Chapter 326: Hayato VS Gozaburo
Gozaburo Kaiba, Noah Kaiba's biological father, the adoptive father of brothers Mokuba Kaiba and Seto Kaiba, and the founder of the arms company KaibaCorp.
After becoming one of the world's wealthiest individuals, Gozaburo, always driven by ambition, developed a grand ideal—to conquer the world with weapons.
However, while pursuing his ideal, he made a mistake.
His adopted son, the so-called "dutiful son," Seto Kaiba, invented the Virtual Projection System, intending to use it as the foundation for KaibaCorp's roots in the entertainment industry. But Gozaburo used this invention for non-peaceful purposes, such as developing Tactical Training Simulators and Phantom Devices to interfere with enemy vision.
This happened to be one of Seto Kaiba's sore spots. He felt his ideal had been ruthlessly trampled upon by Gozaburo.
Although Kaiba always acted like an ambitious schemer, trying every possible way, even cheating, to get Gozaburo to adopt him and his brother, and despite suffering from a severe Dueling Addiction, his ideal was actually quite simple: to build a world where children and adults could play and laugh to their hearts' content—in other words, a real-life Kaiba Land.
Of course, whether Kaiba Land, filled with Kaiba's peculiar aesthetic, could truly make children laugh is debatable. Still, Kaiba's ideal is quite admirable, especially his determination to transform KaibaCorp from an arms company, even at a huge loss. And this ideal is at least better than Gozaburo's ideal of ruling the world.
One person's ideal was peace, the other's was war. When compromise was impossible, one had to step aside, and that person was not Seto Kaiba. Knowing the principle of cutting the grass at the root, Seto Kaiba didn't hesitate and directly forced the defeated Gozaburo to his death.
However, what Kaiba failed to anticipate was that Gozaburo had left a fallback plan—something a normal person could never imagine: technology that could import a person's consciousness into the virtual world.
His gray hair was meticulously styled, and his red suit was sharp. So many years had passed, yet Gozaburo looked exactly as Kaiba remembered him. Looking at Gozaburo, who held a Blank Card in his hand with a look of ecstatic joy, as if he had found a treasure, Kaiba coldly shouted, "Release us from here, Gozaburo!"
"Do you, a mere ghost, think you can obstruct the path of the living towards the future!"
"Heh heh, I refuse." Gozaburo clutched the Blank Card in his hand, a cold smile on his face. A Duel Disk appeared out of thin air on his wrist, and he added the Blank Card to his Deck. "I remember teaching you this, Seto. Don't easily let go of something until you've squeezed out its commercial value."
"This Super Polymerization Card is only one final energy fill away from being truly complete. I won't let any of you on the field go."
"Super Polymerization?" Hearing the card's true name, everyone's gaze collectively fell upon Hayato. The earliest user of the Super Polymerization Card they remembered wasn't Gozaburo, who was trying to complete it now, but Hayato.
In his Duel against Ishizu Ishtar, Hayato used **Super Polymerization** to use Ishizu Ishtar's Monsters on the field as Fusion Material to Summon **Quintet Magician**.
Hayato also seemed to remember something and turned to look at Kaiba: "Hey Seto, is the Duel System on your S.S. Anne Airship still connected to the KaibaCorp Database?"
Although Kaiba didn't understand why Hayato was asking this now, he still nodded.
"That explains it then. Because I was quite certain that, besides the **Super Polymerization** I have, there shouldn't be any other **Super Polymerization** existing in this world for now," Hayato said. Even the **Super Polymerization** in Hayato's hand was a replica simulated by the **Philosopher's Stone - Sabatiel**, which only had the effect but not the actual power. "This guy Gozaburo's **Super Polymerization** was created by stealing the card data recorded within the airship's Duel System."
"But I have a question, Gozaburo. With just the data of **Super Polymerization**, you shouldn't have been able to analyze the power hidden behind it, let alone figure out how to create it."
"Who told you!"
"Hmph, I refuse to answer your question." Gozaburo Kaiba's thick unibrow twitched, and he activated the Duel Disk on his wrist. "You want me to release you, want me to answer your question? Absolutely, as long as you can defeat me in a Duel!"
Gozaburo waved his hand, and the environment, which Hayato had changed back to Domino City, was transferred again. In the blink of an eye, the surroundings turned into a very large office. Gozaburo Kaiba stood before a huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the scenery outside.
Outside was actually Earth? This office was in space!
