Chapter 239: Duelists Gather
In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.
Hayato strolled along the street in the evening.
Since Kaiba announced Duel City, the atmosphere of the entire Domino City had completely changed in just a few days.
The influx of a large number of outsiders first tested Domino City's transportation and housing. However, because KaibaCorp was the organizer of the event, the wealthy Kaiba generously spent a fortune, opening a building under KaibaCorp's name as accommodation prepared for the Duelists.
Of course, not everyone could enjoy this benefit. Just like Maximillion Pegasus's Duelist Kingdom issued boat tickets of different Levels based on past records, the building Kaiba opened arranged different rooms according to the Duelist's Level.
The minimum requirement to stay in that building was Duel Level 6. There were only about a hundred Duelists with a Level of 6 or higher who had obtained a Duel Disk from KaibaCorp's Database and participated in the Duel City tournament.
As for Duelists at Level 4 and Level 5, although they had Duel Disks, they had to arrange their own accommodation. After all, in Kaiba's view, Duelists of this Level participating in Duel City were just there to make up the numbers.
Hayato had walked all the way from home and had already seen no less than a hundred wandering Duelists around the streets. Tomorrow was the official opening day of Duel City, and to increase their strength as much as possible, most Duelists were doing their best to improve the strength of their Decks.
They were purchasing card packs from card shops, spending large savings to acquire rare cards, trading cards with others, and even starting Duels under the Ante Rule early to snatch powerful cards from others.
"Aniki! Aniki!" The voice of Ojama Yellow came from beside his ear. Turning his head, he saw it had a red ribbon tied to its head with "Effort" written on it, and behind it were the other five Ojama Monsters in cheerleader outfits.
When opening card packs a few days ago, Hayato had finally pulled the last Ojama Monster—Ojama Pink. Just like Red and Blue before it, not long after obtaining Ojama Pink, Hayato awakened its Card Spirit.
Incidentally, Hayato also obtained a few Expansion Cards for the Ojama Armed XYZ Hybrid Deck. However, after adding a few new cards, Hayato split the original Deck, which combined three series, back into three independent Decks.
"Aniki, the tournament starts tomorrow! Wishing Aniki victory!" Ojama Yellow directed the newly joined Pink to wave a flag, then cheered for Hayato along with the other Ojama Monsters.
"Victory! Victory!"
Hearing the little guys' cheers, Hayato rarely showed them a smile. Although he always called them "Lackeys" and "useless," besides Gaia The Fierce Knight, the ones who had been with Hayato the longest were Ojama Yellow and the others.
All along, it was also thanks to their help that he had gotten this far.
Just as he was about to say a few words of praise, Hayato heard Ojama Yellow's mischievous grin and its voice, lowered but not completely, speaking to the other Ojamas: "Hehehe, with us cheering for Aniki like this, Aniki must be really touched right now~"
"Kuriboh, Gaia The Fierce Knight, how can they compare to us!"
"We've won for sure, Aniki's Tamashii is definitely ours!"
"As if, you idiots!" Hayato listened to the continuous noisy voices beside his ear and impatiently waved his hand, sweeping them all away. They couldn't stop being noisy even with a slightly better attitude; indeed, he shouldn't give these troublesome guys a break.
Ignoring the strange look from an office worker passing by with a briefcase, Hayato rubbed his ears and continued walking along the road.
These past few days, he had been quite busy every day.
During the day, he accompanied Yugi Mutou, using the title of "King of Games" to attract the influx of Duelists into Domino City to the Turtle Game Shop, Dueling and adjusting Decks, while also earning some DP Points;
At night, he called upon his "Partner in Justice," Kaiba, and together they scoured Domino City looking for traces of the Ghouls. In five days, the two of them had destroyed two more Ghouls Bases and apprehended over twenty Ghouls members, including even a few arrogant guys who claimed to be Executives.
However, under the combined efforts of Kaiba and Hayato, all these people were captured without a single one escaping. The two even followed the clues to find an underground Card Factory, destroying the Ghouls' Counterfeit Card Industry in Domino City in one fell swoop.
Using the data collected at the factory, Kaiba upgraded and improved the company's Database, successfully enhancing the Card Identification Function for the Satellite linked to the Duel Disks. On top of the original card identification system, a Counterfeit Identification Function was added. Now, all Fake Cards from the Ghouls are completely unusable on the Duel Disks.
This made Marik increasingly furious. Every time Hayato and Kaiba defeated Ghouls members, he would appear on time to spout threats.
Speaking of that guy Marik, it seems he gave instructions to the Ghouls members to add a large number of cards specifically targeting Kaiba's and Hayato's Decks to the Decks they used, which did successfully cause a tiny bit of trouble for the two's "pest control" operation.
However, looking at the number of people arrested, it's clear that adding targeted cards had no effect whatsoever on the final outcome.
