In the evening, Tenjo Hikari returned to his dormitory, carefully examining his cards.
The Ancient Gear Golem and Ancient Gear Beast had completely turned into a card, transformed into a card named "Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem"!
The Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, LV 10, Earth Attribute, Machine-Type, Fusion Material includes one Ancient Gear Golem and any two Ancient Gear Monsters. It possesses the universal Ancient Gear ability of preventing opponents from activating Magic and Trap Cards during attacks and inherits the ability of piercing damage from the Ancient Gear Golem when attacking defensive monsters.
Moreover, it also has the ability, upon being destroyed, to Special Summon one "Ancient Gear Golem" from the Graveyard, ignoring its conditions.
As Professor Cronos' ace card in the original story, the rarity of this card naturally far exceeds that of the Ancient Gear Golem—after all, in the world of Yu Gi Oh, many people possess three Golems, while the Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem seems to have only been used by Professor Cronos.
Its inherent strength is, of course, above the Gear Golem. No matter how you see it, playing an Ancient Gear Deck is all about summoning an Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, a Super Giant, or a Chaos Giant, right?
Yes, the Gear Golem is merely a material...
But the problem is—
"Where's my Golem?!"
Tenjo Hikari scratched his head with a bit of frustration.
Owning a higher-level, rarer card is definitely a guaranteed profitable deal in this world, and any duelist would probably not refuse such a trade.
Any student from the Fusion Department would surely agree happily to such a transaction.
But for Tenjo Hikari, it was absolutely unacceptable—
The Gear Golem, which was so hard to obtain, was planned to be used later in combination with the current fusions to develop other strategies!
And it got fused?!
Without an Ancient Gear Golem in the Deck, how could I fuse the Ultimate Giant?!
Wait—
He suddenly realized another issue, hurriedly took out his Deck, and began to look through it card by card. After checking the entire Deck, his facial expression became quite a spectacle.
Damn.
"I wondered why I haven't drawn any monsters for days, and today suddenly drew an Ancient Gear Beast... So..."
To increase the error-tolerance rate of the Deck, Tenjo Hikari had put quite a few usable Monster Cards into the Deck, along with some Hero Monsters to aid in fusion.
But after carefully going through the Deck, he discovered there were no more monsters left!
They all turned into fusions!
"I wondered why I suddenly happened to draw several Fusion Cards related to Salamandra today, turns out..."
The low-level monsters were fused into fusions by Super Polymerization! That's why the number of Salamandra series cards increased, raising their draw rate!
Tenjo Hikari realized this postshock.
It was an unavoidable affair. How was he supposed to know that his Deck would change as cards were drawn?!
"I was wondering why, despite dueling every day and feeling a rush of power, only one Flame Swordsman could appear. Turns out this was the issue!" Tenjo Hikari scratched his head again.
It seemed that Super Polymerization did not discern between "useful" and "needed to be retained" cards and would slowly fuse the cards from his Deck into fusions.
"No, it's not." Tenjo Hikari pulled out Cannon Soldier and Giga-Tech Wolf again. "By this logic, Fusion Material shouldn't be fused away? The Golem and Beast fused only because there's no Ultimate Giant in the Extra Deck, so they became the base?"
This way, that's still acceptable.
He put his smile back on.
Understanding the card-printing logic of Super Polymerization, he could now assemble his Deck more conveniently and easily in the future, perhaps forming a smooth and powerful Deck one day, without situations like now, where a few hands can't be played at the start.
"It's a pity that Ryu was taken away, and there may not be a chance to play cards with him again, a lost source for farming energy."
"Ah, what regret."
Yet, seeing many students from the Blue Academy in the Fusion Department still dissatisfied with him, there's always someone to farm from.
While thinking about the Fusion Department matters.
At the top floor of the Fusion Department, in the Dimension Research Room, a flash of intense purple light occurred, where three students and two teachers, all in purple uniforms, quietly stood in front of a massive machine.
