Chapter 495: A Scheme?

As Tiancheng Guang drove away from the seaside and took a moment to examine the power bestowed upon him by the Earthbound Geoglyph Squid, a brief commotion broke out among the security officers guarding the shore.

A man with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in luxurious formal attire, arrived at the shore in a high-end sports car from the Upper City.

His appearance triggered gasps of surprise from the officers, as they all recognized him: a noble duelist who frequently appeared in magazines and on billboards in the city center.

Upon arriving, the noble first reprimanded the security officers, led by Ushio, for their incompetence.

Why had they failed to arrest the interdimensional traveler, Tiancheng Guang, until now?

If they worked harder every day, spent two more hours on the pursuit, and utilized their spare time for work, wouldn't they have succeeded long ago?

Just like him back in the day—he had toiled in the mines twenty-four hours a day without rest, which was how he climbed to his current position.

Such words might fool those who knew nothing, but they were laughable.

Although Ushio kept his head bowed and responded accordingly, he felt nothing but disdain, muttering to himself.

Who didn't know that your family had inherited three mines? You "toiling in the mines"? You were probably vacationing at a man-made park near the mines!

However, despite knowing the noble was full of hot air, he kept his head down and complied for the sake of his job.

"Sigh, a bunch of people with no ambition." The noble shook his head and turned to look at the beach.

By this time, Tiancheng Guang had already returned to the sand.

Catching a glimpse of the officers gathered on the driveway and the noble approaching, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"You must be the traveler from another dimension, Tiancheng Guang," the noble said with a grin. "I am Count Fengge of the city's Great Luoshan."

"Tiancheng Guang."

The noble raised his right hand. "You've been a wanted man in this dimension; it must be quite a nuisance, right? Hehehe, if you can defeat me in a duel, I can take it upon myself to cancel your warrant."

"Besides, as an emissary of the gods, you must be eager to duel other emissaries to gain more power, aren't you?"

Tiancheng Guang raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." Tiancheng Guang prepared to push his D-Wheel onto the track.

"No, that won't be necessary." Fengge shook his head. "I don't participate in those duels invented by commoners."

What?

Tiancheng Guang couldn't help but knit his brows together.

Although he knew the nobles of this world were absurd, being this absurd was truly going too far.

Earthbound God duels required a Turbo Duel to draw the "Geoglyph," so if he didn't even participate in Turbo Duels, how would the Geoglyph be drawn?

Moreover, Turbo Duels were born in this dimension in the pursuit of freedom and were linked to the very roots of "Synchro" dueling. To refuse to participate in one...

"Ha, how about that? A generous concession, isn't it? After all, if it were a Turbo Duel, my vehicle is so fast you'd never catch up. You'd lose before you even finished the run."

He hadn't even considered the possibility that the duel might end quickly.

"Heh... I suppose that's fine." Tiancheng Guang thought about it and didn't mind too much.

He only needed to obtain what he was after.

As for the thoughts of the people in this dimension, he would leave that to Yusei and the others to worry about.

Tiancheng Guang detached his Duel Disk. Once it was mounted on his arm, it flickered and automatically unfolded, revealing the grid filled with futuristic flair.

Fengge's Duel Disk, by contrast, looked quite ornate and glittered with gold.

"Duel!" x2.

As the duel began, a junior officer next to Ushio asked, "Captain, if Count Fengge loses, are we really going to let that Tiancheng Guang go?"

He was worried about the reprimand from his superiors.

Ushio snorted coldly.

If it were before, he would have said that with a noble involved, there would naturally be no problem.

But now, he couldn't say such things.

Based on his experience, he dared to bet that if Fengge lost to Tiancheng Guang and let him leave freely, their squad would be made the scapegoats. Fengge would face no consequences, while they would be the ones to suffer—salary deductions would be light; demotion or even dismissal was more likely.

"As the host, allow me to take the first turn, shall I?" Fengge said with a chuckle.

