"So what's the plan, guys?" Tristan asked, seeing as the duel was over.
This was a good question.
After all, both of them had already got enough chips to qualify, and searching for more duellists would be meaningless.
At least, this was Yuta's view on the matter.
A part of him also wanted to search for more duellists on the island to bolster his deck, but...
Well... he was kind of tired...
This totally was not due to a fear that someone would obstruct his path and challenge him to a duel while holding a branded deck.
Truth be told, this bs version of the Union A to Z deck scared the heck out of Yuta.
He was having fun bullying these newbie duellists with his meta knowledge, but then someone overpowered came because he didn't follow the script and went to duel against the Paradox brothers.
Maybe it was better for him to lie low for now, now that he got the chips.
Mind you, Yuta didn't mind losing, but that didn't mean he was foolish enough to challenge top meta decks with his current makeshift deck.
With the prints of new vests, the deck was slowly taking shape, but it still was not enough.
There still was not a reliable way to search for his Red-Eyes or special summon it from the deck.
Since the Red-Eyes was a capricious Duel Spirit, it preferred not to be drawn unless there was a crisis, which was a major downside to his strategies.
"How about going back? Don't we have enough chips?" So Yuta asked the group.
"True, it should be about time to head to the castle as well, otherwise we might miss the time." Mai replied with a nod.
"Great! Let me call Tea and others to see how they are doing," Tristan said as he took out his flip phone to dial the gang, but there was no response.
"Strange, it is saying that the number you are calling cannot be reached at the moment."
"Maybe their phone is out of battery?" Yuta chimed in. After all, this was the second day they were on the island. If they did not bring a power bank, it wouldn't be surprising that their phone ran out of battery.
Wait, do they even have power banks in this world?
Kaiba's influence significantly skewed the technology development in this world.
Some technology was impossible to replicate in his own world, but other technology was quite outdated due to the time period when anime was aired.
Just like Tristan's flip phone.
Although Kaiba's technology could easily lead to the development of smartphones, they remained in the flip phone era because Kaiba was not interested in researching phones.
"Do not worry, they should be heading towards the castle as well; at worst we will meet up there." Mai commented offhandedly as she started to head towards the castle.
She did not believe someone who defeated THE Seto Kaiba would not be able to make it to the finals.
So the duo's worries were meaningless.
It was better to go to the castle early and take a relaxing hot bath.
"That makes sense."
***Going to the Castle Dividing Line***
After climbing the stairs for the second time, Yuta did not forget to greet nine generations of Pegasus' ancestors.
Was it so hard to make an elevator or a cable car that directly took them to the entrance of the castle?
Of course Pegasus would not care.
Why?
Because he used a helicopter for travel, so why should he care?
It was only poor mongrels like Yuta that suffered.
"Oh, look, there they are!" Tristan said as he noticed the gang, but looking at the oppressive air in the group, it was obvious that something had gone wrong.
After Tristan chatted with the group, he was baffled to hear their recent experiences.
No, buddy, is this how you play?
He was gone for just one morning, and they had so many life-and-death experiences.
There was Joey's kidnapping, then there was the death trap with the boulder, not to mention the tag duel against the Paradox brothers.
Most importantly, there was also Yugi's duel against Kaiba, where he threatened to jump off if he did not win and dealt mental damage to Yugi in the process.
Yesterday, it was his turn to play the action hero, but today the roles had switched, as his journey with the duellist duo was quite boring.
Just walking around for hours, then a single tag duel, and here they were.
Tristan suddenly felt jealous.
It should have been him!
It should have been him that acted like Indiana Jones and saved the group!
Hearing their stories, Yuta was not surprised, as he remembered this part of the anime.
What surprised him, however, was the fact that Kaiba was still beaten into retardation by Kuriboh...
Did he not learn his lesson from yesterday that Kuriboh was his lifelong enemy?
Why try to commit suicide at the drop of a hat again!?
Of course, these were all jokes, as he still remembered that the true reason Kaiba threatened Yugi was because he needed to win to have a chance of saving his brother.
What made him surprised was that it was still Kuriboh that pushed Kaiba to the edge.
Kuriboh really was Kaiba's nemesis!
That was when a group of Pegasus' goons surrounded them.
Tristan and Joey immediately took their fighting stances.
They did not know why they were surrounded, but it definitely could not be something good.
"What are you doing!? We did not break any laws!"
"Yeah, tell 'em, Tristan!"
"No need to be on edge; we are here to invite the duellist Yutaka Minami into the castle on behalf of Master Pegasus; he wishes to speak with him." said the one that looked like an old butler with grey hair and a moustache.
"Invite him? But why?" Tea furrowed her brows.
"This is not something for us to question. We are only aware that the duellist Yutaka Minami has already gathered enough Star Chips to be qualified to enter the castle, and Master Pegasus cannot wait to have a fulfilling discussion with him, hence the invitation." The old butler explained calmly, as if this was not the first time such a thing had happened.
"But that does not mean Yuta has to go right now." Tea kept on pushing while Yuta was thoughtful.
He really was quite apprehensive about meeting Pegasus alone.
Technically, his mind should be safe, as he had Red-Eyes and Fire Ferret as his Duel Spirits, so Pegasus should not be able to invade his mind willy-nilly.
But that did not mean there was no danger either.
After all, Pegasus was not whitewashed yet, and he was still the big villain of this arc.
Who knew what he wanted to do with him?
But a part of him also wanted to have this meeting for one single reason only.
Pegasus was the one that gifted him the Red-Eyes Black Dragon after winning a tournament, just like how he had gifted the Crystal Beasts to Jesse Anderson in the GX era.
Seeing as the card had a Duel Spirit, there was a high chance that the card itself had chosen him as its partner, but that was beside the point.
The point was, Pegasus should have Red-Eyes cards in his hands.
Even if he did not, there was a high chance of him knowing the whereabouts of the remaining Red-Eyes Black Dragons in the world.
Thinking of that, Yuta decided to take a risk.
After all, it was quite annoying that Kaiba had three Blue-Eyes while he only had a single Red-Eyes.
This would not do.
Since he did not have a whole conglomerate behind him to search for cards, he could only take risks.
"Sure, I wanted to meet with Pegasus again anyway," Yuta said as he walked out of the group towards the goons.
"Yuta!" Tristan shouted.
WTF, man!
They were not lovers or anything; why such a big reaction? Maybe he should keep his distance from this scoundrel in the future to protect his body.
Not to mention, it was not like he was going to his death?
"See you guys at the castle," Yuta said after giving a smile and leaving with the goons.