There was a giant purple ring, continuously rotating on the machine, with the center of the ring resembling the chaos of swirling black and white.
A moment later, a man with a massive cloak emerged from it.
"Professor!" Everyone began to welcome him.
A solemn bald man, his uniform more exquisite than others, with a wide collar and heavy golden epaulets and chest badges, looking more like a "soldier" than a teacher!
He is the leader of the "Fusion Absolute Supremacy" faction at Duel Academy, the professor of Duel Academy—Akaba Leo!
"Professor Akaba, how was the joint exploration with the Kaiba Company?" a curious teacher from the Fusion Department asked.
Akaba Leo shook his head: "Unfortunately, it wasn't the Netherworld that President Kaiba was looking for. However, luckily, it was a fragment world with Spirits."
Dimension exploration, led by the Kaiba Company, is a major operation involving worldwide participation. It's said that President Kaiba has been searching for a Nameless Pharaoh to complete a duel from many years ago. For this, he devoted all his energy to exploring Parallel Worlds and the Cosmos, even neglecting to update his Deck for years.
Kaiba Seto, although extraordinarily talented, and undoubtedly a once-in-a-million prodigy, whether it be in mechanics or Parallel Worlds, had to figure out his way alone in the infinite Dimensions. Hence, looking for the only "Netherworld" was rather difficult, which prompted him to establish Dimension Gates in many departments of his company and partners to search other Dimensions together.
Initially, all branches of the Duel Academy had their respective Dimension Gates and would periodically have students interact with the Spirits or Duelists in shattered, minor Dimensions.
However, this was limited to those shattered mini-Dimensions. Larger Dimensions, or those with human existence, were not for the Duel Academy to interact with unilaterally.
This is exactly why the "Fusion Department" gradually emerged as a "rising force" at Duel Academy—because Akaba Leo's research skills modified the Dimension Gates, earning Kaiba Seto's admiration and granting a Dimension Gate exclusively for his department!
That is why there are so many Ancient Gear Monster Cards in the Fusion Department, as they all came from an old mechanical world!
"Has anything happened in the Fusion Department recently?"
"Yes, Professor!" a teacher enthusiastically approached. "Recently, a particularly great talent appeared, truly gifted. His entire Deck is Fusion!"
What, for the Fusion Department, is the greatest "loyalty"?
Of course, the answer is a "Fusion" Deck!
"An entire Fusion Deck?" Even Akaba Leo was taken aback upon hearing it.
What kind of monstrosity is this? Can such a Deck even win?
The three student representatives had varying expressions; Red Academy showed a schadenfreude smile, Yellow Academy appeared proud, while the Blue Academy representative looked gloomy.
The two teachers eagerly recounted the whole process to Akaba Leo, from the entrance test to today's duel with Ryu, praising Tenjo Hikari for his understanding of Fusion and resonance with Monster Cards.
They are ordinary teachers of the academy with no particular affiliations. Having an outstanding student in their department brings them favor in teachers' evaluations in the future, making them naturally pleased.
"If you've discovered a new Dimension, perhaps call him..."
"No—"
"Eh?" Everyone was taken aback by Akaba Leo's response, waiting for his next words.
"Summon Ryu."
"Professor, Professor Cronos has already disciplined him, there's no need for further punishment..." The Blue Academy representative quickly interjected.
Akaba Leo glanced at him, shook his head, and said: "I meant, have him go to this new fragment Dimension."
What!?
Others, including the Blue Academy representative, were utterly bewildered.
What does this mean?!
Akaba Leo did not provide any explanation to anyone, swiftly turned around with a flick of his cloak, and left.
It's a straightforward logic.
The Fusion Department, as the "Purple" department, even possessing its Dimension Gate, holds the potential to entirely separate from the three academies. So why, for a long time, still harbor discrimination by color?
Why did Akaba Leo, as the department head, never address this issue?
Because it was... tacitly approved!