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Chapter 851: Happy New Year

"What's this?" Looking at the business card Pegasus handed him, Johan politely accepted it with both hands, then asked with some confusion.

"Holding *my* business card, you can use it as an Access Card for Industrial Illusions and pass through the Security Personnel, because *it* represents *my* approval," Pegasus said with a smile. "If *I* finish the Cards one day, sending them by express delivery isn't very safe. It's best if you, Johan boy, pick them up yourself."

"Huh?" Johan hadn't quite reacted to Pegasus's meaning yet and was still waiting for Pegasus to give his evaluation of the Duel with Hayato. He really wanted to know if his performance in Duel Monsters could be recognized by the Father of Duel Monsters.

But Rafael naturally understood Pegasus's meaning and spoke for Johan, "I thank you on behalf of Johnny, Pegasus J. Crawford."

"Don't mind, Mr. Rafael. For *me*, finding a Duelist who can bring out the Cards' performance is also a *happy* thing," Pegasus wagged a finger. "Rather, it makes *me* overjoyed that Duel Monsters can bring smiles to more people."

"That's right, Pegasus, you occasionally say something sensible. Duel Monsters is supposed to bring smiles to people..." Joey Wheeler stopped halfway through his sentence and glanced at Hayato, who looked uncomfortable next to him. "Uh, what's wrong, Hayato?"

"Probably heard too much of ''Duel with a smile'', ''Umai'', ''Smile'', etc. Just hearing ''Duel with a smile'' or something like that triggers my PTSD," Hayato rubbed his arm and muttered. Seeing Johan still somewhat confused, he explained, "Still don't understand? Your will has been recognized by Pegasus, Johan."

"Celebrate!"

"Really?!" Johan showed a joyful expression. It seemed he had just understood Pegasus's meaning. And not just him, Joey Wheeler and Tristan beside him also high-fived and said in unison, "That's great!"

"You two didn't just realize it, did you..." Téa pouted and said gently to Johan, "Johan, you did great. Even using a Deck that wasn't suitable, you persisted until the end, not giving up on any Monster. Even I think your performance was quite cool."

"Yeah, thank you for the praise, Older Sister Téa ."

Pegasus was very happy to have found a User for the Cards he was still producing in advance. Part of the reason was that he could throw the difficult problems he had previously struggled to make a decision on to Johan to decide. He also explained to Johan the reason currently hindering him from producing the Cards and informed Johan why he could only choose one to produce.

"Now, Johan boy, make *your* choose. Choose *your* partner who will accompany *you* for a long time in the future. No matter *which* you ultimately select, *I* will wholeheartedly produce the perfect Cards~"

Looking at the possibilities of the two types of Cards, **Gem-Knight** and **Crystal Beast**, that Pegasus showed, Johan wore a troubled expression, "You actually want me to make the choice? No one told me about this before?"

"If I choose one, wouldn't that erase the possibility of the other type of Card coming into the World?"

"Teacher..."

Noticing Johan casting a pleading gaze towards him, Rafael shook his head, "I can't help you with this, Johnny. Don't have any expectations of me. These are your own partners, so naturally, you should decide based on your own ideas, not the words of others."

"Moreover, although Pegasus said that once one type of Card is produced, the other type cannot be produced, you shouldn't have any psychological burden about it. After all, although this guy Pegasus is a very scummy Card Printer, he is still very talented in Card Production. It's impossible for him to let a creative idea not see the light of day," Hayato also counselled Johan.

Hearing that Rafael and Hayato had already said so, Johan tentatively believed their words, put aside his concerns, and seriously looked at the two sketches in Pegasus's notes.

The **Gem-Knight**, designed with **El Shaddoll Construct** as a reference, or more accurately, "restored" from it, although still just a sketch-level design, Johan could vaguely feel a sense of destiny on it, as if it were a heroic figure arranged by grand destiny in a legendary epic.

Johan subconsciously felt that if he chose **Gem-Knight**, even a weak self (compared to Hayato, Rafael, and the others) might be pushed by destiny to walk the glorious hero's path and become a great savior or similar character.

In contrast, the sketch of **Crystal Beast**, with the only completed sketch of **Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus** already having a high degree of completion, allowed Johan to understand the strength of **Crystal Beast** more clearly. They should possess strong willpower. Connected by bond, even if they are weak as individual units, they can still exert noticeable power.

