The protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! world might be the same person.

O'Brien shook his head with difficulty. "No, I'm a mercenary... Ordinary illnesses couldn't have made me like this... It feels like all the energy in my body has been drained away..."

Upon hearing this, Judai Lin's eyes narrowed. 'It sounds like a dark fantasy game, but I haven't sensed any dark power at work.'

So he summoned his elven power to examine it closely, "What is this!?"

"What's wrong, Judai?"

Asuka, who was standing nearby, walked over curiously.

Jaden explained with a serious expression, "O'Brien's condition is a bit strange right now. It's as if the energy in his body has been drained by something, but it doesn't seem like a Dark Duel."

This was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre situation.

Chapter 216 VS Jim

One night later, in the college ward.

Everyone frowned as they looked at O'Brien, the dark-faced man lying on the hospital bed.

"What exactly is going on? Why are people falling unconscious after the duels?"

"Who exactly is behind this sabotage?"

Because of what happened yesterday, Jaden went to investigate: "I found that many people became weak after the duel, not just one side, but both sides of the duel showed this symptom, which is very strange."

"I have a guess about this."

It wasn't just one of the few people present who said this.

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound, and a cowboy with a bandage wrapped around his right eye and carrying an alligator walked in.

"I remember your name is Jim, right?"

In response to Judai's question, the man nodded and replied, "Yes, Jim Claudel Cook, nice to meet you, Judai Yuki."

"Oh, please advise me."

Jim continued, "Back to the topic, Karen... oh, that is, the family on my back (referring to the crocodile) has been acting strangely since yesterday."

"It seems that somewhere on this island, strong electromagnetic waves are generated, which stimulate the reptiles' fighting instincts."

"Yesterday, a very strong electromagnetic wave suddenly appeared in the evening, and Karen began to go berserk."

Upon hearing this, Judai stroked his chin and muttered, "That time coincided with my duel with O'Brien. Is it related to the duel? What does it have to do with O'Brien's fall?"

“Emmmm…” He hesitated for a moment, then asked, “What can you think of, Jim?”

"Although we can't be sure, we can give it a try!"

"Try it? How do we try it?"

“Let’s duel!” Jim said, raising his right hand to reveal a duel disk.

Judai frowned upon seeing this: "Knowing there are risks involved, you still want to duel me?"

Asuka: "This is too reckless!"

“I came to you specifically because I knew there was a risk.” Jim didn’t seem to care. “After all, you’re the only one who wasn’t affected after the duel. So, I should be the only one who will react and won’t hurt anyone else.”

"Then you're a really nice person!"

"Hehe, please, satisfy my curiosity, Judai!"

"Fine......"

Since the other party had put it that way, Judai couldn't very well refuse.

......

The group moved into the dueling arena, where Jaden and Jim stood on the platform.

"Listen up, Jaden! If the same thing happens after this duel, I'll fall regardless of who wins or loses, so go all out in this duel! I don't want to miss this opportunity with such a worthy opponent..."

"Oh, that's interesting. Then I won't stand on ceremony!"

The two quickly set up their duel disks and began their duel.

"Duel!!" ×2

[Yujo Judai: LP4000]

Jim Claudel Cook: LP4000

"I'll go first, Judai!"

Not daring to be careless, Jim secured the first strike.

"My turn, draw a card!"

Jim Claudel Cook's handcards: 5 → 6

After glancing at his hand, he immediately played the card: "I summon [Pachycephalosaurus] in Defense Position!"

hum!

A flash of white light appeared on the field, and a fossil of a Pachycephalosaurus was summoned.

[Pachycephalosaurus fossil dinosaur: Defense 1300]

"It's this card?!" Jaden's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the monster.

This card is quite effective against his deck.

Jim pointed to the fossil dinosaur and explained, "As long as the [Pachycephalosaurus] is on the field, neither side can perform a Special Summon."

"Bury a card, end the turn."

Jim Claudel Cook's handcards: 6 → 4

Because of this card's effect, Jaden was forced into a situation where he could only fight Axe King head-on.

I never expected my opponent to play such an inhuman card; it was completely unexpected for Jaden.

"My turn, draw a card!"

[Yuki Jaden's hand cards: 5 → 6]

After glancing at his hand, Jaden immediately placed a card onto the Duel Disk: "I summon Elemental HERO Flamewaker in Attack Position."

A golden light flashed, and a warrior engulfed in flames appeared.

[Elemental Heroes: Flame Warrior - Attack Power 1200]

[Yuki Jaden's hand cards: 6 → 5]

"Then I activate Flamebringer's monster effect, sending one Elemental HERO card other than myself from my Deck to the Graveyard. This card gains the same Attribute, ATK, and DEF for this turn."

"I've sent [Elemental Hero Necromancer Dark Knight] to the graveyard..."

