Kurosaki stared blankly at the new leader before him, feeling the situation was simply absurd.
Madman!
This person is definitely a madman.
Of course, he could only think this in his heart; he certainly wouldn't dare say it. Kurosaki cautiously lowered his voice and asked, "So, Leader, what's our plan now...?"
"Oh, you head back first. Remember to investigate the 'Alchemy Star' business," Yugen said casually, "and hand all gathered intelligence over to me."
"Alright, definitely."
Kurosaki nodded, then couldn't resist asking.
"And what about you?"
"I won't be going back yet," Yugen said with a smile, "I have a few other things to wrap up."
...
...
The moon hid behind heavy clouds, stingily withholding its light. The wind carried a biting chill as it swirled through the narrow alleys, producing a series of wailing sounds.
The vendor sprinted wildly along the alleys, continually glancing back as if fleeing from something extremely terrifying.
He ran until breathless, almost unable to take another step. He stopped briefly, leaning one hand against the wall, panting heavily. The sweat mixed with fear trickled down his pale cheeks, falling to the ground as if swallowed by the night.
He cautiously looked back the way he came, seeing no one for quite a while in that direction except a pool of darkness in the ink-black alley.
"Not being chased here..."
Only then did his tense heart gradually relax. He steadied his breathing and slowly turned his head.
But just when he relaxed and turned back, almost screaming at what he saw.
It's him!
The man in white clothes, his true face concealed behind dark glass, stood calmly before him, his white attire billowing like a cloak in the cold wind.
Revolver!
"Jasper Abyss, that's your name, isn't it?" Yugen said calmly, "I've just looked into your record, it's quite impressive.
Originally a New York underground duelist, joined a local dueling gang. After a gang fight went through several countries, participated in sixteen different human trafficking cases, deeply researched using Dark Duel tactics to enslave souls... tsk tsk."
He finished reading the file in his hand and looked up at the man before him.
"Really quite a talent."
Jasper clenched his teeth, shouting angrily, "I and you and your Hanuo Knight have no grievances or enmity. Revolver, why are you pressing me step by step?"
"Oh? Then do you and those sealed into cards for trade have deep hatred?"
"It's just business," Jasper said, "that's how the world operates, I'm not the only one doing it."
"Indeed, indeed, that's how it is."
Yugen nodded, leisurely unfolding his Duel Disc.
"So I thought carefully, deciding a talented Dark Duelist like you is much more valuable than capturing the old, weak, or women. Making you into a card would surely sell well... or joining our Hanuo Knight as a duel slave is also good."
Yugen mocked him in his tone.
"By the way, it's just business, nothing personal. That's how the world works, not just me doing it, don't take it to heart."
"You..."
Jasper was furious.
"Revolver, don't push me too far! Do you think I'm afraid of you?!"
He said, unveiling his Duel Disc.
Yugen chuckled, also unveiling his Duel Disc: "I was afraid you wouldn't ask."
One minute later.
Yugen strolled forward, skillfully grabbing the card deck, picking up the already sealed card, observing Jasper's face frozen in a bewildered and toyed expression.
"As I've said, it's not a personal vendetta."
He gave the Soul Sealing Card a slight smile.
"Don't take it to heart."
Jasper: "..."
...
...
After a fulfilling weekend, Yugen returned to Duel Academy.
Upon returning, he found Judai blocking his dorm room door, frantically pulling him to continue exploring the Elf Realm. Judai was in a state as if he'd found a captivating RPG, spending all day online discovering new maps and dueling.
Peaceful night passed, and the next day, Monday, brought back daily student life.
However, this day was unexpectedly extraordinary.
Duel Academy was buzzing with explosive news—
—The Academy was about to be acquired by Chazz Group.
The whole academy was instantly in an uproar.
Everyone knew Duel Academy was under the Kaiba Group. Kaiba Group was globally recognized as the top card-dueling corporation, has always supported Duel Academy significantly with admired management approach.
But Chazz Group was different. Although Chazz family was immensely wealthy, merely having money, its reputation in the dueling realm was quite average.
Almost every student instinctively resisted upon hearing this; no one wanted the academy to fall into a purely capitalist corporation's hands.
Chazz and other students were equally shocked, contacting his two elder brothers.
And the brothers replied matter-of-factly.
"This is natural," said the senior brother Chazz Nagasaku, "Our Chazz Group had long planned to reach the pinnacle in politics, business, and the dueling world.
You, our lagging behind brother, since you can't contribute, we'll personally step in."
"What?" Chazz was stunned, "What are you planning to do?"
"We've already reached an agreement with the academy board, deciding the academy's ownership through a duel with the school's student representative. And the chosen representative is you, my foolish brother."
Chazz Nagasaku laughed.
"Let the duel decide the academy's ownership!"
"A duel with my brothers!?" Chazz was astonished.
"That's right. But naturally, you've trained for dueling since childhood, while your brothers are only beginners. So of course, for fairness, certain conditional limits are necessary."
Chazz Nagasaku stated.
"This time, the card deck I use will be an extremely rare, powerful deck acquired at great expense.
And to balance unfavorable conditions, you can't use any Effect Monster in this duel, only Ordinary Monsters!"
A shift in world lines. In the animation, Chazz's restriction condition in the duel was "can't use monsters with attack power over 500," but here it's changed to not using effects.
Clearly, this condition is more challenging than the original. Although the original didn't allow high-attack monsters, low-attack ones with strong effects could still be utilized widely.
Chazz eventually even used "Chaos Necromancer," increasing attack power based on cemetery monsters, casually reaching over 3000 attack to finish the duel, rendering attack limits seemingly irrelevant.
But not being able to use effects is practically like dueling under "Skill Extraction," suddenly raising the difficulty by a notch.
Chazz was surprised: "Can't use monster effects?"
"Yes, indeed, and Seto Kaiba has already agreed to this condition," said Chazz Nagasaku, "since you rejected family help, wager Duel Academy... and face your elder brother!"