"This is... the KaibaCorp President's Office?" Kaiba didn't need to look closely; he recognized it immediately as the President's Office where he usually handled company affairs. However, the furnishings were from several years ago, when KaibaCorp was still in Gozaburo's hands.
"Although I didn't understand, this guy wants someone to Duel him, right?" Joey Wheeler excitedly activated his Duel Disk, and the figure of his Deck Master, **Flame Swordsman**, appeared beside him.
Kaiba snorted coldly and blocked Joey Wheeler's path: "Don't make me say it again, you third-rate duelist. This is my business, it has nothing to do with you. I should be the one to cut off the grudge with this guy Gozaburo!"
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with us? We're already involved! What if you lose, Kaiba!" Mai Valentine saw Kaiba's harsh attitude towards Joey Wheeler and stepped forward to help. Her Deck Master, **Amazoness Queen**, appeared beside her.
With repeated defeats, the strong-willed Mai Valentine reflected on her losses and wanted to inject new vitality into her Deck, a new power besides **Harpie Lady**. Using the KaibaCorp Database, which stored almost all cards on the market, she found the new power that suited her best—the **Amazoness** Deck.
Not only were they Duel Monsters from the same matriarchal clan as **Harpie Lady**, but their card effects also happened to compensate for **Harpie Lady's** weakness against monsters on the opponent's field, despite being good at countering the backrow. Among other things, the **Nightmare Penguin** that had challenged her earlier was defeated by the **Amazoness Swords Woman**, which possessed a Reflect Damage effect.
"Hmph!" Too lazy to explain anything to Mai Valentine, Kaiba stubbornly refused to give way even half a step.
Meanwhile, Ishizu Ishtar used the power of the **Millennium Necklace** to get a foresight of the future, then asked Hayato with some uncertainty: "Hayato-kun, you said earlier that Gozaburo discovered the power hidden behind the **Super Polymerization** Card. What kind of power is that? Why did I see the future as a twisted chaos?"
"**Super Polymerization**, to put it simply, is a card that symbolizes ultimate power. Its power is even more exaggerated than a nuclear bomb; it possesses the power to fuse dimensions together, enough to destroy several universes."
Ishizu Ishtar and Yugi beside her were also startled by Hayato's answer: "What?!"
"In that case, there's one more reason why we absolutely must defeat Gozaburo." Atem looked at Gozaburo with a determined gaze, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his gaze was sharp. "We absolutely cannot let you complete **Super Polymerization**!"
"Heh heh, that's the kind of expression young people should have. But there are a bit too many of you. If you support each other, a Duel that isn't intense enough won't be sufficient to complete the **Super Polymerization** Card."
Gozaburo stroked his chin, seemingly having thought of a malicious idea. He gave a cold, ill-intentioned laugh and clapped his hands.
Corresponding to the six people standing opposite Gozaburo, five square mechanisms opened in the floor beside Gozaburo. As elevators rose, five people with stiff faces appeared, wearing Duel Disks.
Kaiba, Yugi, and Joey Wheeler's eyes widened in rage, and they simultaneously shouted the names of the people who appeared before them:
"Mokuba!"
"Téa! Tristan!"
"Serenity Wheeler! And Duke Devlin!"
The five people who appeared were none other than Mokuba, Téa, and the others who had been left on the S.S. Anne Airship!
Gozaburo Kaiba laughed coldly: "Are you angry? Good, you should be angry. The people appearing before you are your important family and friends, right? Their souls are now in my hands, and their bodies have been made into puppets by me. After all, I have to squeeze out their value."
"Want to get their bodies and souls back? Of course, you can. Defeat them with your full power!" Gozaburo laughed loudly and added, "But I need to remind you, the Duels controlling them are duel robots that have gathered the dueling consciousness data of famous duelists. If you don't give it your all, be careful, you might lose your own bodies as well."
As Gozaburo's words fell, the space within the already huge office expanded again. Taking matters into his own hands, he assigned opponents to everyone present.
Yugi's opponent was Téa.
Kaiba was pitted against his brother, Mokuba.
Joey Wheeler needed to defeat Tristan.
Mai Valentine would deal with Serenity Wheeler.
Ishizu Ishtar would duel against Duke Devlin.
And finally, standing before Gozaburo, was Hayato.
"Gozaburo, you bastard!" Seeing that his opponent was Mokuba, Kaiba, in a furious rage, wanted to rush towards Gozaburo, but found that after the space transfer, an invisible space barrier had been added between each team's field. No matter how much the angry Kaiba wanted to beat up Gozaburo, he couldn't pass through the barrier.
