"WRGP?"
Kira was stunned.
Of course, he'd never forget this tournament—after all, it's the main plotline in the latter part of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS.
WRGP, or the World Racing Grand Prix, was the core story after the Dark Signer arc. Team 5DS earned their highest honor in this tournament, and every member underwent their most important growth.
Their final showdown with the Iliaster Organization's Three Pure Nobles also took place in the WRGP finals.
As the name implied, this tournament was Riding Duel-only. Unlike the Fortune Cup, which allowed non-Duel Runner users and featured traditional stand-up duels, WRGP was restricted to Riding Duels—no Duel Runner and license, no entry. It was a team event: three-on-three team battles.
The rules were also very different from all previous group and free-for-all formats. WRGP team matches were run as relay matches.
Each team fielded three members. The first round player, if defeated, was replaced by the next. Each member had an independent 4000 Life Points; the relay player inherited all cards still present on the field, but couldn't use the previous player's graveyard resources.
Since it was a relay, unless you were the last member, even if you hit zero LP you could still operate for a moment. When a player was defeated in a turn, the current turn would immediately skip to the End Phase. That meant the current player's turn ended abruptly—they couldn't attack or enter Main Phase 2, which tilted things in the replacement player's favor.
Still, Kira remembered that in the original story, WRGP was scheduled a year after the Dark Signer arc.
Between those arcs, there was an extended slice-of-life period, with Yusei and friends preparing for WRGP, plus a few unrelated episodes and some main plot investigating the Iliaster Organization's intrigues.
Kira thought for a moment and said, "WRGP, huh… I remember this event, but I could've sworn it wasn't supposed to be this soon according to the original timeline?"
"Correct, the original plan wasn't to hold it yet," Z-ONE replied, still sounding old and weary. "But circumstances have changed.
Originally, we intended to hold WRGP in order to save the future world and completely destroy New Domino's perpetual motion engine. By using the energy released by top duelists in WRGP, we could complete the 'Circuit' in the shortest possible time. Only then could we summon the arrival of 'Ark Cradle'."
This so-called "Ark Cradle," known as the "City of God" to the future group, was where their "god" (i.e., Z-ONE) resided.
But despite the mythic language, the Ark Cradle was simply New Domino City of the future—already destroyed in Z-ONE's timeline. Z-ONE wanted to summon the Ark Cradle so the destroyed future city would collide with today's New Domino, thereby wiping out the perpetual motion engine and everything present—triggering the source of the future apocalypse.
"So, you're accelerating the schedule to summon the Ark Cradle and destroy New Domino?" Kira asked.
Z-ONE fell silent, studying Kira for a while.
"You know quite a lot," Z-ONE said coolly. "Does your dimension have me? This plan?"
"I've only heard about it," Kira replied.
"In that case, in your dimension—did my plan succeed?" Z-ONE asked.
Kira shook his head, then nodded.
"Ark Cradle wasn't able to destroy New Domino. You were stopped," Kira said. "But during that battle, Yusei reached a level beyond your imagination—far beyond anything you'd foreseen.
So you—the Z-ONE I know—chose to believe in Yusei and humanity's potential again, left the future in his hands, and perished along with Ark Cradle."
"Is that so…"
Z-ONE sighed, long and deep—uncertain whether to feel gratified or regretful for the fate of his alternate self from another world.
For Yusei to surpass everything he knew, for his own long-cold hopes to reignite—wasn't that the result Z-ONE had always yearned for, despite all his years of perseverance?
But too much failure, too many fallen companions made him afraid to hope, afraid to look to that bright future. So now, he was willing to become an executioner, to sacrifice millions, just to stave off the apocalypse.
Could his current self in this timeline, in this universe, be as fortunate as his parallel counterpart?
Kira asked, "Are you planning to summon Ark Cradle early, then?"
Others might not know the WRGP's true purpose, but Kira did. The tournament wasn't just about honing Yusei and friends, but also about harnessing the duel energy released by the world's strongest duelists, to fuel the arrival of Ark Cradle.
"Exactly," Z-ONE nodded. "But now, the plan has changed. Although WRGP's purpose is still to summon Ark Cradle, its arrival isn't meant for destroying New Domino.
Ark Cradle is the ruined New Domino of the future. It's also my final stronghold—a fortress filled with the technological crystallization of everything I possess."
Z-ONE paused a moment, then continued.
"You may not know yet, but more and more 'Anomalies' have been cropping up on this timeline. Beyond the ones you've handled, even the Iliaster under our command have had to deal with several Anomalies.
The masterminds trying to invade this dimension are acting more and more frequently. If their Anomalies keep failing, they may soon send even stronger ones, or even intervene themselves."
Kira said, "So the Ark Cradle is meant as preparation for the final showdown with the opposing side?"
"Correct," Z-ONE said calmly. "Ark Cradle is my last fortress. It's equipped to handle any assault, and I myself am strongest within it.
Additionally, if the mastermind becomes aware of WRGP's true purpose, they'll likely attempt to intervene too. In that case..."
Kira understood and interjected: "That means there's a good chance their 'Anomalies' will also enter WRGP, right?"
…