Over the next few days, there were no other changes to Hikaru's routine.
Aside from a very few special situations, Hikaru spent the vast majority of his time simply analyzing the data of each team.
Although because of that little Sophia episode Tierra had been in a somewhat low mood during this period, that state came fast and actually left fairly fast too.
The most important reason was, in the end, that this world was not the world Tierra had been born in.
And during these few days, besides his routine work, Hikaru had also been focused the whole time on searching for traces of Bastion Misawa and Zane Truesdale. Yet all his exploration seemed, in the end, to sink like a stone into the sea.
Strange...
If even this kind of search couldn't find them, then this probably was absolutely not a normal situation.
Just like that Hart Tenjo earlier, perhaps somewhere in this world, those two people had been deliberately "looked after," so that even future technology couldn't locate their traces.
Over these few days, although several rounds of duels were held each day, with a full four teams dueling each round, after several days there were still a few teams that hadn't rotated in to compete. Perhaps some people who shouldn't appear in this world were hidden within those teams?
Hikaru had made a point of noting down the people of those teams. Some were masked like him, and some simply had their entire figures concealed.
There were far too many duelists participating in this WRGP, and among this multitude of duelists, those hiding their identities and concealing their faces were also countless.
It wasn't only duelists like Hikaru, who found it inconvenient to show his face and would be instantly recognized the moment his features were revealed. Some rather special duelists also consistently insisted on hiding their identities. Aside from Hart Tenjo, that person who seemed to have vacant eyes and let his vehicle carry him through the duel, hardly anyone had ever exposed their identity.
Of course, if you observed carefully, you could still detect some subtle problems.
For instance... Team New World.
"LP at zero! Team New World, contestant Paradox wins! Another exhilarating one-turn kill. Truly outstanding!"
Along with the duel's end, on the WRGP tournament forum, threads about Paradox also began scrolling madly.
"That Malefic Paradox Dragon is too shameless, isn't it? It can be Special Summoned directly, and it has 4000 ATK! And it can directly Special Summon a Synchro Monster from the Extra Deck!?"
"Feels even more outrageous than the continuous Synchro of Team 5D's I saw a few days ago. Special Summoning a Synchro Monster straight from the Extra Deck, I've never even seen that before."
"I said Team 5D's isn't invincible! If you faced today's Paradox with his Malefic Paradox Dragon and the Skill Drain board, how exactly would you take on the enemy?"
"Bull! Team 5D's Yusei didn't even finish his Synchro, and that Light's ace is unaffected by Spells and Traps!"
The forum argued in an uproar. Hikaru, after briefly scanning it, went along and found a photo of "Team New World" members snapped by a spectator.
Three cloaked men, almost all concealing their appearances, looking just like members of the sort of common evil organization, appearing quite exaggerated.
However, although they were hiding their identities, through this one duel, one could simply deduce who these three were.
In all likelihood, Antinomy, Paradox, and Aporia, with a small chance of a "Zone" hidden as well.
They'd actually personally entered the WRGP tournament. Was it that they didn't trust Yusei, or, like in the original work, did they have their own separate plan too?
Hard to say.
Although Hikaru had already defeated Darkness, that didn't mean this world's future would definitely be peaceful. For Zone to have his own separate goal, different from Yusei's, was perfectly normal.
Only, if it was Paradox, and he still used Malefic, then what all was in his deck?
Malefic Cyber End Dragon? Malefic Rainbow Dragon? Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Would these still exist? Especially "Malefic Stardust Dragon." In the original work, Malefic Stardust Dragon was Yusei's Stardust Dragon, a monster of which only one existed. Now that Stardust was in Yusei's hands, would it still exist?
Would that "Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon," used to give birth to his own White Stone, still exist?
Hikaru faintly felt there might be some strange links here, and even more likely, some deviation in the details.
He couldn't really treat Paradox's deck as a pure Malefic deck.
Hikaru's abundant experience was reminding him that any single person in this world could change and adapt, especially those who commanded outstanding power. They would all the more go create or pursue brand-new cards.
There was no telling whether this New World had some card he'd never seen. He couldn't take it lightly.
Although they were, in all likelihood, allies of Hikaru and his group, if their philosophies and goals differed, there was always the possibility of participating in a more serious duel at any time.
A few more days passed, and basically all the teams had made an appearance.
Although there were novel duels to watch each day, and they'd even completed the reconnection with the Xyz Dimension, the Fusion Dimension side was still lifeless.
The reason was simple: to this day, they still hadn't found any scattered scrap of intel on the two of them.
A brand-new round of duels began. Syrus, who couldn't find his brother all day, was somewhat dazed. Beside him, Jaden patted his back a bit to comfort him, then forced a smile and told him not to worry too much.
So many days without the slightest news, even Jaden couldn't quite manage a smile. Zane Truesdale was, to him, someone like an older brother too, and now, up to this point...
"Zane!?"
Suddenly.
Atticus stood up in agitation.
Who?!
Where—
All the people from Duel Academy hurriedly looked around, but none of them saw the "Zane Truesdale" Atticus spoke of.
