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Chapter 590: Conflict Town

"I attack Ultimate Conductor Tyranno with Black Luster Soldier, then activate the effect of Time Magic Hammer equipped to it! For each monster on your Field, roll a die and Banish each monster for the number of turns equal to the result!"

Commanding the monster on his Field that had gained new power, Joey Wheeler said proudly, "Rex, the only monsters on your Field are Ultimate Conductor Tyranno and Miracle Jurassic Egg. I'll roll a die twice to Banish these two monsters!"

At this moment, Joey Wheeler had already left the Hospital he was in before. He was dueling someone in the Desert beside an Interstate Highway. What was rather unusual was that the Duelist standing opposite Joey Wheeler was Rex, who had also been attacked by Organization Doma during the previous "Consecutive Duelist Coma" incident.

It was quite a coincidence. After Rex was knocked unconscious by Valon's Armor Deck (referring to Self-Destruct Button), Valon didn't finish him off by sealing Rex's soul with the Seal of Orichalcos, confident in his Deck's vitality damage ability.

Mainly, in the years Valon had worked for Doma, he had done this more than once and found that trying to retrieve the soul after defeating the opponent yielded nothing; it was just a wasted effort.

On the other hand, it was also because the ambulance Rex had kindly called for the Paradox Brothers earlier had just arrived at the scene, and Valon, not wanting to expose himself, left.

Under normal circumstances, Rex, who had no extraordinary ability, wouldn't have been able to withstand the power of the Armor Deck. The best outcome might have been becoming a vegetative state unable to wake up. However, by a strange coincidence, at the instant he was defeated, Rex awakened the power of Card Spirits.

Having or not having the power of Card Spirits makes a huge difference. A Duelist without a Card Spirit guardian is just a Minor Character with plenty of screen time for getting defeated. But a Duelist with a Card Spirit can instantly become a Spirit User, not only capable of card printing and divine draw, but also, thanks to the Spirit's protection, Rex miraculously woke up.

As the sole person among all the victims so far who had woken up, Rex was specifically transferred by the medical experts who were constantly monitoring the situation from the Hospital where the comatose Duelists were placed to San Francisco for more detailed pathological research. It was because of this that he unexpectedly ran into Joey Wheeler and Yugi, who were planning to be discharged.

After some communication, Yugi and Joey Wheeler learned from Rex that Valon and the others had mentioned in their casual chat after Hayato defeated the Paradox Brothers that their goal in collecting souls seemed to be to awaken a certain divine-beast. They also got additional information about the ability of Infernoid monsters like Beelzebul, which Hayato hadn't summoned before.

Rex also learned that the egg he had been seeing ever since he woke up, which he had thought was just an illusion, was actually a "Card Spirit" residing within a card. He also learned that his waking up seemed to be because his Card Spirit had sacrificed itself to protect him.

The cracking sound he heard just before he fell unconscious seemed to be the sound of the Spirit being born from the egg. However, Rex didn't get to see his Spirit even once. When he woke up, he had the ability to see Spirits, but his Spirit had turned back into an egg.

So, when Yugi and the others said they were going to Industrial Illusions to look for clues about Doma's existence, Rex immediately said he wanted to go too. He wanted revenge against the person named Valon for the other comatose Duelists, for himself, and for his Card Spirit.

As for the experts studying his physical condition? After Rex learned that his waking up was due to his Card Spirit's help, he naturally understood that replicating his situation to wake others up was, of course, impossible. Unless the souls of the Duelists sealed by Doma were retrieved, it would just be a wasted time.

This led to Rex joining the group and the scene of him dueling Joey Wheeler as training on the way to Industrial Illusions.

Seeing Joey Wheeler planning to turn the tables with the newly acquired card he named Hermes' Claw, Rex naturally wouldn't just sit back and wait for defeat.

"At this instant, I activate my Set Card in the Spell/Trap Zone, the Trap Card Friendly Fire! When an opponent's Spell/Trap or Monster Effect is activated, target another card on the Field and destroy it. I choose Black Luster Soldier on your Field!"

Watching Joey Wheeler's monster prepare to attack, Rex felt somewhat helpless that Joey Wheeler had somehow gotten another card with a gambling effect that perfectly matched Joey Wheeler's personal luck, but he still had no plan to surrender.

