Chapter 91. Code Talker vs. Machina! The U-Lock and Iblee's Terrifying Lockdown Field.
After Yugi Muto sighed with emotion, the one inside him—the King, Pharaoh Atem—started sighing as well.
Once upon a time, they had cut their way through thorns to stop the absurdly invincible Orichalcos and Dartz.
They had no idea how much stamina and effort it would take.
Back then, they had witnessed the might of the Orichalcos barrier.
They had also witnessed monsters of immeasurable size.
But they never expected this.
A bootleg Orichalcos from the Higher World clubbed them over the head like a wake-up call!
Dartz's Orichalcos?
What's that compared to this?
This—now this is what a true Orichalcos deck looks like!
"Heavenly God Sweep" of Orichalcos?
No!
It's an Orichalcos sweep to victory!
VRAINS World.
As the newest era and the first to join.
After watching this wave of childhood bootleg nostalgia cards, Yusaku Fujiki suddenly got fired up.
In the meantime, he actually started searching for lines of play and combos that could crack the Orichalcos "Heavenly God Sweep."
"Yusaku? What are you…?
"Are you saying there's a way to break the Orichalcos sweep?"
Takeru Homura noticed Yusaku Fujiki's expression and his eyes flickered.
If you know Yusaku Fujiki, you naturally know what that expression means.
"There is."
"But I don't know if such cards—or such an engine—exist."
"For example, after destruction and banishing."
"Is there a card effect that returns to the Deck after being destroyed?"
"Or, cards that are banished return to the Deck at the end of the turn."
"That way you make sure the Deck still has cards."
"Then you don't lose on the next turn."
Yusaku Fujiki spoke calmly, and the duelists around them shifted expressions.
After carefully considering it, that was exactly right!
If cards from the Deck are in the banished zone, as long as they return to the Deck by the end of the turn, at least you won't get one-card FTK'd.
...
Main World.
Sei Yuki also noticed Yusaku Fujiki's line of thought.
He had to admit it.
As a protagonist of the new era, there's still a big difference in how he thinks compared to the old guard.
As for the "Deck" Yusaku mentioned, Sei Yuki really did think of one: Metaphys.
The hallmark of those monsters is: when they're banished, during the next Standby Phase they return to the Deck to trigger effects.
That said, trying to deal with the bootleg "sweep" is still a bit of a pipe dream.
"Hoo, that was a breezy bootleg-card segment.
"Next let's find a Code Talker duel video.
"Let's see if one duel is enough to show Yusaku Fujiki what the Higher World's Code Talkers can really do!
"After that, I'll look up Tearlaments.
"..."
Sei Yuki set his target.
He quickly picked the next short video and hit play.
Title:
"Code Talker vs. Infinitrack! I'm Getting Steamrolled!"
In no time, the duel title was transmitted to the six Duel Worlds.
Because the chat had already been buzzing about this beforehand, the moment they saw the words "Code Talker," the old-guard duelists of the first five Duel Worlds had their pupils shrink.
They immediately realized what engine that was: the ace Deck of the newly joined VRAINS World's Yusaku Fujiki!
And because they'd discussed it already, they all knew this Deck's core is Link Summoning.
Which raises the question: how strong is Yusaku Fujiki's Code Talker in the Higher World?
Amid everyone's anticipation, duel info appeared!
Code Talker Saikou vs. I'm Gonna Create You!
LP for both sides: 8000!
Going first: Code Talker Saikou!
Going second: I'm Gonna Create You!
Code Talker Saikou: "Alright! Today we're playing the Code Talker Deck!
"People say Code Talkers are strong because of 'access and traps!'
"Today I'll show everyone a Code Talker U-Lock board!"
"First, Normal Summon Lady Debug!"
"Lady Debug activates to add Micro Coder!"
"Link Summon using Lady Debug on the field and the Coder in hand!"
"Arrows 2! Link-2!"
"Code Talker!"
Opening thunder!
This opening string of plays already stunned the old-guard duelists who weren't from the Link era.
This Link Summon—why is it completely different from what they saw before?
Before, Link Summoning always used monsters already on the field as material.
But this time, he used a card in hand to Link?
That can't be right!
