In a boundless, pure white space. Here, there is no direction, no boundaries, and even one's own shadow has disappeared—only eternal silence and the ground underfoot faintly emitting a cold light.
This is ZONE's domain, a unique space where almost anyone else cannot enter without ZONE's permission.
Yugen brought over the bundle of D-Wheel and the blasted mechanical wreckage, dumping it all here. Charred gears, broken circuits, twisted alloy skeletons… these shards appear exceptionally glaring in the void of white, like tainted blood dripping on snow.
"Hey, are you there?"
Yugen looked up and asked the infinite void.
After a moment of silence, the space slightly fluctuated. ZONE's gigantic Nautilus floating device appeared out of thin air, slowly descending before Yugen.
"What's up again?"
"Something just happened. Someone hacked into my database, trying to probe Taiyi, probe my origins. I caught them."
Yugen pointed at the chaotic wreckage on the ground.
ZONE's blue eyes beneath the mask slightly furrowed.
"A machine?"
"Yeah, it felt like a replica of Bleu from the Unicorn Team," Yugen said, "Grotesquely accurate, I have to admit. Until it self-destructed, I really thought it was him.
Being able to perfectly replicate a Duelist's personality, implant it into a machine body, enough to deceive with the replica… the technology of this era shouldn't be able to achieve this, right?"
"Hmm, it can't."
ZONE said.
"Let me see..."
As ZONE's words fell, the mechanical debris floated up in the data stream as if reorganized by an invisible force. The scorch marks faded, twisted metal returned to its original shape, circuits reconnected—ultimately, a complete mechanical human form appeared mid-air. Its face was smooth metal, devoid of features, only a dark red optical visor flashing.
"Hmm... interesting." ZONE said.
Yugen asked, "Oh? Any findings?"
"Yes," ZONE said flatly, "It's my technology."
Yugen: "?"
He stared at ZONE strangely for a moment, confirming he didn't misunderstand.
Yugen asked, "Is this thing made by you?"
"No, that's not my original statement," ZONE said indifferently, "I said it's my technology, but I didn't say I built this machine."
Yugen said, "But no one in this world can replicate your technology."
"Indeed, 'this world' cannot," ZONE said.
Yugen was stunned, quickly realizing what he meant.
In this world, no, but what about other worlds?
What they are facing now mainly comes from threats outside this dimension. The enemy has already found a Rex Godwin from the Otherworld, found a Ludger Godwin, so why can't they find a ZONE?
The Multiverse is so vast, countless worlds encompass endless possibilities; otherworlds potentially have other ZONEs as well.
It's just that ZONE...
The last man of humanity, representing the pinnacle of technology in the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! series, both technology and card prowess are top-notch, a ceiling-level existence in 5DS.
If such an "exceptional" existence invades this dimension, no one can predict what kind of disaster it might bring.
"But I don't understand," Yugen frowned, "Assuming... let's say there really are parallel dimensions, another 'you' there. Then why create a replica of Bleu from the Unicorn Team?"
He doesn't doubt ZONE has such technology, yet can't fathom ZONE's motive.
He's not belittling the Unicorn Team, though this team is top-tier, but after all, they're only elite Duelists of this era, possessing no extraordinary abilities, no special backstories, nor untapped potential.
Is replicating them really necessary?
ZONE said dryly, "I don't know."
Yugen looked at him.
"I'm just being honest," ZONE said, "All I know are the possibilities of this dimension's timeline, but as for other worlds, what other 'I' might think, I'm truly clueless."
"Alright then."
Thinking more won't help, anyway, deal with things as they come.
Yugen decided that the urgent matter now was, as Taiyi Emperor and officer, to quickly print more cards as the right way.
...
...
In the deepest part of the abandoned industrial area, a rundown factory.
A few blurred figures were faintly visible under the dim lighting. Rusty metal pipes occasionally dripped murky water, creating a "drip drip" sound, adding to the eerie atmosphere of this secret meeting.
"That guy Bleu..."
One person suddenly slammed the rusty iron table beside him, the clatter of metal reverberating in the empty factory.
"Not only acted on his own, exposed our existence, and revealed our secrets..."
He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing a dangerous red glow.
In the corner, a burly figure nearly two meters tall snorted disdainfully. He casually flexed his wrist joints, emitting a "crack crack" sound of uncertain origin, whether bone or metal friction.
"Exposed is exposed, saves us from continuing to hide," he said dismissively, "I've long grown tired of such days."
"Calm down," the third person spoke, "That guy Fujiki Yugen is not simple. His Duel... is very unusual, unlike anyone we've seen before."
The first person irritably paced back and forth, the soles of his boots grinding out a piercing sound on the ground, "What's the use of talking about this now? The plan has already been disrupted. We should adjust our strategies now..."
"Enough!" The burly figure suddenly roared, shaking dust loose from the ceiling, "This waiting is simply torture, pure waste of time!"
The first person said, "Then according to you, what should we do?"
The burly figure ignored him, only drawing a card emitting a strange red glow. The surface of the card showed energy lines pulsing like veins, with lava flowing through each.
"Since none of you dare to attack..." his voice suddenly turned eerily calm, yet carried a chilling murder intent. "Then let me face that guy, see how long he can last against my absolute power."
As he raised the card in his hand, the temperature within the factory abruptly soared. The lines on the card squirmed like living creatures, suddenly erupting in dazzling flames. Flames twisted and coalesced in the air, finally forming a menacing dragon shadow. It spread its burning wings, the glowing scales resembling flowing lava, the golden vertical pupils burning with pure destructive desire.
The blurred image looked astonishingly like Jack Atlas's ace, the Dragon Sealer's dragon, the Red Lotus Demon Dragon!
The burly figure laughed madly, his laughter shaking the entire factory. "Let the Game begin! My Tamashi is already thirsting for battle!"
The dragon shadow roared silently, the scorching heat wave sweeping through the space. Rusty metal began to melt, water on the floor vaporized in an instant, the entire factory transforming into a massive furnace.
A figure said solemnly, "Calm down. The repulsion reaction in this dimension hasn't completely faded yet, we can't exert full force now..."
"No matter, I understand the limits."
The burly figure chuckled coldly.
"Before finding that officer... I'll face the 'target' first, hehe..."