thirty-three years old? Isn't that the same age as Kira Aoki-sensei from the Yellow Dorm?" Jaden turned to Fubuki beside her and said, "Last time when Rokujo invited me to the Yellow Dorm for curry, I saw Aoki-sensei, who was unusually staying at school instead of traveling for work. He looked really old. Isn't thirty-three an old man?"

"Mr. Aoki looks older more because he works a lot of overtime, it doesn't really have to do with his age. Also, I seem to remember that Rokuzo's last name isn't that, it's Misawa, right? Misawa Sora." After correcting Judai, but not completely, Fubuki paused and looked at Keith, and couldn't help but say, "But Mr. Keith is American, and he looks older than Mr. Aoki."

"Hey! You two brats, have you had enough?! I'm about to lose my temper!" Keith said with a displeased expression. "Do you two really enjoy chatting in the dark? Can't you go somewhere brighter outside?"

"Oh right, Fubuki, do you want to come with me? I found a supply point." Reminded by Keith, Jaden suddenly remembered and invited Fubuki. "Not only me, but Sho is there too. We also met the island's security personnel at the supply point. They're from the cafeteria... Ah, I remember now, Fubuki, you only returned to the academy last year and haven't been to the cafeteria much, so you might not know the head chef who also only came to the school last year."

Fubuki didn't seem to care much about Judai mentioning that Marufuji Sho was with him. She whistled and said casually, "Well, I couldn't find a supply point, so I just found a clearing in the woods to spend the night. I didn't expect the supply point to be so close to me. But, the last one to parachute down, I'm almost at the same pace as you, Judai, and Marufuji Sho, who jumped much earlier. Is it because I'm really fast?"

Fubuki's words made Jaden scratch his head a little embarrassed: "Well, it's actually a bit awkward. Sho was saved by the safety officer and almost got eliminated. He only regained his qualification by dueling with the safety officer. As for me, I got lost on the island. Manjoume and Asuka's progress should be much faster than ours, right?"

"Even though you say that, Judai, haven't you learned a lot of information I didn't know? Like how you can get help by dueling with the security personnel." Fubuki gave a thumbs up, flashing a bright smile with her teeth showing. "That's so cool! As your brother-in-law, I give you a very high score~"

"Brother-in-law?" Judai didn't understand what Fubuki meant, but simply assumed that he appreciated her actions. "Heh heh, not to brag, but I also met a new friend today—ta-da! A whole new level of power!"

Seeing that Jaden was showing Fubuki his new card, Keith suddenly thought of something and said to Jaden, "You have a new card too? What a coincidence, kid. Why don't you have a duel with me? It'll be a good opportunity for me to test out my new card."

Hayato Kobayashi only said that safety officers should lend a hand when students need help, but he didn't say that they can't bully students, right? This is a perfect opportunity to test the deck and get revenge on this brat for bumping into me and making fun of my mature appearance!

"Really? That's great, Uncle Keith!" Despite Keith's displeased look, Jaden called him "Uncle" again and excitedly carried his Duel Disk. "I was thinking that it would be best to find a chance to test the new cards before completing this 'Wilderness Survival' challenge, so that I won't run into problems when playing with Manjoume and the others later because I'm not familiar with the new cards."

(The consequences of not considering the effects of your own cards)

"Heh, then you'd better watch out, kid." Because Jaden's behavior of showing off his new card to everyone was a bit childish, Keith didn't think Jaden was that strong. Coupled with his reckless behavior, he regarded him as an ordinary kid from the bottom of his heart. After all, not all second-year high school students could be as ridiculously strong as Joeyune Katsuya, Seto Kaiba, Yugi Muto, and the inherently evil Hayato Kobayashi from the Duel Kingdom era, right?

Under Jaden's gaze, Keith confidently pointed to himself, "You said before that your underling defeated the safety officer who saved him and regained his eligibility to participate? Unfortunately, there are different safety officers. Your school cafeteria chef, who temporarily acted as a safety officer, is no match for me!"

A few minutes later—

Standing at one end of the open space, Keith watched the "cook" washing the oil stains off his clothes. Recalling the experience six years ago when Hayato, who had joined Doma, defeated him in a duel and sealed his soul, he felt a little sweaty.

Chapter 1485 Five for one? One for five!

"It's actually 'Thief' Keith! Has Hayato-sensei invited a world-class professional duelist to this island?" Marufuji Sho looked at Keith, who was trying to appear calm, with curiosity.

Beside him, Tenjōin Fubuki, holding a plate of spaghetti in one hand, picked up a roll with her fork and said, "After all, he's the Duel King, so it's normal for him to have a wide network of connections. I suppose Mr. Keith Howard had a very friendly relationship with Hayato-sensei through duels in the past?"

Hearing the two students' speculations about the relationship between Keith Howard and Hayato Kobayashi, Ameruda laughed inwardly, but remained outwardly calm.

