Chapter 101: Kaiba, Who Believes in Science
"What happened!?" Yugi was the first to recover. Having been pulled into Pegasus's "Time Stop" world once before, he immediately realized that he had just been pulled into that space again.
The only difference was that last time his thoughts could function normally in that space, but this time his thoughts had entered a state of "Thought Stoppage," just like when he was Dueling last time and everyone else was "frozen."
Kaiba was the second to recover. Just a moment ago, he had been holding his unconscious younger brother, but the next moment he turned back, his brother in his arms had vanished. He had no Impression of who had taken his brother or when, as if someone had simply deleted a segment of time.
"Keipei, he's gone?"
"This feeling is just like that time at Yugi's house." Joey Wheeler was the third to recover, weakly raising his arm to cover his forehead. Already in a poor state after the "Electric Shock Therapy," his thoughts had been stopped by Pegasus again, inevitably putting some stress on his brain nerves.
Thanks to the protection of Rainbow Kuriboh and the resistance of the Millennium Ring to other Millennium Items, Hayato was the only one whose "Thought Stoppage" was unaffected, but the blow Pegasus left behind before taking Keipei was quite forceful, causing him to take a long time to stand up by leaning on a tree trunk.
"It was that guy Pegasus. His Millennium Eye's ability is interference with thought. Just now, he stopped everyone's thinking ability and took Keipei away." Hayato looked at the card in his hand with a solemn expression.
As his earliest Ace Card and the strongest Card Monster he had Awakened, Gaia had helped him turn the tide successfully many times. Every time he needed help, Gaia, residing in his Deck, would respond to him.
But now, the Card Spirit of Gaia residing in the Card was silent?
"He stripped away the Soul of Yugi's Grandpa, Grandpa Solomon, Kidnapped Kaiba's younger brother Keipei, and even took my Tamashii, Gaia The Fierce Knight." Hayato clenched his fists. "Good grief, this is truly infuriating and unbearable."
"It was Pegasus!" Yugi and the others had expressions of surprise upon hearing Hayato's words. Téa muttered to herself, "Pegasus, who was supposed to be in the Castle, is actually active outside?"
"It's just like the Demon King who should be guarding the final stage ran halfway through the Hero's journey," Joey Wheeler glanced at Yugi, who was also gripping his fists excitedly. "But since he dares to move around the Island, then we have hope of defeating him early and releasing Master Solomon's Soul, right?"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Yugi shook his head, looking at Hayato, as well as the two missing Staff who should have been unconscious. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be like last time on the Ship, where Pegasus controlled others again?"
Hayato nodded, just about to say something, when he heard Kaiba coldly snort from the side:
"Hmph! Since just now, 'Soul,' 'Spirit,' and 'Thought Stoppage' what's with all this nonsensical stuff you're talking about." Kaiba, who believes in Science and refuses to believe in Psychic Powers, said with a cold and arrogant expression, looking at Hayato, "Don't try to fob me off with such unrealistic wild talk and waste my time!"
Hayato somewhat wanted to Rant, but didn't know where to start. In this extremely Metaphysics Card Gamer world, you, Seto Kaiba, are probably the only one who believes in Science so much, right?
"Uh, it's like this, that guy Pegasus has mastered a type of Infrasound Weapon that can paralyze the brain's thinking ability of people who receive this sound, and then take the Arc Reactor from their chest." Hayato tried his best to translate Pegasus's Millennium Eye's ability into language Kaiba could accept. "In short, we were all just attacked by Pegasus with that weapon, and then he took Keipei."
"Infrasound Weapon? Hmph, I see, that pretentious guy Pegasus." Kaiba couldn't accept Psychic Powers, but if you forcefully explain it with science, Kaiba believed it. "To take Keipei away from my side again, it's truly unforgivable, Pegasus!"
Glancing at Pegasus Castle in the distance, Kaiba furiously rushed towards it, ignoring the dissuasion of both Hayato and Yugi.
"My mind is made up. I must use my Blue-Eyes White Dragon to take Keipei back from that damned place Pegasus is in. No one can stop me. Anyone who dares to stand in front of me, even if it's you, Yugi, Hayato, I will crush them!"
Yugi hurriedly explained, "That's not it, Kaiba. On the point of defeating Pegasus, I stand on the same battle line as you, even more urgent than you."
"But, if you don't Assemble ten Star Chips, there's no way to enter Pegasus's Castle."
Saying this, Yugi revealed the Duel Glove on his Right Hand, which was already inlaid with a full seven Star Chips.
Joey Wheeler, who was beside him, also proudly raised his Right Hand. He had found a way to modify Weevil's Duel Glove a bit to make it quite fitting, and it also already had eight Star Chips on it. "Hehe, we all have Star Chips, unlike some people who don't even have one. Even if someone is willing to agree to your Duel, I'm afraid you won't even have collected ten before the Top 8 Match is already finished."
Téa and Tristan exchanged speechless glances. "Is this guy Joey Wheeler getting too carried away? Did he forget that he actually didn't have Star Chips at the very beginning either?"
But Kaiba just glanced at Joey Wheeler, then looked down at Yugi and said coldly, "The speed of collecting Star Chips is actually not as fast as that fourth-rate Duelist? You disappoint me a bit, Yugi."
Saying this, Kaiba broke free from Hayato's hand that was pulling him and walked towards Pegasus Castle alone.
Kaiba's arrogant look made Joey Wheeler feel annoyed the more he looked. Towards his back, Joey Wheeler said loudly, "Tch, if it weren't for your brother's 'good deed,' Yugi would have already finished collecting the Star Chips by now. The reason why he's still short a few isn't because that guy from Industrial Illusions at the Dock threw all the chips into the sea!"
Seeing Joey Wheeler chasing after Kaiba with an annoyed expression, Hayato hurriedly pulled Joey Wheeler back. "Alright, alright, is now the time to argue about this? The most important thing is still how to Assemble the Star Chips to obtain the qualification to enter the Castle, and then take Keipei, Grandpa Solomon, and my Gaia back from Pegasus's hands."
Yugi was also somewhat troubled. Originally, he had already collected the Star Chips. If it hadn't been for the matter with Keipei, Joey Wheeler's Stars would have been enough by this time. But now, the first person to Assemble the Star Chips has already entered the Castle. If they don't hurry up, he's afraid—
Just as Yugi was thinking this, he suddenly smelled a familiar fragrance. A hand holding a fist reached out in front of him and opened up. In the palm of his hand were five Star Chips.