While thinking, Hayato also walked to the Dock in Domino City. Five days ago, he learned from Marik that he would arrive at the Domino City Dock five days later, which was today. However, Hayato had checked through Kaiba's channels and found that the Name "Marik Ishtar" was not on the passenger lists of the recent ferries traveling to and from Domino City.
Well, he was the leader of an international criminal organization after all. It would be stranger if Marik's Name *did* appear on the list.
Feeling the sea breeze, Hayato took out his Deck from his waist and looked at the cards one by one. He hadn't been looking for long when a faint fragrance was added to the sea breeze, and the cards in Hayato's hand were covered by a shadow.
"You're here, Ms. Ishizu." Hayato didn't need to look up to guess who had come beside him. Looking up, it was indeed Ishizu Ishtar.
"Did I block the light? I apologize, Hayato-kun." Ishizu smiled gently, turning slightly to let the streetlight illuminate the Deck in Hayato's hands again. "But Hayato-kun, you forgot something. Just call me Ishizu."
"Alright, Ishizu." Hayato remembered the time at the Millennium Items Exhibition when he told Ishizu not to be too formal and just call him Hayato, and Ishizu said that in exchange, Hayato should also call her Ishizu. "Why did you come here?"
"Although the Millennium Puzzle can obscure the Precognitive Effect of the Millennium Necklace, I'm not a primitive person who doesn't know how to use modern technology." Ishizu smiled and took out her mobile phone. On the lit screen was a map of the Domino City Dock and two small dots, one red and one blue.
Hayato smiled, put away his Deck, and stood by the railing, looking out at the distant sea shrouded in darkness. "You say that, but you still foresaw what would happen here tonight, didn't you?"
Just like at the Exhibition Hall that time, although Ishizu Ishtar's Millennium Necklace's foresight ability was no longer accurate due to the influence of Hayato's Millennium Puzzle, the general foresight was still correct. The difference was only in small details, like something foreseen for ten minutes later happening one minute later.
Ultimately, the Millennium Puzzle is the same Level as other Millennium Items. Although it has the ability to interfere, it can only cover its holder. It's like how Maximillion Pegasus, when he still held the Millennium Eye, couldn't read Hayato's mind but could see Yugi Mutou's thoughts.
Ishizu Ishtar also stood beside Hayato, looking at the horizon with him, and said with a somewhat sorrowful tone, "In the foresight of the Millennium Necklace, I saw that Marik would appear here today and Duel."
"And during the Duel, I saw two powerful God Level forces appear on the field, and then a third God appeared."
"At the end of the Duel, I could no longer clearly see who the Duelists on either side were. I only saw the side with two Gods completely defeat the side with one God."
"Two Gods? So that guy Marik will summon all Three Egyptian God Cards he holds in the Duel?" Hayato, upon hearing Ishizu Ishtar's words, instead showed a relaxed smile. "That guy actually dares to summon the traitor—I mean Slifer the Sky Dragon. Then I'm guaranteed to win."
"Hayato-kun, that's a God." Ishizu Ishtar's expression was quite serious, and her gaze towards Hayato held some worry. "Any one of the Three Egyptian God Cards possesses ultimate power that surpasses other Duel Monsters."
"But you also saw a part of the future. I also have a 'God' comparable to the Three Egyptian God Cards." Hayato's face still held a relaxed smile.
Ishizu couldn't help but feel a little anxious. How could this person be so carefree? "It's precisely because I know Hayato-kun also has a Monster that can contend with a God that I'm worried. At the end of the Duel, you lost."
"You're wrong, Ishizu. It seems you've fallen into a misconception." Hayato shook his finger. "The future, that kind of thing, can actually only ever be used as a reference. If you truly blindly believe in the future, you'll be making a huge mistake."
"People aren't unchanging beings. Since that's the case, the future will naturally change as people change. Following a predetermined path has never been my style, because the path of the future should be forged by oneself."
Hearing Hayato's words, Ishizu fell into a brief silence. "The future is absolute" was the "truth" she had firmly believed in ever since obtaining the Millennium Necklace. Walking this path for over ten years, everything she had seen in the "present" was exactly the same as the "future" she had foreseen.
Until Hayato's appearance.
"The Millennium Puzzle, a Millennium Item that can interfere with the future?" Looking at the Millennium Puzzle on Hayato's chest, Ishizu took a deep breath and looked at Hayato solemnly. "If it's you, Hayato, perhaps you really can change the future."
"That's right, you're absolutely correct, my dear sister." A familiar voice entered Ishizu's ears. She sharply turned her head to look in the direction the voice came from.
Beside a broken streetlight not far away, white-haired Marik calmly walked out of the darkness, holding the Millennium Rod, with an exaggerated smile on his face. "This guy's Destiny has been changed by his own hands, changed into a Destiny of being crushed by me and having even his Soul devoured!"