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Chapter 696: Don't Be Like This, I Want to Duel!
Although Professor Banner had made the decision to utilize the Sealing Device left behind by Diabolo on the Island to complete the unfinished "Sage's Stone" he left behind, it was, after all, an Alchemy Device he wasn't familiar with. Even learning how to use it would take some time, not to mention the time required to seal the "Sage's Stone" within it.
Since the Device was left here where no one would tamper with it, Professor Banner's idea was that since the goal of this trip had been achieved, they should return first and come back to This Island next time with all the necessary items and materials. Kagemaru also expressed his agreement, but no one knew what he truly thought.
As for Hayato and the others, although they had previously sent a signal for rescue to KaibaCorp, Kagemaru enthusiastically invited them to take the ship he had rented to leave This Island. Although their next destination wasn't directly Egypt, it would at least allow them to return to the Civilized World instead of continuing their wilderness survival routine.
However, before returning to the ship, they first went to find Anasis and Socrates, who had split up from Kagemaru and Professor Banner when they first landed.
Unlike Kagemaru and Professor Banner, who had an important goal to achieve upon landing on the Island, Anasis's reason for coming ashore was purely because he was very interested in this Non-existent Island, and the so-called "Explorer" soul within him had been ignited. Since he chose to split up after landing to visit the Island and see if there was any unique natural scenery, Socrates naturally could only accompany his Boss.
Although he looks like a big Uncle, Anasis's actions weren't weak at all. When Hayato and Professor Banner's group found them, they discovered that Anasis and Socrates had actually run to the edge of the Active Volcano in the center of the Island and were playing by poking the lava with a large pile of tree branches.
When he discovered that Hayato, whom he had only met once before, was also on This Island, Anasis was quite surprised. Although Anasis's exploration ship was theoretically rented to Kagemaru, just like renting a house doesn't mean you can freely sublet it to others, when Anasis learned that Hayato and his group wanted to leave by ship, he readily agreed, only proposing a condition that wasn't too much trouble.
"'When our eyes meet, it's a signal for battle.' Did this Uncle run out of a world where you catch Pokemon, challenge the Elite Four, and become the Champion?" Joey Wheeler, wearing a Duel Disk on his Wrist and standing on the Deck, muttered as he looked at Anasis standing opposite him.
Hayato, standing beside him, spread his hands helplessly and said, "To be honest, Uncle Anasis used this exact reason to duel me back during Duelist Kingdom. So much time has passed, and he hasn't thought of a new reason at all."
"Hahaha, why would you need a reason for battle? Duel Monsters is something you should just play with a smile!" Drawing a card from his Deck, Anasis said with a loud laugh, "Using a duel with me as the boat fare, isn't that a very worthwhile deal? Although there are six of you, as long as three people duel me, you can ride on this ship that I'm particularly fond of. You could say it's a super generous offer."
Just as Anasis said, the condition he proposed was very simple: he just wanted Hayato and a few others to duel him.
The reason goes back to Anasis's own identity. Although he has wide-ranging and often changing hobbies, he has always maintained a rich interest in Duel Monsters, this globally popular game. Otherwise, he wouldn't have participated in the Duelist Kingdom hosted by Pegasus back then.
It's worth noting that although Pegasus sent invitations to most conglomerates at that time, most of those invited only participated as audience members during the final decisive battle between Hayato, Yugi, and Pegasus. Only a small minority, like Putah from the Ghalem Group and Anasis, participated directly as players.
After regrettably failing to reach the Top 8 in Duelist Kingdom, Anasis did not lose interest in Duel Monsters. Instead, his competitiveness was ignited, and he became even more determined to achieve something in the domain of Duel Monsters. Therefore, in addition to utilizing his financial power to collect more Duel Monsters he liked, he also continuously practiced dueling in his daily life.
And dueling practice requires opponents. But who could Anasis find as an opponent? His employees would go easy and put on a show to curry favor with their Boss; they wouldn't duel seriously at all. Other Bosses of conglomerates with the same status as him were rarely interested in Duel Monsters. And those who were interested in dueling and didn't need to please him were often too strong, like Zigfried in Europe, who was already imprisoned in a Dungeon, and Kaiba Seto, the President of the increasingly powerful KaibaCorp.