"Aren't you curious why I didn't deal with Seto, who forced me to his death, first, Kobayashi Hayato?" Gozaburo looked at Hayato standing opposite him.
Looking at Gozaburo coldly, Hayato said, "Anyway, for a vile person like you, the reason for doing that is nothing more than wanting to see the sad expressions of others because they have to fight against important people."
"Stop playing such boring games, Gozaburo Kaiba. Your ambition to dominate the world and destroy the world will be defeated by me and my Deck!"
"Duel!"
[Hayato: 4000 LP]
[Gozaburo: 4000 LP]
The Duel won't take long, it will end quickly. As a certain rider who stole something would say, the pain is only for a moment.
Afterwards, it's the part for the trouble-making duo who have been offline for a while.
(End of this chapter)
# Chapter 327: Exodia Necross
"The first turn is mine, draw!" Gozaburo took the first turn and drew a card.
He seemed to have drawn a good card, as the corner of Gozaburo's mouth slightly curved. He wasn't in a hurry to play it. "Kobayashi Hayato, you are a remarkably outstanding individual. Defeating the creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillion Pegasus, is enough to prove your strength."
"Although even now, I still detest Seto's unrealistic, childish dream that's hard to take seriously, I personally quite approve of Duel Monsters."
"Because just like chess, Duel Monsters can, to some extent, test a person's mettle. Calculation, strategy, decision, courage, foresight, and finally, the indispensable luck are all tested." As Gozaburo spoke, he played the card he had just drawn. "Duel Monsters is a microcosm of war, and unfortunately, the person standing before you is the president of KaibaCorp, who reigns over the world through war!"
"Activate Spell Card, Painful Choice! I will select 5 cards from my deck and show them to you. Then, you will choose one of them to add to my hand, and the remaining cards will be Sent to Graveyard."
Because they were in the virtual world, Gozaburo only needed to think, and five cards automatically flew out from his deck, stopping in front of him and enlarging their images for Hayato to choose.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Kaiba couldn't bear to be harsh on his younger brother, Mokuba. The Kaiser Sea Horse Kaiba had Summoned in Defense Position was easily Destroyed by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Mokuba Summoned. While enduring the Piercing Damage caused by the Effect of Dragon's Rage, Kaiba saw the five cards Gozaburo displayed.
In that instant, Kaiba's entire expression changed.
"Is that?!" On the other side, Yugi Mutou, who hadn't let the Pharaoh take over and had stepped forward himself, also had a look of surprise.
"Exodia?!"
The five cards lined up in front of Gozaburo Kaiba were precisely the Exodia that Yugi had once used to defeat Kaiba, one piece of which Haga had damaged!
Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Leg of the Forbidden One, Exodia the Forbidden One, Right Leg of the Forbidden One, Right Arm of the Forbidden One—all five pieces were gathered!
Although in the real world, besides Grandpa Solomon Mutou, no one had ever gathered all five of these cards, thanks to being in the virtual world, Gozaburo Kaiba also possessed all of Exodia's cards!
"These past few years, I haven't been idle in the virtual world. Just as Seto researched all of my chess strategies to defeat me back then, I have also studied Seto's habits in Duel Monsters. Incidentally, Yugi Mutou's deck, which defeated him, was also within my scope of research."
"While this might seem incredible to humans, my computational power as an AI is unmatched. In terms of mind games, no one can be my opponent! And the most suitable Duel Monster for me to use is Exodia, the strongest Duel Monster, which Yugi Mutou once used!"
"Not only that, but besides Exodia, my deck contains no other boring Monster Cards. This set of cards is a SaiKyo Deck meticulously calculated and optimized by my computer. I am invincible!" Gozaburo spread his arms wide. "Just like in intense business competition, make your choice carefully about which card you will add to my hand, Kobayashi Hayato!"
"Although, the outcome will not change."
Although Gozaburo's voice was full of confidence, as if he had already won the duel, Hayato scoffed at his words.
Duel Monsters is a mind game? It's clearly a game of luck!
In a certain international Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament in Hayato's previous life, something utterly absurd happened—a player also using an Exodia deck, after his deck was shuffled by his opponent, going second, drew five cards, and they happened to be exactly the five Exodia pieces, directly achieving a second-turn kill under extremely harsh conditions.
Translate that: what is a "mind game"?
"I choose the Left Arm of the Forbidden One to add to your hand."
There was basically no difference between the Exodia cards; except for the main body, Exodia the Forbidden One, the other four were Normal Monsters. Hayato casually picked the leftmost one.