Time Magic Hammer is a card Joey Wheeler created based on the power of Time Wizard and processed by Hermes' Claw. Although it's a Fusion Monster, it can become an Equip Card and be equipped to a monster. This is the ability of Hermes' Claw: transforming a monster's characteristics into equipment to grant to other monsters.

However, even such a monster has a flaw. As an Equip Card, under the rules restrictions of Duel Monsters, it will be destroyed if the equipped monster is flipped or leaves the Field.

The charging Black Luster Soldier, seeing the incoming impact, desperately swung the Time Magic Hammer in its hand before it was destroyed. The hammer looked less like a weapon with destructive power and more like an inflatable hammer used by children playing.

The watch face on the hammer spun rapidly. With an unsurprised expression on Rex's face, his Miracle Jurassic Egg and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno on the Field were both banished for a full six turns. And after activating its effect once, Time Magic Hammer also went to the Graveyard along with Black Luster Soldier being destroyed.

"Seriously, you still managed to Banish them, and for a full six turns at that. Rolling two sixes in a row is just too much cheating luck. But, this way, I've managed to block your attack, Joey Wheeler," Rex said confidently, looking at the situation on both players' Fields.

[Rex]: 2400 LP, Hand 2
[Joey Wheeler]: 800 LP, Hand 1
Set Card

Naturally, the area around the two Duelists wasn't empty. In fact, an RV was parked nearby, with several people inside watching Joey Wheeler and Rex's duel.

"Rex is really amazing. He managed to push back Joey Wheeler's offensive again." Having watched so many duels, Honda's own strength in the Duel Monsters World was still a layman, but at least he wasn't completely clueless. "Is this the strength of the All-America Duel Monsters Tournament runner-up? He's improved a lot compared to at that time."

"The champion is still standing right here, Honda, you're exclaiming too early," Kujaku Mai said, lifting her head proudly upon hearing Honda's sentiment.

It was true that Rex was the runner-up, but she, Kujaku Mai, had squarely defeated Rex to become the champion.

"As expected of Miss Mai, you easily did what we couldn't. I really admire you!" Téa praised Kujaku Mai quite cooperatively. However, as she spoke, she also looked strangely at Yugi beside her and asked, "But why did Joey Wheeler ask Rex to be his training partner? In terms of strength, isn't Miss Mai stronger?"

Hmm, I'm definitely not expecting to see Joey Wheeler and Miss Mai, those two love idiots, duel together, nope.

Yugi thought for a moment and said, "In terms of strength, Miss Mai is indeed stronger than Rex. But Téa, you've forgotten that Decks also have compatibility with each other, and different Duelists have different styles."

"Compatibility? Style?"

"Miss Mai's Harpie Lady and Amazon Decks both have parts that are good at battle, but their main focus is destroying the Spell/Trap Zone and using the opponent's power against them. This is actually very effective against Rex's Dinosaur Deck. Miss Mai's personal style is to gather monsters and gang attack."

Yugi explained patiently, "As for Rex, his Dinosaur Deck is relatively more direct, and he also has the experience of seriously battling that person named Valon from Organization Doma."

Since it was training, Joey Wheeler naturally had set a goal for himself. Otherwise, there would be no direction to move forward. The goal Joey Wheeler set was to defeat that Valon.

Don't think Joey Wheeler is slow-witted. He had noticed the strange gaze Valon gave Kujaku Mai when he appeared before. Even if Kujaku Mai hadn't confirmed any relationship with Joey Wheeler, Joey Wheeler still felt extremely annoyed by Valon.

Therefore, more than Hayato, Rafael, or Alister, Joey Wheeler wanted to defeat Valon. That's why Rex, who had dueled the "Doma Three Swordsmen" Valon when he was serious, not the Valon who was holding back during the previous KC Cup, became the best opponent. Especially since, according to Rex, Valon's Armor Deck also focuses on a tough battle style.

However, there was one more point Yugi didn't explain, a speculation he wasn't sure about. That is, Joey Wheeler, who had clearly awakened the ability to see Card Spirits during the duel with Hayato before but couldn't awaken his own Card Spirit, might be able to awaken their Card Spirits if he dueled Rex, who also had the ability to see Spirits but whose Spirit was dormant.

With only one monster set during the battle phase, Joey Wheeler looked at Rex's empty Field and laughed proudly, "Heh heh, although Time Magic Hammer was sent to the Graveyard, I still successfully cleared the monsters on your Field. This has already achieved my initial goal."