Being too strong basically meant that these Duelists had their own pride. Even if they were to duel, they would seek out people with similar skill levels and fundamentally looked down on Duelists like Anasis, who, while not completely out of their league, couldn't be considered powerful either.
Therefore, given the opportunity to have a good duel with someone, Anasis naturally wouldn't miss it easily. He invited Hayato, Yugi, and Joey Wheeler to duel him separately, allowing him to learn the dueling style of strong players.
And honestly, Anasis really did learn a lot through dueling. Because the first person he dueled was Yugi, and it wasn't Dark Yugi acting as a stand-in, but Yugi Mutou himself who dueled.
Naturally, Anasis witnessed the legendary "T" setup — one Face-Down Defense Position Monster in the Front Row, and a Back Row full of five Set Cards.
"'Dueling is something you should play with a smile,' Anasis couldn't bring himself to say this phrase at all."
When it was Anasis's turn, no matter how many moves he made, Yugi could always activate a Set Card in the Back Row at the chain timing, as if he had anticipated all of Anasis's strategy and prepared sufficient means to counter them. By the time Anasis had used up all the cards in his Hand, he had only managed to break through three Set Cards in Yugi's Back Row, and he couldn't even figure out what the Face-Down Defense Position Monster was.
Not wanting to continue the struggle, Anasis very straightforwardly chose to surrender, because there was no longer any need to continue the duel. He had once wondered why cards like Harpie's Feather Duster and Storm could be compared to Black Hole and Raigeki, which could destroy all monsters in one go. But after this duel, he finally understood that although Duel Monsters has "Monster" in its name, the pressure of five monsters probably doesn't compare to five Set Spell and Trap Cards.
And now, his duel with Joey Wheeler. It must be said that compared to the "highly interactive" duel with Yugi, Joey Wheeler's dueling style allowed Anasis to experience the fun of Duel Monsters more.
A feeling of passion filled every aspect of Joey Wheeler's duel. Just by dueling with Joey Wheeler, Anasis felt full of youthful vitality. Knights wearing steel helmets, Black Dragons continuously reviving stubbornly from the Graveyard, and the powerful strength unleashed by the combination of weak monsters — *this* is Duel Monsters!
Although he was almost discouraged by Yugi's duel just now, through the duel with Joey Wheeler, Anasis could be said to have rekindled his fiery heart for Duel Monsters.
Of course, it would have been even better if Joey Wheeler hadn't finished him off with the Dice of Archfiend and Graceful Dice combo at the end. Just moments before, it felt like a passionate battle, then two dice rolled on the Field and landed on two sixes. Anasis almost thought he had run off to Las Vegas.
And now, it was Hayato's duel with Anasis. According to Anasis's saying, "I lost to the Duel King back then, so a battle challenging the strongest player in Duel Monsters again must be saved for last."
"It's really been a long time, Hayato. Back then, I thought you used a Warrior-Type Deck, but you suddenly pulled out a Machine-Type Deck and almost caught off guard," Anasis said excitedly to Hayato, finishing organizing the Deck in the Duel Disk on his Hand. "The ocean and my dueling are not unchanging. Witness my dueling now!"
"Oh, I saw it just now, Uncle Anasis, your Deck has indeed changed a lot," Hayato also raised his Duel Disk. "However, I haven't been standing still either. My evolution speed is faster than light!"
"Duel!" x2
[Hayato: 4000LP]
[Anasis: 4000LP]
"I'll take the first turn, Draw!" Anasis took the first turn, drew a card, and played it without hesitation. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card **Water Hazard**! If I control no monsters, once per turn, I can Special Summon a WATER Attribute monster with Level 4 or lower from my Hand! I Special Summon **Hammer Shark** with Level 4 from my Hand in Attack Position!"
[Hammer Shark] [Level 4/WATER]
[Fish-Type/Effect]
[1700/1500]
"Then, I activate **Hammer Shark's** effect! Once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can decrease its Level by 1 and Special Summon a WATER Attribute monster with Level 3 or lower from my Hand! I Special Summon **Swap Frog**!"
