Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: The Path of Evolution

The quarterfinals have ended.

The spots for the final four have been decided, and Guan Bai and Allen are among them.

To celebrate their advancement, Joel set up a barbecue grill on the studio balcony and brought out very expensive real beef and chicken that she had purchased long ago.

It's important to know that in the satellite region, synthetic foods are the mainstream, while natural foods are rare and hard to find even if you have the money.

Now he's bringing it out to celebrate for the two of them; you have to say, Joel is really generous.

"After all, half of that money is what I earned..."

Allen ate his barbecue while muttering complaints under his breath.

Once he left the card table, he reverted to his usual honest and unassuming self.

"Half? I did say before that the studio's funds came from your competition earnings... So where did the other half come from?"

Guan Bai asked curiously.

Joel was grilling meat on the side when he suddenly came over and said something.

"Of course I will! I also often work part-time at underground tournaments, doing betting."

Kanpaku roughly understood.

"So, you'd bet on Allen to win in those smaller betting tournaments where he's likely to win?"

"That's right~ And I also placed bets on both of you in this competition, and I made a fortune! Mr. Kanpaku, just wait and see how much your share of the winnings is this month."

That's great.

Guan Bai didn't say anything and continued to enjoy the grilled beef.

These sizzling slices of meat were grilled to perfection; Joel's cooking skills were quite good.

In the dark, cold night, the red heat from the grill can not only be used to grill meat, but also to warm your hands, making it a multi-purpose appliance.

After a satisfying meal, the three began discussing the upcoming matches.

Jol introduced the opponents the two would face in the semifinals.

"Because this year's competition was too intense, the organizers made a last-minute decision to shuffle the players and rematch them."

Disrupt the matchmaking!

Allen's heart jumped. Could it be that they were matched up together?

That would be a huge joke. If people from the same studio were to clash, eliminating any of them would be a bad thing...

And if I run into Kanpaku, I'm definitely going to be eliminated!

Joel saw through the expression on Allen's face and shook his head slightly.

"Don't worry, that didn't happen. Kanpaku, your opponent in the semifinals is a disciple from the Densetsu Dojo, named... Samejima Kawaryu."

Upon hearing that the worst-case scenario had not occurred, both Guan Bai and Allen breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, Kanpaku mentally assessed the opponent's situation.

The opponent's surname is Samejima?

It seems highly likely that he is a descendant or distant relative of Principal Samejima from GX.

As for electron flow...

Machine-type decks like "Emperor of the Machines" and "Next Generation" are quite effective, but that's about it.

Kanpaku really likes the Cyber ​​Dragon deck. He even deliberately dropped his rank in Mega Drive for a period of time just to have fun playing Cyber ​​Dragon.

But because he had played Cyber ​​Dragon decks many times, he also knew that it was a deck that was mostly useless.

Especially during the 5ds era, it was incredibly salty.

It's a fusion deck, but the deck doesn't have a way to search for fusion cards; the fusion material requires Cyber ​​Dragon, but only Cyber ​​Dragon itself can be used for hand fusion.

Although Overload Fusion and CyberBrain Hemorrhage have been shown in the anime world, it still cannot reverse the overall weakness of this deck.

Without the cheap graveyard clearing and backrow sweeping of Chimera Dragon, and without the summoning and searching of Cyber ​​Dragon Core, this deck is so difficult to even operate.

What about looking back? This deck is an anime deck; it must have been quite popular when it first debuted, right?

Sorry, no!

How can Cyber ​​Dragon, which is even more lacking in cards than it is now, possibly compete with the mainstream OCG of the GX era?

So it's no wonder that Kaiser Ryo struggled every day and eventually sought the power of the electron.

But when he saw that those electronic cards were actually even more worthless, I wonder what he felt?

However, despite the weak electron flow, Kanpaku doesn't think this semi-final will be easy - because someone who can make it to the top four with electron flow must be no pushover!

Looks like I need to prepare some targeted cards in advance...

While Kanpaku was pondering, Joel was also explaining the opponent's information to Allen.

"Alan, your opponent is Miyako Torado. This is his first time appearing in this underground tournament. As for his dueling style... he seems to be very good at finding his opponent's weaknesses."

Allen frowned and asked a question.

"What does it mean to be good at finding your opponent's weaknesses? Can that even be considered a dueling style?"

Allen's words struck Guan Bai like a bolt of lightning.

The name "Kimi Torado" matches the appearance of the duelist I saw on TV before.

He remembered!

Isn't this the "data collector" who got beaten up by Aki in the Lucky Cup anime?

This person's specialty is opening boxes and then targeting the opponent's psychology and deck simultaneously; it's incredibly insidious.

Therefore, in the end, after breaking through Izayoi Aki's mental defenses, he was severely injured in a mental duel.

This is not someone you can easily deal with...

I didn't expect him to participate in the underground dueling tournament. What's his purpose? Is it for D-Wheel?

Thinking of this, Guan Bai spoke up to remind him.

"I've seen this guy duel elsewhere; he's the kind of guy who adjusts his deck based on his opponent."

In short, he's a master of countering monsters, box dogs, and counter cards.

Allen paused for a moment, then became worried.

"With all those underground tournaments I've participated in, wouldn't he have thoroughly analyzed all my decks?"

Guan Bai nodded helplessly.

"To counter him, it's best to change your deck-building style, or even better, use a different deck."

Allen sighed.

"There's nothing I can do about it. I'm already short on cards, and I can't adjust my current deck style for the time being. Even if I rashly switch decks, I'm unlikely to be as comfortable with them as I am with the Scrap Metal deck."

The frustration in Allen's words was obvious, which made Guan Bai feel a little uncomfortable as well.

But as duelists, even this little bit of information must be taken into consideration.

If things go according to Allen's plan, Kanpaku's opponent in the finals will most likely be this Kurimiya.

Guan Bai touched his chin and suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.

He currently has two decks that can form a fighting force: one is Next Generation, and the other is Valley of the Dawn.

If he is to deal with this coming palace, he must try to hide the Valley of Mist as far back as possible.

However, this would mean he would need to continue using next-generation weapons to fight Cyber ​​Dragon.

Next-generation decks that primarily use Machine-type decks will be heavily countered by Cyber ​​Dragon.

The reputation of the Tire Dragon is well-deserved; just one Electro Dragon can send all the Mechs on the field rolling around like tires.

However, if he brings out the Valley of the Mist ahead of time, he will be targeted by the Palace.

Tsk, I'm a bit conflicted...

After a brief preparatory meeting, it was already late at night.

Allen was in a hurry to get home, otherwise his mother would lock him out. Joel needed to continue studying the enemy's intelligence.

Guan Bai had just gone through a mental struggle, so he took a walk near the studio to let the evening breeze clear his head.

As he walked to the entrance of the alley, a tall figure suddenly appeared in Guan Bai's field of vision.

It is Yamashiro Tsuyoshi.

Guan Bai quickly hid in the shadows, turning his head to observe the guy who had been eliminated by Allen.

This person and several thugs were looking around, as if searching for something.

Do we even need to guess what it's for?

Kanpaku understood; they were probably here to settle scores!

I was in a bad mood at the time.

Let's play a cat-and-mouse game with these thugs!