197

At the climactic moment of the final attack, the broadcast abruptly cut out. Furious curses erupted from viewers everywhere. Even Duelists at the KaibaCorp base were yelling in frustration.

Right then, nobody cared who had pulled the plug or what the reason was. Everyone wanted to know one thing: who won?

Judging by the last visible moment, Seto Kaiba's three Blue-Eyes White Dragons were preparing to attack. Even if Blue Sirius reduced their Attack Points, Jack wouldn't have had enough Life Points left. But because the final scene wasn't shown, it sparked fierce debate.

"Did Jack... lose?"

"No way! It's not over. Jack would never lose!"

"But KING had no cards left to block."

"He still had his hand! Maybe a defensive Red card! He had something!"

Whether he did or not didn't matter. Hikaru had already figured out that Jack lost the moment the screen changed.

Crashing out and losing control? That was classic Jack.

And he was right. While trying to avoid attacks from the three Blue-Eyes, Jack lost control and crashed mid-race.

Despite that, he was a seasoned Turbo Duelist. The damage was minor. He got back up, righted his D-Wheel, and followed Kaiba back to base.

Then...

Kaiba casually tossed his gear to his subordinates. As Chazz stepped up to offer congratulations, the base's monitors finally flickered back to life. Static turned into a new feed.

A refined, calm middle-aged man appeared onscreen. He began by apologizing for the incident during the final exhibition match, then explained that internal unrest had erupted within City. As head of the Security Bureau, he was forced to step in and thus lost oversight of the Duel broadcast.

However, the Turbo Duel's MC and camera crew had recorded everything, so the result would not be lost.

Once the Fortune Cup concluded and a new champion was crowned, a video of the Duel would be released.

"Always protecting the KING's reputation," someone muttered.

Wasn't this just an excuse to hide any footage that might tarnish KING's image? If a new champ emerged next time, they could release the video. If not, it stayed shelved.

"Still, to force Master to bring out Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and even force him to banish his entire field and Graveyard, Jack Atlas really was something," Chazz mused, recalling Jack's monsters.

Red Dragon Archfiend, Stardust Dragon, Blue Sirius, every one of them was top-tier.

Honestly, if he'd been in Jack's shoes, he would've felt the pressure.

That guy was strong. Really strong. KING wasn't just a title.

Hikaru, however, said nothing.

Was Jack strong?

Of course he was. In canon, he was the "undefeated while standing" Duelist. His record proved his skill.

Even so, on the other hand...

Hikaru hadn't forgotten that during the "Bingo Machine, Go!!!" moment, Kaiba had revealed Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon and Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon. They hadn't even been used. But Hikaru understood their implications.

It meant Kaiba's Deck still had a whole arsenal of advanced new cards.

The rumor that Kaiba hadn't updated his Deck due to spending all his time exploring parallel worlds? Total fiction.

If this was his outdated version, then wherever Kaiba went during his explorations, he'd obviously been hunting for Blue-Eyes cards.

Just like Jaden, the HERO fanboy.

"Tch. Looks like that guy did a lot of things back in his own world," Gloria Tyler scoffed with arms crossed, unimpressed by Goodwin's explanation.

A coup. Plain and simple.

Truthfully, ever since discovering the S-Dimension, the Polymerization Club had been trying to make contact with this world.

After all, the simplest way to invade is with collaborators.

Though this world had massive energy resources, they hadn't found efficient ways to use them. Naturally, they were interested in the dimensional gate system. Some elders refused to cooperate with the Fusion Army. But others craved power, or even immortality.

Those elders were perfect pawns for the Fusion Army.

Unfortunately...

Even without a report, Gloria could guess what Goodwin had done: used this as the perfect moment to purge them all.

Dimensional exchange brought attention from everywhere. For Goodwin, this was the perfect time to clean house with ease.

And she had to admit;

For someone who wanted to "do big things," it was the correct move.

Just like the Fusion Army's leader, Professor Leo Akaba.

Though he dreamed of expanding Fusion's banner, Seto Kaiba's presence kept him cautious. He couldn't act openly, only wait for the right chance.

If a chance like this appeared in their world, she believed Professor Akaba would've seized it too.

What she didn't realize...

Goodwin didn't waste time "purging enemies."

He erased everyone.

Good, bad, it made no difference.

Now came the era of dimensional exchange, card sharing, and more. Hikaru didn't care for politics.

On the flip side, card exchange? That got his attention.

Simple reason:

It meant he could buy cards!

Time to load up in this dimension!

KaibaCorp had already said it. This Friendship Cup was the start of contact with the S-Dimension. Throughout the fifteen days, there were negotiations with the Security Bureau during every standard Duel.

And truthfully, this was the most valuable thing for participating Duelists, getting to trade or buy cards from the Bureau.

"Funds" were provided by KaibaCorp. Based on each Duelist's performance over the fifteen days, they were awarded "points." These points could be used to "buy" cards from the Security Bureau.

That was the promised prize pool.

There were also appearance fees and travel stipends since KaibaCorp was never stingy. They made sure no student left empty-handed.

The Security Bureau offered card packs currently popular in their world. If lucky, one might even pull rare Synchro Monsters.

To students, this was incredibly tempting.

As the first Duelist to fight, Hikaru had won, performed well, and showcased a card symbolic of his world. He earned high marks. Plus, with personal recognition from Yugi Muto, he had the highest points and could "purchase" the most packs.

So, on the last day, Hikaru and his friends eagerly ran to the temporary Security Bureau shop to try their luck.

Even though Synchro was dominant in this world, there were still plenty of Fusion cards and Fusion Monsters. After all, the Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon Skull Knight used earlier was a Fusion card.

And there, Hikaru spotted a familiar figure.

Well, maybe not "unexpected."

A group of students whispered while glancing at a muscular man casually examining card packs, smiling as he picked some up, studied their packaging and artwork, then either bought them or kept mulling.

Yugi Muto.

His reason for coming to this world was obvious.

To see the cards of this dimension and study its games.

When Hikaru and Jaden Yuki burst into the shop, he looked up at the noise. Seeing the Duel Academy students, he smiled and waved.

"Perfect timing. I found something really interesting," he said with a smile, raising a pack slightly in his hand. "Come check it out with me."

...

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