Chapter 309: Increase the Stakes

"Duel City?"

Wu Wan Tengliang looked at the poster with a curious expression, his interest piqued.

"You want me to enter, Master?"

"Yes. This year's event is different from before—they say President Kaiba will be attending in person."

"That Kaizer?" Wu Wan Tengliang was surprised. "But he's already…"

"Retired? Yes, rumors say so, but it seems they were just rumors."

Principal Principal Principal Jiaodao leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Moreover, I was fortunate enough to meet Kaizer himself. In fact, I can tell that few duelists in the world today possess such pure passion for dueling as he does."

"At that time, I already felt it highly unlikely such a duelist would simply retire and put his cards away."

"I see…" Wu Wan Tengliang mused.

In truth, Kaizer had always been one of his most admired duelists; many aspects of his tactics and style had greatly influenced him.

After all, Wu Wan Tengliang himself was a duelist of the same type as Kaizer.

Both used decks packed with three copies of their ace monsters, both relied on triple fusion, both were aggressive wild-type duelists, and even their signature opening of three-to-one was likely using the same 502.

If someone ever stood up to accuse Wu Wan Tengliang of never shuffling his three Cyber Dragons and fusing them together, Kaizer himself would be the first to leap forward and defend him.

"You didn't build your bonds properly—why blame us for not shuffling?"

"So, interested, Liang?" Principal Principal Principal Jiaodao smiled. "Though this year's entry threshold for Duel City seems higher, if you, as the ace of Duel Academy, want to go, there's no doubt you'll get in."

Wu Wan Tengliang nodded.

"I understand. Thank you, Master. I'll seize this opportunity to train and strive to advance further during this holiday."

"Good," Principal Principal Principal Jiaodao said. "Oh, by the way, I heard that this year, our school's Fujiki You Xuan might also be entering."

"That first-year in the yellow robe… the New King?"

Wu Wan Tengliang corrected himself in time.

Someone was infamous in Duel Academy; his nickname had sunk so deep into everyone's mind that Wu Wan Tengliang almost slipped up.

"Haha, yes. That kid seems to know Kaizer personally too—it's no surprise he might enter. You two might even meet on the dueling field."

Wu Wan Tengliang fell into thought.

Do I fight Fujiki You Xuan…

As the most interesting freshman this year, Fujiki You Xuan had naturally drawn his attention. Wu Wan Tengliang had long been thinking he would have to duel this person—sooner or later.

But during the first semester, there had never been a suitable chance.

Yet if the stage were a world-class event like Duel City…

Wu Wan Tengliang's lips curled upward; the duelist's fighting spirit within him was already stirring.

Interesting. He was already looking forward to dueling that guy.

Perhaps, right here in Duel City, they would determine who truly was the king of Duel Academy.

"Cyber-style?"

In Fujiki You Xuan's lab, Asuka sat across from him, chin propped on her hand, curious.

"Isn't that Liang's deck?"

"Yes."

Fujiki You Xuan was currently counting a new batch of Cyber-style cards received from Kaizer Group—these were fresh research materials for the Cyber Project.

Asuka then remembered: Liang had once told her that Cyber-style wasn't exclusive to their dojo. The main treasure he inherited was only Cyber End Dragon, and from known anime info, Liang possessed two copies of Cyber End Dragon.

Even the core card of their dojo, "Cyber Dragon," though a powerful rare card, wasn't as scarce as "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," which had only three copies worldwide. With the right channels, one could still obtain it.

Fujiki You Xuan had always wanted to get a Cyber Dragon.

In fact, though Cyber-style decks weren't popular in the early days, Cyber Dragon had long been a dominant force in competitive play, universally recognized as an elite monster.

Back then, the standard for a good attacker was 1600 ATK; monsters with 1800–1900 ATK were already top-tier low-level attackers.

Then, with the broadcast of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, something called "Cyber Dragon" suddenly appeared—a Level 5 monster that could be summoned without tribute, with 2100 ATK upon entry, instantly crushing every conventional attacker of the previous meta.

Its sudden emergence shook the environment; Cyber Dragon became a mandatory inclusion in nearly every competitive or casual deck.

Because of this, Cyber Dragon remained a limited-2 card for a long time. By 2008, as the meta accelerated, instead of being released, it became even more rampant and was upgraded to limited-1.

For a pure attacker, limited-1 was nearly the highest honor it could receive.

"Don't underestimate Cyber Dragon—its potential hasn't even scratched the surface. This deck's potential may far exceed even your or Kaizer's imagination." Fujiki You Xuan smiled.

Far exceed Kaizer's… imagination?

Asuka's expression grew complicated.

If anyone else said that, she might think it nonsense. To Asuka—or to every student in this academy—Liang was practically the living embodiment of Cyber Dragon.

No one understood Cyber Dragon better than Liang.

But Fujiki You Xuan was different.

After all, Fujiki You Xuan had already proven to Asuka that her supposed mastery of Cyber Angel was, in fact, complete ignorance.

She had realized: every deck Fujiki You Xuan turned his attention to always had something special.

Any deck he labeled "has potential" was granted divine fortune—its breakthrough and rise were merely a matter of time.

Speaking of which, she suddenly remembered: Liang had mentioned yesterday that he intended to enter this year's Duel City tournament.

Wu Wan Tengliang and Asuka's older brother, Tenjouin Fubuki, had once been best friends, known respectively as "Caesar Liang" and "King Fubuki." That was why Asuka had always seemed inseparable from Liang in the early days—and why she learned immediately that Liang would be competing.

Now, she suddenly had a ridiculous thought: if they met on the field, wouldn't Fujiki You Xuan use Cyber Dragon to duel Liang?

It sounded absurd—but considering it was Fujiki You Xuan, she couldn't rule it out.

"Alright, I've got a few good ideas. I'll pass them on to the Cyber Project team for research."

Fujiki You Xuan put away the cards and stood up.

"Oh, by the way, before the holiday, I still need to visit Master Daidesi."

"What for?" Asuka asked.

Unlike when she first entered the lab, she now vaguely sensed that Master Daidesi might not be as incompetent as he appeared. But she still didn't understand what Fujiki You Xuan hoped to learn or obtain from him.

Fujiki You Xuan glanced at her and smiled mysteriously.

"There will be many tough battles during the winter break. I need to find a way to increase my chips."

Entering the tournament arc—this interlude may be a bit long; tomorrow I'm still searching for cards…



(End of Chapter)