Coastal area, Duel Academy—Underwater.
The submarine from the Gecko Conglomerate was still stationed there.
"Ma'am."
A soldier from the conglomerate reported to Echo.
"There's still no contact today."
"I see."
Echo waved her hand, looking listless.
They'd been on standby here for days. No one had any idea what the current status of this mission was, whether it was still ongoing, or if there was any reason for them to remain.
A few days ago, KaibaCorp's people had shown up, essentially taking over the case.
Professor Viper was already exposed, and had reportedly been personally dealt with by the Duel King. The conglomerate's whole reason for coming was Viper, but now their main target had vanished.
As for the spirits Viper had, even KaibaCorp had been mobilized, so it was likely out of their hands now.
Yet, even so, they hadn't received any orders to withdraw. In fact, they hadn't received any notifications at all for days.
Their main job was to support Adrian; he handled the real intel-gathering and operations. He'd always been the one to command and notify them when to move in.
But now, the problem was that their leader had gone silent—
This was the first time in all her years working with Adrian that Echo had seen such a situation.
As the conglomerate's hidden ace, Adrian had always put the company first, charging at the front lines. He always made optimal decisions and gave precise orders.
But this time, Echo felt that Adrian seemed to have lost all interest in the mission. Actually, it was as if he didn't even care about the conglomerate anymore.
She wasn't even sure if he was still carrying out the mission.
Adrian was unreachable for long stretches, and from what Echo knew, he was spending most of his time with that Duel King. The two would lock themselves in a room for half a day at a time—who knew what they were up to in there?
For the first time ever, Echo—who knew Adrian best—couldn't help but doubt.
Did the young master get poached from the conglomerate?
…
At that moment, Yubel was looking at Kira with a strange expression.
"Can you stop staring at me like that?"
Kira shrugged, "What's wrong with looking? Don't be so stingy."
Yubel: "Haven't you heard it's rude to stare at a lady?"
Kira: "Huh? Are you a lady?"
Yubel: "…"
"Honestly, I've always wondered." Kira shrugged. "Besides, I'm not looking at your body—I'm just studying your cards."
Yubel: "That is my body."
Yes, that's right. Kira was currently in his personal lab, with Yubel's deck spread out before him.
The three cards in the center: Yubel herself, Yubel—Terror Incarnate, and Yubel—The Ultimate Nightmare.
"I've done all the tests you wanted, you've got all the data you needed—what more do you want?"
Yubel was clearly unhappy.
She was starting to suspect she'd been hoodwinked. Maybe this guy never intended to let her see Jaden; maybe he just sweet-talked her into working for him, with ulterior motives…
Well, on second thought, that didn't really add up.
After all, she'd just lost their duel fair and square. If he wanted to do something, he wouldn't need sweet talk—he could do whatever he wanted, and she wouldn't be able to resist.
But he hadn't done that.
"What do you want, exactly?" Yubel asked, exasperated.
"Nothing, just checking if you're developing healthily," Kira replied offhandedly.
Yubel: "!"
"I meant your cards," Kira said with a chuckle.
"Have you ever considered that maybe your evolution path is fundamentally wrong?"
"Maybe your Stage Two and Stage Three forms aren't your true evolution, but monsters created by some outside evil influence?"
Yubel frowned. "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Kira rested his chin on his palm, studying her again.
It seemed Yubel still wasn't aware she was possessed by the Light of Destruction.
During their duel, Kira had tried to use the power of a shadow duel to purge the Light of Destruction from her, but he'd failed.
But he'd expected that. The Light in Yubel was probably even stronger than in his previous encounters, since she'd been infected out in space and had lived with it for much longer.
The anime was the same. Even though Sartorius was the chapter boss and had been possessed for years, Jaden was able to purge the Light with Neos's power and restore Sartorius's original personality.
But at the end of the GX anime, Jaden had to use Super Polymerization to fuse himself and Yubel's souls, passing the Supreme King's ultimate darkness to Yubel to truly purge the Light's influence. That act also led to their souls' complete fusion.
After the duel, Kira could sense that the evil aura of the Light had been suppressed, but it was still dormant inside Yubel.
With his current abilities, he couldn't fully remove it—unless he eliminated Yubel herself as well.
That was an option, but since Yubel was a powerful potential ally, Kira preferred to keep her around if possible.
Still, this was a headache he'd leave for Jaden. As the real protagonist, with his power to awaken souls by dueling or talking, Kira was sure Jaden could handle it.
The reason he was studying Yubel's deck was for its potential.
Yubel's deck was different from most of those he'd collected and studied before.
If Yubel's deck evolved to its final form, it'd be a true game-breaker in the current meta. With the right upgrades, Yubel would be a top-tier deck in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!—in terms of consistency, speed, and end-board strength.
Kira put away the deck.
No rush, research takes time, and it'd require Yubel's cooperation. Once Jaden handled her, she'd have no choice.
"Let's put that aside for now—let's solve your physical problem first."
Kira thought for a moment. Yubel needed to consume duel energy—and the darkness in duelists' hearts—to speed up her resurrection.
Currently, Adrian was off fighting in the other dimension. If Yubel went to help and rack up some wins, her resurrection would be much faster.
Seeing that he was genuinely considering her needs, Yubel's cold expression softened slightly.
Her tone eased: "Actually, there's something you might want to know."
"What is it?"
"On your island," Yubel said, "there's another unfriendly presence hiding."
"Oh?"
…