"Activate Set Card, Red-Eyes Spirit! Special Summon one Red-Eyes monster from my Graveyard!"

"Come forth, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

Watching the Set Card Joey Wheeler had hidden in his Spell/Trap Zone for so long flip open, and the pitch-black dragon flying up from Joey Wheeler's Graveyard, Rex smiled bitterly and helplessly, "I completely fell for it. Is this your offensive strategy?"

"You actually hid your strength instead of showing your full strength from the start like at that time. You've really grown up, Joey Wheeler."

Saying this, Rex helplessly lowered his raised Duel Disk, clearly having no resistance left.

Joey Wheeler also smiled and lowered his Duel Disk, dispersing the Red-Eyes Black Dragon he had just summoned. Although this duel was just ordinary practice and not a Dark Game, the impact simulated by KaibaCorp's virtual projection system installed on the Duel Disk wasn't something light. Joey Wheeler, who had no ill will towards Rex, naturally wouldn't insist on dealing that final blow.

Seeing that the duel had reached a victory or defeat, Yugi and the others also got out of the RV, congratulating Joey Wheeler on developing the fourth form that his Hermes' Claw could awaken, and they didn't forget to comfort the losing Rex a couple of times.

This RV was provided by Kaiba for Yugi and the others to travel from California, where San Francisco is located, to Oregon, where Industrial Illusions is located.

Although they were adjacent states, without transportation, who knew when Yugi and the others would get there. After all, America wasn't a small place like Japan where a single rain cloud could bring rain to the whole country.

Rex, however, ranted that he had just traveled from Washington to California, and now he had to go back.

The current members of Yugi's group were Yugi, Joey Wheeler, Honda, Téa, Kujaku Mai, and Rex, a total of six people. Kaiba and his Brothers Keipei didn't continue to act together this time.

Before, Kaiba went to Industrial Illusions to obtain the virtual projection system data, but he came up empty-handed due to Pegasus's death, and the Industrial Illusions building was now practically ruins, making it impossible to retrieve any data.

However, there were backups, specifically on Duel Kingdom Island, Pegasus's old base. So the Kaiba Brothers chose to split into two groups with Yugi and the others, acting separately.

Although they split up, Kaiba helped Yugi and the others with many things. Not only this RV, but he also used his identity as KaibaCorp President to make a reservation for Yugi and the others to visit Industrial Illusions. He could be said to have helped a lot, but whether they could find any useful clues at Industrial Illusions would depend on Yugi and the others themselves.

While exchanging experience/insights about the power and use of the "Legendary Dragon" with Joey Wheeler, Yugi suddenly frowned, feeling as if something had swept past the surroundings, followed immediately by an ominous premonition, as if he had been targeted by something.

Several kilometers away, in a Town, Valon and Hayato were adjusting a radar device in front of them. Looking at a red point that appeared nearby, Valon said proudly, "What do you know, I checked quite accurately. Seems like the effort just now wasn't completely wasted."

"Mm-hmm, then you'll have to work hard," Hayato said with a smile beside him. "Secretly attaching a signal emitter to Kujaku Mai's Duel Disk during the duel with her last time... I really didn't expect you, Valon, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, to come up with such a perverted stalker-like trick."

"Cough, cough, don't talk nonsense. I just wanted to track the movements of the Nameless Pharaoh and Katsuya Jounouchi's group with this. It has nothing to do with Mai. Yes, that's how it is." Valon argued, but his credibility didn't seem high at all.

Seeing Hayato's awkward expression, Valon stiffly transferred the topic. "In short, since Dartz assigned me to handle Joey Wheeler, when they arrive, I'll trouble you to contain the Nameless Pharaoh. As for Mai, I'll find a way to prevent her from affecting the plan."

"I don't mind. Anyway, I'm just having fun acting with you. But calling it 'the plan', 'the plan', it feels too unimpressive." Glancing at the Desert Town outside the window, Hayato said with a smile, "I think we should call it 'The Reaper of Conflict Town'."

"Conflict Town? Does it have any special meaning?"

"Hmm~ No, I just wanted to call it that."

Between their few sentences, this Town located on an Interstate Highway in the Desert of America, secretly controlled by Doma, was unaccountably given a new name.

First update of the month, today is Children's Day.

If anyone pretends to be a child, they will be refined.

(End of Chapter)

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