Chapter 280: Approachable by the Billion

Chapter 280: Approachable by the Billion

Leaning back in the leather seat, with exciting pop music playing and a faint, elegant perfume scent filling the air.

Sitting in a black luxury car, Hayato sighed, quite troubled, and asked Mokuba, who was sitting opposite him, "Sometimes I really envy you carefree kids."

"I told you my name is Mokuba!" Holding a tablet in his hand, Mokuba was still busy handling complex business even while on the road in the car. "Besides, Hayato, where do you see me being carefree?"

"Seven people have now collected six Puzzle Cards and pieced together the Finals Location Map, but so far, no one has reached the registration point." Mokuba sighed, temporarily put down his work, turned his head to operate a car-mounted TV nearby, and projected a data table. "Older Brother coming up with this competition on a whim is quite interesting."

"But I'm the one responsible for logistics and negotiating with the Domino City Government," Mokuba sighed again, picking up the tablet. "And the most crucial thing is that Older Brother is actually thinking of using airships and such. The expenses are too high!"

"If he keeps wasting money like this, KaibaCorp will go bankrupt in another century."

Good grief, is that something a person says? Are you Scrooge McDuck or something?

"Mr. Hayato, Young Master Mokuba, we will reach our destination in five minutes." At this moment, the driver's voice came from the intercom system. Hayato turned his head and looked out the car window.

The luxury car drove over a bridge, and as the buildings blocking the view disappeared, a massive circular building appeared in Hayato's sight—

The Domino City Sports Center! At the same time, it was also the location for the Second Stage of the Duel City tournament, the place ultimately indicated by the six Puzzle Cards!

As early as five years ago, in the plans of the Domino City Government, this stadium was designated to become Domino City's "most popular entertainment facility in the next decade," expected to combine multiple functions such as a "concert venue," "soccer field," and "exhibition hall."

Although it is quite common for stadiums to be used for the above functions in later eras, don't forget that it is only the early 21st century now. The construction of this Sports Center was undoubtedly very wise.

That is, if the "Duel Monsters" game, which had been around for some time, hadn't suddenly exploded in popularity, and if "Kaiba Land" hadn't appeared.

As the famous "Crashing" performance artist, Mr. Jack Atlas, once said, "I'm going to be the King of Games, women are just a nuisance." Female stars are pretty? But what does that have to do with the fans? Instead of spending time chasing stars, it's better to open a Card Pack, pull out a Cute Monster Card, and then go to the Duel Arena at Kaiba Land to test out the new Card.

With the growing popularity of "Duel Monsters," even many Hollywood stars and actors who originally held themselves in high regard have started labeling themselves as "Duel Monsters enthusiasts" to attract attention and gain popularity.

Moreover, under KaibaCorp's financial power, "Kaiba Land," built with extremely excessive efficiency, overtook the "Domino City Sports Center," which was a government project and whose construction team had been dragging their feet. Kaiba Land finished construction first, seizing the market. In this era where time is money, the Domino City Sports Center lost before it even had a chance to compete, and even the contracted construction team packed up and ran.

Under these circumstances, KaibaCorp, which had plenty of money and was "Approachable by the Billion," approached the Domino City Government, which was greatly troubled by this stalled project.

The luxury car drove into the Domino City Sports Center, which was mostly completed but had become a stalled project because the contractor ran off. As soon as he stepped out of the car, Hayato looked up and saw that guy Kaiba standing on a high platform, looking down at Hayato with a cold and arrogant expression, his white trench coat, which reached down to his feet, swaying in the evening breeze.

"Hmph, Hayato, so you're the one who got the Top 8 qualification after me." With a smug smile on his face, Kaiba said disdainfully, "It's a shame, isn't it? I was the first to get the Top 8 qualification. You and the other weaklings can just follow in my footsteps on the path to victory!"

"Hey, hey, don't talk like you've already reached the top and become number one," Hayato said, looking at Kaiba helplessly. "Don't think I didn't see it. You clearly overtook me halfway by taking a helicopter. Mokuba told me on the way. I was the first one to collect the puzzle pieces."

Kaiba snorted coldly and turned his head away. "Shut up, you second-rate Duelist. The rules of Duel City don't place any restrictions on how participants get here. If you were capable, I wouldn't mind even if you arrived by fighter jet."

"In that case, I'd be shot down by a missile halfway there!"

Mokuba, who also got out of the black luxury car, took his eyes off the tablet in his hand, glanced at Hayato and Kaiba, and said with a smile, "Hayato and Kaiba really have a good relationship."

Since the Top 8 participants hadn't all arrived yet, Hayato showed the six Puzzle Cards he held to a KaibaCorp staff member, registered his Top 8 qualification, and then found a lounge. He planned to use the time waiting for the other participants to arrive to properly organize his Deck.

The Deck Hayato currently possessed was mainly composed of several archetypes—Performapal, whose full power was hard to unleash without Pendulum Summoning; the mostly complete Ojama Armed XYZ; and Gaia, whose Card Spirit had reached the Third Stage, causing new forms to appear one after another.

In addition to these, there were Grandsoil the Elemental Lord, Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca, The Winged Dragon of Ra, the Sacred Beasts recently confiscated from Bakura, and Rainbow Kuriboh, which had saved Hayato countless times.

Instructing his awakened Card Spirits to keep an eye on the not-so-obedient Sacred Beast Cards, Hayato opened the system and looked at his DP Points, which he had painstakingly restored to 5000. He clicked into the Shop and went all-in with a grand gesture, emptying his accumulated Points in one go.

Compared to Duelist Kingdom, this Duel City tournament was highly anticipated by KaibaCorp and would be live broadcast to the entire world. Hayato wanted to use this competition to defeat all other Duelists fair and square, including but not limited to Marik, Joey, Kaiba, and Yugi. To do this, he needed to increase the depth of his Card Pool as much as possible.

He tore open a Card Pack that appeared in his hand, took out the five Cards inside, and flipped them over. Seeing a Powerful Level 8 WATER Attribute Monster, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

Pulled something good right away?