"WRGP?"
Yugen was somewhat surprised.
He definitely couldn't forget this tournament, after all, it was the main storyline in the latter half of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
WRGP, short for "World Riding-duel Grand Prix," is the world Riding Duel tournament, the most important storyline after the Dark Markers arc. The 5D's team won their highest honor as a team in this tournament, and everyone gained invaluable experience during this competition.
Their showdown with the Three Emperors of the Taiyi Organization also took place in the finals of this event.
From the name itself, it's clear that this competition is exclusive to Riding Duels. Unlike the Lucky Cup, which allows participants without D-Wheels or licenses to compete, featuring traditional standing duels. For competitors like Akiza Izinski at the time, who didn't have a D-Wheel, it was all about traditional standing duels.
But WRGP mandated Riding Duels exclusively, and without a D-Wheel or a license, one couldn't register for the tournament. The format was a team competition, participated in as a 3-on-3 team battle.
In contrast with previous Yu-Gi-Oh! team and melee battle rules, the WRGP team competition rules are quite unique, resembling a relay race.
Each team sends three participants into the fray, with the second person taking over when the first contestant loses. Each team member has an independent four thousand Life Points, and the relay contestant inherits all the cards left on the field by the first player but cannot inherit resources from the graveyard.
And because of the relay nature, even if it's not the final contestant, when they lose and their Life Points hit zero, there's still a point where they can continue to operate.
However, once someone loses in a turn, it immediately jumps to the end phase of that turn. This means the current turn's contestant is forcibly ended, unable to continue attacking or entering Main Phase 2 to summon Monsters or set cards, thereby giving an advantage to the opposing team's contestant.
Yet Yugen remembers, in the original work, the WRGP took place about a year after the Dark Markers arc ended?
After the Dark Markers and before the WRGP arc, there was a long stretch of daily life, mostly involving Yusei and others preparing for the competition, and some unrelated slice-of-life events, with attempts to get closer to the Taiyi Organization and investigate conspiracies interspersed throughout.
Yugen thought for a moment and said, "WRGP... I do have some impression of this tournament, but it seems like it wasn't supposed to start this soon, was it?"
"That's right, there wasn't any plan for it to begin yet." ZONE's voice still seemed old and weary, "But the situation is changing.
Originally, we held the WRGP to save the future world by completely destroying the perpetual motion machine of New Tongshiyi. The energy released from battles by top duelists in the WRGP can complete the 'Loop' in the shortest time and with maximum efficiency, which enables the summoning of the 'Arc Cradle'."
The so-called 'Arc Cradle', referred to by the future group as the 'Divine Residence City', is where their God — ZONE — resides.
Although it sounds divine, in reality, the Arc Cradle is just the future Neo Tongshiyi City, already destroyed in ZONE's timeline. ZONE wanted to summon the Arc Cradle to collide with the current Neo Tongshiyi, thus completely destroying the perpetual motion machine and everything here, triggering the source of future destruction.
"So, you want to accelerate the plan's progress and summon the 'Arc Cradle' to destroy Neo Tongshiyi?" Yugen asked.
ZONE was silent, observing Yugen for a moment.
"You know quite a lot." ZONE said calmly, "Does your dimension also have me, and this plan?"
"I've just heard about it." Yugen replied.
"Then, in your dimension... did my plan succeed?" ZONE asked.
Yugen shook his head but then nodded.
"The Arc Cradle couldn't destroy Neo Tongshiyi; you were stopped," Yugen replied, "but in the process, Yusei Fudo transcended the history you knew and evolved to an unimaginable extent.
As a result, the ZONE that I know once again chose to believe in Yusei and humanity's potential, entrusted the future to Yusei, and decided to destroy himself along with the Arc Cradle."
"Is that so..."
ZONE let out a long sigh, uncertain if he felt relieved or regretful for the counterpart of himself in the Otherworld.
Yusei Fudo surpassed his understanding, rekindling a long-extinguished hope and belief in the future's potential...
Isn't this the best result he has persisted in seeking for so many years?
It's just that too many failures and too many fallen comrades had left him afraid to believe in hope and afraid to yearn for that bright future. Hence, now he was willing to become an executioner,. to slaughter millions, just to prevent the doomed future.
So, could this timeline, this dimension's version of him, also reach that perfect ending like his counterpart in the parallel world?
Yugen asked, "So, are you going to summon the Arc Cradle early?"
While the others didn't know WRPG's true purpose, Yugen did. WRGP was held partly to temper Yusei and others, making them stronger, and simultaneously to absorb the Duel Energy generated during battles among the world's strongest duelists. This energy would gather enough force to break through time barriers and allow an entire city to traverse time and space, summoning the 'Arc Cradle'.
"That's right," ZONE nodded, "but now the plan has changed compared to what you know. Although the goal of WRGP is still to summon the Arc Cradle, its arrival is not to destroy the current Neo Tongshiyi.
The Arc Cradle is the future's ruins of Neo Tongshiyi, but it's also my last bastion, housing the culmination of my life's technological endeavors."
ZONE paused, then continued.
"You might not know, but 'Anomalies' have been increasingly appearing in this timeline. Besides the ones you dealt with, our 'Taiyi' subordinates have also resolved several anomalies."
The orchestrator behind these dimensional invasions acts more and more frequently. If the anomalies it sends continue to fail, it will likely dispatch stronger ones... or even intervene personally."
Yugen said, "So, the 'Arc Cradle' is summoned to prepare for a decisive battle with the opposing forces?"
"Indeed," ZONE replied calmly, "the Arc Cradle is my final fortress. Not only is it equipped to counter any attack, but also, I am in my best state beneath the Arc Cradle."
He paused briefly, then said.
"Moreover, if the mastermind behind these anomalies perceives the true goal of hosting the WRGP, they might attempt to interfere. Therefore..."
Yugen had already figured it out and interjected, "The odds that their 'anomalies' might also participate in WRGP are quite high... Is that what you mean?"