[Swap Frog] [Level 2/WATER]
[Aqua Type/Effect]
[100/100]
"Next, I Tribute two WATER Attribute monsters on my Field! I Special Summon **Fortress Whale** from my Hand!"
Without using a Normal Summon, Anasis assembled two monsters on the Field in one go. The Level 7 **Fortress Whale** descended onto his Field.
[Fortress Whale] [Level 7/WATER]
[Fish-Type/Effect]
[2350/2150]
"When **Swap Frog** that is Face-up Position on the Field is sent to the Graveyard, I can Draw a Card from my Deck." After drawing a card from his Deck to replenish his Hand, Anasis pointed to his **Fortress Whale** on the Field again. "**Fortress Whale's** effect can be activated when it is Special Summoned successfully! Select one **Torrential Tribute** from my Deck and Set it on the Field!"
"But I'm not done yet! I haven't performed a Normal Summon this turn! I Normal Summon **Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War** in Defense Position! Then, I activate **Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War's** effect! Send one **Umi** from my Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon a WATER Attribute monster from my Hand!"
As Anasis spoke, he searched a card from his Deck. However, he noticed that Hayato, who had been standing opposite him, had been holding up several fingers since the beginning, starting from five fingers and now just putting down the last finger. It looked strange and hard to understand.
But, it should have nothing to do with me, right? Anasis thought this as he sent the Field Spell Card **Umi** he searched from his Deck to the Graveyard. "The monster I will Special Summon from my Hand is this one, **Sea Serpent God - Leviathan**!"
[Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War] [Level 4/WATER]
[Aqua Type/Effect]
[1400/1700]
[Sea Serpent God - Leviathan] [Level 5/WATER]
[Sea Serpent-Type/Effect]
[2000/1700]
Anasis, with only one card left in his Hand, felt that his Field setup was almost complete. First, the strongest ATK monster, **Fortress Whale**, has the ability to negate and destroy the effect activation of a Spell/Trap/Monster that targets only one WATER Attribute monster, once per turn. Then, **Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War** has the ability to negate the effect activation of a Spell/Trap/Monster once per turn if **Umi** is on the Field, and increase its own ATK/DEF.
And the **Sea Serpent God - Leviathan** he just Special Summoned can not only search for **Umi**, **Sea Dragon God** Spell/Trap Cards, and **Submarine** Spell/Trap Cards from the Deck, but when the **Umi** Field is present, it can also limit each player to only one face-up monster that is not WATER Attribute on their Field.
And his **Torrential Tribute** in the Back Row can activate a **Umi** from Hand or Graveyard. If he uses **Sea Serpent God - Leviathan's** effect to search for the other **Umi** in his Deck, his invincible combo is complete!
Thinking this, Anasis looked at his Field, but saw his monsters on the Field suddenly shattering one after another.
"Anasis, if I counted correctly just now, you should have successfully performed a total of five monster Summon/Special Summons in one turn, right?"
Hayato had a smile on his face and played a card from his Hand. "But, I think there's a problem with your Field setup. But don't worry, I'll fix it for you with this card!"
"Can only be activated during the Main Phase of the turn the opponent successfully Summoned or Special Summoned five or more monsters! Tribute all Face-up monsters on Both Fields! **Nibiru, the Primal Being** Special Summon from my Hand!"
"Then, Special Summon a **Primal Being Token** to the Opponent's Field! Its ATK/DEF become the sum of the original ATK and DEF of the monsters Tributed by this effect! This effect can also be activated during the Opponent's turn!"
In the virtual projection, a massive meteor descended from the sky, instantly wiping out Anasis's monsters on the Field, leaving only a Defense Position Token. And a monster with 3000 ATK appeared on Hayato's Field.
[Nibiru, the Primal Being] [Level 11/LIGHT]
[Rock-Type/Effect]
[3000/600]
[Primal Being Token] [Level 11/LIGHT]
[Rock-Type/Token]
[?/?? → 5750/5550]
Anasis: "..."
Don't be like this, I want to Duel!
(Although the duel with Hayato regarding the future is still pending, since the comment section reacted with little interest, I'll skip ahead quickly and accelerate our arrival in Egypt.)
