The duel ended with Chazz winning decisively.
If Hikaru had been at a disadvantage during the earlier duel, there would have been spectators mocking him or Chazz's relatives pointing fingers. However, after the Tag Duel concluded, there was only effusive praise.
Chazz's uncles, those completely unfamiliar family relatives, and the board members of the Princeton Group rushed to Chazz's side as if scrambling to be reborn, one by one, continuously praising his growth and excellence.
One said he was young and promising, another claimed he had always believed Chazz's future was limitless, and so on.
This left Serena stunned. Wasn't it her master and Jaden who had won the duel? Why, after their duel ended, were there only some reporters and duelist spectators greeting them?
In the stands, a seemingly frail student indignantly squeezed the armrest of his seat.
After realizing he had crushed the armrest to pieces, he then looked deeply at Jaden.
Jaden seemed to have a nerve touched, instinctively looking in that direction, but the moment he looked, there was no one there.
Hikaru didn't mind not receiving much applause after the duel. Facing a large number of fans every day was what gave him a headache. Besides, he had already prepared himself before coming here today, in this place, there was only one protagonist, and that was Chazz.
Chazz Princeton!
Compared to those things, Hikaru still preferred to chat with the Paradox Brothers.
After all, putting everything else aside, the Gate Guardian Fusion Monster series was of genuinely excellent quality.
The two brothers weren't too surprised by Hikaru's interest.
They had long heard that Hikaru was a duelist who was enthusiastic about Fusion, pursued Fusion, and also liked to seek out every kind of Fusion, so they didn't mind Hikaru attempting to obtain the Gate Guardian series of cards.
After all, the two were wandering and traveling Tag Duel specialists who didn't concern themselves with such matters.
However, what surprised Hikaru a little was that the concept of a "Gate Guardian Dimension" did exist, it was the peculiar dimension that the Paradox Brothers called the "Grand Labyrinth Dimension."
But the key was that the coordinates of this dimension were not information they could simply hand over.
Because this was a "commercial dimension."
It sounded strange at first, but Hikaru thought it over and slowly understood.
Although nowadays Hikaru could freely move through most dimensions using a dimensional gate as long as he had the coordinates, there were still many specific exceptions.
The first type, like the Warrior Domain or the Magician Domain, were special dimensions that could not be entered through normal means, only those who were recognized were allowed entry.
The second type were dimensions that theoretically anyone could enter but were blockaded by certain forces, such as the Sanctuary of Light, directly blockaded by KaibaCorp. Naturally, Seto Kaiba was certainly not the only one in the world who would do such a thing.
However, unlike Kaiba, those other dimensions that were specifically blockaded or had their information sealed served a different purpose.
Money.
For example, the Grand Labyrinth Dimension, known to the Paradox Brothers because its internal structure was a labyrinth, if one could not find the exit within 24 hours of entering, they would be forcibly expelled back to the human world. Thus, it was a very suitable dimension for "making money."
The company that discovered this dimension immediately sealed off all information about it, holding the coordinates firmly in their hands, then offered everyone the opportunity to enter once for a certain ticket fee. As for whether there would be results or if one could obtain cards, that depended entirely on the duelist's own fortune.
"Humans are truly boring," Tierra, who had listened to everything from the side, couldn't help but snort.
Hikaru chuckled awkwardly, while Jaden beside him laughed and said to Tierra, "Oh, well, they spent so many resources finding that dimension, they can't just give it away for free."
There were many companies in this world that made money through dimensional travel, but not many had truly found suitable and reasonable ways to profit big.
Previously, Hikaru had always lived at the Academy, and when he occasionally left Academy Island, it was to study and work at Scenery Corp, so he had never encountered companies like these.
"The Princeton Group has partnerships with many such companies," the Paradox Brothers explained to Hikaru and Jaden. "Like that Minotaur Company, it's one of the most profitable among these emerging firms."