And turning back, they saw that Atticus was actually looking at the projection in the sky.
Team Setting Sun versus the City Hall team.
The contestant Team Setting Sun sent out was a duelist who used a FIRE Attribute Synchro Monster. The Duel Academy students still had a rough impression of him.
And the other person.
That person wore a strange getup.
First was the helmet. Although every duelist had to wear a riding helmet, this duelist's helmet was especially conspicuous and especially special. On top of the helmet were drawn many star-chart-like things.
He wore a spotless white coat, on which the Big Dipper's seven stars were depicted. The moment he took the stage, there was a sense of being surrounded by a host of stars.
"Tsk... it's those fellows' duelist." Seeing this person come out, among the Nordic trio, Bommer couldn't help giving a cold snort.
The "nobles'" ace!
In this world's last God's-selection war, the ancestors of these modern nobles had helped the Crimson Dragon achieve victory. After that, these nobles had obtained a transcendent "blessing," the most obvious point of which was that this bunch of nobles possessed "trump cards" that ordinary duelists could never touch.
Wanting to collect powerful cards was no simple matter.
Although each participating contestant had their own unique deck, that didn't mean these cards were easy to collect.
Rather, it was precisely because every duelist used a "unique" deck that the "difficulty" of deckbuilding in this world was revealed.
Rare, precious cards couldn't be collected so simply, and many cards existed as only a single copy in the entire world. Even though quite a few clever people knew you could arrange and combine all the cards currently existing in this world to build "the strongest deck," those cards couldn't just be casually gathered.
And the nobles inherited powerful decks accumulated over countless ages!
It seemed this person was the last bet the nobles had placed?
The Duel Academy side, meanwhile, was focused on his build.
His build seemed about the same, but the feeling it gave off didn't seem like Zane Truesdale?
It couldn't be an illusion, could it.
Atticus frowned, staring at the screen, but didn't join his companions' discussion.
The duel quickly began.
The spectators noticed this person's name.
Polaris?
This man mounted his D-Wheel and raced rapidly across the giant arena. That terrifying acceleration gave the duelist dueling alongside him a fright.
The D-Wheel came within a hair's breadth of hitting the wall while turning, and he controlled the D-Wheel to perform the most extreme cornering acceleration. Not only did he not slow down, but he charged out of the track at an even faster speed!
The first move went to Polaris!
"Hahahaha, my turn!"
This man laughed like a monster.
Gulp.
The Duel Academy members instinctively swallowed.
They'd seen the City Hall team's duel before. That duelist called Shun Obsidian used an Xyz Monster series called "Raidraptor," and seemed to be from the Xyz Dimension. In other words, the City Hall team wasn't actually limited to its own dimension. It was possible for duelists from other dimensions to appear.
As long as they dueled, the moment Cyber Dragon took the stage, then they could be certain...
But instead, Gouchen picked up a hand card and revealed it at the same time: "Activate Continuous Spell Card!"
"Ursarctic Radiation!"
Along with his shout, an enormous warship flew up above his head, and then seven huge bright stars lit up on the warship.
"Only one Ursarctic Radiation can exist on my field. When activated, place 7 counters on this card."
Ursarctic Radiation, counters: 0 → 7.
"Eh, it's not Cyber Dragon."
"Ursarctic seems to be a series unique to this world."
The hope that had just risen in Syrus was somewhat dashed, but he didn't give up. Like Atticus Rhodes, he kept his eyes fixed on the duel screen.
"Ursarctic Megagrizzly's effect: I release a Level 7 or higher monster other than this card from my hand to activate. This card is Special Summoned. After this effect activates, until the end of the turn, I can't Special Summon monsters that don't possess a Level."
Eh?
"Can't Special Summon monsters that don't possess a Level? What does that mean?" Jaden suddenly grew a bit puzzled.
"Idiot, it means that as long as you Special Summon this monster, you can't Xyz Summon this turn!" Chazz responded outright.
"Ehhh—"
Ursarctic Megagrizzly. Level 8, WATER Attribute, Beast-Warrior-Type. ATK 2800.
A gray, giant-clawed mechanical bear warrior appeared behind Gouchen, advancing along with his high-speed run.
"He Special Summoned a 2800-ATK monster just like that?" His opponent gazed at this card, a bit surprised.
But if it was only ATK, then it was no big deal.
"At this instant, I activate Ursarctic Radiation's effect. Each time an 'Ursarctic' monster is Special Summoned from the hand or Extra Deck, I remove 1 counter from this card to activate. Draw 1 card!"
!?
Gouchen quickly drew a card from his Deck, and at the same time, one of the stars on the huge warship in the sky dimmed.
Ursarctic Radiation, counters: 7 → 6.
Draw a card?
Gouchen drew a card from his Deck and looked it over.
"I activate the effect of Ursarctic Mikpolar in my hand, releasing a Level 7 or higher monster in my hand other than it to activate. Special Summon. Likewise, the turn it's Special Summoned, until the end of the turn, I can't Special Summon monsters that don't possess a Level."
Boom!
Another brand-new giant mechanical bear leapt onto the field with a roar.
