Chapter 68: Plucking Feathers from Passing Geese
Hayato won the Match, naturally full of vigor and high spirits, while Weevil had a face full of dejection and regret, regretting why he had bet all his Star Chips, regretting why he had even bet the future of Duel Monsters.
Two Staff members were already waiting below the Duel Platform on Weevil's side, both to prevent Weevil from escaping and to stop the watching Duelists from approaching Weevil. However, because Pegasus had already announced the official start of the "Duelist Kingdom", not many Duelists were still lingering in front of the Castle.
After all, the number of Duelists invited to this tournament was well over a hundred, and with two chips each, it meant there were at least two hundred Star Chips available. And as long as one could Assemble ten Stars, they would gain the qualification to enter the Castle. In the most ideal scenario, up to 20 people could meet the qualification.
However, Pegasus had also added a restriction of "eight people" for entry into the Castle, which meant that only the first eight people who could Assemble ten Stars would be able to enter the Castle. In such a situation, Duelists naturally wanted to find their opponents as quickly as possible, defeat them to win, and then Assemble the Star Chips.
The two Staff members diligently blocked Weevil, who had just stepped off the Duel Platform, and were about to restrain him when one of them felt a tap on their shoulder from behind. That Staff member turned around impatiently, saying, "Please do not obstruct our work, Mr. Hayato."
"I won't obstruct you. In fact, if I could, I'd even want to personally throw this guy off the island." The one who tapped the Staff member's shoulder was naturally Hayato. "It's just that I'm the one who won, so I'm here to collect my Spoils. That's not a problem, right?"
"...Of course, there's no problem, Mr. Hayato." After a brief thought, the two Staff members wisely stepped back half a step to make way for Hayato. One of them hesitated for a moment before adding, "However, please refrain from using violence again. It affects the reputation of Industrial Illusions, and it makes things difficult for us."
"Alright, alright," Hayato said with a smile, waving his hand, and walked towards Weevil, who was leaning against the Duel Platform.
The dust on Weevil's face hadn't been wiped off yet. Seeing Hayato approach him, his emotions became agitated. "Hayato! You bastard!"
"No matter how loud you yell, it won't change the final result, will it? I won, you lost, you Insect bastard." Ignoring Weevil's gaze that seemed capable of killing, Hayato reached out, immediately grabbed Weevil's Left Hand area, seized his Duel Glove, and pulled the whole thing off.
"Mr. Hayato..." The Staff member behind him, seeing Hayato's rough actions, reminded him.
Hayato, holding the Duel Glove, waved his hand. "Relax, relax. Think about it, the Star Chips are embedded in the Duel Glove. I'm too lazy to dig them out one by one, so I just pulled the whole thing off. It's perfectly reasonable, right?"
As he spoke, Hayato grabbed Weevil's Collar. Using his height advantage and long arms, he directly lifted Weevil completely off the ground. Ignoring Weevil's struggling hands, he reached towards the box at Weevil's waist used for holding his Deck, and pulled it out along with the belt on his pants.
"Just like I bet with him before, we bet everything about the future of Duel Monsters, so of course I have to take his Deck. Otherwise, what if he leaves the Duelist Kingdom and goes Dueling somewhere else?" Using a reason that convinced no one but himself, Hayato tossed Weevil, whose pants had slipped down revealing underwear printed with beetle patterns, to the two bewildered Staff members. He then walked away triumphantly, carrying the Duel Glove and Weevil's Deck.
[System update complete]
Hearing the System's notification that the update was complete, Hayato immediately opened Weevil's Deck, which he had just acquired. With extremely practiced movements, he clicked into the [Recycle] module of the [Shop] and quickly Recycled the Cards that were useless to him, such as Saber Beetle and Cocoon of Evolution. This actually earned him a full 1000 DP.
"Hayato!" Hayato, who was very happy about getting his hands on someone else's things just like Feng Ge, heard someone calling his name. He turned his head to look and saw Yugi and the others. With his back to the Duel Platform that had been Recycled and sunk into the ground, and listening to Weevil's crying and wailing as he was carried away by the two Staff members, Hayato walked over to them and handed the Duel Glove in his hand to Joey Wheeler.
"Hayato, what's this?" Joey Wheeler asked, a little confused.
"You should have heard just now that participating in the Duelist Kingdom Match requires a Duel Glove. Yugi and I already have one, so I'm giving this to you. Although it's that disgusting guy Weevil's, I don't know if it'll fit your hand." Hayato said, also holding up a Star Chip he had pried off the glove. "It's just that regarding Star Chips, I can only give you one. Sorry."
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you, Hayato." Although Hayato's attitude was casual, Joey Wheeler knew how much this helped him and bowed deeply with great solemnity.
Kujaku Mai stood to the side, watching Hayato share his Spoils with Joey Wheeler. "Although your friendship is touching, is doing this really okay? The competition for Star Chips is quite fierce right now."
"Are you saying that my helping Joey Wheeler will hold me back? But only by supporting each other can companions go further, right?" Hayato replied with a smile. "Besides, what if I give Joey Wheeler one Star? I don't think I'll lose to anyone else when I'm already ahead by one Star."
"Suit yourselves." Kujaku Mai gave the cheerful group a deep look, said nothing more, and simply turned her back to walk towards the Stairs leading away from the Castle. "I'm going to find my hunting targets. Farewell for now, Yugi, Hayato, and Joey Wheeler."
"Miss Mai, isn't she going to act together with us?" Joey Wheeler tugged at his slightly tight glove, watching the direction Kujaku Mai had left.
Yugi thought for a moment. "Probably because of the time limit. The faster we acquire Star Chips, the better. If we act together, the speed of our Duels will definitely be affected."
"That's exactly right, Yugi. So, I'll be splitting up with you guys too." Hayato said, looking at them, but his gaze occasionally flickered towards a certain spot. "You and Joey Wheeler should act together. I still have something to do with Pegasus. Let's meet again when we've all Assembled ten Stars."
Saying that, Hayato ignored Joey Wheeler and Tristan's attempts to keep him, and ran off towards the direction of the Stairs by himself. Yugi watched Hayato's retreating figure, vaguely seeing a few yellow and green figures seemingly guiding the way in front of him.
It's probably just an illusion.