Chapter 205: Lead the Way

Alpha fell to his knees, his head lolling to one side, his body crackling and popping with electric current, shattered parts scattered all around him.

"Damn thing."

"What did you say?"

Fujiki You Xuan put away his Duel Disk and stepped forward until he stood right before him.

Alpha lifted his head with difficulty and slowness. During this motion, another burst of sparks erupted from his neck, making it look as though his head could detach at any moment without surprise.

"I'm sorry, Fa-Father. I tried my best, but he was too strong..." he muttered to himself.

Fujiki You Xuan thought that, whatever else one might say about this thing, its build quality did indeed appear quite solid. Perhaps the mechanical body possessed greater impact resistance; it was remarkable that it hadn't shut down yet despite being scorched like this.

"You won this time. But don't think it's over."

Alpha spoke in broken fragments.

"You are already on our list. I ultimately seem to be merely a defective product, but Delta... he is the only perfect one among us."

"He will find you and complete the mission I failed to finish. Even you will not be... his match."

Fujiki You Xuan frowned.

This line, following the format of 'Don't get cocky too soon, I'm just the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings,' felt as though he had heard it many times in many other places...

Delta sounded like the designation of another AI.

Perhaps an AI with greater combat capabilities?

"So, regarding this 'Father' you mentioned, who exactly is your instigator?"

But Alpha no longer responded, only muttering to himself: "Father, I'm sorry. I can no longer accompany you to complete our cause. I must... depart first."

As he spoke, his voice grew fainter and fainter until his shattered eyes finally went dark.

"It's dead," Fujiki You Xuan said, standing up.

A voice rose from behind him: "There was no need to ask further anyway."

Fujiki You Xuan turned around, somewhat surprised: "President Kaiba?"

Seto Kaiba had appeared there at some unknown point, with Mokuba, dressed in a sharp suit, standing right beside him.

Judging by their posture, they had likely been there for quite some time.

Fujiki You Xuan fell into thought.

So the President was silently spying on his duels again from behind, just as he had done previously at Tenma Yako's place.

He suddenly realized that the President seemed quite fond of secretly watching him duel.

"Impressive, Fujiki You Xuan. In a single duel, you generated infinite attack points, infinite card destruction, and infinite life point reduction, evolving so many different offensive tactics based on that loop..."

Mokuba's eyes were filled entirely with admiration.

"Ahaha, it was nothing much," Fujiki You Xuan replied modestly.

After all, it was the crystallization of the predecessors' wisdom; it had to be impressive.

"Hmph."

Kaiba said nothing, but his considerate brother translated for him: "Oh, my brother means that he also thinks you are impressive and is increasingly looking forward to facing you in competition."

Fujiki You Xuan nodded: "I understand."

After a pause, he said, "These guys claim to be AIs designed based on the President. I'm wondering if they might be related to the hackers who invaded previously."

"We heard," Mokuba said. "Actually, we've made some progress in our tracking recently. As soon as we detected someone infiltrating the Duel Academy, we rushed over immediately; we guessed it was likely that group of hackers again."

"Their primary target is most probably those three cards on this island," Kaiba said casually.

Fujiki You Xuan cast an inquiring glance at Mokuba: "Those three cards?"

"Oh, students wouldn't normally know. But in your case, there's no harm in telling you," Mokuba said. "The three 'Phantasm' cards. Cards hiding tremendous power within the current Duel Monsters world, said to grant their holder eternal life."

"Although they are powerful, they have simultaneously been judged to possess evil forces and could be very dangerous. They are currently sealed within a facility somewhere on the island."

"I see."

Fujiki You Xuan, of course, had known this long ago, yet he still acted as though he were hearing this secret for the first time.

"However, why are they targeting me? As far as I can tell, I have no connection to the Phantasms."

"I don't know about that," Mokuba said, scratching his head. "I suppose... they probably took a liking to your dueling specialties or your affinity talent with spirits. Well, you truly are a very special duelist in my experience, so it's not strange that you would attract attention..."

