Chapter 183: Mid-Match

The duels of the first day ended just like that.

The planned total duration of the Friendship Cup was half a month.

Since the opening ceremony already featured two duels in a single day, if they continued dueling every day, it would actually be finished in just a few days; but after all, this was a duel meant to highlight "friendship," so aside from the dueling itself, exchanges and activities between the worlds naturally took place as well.

Therefore, interspersed with the duels, the exchange of information between the worlds was also occurring.

After the first day's duels, the two worlds had roughly understood each other's "dueling," but since it was only two duels, it couldn't be considered much understanding; next, the further contact between the Security Bureau and Kaiba Corporation was the real focus.

Honestly, for Seto Kaiba, this was putting the cart before the horse, so he lacked interest.

However, as the helmsman of Kaiba Corporation, he still had to take responsibility and do his best in these areas.

After the duels ended, various cameras began to withdraw, yet near the activity zone, the security police not only did not decrease in number but actually increased.

The Security Bureau had allocated a plot of land to Kaiba Corporation; within this area, Kaiba Corporation could do whatever they wanted, and as long as they didn't build any weapons threatening the City, the Bureau would turn a blind eye.

Naturally, Kaiba Corporation wouldn't stand on ceremony with them; they first demolished all the dilapidated buildings nearby in one go, then began rapidly constructing new structures to serve as temporary housing for the contestants.

During this free time, Judai and Johan, who felt an instant kinship, went straight to find a table and started playing cards; Manjoume gathered beside them, offering pointers, while Asuka, somewhat curious, went with Tenjou Hikari to the City's contestant area.

In the Satellite Zone's contestant area, one could see Yusei and Yugo among others; counting the three of them, only seven contestants were visible in total, with the rest seemingly not having arrived directly, likely the "Upper District Duelists" previously arranged by the City's upper class.

The Security Bureau seemed not to mind at all that the lower-class people of the Satellite Zone were interacting with otherworldly beings during this free time, nor did they worry that the Satellite residents would cause any trouble at this moment.

It seemed that to them, the people of the Satellite Zone were absolutely incapable of accomplishing anything major, and as for contacting otherworldly beings to rebel against the City, that was even more impossible.

The reason wasn't that they were too arrogant, but that it was simply impossible.

Otherworldly beings, whether duelists or Kaiba Corporation, ultimately could not stay in this world for long; if inter-dimensional cooperation were to occur, aside from "invasion," trading with a stable regime was naturally the wiser and more reasonable choice.

A group of penniless rats from the lower district should just go back to wherever they came from; even if they contacted otherworldly beings and obtained something from them, it wouldn't affect the overall situation.

For this reason, the contestants could chat with Tenjou Hikari and the others during their free time, or even exchange ideas; Asuka, having seen Rin and feeling curious, approached together with Tenjou Hikari.

Unlike Tenjou Hikari, who simply wanted to chat with former favorite characters like Yusei and Yugo, Asuka, as the representative of the academy's girls' dormitory, usually took care of Serena, who lacked common sense, whenever she was outside the Fusion Department; thus, her relationship with Serena was actually quite good, so upon seeing Rin, a person from a parallel world who looked exactly like Serena, she generated many strange associations.

For instance, so there really are identical people between parallel worlds; could there be a version of herself in this world, and where would she be? Come to think of it, since her own world had a duelist like Classmate Tenjou who pursued ultimate fusion, could this world have a duelist pursuing ultimate Synchro?

And so on; because of her excellent appearance, amiable demeanor, the fact that they were both girls, and that she even took out a photo of Serena, she quickly gained the trust of Rin, who was very wary of outsiders, and before long was being called "Big Sister," looking quite happy about it.

Similarly, because Tenjou Hikari was the master of "her counterpart from another world," Rin's attitude toward Tenjou Hikari was also very respectful.

Of course, more importantly, aside from his strong pursuit of Fusion, Tenjou Hikari was normal in every other aspect, even appearing excessively "upright," and since he had even cheered for Yugo during the duel, she accepted the situation very quickly.

That night, Tenjou Hikari stayed in the temporary dormitory prepared by Kaiba Corporation; besides checking his deck, he opened the "Book of Emerald" to contact Bai Jing and the others, asking about the situation in the workshop.

Tenjou Hikari's contact with Yugo and the others was, of course, not merely to get acquainted or meet someone like Brother Crab; rather, he wanted to familiarize himself with them first, so that he could find an opportunity later to sign a contract with them in the book or something similar.

Although he didn't know if Akaba Reiji of their world would, like in the original story world, want to use the four-colored Yuzu to synthesize his original daughter, since they had encountered them, it was better to make preparations just in case.

The third day.

As always, a helicopter, an enthusiastic MC, and a group of indifferent security police sped to the vicinity.

The people from the Upper District re-prepared the machines and then re-loaded them.

Today, Seto Kaiba did not attend; perhaps he himself had lost interest in such matters, so he sent a subordinate to draw lots, and the duelist conducting today's duel was... Judai.

However, his opponent was not present at the scene.

"Eh? Strange, where is the person?"

"Oh no! Contestant Zhang Liao? Contestant Zhang Liao, are you there?" The MC looked left and right, shouting continuously into the microphone, "Is it an unexpected matter? Perhaps we should tell a story at this time?"

But soon, news from the television station came through his earpiece.

This duelist named Zhang Liao was not late due to other matters, but because he was not at the scene at all.

He was a "newcomer" of the Security Bureau, slightly one or two years older than Judai, and a rising star among the "security police."

As an "elite" of the Upper District, how could he possibly be "bored" enough to come to such a dirty and messy place as the Satellite Zone?

However, since he was chosen by the Senate specifically to showcase the "strength" of their world, he naturally could not be absent; upon being notified to take the field, he immediately rode his police D-Wheel to the venue.

Upon arriving at the field, he removed his helmet, lightly flicked off some dust, glanced at Judai, and said in a flippant tone, "Sorry, sorry, I'm late—though it doesn't matter, since I'll definitely win in the end anyway."

"What did you say?" His tone made Manjoume extremely displeased; he raised his fist below the stage, seething with indignation.

"Eh, so confident?" Judai said in surprise.

"It's not confidence, but rather—how could you, who struggle so hard against mere trash from the Satellite Zone, possibly win against me?" He waved his hand casually, took off his gloves, threw them onto his vehicle, and provoked them thoroughly.

Judai couldn't help but frown.

Even he, who had such a good temper, was becoming somewhat angry.

First update; I don't know if I can finish writing the duel with an extra update today, as I feel a bit fuzzy; I haven't slept all day, and my condition isn't very good.

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(End of Chapter)