At the same time, elsewhere.
Ryuzaki Kyoryu was in quite a good mood today.
After being in seclusion for several days, he found the arena today, beating several novices and regaining his confidence, as well as his dueling sensation.
Exactly, dueling should be like this.
The previous tournament was clearly not his problem.
After securing seven consecutive victories, Ryuzaki left the arena contentedly. He bought some dinner at a restaurant, and upon leaving, he unexpectedly encountered a fan.
"Ah! It's Ryuzaki Kyoryu!"
A young boy spotted him from afar, his eyes shining brightly, and quickly sprinted over.
"I'm a fan of yours, can you give me your autograph?"
Ryuzaki was instantly delighted. It felt like ages since someone asked him for an autograph, making him feel as if he was outdated... Though it was also because he hadn't participated in competitions or appeared in public for years.
"Lucky you, kiddo. I'm in a good mood today."
Ryuzaki cheerfully accepted the autograph board handed by the boy and signed his flamboyant signature.
"Thanks!" The boy took back the autograph board, happily turned around, and was about to leave.
"Hey, wait, don't be in such a rush."
Ryuzaki grabbed him by the back collar and pulled him back.
"You took my autograph and just walk away like that?"
The boy was stunned: "Eh? Then..."
Ryuzaki stretched out his hand and shook it.
"Money, give me money. My autograph isn't cheap. If you don't have money, use cards to pay."
"Huh?" The boy was dumbfounded, "Do I have to pay?"
"What?" Ryuzaki feigned anger, "I'm Ryuzaki Kyoryu, do you think my autograph is worthless?"
"No... I dare not..."
"..."
Thus, a few minutes later, as Ryuzaki walked down the street, he had a few new cards and a wallet in his hands.
"Tsk, pauper, nothing valuable..." He clicked his tongue.
Actually, he wasn't short of cards or money; he simply enjoyed doing this.
At that moment, he couldn't help but think of his old buddy Butterfly. Once upon a time, they were inseparable pals, even doing things like forced signature extortion together...
...Of course, later being caught and beaten half to death was something they also faced together.
He wondered where his good buddy was now and what he was up to...
Coming back to his senses, he suddenly realized the atmosphere was off.
It was broad daylight, yet for some reason, there was not a soul on the street...
No, it seemed that the sky had become overcast unknowingly, and the heavy air was suffocating.
"Finally found you, Ryuzaki Kyoryu."
A slightly rough voice emanated from the alley beside him. A man in a suit walked out slowly, his eyes glowing green, wearing a uniquely styled Duel Disc on his hand.
Ryuzaki: "Who are you?"
"I'm Fujimoto, the sworn brother of Mr. Onizuka, who you killed."
Ryuzaki: "?"
Who is that? Should I know him?
Ryuzaki looked perplexed, but Fujimoto gave no chance, directly activating the Duel Disc.
"Playing dumb won't work! Verbal exchange is futile, Dark Duel, begin!
Today, I'll use your soul to pay homage to the deceased Onizuka!"
Ryuzaki: "???"
So, who exactly are you talking about? Have I met him?
...
...
Kaiba Park, dueling arena.
As the Duel AI's LP reached zero, the system lock was indeed lifted. The armor covering the windows around clattered open, the rolling shutters rose, and sunlight re-entered the arena.
Yet the projected figure on the stage remained in a distorted state, the image flickering continuously, the mouth repeating: "Figh... zzz... you... zzz..."
"Hey, is there something wrong with this AI?"
"Probably broken?"
"Yeah, seems like it's completely broken, poor thing..."
The crowd whispered among themselves.
However, soon nobody paid it any attention because the focus shifted to Yugen, who luxuriously won the duel and lifted the system lock.
At least in the eyes of the audience below the stage, this boy surnamed 'Yu' had reached god-level status.
The AI equipped with Seto Kaiba's Card Deck data, and at least from their perspective, whether it was strategy or tactics, it even emulated those sometimes inexplicable narcissistic lines exquisitely.
During the AI duel, it showcased the powerful dominance of Blue-Eyes, yet this person easily countered it. The most exciting part was his eventual demise under his own "True Ultimate Blue-Eyes Dragon's" breath...
The dojo apprentices, led by senior Sato Koji, were already incredibly impressed during the duel. Throughout, they felt gusts of eerie wind blowing over the stage, yet strangely from the audience's view outside the arena, it felt oddly more entertaining the more they watched.
As fellow martial artists, they naturally took pride, later making it easier to brag to others, saying "I have a buddy like that." However, mixed with admiration, their hearts also felt complicated.
Because even the legendary leader using the strength-oriented deck at the pinnacle of the Dueling Realm lost to a junior from the Underworld, what would the future of the Dueling Realm become?
Thinking of this, it was inevitable to feel that with Yugen's rise as a new star, the entire card world seemed to be shrouded gradually in a layer of pitch-black ominous clouds, so dark it was worrying...
Kaiba Park staff had long arrived on the scene, apologizing and compensating affected visitors while shutting down the system for inspection.
Soon, people from the company also came. Keihei, Seto Kaiba's younger brother, personally led a team to inspect the situation on-site.
"Fujiki... Yugen, right? You're the one who timely stopped that duel AI?"
Keihei shook hands with Yugen.
"Thanks to your intervention, I express gratitude on behalf of the Kaiba Group."
Yugen waved his hand generously: "No big deal, I just did what every duelist should do. Cash reward or rare cards are unnecessary, really no need to be polite..."
Keihei blinked twice blankly, then snorted and laughed.
"You really are an interesting person. Well, I was planning to return to a local branch of Kaiba Company, there should be quite a card inventory in the warehouse there.
Care to join me for a look? We also want to ask about the details of the recent accident and duel process."
Oh~ Directly going to the Kaiba Family's warehouse?
"Oh, how can that be okay? That would be too embarrassing..."
While speaking, Yugen was already walking alongside Keihei, as though they just met yet were already fast friends.
"No worries, no worries. The losses you mitigated for our company are far more important..." Keihei said with a smile.
"..."
The apprentices watched Yugen's departing figure, momentarily speechless.
After half a minute, Sato Koji couldn't help but say: "Junior brother... Why does he seem so proficient in this..."
"Ha, you don't understand, do you? That's also a kind of talent."
Master Takeuchi watched Yugen walk away, revealing a 'promising youth' expression and nodded slightly.
"There's still a lot for you all to learn from him."
The apprentices: "..."