Chapter 36: Let Me Adjust My Deck

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Seeing someone step forward to challenge him, the AI Kaiba immediately swept one hand through the air and let out another booming, three-part laugh. Then he clenched his fist.

“As long as we duel, the winds of battle shall howl without end! Come—”

“Hold on.”

You Xuan raised a hand in a stopping gesture, showing him no courtesy whatsoever.

“Would you mind if I made a few adjustments to my Deck first?”

AI Kaiba: “...”

Naturally, the AI had no objection. You Xuan pulled out his Deck and began making changes.

For any card player in his former life, remembering to bring a Side Deck along with the Main Deck whenever they went out was basic etiquette. In official tournaments, however, a Side Deck could contain no more than fifteen cards, which players used to adapt to their opponent’s strategy.

This world had no such restriction at all, so You Xuan had no reason to hold back. The Side Deck he carried with him contained at least seventy or eighty cards—enough to handle almost any situation.

Since this was an AI modeled after Seto Kaiba, there was no doubt that its main strength lay in the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It also mixed in various other engines, but generally speaking, most of its cards belonged to the Dragon-Type or LIGHT Attribute.

In the theatrical film, Anubis, resurrected from ancient Egypt, called Kaiba the “King of Light,” while Atem, the Dark Game, was called the “King of Darkness.” Their Decks had indeed been deliberately designed as opposing forces of light and darkness.

Although Kaiba’s low-Level monsters had a variety of Attributes, his most commonly used boss monsters—the Blue-Eyes White Dragon system and the VWXYZ five-part combined mecha, for example—were all LIGHT monsters.

And if one took the film The Dark Side of Dimensions into account, then the real Kaiba’s current Deck should already contain at least three powerful alternate forms that had made their appearances: Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, and Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The only question was how far this AI’s updates had progressed.

If that assumption was correct, then compared with Kaiba’s Deck during the Duel Monsters era, the proportion of Blue-Eyes cards in this version should have increased.

Using the information he had, You Xuan quickly completed the changes, inserted his Deck into the Duel Disk, and walked over to the AI.

“All set. Let’s go.”

【You Xuan, LP 4000】

【AI Kaiba, LP 4000】

AI Kaiba gathered his emotions once more.

“As long as we duel, the winds of battle shall—”

“My turn. I draw.”

You Xuan gave the AI no opportunity to finish, cutting off both attempts at his grand entrance.

AI Kaiba: “...”

“I Set one monster face-down.” You Xuan drew two cards from his hand. “Then I Set two cards in the back row. My turn is over.”

“Then it’s my turn!”

AI Kaiba drew with such force that his white coat billowed dramatically behind him. It was wildly exaggerated, but one had to admit that this imitation of the original Kaiba was remarkably convincing.

It had not only the original voice package, but even the original chuunibyou poses.

“All☆speed☆ahead☆now!” declared AI Kaiba. “I summon Lord of D.”

【Lord of D., ATK 1200】

“Then I activate the Spell Card from my hand—The Flute of Summoning Dragon!” AI Kaiba announced. “This card can only be activated while ‘Lord of D.’ is on the field! It allows me to Special Summon up to two Dragon-Type monsters from my hand!”

A dragon-shaped bone flute appeared in Lord of D.’s hands, and he blew a melody that summoned dragons.

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“The first card I shall summon is this one—

—Level Six, Crystal Dragon! I summon you!”

A mysterious dragon, seemingly carved from pure crystal, materialized before them. Its entire body was translucent, as though countless stars had fallen from the heavens into the mortal world. Pale blue radiance flowed beneath its surface, glittering like stars in the night sky, while an overwhelming draconic presence descended with it.

【Crystal Dragon, ATK 2500】

“And now, this card!”

With an even more exaggerated pose, AI Kaiba raised the second Dragon card in his hand.

“If that is the endless darkness, then submit to the Dragon of Light and let the darkness be dyed in its brilliance! Descend, my soul—

—Level Eight, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

The arena seemed to erupt into a hurricane, accompanied by thunderous roars and dazzling flashes of lightning. A noble, majestic figure emerged from pure white radiance. Its enormous wings slowly unfolded, and a heaven-shaking dragon’s roar reverberated throughout the stadium.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon was summoned!

【Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ATK 3000】

The tourists in the stadium were instantly stunned.

“Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It really is the legendary monster!”

“Even if it’s only a virtual data card, this trip was worth it...”

Master Takeuchi could not help remarking, “As expected of the elite dueling AI developed by Kaiba Corporation. It has perfectly recreated Seto Kaiba’s tactics. Summoning so many powerful Dragons on the very first turn...”