Gozaburo frowned. "That is the Left Arm of the Forbidden One. In any case, I add this card to my hand, and the other four cards are Sent to Graveyard."
The Exodia that is normally used by gathering all pieces in the hand to instantly achieve duel victory was broken apart by Gozaburo Kaiba. Next, Gozaburo also Sent the Left Arm of the Forbidden One he had just added to his hand to the Graveyard.
"By Discarding the Left Arm of the Forbidden One from my hand, I Activate the Effect of the Spell Card Graveyard Seal! Until the end of this turn, card effects Activated in the Graveyard are Negated." A smile appeared on Gozaburo's face.
"However, this card's Effect is not my main purpose. With the Left Arm of the Forbidden One being Sent to Graveyard, all five pieces of Exodia have been gathered in my Graveyard!"
"Activate Spell Card, Contract with Exodia! This card can only be Activated when all five Exodia pieces are gathered in my Graveyard, by paying 2000 Life Points!"
[Gozaburo: 4000 → 2000 LP]
As Gozaburo Activated the Spell Card in his hand, the five Exodia pieces slumbering in his Graveyard appeared On the Field, transforming into five black-purple spheres that formed a magic circle emitting an ominous aura. A black version of Exodia emerged from the magic circle, standing tall On the Field before Gozaburo.
Exodia Necross [4☆/DARK]
[Spellcaster Type/Effect]
[1800/0]
"Exodia Necross..." Hayato naturally recognized this card. He remembered this Monster possessed quite powerful protection; as long as the five Exodia pieces were in the Graveyard, it couldn't be Destroyed by any means, and it also had an Effect to increase its ATK by 1000 after each battle.
Of course, it was really just a matter of a Soul Release or a Dimensional Prison.
"Heh heh, heheh, heh hahahaha!" Unlike Hayato, who felt disdain for Exodia Necross, Gozaburo noticed the solemn expressions on Yugi and Kaiba's faces as they watched this battlefield and laughed wildly. "Exodia Necross is the strongest Duel Monster! Its appearance symbolizes my victory!"
"You have already lost, Kobayashi Hayato!"
Chapter 328: The Library, and...
Laughing wildly, Gozaburo didn't simply end his Turn. Instead, he raised his hand and played another Card: "Field Spell Card, Necrovalley! From now on, the Graveyard is unaffected by both players' effects!"
"Then I Set two Cards. End Turn."
[Gozaburo: 2000 LP, Hand 0]
[Exodia Necross] [ATK 1800]
[Set Card] x2
Field: [Necrovalley]
Now, it was Hayato's Turn.
To be honest, the Deck Hayato was using this time was actually more suited for the First Turn; its power could only be fully unleashed by performing its combo without interference.
Although Hayato currently had a good Hand, considering the two unknown Set Cards in Gozaburo's Backrow, Hayato felt it was necessary to probe.
Just as he was thinking this, Hayato was about to draw a card, when he saw Gozaburo impatiently flip up the cards in his Backrow.
"At the start of your Turn, I activate my two Set Cards on the field, Continuous Trap Card Soul Barrier, and Continuous Trap Card Safe Zone!"
While Hayato was dumbfounded, Gozaburo revealed both cards completely. But Hayato's expression, like "Why did he expose himself?" and "I was just fighting a phantom battle," was interpreted by Gozaburo as shock at the cards he activated.
He couldn't help but proudly introduce them: "Exodia Necross, as a Monster with such strict Summoning Conditions, is naturally no ordinary Monster. Don't look at its Level being only 4 and its ATK being only 1800; every Exodia in the Graveyard provides it with power."
"Left Leg of the Forbidden One and Right Leg of the Forbidden One grant it immunity to Spell/Trap Card destruction;
Left Arm of the Forbidden One grants it immunity to Monster Effect destruction;
Exodia the Forbidden One grants it immunity to Battle destruction;
and Right Arm of the Forbidden One grants it the power to increase its ATK by 1000 after each battle!"
Gozaburo paused here, a contemptuous smile appearing on his face: "Although Exodia Necross will self-Destruct once the five Exodia leave the Graveyard, I have already used Necrovalley to negate your interference with my Graveyard."
"Even if Necrovalley is Destroyed, I have long since eliminated Soul Release, a Card with the effect to Banish from the Graveyard, from this world!"
"Soul Barrier: As long as I have a Monster on the field, I will not take Battle Damage, preventing you from using high ATK Monsters to bypass Exodia Necross and deplete my Life Points; Safe Zone makes Exodia Necross unable to be targeted by effects, filling the last flaw of it being Banished by you!"
