A duelist never gives up!

"Phantom Rabbit, could you please lead the way?" Yuan Qi said to the Phantom Rabbit behind him.

"Leave it to me." Phantom Rabbit walked forward.

"Eh... this Duel Pokémon..." Nefeli frowned as he looked at Phantom Rabbit's back, as if recalling something. "The Duel Pokémon who tried to trick me into participating in that trial ten years ago?"

"Clang!" Just as Ghost Rabbit was about to pull out the knife, Yuan Qi held down the back of his hand.

"Calm down, don't bother with people like him." Yuan Qi whispered into the Phantom Rabbit's ear.

"Humph!"

Ghost Rabbit snorted coldly and said to the door at the end of the space: "The mechanism here has been destroyed. Just push the door open."

"Row."

Yuan Qi pushed open the door and found that the place behind it had become a ruin. A large number of mechanisms were destroyed on the ground. On a high pile of ruins, a young man with dyed green hair was sitting lazily.

"It seems those two losers up front are already dead. I actually lost to a brat like you. What a shame." The young man said as he lightly jumped down, grinning, "But I just happened to be getting bored waiting here."

"Sa, let me hunt your soul!"

The black mist appeared again, but this time Yuan Qi was prepared. He immediately shouted, "Phantom Rabbit!"

"Snapped!"

A silver blade flashed, and the young man was knocked away in an instant, his body embedded in the wall like a mural.

"You...why...don't you duel!" the young man said this with his eyes wide open, his head tilted and he fainted.

"Who wants to duel with you, idiot?" Yuan Qi fumbled around the young man for a while, took out a card box and put it away.

To be honest, he finally understood why the second man in black would engage in a dark duel.

If you win, you get a card deck and make a fortune.

"How did you knock him out?" Nafeli, who came from behind, scratched his hair and said, "I was hoping to get some information from him."

"No need to go through so much trouble." Ghost Rabbit pointed ahead and said, "After passing the next trial, the place behind is where the Duel Pokémon is sealed. The leader of this group must be there."

"The sealed duel spirit," Nefeli murmured. "Is there really someone breaking in for something as incomprehensible as that?"

"Qiang!"

"Calm down, calm down." Yuan Qi comforted the Ghost Rabbit.

The ghost rabbit's red eyes glared at Nefeli fiercely. If looks could kill, she would have killed Nefeli a thousand times.

"You've never seen that Duel Elf, so you don't understand how powerful it is. If the old dean hadn't intervened, the entire Duelist Academy would have been reduced to ashes!"

"So, do you know what the name of that duel elf is?" Yuan Qi couldn't help but ask curiously.

"It's been so long that I've forgotten its full name." Ghost Rabbit shook his head and said, "But I heard from the old dean that it was an extremely powerful fusion monster."

"It seems to be called... something like Super-something-conducting Knight...?"

Chapter 20: The Strongest Self

"It's a name I've never heard of." Nafeli shook his head.

Yuan Qi and Ai looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other's eyes.

Yuan Qi's throat was dry. "I say, isn't the name of that Duel Pokémon Super Magic Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight?"

"I'm not sure, it seems like it and it seems not like it." It happened decades ago, and Ghost Rabbit didn't remember it very clearly.

"Let's move on without further ado." Yuan Qi realized the seriousness of the matter and said quickly.

"Wait." Ghost Rabbit tugged at the corner of Yuan Qi's clothes. "Although the first two trials were disrupted, the third one is impossible to be disrupted. You'd better be cautious."

"What is the third trial?" Xuefeng asked curiously.

"The trial is divided into three stages. The first trial is a theoretical trial. As long as you solve the remaining problems, you can move on to the next trial. The second trial is a practical trial. As long as you defeat the designed automatons, you can enter the next round. The third trial is about breaking through yourself. You need to defeat your strongest self to complete the entire trial."

"Defeat the strongest self?" Xuefeng blinked. "What will happen if I lose?"

"The memory of the trial ground will be erased." Ghost Rabbit replied.

"Then... what would happen if someone passed the first two levels and temporarily didn't want to participate in the third trial and turned back?" Xuefeng asked.

