"By discarding `(Gaia The Fierce Knight)` from my Hand, I Activate the Effect of `(Armed Dragon LV10)`! All Face-up Position Monsters on your Field are Destroyed! Obliterate!"
"My `(Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon)`!"
"I Special Summon `(Earth Spirit)` from my Hand, Revive `(Gaia The Fierce Knight)`, and then Activate `(Power of Succession)` and `(Megamorph)`!"
"A Monster with 10200 Attack Points!?"
"Trap Cards, `(Ring of Destruction)` and `(Ring of Defense)`! Go, `(Gaia)`! Sacrifice yourself for the greater good!"
[Passerby A: 4000 LP → 0]
[Goon B: 4000 LP → 0]
[Scrub C: 4000 LP → 0]
After a flurry of moves, Hayato easily finished off the eight goons, the whole affair taking less than ten minutes.
Ordering the guys who lost the Duel to help move the chairs and stools back into the Kame Game Shop, Hayato closed up and announced they were closing early, then set off to find Yugi and the others, who had been dragged away by Rebecca.
Having left a full ten minutes earlier, Yugi and his friends were long gone. However, after a moment's thought, Hayato knew exactly where they had gone. Rebecca intended to Duel Yugi, and in all of Domino City, there was only one place truly suitable for a formal Duel—
"KaibaLand." Looking at the towering building before him, Hayato read the name inscribed on the majestic, handsome `(Blue-Eyes White Dragon)` statue in the center of the plaza out front.
After inheriting KaibaCorp, Kaiba shifted its focus from military arms to the entertainment industry. "KaibaLand" was his way of realizing his ambition—a comprehensive entertainment center, combining an amusement park, a zoo, and many other elements. His goal was to open branches across all of Japan, with the dream of expanding worldwide.
And as an entertainment center, KaibaLand was, of course, a place where one could Duel. In fact, Dueling was the main way KaibaLand attracted visitors. This was because—unlike other entertainment centers—the Duel Stages at KaibaLand were equipped with the Solid Vision system, which could bring out the full charm of Duel Monsters. And Solid Vision Technology was a patent of KaibaCorp.
To experience this technology elsewhere, one would either have to be at a major tournament or spend a fortune to purchase a large Duel Stage manufactured under license from KaibaCorp.
Although the "KaibaLand" project hadn't been promoted for long and had yet to successfully expand nationwide, as the location of the headquarters, Domino City certainly had one. Since it wasn't too expensive, even Joey would come here to Duel once in a while. In any case, the loser usually paid.
If Yugi and the others wanted to Duel, this was the only place they could have come.
As soon as he walked through the main gate of KaibaLand, Hayato saw a familiar figure standing in front of the customer service center.
Skillfully handling various tasks and relaying his commands to different departments via the network, he might have looked like just a kid, but as the younger brother of that era-defining genius, he was clearly no fool. On the contrary, he was a super-genius in his own right.
It was just that, compared to his brilliant older brother, Mokuba's talents seemed relatively lackluster.
Before Hayato could even open his mouth to greet him, Mokuba, who had just finished a task, noticed him entering the KaibaLand building and greeted him joyfully, "Ah, Hayato-bro!"
"Yo, Officer Rika Minami," Hayato said, raising a hand in greeting.
"Get over that joke already!"
Mokuba retorted, "You're such an incredible guy, but you're never serious. You're definitely going to be single your whole life, Hayato!"
"Hmph, that would be for the best. Women only slow down my draws." Walking up to Mokuba, Hayato affectionately ruffled his hair and asked, "Yugi and the others are here, right?"
"Yeah, they're at Duel Stage number 11. Are you here to see them, Hayato?" Mokuba straightened out his messy hair, not even glancing at the data tablet in his hand as he reported their location.
"Hmph, KaibaLand is really popular, you know. The reservations for the Duel Stages are backed up for almost three months. If I hadn't helped Yugi and the others out, they wouldn't have had a Duel Stage to use today~"
"Well, it was Kaiba's idea, after all. That guy's a genius."
"Hehe, of course he is." Hearing Hayato praise his older brother, Mokuba smiled even more happily than if he had been praised himself.
"Alright then, I'm heading over to find them. You get back to work, Sabo." Hayato raised his hand, but Mokuba quickly protected his hair with both hands, thwarting the head-ruffling attempt. Smiling, Hayato pinched Mokuba's soft cheek and ran off.
"Ah, that guy!" Mokuba said with some annoyance, watching Hayato's retreating back after he'd had his fun. Turning back to the tablet beside him, he noticed a chocolate-flavored lollipop resting on it.
Taking the elevator up to the Duel Monsters theme park, Hayato passed through a bunch of decorations that reflected Kaiba's strange aesthetic—a `(Blue-Eyes White Dragon)` fountain, a `(Blue-Eyes White Dragon)` statue, a `(Blue-Eyes White Dragon)` chandelier, and even a `(Blue-Eyes White Dragon)` signpost with its finger pointing to the restroom. After all that, Hayato finally found Duel Field number 11.
His luck was good; Yugi and the others hadn't gotten too far ahead of him. As he walked in, the two Duel Stages were slowly rising, indicating that their Duel had just begun.
"You guys are such loyal friends, leaving me to deal with all those people by myself back at the shop."
"Ah, Hayato, you're here too." Joey turned his head, saw Hayato walking towards them, and quickly apologized, "Sorry about that! When I saw Yugi get dragged away, I was so worried about him I just took off without thinking."
Hayato patted his shoulder. "Forget it, I'll let it slide this time. How are things with Yugi and Rebecca?"
"Uh, well, it's just as you see." Joey pointed his finger at the two on the Field. "We tried to explain to Rebecca that Grandpa Muto's `(Blue-Eyes White Dragon)` is an important Card entrusted to him by a friend, but that snotty little kid wouldn't listen to a word I said."
"Joey tried to brag about being the runner-up of Duelist Kingdom, and she just mocked him, saying, 'If you're not the Champion, you're the last place.'" Tristan slapped his forehead. "We're only five or six years older than her, right? How is the generation gap between us and the next generation so huge?"
Besides them, Solomon Muto, who had gone fishing since someone was watching the shop, had also been summoned here by a phone call. An empty bucket sat beside him. With a perfectly valid reason, Grandpa Muto refused to admit he'd come back empty-handed, but as he looked at Rebecca, a thoughtful expression crossed his face:
"How strange. I'm sure I've never met this little girl before, so why does she seem so familiar?"
(end of chapter)