Gozaburo clenched his fist confidently: "An immortal body, an impenetrable defense, and infinitely growing power! I'll repeat it again: Exodia Necross is Invincible!"
"Try to break through Exodia Necross's defense and then fall into despair, Kobayashi Hayato!"
Hayato sighed, looked at Gozaburo like he was an idiot, and drew a card: "My Turn, draw!"
"Honestly, I don't know how to evaluate you, Gozaburo Kaiba. If I say you don't understand Dueling, the setup you've laid out is indeed quite extravagant. But if I say you *do* understand Dueling, if you had properly organized the resources you spent, you probably would have already gathered Exodia in your hand."
"Breaking through? There's absolutely no need. Instead, you should watch carefully and learn well. Let me show you the true power of an 'Ultimate Monster'!"
"I Attack Position Summon Summoner Monk!"
[Summoner Monk] [Level 4/DARK]
[Spellcaster/DARK]
[800/1600]
"Summoner Monk's effect activates when it is Summoned or Flip Summoned successfully. It changes to Defense Position."
A Monster that looked like a somewhat thin monk appeared in Hayato's front field. Although it was Attack Position Summoned, after appearing on the field, Summoner Monk automatically changed to Defense Position.
Gozaburo glanced at Summoner Monk's mere 1600 DEF and said disdainfully: "Hmph, a weak Monster. Do you want to block Exodia Necross? Muda da! Exodia Necross, whose ATK increases infinitely, is not something your Monster can defend against!"
Hayato calmly shook his head: "No, Summoner Monk wasn't Summoned on the field to withstand attacks. I'll make a declaration here, Gozaburo. This Duel will end this Turn. Don't blink; the pain will only last a moment."
"Summoner Monk, as the name suggests, has a Summoning effect. Once per Turn, I can discard one Spell Card from my hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon one Level 4 Monster from my Deck." Saying this, Hayato took a Monster Card from his Duel Disk and placed it on the Duel Disk. "The Monster I will Summon is this one: Royal Magical Library!"
As Summoner Monk, looking like a sickly ghost, coughed and chanted, a miniaturized building appeared beside him. Inside the building were stored a terrifying number of magic books; just by looking, you could feel the magical aura contained within.
[Royal Magical Library] [Level 4/LIGHT]
[Spellcaster/Effect]
[0/2000]
"Another low-Level Monster."
Gozaburo Kaiba, who hadn't yet understood what the Royal Magical Library Summoned by Hayato truly meant, still retained his arrogance. In his opinion, although Royal Magical Library had 2000 DEF, it was still no match for Exodia Necross.
As for its effect? That wasn't important.
"Royal Magical Library's effect: Each time either player activates a Spell Card, they can collect the magic power within it and place one Spell Counter on this card, up to a maximum of 3. For every 3 Spell Counters removed, I can draw one card from my Deck."
Hayato looked at the contemptuous Gozaburo and felt a wave of amusement.
Alright, today we're Dueling. The opponent this time is playing the incredibly stale Exodia Necross. Although the opponent Summoned his Tamashii in one Turn, it doesn't matter, because this time we're playing the real deal Exodia! Let's utterly crush him!
In Hayato's head, a voice inexplicably rang out.
The Deck he was using this time was precisely the infamous meta-breaking Deck—"Library Exodia," built around the two Cards, Exodia and Royal Magical Library!
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 329: Adding the Deck to the Hand
Ignoring Gozaburo, Hayato continued to play cards from his hand: "I Activate the Spell Card Terraforming, I can add one Field Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. I choose Magical City Endymion, and at the same time, place one Spell Counter on Royal Magical Library."
"Then, I Activate Magical City Endymion, and at the same time, place a second Spell Counter on Royal Magical Library."
"Hmph, it's just a futile effort." Gozaburo still didn't think Hayato had any way to defeat his invincible Exodia Necross. Although Necrovalley was replaced by Magical City Endymion, Gozaburo, who had already removed the threatening cards beforehand, wasn't worried at all that Hayato would touch the five Exodia pieces in his Graveyard.
"Magical City Endymion, like Royal Magical Library, is a card from the Spell Counter New Series recently released by Industrial Illusions. Not only does it fail to provide boosts to Monsters like other Field Spell Cards, its effect is merely removing Spell Counters once per Turn to protect a monster."
Yugi looked worriedly at Hayato's side, where the surrounding environment had been replaced again due to the activation of the Field Spell Card. "Hayato, how can he defeat that Exodia?"