(End of Chapter)
Although Professor Banner had made the decision to utilize the Sealing Device left behind by Diabolo on the Island to complete the unfinished "Sage's Stone" he left behind, it was, after all, an Alchemy Device he wasn't familiar with. Even learning how to use it would take some time, not to mention the time required to seal the "Sage's Stone" within it.
Since the Device was left here where no one would tamper with it, Professor Banner's idea was that since the goal of this trip had been achieved, they should return first and come back to This Island next time with all the necessary items and materials. Kagemaru also expressed his agreement, but no one knew what he truly thought.
As for Hayato and the others, although they had previously sent a signal for rescue to KaibaCorp, Kagemaru enthusiastically invited them to take the ship he had rented to leave This Island. Although their next destination wasn't directly Egypt, it would at least allow them to return to the Civilized World instead of continuing their wilderness survival routine.
However, before returning to the ship, they first went to find Anasis and Socrates, who had split up from Kagemaru and Professor Banner when they first landed.
Unlike Kagemaru and Professor Banner, who had an important goal to achieve upon landing on the Island, Anasis's reason for coming ashore was purely because he was very interested in this Non-existent Island, and the so-called "Explorer" soul within him had been ignited. Since he chose to split up after landing to visit the Island and see if there was any unique natural scenery, Socrates naturally could only accompany his Boss.
Although he looks like a big Uncle, Anasis's actions weren't weak at all. When Hayato and Professor Banner's group found them, they discovered that Anasis and Socrates had actually run to the edge of the Active Volcano in the center of the Island and were playing by poking the lava with a large pile of tree branches.
When he discovered that Hayato, whom he had only met once before, was also on This Island, Anasis was quite surprised. Although Anasis's exploration ship was theoretically rented to Kagemaru, just like renting a house doesn't mean you can freely sublet it to others, when Anasis learned that Hayato and his group wanted to leave by ship, he readily agreed, only proposing a condition that wasn't too much trouble.
"'When our eyes meet, it's a signal for battle.' Did this Uncle run out of a world where you catch Pokemon, challenge the Elite Four, and become the Champion?" Joey Wheeler, wearing a Duel Disk on his Wrist and standing on the Deck, muttered as he looked at Anasis standing opposite him.
Hayato, standing beside him, spread his hands helplessly and said, "To be honest, Uncle Anasis used this exact reason to duel me back during Duelist Kingdom. So much time has passed, and he hasn't thought of a new reason at all."
"Hahaha, why would you need a reason for battle? Duel Monsters is something you should just play with a smile!" Drawing a card from his Deck, Anasis said with a loud laugh, "Using a duel with me as the boat fare, isn't that a very worthwhile deal? Although there are six of you, as long as three people duel me, you can ride on this ship that I'm particularly fond of. You could say it's a super generous offer."
Just as Anasis said, the condition he proposed was very simple: he just wanted Hayato and a few others to duel him.
The reason goes back to Anasis's own identity. Although he has wide-ranging and often changing hobbies, he has always maintained a rich interest in Duel Monsters, this globally popular game. Otherwise, he wouldn't have participated in the Duelist Kingdom hosted by Pegasus back then.
It's worth noting that although Pegasus sent invitations to most conglomerates at that time, most of those invited only participated as audience members during the final decisive battle between Hayato, Yugi, and Pegasus. Only a small minority, like Putah from the Ghalem Group and Anasis, participated directly as players.
After regrettably failing to reach the Top 8 in Duelist Kingdom, Anasis did not lose interest in Duel Monsters. Instead, his competitiveness was ignited, and he became even more determined to achieve something in the domain of Duel Monsters. Therefore, in addition to utilizing his financial power to collect more Duel Monsters he liked, he also continuously practiced dueling in his daily life.
And dueling practice requires opponents. But who could Anasis find as an opponent? His employees would go easy and put on a show to curry favor with their Boss; they wouldn't duel seriously at all. Other Bosses of conglomerates with the same status as him were rarely interested in Duel Monsters. And those who were interested in dueling and didn't need to please him were often too strong, like Zigfried in Europe, who was already imprisoned in a Dungeon, and Kaiba Seto, the President of the increasingly powerful KaibaCorp.
