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

"Dream on! Quick-attack spell activated: Twin Tornadoes!"

In the nick of time, the duelist who had just drawn a card quickly played a card from his hand.

"Discard 1 card from your hand, then destroy 2 Spell/Trap Cards on the field. Destroy 'Gigantify' and 'Daredevil Speedrun'!"

Blowing away the "Daredevil Race" will cause Kaiba Mashiro to lose his safe zone. Without "Gigantification", the damage from "Destruction Wheel" is high but not unbearable.

On the contrary, Mashiro Kaiba will lose a powerful general, suffering a loss instead of gain.

Unfortunately, although the idea was good, it was something that Mashiro Kaiba had already anticipated.

"Chain effect! 'Half-Dragon Maid - Radiant Dragon Girl' activated!"

The seahorse cried out in a crisp voice, and the elegant dragon behind it shone with a soft yet dazzling white light.

"When your opponent activates a Spell/Trap/Monster effect, negate that activation and destroy it. Then, return this card to my Extra Deck and Special Summon 'Half-Dragon Maid/Dragon Butler'. [Radiant Redemption]!"

The soft white light slowly spread out, engulfing and dissipating the approaching tornado until it disappeared and the white light faded away.

In place of the "Radiant Dragon Girl" is a head maid with glasses and a crab-like hairstyle. The same dragon tail as the "Radiant Dragon Girl" sways behind her waist, exuding a gentle and intellectual aura.

But no matter how beautiful the "Dragon Girl Butler" is, it has no meaning for Kaiba Mashiro's opponents at this moment.

because--

"After the effect of 'Twin Tornadoes' is negated, the effect of 'Destruction Wheel' continues. 'Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon,' use your life to destroy all my enemies!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

A ring with a grenade attached landed on the neck of the "Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon," and then the grenade exploded, the flames and shockwaves of the explosion instantly sweeping in all directions.

Amidst the blast, screams echoed from many people. Streaks of white light appeared, and the contestants who had originally surrounded Kaiba Mashiro were teleported back to various parts of the island due to the defeat mechanism.

Only the puzzle card that had been placed beforehand remained in place, floating and falling into the small hand of the seahorse Mashiro.

Compared to Yuki, who fought two opponents at once, Kaiba Mashiro received more puzzle cards in one go, exceeding half the amount needed to advance.

"Hmph, so weak. Compared to Yuki, she's incredibly weak."

Defeating so many opponents in one fell swoop did not evoke any particular emotion in Mashiro Kaiba.

Even though those who advanced to the main tournament of the Star Cup were among the strongest duelists in the local area, there are still differences between the strong. These weaklings couldn't possibly get her to take it seriously; at best, they were just warm-up material.

Of course, being able to instantly kill them all would still give you a little sense of accomplishment.

"Even so, Miss Mashiro, haven't you ever heard the saying that ants can kill an elephant?"

Saki's somewhat helpless voice came through Kaiba Mashiro's headphones.

"You were just lucky this time. Luckily, the enemies you encountered weren't very strong. If a few of them had infiltrated the ranks, you would have been in trouble and become someone else's ATM."

"Ugh, stop nagging! As long as the result is good, that's all that matters. Saki, you just love to worry about things unnecessarily!"

Kaiba Mashiro pouted impatiently and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Stop talking about me, how's it going on your end?"

"Me? I've taken care of two of my enemies, and they're on their way to you, Miss. Until I get there, please don't do anything as reckless as you did just now. You should understand our situation in the Star Cup, right?"

As the saying goes, "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." The Stars team has maintained its dominant position for so many years, so it is bound to become a thorn in everyone's side.

On the stage of the Star Cup main tournament, which allows for free-for-all, the Star Vanguard team has become a public enemy for many years – many teams did not intend to fight each other at the start of the tournament, but instead gathered together to try to eliminate the Star Vanguard team first.

This tactic is simple yet deadly, exerting immense, overwhelming pressure on anyone. The only reason it hasn't succeeded so far is because past Stars teams have consistently broken through the encirclement.

But no matter how confident one is in one's own abilities, a wise person will not fall into a dangerous situation.

It's best to avoid such chaotic fighting if possible.

So when the match started, not long after the teleportation was completed, Saki almost had a cardiac arrest when she sensed that Kaiba Mashiro was actively releasing Feel to attract other people's attention.

"I know, I was just trying to be efficient. Anyway, losing now won't mean much of a loss..."

Sensing the sternness in Saki's tone, Kaiba Mashiro reluctantly agreed, abandoning her plan to continue her sarcastic remarks: "Then Saki, you'd better hurry up and come over, or I'll get bored waiting too long."

"Okay, just a moment, I'll be right there."

The perfectly poised maid responded to her mistress's wish, using the aura-eliminating technique she had learned in her maid training to conceal her own aura fluctuations, moving from a blind spot while observing the various unusual movements around her.

At that moment, a third, somewhat lazy voice came through the earphones.

"Hey—didn't anyone even ask me anything? I'm supposed to be Mashiro and Saki's teammate, right? Don't you guys care about me at all? Am I being bullied at school?"

"Oh right, Wendy, you're here too."

Saki stumbled as she moved forward, and at the same time as Kaiba Mashiro, she suddenly realized that there was a third person in their Star Vanguard team.

Wendy's tone was slightly dissatisfied: "What do you mean 'I'm still here'? Aren't I your teammate? What kind of behavior is it to forget your own teammate? This is definitely bullying! My self-esteem has been hurt."