At this moment, Principal Chazz arrived. The Principal shook hands with President Kaiba, the academy's number one sponsor, repeatedly expressing apologies for the academy's inadequate security measures and promising to do better in the future.

Fujiki You Xuan thought to himself, 'Give it a rest, Principal.' Even if the academy's security was currently made of paper, at least the concept still existed. Starting from the second year, that concept basically vanished; Duel Academy Island had essentially become a public bus that anyone, relevant or not, could enter and exit at will.

By the third year, the academic affairs office had practically gone into hiding; the entire school had flown off to another dimension, with all the frontline pressure borne entirely by the students. The Principal was away on business almost every day, effectively invisible, while Professor Banner alone shouldered the functions of the entire teaching staff. Good grief.

Following this, both Judai and Asuka reported separately that they had encountered enemies and engaged in duel conflicts, but ultimately emerged victorious after some narrow escapes.

The AI that Judai defeated was rather unlucky, falling directly off a cliff and dying on the spot. However, the one defeated by Asuka still had a breath left in it.

It was said that when the AI named Gamma was carried away, he was muttering incoherently, repeating phrases like "This isn't a duel," "This isn't an angel," and "Give me back my monsters."

He was probably driven to system collapse by that Cybernetic Horned Angel's Sandymil.

The Kaiba Corporation employees who had accompanied the President onto the island quickly cleaned up the battlefield, collecting the wreckage of the three machines and performing simple wrap-up work.

"We are very close now. Analyzing these three AIs should allow us to quickly discover clues regarding the mastermind," Mokuba told Fujiki You Xuan. "If we find anything, I will inform you immediately."

After all, since they had explicitly stated that Fujiki You Xuan was also on their target list, he was no longer an outsider.

"Alright," Fujiki You Xuan agreed readily with a nod.

He unconsciously touched the pocket containing the latest Kaiba Corporation deck he had just drawn, which was still warm and not yet released to the public.

You could say these AIs didn't just show up; they even traveled thousands of miles specifically to bring gifts. Moreover, this time none of them used data cards; they were all physical cards that could be freely inserted, removed, and used plug-and-play style.

They were far too polite...

He wouldn't mind if such good fortune happened a few more times.

Finally, Mokuba stole a glance in Kaiba's direction; seemingly confirming that his brother was busy directing the employee team and hadn't noticed this side, he lowered his voice to whisper.

"There's also... although my brother certainly wouldn't let me say this, I still want to say thank you."

"Huh?"

"For what you said," Mokuba said with a light smile. "I heard it all. To be honest, I was truly moved. In truth, although many people currently respect my brother and view him as the pinnacle of duelists, very few truly understand him."

"Many people only think he is arrogant and rude, and some even call him a dictator in a certain sense... but only I know that he has never forgotten why he fights."

"It is precisely because he experienced hell that he understands the value of dreams all the more," Fujiki You Xuan said with a gentle smile. "Regrettably, even if he told the board of directors the truth, no one would believe that a 'dictator's' dream is to bring smiles to children everywhere."

"Haha, let alone the board of directors; in the vast Kaiba Corporation, apart from me, no one truly knows him. I think, actually, the last person who truly understood him and knew him should have been Yugi..."

Mokuba shook his head, feeling a sense of regret.

In the depths of his heart, he actually envied and longed for the unbreakable friendship that Yugi and Jonouchi and the others shared, and he had even fantasized about joining that group alongside his brother.

It was just that, in the end, they might not be cut from the same cloth; nowadays, they hadn't been in contact for many years.

"Knowing that there is still someone in the world who views my brother the way I do truly makes me happy," Mokuba said again. "Thank you."

"It's nothing. I imagine there are probably quite a few people who think this way; I am merely one insignificant, ordinary duelist among them."

Fujiki You Xuan waved his hand generously.

"There's no need for thanks or anything..."

"By the way, we are returning to the company next. The headquarters has a few new decks that have just finished development; are you interested in coming to take a look?"

"Lead the way."

(End of Chapter)