You can do that?
But after seeing too many bizarre duels, the old guard quickly calmed down.
After Double Accel Synchro became a thing, linking from hand resources didn't seem that crazy anymore.
The key was to see what kind of board the Higher World's Code Talkers could make.
Code Talker Saikou: "Micro Coder in the Graveyard triggers to add Cynet Codec!"
"Activate this Continuous Spell—heh! The show's about to start!"
"Activate Mathmech Addition in my hand."
"It targets 1 face-up monster on the field, Special Summons itself from hand, and that monster gains 1000 ATK until the end of this turn."
"After Addition is Special Summoned, continue by Link Summoning using the on-field Link-2 Code Talker!"
"Arrows 3! Link-3!"
"Transcode Talker!"
"Then activate Cynet Codec."
"When a monster is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck to my field, I can target 1 of them and add 1 Cyberse monster with the same Attribute from my Deck to my hand."
"I choose Transcode Talker and add Code Generator!"
"Activate Transcode Talker to revive the Link-2 Code Talker from the Graveyard."
"Link the Code Talker with Code Generator!"
"Link Summon confirmed! Arrows 3!"
"Excode Talker!"
"Continue with Cynet Codec to add Parallel eXceed!"
"Activate Code Generator in the Graveyard to send Dotscaper from the Deck to the Graveyard."
"Dotscaper triggers in the Graveyard to Special Summon itself."
"Now link the Link-3 Transcode Talker with Dotscaper!"
"Link-4."
"Firewall Dragon!"
A smooth, resource-rich wave of Links and searches!
The old guard wore heavier expressions as they watched.
And many duelists had already noticed one card that was clearly fake and terrifying: Cynet Codec.
At first, they thought this was just a normal Continuous Spell.
But once Firewall Dragon hit the field, no one could sit still!
Including everyone in the VRAINS World—they went a little crazy!
Wait.
This Cynet Codec search effect—it isn't once per turn?
Huh?
If it's not once per turn, that means as long as you Special Summon from the Extra Deck, you can add a Cyberse monster with a different Attribute to your hand.
Even though it self-limits so each Attribute can only be searched once per turn, and the monsters you Special Summon from the Extra Deck must be Cyberse, this is Code Talkers we're talking about!
In fact, this card could go not only in Code Talkers; as long as the condition is met, any Cyberse Deck can run it.
"What is this card? Why do I feel like I've never seen it?
"When did we Cyberse get a god card like this?"
Takeru Homura's mouth twitched; his vacant stare was fixed on this Continuous Spell's power.
His Salamangreats are mostly FIRE, but that doesn't stop him from fetching other Cyberse cards.
"I don't know. All I can say is—
"Magnificent. No further comment.
"Codec? It's just a hard-coded effect sheet!"
Even Yusaku Fujiki felt a little broken once he grasped what this card was doing.
In Link engines, climbing Link ratings—resources are everything!
Code Talker Saikou: "Activate Parallel eXceed in my hand.
"If I Link Summon, I can Special Summon this card from my hand to a zone a Link Monster points to."
"Then I use eXceed's effect to Special Summon a second copy from the Deck."
"Link one of them with the Link-3 Excode Talker!"
"Link Summon!"
"The gale that sees the future—Link-4, Accesscode Talker!"
"Chain 3, Accesscode Talker gains ATK up to 5300!"
"Chain 2, Cynet Codec resolves to add Knightmare Corruptor Iblee!"
"Chain 1, Firewall Dragon resolves—I Special Summon Knightmare Corruptor Iblee!"
"Next I link Iblee with the last Parallel eXceed on the field."
"Link-2! Code Talker Inverted!"
"Iblee's effect—when it's sent from my field to the Graveyard, Special Summon it to my opponent's field in Defense Position."
"Cynet Codec resolves to add Cyberse Gadget."
"Keep linking!"
"I link Code Talker Inverted and Cyberse Gadget!"
"Link-3! Shootingcode Talker!"
"Cyberse Gadget in the Graveyard triggers to Special Summon a Gadget Token (Cyberse/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 0)."
"Cynet Codec resolves to add Scrypton!"
"Use the Token to make a Link-1 Talkback Lancer in the right Extra Monster Zone!"