"By the way, Mr. Ameruda must have known Hayato-sensei for a long time, right?" Fubuki suddenly remembered something and looked at Ameruda, saying, "Do you know any interesting stories about Hayato-sensei and Mr. Keith from the past?"

"You're asking me? I have no idea what interesting stories they have to tell. You've completely misunderstood me if you're trying to learn about the legendary duelists from me," Ameruda said calmly. "I'm just a cook; I don't have the power of a professional duelist."

To Tenjouin Fubuki and Marufuji Sho, Ameruda meant that although he had known Hayato for a long time, his social interactions did not involve Duel Monsters, and he was unaware of the legendary stories of Hayato and other duelists. This left the two, who wanted to learn more about the legendary duelists' stories that were not recorded on the internet, slightly disappointed, but they still found it quite reasonable.

Little did he know that what Ameruda meant was that he didn't remember when Kobayashi Hayato and the "thief" Keith had ever been on good terms, unlike his relationship with Kaiba Seto, which was full of "Little Stories about Kobayashi Hayato" like "When Kobayashi Hayato came home from school, he found a sign on the door that said it couldn't be opened from this side" or "When Kaiba Seto was taking his medicine, Kobayashi Hayato would read the instructions and interrupt his medicine bottle."

Also, his last sentence, including the omitted part, is actually, "I'm just a cook, I don't have the (weak) strength of a professional duelist (like the thief Keith).

"Tsk, he still has some psychological trauma." Although he was indeed frightened at first, Keith calmed down and was not too afraid of Ameruda. He was more nervous because his PTSD was suddenly triggered. After taking a few deep breaths, he regained his composure and looked at Judai. "It's been five or six years. It's all Kobayashi Hayato's fault."

"Forget it, let's focus on the duel for now. Even though my opponent is just a kid, I know that 'even a lion needs to go all out to catch a rabbit.'"

After checking his deck, Keith inserted it into his Duel Disk and shouted at his opponent, Jaden, "Are you ready, kid?"

"Os! I'm all set." Jaden finished adjusting his deck and inserted it into the Duel Disk.

After exchanging a glance, they shouted in unison, "Duel!" x2

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Keith Howard: 4000LP, 5 in hand

"I'll take the first turn! My turn, draw!" Jaden seized the initiative by drawing his card first. He glanced at the card he had drawn and played it without hesitation. "Without any monsters on my field, I activate the Spell Card 'Transform Contact'. I select one 'N' card from my hand and one from my Deck and send them to the Graveyard. Then I draw two cards from my Deck."

Jaden retrieves a card from his deck, reveals it along with another card from his hand to Keith, and sends them to the graveyard: "The cards I'm sending to the graveyard are [N-Earth Mole] from my hand and this [N-Flame Beetle] from my deck."

"Next, I draw a card from my deck, Draw!"

Jaden drew a card from his deck, completing the graveyard clearing of two [N] cards without losing any cards in his hand. After glancing at the card he had drawn, Jaden immediately played it out.

"Then, I'll activate this trap card from my hand—[New Space Expansion]!"

Upon seeing this, Keith was also taken aback: "It's actually a trap card like [Battle of the Titans] or [Infinite Impermanence], activated directly from the hand?"

"Oh? Mr. Keith, you've noticed Caesar too." The card [Infinite Impermanence] was one that Marufuji Ryo only started using after entering the professional dueling world. Keith's knowledge of its existence wasn't unexpected for Jaden. Holding up his [Neo-Spatial Expansion] card, which wasn't yet in the Spell & Trap Zone, he explained, "Just like [Infinite Impermanence], my [Neo-Spatial Expansion] also has the ability to be activated from my hand even when there are no cards on my field."

"Then, under the effect of [New Space Expansion], I can Special Summon any number of [N] monsters and [E-Hero Neos] monsters in Defense Position from my hand and Graveyard. This effect can Special Summon a maximum of one monster with the same name."

On the field of the tenth generation, five wormholes with rainbow light flowing inside opened at the same time, from which sparks, bubbles, rocks, whirlwinds and a flash of light flew out!

Judai retrieves two cards that he just placed in the graveyard, and then plays them, along with three other cards from his hand—a total of five cards—onto his field all at once!

"I Special Summon [N-Flame Beetle] and [N-Earth Mole] from my Graveyard, and [N-Sky Hummingbird] and [N-Water Dolphin] from my hand, along with [E-Hero Neos]!"

"Let's go, Mina!"

A seven-colored rainbow burst forth, and on Jaden's field, one new monster after another made a magnificent appearance, guarding Jaden's front.