"Sorry sorry."

"It's because Wendy, your presence is too weak."

As Saki apologized with a somewhat embarrassed expression, Kaiba Mashiro retorted without any remorse, "Saki needs to use some stealth skills. If you don't make a sound, no one can notice you at all!"

"That's too much! Mashiro, what you're saying is way too much. This constitution is something I was born with, it's not something I wanted."

"You're the one who's going too far. You used to secretly use this ability to run away when you were interviewed, but you didn't mention your physical condition back then."

"Uh... A true hero doesn't dwell on past glories. Talking about things from the past isn't heroic, Mashiro."

"No, that's not how you use this idiom..."

Saki felt exhausted, as if she had become a mother prematurely and was raising two silly children.

After sighing, she said softly, "Wendy, come and join us. It'll be safer if the three of us travel together."

This suggestion was reasonable and prudent, but it was opposed by the other two people.

"There's no need to bring Wendy over. She's hopeless with directions. I don't think she'll be able to find her way."

"What do you mean 'directionally challenged'? It's clearly that I don't recognize the road. Mashiro, if you keep slandering me, I'm going to sue you when we get back. But I really can't get here for now. I saw some interesting things."

"Something interesting?"

"Ah."

Wendy stood on a building, shading her eyes with her hand and gazing into the distance, her emerald green hair fluttering in the wind.

Her eyesight is excellent, and with the power of her Feel, she can easily see a tiny person a kilometer away.

“Mashiro, that guy you were so obsessed with before... oh, the one named Izumi Yuuki, I think I saw him.”

"Eh?"

Chapter 181 If we eat this, we'll be friends.

"Now we have 3 puzzle cards..."

After descending the mountain road and entering the town, You Xi briefly assessed her gains.

It seemed that only the Sakamoto brothers were crouching on that road. Apart from the two of them, Yuki, who used the Pokémon as True Sights, could not see any other prey.

Of course, it is also possible that he chose to temporarily avoid confrontation after witnessing his duel with the Sakamoto brothers. Yuki does not know which possibility it is, but in any case, he is quite satisfied with what he has gained.

In many ways, he was a content person.

"Oh! Yu Xi won too? Things are going well here too."

Xingye Wu's cheerful voice came through the headphones, accompanied by the sound effects of a monster attack.

"I have two puzzle cards now, and I'll be on my third one soon. I hope Xiaoxue has gotten one too?"

"I have four here."

Sixteen Nights Snow answered immediately, and You Xin could hear a hint of relief in her tone.

"It seems everyone is making good progress, which at least ensures a minimum level of safety."

You Xi nodded: "Well, apart from the rendezvous, we've achieved our initial goal in the plan, haven't we?"

If we were to pinpoint the most dangerous stage in the Star Cup main tournament, it would undoubtedly be the initial opening stage.

At this point, everyone only has one puzzle card, and the entire team could be eliminated at any time. Therefore, at this stage, each team will adopt what they believe to be the appropriate strategy.

The more conservative approach is to never start a war before all three are assembled, and then rely on their numerical advantage to fight steadily and cautiously once they are all together.

Those with a more strategic vision will form alliances with several other teams beforehand to hunt down strong teams together.

The more cunning ones will wait until others have almost exhausted the target before running out to pick up the scraps, ensuring they can get the puzzle card.

Different strategies can greatly influence the subsequent course of the war, and the development of events may not necessarily be as planned.

But regardless, these strategies all have only one purpose—to ensure that their teams survive the initial chaos.

In fact, even from a considerable distance, Yuki could sense the undisguised fluctuations of Feel emanating from all over the island, clearly indicating that everyone was fighting fiercely.

The purpose was to ensure that his team could survive in this vast and brutal battlefield.

According to Izayoi Yuki's conservative estimate based on prior calculations, once the situation stabilizes, there will likely be a maximum of 200 people remaining on the deserted island who are still eligible to participate. Everyone else will only be spectators.

The fact that they were able to collect so many puzzle cards so quickly means that Youxi and his team have escaped the survival crisis and can now calmly consider and face the upcoming competition.

"Speaking of which, if so many people lose puzzle cards on the first day, what will happen to those who are eliminated?"

As her thoughts drifted back to this point, You Xi couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity.

I don't know how the authorities will handle this situation.

"In this respect, the rules are somewhat different each year."

Izayoi Yukido: "If an entire team loses their puzzle cards, sometimes they will be teleported off the island simultaneously at the end of the day's competition. Other times, a revival match will be arranged, and those who pass the revival match will have the opportunity to rejoin the competition. This is also to give some strong teams that have been besieged to death a chance, since there are many unexpected situations in the melee, which is very unfair to some people."

"This time, we adopted the latter approach."

"In other words, even if we lose, we don't need to be completely discouraged," Xingyewu summarized in one sentence. "In the worst-case scenario, we still have the possibility of making a comeback, Xiaoxi."

"I see."

"That's true, but no matter what, we must avoid this from happening. The best outcome is that we can all get off the plane smoothly."

Izayoi Yuki's voice dispelled the two's negative thoughts and made everyone feel a sense of urgency.

They didn't come here for a day trip or to make ends meet; they came here to strive for first place.

If you become lazy and slack off because you think there's still a way out, it will be absolutely impossible to achieve this goal.

"I know." You Xi certainly didn't want things to come to that. "Since we all have extra puzzle pieces, do we still need to continue gathering them? Or should we split up and work on it separately?"