Yu-Gi-Oh!: Starting with a Toxic Deck, Depressing the World, Part 32

After all, he hadn't gotten enough out of that goofball Chazz Princeton yet!

Chapter 47: The Crimson Dragon's Power of Protection

That evening, in a Slifer Red dorm room,

Jiang He sat on his bed, drying his hair after his bath. He had already changed into a loose set of clothes.

He had to admit, the environment at Duel Academy was quite nice.

There was even a hot spring.

The only drawback was that the Slifer Red dorms were a little too "rustic"...

Fortunately, his private luxury cabin had already been nearly half built next door in just a few days!

The Chazz Princeton Group's construction crew really lived up to its considerable reputation in this world of dueling!

Jiang He had just one thing to say to Chazz Princeton:

Your family's construction crew and money sure came in handy!

"Achoo!!"

Out on the ocean beyond Duel Academy's island, a long-haired figure with a black hedgehog hairstyle stood on the deck of a ship, holding a backpack. He suddenly sneezed.

"Damn it! Jiang He, that bastard, or Jaden Yuki must be talking behind my back!"

Looking somewhat disheveled, Chazz Princeton turned toward the Duel Academy island he had left behind and snorted with a grave expression.

"Just wait until I return in my brand-new Black Lightning form and take my revenge, Jiang He and Jaden Yuki!"

"I, Chazz Princeton, the Black Lightning, won't end here!"

"Tch, that guy really did leave."

In his Slifer Red dorm room, Jiang He had just finished drying his hair when he saw Sphere Kuriboh's spectral form pass straight through the door and return.

Sphere Kuriboh told him what he had seen at the edge of Duel Academy's island.

Jiang He clicked his tongue in disappointment, then put the matter aside for the time being.

In any case, if nothing unexpected happened, that goofball Chazz Princeton would come back after a while.

When he did, Jiang He wouldn't be entirely out of chances to get more out of him!

"Kuri, kuri!"

But Sphere Kuriboh had also brought Jiang He another piece of gossip he had happened to see.

"You mean that blonde woman who was with me earlier took a little white flower to the abandoned dorm building deeper in the area...?"

Jiang He repeated it to confirm as he watched Sphere Kuriboh land in front of him.

The blonde woman who had been with him earlier was obviously Alexis Rhodes.

She had taken a little white flower to commemorate someone to the abandoned dorm building deeper in the area.

Jiang He immediately guessed what part of the plot this was!

It seemed that was the location of a secret incident that had remained hidden at Duel Academy.

The old honors dorm, which had long since been abandoned!

It was also where Alexis Rhodes's older brother, Atticus Rhodes, had disappeared a year ago!

"Am I going to run into a Shadow Duel this soon...?" Jiang He's mouth twitched, and he looked somewhat pained.

But with a place so closely connected to Shadow Duels nearby, and with what would happen later, he was bound to encounter one sooner or later.

Fortunately, he had brought Bastion a dose of healing warmth today, and Bastion had "returned the favor" by providing him with quite a lot of Emotion Points!

He had more than enough to exchange for the Mark of the Crimson Dragon ability from the system to deal with Shadow Duels!

Jiang He immediately checked his panel.

[Name: Jiang He]

[Skills: Clear Mind, Duel Spirit Sight Ability (the power to see Duel Monster spirits and call upon them through sensing them)]

[Current decks: one-turn-kill Exodia the Forbidden One deck, Lava Golem deck (toxic lockdown style)]

[Emotion Points: 4,800]

Compared to the 2,200 Emotion Points he had saved that morning, Bastion Misawa had given him a full 2,600 points on his own!

He had nearly provided all 3,000 Emotion Points needed to exchange for the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark ability by himself!

A satisfied smile appeared on Jiang He's face.

He was willing to name Bastion Misawa one of the top ten tools!

[System shop (randomly refreshes every two days, providing four exchange options each time)]

Today's options:

[Deck: Arcana Force deck (Sartorius version)] 500 points.

[Deck: Morphing Jar deck (toxic mill style)] 1,000 points.