【N·Flame Beetle】【3☆/Flame】

[Insect Clan/Effect]

[500/500]

【N·Earth Mole】【3☆/Earth】

[Rock Faction/Effect]

[900/300]

【N·Sky Hummingbird】【3☆/Wind】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[800/600]

【N·Water Wave Dolphin】【3☆/Water】

[Warrior Race/Effect]

[600/800]

【E·hero Neo-Universe】【7☆/Light】

[Warrior/Normal]

[2500/2000]

"One, he Special Summoned five monsters in one go!?" Marufuji Sho stared wide-eyed from the sidelines. "That's too strong! Is that Big Brother's new card?!"

"While their individual strength isn't particularly outstanding, their sheer numbers completely make up for it. Summoning five monsters at once is truly outrageous," Fubuki exclaimed. "What's more, there's that imposing-looking [E·hero Neos], 'Neos'—could his design be based on Ultraman Neos? Just look at his stance, and you know he's ridiculously strong!"

However, at this moment, Amelda poured cold water on the idea, saying, "Do I need to remind you? The [E·hero Neos] that you're focusing on is just a normal monster with no effect. According to Jaden Yuki, it's because the Ultraman Neos he remembered from his childhood didn't have many special abilities."

"Huh? It really is a Normal Monster." Marufuji Sho looked around the field and realized that [E·Hero Neos] was indeed ineffective, but he still said, "But it doesn't matter, because the other [N] Monsters don't seem to be useless. They cover the four elements of earth, water, wind, and fire, so their effects must be very strong!"

Although Marufuji Sho only knew the effect of [N-Water Wave Dolphin] from Jaden and didn't have time to memorize the effects of the other [N] monsters, he was confident in Jaden that the effects of the other [N] monsters wouldn't be too far removed from [N-Water Wave Dolphin] and should all be about the same level of power.

At this moment, Jaden began to explain the effects of his monsters: "The [N] monsters from the 'New Space' have taken their forms based on the elements and creatures of Earth, and thus have acquired their own different effects."

"My [N Flame Beetle] gains 400 ATK for each Spell/Trap Card on my field, based on the number of Spell/Trap Cards my opponent controls; when [N Earth Mole] battles an opponent's monster, return both monsters to their respective owners' hands; [N Sky Hummingbird] can restore 500 Life Points to me once per turn, based on the number of cards in my opponent's hand."

After a pause, without explaining the effect of [N·Water Wave Dolphin], Jaden chose to activate the effect of [N·Sky Hummingbird] first, saying, "Now, while Mr. Keith on the other side has a full five cards in his hand, I'll activate the effect of [N·Sky Hummingbird] once to restore 2500 of my life points!"

As he spoke, Jaden opened his arms, waiting for [N·Sky Hummingbird] to bring him the Life Points.

However, Jaden's N·Sky Hummingbird awkwardly scratched a few strands of hair on its head and said to Jaden, "Sorry, Jaden, I don't think I can recover your Life Points right now."

"Even if the opponent has a magic trap card, I won't increase my attack power." [N·Flame Beetle] said coolly, arms crossed.

【N·Earth Mole】rubbed his hands together: "Me too, I can't return the opponent's monsters to my hand either."

"Huh?" Jaden blinked, puzzled. "Why?"

"So Jaden, when you use cards, remember to read all the effects." [N-Water Wave Dolphin] said helplessly, pointing to [New Space Expansion] on Jaden's back field that he hadn't put into the graveyard yet, "The reasons are all written there."

Upon hearing this, Jaden picked up the card and read its effect: "The effect of [New Space Expansion] allows a maximum of one Special Summoned Monster of the same name... and the Special Summoned Monster's effects are negated? Huh?"

"I see, I thought..." Judai didn't continue, and awkwardly touched his nose. "Luckily I didn't use your effect, [N·Water Wave Dolphin], otherwise I would have wasted my hand."

"Laughing my head off, it's obvious you're really not familiar with the new cards at all. Even if you're not good at using them, remembering the card effects should be the most basic thing, right?" Seeing Jaden's predicament, Keith laughed loudly without any mercy. "You summoned a bunch of monsters with no mechanics and no stats, which is a completely ineffective combo. You even used up all your cards in your hand, leaving you with only two left."

The Special Summon of [New Space Expansion] is indeed powerful, but unfortunately, three of the monsters in it are Special Summoned from Jaden's hand instead of from the Graveyard. This reduces his hand size from six to just two. Anyone who sees this would think that unless he pulls out a card like [Heavenly Treasure], it will be difficult for him to make any more plays.

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, hand size 6→2]

However, Jaden smiled upon hearing Keith's words, drew a card from his hand and waved it: "You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Keith. Although I couldn't use monster effects to demonstrate the power of the 'Neo-Spatial' monsters, they did give me a card that can effectively solve the biggest drawback of Fusion decks."

"That's—this magic card, [Space Gift]!"

As Jaden inserted the card into the Spell & Trap Zone, the colorful rainbow light reappeared. However, this time it did not send monsters to Jaden's field, which was already full of monsters, but instead spat out a gift box that fell from the sky.