Tiancheng Guang glanced at him and waved his hand, signaling for the opponent to do as he pleased.

Fengge, LP: 4000.

Tiancheng Guang, LP: 4000.

"Hahaha, you've fallen for it, Tiancheng Guang!"

Just then, a voice rang out from higher up the shore.

A man in a purple military uniform burst into wild laughter and leaped down from the sky, landing beside Fengge.

Fusion Army?

Tiancheng Guang frowned instantly.

The Fusion Army was actually here?

Tiancheng Guang was a bit surprised, but not shocked.

After all, in the original work, the Fusion Army collaborated with the nobles of the Synchro Dimension to develop various Synchro-Fusion techniques; even the "Imperial Order" cards he was currently manufacturing were mass-produced by Fusion Army technology.

Tiancheng Guang was only surprised that they had appeared so early.

"Who is he?" "I don't know." "Looks like a soldier?" The security officers began to chatter in confusion.

"Hehehe, my apologies, Tiancheng Guang, this is military strategy." Fengge looked quite smug. "A duel isn't just about what happens on the field; off-field matters are just as important.

I already obtained information about you through this gentleman, Lilos."

"Tiancheng Guang, didn't expect this, did you? While you were adventuring in this dimension, we of the Fusion Army have already collaborated with the nobles here—in a foreign land, even Cronus couldn't save you!

Prepare yourself for death!

This time, you are absolutely finished, because the Professor himself has arrived in this dimension. You will never be able to leave—"

Tiancheng Guang, who had been indifferent, opened his eyes wide upon hearing that 【Akaba Leo】 had personally arrived in this dimension. His aura shifted instantly, and he locked his gaze onto Lilos.

A purple wave of energy, as if tangible, surged from beneath the sand. Even though they were standing on higher ground, Lilos felt as if Tiancheng Guang's body had grown monstrously large, looking down upon him!

"Ha... Akaba Leo is in this dimension... Ha." He couldn't help but grin, revealing all his teeth, looking nothing like his usual self.

This change sent a primal instinct to retreat half a step through Lilos.

In that instant, he felt "terror."

No matter how famous Tiancheng Guang was within the Fusion Army, he had previously only viewed him as an opponent.

But upon witnessing Tiancheng Guang's abnormal aura firsthand, he finally understood why so many members of the Fusion Army feared Tiancheng Guang, and why so many... secretly admired him.

"Hmph, no matter what you do, you've already lost half the duel before it even began."

"Exactly." Fengge, unaware of the situation, laughed twice and drew a card from his deck.

"I already learned about the weaknesses of your deck from the gentlemen of the Fusion Army.

Ha, you've dueled in our dimension many times, yet we never managed to grasp the weakness of your deck.

Because your deck appears to be an 【All-Fusion】 deck, right?

Then, take a look at these cards given to me by the Fusion Army!"

"Discard a Fusion card from my hand to the Graveyard, and activate the Continuous Spell," Fengge said with a sinister grin, "Fusion Destruction!"

Fusion Destruction?

Tiancheng Guang frowned, recalling the card.

"Discard 1 'Fusion' card from my hand to activate. Banish up to three 'Fusion' Spell/Trap cards from your opponent's deck. For each one, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent!"

"Not only that, as long as this card is on the field, every time you activate a 'Fusion' Spell/Trap card, I can activate this card's effect. Negate that activation and destroy it, and inflict 300 points of damage to you!"

Tiancheng Guang couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"I already heard from Lord Lilos about the important components of your deck—so, I will banish your 【Substitute Fusion】, 【Fusion Recovery】, and 【Instant Fusion】!"

Tiancheng Guang's Duel Disk responded automatically. Three cards flew out from his deck, hovering before his eyes, before being shattered like waves, turning into purple dust and dissolving in front of him.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 4000 -> 3100.

"Hahaha—"

Amidst Lilos's wild laughter, Tiancheng Guang's expression grew increasingly cold.

(End of Chapter)