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

"Although it seems like we won't need it, you're definitely planning to do this, aren't you? For a captain-level duelist to go to this extent, is it cowardice or caution?"

"You should call it a tactic."

Faced with Wendy's provocation, Canglan frowned slightly and emphasized, "This is quite reasonable in this kind of competition, and besides, you have no right to criticize us. Otherwise, who is that man next to you, Wendy?"

"He's my ally! We, Xingfeng and Qingcheng High School, have formed a defensive alliance."

"What!?"

Upon hearing Wendy's answer, Ranpo Jonouchi exclaimed in shock, "Yuki! You've allied with Star Peak? When did this happen?"

"Just a short time ago."

Yu Xi replied, "After I met Miss Wendy, the two sides formed a temporary alliance."

"Tch! They've mixed up two troublesome teams."

Ranpo clicked his tongue.

After talking with him for a while, he had a clear understanding of Yuki's strength. She was definitely a formidable opponent, no less than Kaiba Mashiro, and her teammates who were competing with her were probably not much weaker either.

This team has teamed up with Xingfeng... This is truly terrible news that I don't want to hear at all.

However, even if an alliance is formed, it will likely only last until the second round of the competition. Once Duel City ends, any alliance will inevitably disband, and everyone will fight their own battles.

As Jonouchi Ranpo was thinking this, Yuki asked him, "Jonouchi, would you like to team up with us from your Beacon Fire Academy?"

As their relationship grew closer, Yuuki no longer addressed Jonouchi Ranpo as "classmate." Although Jonouchi Ranpo told her to just call him Ranpo, Yuuki preferred to use his surname rather than his given name.

This holds a special place in Yu Xi's heart.

"What? An alliance with both of your teams?!"

Ranpo Jonouchi unexpectedly asked a question, and Yuuki nodded, saying, "Yes, it's best for us to avoid wasting each other's time in the early stages. That way, we'll be more efficient at collecting puzzle cards. Jonouchi, could you talk to your captain about it?"

"If this is the case..."

"Hey, wait a minute, have you forgotten about us?"

Kamui suddenly spoke, interrupting Ranpo's words.

"We're still in the middle of a duel, there's no time for idle chatter. Charge! 'Thunder Dragon - Thunder Dragon,' attack Ranpo Jounouchi directly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the enormous dragon coiled behind Shenwei, its body crackling with electricity, resembling an ancient deity, slowly opened its mouth.

Countless electric sparks converged inside the mouth.

"Well done!"

Upon hearing Kamui's declaration of direct attack, Jonouchi Ranpo was not alarmed but rather delighted. He flipped over one of his face-down cards and said, "The instant you attack, I will activate my Trap Card: 'Dimensional Wall'!"

"This can only be activated when the opponent declares an attack. The combat damage I suffer in this battle will be borne by the opponent!"

"Thunder Dragon" has an attack power of 3200, and no matter what kind of opponent it is, it is impossible to keep LP at its peak in front of "Red Eyes" at full power.

Now that Shenwei only has 3000 HP left, this trap is enough for him to turn the tide!

"This is the price you pay for underestimating me, you idiot!"

Ranpo Jounouchi, facing the roaring lightning, exclaimed excitedly, "This time you've lost!"

"Ha, how naive."

However, Zheng Shenwei's expression did not change upon hearing this.

"Jounouchi, do you know why I didn't deal with your face-down cards beforehand, even though I knew they might be problematic? It's because your face-down cards pose no threat to me—launch a counter-trap from your hand: 'Red Reset'!"

Kamui casually stuffed a card into the Duel Disk, and upon seeing the giant card projected onto the screen, Jonouchi Ranpo's expression changed drastically.

"What?! It's actually 'Red Reboot'?! Oh no!"

"This card can be activated directly from your hand by paying half of your Life Points, negating the effects of Trap Cards and resetting them. After that, your opponent can set 1 Trap Card from their Deck to their backrow. However, they cannot activate any more Trap Cards this turn. But you will no longer have the opportunity to use this effect."

Kamui sneered, "This is the difference in combat power between us! It's over! 'Thunder Dragon - Thunder Dragon' attacks directly, [Nine Thunder Gods Roar]!!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

"Within the city!!"

A dazzling burst of lightning erupted like a flood, turning my retina white, while at the same time I heard the rumbling thunder and the screams of panic from the city.

"Damn it! It still doesn't work."

The lightning in the sky dissipated, revealing the chaotic figure walking around the city once more.

He was kneeling on the ground, panting heavily, clearly at his limit.

Moreover, a teleportation circle appeared beneath their feet.

Ranpo turned around and looked at Yuki and Wendy behind him.

"Tsk, although I'm very unwilling, it seems I can only rely on you guys. You must avenge me, Yu Xi!"

After he finished speaking, a bright light emanated from the halo, enveloping Ranpo within the castle. Then, the figure of the Red-Eyed Swordsman disappeared from everyone's sight.