"I Activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed, I Draw two cards from my Deck. Then, because Royal Magical Library already has three Spell Counters on it, I will remove them and Draw one more card."
"Spell Card Double Summon, I can perform a second Normal Summon this Turn. I Summon in Defense Position a second Royal Magical Library."
"Magical City Endymion already has three Spell Counters on it, I will remove them to Activate the Effect of Royal Magical Library, and Draw one more card."
"Spell Card Terraforming, I add a second Magical City Endymion to my hand, then I Activate it. At the same time, I remove the three Spell Counters on Royal Magical Library and Draw one card!"
Even Gozaburo couldn't help but frown, seeing Hayato Activate the Effect of Royal Magical Library to Draw cards again and again.
When Hayato Activated Double Summon just now, he thought Hayato was planning to Tribute the two Monsters on the Field to Summon some troublesome High-Level Monster. But he didn't expect that Hayato would just Summon a second Royal Magical Library.
The Spell Counters on the two Royal Magical Library cards on the Field continuously increased as Hayato frantically Activated various Spell Cards. Once they reached three, Hayato would immediately remove them to draw cards from his Deck.
As Hayato frantically cycled through his Deck, his Deck visibly became much thinner, and it continued to decrease.
"Although I don't know what you're doing, it's useless no matter how many cards you Draw. Even if you could Summon Slifer the Sky Dragon, whose ATK increases based on the number of cards in your Hand, you still wouldn't be able to defeat the Exodia Necross on my Field," Gozaburo said.
"I Activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed!"
"Spell Card Goblin Thief!"
"The Effect of Royal Magical Library itself!"
"Spell Card Graceful Charity!"
"The Effect of Royal Magical Library itself!"
"Spell Card Magical Mallet!"
"Spell Card Spell Power Grasp!"
"The Effect of Royal Magical Library itself!"
Watching Hayato's Deck size plummet from 40 cards at the start to only the last three remaining, what Hayato held in his hand was less a hand and more his entire Deck.
"You, don't you know that the Hand limit is at most six cards? If you exceed that, you have to Discard during the End Phase?" Gozaburo's voice sank.
His Life Points were raised to 5000 due to the Effect of the three Goblin Thief cards Hayato Activated, but watching Hayato's performance of "adding his Deck to his hand," he constantly felt a sense of ominous premonition.
Looking at the Exodia Necross on his Field, Gozaburo still couldn't figure out where this ominous premonition was coming from.
Although he wasn't using his real body at the moment, after performing such a long combo, Hayato couldn't help but feel a bit parched. He shook his wrist, which was sore from the mechanical repetition of Drawing cards, and looked at the stern-faced Gozaburo, saying with a smile, "Wow, I've been performing this combo for quite a while, haven't I? Now my Deck finally only has the last three cards left."
"At the beginning, I felt my hand was pretty good and my setup went smoothly, but it somehow dragged on until the last three cards. Should I say I'm lucky or unlucky?"
"So, Gozaburo, would you like to guess what my last three cards are?"
"You, what exactly do you want to say?"
Hearing Gozaburo's words, Hayato's mouth curved into a smile: "Nothing much. Since you're not interested in guessing, let's change the question—how many ways are there to win a Duel Monsters Duel?"
"Your opponent's Life Points are reduced to zero, their Deck is empty and they cannot Draw cards, and there are cards like Spirit Board, Final Countdown, and other cards that change the Win Conditions. And besides those, the strongest one is this, right?"
"I Activate the Spell Card Graceful Charity, I Draw three cards from my Deck, then I Discard two cards from my Hand!"
As Hayato Drew the last three cards from his Deck, he barely thought before casually picking two cards from his Hand and sending them to the Graveyard. Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted from his Hand.
Just like when Gozaburo previously Activated Contract with Exodia, five golden orbs of light flew up from Hayato's Hand, forming a magnificent Magic Circle in mid-air.
Under Gozaburo's disbelieving gaze, a truly terrifyingly powerful, the strongest Duel Monster in the true sense, emerged from the Magic Circle. It didn't seem to do anything, yet merely the presence it carried upon appearing on the Field caused the Exodia Necross on Gozaburo's Field to instantly disperse, like a shadow meeting the scorching sun.
"Exo... dia," Kaiba looked at the Ultimate Monster on Hayato's Field, which had broken free from its Chains and was condensing an orb of light in its hand. His mouth curved upwards, revealing a smile that no one else noticed. "The one who buried my past self was Exodia. I didn't expect that the one who would bury Gozaburo would also be Exodia, did I?"
