Want to play cards? I'll use my King's Deck!

Upon hearing Yuki's apology, Jounouchi Ranpo finally snapped out of his daze.

He shrugged and said, "I know the principle of 'the winner is king, the loser is a bandit.' Since you, You Xi, are the winner, I won't be dissatisfied. Although it's very frustrating."

Even now, Ranpo Jounouchi still finds it hard to believe.

He clearly held a significant advantage until the very last moment of the duel, but it was overturned in the blink of an eye.

This was the first time he had ever encountered a duel like this.

The name Izumi Yuuki was firmly etched in Ranpo Jonouchi's mind. He would likely be a formidable opponent in the upcoming Star Cup main tournament.

"Being unwilling is useless."

As Ranpo Jōnouchi was thinking this, he heard a loli voice that annoyed him.

Kaiba Mashiro said, "I already told you, that's Yuki. He's just a defeated opponent of mine. How could he possibly be a match for him? That was destined from the very beginning."

"Tch, what's there to be so smug about? You're not the one who won. You're just acting all high and mighty because you won once. You're such a kid."

Who are you calling a child?!

Ranpo's words were not to be ignored by Mashiro Kaiba, and the bunny-eared loli immediately glared at him with a sinister look.

Ranpo Jounouchi glanced sideways and said, "What do you think? Whoever is the youngest here is the child."

"Alright! You seem pretty unconvinced, well, I might as well give you a chance."

"Come on, who is afraid of whom?"

"Alright, alright, Jonouchi-kun, Mashiro, let's both back down. Let's stop arguing."

Seeing that the tension between Ranpo Jounouchi and Mashiro Kaiba was escalating, Yuki quickly stepped in as a peacemaker.

Out of respect for him, the two of them managed to avoid a full-blown fight on the spot. They merely glared at each other angrily before looking away.

Store manager Gao Wen then spoke.

"The trial for the 'No.' card is over. It seems it belongs to that brat named Yuuki over there. But let me make it clear beforehand, Ranpo, I'm not returning your money."

"I know."

Ranpo Jounouchi replied, "After all, we agreed beforehand that this money was just to buy an opportunity. It's my own fault for not being as skilled as others. But, uncle, I'll definitely come back to see you again next time."

"If you can raise that much money again."

Store manager Gao Wen didn't give a definitive answer, leaving only an ambiguous response.

But this answer itself speaks volumes.

"It seems that besides this 'No.' card, the shopkeeper has other goodies here?" Xingye Wu asked curiously.

"That's natural."

Shop manager Gao Wen exhaled a puff of smoke and said calmly, "If I didn't have some hidden treasures, I wouldn't be able to keep this shop in business for long—alright, Ranpo's matter is over, now it's your turn. Have you decided which card you want to buy?"

Store manager Gao Wen asked You Xi and the others for their thoughts.

The "No. 11 Giant Eye" was a pleasant surprise, not the real reason for Yuki and her group's visit. Besides the "Giant Eye," they could still purchase other high-quality Rhea cards from Gawain.

While Yuki and Jonouchi Ranpo were engaged in their trial duel, Hoshino Mai and Izayoi Yuki were not just waiting around doing nothing.

This time was enough for them to browse through the cards in the collection room and select the cards they needed for their teams.

However, before making a formal choice, Yu Xi wanted to do something else first.

"Jounouchi-kun, may I pay you to buy a copy of 'Flame Swordsman' and 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'?"

"what?"

Chapter 174: The New Ace About to Awaken?

"Hey, Xiaoxi, why did you buy those two cards from that boy in the hat?"

After saying goodbye to Manager Gao Wen and leaving the "Chaos and the Butcher's Knife" card shop, Hoshino Mai watched Ranpo Jounouchi leave. Finally, unable to contain her curiosity and doubt, she asked the boy who had accompanied her.

Not only her, but also Izayoi Yuki and Kaiba Mashiro cast similar glances at her.

The latter went even further, saying, "Exactly! That kind of card is completely useless to your deck, Yuki! If you really want it, why don't you just buy it here?"

Putting aside "Red-Eyes Black Dragon," the "Flame Swordsman" series, aside from the new upgraded versions, isn't particularly useful for general fusion. Anyway, if it were Kaiba Mashiro, she wouldn't see any reason to acquire such a card.

Even if you were to buy them, you should buy the entire "Flame Swordsman" series of cards.

In other words, it was Yuuki who spoke, and she was stopped by Hoshino and Mai. Otherwise, Mashiro Kaiba would have tried to dissuade Yuuki from doing so.

"Ah, actually there are several reasons for this."

Surrounded by the girls in the center, Youxi knew she had to give an explanation.

"Firstly, I won the trial duel against 'Giant Eye,' right? The reason I had that opportunity was because Jonouchi-kun contributed money and effort. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't show any appreciation."

Yu Xi's conscience still couldn't quite get over this type of freeloading.

"Oh, that's it!"

Xingye Wu suddenly realized, "So that's why you did it, Xiaoxi, to return the money to that boy in the hat."

