Thanks to the president's generosity, getting the legendary Buster Blader deck was a complete surprise.
But after looking at the current cards, Kira soon realized the deck wasn't complete.
Buster Blader was also one of Yugi Muto's trump cards back in the day, especially during Battle City, when he first faced the Egyptian Gods and beat Slifer the Sky Dragon. His main card then was the original Buster Blader, and in the semifinals against Kaiba, it was the Buster Blader + Dark Magician fusion that sealed victory.
Of course, the meta back then wasn't as strict—for example, when facing Slifer:
Yugi: Because you have Slifer on the field, Buster Blader's ATK increases by 500!
Marik: Wait, Slifer is a Divine Beast, not a Dragon. Buster Blader can't gain ATK.
Yugi: What's Slifer's name?
Marik: Slifer the… Sky Dragon?
Yugi: So you admit Slifer's a dragon—Buster Blader's ATK goes up!
Marik:
So, back then, Buster Blader bizarrely gained ATK from Slifer, even though it technically shouldn't have. But those details aren't important.
If the Pharaoh says you're a dragon, are you going to argue?
Bluffing like that is a long tradition in Yu-Gi-Oh! Not just in the anime—even in real life.
Newer players may not know but in early Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships, there was also room for bluffing. In those days, if both players agreed, judges would often ignore incorrect rulings or bluffs.
There were even cases where a player, with enough silver tongue, convinced their opponent that a non-existent OTK combo worked, and if both agreed, the match result stood.
So when the Pharaoh won duels by talking his way into things, it was actually somewhat justified.
As a main card, Buster Blader kept getting support. Gozaburo did deep research to target Kaiba, and used brand new cards not yet known to the public in this duel.
But Kira knew that even so, the deck was incomplete.
He wasn't surprised, though. The complete Buster Blader deck is a Synchro deck, but that's impossible in this era.
Same with Kaiba's Blue-Eyes deck. Without Synchros, it's incomplete. But that's a limitation of the era, and not likely to change soon.
Synchro Summoning belongs to 5D's era. In the anime, it wasn't just a new summoning method—it marked a whole new era, a leap to a new epoch.
The key was the discovery of a new element called "Planetary Particle," which also enabled the development of perpetual motion machines.
Without Planetary Particle, there can't be Synchros. You can't just print cards or research decks to break through—you need a physics breakthrough to usher in the new era of cards.
…
"By the way, Kira, you might be interested in this."
Back at KaibaCorp, while picking from the new card inventory, Mokuba suddenly appeared.
Kira took the card Mokuba handed over, and his eyes lit up.
Zaborg the Thunder Monarch.
One of the Monarchs, representing Light. Level 5, 2400 ATK, destroys a card on the field when tribute summoned.
Simple and effective.
"I heard you've been collecting Monarchs," Mokuba smiled. "It's a rare archetype. So I had someone keep an eye out, and if any Monarchs showed up in the new inventory, you'd get one set aside."
Kira patted Mokuba's shoulder.
No need for words. Bro for life.
Way more reliable than your brother.
"Honestly, I didn't expect after all these years to hear Gozaburo's name again." As they left the warehouse and the metal doors closed behind them, Mokuba sighed.
"This is the third time I thought we were finally rid of that man… but who knows if it's the last."
"Yeah, who knows," Kira shrugged. "But I think I know what the president would say."
"Oh?" Mokuba glanced over.
Kira folded his arms and imitated Kaiba's voice.
"Let him come—he's just a stray dog. No matter how many times, I'll send him packing!"
Mokuba couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"You really get my brother," Mokuba said. "But be careful, don't let him catch you. Secretly, he actually holds grudges."
Kira nodded: "I know."
After all, Joey has been called a third-rate duelist by Kaiba for his whole life, rated only 2 stars, and never even got a free Duel Disk during Battle City.
No one understands Kaiba's grudges like Joey does.
"What about the other AIs?" Kira asked casually.
"For now, they've all been forcibly shut down and put in sleep mode, but they'll probably decide what to do soon."
Mokuba stopped, looking a bit lost.
"If you ask my brother, he'd probably want to destroy them all. But…"
He paused, looking hesitant.
Kira glanced at him.
"You disagree?"
"Hmm…" Mokuba mused. "After everything that's happened, especially with Noah, I wonder if they're just Gozaburo's victims too? Maybe—"
"Who can say?" Kira shrugged.
He remembered Delta, whose biggest dream was to sell balloons at Kaiba Land, yet still chose to sacrifice himself for his father, Gozaburo.
But in the end, to Gozaburo, Delta was just a spare part with slightly better specs.
"One thing is certain: they're our enemies, and that's enough," Kira said. "I think the president understands that, too."
Yes, no one understands better than Seto Kaiba.
The path he chose was always one you had to walk over corpses, bathed in blood. By choosing this path, you're destined to trample your enemies beneath your feet—there's no other way.
"Yeah, I think you're right," Mokuba nodded.
"Well, now that you've wrapped this up, I should get going," Kira waved. "I've still got a match waiting. Professor Crowler has been messaging to hurry me up—if I don't get back, he'll probably come find me himself."