Chapter 104: New Card Duel

Soon, the day of the new card pack release arrived.

Amid a buzzing hum, five or six planes flew from overseas toward the island.

A large crowd of students gathered outside the convenience store, eagerly watching the planes arrive and cheering loudly.

The new series, even entirely new monster categories, stirred the students' hearts—even girls like Asuka came over, eager to buy new cards. Not just to strengthen their decks, but in case they drew a powerful rare Tuner monster, they might trade it with others—a prospect highly tempting to Duel Academy students.

On the other side, the representatives from the Red, Yellow, and Blue Colleges of the Fusion Department finally squeezed to the front of the convenience store.

To be honest, they didn't want to do this.

Though they had always obeyed Akuma Ryouou's orders, lately, they'd begun to doubt their own three-year experiences.

The Blue College rep was fine—he'd actually enjoyed his time in the Fusion Department, as following Akuma Ryouou had made those three years smooth sailing. But the Red and Yellow College reps were slowly growing suspicious.

Were their actions truly right?

They'd spent three years under oppression and threats, acting as "accomplices." Now, they had no right to withdraw. Faced with Akuma Ryouou's absurd orders, they could only grit their teeth and obey.

Soon, the card packs arrived at the school under the escort of black-clad men. Under the students' gazes, as if gazing upon rare treasures, the black-clad men carefully handed the boxes to Aunt Duo.

She ordered her staff to carry the boxes inside, then hung promotional banners outside the building.

"Tuner Warrior, Level 3, yet has 1600 Attack Power!!"

"Wow, that Prayer Master of the Misty Valley is so beautiful… No no no, wrong—I can't betray the Dark Magician Girl!"

"What? Psychic-type? This is a brand-new race, right!"

A group of students, seeing the new card artwork, excitedly chattered among themselves.

Though there was no Synchro.

But these "Tuner Monsters" and related monsters were vastly superior to the lower-tier monsters of this world from a temporal standpoint. While many still used Normal Monsters with only 1000 or 1200 Attack, these monsters started at 1500 Attack and often carried effects—making them extremely worth drawing for ordinary students.

Even without Synchro, this was still a major advantage for them!

Naturally, student enthusiasm for drawing card packs rose even higher.

At that moment, Tierra suddenly appeared beside Tenjo Hikari, pointing at an image: "Tenjo Hikari, get that card for me."

Tenjo Hikari scanned the crowd, found the card Tierra pointed to, and squinted as he recalled.

It was Next-Gen Controller, Level 3, Dark Attribute, Machine-Type Normal Tuner Monster. Its Attack was 1400.

"Next-Gen?"

Tenjo Hikari remembered.

In the card's story lore, Next-Gen was created after Tierra was defeated by Sophia, designed to improve the environment—its purpose: to transform 【Sophia】's world into 【Tierra】's world.

But due to various reasons—alien invasions, ancient demon gods awakening—Next-Gen was tragically caught up and destroyed.

Even so, the DT world had been significantly altered by Next-Gen.

In short, this card was indeed connected to Tierra.

"With this card, you can use it as material for other monsters' base," Tierra said casually. "Of course, if you get extras, you can leave them for me—I quite like this little robot."

As a robot that had rendered her "great service," she was quite satisfied with Next-Gen Controller.

If she ever resurrected again, when rewarding merit, granting Tenjo Hikari a kingship and erecting a memorial tablet for Next-Gen Controller wouldn't be a problem.

Tenjo Hikari was also waiting to buy the new card pack.

He no longer lacked money; drawing more cards he didn't have, gathering more materials for Super Fusion, was fine. Even if he didn't draw Next-Gen Controller, if someone else did, he could negotiate a trade—either way, he wouldn't lose much.

After all, though it was the newest Tuner Monster and had 1400 Attack, it wasn't particularly rare in the new pack.

Tenjo Hikari waited for the store to open, preparing to enter, when suddenly a fierce argument erupted in the front row.

Faintly, he heard female screams and clattering sounds.

"What are you doing!"

Judai, sensing trouble, instantly used his superhuman physique to push through and saw the scene inside.

Several students had grabbed two people in purple clothes, one even punching them.

Judai didn't care what had happened—he rushed forward, pulled the two apart, preventing escalation.

Tenjo Hikari also squeezed in, curiously looking over.

The victims were Fusion Department students—he knew them: third-year college reps, Red College's Kuma Uma, Yellow College's Marufuji Hayato, and Blue College's Yamaguchi Kouta. Tenjo Hikari had once chatted with Marufuji Hayato in the Fusion Department; they got along well, but Marufuji refused to leave the Fusion Department with him.

In short.

They were Chouki.

"What happened?" Tenjo Hikari asked the two students who were hitting, judging by their appearance, they were his own grade.

