Yu-Gi-Oh!: Starting with an Underworld Deck, Depressing the World, Part 43

[Deck: Underworld Hero Deck (Underworld HERO Version)] 1,500 points.

[Skill: Top-Tier Clear Mind (Once per duel, draw any card you own that is not in your current deck.

Note: Requires the Clear Mind skill to redeem.)] 2,000 points.

"Top-Tier Clear Mind?!"

When Jiang He saw the skill available for redemption in the system, he couldn't quite keep the corners of his mouth from spreading into a grin.

He smiled in satisfaction!

His existing Clear Mind gave him a godly draw once per duel, but Top-Tier Clear Mind upgraded it to the outrageous ability to draw any card he owned that wasn't in the deck he was using, once per duel.

Jiang He was overjoyed.

Good grief, this is practically letting me "print cards"...

Granted, it was restricted to cards he already owned, so it wasn't truly printing cards.

But it was still incredibly useful!

With this skill, Jiang He was willing to call himself Seto Kaiba's older brother, Kaiba Raipi!

He immediately spent his 2,000 Emotion Points, exactly enough for the redemption, to obtain Top-Tier Clear Mind from the system!

As for the Emotion Points needed to redeem a new underworld deck, he could earn those from tomorrow's tag duel!

Jiang He wasn't worried in the least.

As it happened, the Stealth Bird underworld burn deck he had redeemed from the system just yesterday had yet to show its full power the previous night.

Especially since this time it would be a tag duel, where the burn deck's power could be put to even better use!

Surely it would bring plenty of "healing smiles" and "warmth" to the "legendary tag duelists" the bald chancellor had mentioned!

But redeeming Top-Tier Clear Mind didn't seem to make him feel any different...

He wondered if it was because the sun was so warm today.

"You really know how to enjoy yourself."

Jiang He had just reclined with his hands behind his head, basking in the sun and considering how to welcome the legendary tag duelists and bring them warmth tomorrow.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar light chuckle from nearby.

At the same time, there was the soft sound of footsteps.

Jiang He looked up and saw Alexis Rhodes, dressed in her familiar blue-and-white outfit and short blue leather skirt. She had come over at some point without his noticing.

She stood beside him with one hand on her hip, smiling down at him.

"It's rare to see you during the day without those two inseparable followers of yours, Alexis."

Jiang He sat up a little, sounding surprised.

He had assumed Alexis's two follower besties would be tagging along.

It seemed a little strange.

"Um... Nurse Fontaine called Jasmine and Mindy away again to help in the infirmary. And they're not followers, they're my friends."

Alexis Rhodes sat down near Jiang He and explained, putting on a stern face to cover something up.

"Besides, we're here to discuss tag duel tactics. It wouldn't be very appropriate if Jasmine and Mindy were here too, would it?" As she spoke, Alexis Rhodes's imposing air returned. "Nurse Fontaine...?"

Hearing a name that was somewhat familiar, Jiang He thought back for a moment before letting out an "Oh" as he remembered.

She was the female health teacher whose clothes had been so white during class a few days ago... ahem, whose hair had been so big!

She was also the head and supervising teacher of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, where Alexis Rhodes and the others lived.

"I don't know what you're thinking about, but you'd better not be thinking anything rude!" Alexis Rhodes's voice rang out from nearby.

For some reason, she was even a little angry, though she didn't quite understand why herself!

"Uh... I was just thinking of something happy." Jiang He blushed, gave a dry cough, and hurriedly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, I think I might know a little about what happened to your brother." He went straight to mentioning some information about Atticus Rhodes.

"You have news about my brother?!" Alexis Rhodes immediately grew excited and turned to question Jiang He.

Clearly, Jiang He's attempt to change the subject had been quite successful!

In fact, aside from a certain inexplicable personal reason, Alexis Rhodes had arranged to meet Jiang He today to discuss things like tag duel tactics because she also wanted to ask him about Shadow Duels and her missing brother. After yesterday's duel with the Shadow Duelist Titan at the abandoned dorm, she had realized that Jiang He seemed to know quite a bit about those rumors.

Chapter 65: Did This Count as Misleading Them? [Please Subscribe]

"If I'm right, your brother went through a Shadow Duel in the ritual space set up over there, but unlike us, he didn't manage to get out in time. Then the shadow space vanished and took him somewhere with it."

When Alexis Rhodes leaned closer to question him excitedly, Jiang He paused before revealing a little of what he knew.

"The Shadow Duel ritual space... Where could it have taken him?" Alexis asked, puzzled.

"I can't say exactly where. It might be the other-dimensional world where Duel Monster spirits live, or it might be some corner of this world."

Jiang He shook his head.

"But I think that the next time we run into something related to a Shadow Duel, there might be another clue to your brother's whereabouts."

Although he couldn't say exactly where Alexis's brother, Atticus Rhodes, that other goofball, was right now,

there was one thing he could be sure of.

Before long, Atticus should appear on this Duel Academy island because of the matter that was probably giving the bald chancellor a headache even now!

Though he would most likely be an opponent for the time being.

"I see..." Alexis Rhodes couldn't help feeling a little down, but she wasn't too disappointed.

After all, although she still hadn't found out exactly where her missing brother was, at least, according to this annoying guy, she now had some definite news that put her mind at ease.

Her brother was missing, but he was still alive.

And the next time she encountered a Shadow Duel, she might find a definite lead!

