Returning with a Full Haul

Once Kaiba was done here, he quickly went off to handle his own business. Kira, meanwhile, continued following Mokuba to the KaibaCorp branch office.

By the time he came out, he was carrying a large box packed full of cards.

Kira figured that even if he had no use for them, taking them back to sell was still a good option.

After carefully picking through them, Kira roughly divided the cards he had selected into three categories.

The first category was generic cards that he judged to still be fairly valuable in this environment. There was nothing especially rare in this category, though; the pricier ones were mostly cards like Mirror Force and Magic Cylinder.

The second category consisted of cards that did not seem especially useful at first glance, but which reminded him of specific combos, specialized decks, or situations where they might come in handy. Some of these cards would feel like bricks most of the time when Drawing into Hand, but once he became proficient in the art of topdecking, they could elegantly solve boards that generic cards could not.

The third category was the completely useless but simply expensive type, much like many of the cards in his original deck when he had first crossed over.

He had naturally sold off those overpriced, useless Normal Monsters from the original deck as soon as he arrived. Combined with the tournament prize money from before the Moonflower Cup and the dojo subsidy, they had become his starting capital, and he had gotten a decent price for them. So now, he naturally stuck to the same approach: as long as he did not spot cards he needed, he would pick out the expensive ones to pack away, sell them for money, and buy what he needed later when the opportunity arose.

So overall, this trip had been quite fruitful. Among the cards that had struck him as incredible at first sight, these few were the most representative.

Cost Down, Continuous Trap Card.

Effect: Pay 500 Life Points to Normal Summon one monster. This effect can be activated during your Main Phase or your opponent's Battle Phase.

No explanation needed—it was a card that had spent ages on the Forbidden/Limited List. As everyone knew, in Yu-Gi-Oh!, being permanently banned was practically a medal of honor. Every card that could sit firmly on the Forbidden/Limited List year after year had some exceptional trick up its sleeve. None of them were pushovers.

However, this card was not officially imprisoned until 2014. In the GX Era of the physical card game, it had not been banned yet. It was a classic old-school banned card whose effect looked simple and crude at first, but became increasingly outrageous as the game evolved.

Executioner - Makyura, Level Four, ATK 1600

Effect: During the turn this card is Sent to Graveyard, its owner can activate Trap Cards from their hand.

It was originally another ultimate banned card that had spent ages locked away, only being released in real life years later after its effect was nerfed. Its power needed no explanation; the length of its sentence on the Forbidden/Limited List was the most glorious entry on its résumé.

Lava Golem, Level 8, ATK 3000

Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned, but can be Special Summoned to your opponent's field by tributing two monsters on their field. During the turn this effect is used, you cannot Normal Summon. Additionally, this card's controller takes 1000 damage each turn.

No explanation needed. Ever since it first appeared in the hands of Six-Year-Old Marik in the old anime, it had become the founding ancestor of the tribute strategy. Though it did not have the dazzling Forbidden/Limited List record of those two big brothers, it could still occasionally be seen even in modern Yu-Gi-Oh! environments to this day. Even gods got eaten without exception.

Especially when the opponent spent three minutes Comboing Off, finally putting up two big brothers loaded with every possible protection, only for Lava Golem to swallow them both in one bite on Kira's turn—the look on their faces could keep an Underworld Player feeling kimoji for an entire week.

It was a monster that brought a great deal of joy.

Delighted by his bountiful haul, Kira carried the box out with complete satisfaction. But just before leaving, Mokuba wore a somewhat strange expression.

"Is it just me? You seem to really like Marik's cards."

Kira fell into thought.

He had not noticed it himself, but now that Mokuba mentioned it, that really did seem to be the case.

How should he put it?

As expected of Marik, the sunny young man—his ideas had been ahead of their time. No, it should be said that this included his sister and his servant Rishid as well. Every member of that Tombkeeper Trio was formidable.