Being too strong basically meant that these Duelists had their own pride. Even if they were to duel, they would seek out people with similar skill levels and fundamentally looked down on Duelists like Anasis, who, while not completely out of their league, couldn't be considered powerful either.
Therefore, given the opportunity to have a good duel with someone, Anasis naturally wouldn't miss it easily. He invited Hayato, Yugi, and Joey Wheeler to duel him separately, allowing him to learn the dueling style of strong players.
And honestly, Anasis really did learn a lot through dueling. Because the first person he dueled was Yugi, and it wasn't Dark Yugi acting as a stand-in, but Yugi Mutou himself who dueled.
Naturally, Anasis witnessed the legendary "T" setup — one Face-Down Defense Position Monster in the Front Row, and a Back Row full of five Set Cards.
"'Dueling is something you should play with a smile,' Anasis couldn't bring himself to say this phrase at all."
When it was Anasis's turn, no matter how many moves he made, Yugi could always activate a Set Card in the Back Row at the chain timing, as if he had anticipated all of Anasis's strategy and prepared sufficient means to counter them. By the time Anasis had used up all the cards in his Hand, he had only managed to break through three Set Cards in Yugi's Back Row, and he couldn't even figure out what the Face-Down Defense Position Monster was.
Not wanting to continue the struggle, Anasis very straightforwardly chose to surrender, because there was no longer any need to continue the duel. He had once wondered why cards like Harpie's Feather Duster and Storm could be compared to Black Hole and Raigeki, which could destroy all monsters in one go. But after this duel, he finally understood that although Duel Monsters has "Monster" in its name, the pressure of five monsters probably doesn't compare to five Set Spell and Trap Cards.
And now, his duel with Joey Wheeler. It must be said that compared to the "highly interactive" duel with Yugi, Joey Wheeler's dueling style allowed Anasis to experience the fun of Duel Monsters more.
A feeling of passion filled every aspect of Joey Wheeler's duel. Just by dueling with Joey Wheeler, Anasis felt full of youthful vitality. Knights wearing steel helmets, Black Dragons continuously reviving stubbornly from the Graveyard, and the powerful strength unleashed by the combination of weak monsters — *this* is Duel Monsters!
Although he was almost discouraged by Yugi's duel just now, through the duel with Joey Wheeler, Anasis could be said to have rekindled his fiery heart for Duel Monsters.
Of course, it would have been even better if Joey Wheeler hadn't finished him off with the Dice of Archfiend and Graceful Dice combo at the end. Just moments before, it felt like a passionate battle, then two dice rolled on the Field and landed on two sixes. Anasis almost thought he had run off to Las Vegas.
And now, it was Hayato's duel with Anasis. According to Anasis's saying, "I lost to the Duel King back then, so a battle challenging the strongest player in Duel Monsters again must be saved for last."
"It's really been a long time, Hayato. Back then, I thought you used a Warrior-Type Deck, but you suddenly pulled out a Machine-Type Deck and almost caught off guard," Anasis said excitedly to Hayato, finishing organizing the Deck in the Duel Disk on his Hand. "The ocean and my dueling are not unchanging. Witness my dueling now!"
"Oh, I saw it just now, Uncle Anasis, your Deck has indeed changed a lot," Hayato also raised his Duel Disk. "However, I haven't been standing still either. My evolution speed is faster than light!"
"Duel!" x2
[Hayato: 4000LP]
[Anasis: 4000LP]
"I'll take the first turn, Draw!" Anasis took the first turn, drew a card, and played it without hesitation. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card **Water Hazard**! If I control no monsters, once per turn, I can Special Summon a WATER Attribute monster with Level 4 or lower from my Hand! I Special Summon **Hammer Shark** with Level 4 from my Hand in Attack Position!"
[Hammer Shark] [Level 4/WATER]
[Fish-Type/Effect]
[1700/1500]
"Then, I activate **Hammer Shark's** effect! Once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can decrease its Level by 1 and Special Summon a WATER Attribute monster with Level 3 or lower from my Hand! I Special Summon **Swap Frog**!"
