Thanks to the President's generous donation, taking this trip and unexpectedly getting the legendary Destruction Sword Card Deck was a complete surprise.
However, after a brief look at the few existing cards, Yugen quickly realized this deck was not complete.
Destructive Knight was one of Muto Yuugi's main ace cards back in the day. Especially during the Duel City period, when Yuugi first encountered the Phantom Gods and defeated "Osiris the Sky Dragon," his main force was the original Destructive Knight. Later, in the Duel City semifinals and the fateful showdown with Kaiba, victory was achieved through the fusion of the Destruction Sword and the Black Mage.
Of course, the duel environment at that time was still somewhat irregular, like when facing the Sky Dragon.
Yuugi: Because you have Osiris on the field, the Destructive Knight's Attack Power increases by five hundred!
Malik: Wait, Osiris is a Phantom Divine Beast Race, not a Dragon Race, so the Destruction Sword's Attack Power cannot increase...
Yuugi: What's the name of Osiris?
Malik: Osiris's…Sky Dragon?
Yuugi: So you admit Osiris is a dragon, then the Destructive Knight's Attack Power increases!
Malik:......
Yeah, at the time, the Destruction Sword strangely gained an attack power bonus from the evidently Phantom Divine Beast Race's Sky Dragon, but such details are not important.
If the Pharaoh says you're a dragon, you dare not be one?
Evidently, mouth escape has a long history in Yu-Gi-Oh! In fact, not only in the animation, this was true in reality as well.
Modern players who have only recently gotten into it may not have heard, but early Yu-Gi-Oh World Championships had a space for mouth escape. In those competitions, as long as both players had no objections, referees would often ignore mouth escapes or incorrect rulings.
There were even cases in the arena where one player used their mouth escape skills to convince the opponent to believe in an invalid killing combo, leading the opponent to admit defeat. As long as both players acknowledged the mouth escape, the tournament recognized the result of that round.
Hence, back in the day, Ousama used mouth escape to convince his opponent and perform combos like "attacking the moon to cause the sea to recede," achieving victory in matches, which surprisingly had some consideration...
Over the years, the Destruction Sword, as one of the main forces of the game, has always been a key development target. Gozaburo conducted independent deep research targeting Kaiba, using new cards that were temporarily unavailable to the outside world during the match with Kaiba.
But Yugen knows that even so, this deck is still a half-finished product.
Yet he wasn't surprised. After all, the complete Destruction Sword Card Deck is a Synchro Deck in reality, impossible to complete in this era.
Similarly, the Blue-Eyes Card Deck held by Kaiba is incomplete without Synchro. However, this is a limitation of the era, unlikely to be overcome anytime soon.
Synchro Summon belongs to the 5DS era. In the animation world, it's not just a summoning method; the emergence of Synchro Summon represents a leap for the entire era, marking the beginning of a new epoch.
The key lies in the discovery of a new element named "Yusei Particles," also serving as the catalyst for developing the Perpetual Motion Machine.
Without Yusei Particles, the concept of Synchro wouldn't exist in this era. It's a barrier impossible to break through solely through card printing or deck research, requiring a breakthrough in physics to propel card printing into a new era.
"..."
"By the way, Yugen might be interested in this?"
While returning to Kaiba Group, selecting from the newly-stocked cards, Keihei suddenly appeared.
Yugen took the card handed to him, his eyes brightening involuntarily.
Thunder Emperor Zaborug.
A Light Attribute card among the major emperors with Five-Star Attack Power of 2400, its effect allows the destruction of one card on the field when successfully summoned at the upper level.
The effect is simple and brutal, but useful.
"I heard you've been collecting the Emperor series recently, Yugen. Indeed, it's a very rare card deck series," Keihei said with a laugh. "So earlier, I had someone specially keep an eye out for you. If an Emperor appears in the new inventory, they'll specifically reserve one for you."
Yugen earnestly patted Keihei on the shoulder.
Nothing needed to be said, good brother.
More reliable than your brother.
"But honestly, I really didn't expect that after all these years… I would still hear the name Gozaburo."
As the two exited the warehouse, the metal door automatically closed and locked behind them, Keihei sighed.
"It's already the third time I've felt I could finally shake off that man… But who knows if this will be the last time?"
"Yeah, who knows." Yugen shrugged, "But I guess I know what the President would say."
"Hmm?" Kei turned aside.
Yugen folded his arms, mimicking President Kaiba's tone.
"Let him come; he's nothing more than a lost dog. No matter how many times, I'll send him on his way again!"
Keihei couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"You really do understand your brother." Keihei laughed, "But be careful not to let your brother see you. Secretly telling you, though he seems like this, my brother is actually quite vindictive…"
Yugen nodded: "I know."
After all, Joey has been a Mortal Bone in the President's mouth all his life, with a Duelist Level rating of only 2 stars, not even given a Duel Disc during the free distribution to Duel City participants...
Whether the President holds grudges or not, perhaps Joey has the most to say.
"What about the rest of the AIs?" Yugen asked casually.
"Hmm, for now, all have been shut down and stored by the system, forced into a dormant state… However, measures will likely be taken soon."
Keihei paused at this point, looking a bit lost.
"If you ask my brother, I think he would prefer to destroy them all. But..."
He paused, his expression somewhat hesitant.
Yugen turned to look at him.
"You disagree?"
"Hmm..." Keihei pondered, "After everything, especially after the previous Naiya incident… I've been wondering if they too were victims of Gozaburo? Could they be..."
"Who can say for sure?" Yugen shrugged.
He also thought of Delta, an AI with the biggest dream of selling balloons in Kaiba Park, yet ultimately chose to sacrifice himself for his "father" Gozaburo.
In the end, in Gozaburo's eyes, Delta was merely a slightly superior "scrap piece."
"There's only one thing certain: they're our enemies, and that's enough." Yugen said, "I think the President understands this point too."
Indeed, none understand this more than Seto Kaiba.
The path he chose was one that required stepping over corpses, fighting through bloodshed to emerge victorious. Choosing this path meant that he must crush his enemies underfoot, and only so.
"Hmm… I think you're right." Keihei nodded.
"Well, with this, you can put this matter to rest, and it's about time I head back." Yugen waved at him, "I still have a match waiting for me, and Professor Chronos has been messaging to rush me. If I don't go back soon, he might come personally to find me."