"Activate Cross Debug in my hand to Special Summon itself."
"Then Link Summon Salamangreat Balelynx..."
"I'll place it in the other Extra Monster Zone!"
"At the same time, Balelynx adds the Field Spell Salamangreat Sanctuary, and I activate it."
"..."
Two zones holding Link Monsters?
That can't be right!
Something feels off here.
Both Extra Monster Zones—how did this guy occupy both of them?
Duelists across all six Duel Worlds jolted in unison.
Expressions shifted wildly as they watched the short video's relentless soliloquy ending with the eerie occupation of both Extra Monster Zones.
Yes!
By rule, in principle, each player can only use one Extra Monster Zone.
It shouldn't be possible for one player to occupy both at once!
For duelists from the first five worlds, not yet fluent in Links, that thought left them baffled.
Wait, is this guy using cheats?
But in the group chat, an explanation soon came from Akira Zaizen.
Akira Zaizen: "Normally, each player can only use one Extra Monster Zone.
"But when the two Extra Monster Zones are mutually linked, you can use the other zone to Special Summon a monster.
"Look again. Check the Link arrows on his field."
With that explanation, the old guard's gazes snapped back to the arrows on each Link Monster in the video.
On the right, the Extra Monster Zone monster was the Link-1 Talkback Lancer.
Its arrow points down!
Directly beneath that stood the Link-3 Shootingcode Talker.
Its arrows point up, left, and down—mutual link established!
Meanwhile, to the left stood a Link-4 Firewall Dragon.
Its arrows point up, down, left, right—mutual links everywhere!
Shootingcode Talker and Firewall Dragon were mutually linked.
To Firewall Dragon's left was a Link-4 Accesscode Talker.
Its arrows were likewise up, down, left, right—again a mutual link!
And the final Link-1 placed to occupy the last Main Monster Zone arrowed by Accesscode Talker aligned perfectly for a mutual link with Accesscode Talker.
With all the arrows understood, looking at the board now, after linking everything together, it formed the letter U.
"What do you mean? Huh? What even is this?"
"Is this a U-Lock? Is this the real power level of a Code Talker going first?"
"What are you talking about? I still don't get it! Don't be riddle-lords!"
"Terrifying! Staring at this board, I can't think of a way to break it! It's over! Shimatta!"
"..."
With Akira Zaizen's reminder, all the VRAINS-world duelists shuddered as they caught up.
Their vacant stares still couldn't quite accept that this board was real.
Meanwhile, those who still didn't get it kept drifting in confusion.
They just didn't understand the point of this U-Lock.
In the short video, the final piece of the board was just one monster away.
Code Talker Saikou: "Activate Talkback Lancer to Tribute Shootingcode Talker and send it to the Graveyard."
"Then, I revive Excode Talker from the Graveyard."
"My board is now perfectly complete!"
"I Set 1 card."
"Extra Link!"
"I trust you'll thoroughly enjoy this locked board!"
With a playful smile, the turn passed to I'm Gonna Create You.
Staring at the U-Lock on the field, I'm Gonna Create You furrowed his brow, face turning grim.
I'm Gonna Create You: "With Knightmare Corruptor Iblee on my field, I can only Special Summon Link Monsters.
"But with no Extra Monster Zone and no arrows pointing to a usable zone, I can't Link Summon anything!
"And there's Firewall's Quick Effect bounce, and Salamangreat Sanctuary can set my ATK to 0 so I can't crash Iblee..."
As the opponent explained the U-Lock, the duelists across the six worlds were taken aback at first, then each one went slack-jawed, as if they couldn't believe their ears hearing how terrifying this going-first board was.
You can only Special Summon Links, but you can't Link Summon?
Huh?
The ultimate lockdown?
Special Summon restrictions?
So that's what the U-Lock really means!
Isn't that a complete shutdown?
The old guard inhaled through their teeth.
Their first thought was: unsolvable!
No, wait—under normal circumstances, unless you topdeck divine outs, it's really hard to crack.
Even Yusaku Fujiki let out a long breath.
He doesn't think his dueling technique is low, but even he had to admit he had never conceived of a board like this, not even once.
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts