Duel City, on the other side.
Jonouchi stared intently, without blinking, at the roulette in front of him, swallowing hard in the process...
The pointer on the Time Wizard's roulette finally leisurely came to a stop.
"Alright!" Jonouchi laughed, "Time Wizard's effect activates! All the monsters on your field are destroyed!"
The opponent Duelist: "Why did it hit again!? Referee, I need a referee, this guy is cheating @#%&..."
"Hahaha, this means I win! Iron Knight Gearfried, direct attack!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
[Duelist, LP 0]
"Great, Jonouchi won!" Jonouchi's buddy Anzu expressed excitement.
"That guy Jonouchi, when he wants to do it, he can really pull it off." His good friend Honda didn't hesitate to praise.
Jonouchi's newly made friends (players) were also celebrating one after another.
"The God of Gambling is mighty!"
"Back in the day, Chan Tai Chiu could win 37 million with 20 bucks, my Lord Jonouchi with just one dice can definitely make it into the semifinals!"
This way, Jonouchi has made up for the two cards he lost to Youyu, and he has gathered six cards again. Now he just needs to be one of the first eight to reach the finals site, then he's qualified.
Just at this moment, Jonouchi, happily kissing his Puzzle Card, received a call from the hospital.
Jonouchi's parents divorced when he was young, and his sister Shizuka is his only remaining family. Shizuka had an eye condition that was treated with the enormous prize money Jonouchi's best friend Muto Yugi won at the Duelist Kingdom tournament.
The call at this moment is from his sister in the hospital. She excitedly tells her brother that she's recovered and can be discharged, wanting to cheer up her battling brother.
Actually, from another angle, Jonouchi fits the classic protagonist template. Hot-blooded main character, highly values friendship, surrounded by lots of buddies, divorced parents, has a sister and a home, the sister is gentle and super clingy to the brother...
...Oh right, there's also the beautiful older sister Kujaku Mai who has quite a high affection for him, only Jonouchi, in matters of love, is completely unaware.
Jonouchi was indeed happy after hanging up, after all, his sister's healthy discharge was his top priority.
But at this moment he just collected all six Puzzle Cards and is busy preparing to advance; if he goes to the hospital first to pick up his sister, he might not be able to be among the first eight to arrive at the finals venue.
The tournament made it to this point, to lose advancement eligibility now would be too great a loss.
While Jonouchi was tangled in dilemma, his good friend Honda "unconsciously" appeared in his line of sight, full of hints pointing at himself.
As if saying -
- Let me go, let me go! Let me pick up Shizuka!
Honda's friendship with Jonouchi predates even Yugi, the two often teamed up to fight delinquents, they were such close friends they could share underwear.
During Jonouchi's busy dueling affairs, Honda frequently visited the hospital to see Shizuka on his behalf. Even though he couldn't duel, he consistently supported Jonouchi in his unique way.
Though he never verbalized it, in his heart he had already made a silent vow to Jonouchi -
- From the moment I saw your sister, I decided to be your brother!
That's right, even if a bit embarrassing. Although Jonouchi considers him a brother, Honda actually wants to be his brother-in-law...
However, currently, Honda has some strong new rivals.
Honda was still beside him, madly hinting, while the silly players ignored everything and went straight to Jonouchi's face.
"I'll go, I'll go! Let me pick up your sister!"
"How can you get distracted at such a crucial moment of advancement? Let me go pick her up!"
"Don't just pick her up, I'd even raise her!"
"Don't get ahead of yourselves!"
Why? Why help Jonouchi pick someone up?
At that time, because his sister is gentle, sweet and adorable...
...No wait, isn't helping a brother in need with a knife a normal thing?
Jonouchi was very touched by this, thinking the brothers he made during the tournament were great, saying nice and thoughtful words, so he entrusted them with the task.
Once this group enthusiastically rushed to the hospital, outsiders might think they are picking up a wealthy heiress from discharge, with such a grand display...
...
Most of the day had passed, and the preliminary round had largely been settled. Players who should advance mostly collected their Puzzle Cards by now, if missing only short a card or two.
At this rate, the eight slots for advancement should soon be finalized.
The leader of Ghouls, Marik Ishtar, finally personally joined the game.
Of course, as the noble leader, he does not need to personally duel to collect Puzzle Cards. He had just landed in Duel City, and his subordinates had already prepared six cards for him.
