Chapter 174: Selection

Although the "exclusive news" came from Banzaimu himself, obtained directly from Kaiba, within just two days, virtually everyone on Earth knew about it.

After all, Kaiba Ryo is a man of decisive action—he wouldn't waste time on such matters.

And—

More importantly.

According to the latest reports, Kaiba Ryo has even invited the legendary Duel King, Motoyugi Yugi, to attend as a "guest" to the Other Dimension, representing the highest possible honor this world can offer him.

Of course, Kaiba Ryo won't tell anyone he learned Yugi desperately wanted to visit the Other Dimension.

In short, beyond the already crucial "first contact," the participation of the legendary Duel King, Motoyugi Yugi—who no longer duels—has turned this event into a wild celebration, even regarded by duelists as a second "Duel City" grand festival.

Unfortunately—

The Other Dimension has its own requirements.

Because they still distrust this world, they demand that only ordinary, young duelists be sent—preferably all students—and in return, they will send duelists of comparable level and showcase their "King" as part of this initial contact's welcoming duel.

In short, that's how it is.

And duelists all know one thing: …

Kaiba Ryo doesn't care!

As long as it's not absurd, he always accepts challenges according to their scale—so for this first contact team, multiple teams of different types of duelists will be dispatched as requested.

Among them—

In the initial duelist showcase, Tenjo Hikari was selected as the "Absolute Fusionist" and granted direct entry into the competition, bypassing the selection matches.

Other relevant duelists were scheduled for matches to be held before the first contact to determine the final participants.

Although it was vacation time, no student would pass up such an opportunity, and all were fiercely dueling within their respective "zones."

Tono City—

Ai De Phoenix held a telescope, watching the distant duel, and couldn't help but click his tongue.

In terms of age, he was unquestionably a strong contender for this duel.

But because he was rated by Pegasus as the "fourth strongest duelist in the world," and due to his identity as a "professional duelist," he was directly removed from the candidate list—similarly, duelists who had just graduated from academy, entered the professional dueling circuit, or taken other jobs were also disqualified due to their status.

Lord Lord Zhai Wang hadn't accounted for this.

Since their last separation, Lord Lord Zhai Wang had apparently engaged in fierce conflict with Chi Ma Ling Wang; he didn't know what happened, but afterward, Lord Lord Zhai Wang's precognitive ability had slightly declined, especially his sensitivity to the "most distant" future.

However—

Despite his psychic abilities being affected, Ai De Phoenix was actually quite pleased.

Because he knew his friend's precognition wasn't a blessing, but a corruption by some evil force—if he lost it, he might be safe.

But precisely because his precognition was temporarily impaired, he hadn't divined for Ai De, leaving Ai De to miss this interesting event.

Even he was deeply interested in interdimensional exchange; after all, he was a duelist.

Only ten people maximum?

Ai De watched the match, recalling the details.

According to the rules, a total of ten duelists will be sent: four as "tag duelists," and the remaining six as single duelists; among these six, one will be chosen by them to participate in a unique "special duel" exclusive to their dimension. In other words, they will send eleven duelists total.

A special duel?

How curious…

He muttered inwardly while watching the duel.

In Tono City's duel arena, there was a match he found particularly interesting and significant, because one of the duelists—

Yu Cheng Shidai…

"Spell Card: Miracle Fusion, Fusion Summon—my beloved hero—ha! This hero will send chills down your spine—Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!"

Seeing Yu Cheng Shidai summon his hero and defeat his opponent, Ai De lowered his telescope, leaned against the railing, and fell into reflection.

Hero…

He too used a Hero deck, but his heroes were nothing like these "weak" ones.

Destiny Hero, the dark heroes representing darkness, destruction, and fate—these were the final cards left by his father before his death.

Years ago, when he was still a child, someone broke into his home, murdered his father, and stole one card.

The Trump card of the Destiny Hero—still somewhere in the world—is evidence of his father's murder, so he often disguised himself as "Phoenix Hero" to hunt down those who stole or seized cards.

Yet even now, he had never found that card.

The ultimate Destiny Hero.

Precisely because of this, he deeply resented Shidai for using Elemental Heroes merely because they looked cool.

Especially when he heard Lord Lord Zhai Wang say he and Yu Cheng Shidai were "fated rivals," his resentment grew.

Why does fate mock me so cruelly?

Or perhaps—

He recalled his previous visit to the Duel Academy.

He remembered Tenjo Hikari, and that pure, joyful club.

Fusion Department?

He absentmindedly pulled out his deck—filled with Elemental Heroes, all used for disguise; his true Trump cards, he rarely used.

He applied slight pressure to the cards, then carefully checked them, confirmed they were unharmed, shook his head, and tucked the deck away.

Elemental Heroes cooperate with each other—that's what "fusion" means…

But!

My Destiny Heroes are far stronger than Elemental Heroes!

So I don't need cooperation!

Seeing the duel end, he packed up and turned to leave; his hair swung as if merging with the phantom of some spirit, countless tinkling sounds ringing like iron chains bound to his body.

Shidai grinned and uttered his classic line, "Won! What a fun duel!" securing his spot—then, just as he was about to share the good news with his friends, he suddenly felt a strange intuition and looked up toward the distance.

Though he saw no one, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him, influencing him.

"Congratulations, Shidai!" Not knowing what Shidai was thinking, Tenjo Hikari waved enthusiastically, celebrating his friend's success.

Now, counting Banzaimu—who got in through backdoor connections—the Fusion Department had three guaranteed participants!

Of course, Banzaimu was forced to attend by Kaiba Ryo as his disciple—but in return, he had to defeat a zone champion.

Banzaimu had already passed the qualifying test, so Tenjo Hikari came today to watch Shidai's duel and cheer him on in person.

"Ah—yeah! Hahaha!" Shidai snapped back to reality at Tenjo Hikari's shout, dismissed his earlier unease, and eagerly high-fived him in celebration.

"Finally, another chance to meet Master Yugi again!" he cried out excitedly.

Chapter One, today's extra update

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(End of Chapter)