However, compared to **Gem-Knight**, even a certain quantity of **Crystal Beast** combined would probably find it difficult to exert power that surpasses the former, unless there is another existence that can fully utilize the power of numerous **Crystal Beast** and integrate their power.

Even without any actually completed Cards, Johan believed that his judgment should not be far off. Perhaps this was the so-called "Duelist's Intuition" that Rafael had always mentioned to him.

The strength of **Gem-Knight** should be higher than that of **Crystal Beast**. Pure intuition led Johan to make the same judgment as Hayato, who knew the complete appearance of these two Decks. And rationally, Johan should undoubtedly choose **Gem-Knight**.

"If I were to make an analogy, **Gem-Knight** is like a tough Sword, while **Crystal Beast** is like a rainbow bridge. If I wanted to become a Top Duelist, I would undoubtedly choose the former."

Towards Pegasus's manuscript, Johan reached out his hand and pointed at one of the sketches without hesitation, "However, perhaps I will disappoint Teacher and Mr. Pegasus, but I have never actually thought about becoming a Top Duelist."

"And perhaps it's an illusion, but I seem to have heard a voice, right here, I heard someone calling me—"

As Johan reached out his hand and pointed at the sketch on Pegasus's manuscript, a magical scene occurred. The ordinary paper actually radiated seven-colored radiance like a rainbow, converging and enveloping Johan's palm.

After the radiance dissipated, a Card appeared out of thin air in Johan's hand. The card art on it depicted a red gemstone emitting a faint radiance, and the Card Name was **Crystal Promise**.

At the same time as this Card appeared, clearer than before, Johan heard the voice that had been calling him sound in his ear again, "Hello, Johan, it's nice to meet you—"

"Uh, hello?" Johan subconsciously turned his head to look at the source of the voice, but could only see a faint phantom of a Pegasus dissipating in a blue light, and the voice from just now did not respond to Johan.

Johan almost thought he had seen wrong, but then he noticed that Rafael and the others were also looking at the spot beside him.

"Just now, was that a Spirit?"

Hearing Joey Wheeler's words, Atem also nodded, indicating that he had also seen it just now, "That seems like a Spirit connected to the Card in Johan's hand. Its appearance is also extremely similar to the **Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus** that Pegasus designed."

"A Card that hasn't even been completed yet already has an awakened Spirit? That's too suitable for Johan."

"Not only that, that Card is called **Crystal Promise**, right? Does it represent the formation of a contract between them?" Marik, who also saw the Spirit of **Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus**, said, "He's already started Card Printing like this. From all angles, this Kid will definitely be extraordinary in the future."

"Grandma said that Kids are the most precious treasure of the World, and Kids' wishes are the reality of the Future. In other words, the future of the World is Kids," Hayato said, while pointing his finger towards the Sky in a pose that was meaningless but very cool.

"Although what you said makes sense, I still have to ask, are you sure that's what your Grandma said, Brother-in-law?"

"Don't mind the details, only three-year-olds mind the details."

"Saying that makes me mind it even more!"

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was attentive. Atem looked at Hayato, who still hadn't given up on correcting Marik calling him "Brother-in-law", and murmured, "The future of the World is the Kids'... That is indeed the case."

"The Other Me?"

Yugi, inside the Millennium Puzzle, was in mutual understanding with Atem and immediately noticed the idea that surfaced in Atem's heart. Atem had a smile on his face, but he handed his body back to Yugi and returned to the Millennium Puzzle.

"Hmm, but let's keep it a secret from everyone for now and talk about it later, Aibo."

And Johan also noticed the subtle change that appeared in Yugi, "Ah, Mr. Yugi got shorter— Huh? He doesn't seem to have gotten shorter? But his temperament has changed, and there's an illusion that he got shorter."

"You don't need to understand Duelist matters so clearly, Johnny. Millennium Items, they're magical, right?" Rafael said casually. However, although he appeared calm on the surface, having seen this scene before, he still felt that the power of the Millennium Items was indeed a magical item that was difficult to understand.

Johan nodded, half-understanding, then lowered his head to look at the **Crystal Promise** Card in his hand and asked Rafael, "Teacher, just now, was that really the Spirit of the Card? Do I really have a partner now?"

"But why did he disappear as soon as he appeared?"

