A helicopter bearing the "KC" logo of the Kaiba Corporation slowly approached in the sky. And the legendary duelist, Seto Kaiba, was at this moment sitting casually with crossed legs inside the helicopter, receiving a tablet from his subordinate.
"President, the emergency situation at the park has been resolved."
The subordinate said.
"A young duelist at the scene successfully defeated the hijacked dueling AI, unlocking the arena. The site is currently inspecting and repairing the equipment, searching for the cause of the system intrusion."
"Hm."
Seto Kaiba grunted, unlocking the tablet and slightly frowning.
It was this kind of situation again.
He certainly remembered, something very similar had happened once before, years ago.
That year, when the world's first Kaiba Land was built, they held the KC Grand Championship as the official opening event for Kaiba Land.
It was during that tournament that his former business rival, Zigfried Lloyd, infiltrated the system, also locking down the dueling arena and hijacking the dueling AI. One couldn't unlock it without defeating the AI.
Fortunately, that annoying Yugi happened to be in that arena at the time and immediately stepped in to defeat the AI.
This incident was practically a rerun of what happened back then.
But who could it be this time?
Could it still be that old weirdo? No, impossible. The reason they succeeded eight years ago at the KC Grand Championship was entirely because the enemy was hidden while they were exposed. After the KC Grand Championship, Kaiba naturally wouldn't give them a chance to rise again.
Furthermore, Kaiba Land was no longer in its initial construction phase. The system loopholes that the old weirdo had exploited had long since been patched. Kaiba was confident that even if that person came again, they shouldn't be able to break into the new system.
So who could it possibly be?
"President, the recording of the duel with the AI has also been sent." The subordinate said, "Would you like to watch it?"
"Send it to me." Kaiba opened the tablet.
Other matters could be set aside for now, but he would absolutely not miss the opportunity to watch a duel.
Especially since this duel involved an AI that he personally supervised and developed, essentially a replica of himself. That AI should have been a closely guarded secret, just like the Yugi AI, not publicly disclosed.
However, since he had this opportunity, he was very curious to see how that passerby youth, who happened to be in the arena, managed to defeat his replica.
The recording was loaded, and the duel began.
"Hmm, it seems my AI was well-prepared." Kaiba nodded slightly, noting the AI's relatively standard opening, using "Dragon Handler" and "The Flute of Summoning Dragon" to immediately bring out Blue-Eyes and Krystal Dragon. He felt that at least the AI's opening wasn't a disgrace to him; this rough match was passable.
Now, let's see how the opponent responds.
In the recording, Yugen said: "Continuous Trap - Dragon Capture Jar, all Dragon-Type monsters change to Defense Position!"
Kaiba mused.
"Oh, quite an idea." This image naturally brought back memories of being tormented by Pegasus's Dragon Capture Jar in Duelist Kingdom, to the point of rage.
Kaiba snorted.
"That's all in the past. He had long since surpassed Pegasus, and now such a tactic was useless against him."
Then he continued to watch Yugen's operations in the video.
"Dragon Manipulator, gain control of 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'! Then T_ribute Summon 'Dragon Seeker'!"
Kaiba's smile gradually faded.
"Light-Imprisoning Mirror, negate the effects of all LIGHT Attribute monsters!"
Kaiba fell silent.
"Trap Card 'Chthonian Polymer' gains control of your 'Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'!"
Watching the AI in the video get beaten to the point of image distortion and system crash, engulfed by Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's explosive torrent of light, the President silently closed the screen.
"That boy who won the duel." Kaiba looked up and asked, "What's his name?"
His subordinate said: "It seems his name is Fujiki Yugen, from the city's dueling dojo. He just passed this year's Duel Academy entrance exam and is expected to enroll this year."
"Oh?" Kaiba showed an interested expression.
So he could be considered half his student.
"Fujiki Yugen."
Kaiba intertwined his fingers, pressing them against the chair, and let out a snort.
He remembered that name.
Yugen followed Kaiba Mokuba into a car with a wheelbase exceeding 6 meters, sitting in the spacious back seat, on their way to the Kaiba Corporation branch.
"You're very strong to be able to defeat my brother's AI." Mokuba chatted in the car, "This is our corporation's independently researched top-tier AI; it can naturally employ various strategies."
"Just lucky."
Yugen chuckled, thinking to himself, Your AI has a flaw, though. Its temper doesn't seem very good; it crashes after just a couple of beatings.
Speaking of which, it seems I helped them uncover another design flaw. Should I ask for more money?
"By the way, are you guys coincidentally around here?" Yugen asked.
After all, Kaiba Corp.'s main headquarters wasn't here, and Mokuba arrived so quickly, so it seemed they must have been in the city.
"Yeah, there's something going on. My brother and I will be in the vicinity recently, so it's okay to tell you."
Mokuba said seriously.
"It's better for you to be careful when going out at night recently. We've received information that there might be some dangerous individuals nearby who frequently attack duelists, especially some powerful ones. Those are desperate characters."
Yugen immediately thought of that chance encounter a few nights ago.
Hmm, thanks for the reminder, already been attacked.
That guy's deck is still with me.
"You mean President Kaiba is also in the city? To deal with those dark duelists?"
"That's right. We want to find the higher-ups of these guys because they have something we need. Oh, I've strayed off-topic."
Mokuba smiled, seemingly not intending to delve deeper into the topic.
"In short, don't underestimate those people. They are called 'Dark Duelists.' You might have heard some rumors about them, but I guarantee that their actual abilities are definitely stronger than what you've heard."
"I've heard about them." Yugen had seen some rumors online before. "It's rumored that some people are pressuring Kaiba Corp. to produce equipment that weaponizes Duel Monsters, right?"
Actually, it was natural for such things to happen. After all, Kaiba Corp. originally started as a weapons company, and until Seto Kaiba took over the corporation, it was one of the world's largest commercial weapons suppliers. Now, after transforming, they are the world's number one Duel Monsters entertainment company, and more than half of the Earth uses their produced dueling systems.
"But don't worry, that won't happen." Mokuba smiled, "Kaiba Corp. abandoned weapons development ever since my brother took over. It was abandoned before, and it will be in the future.
Dueling should be something that brings smiles to everyone, not a tool for war and harm."
Bringing smiles, huh, I'm familiar with that. Yugen nodded in agreement.
The people who duel against him usually end up with a smile on their faces.
However, while President Kaiba's decisive act of cutting off weapons development was impressive, Yugen still wanted to say that times had changed. Printing cards was far more powerful than building cannons and planes.
"Wait, stop the car."
Mokuba suddenly seemed to discover something.
The driver stopped the car as instructed.
"What's wrong?" Yugen asked.
Mokuba frowned, looking at his wrist. Yugen then noticed he wasn't wearing a watch, but some kind of electronic device developed by Kaiba Corp. Its screen was currently flickering on and off.
"What is that?"
"It's a dueling energy detector, and this reaction... It could be a Dark Duel!"
Saying that, Mokuba had already opened the door and jumped out of the car.
Yugen thought for a moment and followed him.
After turning a few corners down a narrow alley, a thick black fog grew denser and denser in front of them. Walking further, they seemed to hit an invisible barrier.
Looking forward in that direction, sure enough, it looked like two people were dueling.
He didn't recognize the person on the opposite side, but the one on this side looked somewhat familiar...
Dinosaur Ryuzaki?
Why was he in a place like this?