While Jaden Yuki was enjoying a moment of harmony, a different scene was unfolding on the other end of Duel Academy Island.
The spirits of the night shimmered with a faint blue glow. A group of girls had gathered, whispering urgently among themselves.
"Waaaah! Ghost Ogre and Ghost Belle... they've both been taken away by the Supreme King!"
"How pitiful. If they've fallen into the Supreme King's hands, they'll surely be tortured to death..."
"Unforgivable! That damned Supreme King! If he dares to harm a single hair on their heads, I'll... I'll definitely..."
The dog-eared girl, dressed in a grey-white kimono, was currently drenched in a cold sweat. She crouched beneath a tree, poking at the mud with a twig. Behind her, three other girls were fuming with indignation, each looking ready to risk their lives in a desperate struggle.
"Hey, Ash Blossom! Say something!"
"Exactly! You said it yourself you know the Supreme King better than anyone, right? Isn't he a terrifying dictator?"
"Yeah! You were the one who suggested we use our power to defeat that hateful Supreme King! We have to break free from the fate of being manipulated by him!"
I was just joking... how did you all end up believing me?
Cold sweat continued to pour down Ash Blossom's forehead. Originally, she had only wanted to use a few lies to rouse everyone's enthusiasm to stand up to the Supreme King. After all, Jaden had created all of them; if she didn't say something bad about the Supreme King, how could they ever find the heart to rebel?
But looking at the current situation, she felt like she had started a car she couldn't stop.
"Hey, Ash Blossom... you aren't lying to us, are you?"
Suddenly, a pink-haired girl in white narrowed her eyes suspiciously. The scythe in her hand was already resting against Ash Blossom's neck.
The sweat on Ash Blossom's brow flowed even faster.
"H-How could that be! A-Am I that kind of spirit? How could I possibly lie to you?"
Ash Blossom waved her hands frantically, her fluffy tail wagging at a rapid pace.
"I'm not so sure. You have quite the track record..." Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries remained skeptical. She didn't fully trust Ash Blossom's nonsense.
However, compared to the unknown Supreme King, Ghost Reaper was still slightly more inclined to believe the fast-talking Ash Blossom. After all, as a spirit from the future, she had indeed heard stories of the Supreme King's Army causing trouble in the Spirit World thousands of years ago.
If the Supreme King's Army was like that, then as their leader, who knew what kind of terrifying person the Supreme King himself might be?
"I'm going to use the power of the other spirits to test the Supreme King!"
After a long silence, Ghost Reaper's cold gaze gradually turned serious.
"Huh? You... you're going to step in personally?" Ash Blossom gulped.
Among the six spirits, Ash Blossom possessed the most powerful special abilities. But when Ghost Reaper went crazy, no one could stop her.
Moreover, if Ghost Reaper ever found out she had been lied to for fun... Ash Blossom would definitely be beaten to death, right?
A few days passed in peaceful tranquility at Duel Academy. However, as news about Jaden Yuki began to ferment in the outside world, that peace was gradually shattered.
"Jaden!"
In a quiet clearing by the river, Alexis Rhodes hurried over. She found Jaden Yuki lying under a tree as usual, looking completely relaxed. His fishing rod was set up beside him as he lazily waited for a fish to take the bait. He looked like someone entirely removed from the struggles of the world.
But given the current situation, he couldn't afford to be so detached!
"Jaden! Look at the time, and you're still here slacking off."
Hearing Alexis's voice, Jaden lifted an eyelid and glanced at the angry blonde girl. "What's wrong?"
He rolled over and sat up with a yawn. According to the timeline, nothing major should be happening right now, right?
"Don't you know? News about you has been trending like crazy online lately." Alexis pulled out her communicator and held the screen in front of Jaden's eyes. "The word that you're staying at Duel Academy has already spread everywhere."
Jaden looked at the forums on the screen. News about him was everywhere. He raised an eyebrow, seemingly understanding something.
"That guy, Kosuke Kunisaki..."
"Kosuke Kunisaki? Who's that?" Alexis frowned, then waved her hand dismissively. "That doesn't matter. Compared to that, there's something far more important!"
"Oh? What is it?"
Seeing the solemn look in Alexis's eyes, Jaden realized something big was about to happen. Given Alexis's personality, she wouldn't be this agitated unless it was serious.
Alexis looked at Jaden and said, "You've been selected as the school representative for the duel against North Academy."
"Huh?"
Representative for the duel against North Academy? Jaden naturally remembered the previous selection process for the school representative. However, he had clearly told Chancellor Sheppard that he wouldn't participate in the trials. So why...
"Because the news of you being at Duel Academy reached the public, the media and your fans have started putting pressure on the academy," Alexis explained helplessly. "An international conglomerate has also stepped in with a massive sponsorship for this duel. And they specifically requested that our representative must be you, Jaden Yuki."
It has to be me...
Jaden had already guessed exactly what this "international conglomerate" was. The Princeton Group.
It was a corporation with a massive reputation in both the business and political worlds. And if everything followed the original story, North Academy's representative would undoubtedly be Chazz Princeton himself.
In the original work, Chazz's two elder brothers had sponsored the representative duel to promote Chazz. Their goal was to have the Princeton Group dominate the political, business, and dueling worlds. They had even brought in world-class television stations for a global broadcast.
This time, because the opponent was the high-profile Jaden Yuki, the Princeton Group certainly wasn't going to let the opportunity slip through their fingers. The online campaign had already begun.
The news of "Chazz Princeton VS Jaden Yuki" had gone viral across every major forum. Everyone was focused on this inter-school representative duel. The Princeton Group had taken the chance to put heavy pressure on the school, forcing them to send Jaden into the fray.
Under the weight of a massive conglomerate and the clamor of the masses, the academy's choice to send Jaden was a move made out of sheer necessity.
"The wheels of history are still rolling in the direction of the original work..." Jaden realized that this battle was likely unavoidable.
"My third duel with Chazz, huh?" Jaden stared at the calm surface of the lake in the distance, murmuring softly.
"I guess I can use Chazz to test out my new deck... Traptrix."
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