"Well, because I'm worried that Jonouchi-kun might not accept the usual approach."

You Xi nodded.

After one trial duel, he could tell that Ranpo Jonouchi was also a duelist with inner pride, which was why he wanted to take a longer route.

"Flame Swordsman" might be a general-purpose amalgam monster with low value, but "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" is a different story.

As the signature monster of the Red-Eyes Dojo, its value is not diminished even though many people may own it. Buying the card from Jonouchi Ranpo with real money can more or less make up for Jonouchi Ranpo's losses on "No." cards.

and……

"Furthermore, 'Flame Swordsman' and 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' are not entirely useless cards to me; they can both be of some use in my deck."

You Xi gave a second reason.

"Flame Swordsman" goes without saying. It is the favorite card of Joey Wheeler, an important male supporting character in the original anime DM. Although he hardly used it after entering the Duel City arc, in the Noah arc created by the anime team, Joey Wheeler used this card to fuse with Yugi's ace card, "Dark Magician", to create a new ace card and defeat the enemy's main monster in one fell swoop.

It can be said that it embodies the bond between Katsuya Jonouchi and King.

Yuki already possesses that fusion monster, and with the "Flame Swordsman," it's relatively easy to summon it. Although it might not be needed under normal circumstances, it's better to be prepared.

As for the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon," that's even more important.

This is not only proof of the true friendship between Yoshihiro and Katsuya Jonouchi, but also a very important trump card for Yuuki.

When Yuki saw Katsuya Jonouchi summon the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon," she heard the Black Magician Girl Spirit calling in her ear, reminding her of the changes on a certain stone slab in her mind's chamber.

It seemed that, stimulated by the "Red-Eyed Black Dragon," the stone slab was showing signs of awakening.

However, he was still engaged in a fierce battle with Ranpo Jonouchi at the time and did not have the energy to deal with this intelligence.

If possible, Yu Xi would certainly like to obtain the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", since there is no stone tablet related to the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" in his mind's room.

"But unfortunately, in the end, the other party did not agree to your transaction request. Youxi, your idea failed."

"Sixteen Nights Snow" said.

Yuki's expression didn't show much regret: "I wouldn't say it was a complete failure. Didn't Jonouchi say he would take me to the Red-Eyes Dojo? I should have a chance then."

It's not surprising that Ranpo Jounouchi would refuse.

Regardless, "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" is a core card in his deck, and it's impossible for him to sell it just because Yuki says he wants to buy it.

In any case, through this conversation and the misunderstanding that led to their friendship, Yuki managed to make contact with Ranpo Jounouchi.

The Red-Eyes school obviously has a dojo in Star Peak City. He can bring gifts to the dojo to visit and learn, and perhaps he can obtain more "Red-Eyes" power.

For example, there's "Dark Dragon" which you can use yourself, and "Red-Eyes Fusion" which can be used for deck fusion.

Only by obtaining the latter can it be considered a qualitative change.

Yu Xi was thinking about all this, while Kaiba Mashiro said with dissatisfaction, "I think that guy is just being stubborn and making things so complicated."

"You can't say that, Mashiro-neechan. If we were in the Hat Boys' position, we wouldn't have agreed either."

Xingyewu said with a smile.

Yu Xi also chimed in, "Zhenbai, I know you're upset on my behalf, but I'm the one who benefited this time. It wouldn't be good if you pushed your luck any further."

"Hmm, even you say that, Yuki..."

Even though Mashiro Kaiba was raised in a pampered manner, she's not one to argue or be unreasonable.

Seeing that Yu Xi wasn't on her side, the bunny-eared loli was completely speechless.

At this time-

"Miss."

A female voice that Yuki and Kaiba Mashiro were very familiar with suddenly came from the roadside. Turning their heads, they saw a maid who stood out from the crowd walking towards them.

As for who this maid is, there's no need to ask.

"Saki, what brings you here?"

Kaiba Mashiro asked in surprise, and Saki couldn't help but speak helplessly.

"Of course I'm coming, you silly young lady. Have you forgotten what time it is? If I hadn't come, wouldn't you have been sleeping on the streets? Or... are you planning to go back to Mr. Yu Xi's place to sleep?"

"What?! I'm not stupid! It's the one who calls others stupid who's stupid, Saki."

"If you can make things easier for others, no one will call you stupid."

Of all Saki's words, only two words garnered the most attention and elicited the strongest reaction from Mashiro Kaiba. However, regardless of the context, Saki's words only signified one thing.

Today's date (just kidding)... the online meetup went very well.

"Mr. You Xi, thank you for taking care of Miss today."

"Oh, that's not true."

Saki gave Yuuki a slight bow, and Yuuki quickly waved her hand in return, saying, "Mashiro and I had a lot of fun all day, and no one had to take care of anyone else. I should thank Mashiro, though. Thanks to her volunteering to be our guide, we became more familiar with the city."

"That's it!"

Kaiba Mashiro said smugly, "Even without Saki by my side, I can do everything perfectly! You didn't expect that, did you!"

"If that were true, that would be wonderful."