[Elemental Heroes: Flame Warrior - Attack Power 1200 → 1600, Fire → Dark]

Then Jaden waved his hand and shouted, "Go! Blaze, attack Pachycephalosaurus!"

Upon receiving the attack order, Blaze immediately rushed forward, unleashing a fiery fist imbued with darkness that pierced through the fossilized dinosaur.

boom--! !

The fossilized dinosaur instantly turned into stones scattered all over the ground.

"Do you think this level of attack will be effective?"

Jim quickly swung his arm and shouted, "Activate the Continuous Trap [Call of the Dead]! Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position!"

"Rise, [Pachycephalosaurus fossil dinosaur]!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the fossil fragments on the ground suddenly gathered together and reassembled into a fossil dinosaur.

[Pachycephalosaurus fossil dinosaur: Attack power 1200]

"Do you want to continue with the blockade tactic...?" Judai scoffed at this.

"Then I'll lay one more card in my pocket, and the turn will end."

[Yuki Jaden's hand cards: 5 → 4]

As the round ended, Blaze's attributes returned to normal.

[Elemental Heroes: Flame Warrior - Attack Power 1600 → 1200, Dark → Fire]

Asuka: "It's rare to see Judai fighting so restrained..."

John nodded in agreement: "After all, Jaden's hero deck relies heavily on special summons. If special summons are restricted, the hero deck loses its explosive power."

"My turn, draw a card!"

Jim Claudel Cook's handcards: 4 → 5

After drawing the card, Jim first played another monster: "I summon [Weathering Warrior] in Attack Position!"

hum!

Another light flashed, and a stone figure with a body connected by fossils was projected.

[Weathered Warrior: Attack Power 2000]

Jim Claudel Cook's handcards: 5 → 4

'It's [Weathered Warrior]? Then Jim's deck is a fossil deck?'

Chapter 217 Fossil Fusion

Just when Jaden thought Jim was about to attack, the latter played an unexpected card.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Breath of God' from my hand, and destroy all Rock-Type monsters on the field."

[Jim Claudel Cook's hand cards: 4 → 3]

John exclaimed in surprise, "To deliberately destroy one's own monster—what a reckless act!"

"No, there must be some meaning to doing this."

Asuka has been with Judai for so long, she's seen all sorts of weird decks, so this kind of move isn't surprising at all.

Jaden understood the significance of doing so: "Eliminate the influence of [Pachycephalosaurus Fossilized Dinosaur] while using the effect of [Weathered Warrior] to obtain the core card of the deck."

“You guessed right…” Jim couldn’t help but smile wryly. This kind of thing couldn’t be kept from Judai after all.

"At this moment, the monster effect of [Weathered Warrior] activates!"

This effect can be activated if this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect or destroyed by battle. Add 1 card with the "Fossil Fusion" name other than "Weathered Warrior" or a "Fossil Fusion" card from your Deck to your hand.

"Using this effect, I added [Fossil Fusion] to my hand from my deck."

Jim Claudel Cook's handcards: 3 → 4

"Then, when I have [Fossil Fusion] in my hand, I activate this card from my hand..."

Jim said, throwing out the second magic card.

"Magic Card: [Specimen Viewing]!"

You can activate this effect by showing your opponent 1 "Fossil Fusion" card from your hand. Send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard, declaring 1 of its Type and 1 of its Level. Your opponent can check their hand or Deck; if they have a monster with the declared Type and Level, send 1 of those monsters to the Graveyard.

"I discard the [Shell Knight] card from my hand, and declare myself Warrior, Level Seven!"

Jim Claudel Cook's handcards: 4 → 2

John: "Targeting Neoskewer...? No, there's more than just Neoskewer as a Level 7 Warrior monster in the HERO deck."

as predicted......

Without hesitation, Jaden placed a monster into the graveyard, saying, "I'm sending Elemental HERO Goldblade to the graveyard."

Jim then continued, "The monster effect of [Shell Knight] is activated!"

This effect can be activated if this card is sent to the Graveyard by an effect or destroyed by battle. Add 1 Level 8 Rock-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. If you have "Fossil Fusion" in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon it without adding it to your hand. This turn, you cannot activate the effects of that card or any cards with the same name.

"Based on this card's effect, I'm adding one 'Earth Giant' to my hand from my deck."

After completing the search, he immediately showed off the [Fossil Fusion] in his hand.

"Activate the Spell Card [Fossil Fusion]!"

"Just like the name of this card, it unearths fossils buried in the strata and merges them."

"I will use the effect of Fossil Fusion to Fusion Summon the Rock-type monsters I unearthed from the strata and the monsters sleeping in your strata, namely [Fossil Dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus] and [Elemental HERO Goldblade], banishing monsters from both of your graveyards."