A whole pile of old-school Shady Stuff had come from their family. It was practically a family tradition.

This suddenly gave Kira another thought.

Mr. Marik's family had successfully fulfilled their family duty of sending the Pharaoh back to the underworld at the end of DM, then retired from the scene and never appeared again. But if they had not given up dueling over the years, then after eight years, who knew what the three Underworld Players had become by now?

If he had the chance to visit them someday, it would be great to exchange the latest underworld techniques—and even better if he could acquire some out-of-print Revenge Deck Strategy cards.

Of course, that was only a passing thought for now. The Tombkeeper Clan had vanished without a trace; who knew where they were now?

Kira was also very interested in the new Duel Disk that the President had shown off today, so he asked Mokuba whether they had any.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be a non-sale item.

Apparently, it had been classified as a "weapons system," so it could not possibly be handed out casually.

Thinking about it, Kira felt that made perfect sense. If everyone could buy Duel Disks that directly summoned real monsters to attack people, conventional firearms would instantly seem pathetic by comparison.

"However, the latest Duel Disk is no problem. It's also a model that hasn't officially gone on sale yet," Mokuba said with a smile. "Of course, it definitely won't have a weapons system."

And so, Kira happily acquired a new Duel Disk as well.

Having returned with a full haul, Kira planned to thoroughly sort through his gains that evening, listing whatever needed selling on the academy's trading platform. He would also review the insights he had gained over the past few days, then adjust his deck again based on the new cards.

Through reviewing his duels over the past few days, Kira had begun to notice something.

He was not sure whether it was an innate talent he possessed as a card gamer who had crossed over, or simply the result of receiving boosts from spirits.

But Kira felt that he had developed some degree of Destiny Power as well.

It was invisible and intangible, merely something he had concluded through actual duels and repeated practice and testing.

Though it did not seem as exaggerated as anime protagonists instantly pulling off one-turn kills against random opponents, and he still did not dare cram several completely unrelated engines into one deck like those protagonists, he should at least be able to pull off basic godly topdecks.

Based on his own potentially inaccurate estimate, he might have reached the level of an ordinary first-rate duelist—the level of a typical random student in a Duel Academy episode.

It sounded rather ordinary, but for an average card gamer, it was already enough to make some bolder adjustments to deckbuilding.

For example, at the most basic level, he felt that he could now try breaking a habit that had formed over many years—

—expanding his deck beyond forty cards.

Night fell over the city's coastline.

The helicopter slowly descended, like a gigantic steel eagle gently touching down. Its rotors spun beneath the night sky, producing a deep, droning roar.

The blond man stepped down from the aircraft calmly, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, sunglasses on his face, both hands tucked into his pockets.

He took out his phone and dialed a number, leisurely blowing out two rings of smoke as he waited for the call to connect.

The call was answered quickly.

"It's me," the man said lazily. "Just got off the plane."

"Good. Our people have already gathered some basic intelligence on the ruins from the perimeter. It'll be sent to you before tonight."

"Got it."

The blond man took another deep drag from his cigarette.

The voice on the other end said coldly, "Be careful. I just received a report that 'Blood Moon' has been taken care of."

The blond man paused. "By who?"

"'Blood Moon,' a Dark Duelist group under the organization."

"Oh, those cannon fodder? You don't seriously think those trash players can be mentioned in the same breath as This Great Me, do you?" The blond man gave a snorting laugh.

"The report says Seto Kaiba personally went there and dealt with them," the cold voice said.

The man's smile vanished at once.

"Kaiba's in the city?"

"Looks like it. That's why I told you to be careful. Don't get caught."

"Tch, so what if I get caught? I've been wanting to see for myself how the current me stacks up against Kaiba anyway." The blond man snorted heavily. "I'm nothing like I was back then."

"The mission comes first," the voice said indifferently. "Don't die."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

The blond man grumbled a few curses, hung up, and stubbed out his cigarette.

"Seto Kaiba. Tch, what a pain."