However, Marik, who was racing towards the finals, encountered a bit of an obstacle along the way.
At this moment, blocking Marik in a dim alley was a young man with long silver-white hair, styled in a way that suggested he was quite skilled in card games.
The young man's face was adorned with a wicked smile, his shirt arrogantly unbuttoned, revealing a blue and white striped short-sleeve shirt. He stood with his hands on his hips, a stance that suggested he recognized no kin, exuding arrogance.
Of course, Marik only noticed his opponent's momentum and gaze afterward. What made him immediately take the opponent blocking his path seriously was the golden circular wheel hanging on the opponent's chest.
The Millennium Ring, one of the Seven Great Millennium Items.
That young man was Dark Bakura.
Bakura is a classmate of Muto Yugi, but his body is possessed by the evil soul residing within the Millennium Ring - the Great Evil God Sock.
It is the Great Evil God Sock who is controlling this body to face Marik now.
"What do you want?" Marik cautiously took out the Millennium Rod and asked coldly.
"Your Millennium Rod, I'm very interested in it. Hand it over to me." Dark Bakura sneered, "The person who collects all seven Millennium Items will gain ultimate dark power. That will be mine."
Marik narrowed his eyes slightly.
This guy... How could he know the secret guarded by the Gravekeeper Race?
But perhaps this guy could be utilized.
Marik smiled lightly, casually playing with the Millennium Rod in his hand.
"It's not impossible to give it to you, but not now." He said, "I'm not interested in collecting the seven Millennium Items to gain power, but there's a goal I must achieve before that, and that's revenge.
I want revenge on Muto Yugi—or rather, the Pharaoh's Soul within him. If you help me achieve this goal, the Millennium Rod is as good as junk to me and I can give it to you."
"Idiot, didn't you understand what I said?" Dark Bakura said coldly, "I asked you to hand it over obediently. Why do you think you have the right to negotiate with me?"
"Oh?" Marik did not expect this one to be so assertive.
However, he was not afraid, chuckled coldly, and activated his Duel Disc: "If you're really confident in your strength, then let's see how you do."
As soon as the words were spoken, Marik's pupils shrank, almost reflexively lifting the Millennium Rod in his hand to deflect the dark wave shot by Dark Bakura.
Marik frowned.
This guy...
... isn't even going to play cards?
Dark Bakura held the Millennium Ring, surrounded by black aura, wearing a sinister smile.
Play cards? Play cards my foot! I'm just going to rob you today!
Well, after all, being the Great Evil God gives you the confidence that comes with strength.
"Interesting."
Marik snorted coldly, lifted the Millennium Rod, and began a duel of dark energy with Dark Bakura across the air.
Both sides instantly rooted to the spot, like tree trunks, motionless. Invisible forces collided in the air, and the overwhelming darkness from both sides crashed like waves, creating a tempest of epic proportions, each strike representing the pinnacle of dark power in the current world...
From the entrance of the alley, a little girl appeared suddenly, tilting her head and licking a lollipop, puzzled as she looked at the two big brothers gazing intensely at each other without moving.
The little girl's mother appeared behind her: "Lily?"
The little girl tugged at her mother's skirt: "Mommy, look at those two big brothers, they look so strange! Have they broken their brains?"
The mother quickly picked up the little girl and hurriedly walked away: "Don't talk nonsense!"
Marik: "..."
Dark Bakura: "..."
Perhaps it was an illusion, but both felt as if a crow was cawing above them, flapping its wings as it flew over...
Dark Bakura put away the Millennium Ring: "Hmph, I didn't expect your dark power to be quite decent."
Marik also implicitly put away the Rod: "You're not bad either."
Although neither expressed the reason, they both simultaneously felt a bit reluctant to continue...
"Alright, I'll accept your terms." Dark Bakura snorted.
After all, Yugi holds the Millennium Pendant, and if one wants to collect all the Millennium Items, sooner or later, Yugi will be an unavoidable obstacle. Seizing the opportunity to team up with Marik to take down Yugi is not necessarily a bad idea.
"Very good. Our combined forces will make us unstoppable in this world!" Marik seemed very optimistic about their strong alliance.
"Hmph, perhaps." Dark Bakura grunted, "Just don't slow me down."