Although Manjome received the "exclusive news" directly from Kaiba himself, in reality, within two days, almost the entire world knew about it.
After all, Kaiba Seto is a man of swift and decisive action, and he wouldn't waste time on such matters.
Furthermore——
More importantly.
According to the latest news, it seems that this time Kaiba Seto even invited the legendary Duel King, Muto Yugi, as a "guest" to visit the Other Dimension, which is considered the highest form of courtesy this world can offer.
Of course, Kaiba Seto wouldn't tell anyone that he heard Yugi was keen on visiting the S Dimension.
In any case, besides being an inherently significant "first contact", having the legendary Duel King, the now retired Mr. Muto Yugi participate, Duelists naturally celebrated it, even viewing it as a second "Duel City", a grand festival.
Unfortunately——
The S Dimension had its requirements.
Because the other side still doesn't fully trust this world, they insisted on sending only ordinary, young Duelists, preferably all students, while they would provide Duelists of roughly the same level and showcase their "King" at the welcoming event for this first contact.
In summary, that's how it was.
And all the Duelists were aware of one thing, which is...
Kaiba Seto doesn't really mind!
As long as it's not something outrageous, when it comes to "challenges", he has always accepted as much as he can get, so this first contact team will send several different teams and types of Duelists as per the other side's request.
Among them——
In the initial Duelist showcase, Tenjo Hikari was selected as the "Absolute Fusion Master" to skip the selection round as a contestant.
As for other related Duelists, competitions were arranged to select them before the first contact.
Even though it was vacation time, no student would miss such an opportunity, so naturally they all competed in their respective "divisions".
Domino City——
Ed Phoenix, holding a telescope, looked at the distant Duel, clicking his tongue.
In terms of age, he was undoubtedly a strong contender for this Duel.
But because Pegasus ranked him as the "fourth in the world" Duelist, coupled with his "Professional Duelist" status, he was directly excluded from the candidate list by the competition. Similarly, some who had just graduated from the Academy, entered the Professional Duelist field, or were involved in other jobs were also excluded from the list due to their status.
Saiou didn't foresee this.
Since their last parting, Saiou seemed to have engaged in an intense conflict with Akaba Leo, he didn't know what transpired, but afterward, Saiou's precognition abilities seemed to have slightly declined, and his sense of the "most distant" future diminished greatly.
However——
Despite his superpowers being affected, Ed Phoenix was actually quite pleased.
Because he knew that his friend's precognition was not a blessing, but a contamination from some evil force, and without it, he might be safe and sound.
But similarly, due to the precognition being temporarily impaired and not performing a divination for Ed, Ed missed out on this interesting event.
Even he was quite interested in the interdimensional exchange, after all, he was a Duelist.
Only ten people at most?
Ed recalled the details while watching the competition.
According to the requirements, a total of 10 people would be sent, of which four were "Tag Duelists", and the remaining 6 were solo Duelists. Additionally, one of these six would be selected by them for some kind of "special duel" specific to their dimension. So the other side would send a total of 11 people.
A special duel, huh?
How intriguing...
He mentally remarked while watching the Duel.
In the Dueling Arena of Domino City, there was a match that he was very interested in, something he was quite concerned about because among them, that Duelist...
Yuki Judai...
"Spell Card, Miracle Fusion, Fusion Summon, my beloved Hero—haha, this Hero will send chills down your spine, Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!"
Watching Yuki Judai Summon the Hero and then defeat his opponent, Ed put down the telescope and leaned against the railing, lost in thought.
Hero...
He was also a user of a Hero Deck, but the Heroes he used weren't these "soft" Heroes.
Destiny Heroes, symbolizing darkness, destruction, the dark heroes of destiny, were the last cards his father left him before his death.
Many years ago, while he was still a child, someone barged into his home, killed his father, and stole a certain card.
The Ace Card of Destiny Heroes, that card still lies somewhere in the world, a piece of evidence of his father's murder, so he frequently assumes the alias "Phoenix Guy" to trouble those who steal or rob cards.
However, to this day, he hadn't found that card.
The ultimate Destiny Hero.
But it was for this very reason that he was very dissatisfied with Judai who used Elemental Heroes just because they looked cool.
Especially when he heard Saiou say that he and Yuki Judai were "fated" opponents, he was even more displeased.
Why does destiny mock me like this?
Or maybe...
He recalled his previous visit to the Duel Academy.
He remembered Tenjo Hikari, remembered that pure, joyful club.
Fusion Department, was it?
He casually took out his Deck, which contained a large number of Elemental Heroes, used for disguise under normal circumstances, although he rarely used the real Ace Card.
He applied a bit of force with his hands, then hurriedly inspected the cards carefully, and after confirming that nothing was amiss, he shook his head and put the Deck away.
Elemental Heroes collaborate with each other; that's what "Fusion" is...
But!
My Destiny Heroes are far more powerful than Elemental Heroes!
Therefore, I don't need cooperation!
Seeing the end of the Duel, he packed his things and turned to leave, his hair swaying, seemingly blending with a phantom of some spirit, with countless jingling sounds, like iron chains binding him.
Judai laughed, saying the classic "I won, that was a fun duel," smoothly clinching the opportunity to join, and as he was thinking of sharing the good news with his friends, he suddenly had a sixth sense, looking up into the distance.
Although he saw no one, he always felt like something was watching him, influencing him.
"Congratulations, Judai!" not knowing what Judai was thinking, Tenjo Hikari waved his hand, happily celebrating for his friend.
With this, including Manjome who "took the back door", their Fusion Department would have a total of three guaranteed Duelists present!
Of course, in reality, it was because Manjome, as Kaiba Seto's disciple, was forcefully requested to go by Kaiba Seto—however, correspondingly, he must defeat a champion from one of the divisions.
Manjome had already passed the test before, so Tenjo Hikari came today to watch Judai's Duel and cheer for him.
"Ah—yeah! Hahaha!" Judai, hearing Tenjo Hikari's call, snapped back to reality, no longer dwelling on that feeling, and promptly high-fived Tenjo Hikari in celebration.
"Finally, I'll get another chance to see Mr. Yugi!" he shouted excitedly.