What could possibly cause a junior student on this island, where "senior-junior" hierarchy was sacred, to resort to punching?

"This guy just said he was going to buy every single new card pack!" the classmate shouted, furious. "Isn't that bullying?!"

"What?!"

"It's Fusion Department students!"

"Pfft, only those bastards would do something like this!"

"Seriously, they call themselves Duelists?"

"How did Professor Akuma Ryouou teach his students?!" Even some teachers who wanted to buy new cards couldn't stand it.

Several student reps lowered their heads, clearly feeling their actions were inappropriate.

Tenjo Hikari rubbed his temples.

Abstract.

Actually, buying card packs early in this world wasn't a big deal—Professor Kuronos had once secretly bought all the VWXYZ cards, but even he didn't buy every single one—only the rare ones.

Buying every card pack? Not only is the financial capability questionable, it's just unethical!

Moreover, Tenjo Hikari knew these three well—they definitely didn't have enough money to buy every single pack.

Clearly, they were acting on Akuma Ryouou's orders.

But…

Tenjo Hikari grew confused again.

What use would he have for these cards? Could he be planning Synchro Summoning?

No—

He remembered.

Of course—it was the Three Sacred Beasts!

Tenjo Hikari pieced it together.

These brand-new monsters would make excellent "life force" for the Three Sacred Beasts' cards.

"Senpai, why are you doing this?" Tenjo Hikari couldn't help asking.

"Professor Akuma Ryouou said these monsters are enemies!" Marufuji lowered his head. "Only Fusion Summon should exist in this world, because Fusion is the noblest summoning method!"

Many students around him wore disgusted expressions.

Even Judai frowned slightly.

Saying the same thing… like that…

"Ridiculous!" Tenjo Hikari immediately retorted. "It's precisely because other summoning methods exist—methods different from Fusion, with their own unique qualities—that Fusion's nobility stands out!"

"Senpai, your thinking needs correction!"

Marufuji looked intimidated, lowering his head but still stubbornly saying: "But we already paid!"

That was…

Tenjo Hikari scratched his head.

"No," said the black-clad men, who had been watching silently until now. "You haven't."

The students turned to them.

Usually, these black-clad men left after delivering the cards. This was the first time they'd stayed.

In the crowd, Zhang Mu waved at Tenjo Hikari. Tenjo Hikari paused, then understood.

So… so that's it—they were the people Kaiba Ryo had specifically sent to the island to 【investigate】!?

Amazing, Lightning!

The leader of the black-clad men adjusted his glasses and said: "The CEO anticipated that the release of new card packs and new monster types would cause a frenzy, so he ordered us to prepare Kaiba Corp's special rules for card pack disputes!"

As he spoke, he even unfurled a long notice for everyone to see.

"According to the rules, each student may purchase a maximum of five card packs. If students quarrel over purchasing identical packs, they may duel—"

As he spoke, another black-clad man revealed a box of cards: "Students who attempt to buy all card packs will lose their purchasing rights upon defeat; conversely, the winner will receive an exclusive rare card!"

Tenjo Hikari glanced at it, then smiled at the three college reps.

The Blue College rep immediately stood up, straightened his clothes, and declared: "We have over a hundred students in the Fusion Department. I'm buying for them all—I'll take every pack!"

"What a joke! You'd dare say that?!" Tenjo Hikari shot back. "Then I'll reserve them all for the ordinary students of the entire school!"

"Tenjo Hikari, don't force us!"

"Senpai, it's you who's forcing me!"

Tenjo Hikari shook his head, raised his left hand, and sharply flicked it—his Duel Disk automatically unfolded. "Forget it. I'm too lazy to reason with you—you're not even worthy to listen!"

"Marufuji Senpai, if you're still stubbornly clinging to this, then let's duel!"

"After all, from your tone, it sounds like you want to buy every card—so you'll have to win these 【exclusive rare cards】 through a duel, won't you?"

Exactly!

The onlooker students nodded in agreement.

They knew the Fusion Department well.

The "superiors'" orders must be fulfilled. These cards would have to be fought over—so they'd have to face Tenjo Hikari head-on.

Some students couldn't help laughing: "Awesome! We get to watch A Guang crush the Fusion Department again."

Soon, with the shop as the center, all students cleared a vast open space for them.

The representative from Blue Academy's face turned crimson with rage; he stepped forward and snarled, "Don't get too cocky, Tiancheng Guang! The professor gave us brand-new power! Even you shouldn't think you can beat me!"

His tone was boastful, but his words were cowardly.

"Words are useless!"

"Duel!"

Second update of the day. Today's update took time because I was studying the Master Duel's new cards—I might write about the Infernal Machine later, so I wanted to learn first.

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(End of Chapter)