Minotaur Company was an international company possessing the coordinates of the Grand Labyrinth, a relatively large dimension. Besides the Gate Guardian spirits, there seemed to be many others inside. And no matter how hard one tried, one could only stay for 24 hours at a time, so there was no worry about losing customers after a single ticket. The income was very stable.
In addition to Minotaur Company, the Princeton Group also had several other partner companies, all involved in similar businesses.
This was the Princeton Group's attempt to invest their ambition into the Duel Monsters world.
After all, although the company had developed new dimensional travel equipment, their exploration, reconnaissance, and dueling capabilities were purely new ventures. If it weren't for Chazz's sudden rise and his becoming Kaiba's disciple, they might not have been able to partner with these companies at all.
"If that young man becomes the new helmsman of the Princeton Group, more companies will likely partner with them in the future, and then you'll be able to travel through some of these restricted dimensions," Mei said to Hikaru and Jaden.
Kyuu looked at Chazz, who was surrounded by elders and business partners, and added, "However, as a duelist, if your path is constrained by money, you won't be able to advance."
This was wisdom born from their own experience.
"I hope your friend won't be held back by the group's affairs."
"Haha, you can rest assured, Chazz is super amazing," Jaden said with a laugh.
Hikaru also felt that Chazz would never abandon dueling because of such matters. After all, the reason he was fighting to wrest leadership of the group from his brothers was precisely because he wanted to get closer to his master, Seto Kaiba.
In any case, both sides were very satisfied with this duel.
Although they'd lost to Jaden again, this time the Paradox Brothers had witnessed the opponent's growth, and their own performance was clearly more satisfying to them than last time.
For such veteran duelists, whether a duel could satisfy the audience was no longer the primary concern, because they themselves were far more "strict" than any audience member.
Last time, losing to Jaden had jolted them awake from the endless praise and money. This time, dueling Jaden wasn't just about proving themselves, it was about validating their own progress. When they said Jaden was trapped in a labyrinth, weren't they also searching for a way out?
After Hikaru shook hands with the two legendary duelists, he walked toward the duelist spectator area. Serena excitedly waved her hands, cheering and celebrating for them, and Lulu couldn't help but gently applaud.
Hikaru smiled and waved back to the two, while Jaden directly sat down in the front seat with a "Ha!" and repeatedly said how interesting the duel had been.
Scenery Corp also continuously applauded Hikaru.
They naturally wouldn't try to curry favor with Chazz at such a time. Moreover, their company's duelist representative was Hikaru, Chazz Princeton's good friend, so why would they need to make an appearance at this moment?
Earlier, when Hikaru was chatting with the Paradox Brothers, they hadn't disturbed him. Now that the duel was over, they immediately came to congratulate Hikaru on his performance, and then asked Jaden if he was interested in appearing in their upcoming Scenery Corp duel recordings.
"Ah, that's it, right? Fierce Duel! Legendary Duelists 3!" Serena reacted almost immediately, jumping up excitedly.
"3?" Lulu beside her caught on to a key detail.
Serena nodded eagerly, explaining Hikaru's previous duel footage to Lulu and mentioning she could show it to her later at the Fusion wing, as they were all very famous duels.
Jaden naturally wouldn't refuse. This duel had been very enjoyable for him too, and if more people could see it, that would certainly be even better.
As for the Paradox Brothers, Scenery Corp had already discussed it with them, so after receiving Jaden's confirmation, they excitedly prepared to send the footage to the company's publicity department to start editing the new episode of Legendary Duelists.
And at that moment;
"Hikaru." At some point, Rex Raptor had already appeared beside the group.
Hikaru stood up and greeted him. "Rex-senpai."
"Oh, oh, oh!!! Mr. Rex Raptor, it's really you!" Jaden excitedly jumped up to greet him.
On the other side, Serena explained to Lulu that this was also a legendary duelist, and her master Hikaru's "senior."
Rex Raptor slightly adjusted his hat, acknowledging Jaden's words, then looked at Hikaru. "Kid, didn't you tell the people at the company earlier that you wanted to duel a legendary duelist?"
The Scenery Corp staff exchanged glances.