"No one would do that." Ghost Rabbit said coldly, "Because I neither told them the content of the trial in advance nor the consequences of failing the trial."

"Do you mean that if you don't have confidence in yourself, it's better to stop here?" Yuan Qi keenly noticed the meaning of Phantom Rabbit's words.

The Phantom Rabbit didn't say anything, but nodded slightly.

"I'm not interested in the trial. If possible, let me wait here." Julie, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke.

"Then I'll wait here too." Xuefeng said after hesitating for a moment.

"I'm getting stronger every second. Isn't it a matter of minutes to defeat myself?" Nafeli said disdainfully.

"Phantom Rabbit, please protect them." Yuan Qi instructed Phantom Rabbit.

"Are you going?" Ghost Rabbit asked, looking up.

"Well, I have to go." Yuan Qi said.

"If he really is a super magician, we can't let him fall into the hands of people with ulterior motives!" Ai said seriously.

"I understand. I'll just wait here for good news." Ghost Rabbit said with his head down.

"Then let's begin the third trial!"

Yuan Qi pushed open the door, and there was a dazzling white light at first. After the white light faded, he saw the endless blue sky and endless white clouds floating beside him, and he seemed to be standing in this sky, no, or rather, standing on a crystal clear mirror?

"How about this sky?" A cold voice sounded, and Yuan Qi found that a man who looked exactly like him was sitting next to a piano not far away, looking at him with a smile.

"It looks a little familiar. Also, I can't play the piano," Yuan Qi said.

"I can't do it either, I'm just pretending." As he said that, the man snapped his fingers, and the black piano suddenly turned into a white table. Then he took out a chair from somewhere and placed it opposite the table.

"Please sit down. Do you want to play cards?" the man said as he took out the card box and card mat and placed them on the table.

"I thought you wanted to duel with me holding a duel disk." Yuan Qi said as he sat opposite the man.

"Come on, aren't you tired of standing there for 10 to 20 minutes holding a duel disk?" the man complained. "Besides, I don't have any cheats like you. I don't have any duel power at all."

"Hurry up and shuffle the cards. I'm almost done."

"By the way, how are you using the transparent suit? Where's the sister suit? What's the point of playing Yu-Gi-Oh without the sister suit?"

"Are you really me?" Yuan Qi asked doubtfully, "Why would I talk so much?"

"Of course I'm you." The man raised his eyebrows and casually turned over the top card in the deck. A familiar card face was imprinted in Yuan Qi's eyes.

"Besides you, who else plays Magic Dessert and starts with the Postman every day?"

"..."

"You just saw the same version of yourself, and subconsciously kept silent to maintain your sanity. Don't refute me, I know myself."

"That's right." Yuan Qi laughed.

"Done." Yuan Qi simply shuffled the man's deck and handed it to him.

"I've finished washing it too, you roll the dice." The man said, handing a 20-sided dice to Yuan Qi.

"11." Yuan Qi threw it casually.

"Five, tsk." The man clicked his tongue. "You choose first."

"I go first." Yuan Qi drew five cards.

“Is there any chain reaction going into the main stage?”

"No."

"Then I will summon the Jelly Angel." Yuan Qi said, placing the Jelly Angel in his hand on the table.

"Chain, infinite bubbles." The man activated the trap card without hesitation.

"I say, that's too much." Yuan Qi curled his lips, "With my deck construction, you used a hand trap?"

"I already told you that I'm the strongest, so of course I'm using your strongest deck. Isn't it natural to set a trap?"

"Then I'll cover three on you." Yuan Qi said helplessly as he covered three cards.

"Then it's my turn, I draw cards. Is there any chain reaction during the card drawing phase?" the man asked as he drew a card.

"No. By the way, where is Ai?" Yuan Qi asked. He couldn't feel Ai's presence since just now.

"The signal's blocked," the man said. "Please don't cheat in the game, and don't keep thinking about printing cards on the spot."

"Then you continue."

"Okay, is there anything wrong with entering the main stage?" the man asked again.

"It's okay, just move."

"I'll have to delete this crappy deck and play mainstream sooner or later," the man said angrily. "I want to Normal Summon the Postman. Can you let me through?"