[Deck: Stealth Bird deck (toxic burn style)] 1,500 points.

[Skill: Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark (the Crimson Dragon's Power of Protection, which ignores negative damage caused by Shadow Duels)] 3,000 points.

Now that he had more than enough Emotion Points, Jiang He naturally exchanged them for the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark ability right away!

"Buzz!!"

As a burning sensation suddenly appeared on his wrist, Jiang He raised his right hand and immediately discovered

that, at some unknown point, a crimson dragon-head mark resembling a simple drawing had appeared on his wrist and was glowing!

Thanks to the special perception granted by the Duel Spirit Sight Ability he had exchanged for earlier,

Jiang He could faintly sense a hidden, immensely powerful Duel Monster spirit within it!

However, it did indeed seem incomplete.

He couldn't sense any offensive power or power of any other kind in it, apart from its protective power.

"So it really is purely protective power..." Jiang He clicked his tongue in disappointment.

His idea of getting something for free from the system by exploiting a loophole was apparently unlikely to work.

But after experiencing the ability, he could more or less be sure

that the Mark of the Crimson Dragon ability he had exchanged for from the system

probably did have several other matching parts...!

Most importantly, he had felt how powerful the protective power in the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark was.

Jiang He suddenly wasn't worried at all about the so-called real damage from Shadow Duels.

He was even a little interested in these so-called Shadow Duels now...!

Jiang He declared that all he wanted now was to find a Shadow Duelist and explain to him

what "the Crimson Dragon's Power of Protection, which ignores negative damage caused by Shadow Duels" meant!

And while he was at it, he would bring those Shadow Duelists a depressing little smile too!

"Kuri, kuri."

Sphere Kuriboh floated beside the blanket Jiang He was sitting on, blinking as he curiously watched the glowing crimson dragon-head mark on Jiang He's wrist.

Apparently, the little fellow had also sensed the powerful Crimson Dragon's Power of Protection within it.

But with a thought from Jiang He, the glowing red dragon-head mark quickly faded and hid itself.

His wrist returned to how it had originally looked.

Jiang He was naturally quite satisfied that it didn't leave a mark like a tattoo!

P.S.: The picture shows the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark.

Chapter 48: In That Case, A "Billion" Bit Behind

"Which new deck should I exchange for?"

At noon the next day, Jiang He yawned as he reclined on the spacious rooftop of Duel Academy's main classroom building.

He lounged leisurely in a beach chair, soaking up the sun and slurping the juice he had bought while looking at the system shop information and considering which new toxic deck to exchange for.

A little brown Sphere Kuriboh, invisible to ordinary people, kept him company on his shoulder.

There were no classes at Duel Academy all day, so Jiang He had quite a lot of free time.

But his luxury cabin was under construction,

and the Slifer Red dorm's soundproofing could only be described as mediocre,

while the cabin was being built quite close to his room.

So Jiang He had come to hide and sunbathe on this spacious rooftop, which was several rooms in size.

It was peaceful here too.

As for Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale, who had stayed in the dorm and were enduring the noise, and Chumley, whom he had also gotten somewhat acquainted with,

all Jiang He could say was, "Hontoni sumimasen."

Bow.jpg

Then Jiang He continued considering which deck to exchange for.

[System shop (randomly refreshes every two days, providing four exchange options each time)]

Today's options:

(One day until refresh)

[Deck: Arcana Force deck (Sartorius version)] 500 points.

[Deck: Morphing Jar deck (toxic mill style)] 1,000 points.

[Deck: Stealth Bird deck (toxic burn style)] 1,500 points.

After exchanging for the Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon Head Mark skill last night, he had 1,800 Emotion Points left.

That was enough to exchange for another new toxic deck.

Jiang He wasn't unfamiliar with the three decks offered by the system.

All of them could be called toxic decks.

It was just that the latter two were more toxic to their opponents.

The first one, the Sartorius version of the Arcana Force deck, would be more toxic to most of its users...

That was because the effects of most of the deck's Monster, Spell, and Trap Cards required a coin toss to activate.

One side's effect was extremely beneficial to the user, while the other was the complete opposite.