[Swap Frog] [Level 2/WATER]
[Aqua Type/Effect]
[100/100]
"Next, I Tribute two WATER Attribute monsters on my Field! I Special Summon **Fortress Whale** from my Hand!"
Without using a Normal Summon, Anasis assembled two monsters on the Field in one go. The Level 7 **Fortress Whale** descended onto his Field.
[Fortress Whale] [Level 7/WATER]
[Fish-Type/Effect]
[2350/2150]
"When **Swap Frog** that is Face-up Position on the Field is sent to the Graveyard, I can Draw a Card from my Deck." After drawing a card from his Deck to replenish his Hand, Anasis pointed to his **Fortress Whale** on the Field again. "**Fortress Whale's** effect can be activated when it is Special Summoned successfully! Select one **Torrential Tribute** from my Deck and Set it on the Field!"
"But I'm not done yet! I haven't performed a Normal Summon this turn! I Normal Summon **Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War** in Defense Position! Then, I activate **Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War's** effect! Send one **Umi** from my Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon a WATER Attribute monster from my Hand!"
As Anasis spoke, he searched a card from his Deck. However, he noticed that Hayato, who had been standing opposite him, had been holding up several fingers since the beginning, starting from five fingers and now just putting down the last finger. It looked strange and hard to understand.
But, it should have nothing to do with me, right? Anasis thought this as he sent the Field Spell Card **Umi** he searched from his Deck to the Graveyard. "The monster I will Special Summon from my Hand is this one, **Sea Serpent God - Leviathan**!"
[Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War] [Level 4/WATER]
[Aqua Type/Effect]
[1400/1700]
[Sea Serpent God - Leviathan] [Level 5/WATER]
[Sea Serpent-Type/Effect]
[2000/1700]
Anasis, with only one card left in his Hand, felt that his Field setup was almost complete. First, the strongest ATK monster, **Fortress Whale**, has the ability to negate and destroy the effect activation of a Spell/Trap/Monster that targets only one WATER Attribute monster, once per turn. Then, **Electric Jellyfish - Man-o'-War** has the ability to negate the effect activation of a Spell/Trap/Monster once per turn if **Umi** is on the Field, and increase its own ATK/DEF.
And the **Sea Serpent God - Leviathan** he just Special Summoned can not only search for **Umi**, **Sea Dragon God** Spell/Trap Cards, and **Submarine** Spell/Trap Cards from the Deck, but when the **Umi** Field is present, it can also limit each player to only one face-up monster that is not WATER Attribute on their Field.
And his **Torrential Tribute** in the Back Row can activate a **Umi** from Hand or Graveyard. If he uses **Sea Serpent God - Leviathan's** effect to search for the other **Umi** in his Deck, his invincible combo is complete!
Thinking this, Anasis looked at his Field, but saw his monsters on the Field suddenly shattering one after another.
"Anasis, if I counted correctly just now, you should have successfully performed a total of five monster Summon/Special Summons in one turn, right?"
Hayato had a smile on his face and played a card from his Hand. "But, I think there's a problem with your Field setup. But don't worry, I'll fix it for you with this card!"
"Can only be activated during the Main Phase of the turn the opponent successfully Summoned or Special Summoned five or more monsters! Tribute all Face-up monsters on Both Fields! **Nibiru, the Primal Being** Special Summon from my Hand!"
"Then, Special Summon a **Primal Being Token** to the Opponent's Field! Its ATK/DEF become the sum of the original ATK and DEF of the monsters Tributed by this effect! This effect can also be activated during the Opponent's turn!"
In the virtual projection, a massive meteor descended from the sky, instantly wiping out Anasis's monsters on the Field, leaving only a Defense Position Token. And a monster with 3000 ATK appeared on Hayato's Field.
[Nibiru, the Primal Being] [Level 11/LIGHT]
[Rock-Type/Effect]
[3000/600]
[Primal Being Token] [Level 11/LIGHT]
[Rock-Type/Token]
[?/?? → 5750/5550]
Anasis: "..."
Don't be like this, I want to Duel!
(Although the duel with Hayato regarding the future is still pending, since the comment section reacted with little interest, I'll skip ahead quickly and accelerate our arrival in Egypt.)
(End of Chapter)