"Go, Exodia, little fist pound the chest!"
Shouting a seemingly nonsensical Attack name, Exodia, Commanded by Hayato, unleashed the attack from its hand.
The Power of Infinity instantly engulfed Gozaburo.
Chapter 330: The Out of Control Virtual World
Exodia's attack, like a Kamehameha, destroyed everything with unstoppable force, sending Gozaburo's entire body flying backward to land flat on the ground. The enlarged office serving as the background was also a mess, with the massive floor-to-ceiling window shattering with a crash.
The instant Hayato defeated Gozaburo, he received the reward issued by the system.
However, he didn't have time to check the details of the reward just yet.
Walking quickly forward, Hayato held the Millennium Ring in one hand and grabbed Gozaburo Kaiba by the collar with the other. "The Duel is over, Gozaburo Kaiba. As one of the dead, you have no right to interfere with the world of the living. Go back to the afterlife!"
As he spoke, Hayato raised the Millennium Ring as if it were brass knuckles, about to press it against Gozaburo's face.
The principle behind using a Millennium Item to send a soul to the afterlife was quite simple; it was essentially just using a large amount of Dark Energy to directly scatter the soul. As for whether Gozaburo and Chikuzen Ohoka before him actually entered the underworld, Hayato didn't care.
The Millennium Ring, glowing with golden light, slowly approached his forehead. Gozaburo wanted to resist, but having just suffered defeat in the Duel, he was completely unable to move and could only let Hayato do as he pleased.
Just as the Dark Energy swirling on the Millennium Ring was about to invade Gozaburo's body, Hayato suddenly let go of Gozaburo like a wild rabbit sensing a hunter approaching, tossing him aside and rolling away from his original spot.
And in the next second, a beam of golden light missed its target, and a voice Hayato was quite familiar with rang out: "Isn't it a bit too cruel to go for the kill like this, Hayato-kun?"
Through the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, a gust of air rushed into the office, fluttering the speaker's long coat tails. Beneath a mess of white hair was a face full of smiles. It was Bakura, who had disappeared from the infirmary.
Next to Bakura, a golden eyeball floated in mid-air like a floating cannon, and the beam that had just interrupted Hayato's Dark Energy came from it.
"Bakura, you actually came to this world too? Tsk, what a headache, everyone's gathering here." Hayato held the Deck he had just taken from Gozaburo's Duel Disk in his hand. As a large number of Cards turned into data and disappeared, only a single blank card remained in Hayato's hand.
Bakura smiled. "You're taking someone else's Deck again, Hayato-kun. You really haven't forgotten your roots. If I remember correctly, you also took my Deck once, didn't you?"
"Well, our family rule is 'If you don't pick it up when you go out, it's a loss.' But don't slander me, I asked for your opinion back then."
As the Duels of the other five people around them progressed, Hayato's expression became a little heavy. Because holding the Card, he discovered that an energy different from Dark Energy was surging towards him centered on the blank card in his hand. At the same time, the energy that had been concentrated in the Card was rotating in a vortex shape, even showing a tendency to pull the surrounding space into rotation with it.
This Gozaburo guy, just by analyzing KaibaCorp's internal database, was able to recreate Super Polymerization to this extent? Hayato didn't believe it.
But Hayato thought that if there was someone who knew a little about the existence of Super Polymerization providing guidance from the side, then it would be understandable.
Thinking this, Hayato looked at Bakura and asked, "The method Gozaburo Kaiba knows for making Super Polymerization, you provided it to him, didn't you, Bakura?"
"Well, after all, a person's dream has no end. Seeing him work so hard for his dream, I just gave him a little push from behind."
Bakura's expression was quite composed. He walked over to Gozaburo Kaiba, who was lying on the ground, looked at his dishevelled state, curled his lips, and kicked out fiercely. "However, this guy really disappointed me too much."
These words were a complete replica of what Gozaburo had said when he killed Noah just now.
"You, you actually dare to kick me!" Gozaburo, kicked in the abdomen by Bakura, curled up his body, trying to get up and counterattack. But for some reason, even though he had clearly used willpower to interfere with the virtual world, the world seemed to have lost connection and no longer responded to him.
"How is this possible!?"
Gozaburo couldn't help but widen his eyes, green data streams surging within them. Although he didn't have Millennium Items or similar items, Gozaburo, who had analyzed Dark Energy from Hayato and Noah's Duel, was quite certain that in his Duel with Hayato just now, Hayato had not used a Millennium Item to turn the Duel into a Dark Game and place a stake.
