**Chapter 83: Hayato and the Seven Soul Vessels**
After bumming a delicious lunch from the eccentric Uncle Anacis, Hayato and Bakura parted ways with the two. Of course, Hayato took the Star Chips he had won with him.
Uncle Anasas's entire morning's effort had been wasted. Hayato hoped he would just keep at it and not give up. Wandering around, Hayato savored the lunch he'd eaten while looking for a suitable target.
"Hey, you over there!"
Although it was earlier than the time before his Transmigration, the technology in this world hadn't fallen behind at all; in fact, it had surpassed his previous world in many aspects. At the very least, many of the self-heating meals and military rations Hayato had eaten in his past life didn't taste as good as the lunch he'd gotten from Anacis today.
"That Hayato! Stop right there!"
The rice tasted like it had just been cooked, the beef was delicious, and the shrimp and asparagus were absolutely divine, as fresh as could be.
"Don't ignore me!"
Lunch was taken care of, but there weren't many good options for dinner, and he couldn't hunt. Maybe it would be better to gather ten Star Chips early and go find Pegasus.
"Hayato!"
A figure suddenly darted in front of Hayato, blocking his path, glaring at him with angry eyes. If only he weren't so short, he might have been quite imposing, perhaps?
"You're... Rex Raptor, right?" Hayato took half a step back, creating a bit of distance, before recognizing the person in front of him. It was none other than Rex Raptor, whom he had met on the Cruise Ship en route to Duelist Kingdom—the runner-up of the All-Japan Duelist Kingdom Qualifier.
"That's right, it's me!" Rex Raptor, seeing that Hayato had recognized him, smugly put his hands on his hips, tilted his head, and proudly huffed, "You recognized me, huh? Well, I guess it can't be helped, seeing as I'm the national runner-up of Duel Monsters! Being too famous isn't always—"
He looked back to where Hayato had been standing, only to find that Hayato wasn't there at all. Not far away, he heard the sounds of Hayato conversing with the white-haired person behind him—
"Um, Hayato-kun? Is it really okay to just leave Rex hanging there?"
"Don't worry about it too much. He didn't actually say he wanted to challenge me to a Duel, did he? Look, we've already walked away, and he's still talking to himself over there. Maybe he was just bored and wanted someone to chat with."
"Hayato!"
Rex darted in front of Hayato once more, again blocking the Hayato who had ignored him: "You rotten jerk, do you have no respect for a national-level player like me?"
"You want the truth? Yes, I didn't give you much thought. After all, I even defeated Weevil, the Champion, so what's a runner-up like you, Mr. Rex?" Hayato said, waving his hand impatiently. "I'm extremely busy right now; I have a lot of things to do. Be a good boy and go find someone else to Duel, okay?"
Hayato wasn't actually trying to fool Rex, because he had indeed remembered something important he needed to do. Of course, it wasn't about collecting ten Star Chips to get a free meal from Pegasus, but rather continuing to ponder the question Anacis had interrupted earlier—how to deal with the Dark Power within his body?
Although Hayato now possessed the Millennium Ring, which had the ability to interfere with Millennium Items, what had been continuously affecting Hayato was not Pegasus's Millennium Eye itself, but rather the power the Millennium Eye had left behind in his body. It was like how Haki and Seastone could nullify a Devil Fruit user's abilities, but couldn't make the products of those abilities disappear.
Furthermore, the power of the Millennium Eye remained because Hayato had actively tried to stop Pegasus, not because Pegasus had deliberately left it behind. Even if Pegasus himself were to help Hayato, it would likely be difficult to precisely control this Dark Power.
However, Hayato actually had some ideas on how to deal with this power. His inspiration came from a certain Socket Man who sacrificed himself to defeat the Lightning Scar Great Demon King, and who created seven Soul Vessels to survive.
Hayato also planned to emulate this approach, gradually expelling the Dark Power from his body in batches. Although the presence of the Millennium Ring had lessened the power's effect on Hayato, having something that didn't belong to him inside his body would always feel strange.
"You jerk, you're even more arrogant than I am." Rex, feeling disrespected by Hayato, grew very angry. "I'm not like Weevil. If I were the one Dueling you, I wouldn't be defeated so easily."
Hayato glanced at Rex: "So, you're here to Duel me? I wouldn't mind taking the last few Star Chips I need from you."
"However, you look like you have something else going on, or you wouldn't have waited until now."
"Tch, you saw right through me." Rex pouted and said, "Someone wants me to take you to a place where they want to Duel you."
"You don't strike me as the type to just obediently be someone else's minion, do you? What did he offer you?"
Rex stammered when he heard Hayato's words: "Well, I... I bet my Star Chips, and then I lost the Duel, so my opponent used this as an exchange."
To think he was quite valuable? Valuable enough for someone to use Star Chips as an exchange?
Hayato glanced at Bakura, then at Rex: "Alright then, lead the way, Mr. Rex."
Rex walked in front, leading Hayato and Bakura through a forest they had just passed. They arrived at a clearing in the center of the forest. In the middle of the clearing, a Duel Arena had already risen, and standing beside the Duel Arena was an Industrial Illusions staff member dressed in black.
Opposite the staff member dressed in black stood a blonde woman with her back to Hayato. A gentle breeze swept through the forest, and even from a distance, Hayato caught the subtle, lingering scent of her perfume. He didn't even need to see her face; her silhouette alone was enough for Hayato to recognize her identity—
"Hey, Mai Valentine, I've brought Hayato here! Our deal is complete, right?!" Rex shouted as he saw the woman.
Mai Valentine turned around, revealing a Duelist glove she had just received from the staff member dressed in black. However, this glove had an extra ring of slots for embedding Star Chips compared to a regular glove: "My, my, aren't you impatient? No wonder you lost so miserably to me, Rex-kun~"
"Shut up! I brought the person here; the deal's over!" Rex, enraged by Mai Valentine bringing up his previous crushing defeat again, yelled and walked back the way he came without looking back.
Just as he passed Hayato, he whispered to Hayato: "That woman is very good at countering Back Row cards." Hayato turned his head slightly in surprise, watching Rex walk into the forest as if nothing had happened.
"What's wrong, Hayato-kun?" Bakura asked, looking at Hayato with some confusion. Rex's voice had been much quieter than his previous shouting, so Bakura hadn't heard what he'd said.
"Nothing much, I just think Rex is actually a pretty decent guy, even though he often hangs out with that Insect scumbag." Hayato said casually, his gaze returning to Mai Valentine, who was now walking towards him.
Thinking back, childhood influences a person a lot. Just because I saw how cool Pegasus was as a kid, I've been into white-haired characters ever since (though perhaps the Chinese preference for white hair might also play a role?).
Bakura too. Ryo Bakura is just explosively cute, makes you want to bleed from the cuteness.
(end of chapter)