Ursarctic Mikpolar. Level 7, WATER Attribute, Beast-Type. DEF 2000.
Level 7?
Gazing at this monster, the watching duelists all showed puzzled expressions.
This monster's stats weren't high either.
"Ursarctic Radiation's effect, remove one counter, draw one card. Mikpolar's effect, activated when this card is successfully Special Summoned. I add 1 Ursarctic monster other than Mikpolar from my Deck to my hand!"
"I add Ursarctic Megatanus to my hand!"
Someone's expression shifted slightly.
"He can actually keep drawing... no, I should say he can draw a total of 7 cards?"
This hand-replenishing ability was so strong.
"Ha, next, I should... tune, right."
Tune??
But their Levels added up to 15!
"Using the Level 8 Megagrizzly and the Level 7 Mikpolar, I tune!"
"What!?"
Everyone cried out in shock.
Because everyone knew that so-called Synchro meant Special Summoning a monster from the Extra Deck by adding together the Levels of Tuner and non-Tuner monsters.
But these two monsters, their Levels added up to 15. There simply shouldn't be a Synchro Monster like that!
"The Summoning conditions are, send 1 Tuner monster and 1 non-Tuner monster on my field to the Graveyard so that their Level difference equals 1!"
Huh?
Subtraction!!?
Polaris raised his right hand. In the sky, that enormous Big Dipper began to shine radiantly, its bright light illuminating the D-Wheel, turning him into a god-like existence.
Yusei slowly opened his eyes wide.
At the same time, some duelists well-versed in the inside story couldn't help rubbing their eyes.
At this instant, they saw that on Polaris's body, strange red and black bright streams of light had actually begun to flow!
That was... the power of the Crimson Dragon!
"Absolute Synchro power, built upon the entire world, different from cooperation. Now, become a torrent of data and manifest here!
Negative Synchro!
Level 1, Ursarctic Polar Star!"
The huge grizzly turned into a pitch-black ring, and immediately, the other bear flowed into its ring. Countless black stars filled the empty spaces within its body, and finally, only a single bright star remained.
Ursarctic Polar Star. Level 1, WATER Attribute, Machine-Type. DEF 2000.
"Le, Level 1???"
"A Level 1 Synchro Monster!? I'm not dreaming, am I??"
"How is that possible? As long as it's a Synchro Monster, there can't be a number like 1. The lowest it can possibly be is 2!!"
An intense sense of discomfort and the supernatural welled up before all the spectators and duelists. Quite a few duelists who were merely collecting materials felt, at this moment, that the dueling philosophy and dueling understanding they'd held all along had all been shattered.
Polaris offhandedly drew another card from his Deck.
"Polar Star's effect: it can perform Negative Tuning with 1 monster in my hand or on my field. I release it and 1 Level 8 Ursarctic monster in my hand to activate. I Special Summon 1 Level 7 Ursarctic monster from my Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions.
The monster Special Summoned by this effect gains this special ability: the opponent cannot activate the effects of Level-possessing monsters Special Summoned from the Extra Deck!"
"I release it and the Megabtanus in my hand!"
"Once more!"
"The power of the negative direction—"
"Ursarctic Septentrion!"
Swish, swish—
An enormous mechanical bear warrior, swinging a great sword one or two times longer than itself, slowly landed on the ground. Seven stars shone brilliantly, turned to light, and fused into its sword.
Ursarctic Septentrion. Level 7, WATER Attribute, Beast-Warrior-Type. ATK 3000.
"By the way, as long as this card exists in the Monster Zone, the effects of face-up monsters without a Level that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck are negated."
!!
His opponent's mouth fell open.
Sealing "the effects of monsters other than Level ones"!?
This was their dimension's power, specifically meant to counter the Xyz Dimension!?
The government was hiding cards like this too!?
Polaris went along and drew another card from his Deck.
He felt dizzy.
On one hand, the Level 1 Synchro Monster had shaken his worldview; on the other, this monster also brought him immense pressure.
Effect lockdown, and 3000 ATK on top of that. How was he, who fought relying on Synchro Monsters, supposed to play?
What's more, before the turn ended, Polaris also silently Set several cards, plainly all Spells and Traps to support Septentrion.
After struggling to duel for a while, before even a quarter of the course, this duelist was defeated.
"Sigh..."
The Duel Academy students all sat down in disappointment.
Such a special, unique Synchro Summon was absolutely a secret weapon of the Synchro Dimension. There was no way it could be Zane.
And the voice and movements didn't resemble him much either.
The key point was that there was also none of that strange manic state Zane had.
However, among those present, two people didn't think so.
One was Atticus Rhodes. Now, he was already certain that this person was absolutely Zane Truesdale!
The other was Syrus, because at this very moment, his face was pale white. He'd remembered something his brother had once told him. Before going to the Xyz Dimension, his brother Zane Truesdale had once mentioned to him a special dimension, or rather, a special "trial."
When Cyber Dragon's call is transmitted to the cosmos.
The "Drytron" will bring a response!
The Big Dipper...
This was exactly the same style as the Drytron he'd once caught a fleeting glimpse of!