"The Card in *your* hand, Johan boy, is the symbol that connects *you* with the Spirit, so you don't need to doubt that this is a dream," Pegasus said with a smile. "As for the Spirit appearing and then disappearing, that's unavoidable. After all, *I* haven't finished producing the main *card* that can host the Spirit."

Although he was speaking to Johan, Pegasus's gaze never left the Card in Johan's hand for a moment, always fixed on **Crystal Promise**, "But, if you, Johan boy, lend *me* the data of that Card as a reference, *I* can definitely speed up the completion of the Card— Ugh!"

"Your scheming is too obvious, I could hear it from 114514 kilometers away, Pegasus. Why is there a map of Yan wrapped around your dagger?" Hayato hit the back of the neck of Pegasus, interrupting Pegasus's extremely obvious intention. "The Kid just found his partner. Even if they can't contact each other temporarily, it's still a concern. You actually have the nerve to ask to take the Card from him."

Hearing this, Johan chuckled foolishly, also looking down at the Card in his hand with a smile on his face. There was light in his eye, as if he had obtained a precious treasure.

——————The dividing line for Team Up to visit the Scenic Area——————

The pleasant day quickly passed. In the evening, Rafael and Johan, Master and Disciple, bid farewell to Hayato and the Party. Their appearance in Egypt this time was originally because Rafael thought he might find a suitable Card for Johan here. Now that Pegasus had decided to give **Crystal Beast** to Johan, they no longer had the necessity to continue traveling in Egypt.

After all, compared to Yugi and the Party whose expenses were covered by Pegasus, Rafael, being an adult, still had to continue to earn money. What's more, being good at Duel Monsters, he didn't want to use the Cards he regarded as family as a tool to earn money by participating in Duel Events. The reason he had a certain reputation in the American system at that time was because Dartz had him hunt the American Duel Champion.

And Pegasus also left them a Contact Method so that he could inform them as soon as he completed the **Crystal Beast** Cards.

However, although Pegasus said that after deciding to produce the Cards in the direction of **Crystal Beast**, he, who already had creative ideas, would be able to complete the Cards quickly, he had looked at many things throughout the day but hadn't made even a single stroke on the manuscript. Even when others urged him, he would only say, "I'm drawing, I'm drawing. Has your Uncle Pegasus ever deceived you?"

With this temperament for slacking off, it makes one very suspicious that even by next year, he might not be able to complete the production of this set of Cards he has on hand.

Yes, unknowingly, another year had passed. In the blink of an eye, it was time for New Year's Eve again. However, this time it was the first time Hayato and the others were spending the New Year Abroad, not in Domino City.

"Squeak~~~ Bang!"

"Shizuka, Shizuka, did you see? There are fireworks here in Egypt too!" Holding his mobile phone and filming the fireworks in the night sky, Joey Wheeler excitedly said to Shizuka on the other side of the Earth.

In the video call, Kujaku Mai, who was with Shizuka, complained helplessly, "Joey Wheeler, you idiot, there's a fireworks performance in Domino City tonight too."

"Oh, that's different. This is the first time Shizuka is watching fireworks without me by her side. Mai, you have to accompany Shizuka well for me."

Shizuka's eyes recovering and regaining sight was something that happened during Battle City. Before that, Shizuka had seen fireworks when she was very young. Although fireworks are dazzling to others, they are just something seen every New Year's Eve and celebration. But Joey Wheeler knew that his Sister actually cared a lot about fireworks, which is why he made this international video call.

Also, the mobile phone he was using was actually Tristan 's, so he didn't have to pay the phone bill.

After chatting for a few sentences and exchanging blessings, Joey Wheeler returned the mobile phone to Tristan , who looked regretful because Joey Wheeler had stopped him from talking to Shizuka, but he felt something was not right.

"Hmm? Did I dial Shizuka's number just now? How come I feel like this guy Tristan has Shizuka's contact information?"

Listening to Joey Wheeler's self-talk, Tristan abruptly interrupted him, "What are you thinking about? Look, look, the fireworks are coming again."

"Oh oh oh oh." Joey Wheeler's attention was also easily transferred. He watched the fireworks rise from the Ground and fly into the Sky, exploding into huge flower of light.

"Squeak~~~ Bang!"

"So beautiful..."

Looking up at the Sky, Téa smiled and said to Yugi beside her, "We'll watch fireworks together next year too, Yugi."

Hearing this, Yugi looked hesitant, "About that..."

"There's something I think I should tell everyone..."

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