Chapter 958: New Journey

「Darkness?」

Shi Dai asked.

「Is it the dark power hidden inside Senpai Chuixue’s mask?」

That power, though strong, was not invincible. When Chuixue wore the mask, his personality was consumed by Darkness, and he excelled in battle using the 「True Red-Eyes Black Dragon」 deck. Shi Dai had some understanding of that dark persona’s strength—by his current standards, it wasn’t particularly formidable.

By the way, every time Chuixue went dark, he looked incredibly cool and exuded overwhelming presence, always carrying the air of a confident boss certain of victory. Just by his demeanor, one might mistake him for an undefeated king. Yet Zongguan the entire anime, his battle record was a perfect zero wins—he never won a single match.

Every time Chuixue made himself look tormented, as if he’d made some monumental, life-altering decision to don the mask and transform into Darkness, it turned out to be utterly useless—he lost to everyone.

This was likely one reason why Darkness, as a boss in GX, was treated so disrespectfully.

「Yes, but that’s merely a fragment of the power.」 You Xuan said, 「The true Darkness is far stronger. Do you remember the abandoned dormitory behind our academy?」

Shi Dai nodded: 「Of course.」

It was impossible to forget. Over the past three years at the academy, there had been no shortage of stories tied to the abandoned dormitory—supernatural events and dark forces seemed to favor that forbidden zone.

「That place was once a student club, where students once seeking the power of Darkness searched for it.」

Shi Dai’s heart stirred: 「Was Senpai Chuixue also a member?」

「Probably. But he likely doesn’t remember anymore.」 You Xuan said, 「Chuixue was merely caught up in it—he wasn’t part of the core. The most central member of that club was a student named Fujihara Yuusuke. That student was key.」

And Fujihara Yuusuke had a beloved Duel Spirit named Ernest. That spirit is probably already infiltrating the academy, investigating the disappearance of its master.

Find that spirit—he’ll be a powerful ally.」

Ernest was, of course, a powerful ally and a card of great significance in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Ernest is the phonetic translation of the English word “Honest.” Because its effect was so cruel and despicable, it earned the nickname “Jian Cheng.”

Ernest’s effect: when a Light-Attribute monster battles, you can discard it from your hand to add the opponent’s monster’s ATK to your own monster’s ATK. This effect once made it the strongest hand trap exclusive to Light-Attribute decks, dominating the real-card environment and nearly rewriting the dueling habits of an entire generation of players.

Back then, whenever an opponent fielded a Light-Attribute monster, you’d automatically wonder if they were hiding Jian Cheng.

「The spirit named Ernest.」

Shi Dai nodded seriously.

「I remember.」

You Xuan continued: 「As for the true body of Darkness, based on the information I currently have, it is likely a collective of negative emotions from Duelists—fear, despair, hatred—all the feedback from dark hearts, ultimately converging into a world of pure darkness, giving birth to the monster known as Darkness.」

Its goal is probably to assimilate our world into its own, drawing every person here into it and absorbing them as part of itself.」

Shi Dai immediately said: 「We must not let it succeed!」

「Correct.」 You Xuan smiled, patting Shi Dai on the shoulder, 「But there’s nothing you can’t handle, right?」 Shi Dai nodded, then asked: 「What about you, You Xuan? Are you still not staying?」

「Mm.」 You Xuan said, 「My own matters are important too—I won’t be able to leave for now. But I trust you’re more than capable here.」

Shi Dai thumped his chest again, assuring he was fine.

You Xuan didn’t linger long in the GX dimension. He collected his cards, caught up on what had happened during his absence, handed over all the information he had on Darkness to Shi Dai, then departed once more back to the Synchro Dimension.

In the Synchro Dimension, the WRGP tournament—its timeline accelerated—was in intense preparation. But the Taiyi Organization, with its vast reach and organized push, would ensure it proceeded as scheduled without issue.

During this time, New Domino City, as in the original anime, experienced the 「Ghost Attack Incident.」

A Duelist known as 「Ghost」 suddenly began randomly attacking Rider Duelists around the city, defeating them brutally in duels. His duels clearly inflicted real physical damage—all defeated Rider Duelists suffered crashes, with many seriously injured and sent to the ICU.

So far, however, there had been no deaths. It seemed Ghost, though brutal, still held back—he wasn’t lethal.

Niuwei Zhe, the top officer of the Public Security Pursuit Unit, personally confronted Ghost—but was defeated, beaten severely, and hospitalized.

Though Niuwei Zhe lost, the incident enraged Bu Dong You Xing, who had recently developed a good relationship with Niuwei.

So You Xing began patrolling the streets himself, and soon enough, he indeed encountered the Duelist known as 「Ghost.」

And as in the original plot, You Xing first encountered the Synchro Killer known as 「Machine Emperor」 at Ghost’s hands.

Caught completely off guard, You Xing was instantly overwhelmed, barely surviving the onslaught.

But at the critical moment, You Xing activated his Red Dragon Archetype, summoning a 「Savior Dragon」 on the spot. The Savior Star Dragon struck with a single devastating blow, obliterating the Machine Emperor and shattering Ghost’s head.

Afterwards, You Xing and the others discovered Ghost was merely a robot. When they found the Rider Duelist’s bike that Ghost had thrown, the Machine Emperor deck had already been stolen from it.

This was the first encounter between You Xing and the Machine Emperor.

Despite You Xuan’s interference, ZONE still followed the original plan: the trio of Machine Emperors would serve as the main opponents for the 5DS team during the WRGP.

Fighting the Machine Emperors—and growing through those battles—was essential for You Xing and the others.

Similarly, Placidus, the most single-minded of Taiyi’s Three Emperors, now officially targeted Bu Dong You Xing after this duel.

Although Placidus had previously been brutally beaten by You Xuan, he now fully recognized the vast gap in their strength and knew he couldn’t defeat You Xuan alone. Moreover, You Xuan had become his superior, blessed by the gods—he likely had no further chance to fight him.

Thus, Placidus shifted his entire focus to You Xing, already meticulously preparing for a rematch to utterly crush him and reclaim the honor lost to the Savior Star Dragon’s one-hit kill.

After a month of preparation, the WRGP officially began.