"Thank you, Jiang He." A hint of gentleness flashed in Alexis's eyes as she thanked him with a warm smile.

"It was nothing. But it's pretty rare to see the queen of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm smile so gently."

Jiang He waved a hand casually, then reclined again with both hands behind his head and looked at the scenery in the distance as he teased Alexis.

"Hey! Don't say rude things! I heard every word!" A blush flashed across Alexis Rhodes's face, and she glared at him in embarrassment and annoyance.

But when she saw Jiang He lounging against the tree with his hands behind his head, his eyes half closed as he basked in the sun, she soon couldn't help chuckling.

She gave him another look.

This guy.

He really is annoying, but interesting too.

That evening, Jiang He returned to his room.

After washing up, Jiang He leaned back on his bed and thought about the details of the tactics he and Alexis had discussed that afternoon for tomorrow's tag duel. He suddenly realized, dumbfounded, that aside from spending much of the afternoon sunbathing with Alexis Rhodes, they seemed to have discussed nothing at all. After those few words about Alexis's missing brother, neither of them had even spoken again. Instead, at some point, they had settled into leaning against the tree and basking in the sun together. Uh... Jiang He fell silent.

Wasn't this treating tomorrow's two "legendary tag duelists" a little too lightly?

After all, they had dueled the King of Games, Yugi Muto!

They were like Kakuzu, who had thrown a shuriken at the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, from hundreds of miles away and survived.

They had some skill, at least.

But then he considered that Alexis Rhodes had watched him duel once with his Stealth Bird deck last night, and that he was quite familiar with her Cyber deck. It didn't seem difficult for them to coordinate a little.

Jiang He was completely reassured again.

And even if all else failed, he still had Top-Tier Clear Mind's once-per-duel "card printing" ability, which he had just redeemed from the system that day...!

But as Jiang He was preparing for bed, Syrus Truesdale's miserable voice kept drifting over from the room next door. "What am I going to do, Jaden? We're dueling the legendary tag duelists tomorrow, but I keep feeling like I'm going to hold you back!" "Please, let's go over our tactics again!" Syrus Truesdale was clearly pleading.

"I can't say no to you, Syrus. All right, let's go over them some more," Jaden Yuki replied shortly afterward.

"Besides, even someone as strong as Jiang He went out with Alexis to discuss tactics all afternoon, so it looks like we really do need to take this duel seriously!" "..." Jiang He felt a little awkward listening to that.

Did this count as misleading them?

But as he listened to the voices coming through from next door and considered the room's soundproofing,

Jiang He felt an even greater urgency about the progress of his luxurious little house, which was already more than halfway finished!

He had to move out of this Slifer Red room and into his own luxurious little house next door as soon as possible!

Leaving aside the problem of sleeping at night, if he awakened a beautiful female Duel Monster spirit someday, wouldn't even a simple conversation be inconvenient...? Jiang He looked forward even more to the speedy completion of his luxurious little house. At the same time, he took out two high-quality earplugs he had bought at the store long ago in preparation for just such a situation.

He plugged his ears and soon fell peacefully asleep.

Little Sphere Kuriboh flew straight back into the deck to stay.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, after eating and drinking his fill, Jiang He yawned as he, Jaden Yuki, and Chumley arrived at the academy's high-end arena where he had dueled Chazz Princeton.

They soon saw that the bald chancellor and the blond mushroom-headed professor were already waiting beside the elevated dueling platform.

Alexis Rhodes was also there waiting for him.

Besides them, a number of Duel Academy students were seated in the spectator areas around the arena, waiting to watch this high-level duel featuring legendary duelists!

They were ready to learn from it!

Among them, Jiang He spotted several familiar figures at a glance, including Bastion Misawa, Zane Truesdale, and even the squinting Professor Banner. But Jiang He could easily tell that they were clearly there mainly to watch him, Jaden Yuki, and the others, rather than the legendary tag duelists...

Bastion Misawa in particular.

Jiang He couldn't shake the feeling that the thick-browed, wide-eyed guy had come to watch him "bring warmth" to the legendary tag duelists because he didn't want to be the only one Jiang He had "depressed"...

Damn.

Chapter 66: Alexis Rhodes, Full of Fighting Spirit [Please Subscribe]

"It looks like you've decided on your tag duel teams."

Seeing Jiang He and the others arrive, with Alexis Rhodes going straight to Jiang He's side and Jaden Yuki standing with Syrus Truesdale, the bald Chancellor Sheppard smiled.

He then nodded to Professor Crowler, signaling that the blond mushroom-headed professor could begin overseeing the duel. "Now, we will begin the tag duel being held because certain students violated the rules by entering a prohibited area," Professor Crowler announced from the center of the dueling field.

"Please welcome the two legendary tag duelists we invited here to appear as your opponents." "Whoosh, whoosh!!"

Almost as soon as Crowler finished speaking, Jiang He saw two figures in old-fashioned ocher and dark green clothing leap out from below the dueling platform opposite them!

They bounced across the field, turning somersaults one after another, and after going back and forth, finally landed on the dueling field opposite him, Alexis, and the others.

Both had heads as shiny as the bald chancellor's, and each had a character written on his forehead: one "mi," the other "gong."

Together, the characters formed "labyrinth," meaning "labyrinth."

The two looked almost identical.

"We are wandering duel guardians." "The Paradox Brothers."