"So, why do these Egyptians refuse to listen to reason?" Rex said, shoveling spoonfuls of Egyptian fried rice into his mouth, his face filled with incomprehension.
"It's one thing to not recognize people because of face blindness, but I told those people so clearly that I'm not Joey, yet those deaf and blind fools didn't listen at all."
"Exactly! I don't understand how you, Rex, even resemble me. Those people are definitely blind!" Joey said indignantly from the seat opposite Rex, annoyed that he hadn't been recognized earlier and was mistaken for someone impersonating him.
Glancing at Joey, Rex took another mouthful of fried rice and said strangely, "Honestly, the fact that you, Joey, have so many fanatical fans already surprises and confounds me. Even I'm captivated by your heroic bearing during a Duel, but I never thought that even spectators who've only watched your Duels could understand your charm."
Hearing Rex's words, Joey met his gaze and felt the undisguised warmth in his eyes, which gave him goosebumps. "Don't say such strange things that can be easily misunderstood."
"Huh? Is something wrong? I'm speaking truly from the bottom of my heart." Rex took another spoonful of fried rice, looking confused. "It wasn't me who was surrounded just now, but you. I genuinely felt that among the people who surrounded me, not many of them were actually your fans."
"That's not what I meant—the important part is the first half!"
As he spoke, Joey felt someone gently tap his shoulder. A young man in a well-tailored suit and a pinkish-purple tie walked around the table where he and Rex were sitting, pulled out a chair at the empty spot, and sat down. He looked quite handsome, but for some reason, Joey had the illusion that he might pull a Facial Gimmick at any moment.
"Because they really aren't Joey's fans," the man said, looking at Joey. "They're just passersby who heard there was a celebrity and came to join the fun. While it's not a certainty, if they could somehow establish a connection with Joey, it would definitely be worth it, especially given that the ticket price for the public breakfast buffet at this hotel isn't that high."
"However, another reason is that your most widely known appearance, Joey, was during Battle City. Mokuba used the popularity of Battle City to run marketing campaigns for the then Top 4 Duelists to promote KaibaCorp."
"Compared to then, your appearance now is vastly different. It's like no one would mistake the current Marik for Dark Marik from Battle City."
Hearing the man's words, Joey showed a look of sudden realization. "Oh, I see! That makes me feel better. I thought even my fans couldn't recognize me."
"Eh? Wait, who are you, anyway? You look vaguely familiar," Joey said, looking at Rex, who was still devouring fried rice. "Is he someone you know, Rex?"
"Hm? Ah, my apologies, I forgot to turn this off." The man was momentarily stunned by Joey's words, then remembered something. He raised a hand, making a golden scepter appear, and lightly tapped himself. The man's figure changed like shattering glass, revealing his true appearance. "That was a fake identity to deceive people just now. I have to say, the Millennium Rod is quite useful."
Hayato said, returning the Millennium Rod to his waist.
"I knew that face was familiar, it's you, Hayato! When it comes to trickery, it's still the same familiar flavor. You used that look at the KC Cup before, didn't you? That appearance, was it called 'Don Thousand'?" Seeing Hayato reveal his true identity, Rex straightened his back and said, "You really tricked me badly. I can't believe you guys actually betrayed Doma."
"Oh, come on. Doma fell ages ago. Are you still thinking of avenging Dartz?" Hayato smiled faintly.
Although Dartz was all-powerful within the Doma organization, after he was eliminated by Hayato and the others working together, his subordinates scattered like a collapsing tree, showing no loyalty. Hayato, who was an infiltrator from the start, is one thing, but the other two of Doma's Three Knights—Alister and Raphael—had already rebelled against Dartz before Doma's downfall.
In the end, only Rex, who had sacrificed himself early in a Duel with Joey, could barely be considered a remnant of Doma.
"No, I have no interest in that. In fact, if Joey here wasn't so incredible, I might have betrayed Dartz later anyway." Waving his hand, Rex scooped up the last spoonful of fried rice. "Compared to boring things like revenge, being full and satisfied right now is more important. After all, this is the 'peaceful life' I yearn for."
As Joey watched Rex finish the last spoonful of fried rice, he couldn't help but exclaim, "You're really something, you can eat so much! How long have you been starving?"
"It's not that I'm truly hungry; I just feel like this hotel's rooms are so expensive that it would be a loss if I didn't eat my money's worth at the buffet."
"Well, you won't break even even if you eat fried rice until you drop dead."
"Urusai! I have nothing to say to you people who've gone to school." Rex said awkwardly, stiffly changing the subject to Hayato. "By the way, since you're here, did you lead those people away just now? I'm quite curious how you managed to lead away those blind fools who wouldn't listen to reason."
Earlier, because Rex recognized Joey, he nearly led the crowd surrounding him to Joey, transferring the trouble. Then, someone in the crowd shouted something in Arabic that neither of them understood, and those people suddenly dispersed to outside the buffet restaurant. Joey and Rex were able to escape and sit here.
"Oh, it was nothing really. You could easily do it too if you knew a few simple Arabic phrases," Hayato said casually. "I just told Marik, who had already finished Joey's curry, to come down to the first floor, and then told those people who only wanted to piggyback on the celebrity craze that 'Pegasus' was outside."
"Compared to Joey, the 'Father of Duel Monsters,' Pegasus, is naturally more appealing to them, even if there are genuine Joey fans among them. And they can't even tell the difference between you two, Joey and Rex, let alone Marik, whose hair is light blond but looks somewhat similar to Pegasus's silver hair."