"I shuffled your deck for you, and you still got it? Pass, pass, you go ahead." Yuan Qi said, suppressing his laughter.

"You know best the bond between you and the Postman." The man rolled his eyes. "Then I'm going to enter the battle phase. Is it okay for the Postman to attack the Jelly Angel directly?"

"Something's up." Yuan Qi opened the cover card on his right hand side. "I'm activating Scrap Scarecrow to negate your attack."

"Okay, I'll cover for one round and end it."

"Then it's my turn, draw a card," Yuan Qi said, "Is there a chain during the draw phase?"

"Pass."

"Then I'll chain whirlwinds to destroy your backcourt cover."

"Give."

The man sent the cover card in the backfield to the graveyard. It was a Puppet Dessert Trap Card that Yuan Qi did not have now - Puppet Dessert Walk.

"Then I enter the Main Phase. I activate the effect of Jelly Angel, liberate this card, and Special Summon a Golem Dessert from the Deck."

"Wait!" The man suddenly sent a card to the graveyard, "Let me throw a G first."

"..."

Chapter 21: The Strongest? The Weakest?

No matter how careful you are, you can never prevent a hand trap.

This is a popular saying among duelists.

Many people even came to the conclusion that "if a deck is not compatible with hand traps, then this deck has no competitive ability!"

Regardless of whether the conclusion is right or wrong, this sentence also indirectly proves the power of hand traps.

At this moment, Yuan Qi was facing such a situation. The man in front of him used a hand trap called "Proliferation G". Every time he made a special move, he would draw a card from the deck.

"I special summon an owl in defense position." Yuan Qi said cautiously.

"Then I'll draw a card." The man drew a card and looked at Yuan Qi jokingly, "Do you want to continue?"

"No, I'll end the round like this." Yuan Qi shook his head.

"Well, it's my turn. Draw a card." The man casually pulled a card from his deck and then said, "I enter the Main Phase and Normal Summon Owl."

"Next, I activate the effect of Owl, banishing the Proliferation G from the Graveyard and Special Summoning a Golem Dessert from the Deck. I choose..."

"Chain!" Hara Nana suddenly opened the face-up card. "Forbidden Holy Grail! This card can be activated by targeting 1 face-up monster on the field. That monster gains 400 ATK until the end of the turn, and its effect is negated. I choose Magic Dessert: Pancake Owl!"

The man was silent for a moment, then smiled. "I see. No wonder you dared to enter this trial. Is this your method of victory?"

"After all, I know myself very well." Yuan Qi said self-deprecatingly, "If I'm the strongest, then his deck must be very 'weak'."

"Because Golem Dessert is very weak," Yuan Qi said calmly. "It doesn't have the overwhelming board-building power of a deck like the expansion deck, nor does it have the strong operational and interruption capabilities of the pit beat deck. As a mid-range deck, it lacks the necessary supplemental points."

"If a deck like this wants to win, it can only adapt to the meta. If there are a lot of expansion decks, I'll play a lot of Effect Veiler and Nibiru. If there are a lot of graveyard-reliant decks, I'll play House or Crow. If there are a lot of beat decks, I'll play a lot of Wind... The entire deck completely adjusts to the slightest change in the meta. Only in this way can we have a chance of winning."

Yuan Qi explained, "If you're not strong enough, you'll have to rely on external resources. Fortunately, the Magic Puppet Dessert system isn't very large, so I can play a lot of counter-cards."

"But the downside is that once we encounter decks and builds that aren't in the meta, some of the cards we use to target them will become useless!" Yuan Qi said, gazing at the pile of cards in the man's hand. "It looks like you have a lot of cards in hand, but how many of them are actually useful to me?"

"That's a good point, but don't forget, the deck you have right now isn't even a competitive deck. It's just a barely cobbled-together corpse. You only have one extra card. With a deck like that, do you really think you have a chance of winning?" The man said, covering a card. "I'm covering one card. End of turn."

"It's my turn, draw a card!" Yuan Qi looked at the drawn card and raised his eyebrows slightly. It seemed that the formula for victory was about to be completed.