Of course they had told Rex Raptor about this, but why was he specifically bringing it up now?
"Yes," Hikaru nodded, confirming he indeed had such a plan.
Initially, in his duel with Rex Raptor, he had obtained a super unfinished version of the Claw of Hermos. As he dueled Weevil Underwood and Seto Kaiba from ten years ago, the completion of the Claw of Hermos gradually increased.
Today, after the duel with the Paradox Brothers, although Hikaru hadn't checked his deck, he knew from experience that the completion of his Claw of Hermos must have improved further.
This was a good thing.
Just a few more legendary duelists, and maybe he'd complete it!
This was his first legendary dragon, and also the second usable legendary dragon, which was quite exciting.
"Heh..." Rex Raptor's eyes drifted to the side, seemingly piercing through space to see a certain place. "A while ago, I, through connections, got back in touch with an old friend. A friend, I guess."
His emotions were a little downcast as he said this.
"Anyway, I asked that person to help me make contact and find an opportunity."
He rummaged through his pocket, pulled out a card, and tossed it to Hikaru. Hikaru quickly caught it and looked down.
On the card was an old man with oddly shaped hair, holding out both hands, making a peace sign.
Hikaru slowly widened his eyes.
"Wow!"
Jaden saw the stick-figure self-portrait on the card and couldn't help but let out a long gasp of admiration.
What? What?
Now Serena didn't know what was happening, jumping up and down, trying to see what Hikaru held in his hand, full of curiosity.
"This... this is Mr. Solomon Muto's?" Hikaru asked tentatively.
Muto?
"That's right." Rex Raptor took a deep breath. "That guy, Yugi's grandpa."
Oh my god!
Hikaru was overjoyed.
This seemed to be a pass, a "friendship certificate" to Domino City, to visit the legendary of legends, the genuine living legend, King of Games Yugi Muto's own grandfather, Solomon Muto!
"Could it be that you asked Joey?" Hikaru made the connection and suddenly realized.
Rex Raptor did not deny it.
King of Games Yugi Muto's sworn brother, Joey Wheeler, was one of the most excellent duelists of his era, second only to the true legend Seto Kaiba, who was still active on the front lines, and also someone Rex Raptor had once hated to the bone.
To be honest, Rex Raptor had had a very good relationship with Joey for a period of time. Although his Red-Eyes Black Dragon had been lost to Joey, he didn't hold a grudge at the time and had even once warned Joey to be careful of psychic duelists and their abilities. Back then, they weren't enemies, they could even chat and laugh together.
But later, Rex Raptor had listened to his "good buddy" Weevil Underwood, joined the Orichalcos faction, and dueled Joey Wheeler. After that, things became very strained between them.
From then on, Rex Raptor went through many hardships, eventually became the spokesperson for Scenery Corp, and had come this far. Yet there were still many things he regretted but dared not face.
One was Weevil Underwood, and the other was Joey Wheeler.
The former was regret born from a misguided friendship, while the latter was regret born from his own betrayal.
Some time ago, hearing that Hikaru actually wanted to challenge legendary duelists, Rex Raptor pondered for a long time, and finally, without Scenery Corp's knowledge, contacted Joey again.
He had expected the other party might curse him out, might hang up directly. But he never expected that Joey didn't hold a grudge at all. He was even quite excited after hearing Rex's voice, asking where he'd been all these years and why he hadn't been around. When he learned what Rex wanted to do, he didn't suspect for a second whether Rex was trying to kidnap Solomon Muto, he chose to help without hesitation.
Sigh.
Rex sighed in his heart.
"Kid, this is a hard-won opportunity." He looked at Hikaru, his gaze like a scanner, as if wanting to engrave every detail. "Old Man Muto has many addresses and contact methods for legends. If you really want to challenge them, this is the fastest way. And also...
Don't startle the old man."
Hikaru heard the extremely unnatural shift in Rex Raptor's emotions. He looked at the card in his hand, then looked up at Rex Raptor again, took two deep breaths, and patted his chest.
"Don't worry, Rex-senpai."