“Indeed.” Saito nodded as well. “The one dueling right now truly seems to be Seto Kaiba himself.”

Even the students at the dojo, who already held You Xuan in the highest regard, could not help looking worried.

This was the legendary Seto Kaiba. How could anyone possibly defeat him?

“Hmph. A third-rate duelist wielding a fourth-rate Deck. Now I shall show you the difference between yourself and absolute power!”

AI Kaiba raised his arm and shouted.

“Battle Phase! Crystal Dragon, attack the face-down monster—”

“Don’t rush.” You Xuan waved his hand. “The instant you enter the Battle Phase, I activate my Set card.

Continuous Trap—Dragon Capture Jar!”

A stone jar shaped like a dragon’s head appeared on You Xuan’s field, and an invisible force burst from its mouth. Magic enveloped the arena. Even mighty monsters such as Crystal Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon were forced into submission.

【Crystal Dragon, ATK 2500 → DEF 1000】

【Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ATK 3000 → DEF 2500】

“The effect of Dragon Capture Jar: as long as this Trap remains face-up on the field, all Dragon-Type monsters on the field are changed to Defense Position—and they cannot change to Attack Position.”

Everyone: “!”

What an utterly vile counter!

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A devastating weapon specifically designed to destroy Dragon-Type monsters, practically wearing the words “Dragon counter” right across its face. With a single card, it had permanently sealed away every possibility of a Dragon assault.

Of course, this tactic was not You Xuan’s original creation. Dragon Capture Jar might have been the earliest truly nasty Dragon counter in the history of Duel Monsters. Pegasus had used it against Kaiba as far back as Duelist Kingdom, enraging Kaiba to the point where steam might as well have been pouring from his ears.

Still, You Xuan remained perfectly calm. It was merely an attack lock, and he even felt its suppressive power was rather mediocre.

If conditions had allowed, he would actually have preferred to use Buster Blader. That was the true strongest Dragon killer of this era. Fuse a single Buster Blader onto the field, and it would gain one thousand attack points for every Dragon monster on the opponent’s field and in their Graveyard. Furthermore, as long as Buster Blader remained on the field, all Dragon monsters on the opponent’s side would be forced into Defense Position and could not activate their effects.

For an ordinary pure Dragon duelist without any cheats, having that monster established on the opposing field was practically a half-written death sentence.

Unfortunately, in this world, Buster Blader was apparently also a game card, making it extremely rare and difficult to obtain.

But it was not a serious problem. Though he lacked that ultimate weapon, there were still plenty of effective counter cards available. Compared with those, Dragon Capture Jar merely sealed attacks and could hardly be called the best option. He had simply drawn it first.

This AI Kaiba was surprisingly intelligent. He seemed to mutter some curse under his breath before continuing his play.

“Then I shall attack your face-down monster with Lord of D.!”

The two dragons he had summoned were both forced to stand around as spectators. Left with no choice, Lord of D. had to take the field himself.

“Open the Set card.” You Xuan flipped over another card in his back row. “Trap Card—Dimensional Prison.

When an opponent’s monster declares an attack, banish that attacking monster from play!”

Space shattered. A dimensional rift opened amid flashes of electric light, followed by a swirling vortex of storm winds. Lord of D. charged halfway across the field before his expression changed in alarm. He hurriedly tried to turn and flee.

But it was already too late. The boundless rift swallowed him whole, and he vanished into the far side of another dimension.

“A beautiful counterattack,” Master Takeuchi analyzed. “At first glance, that Trap only removes the weakest monster on the opponent’s field. But in reality, it dealt with the most troublesome one.”

One of the students looked puzzled. “Huh? Why?”

“As long as Lord of D. remains on the field, none of the Dragon-Type monsters can be targeted by card effects.” Uncle Saito nodded slightly. “But once the most troublesome monster is dealt with, the protection covering the remaining Dragons disappears as well.”

The surrounding spectators had already begun to stir.

“He actually weathered such a fierce opening assault. That kid is no ordinary duelist. If I were in his place, I’d already be flat on my back...”

“But it’s probably only temporary. Just watch. This is Kaiba’s AI, after all.”

Hearing that, Koji Sato could not help smiling faintly.

No, you’re all far too naive. It’s only two Set cards. The real show hasn’t even begun.

The fun of dueling was only just getting started.

As the earliest victim of You Xuan-style dueling, he trusted his professional judgment.

After both attacks had failed, AI Kaiba drew the last two cards from his hand.

“I Set one card and end my turn.”

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