Chapter 40: The President Remembered the Name

A Kaiba Corporation helicopter bearing the "KC" logo advanced slowly through the air. Seto Kaiba, the legendary figure of the dueling world, sat inside with his legs crossed, taking a tablet handed to him by a subordinate.

"President, the emergency situation at the Land has been resolved," the subordinate reported.

"A young duelist at the scene successfully defeated the hijacked dueling AI and unlocked the venue. Equipment maintenance is currently underway to investigate the cause of the system intrusion."

"Hmph."

Kaiba grunted in response, his brow furrowing slightly as he unlocked the tablet.

Another situation like this...

He certainly remembered that something similar had happened years ago.

Back when the world's first Kaiba Land was built, they held the KC Cup dueling tournament as the opening event for the park's official operation.

It was during that very tournament that his former business rival, Zigfried von Schroeder, had hacked the system, locking down the dueling arenas and hijacking the dueling AI. There was no way to unlock the system without defeating the AI.

Fortunately, that odious Yugi had happened to be inside the venue at the time and stepped up immediately to defeat the AI.

What had happened today was practically a repeat of the past.

So who could it be this time?

Could it still be Zigfried... No, impossible. The reason that guy had succeeded during the KC Cup eight years ago was entirely because the enemy was in the shadows while Kaiba was in the light, and Kaiba hadn't even known such a hidden rival existed. Naturally, after the KC Cup, Kaiba wouldn't have left him any chance to make a comeback.

Besides, Kaiba Land today was no longer in its early construction phase; the system vulnerabilities Zigfried had once exploited had long since been patched. Kaiba was confident that even if that guy tried again, breaking into the system should be impossible.

Then just who on earth could it be...

"President, the duel recording against the AI has also been sent over," the subordinate said. "Would you like to view it?"

"Send it to me." Kaiba swiped open the tablet.

Other matters could be put aside for the moment, but when there was a duel to watch, he would never miss it.

Especially since one side of this duel was a dueling AI he had personally overseen and developed—essentially a copy of himself. That should have been a closely guarded secret, just like Yugi's AI.

However, since the opportunity presented itself, he was quite curious to see how a random bystander youth in the dueling arena had managed to defeat his replica.

The recording finished loading, and the duel began.

Alright, so it appeared his AI went second. A fairly standard opening: the starting combination of Lord of D. and The Flute of Summoning Dragons brought out Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Mirage Dragon all at once. Kaiba nodded slightly, feeling that his AI hadn't disgraced him at the start; this board was passable and decent enough.

So now let's see how the opponent dealt with it...

Yugen in the recording: "Continuous Trap - Dragon Capture Jar! All Dragon-type monsters are changed to Defense Position!"

Kaiba pondered.

Hmm, quite an imaginative play. Naturally, this scene brought back memories of being tortured to the brink of fury by Pegasus's Relinquished—no, the Trap Jar in Duelist Kingdom.

Kaiba let out a cold laugh.

That was in the past. He had long since surpassed Pegasus, and tricks like that were useless against him anymore.

Then the video continued to show Yugen's subsequent plays.

"Dragon Manipulator, take control of 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'! Then Tribute Summon 'Dragon Sealer'!"

Kaiba's smile gradually faded.

"Inhale the sparkling Magic Mirror, negating the effects of all LIGHT monsters!"

Kaiba fell into silence.

"Trap card 'Hell Fusion', take control of your 'Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'!"

Watching the AI in the video take damage until its image distorted and the system crashed, eventually swallowed up by a burst of Burst Stream of Destruction from Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the President silently closed the screen.

"That youth who won this duel," Kaiba raised his head and asked, "What is his name?"

The subordinate replied, "It seems to be... Fujiki Yugen, from the city's Dueling Dojo. He just passed Duel Academy's entrance exam this year and is expected to enroll..."

"Oh?" Kaiba displayed a look of growing interest.

That meant the kid was practically half a student under his jurisdiction.

"Fujiki Yugen."

Kaiba interlaced his fingers, leaned back into his seat, and let out a light chuckle.

He had remembered that name.

...

...

Yugen climbed into a limousine over six meters long alongside Mokuba Kaiba, heading toward the Kaiba Corporation branch office.

"To actually beat my brother's AI, you're pretty amazing," Mokuba chatted casually in the car. "That's top-tier AI independently developed by our corporation, capable of freely handling all kinds of tactics."

"Just pure luck," Yugen said with a cheerful smile, thinking to himself that their AI still had a flaw: its temper didn't seem very good, collapsing after just taking a couple of hits.

Come to think of it, since he had practically helped them discover yet another design flaw, shouldn't they pay him a bonus...

"Speaking of which, were you guys coincidentally nearby?" Yugen asked.

After all, Kaiba Corp's headquarters wasn't around here, and Mokuba had arrived so quickly, which clearly meant they happened to be in the city.

"Yeah, we had some business, and my brother and I will both be around here lately... Never mind, no harm in telling you."

Mokuba said earnestly, "You'd better be careful when going out at night lately. We've received word that there might be some dangerous guys around this area who frequently like to ambush duelists... Especially duelists with some skill. Those people are all desperate outlaws."

Yugen immediately thought of that accidental encounter the other night.

Well, thanks for the reminder, they'd already ambushed me.

That guy's deck was still with him, too.

"You mean President Kaiba is also in the city? To deal with those Dark Duelists?"

"Yeah. We need to track down the higher-ups of this bunch because they have something we need... Ha, getting off track."

Mokuba smiled, seemingly unwilling to delve deeper into the topic.

"Anyway, don't underestimate those people. They're called 'Dark Duelists'. You might have heard some rumors about them, but I guarantee their actual capabilities are definitely stronger than anything you've heard."

"I've heard of them." Yugen had seen some rumors online previously. "Is there really a rumor that someone is already pressuring Kaiba Corporation to manufacture equipment that weaponizes dueling monsters?"

Actually, such a development was only natural. After all, Kaiba Corporation had originally started out in the arms industry, remaining one of the largest weapons suppliers in the world until Seto Kaiba took over the group. And now, following their transformation, they were the world's premier dueling monster entertainment company, with more than half the globe utilizing the dueling systems they produced.

"Don't worry, that won't happen," Mokuba smiled. "Kaiba Corporation gave up on arms manufacturing the moment my brother took over—gave it up in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.

Dueling should be something that brings smiles to everyone, not a tool for war and harm."

Ah, dueling brings smiles, I'm very familiar with this. Yugen nodded in deep agreement.

Those who watched his duels usually ended up with smiles on their faces.

However, although President Kaiba's boldness in cutting off weapons development with a wave of his hand was impressive, Yugen still couldn't help but think that the times had long since changed; printing cards was infinitely more overpowered than building planes and cannons...

"Wait, stop the car."

Mokuba suddenly seemed to have noticed something.

The driver pulled over as instructed.

"What is it?" Yugen asked.

Mokuba frowned, looking down at his wristwatch. Only then did Yugen notice he wasn't wearing a watch, but some kind of electronic device independently developed by Kaiba Corp, and its screen was currently flickering on and off.

"What is this?"

"It's a detector capable of monitoring dueling energy, and with this kind of reading right now... it could be a Dark Duelist!"

Having said that, Mokuba had already pushed open the door and jumped out of the car.

Yugen thought for a moment and followed after him.

Turning a few corners down an alleyway, a wave of black fog grew increasingly dense before them. Advancing further, they seemed to run up against an invisible barrier.

Looking ahead in that direction, sure enough, two people appeared to be playing cards.

He didn't recognize the opponent on the other side, but the one on this side looked vaguely familiar...

Rex Raptor?

Why would he be in a place like this?