Chapter 770: Harvest

Do we have a grudge?

Come to think of it, it seems we don't.

Paradox was momentarily dazed. As the duel had progressed, he hadn't even noticed when it had subtly turned into a personal vendetta. Only now, reminded by You Xuan, did he suddenly realize: yes, we've only just met for the first time.

Moreover, You Xuan was never originally his target. His arrival here and encounter with You Xuan were entirely unforeseen accidents. But this man's duel was infuriating, and the dark power he wielded radiated a sinister aura. From his dueling style, it was clear he was precisely the kind of afterlife-style duelist Paradox despised—someone who easily drained others' passion for dueling.

Paradox's future had been destroyed precisely because all dueling passion in the world had been extinguished; thus, he instinctively disliked You Xuan. But now, with the duel over and his mind clear, there was truly no evidence linking this man to the ruined future.

Furthermore, You Xuan's question just now was valid. If one person alone could easily plunge an entire world's future into despair, then history had also produced duelists like Yugi Muto and Yusei Fudo—men with righteous hearts who spent their lives spreading passion to others. Yet the world still fell.

And according to the history he knew, there was no such person as Fujiki Yūgen; yet Yugi and Yusei were undeniably real.

Paradox let out a long sigh.

Deep down, he had long known You Xuan was right. Their world's collapse had nothing to do with the past; blaming ancestors was merely shifting blame.

The runaway perpetual motion machine, the collapse of the future—these were the sins of their own generation, not anyone else's. Even infinite energy could not satisfy humanity's ever-expanding greed; over generations, people grew lazier, unwilling to exert effort or do anything, yet demanding more and more.

The attitude of apathy and endless demands finally pushed the perpetual motion machine past a critical threshold, triggering an irreversible catastrophe.

But even if one understood this truth, what could be done?

Z-one had tried—he had truly exhausted every possible effort. Z-one was the leader of these survivors, and they all accepted him as leader precisely because he was the smartest and most dedicated among them.

Under Z-one's guidance, they had tried to guide people back to righteous hearts and calm the runaway perpetual motion machine. They had tried, again and again. But it was too late.

Had there been any other choice, Paradox would never have chosen the extreme measure of "erasing Duel Monsters from history."

Others didn't know this, but You Xuan understood perfectly. He knew the antagonists of 5D's were not true villains—only different from the protagonists. Personally, You Xuan admired their sacrifices to save their world, which was why he spared Paradox's life.

In fact, had You Xuan not used the Eraser's field-clearing effect to send "Sin World" to the graveyard first, even if he had later restrained the Evil God from killing, Paradox would still have died.

In the original movie, Paradox died at the hands of his own Sin World. Though Yugi and Yusei both possessed the ability to make duel damage real through Dark Games, You Xuan believed they had no intention of killing Paradox. Paradox died immediately after losing the duel because the real damage inflicted by his own "Sin World" had killed him.

Sparring his life made it easier to extract more information later—like Paradox's claim that You Xuan shouldn't exist in history, or his assertion that this timeline was flawed. Many mysteries remain.

Of course, his life was spared, but his tools were confiscated. Thus, You Xuan acquired the full "Sin" deck, including the supreme spirits from various timelines that came with it.

Such as Cyber End Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Rainbow Dragon—even Stardust Dragon, which shouldn't exist in this era.

Even three copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, a card limited to one per world. Combined with the Blue-Eyes he won from the CEO during the Duelist Kingdom GX tournament, You Xuan now possessed four Blue-Eyes White Dragons—more than Kaiba himself.

Yet despite owning three Blue-Eyes, Paradox did not possess "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

You Xuan deduced that the cards Paradox stole from various timelines were only those he had already developed into "Sin" forms. Whether a monster had a Sin form was the mark of whether Paradox could successfully control it.

For example, Paradox had developed "Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon," proving he had mastered Blue-Eyes' power. But the Sin deck contained no "Sin Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon," meaning he could not control the Ultimate Dragon's form.

But it wasn't a problem. In the anime world, Fusion monsters weren't always necessary. When the time came, simply fusing the required materials could generate the Fusion monster out of thin air. This was, in a sense, card printing—though the simplest form of it.

For instance, in DM, Yugi fused Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon with his own Chaos Soldier to create the Ultimate Dragon Knight, then told Kaiba, "If you firmly believe this monster exists, it exists." Likewise, the Overlord could simply Super Fusion any monster on the field to instantly create the corresponding Fusion monster—all printed on demand.

This wasn't limited to Fusion monsters. Many spirits' alternate forms worked similarly. Blue-Eyes White Dragon was the absolute core of the Blue-Eyes deck; Kaiba had gradually developed his entire deck from his three White Dragons, printing each card one by one.

Now that he had all three White Dragons, You Xuan could consider completing his full Blue-Eyes deck.

Though in terms of Blue-Eyes' approval, deck synergy, and destiny power, he was incomparable to the CEO, there was one thing he surpassed him in: he could foresee the future forms of Blue-Eyes yet to appear, knowing precisely where this deck must evolve.

!

Later, he'd see if he could convince the CEO to join him—help print more Blue-Eyes variants, so he could snag one or two for himself.

Aside from this batch of powerful monsters from various timelines, the greatest harvest was this card.

You Xuan looked at the trap in his hand and smiled like a seasoned farmer surveying a ripe field of leeks.

Skill Drain.

(End of Chapter)