As he spoke, Hayato nodded affirmingly. "Yep, simple, isn't it? A World where only Marik gets hurt has been achieved."
"Brother-in-law, you schemed against me!" Simultaneously with Hayato's words, Rex and Joey faintly heard Marik's voice from outside the buffet restaurant.
The two fell silent for a moment. After a long pause, Rex sighed, "It has to be you, Hayato. When it comes to the proficiency of selling out your teammates, it still has to be you."
"That's a strange thing to say. What do the bad deeds committed by Don Thousand have to do with me, Hayato?"
Listening to the conversation between Hayato and Rex, his "former" colleague, Joey seemed to remember something and said, "I remember, Rex, weren't you in America before? Why are you in Egypt? We ran into Raphael earlier."
"Raphael? He came to Egypt too?" Rex's expression was surprised, as if he didn't know Raphael was also in Egypt. He shook his head and said, "We haven't been in touch since Doma disbanded. I just found out he's in Egypt, what a coincidence."
"As for why I came to Egypt, on one hand, now that I'm no longer serving Dartz, I'm free. I can choose to embark on a passionate adventure or continue a peaceful life, according to my own heart. And instinctively, I wanted to visit Egypt, the birthplace of Duel Monsters."
"And on the other hand, to live a peaceful life, you need funds to cover expenses. Without Dartz covering them, I had to find a new job."
Rex said, smiling mysteriously as he stood up, grabbing the sides of his jacket and suddenly flipping it open, like an exhibitionist. Joey even prepared to close his eyes to avoid being blinded.
However, when Rex opened his jacket, what was revealed was not something that shouldn't be seen in public, but a hoodie he was wearing underneath. From the fabric, it seemed to be just an ordinary mass-produced hoodie, neither good nor bad, but the logo printed on it looked quite familiar to Hayato.
"What is this?" Joey asked, seemingly seeing the logo for the first time. Rex answered him without hesitation, "Is this your first time seeing this symbol? This is also part of my new job, so let me explain it to you. The logo on this hoodie is the symbol of the 'Cyber Style'!"
"Cyber Style?" Joey showed a thoughtful expression, then clapped his hands. "I remember! Is it Principal Sheppard's 'Cyber Style'?"
"Oh? You know more than I expected, Joey. As expected of the man I value," Rex said, hearing Joey mention Sheppard, knowing he could skip introducing a part of it. "You must have experienced my Armor Deck, right? That power that fundamentally harms a Duelist's Vitality."
When Rex brought up the Armor Deck, Joey couldn't help but recall his past Duel with Rex, feeling a phantom pain in his ribs. "Ah, even after all this time, I still feel a faint ache when I think about it."
"When I was in Doma, serving Dartz, I used that power recklessly. But if I want to live a peaceful life, that power isn't really suitable for me." Rex spread his hands helplessly and gave an example. "For instance, if I want to spar with someone, even if I want to hold back, I can't precisely control the force to avoid injuring my opponent. Trying to step over an ant without crushing it—that amount of force is really hard to control."
"Though I felt some reluctance, I decided to seal away the Armor Deck and no longer use it. As an alternative, I joined the 'Cyber Style' Dojo and gained the power of 'Cyber Style'."
"You were able to make such a decisive choice?" Joey looked at Rex in great surprise. It's important to know that for a Duelist, changing a Deck is no simple matter. The stronger the Duelist, the deeper their bonds with their Deck. Even if the card strength increases greatly after changing Decks, it's hard to compensate for the loss of bonds.
Of course, Hayato, who changes Decks more frequently than changing wives in anime, yet whose Deck bonds somehow grow deeper with each one, is one of a very few exceptions.
"There's nothing to regret, really. Since you know 'Cyber Style', you should also know the strength of Cyber Dragon, especially you, Hayato. I heard Master Sheppard mention that you seem to have even obtained the ultimate Secret Arts passed down through generations of 'Cyber Style'. You're really something, Hayato!"
As he spoke, Rex added with some regret, "It's just a pity that I've only had introductory 'Cyber Style' cards like Cyber Ogre for a short while. I've only barely familiarized myself with using them and can't unleash their full power yet. Otherwise, I'd really like to have another proper Duel with you, Joey!"
"Hmph, I won't lose to you, Rex! You're already my, Joey the Great's, defeated foe!" Joey paused, his tone changing as if imitating someone. "Someone who loses to me once has already lost the possibility of ever winning against me again."
"Yosh, another line I've always wanted to say!"
"That tone, I knew it was that Seto Kaiba guy," Rex said helplessly, closing his jacket. "Anyway, I've joined 'Cyber Style' now, and it seems Master Sheppard organized a trip to Egypt, perhaps to raise funds or for some other reason. He said it would allow students to get a closer feel for Duel Monsters, the passage of time, and the unchanging glory of 'Cyber Style'. Since I have some strength and am the oldest, I guess I'm the leader of the tour group."
"It's not that Sheppard said I'd get a share of the money or anything; it's mainly because I thought children are the future of the world and need to grow up."
Picking up his plate, Rex seemed not to have finished eating and was about to get more, but just then, a boy appeared behind him.
"Uh, Marufuji? Why are you—"
"Mr. Rex." The boy with teal, spiky hair, who looked about eleven or twelve, cut Rex off with a rather serious expression. "You said we would gather at the entrance this morning, so why haven't you shown up yet?"
Hearing this, Rex's expression turned flustered. "D-Darn it! Because I heard there was a buffet here, I completely forgot about the gathering!?"
(end of chapter)