On the original battlefield, only four people remained: Shinwei, Canglan, Wendy, and Yuxi.

Chapter 184 Is this called 3P or 4P?

The halo emitted a faint glow, enveloping the defeated Jonouchi Ranpo. When the light disappeared, Jonouchi Ranpo had already vanished without a trace.

Yu Xi and Wendy were left alone in the same spot, facing Shen Wei and Cang Lan.

"Hmm, if I didn't know that this was a special effect of the teleportation device being activated, it really would look a bit like a dark duel at first glance."

This wasn't the first time they'd seen this phenomenon, and no one seemed particularly surprised, except for Wendy, who made a sarcastic remark without considering the atmosphere.

Kamui chimed in, "Although it's not some dark duel, the price of this duel is still quite high. That guy will probably be unable to get up for a while before he finds his captain and cries for help."

As he said this, Kamui also received the puzzle card that Ranpo Jounouchi had left behind.

There are a total of 3 cards, and judging from Kamui's words, these should be all the puzzle cards that Jonouchi Ranpo has.

"Here you go, Azure. According to the covenant, this puzzle card is yours."

Kamui handed a puzzle card to his ally, who accepted it without hesitation, saying with a smile, "Thanks, I'll give you an equal gift later. Now, it's time to deal with these two."

"I can roughly guess your reason for raiding this place—it's probably not to establish friendly relations with us and sign some kind of non-aggression pact," Cang Lan said to You Xi and the other person.

"of course."

Yu Xi answered firmly, "We're here to crush you!"

"Ha! Quite the boast."

Kamui glanced at the unremarkable Yuki, then his gaze fell on Wendy.

"...I never expected that someone as proud as Xingfeng would choose to cooperate with others. Didn't you guys always dominate the entire Star Cup as a single team?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. After all, we don't have a strong fighter like Naruto-senpai this year. Mashiro is cute as she is, but the deck issues haven't been fully resolved."

Wendy slowly revealed the information about her family.

Anyway, these are problems that can be discovered after one or two matches or observations, so there's nothing to hide.

"Besides, it's not that Xingfeng didn't want to cooperate with people in the past. It's just that you guys are not trustworthy at all, and cooperating with you will only lead to betrayal."

"makes sense."

Almost everyone in the Star Cup wanted to dethrone the Star Vanguard team and claim first place for themselves. Although this was an unprecedented feat, it also demonstrated the unprecedented glory that would follow.

True duelists are beings who yearn to climb to the top; how could they possibly resist this temptation?

Shenwei and Canglan did not refute this; if the opportunity truly arose, they certainly would not let it pass.

"Well then, let's end this boring chatter here." Cang Lan slowly approached. "We're also in a hurry. There were more than just the two of you who came to ambush us, right? We need to take care of you as soon as possible."

You Xi said, "It's too late to go now, isn't it? The rules of the Star Cup don't allow people to enter the fray midway through the battle."

"That's correct, but the rules also state that it's permissible for players to pay more puzzle cards to replace their teammates if the players agree. In that case, the teammate's life points, on-field and in the graveyard, and in the banished zone will be inherited."

Cang Lan calmly reminded them, "We have more people on our side than you. As long as we can buy some more time, we can naturally save my teammates."

While free-for-alls and adding more people are not allowed, exchanging duelists is permitted, which is logically similar to the substitution system in a ball game.

The Star Cup is, after all, a team competition, so it naturally needs to provide more options for teamwork. Allowing players to jump into the fray mid-match would be too unbalanced, but limiting player exchanges to players within the same team would be fairer and more reasonable.

"Well, the premise is that they have to be able to beat us."

Wendy concluded.

Kamui sneered, "Forget about Amagi Naruto. I don't think we'll lose to you juniors. You think so too, don't you, Canglan?"

"Of course."

Cang Lan nodded slightly: "Let's quickly take care of the enemy and then go support other battlefields."

"Don't worry, it will be over soon."

Kamui licked his lips and said to Yuuki and the other, "Alright, you two, let's fight this duel in TAG mode, okay?"

"TAG's doubles? Sure."

Yu Xi stepped forward and stood opposite Kamui, saying to the girl beside him, "I'm counting on you from now on, Miss Wendy."

"Alright, time to get to work."

Wendy did not object to Youxi's suggestion, and consciously walked to the side with Canglan, standing about ten meters apart facing each other.

The four exchanged glances with their opponents and then activated the Duel Disk—

"Duel!" x4

【Shenwei & Canglan LP: 8000】

[Yu Xi & Wendy LP: 8000]

As the duel declaration was announced, the shared life points in TAG mode appeared beside the two players, along with the number of puzzle cards they currently held and the amount of puzzle cards they had wagered.

Yu Xi: 5/5

Wendy: 3/3

Kamui: 7/7

Azure: 5/6