Within the virtual world, although Hayato's administrator authority was still retained, the holder of the supreme authority was still Gozaburo himself.
But for some reason, despite having issued the command to "erase everyone present except himself" to the world, neither Hayato, Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba, nor Bakura were affected by him.
He tried to control other things again.
The shattered floor-to-ceiling window behind him seemed to undergo time reversal, the glass gradually repairing itself. But halfway through the repair, the speed of the glass restoration slowed down dramatically, like a file about to finish downloading, and it directly froze halfway, no longer changing.
He wanted to displace the surrounding space to another location, but the scene only flickered slightly before remaining in this world.
The virtual world was actually gradually slipping out of his control!
Bakura noticed Hayato's gaze towards him and quickly waved his hand. "This has nothing to do with me. If you have to say it, the culprits are actually Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba, and Hayato-kun, the three of you."
"My reason for coming to this world is quite simple. Besides answering a question that has troubled others for a long time, I haven't done anything else." Saying this, Bakura walked to the floor-to-ceiling window that had finally been halfway repaired, kicked the glass to shatter it, turned around to face Hayato, and smiled. "Well then, everyone, see you in the real world, Ciao~"
With that, he actually leaned back and fell out of the floor-to-ceiling window.
Hayato had no intention of stopping Bakura, because he knew that Bakura, or rather, the evil god within him, was as tenacious as a cockroach and wouldn't die easily. Moreover, he was quite satisfied with Bakura's body and wouldn't mess around recklessly.
He lowered his head to look at the blank card in his hand. The pattern on it was becoming clearer and clearer, seemingly being completed as the Duels of the others around him progressed. At the same time, the sense of distortion interfering with space was also becoming more obvious.
If he didn't move faster, the Super Polymerization Card would probably be completed soon!
Hayato looked at Gozaburo, who had fainted directly because Bakura kicked the glass he had painstakingly repaired halfway, and then looked at the others who were still Dueling. He made up his mind and once again raised the Millennium Ring on his chest.
Golden light bloomed on the golden disk, and the five dangling cones all pointed in one direction. Hayato took a step and quickly ran in the direction indicated by the Millennium Ring.
Before, because he was interrupted by Noah, he couldn't find what he was looking for and was dragged into consecutive Duels. Now he had to speed up and quickly find that thing.
Within the Millennium Ring, Marik sat cross-legged, looking at Hayato and asking, "Brother-in-law, what exactly are you looking for?"
His expression was quite leisurely.
Well, in a sense, he wasn't much different from a deceased person, having left his body. If he could live in the Millennium Ring, he would live. If he couldn't, then he just couldn't.
Hayato kicked open the door to the KaibaCorp Office. Behind the door was a desert. Hayato strode forward on the soft sand, but the sand absorbed the power from his feet, making it a bit difficult to walk.
Hearing Marik's question, he explained, "A long time ago, I, Yugi Mutou, Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine, and Kaiba, a few of us, participated in an online game developed by KaibaCorp centered around Duel Monsters."
"Although the world of that online game looked like a normal game world, in reality, that world was quite magical. Have you ever seen a spirit you met in a game turn into a card and come into your hands in the real world?"
"How is that possible? If even something like that could be done, card spirits would be too cheap," Marik said casually, but after a pause, he said with some uncertainty, "Brother-in-law, you don't mean..."
Hayato nodded. "Yugi and I both got cards from that world. You should have seen the card I used, it's that Earthbound Immortal."
After crossing a sand dune, although there was a vast expanse of sand in front of him, Hayato did not continue forward. Instead, he walked to a large rock beside the sand dune, and holding the Millennium Ring, passed through the rift in the rock. Hayato instantly arrived in a dense jungle.
"This world is a bit too messy, isn't it? It's almost like it's pieced together." Marik complained.
"What you said isn't quite accurate, because this world isn't 'like it's pieced together,' it *is* pieced together. With the development of the game I mentioned earlier, all sorts of leftover scenes were crammed into this world that originally had nothing. Saying it's pieced together is actually a compliment."
The light of the Millennium Ring in Hayato's hand became increasingly bright, seemingly indicating that he was extremely close to his destination. Hayato turned his body, confirmed a direction, and pushed aside a patch of grass beside him.
In front of his eyes, a very strange rift appeared, completely out of place with the surrounding green.
Seeing this rift, Hayato smiled. "Finally found it."