After the meeting ended, some wanted to take the chance to practice well, while others were anxious and at a loss for what to do.
Jaden comforted Syrus a little, but couldn't offer more solace. He could only pray they'd find Zane as soon as possible.
After all, to him, no matter how fierce Zane's appearance became, he was still his close, dependable big brother.
Hikaru naturally understood them.
But there was nothing he could do to help, so he returned to his workshop first to prepare.
Honestly, he had wondered whether he would hear the Crimson Dragon's voice again, but he hadn't expected to hear it on this very day.
Or was it that when he had the thought "I want to go to the Synchro Dimension," the Crimson Dragon chose him again?
He didn't know.
But regardless, with the Crimson Dragon's help, he wouldn't need to find a way to smuggle himself in. After all, smuggling wasn't a simple matter.
And unlike last time, Hikaru could now more or less sense some information.
Perhaps because his control over Super Polymerization had improved further, or perhaps because his spirit power level was already high enough, this time he sensed several pieces of information from the Crimson Dragon's voice.
The time was roughly one month later, about seven or eight days after the second-year final exams ended.
Considerably later than Jaden and the others, but the problem wasn't serious.
Because Jaden and the others were actually going far in advance. According to Hikaru's memory of the WRGP, the official registration and competition start time should be about two months later. For one, the WRGP needed preparation. Although half a year wasn't short, not everyone could free up enough time. These one or two months of preparation were an essential part of coordinating the entire Synchro Dimension globally for scheduling, lodging, and dining arrangements.
So Hikaru going a bit later was no big deal.
There was still plenty of time before the actual start. And perhaps KaibaCorp would also use this time to collaborate or exchange with people from other dimensions, with no spare attention for finding Zane and Bastion.
After learning the exact time, Hikaru no longer felt the urgency and tension of last time hearing the Crimson Dragon's voice. Instead, he immersed himself in the workshop doing experiments every day.
Though called experiments, it was more about supplementing information.
In the short term, the materials he'd accumulated were already used up. Making more Pendulum cards now truly depended on luck.
So during this period, besides his usual experiments and testing, Hikaru spent the rest of his time on another task.
Namely, "observation."
Analyzing the information collected from the "Selfless Painting School," observing what kind of information it was and what use it had.
Not knowing whether the Selfless Painting School had any other strange characteristics, Hikaru discovered during this time that no matter what angle he photographed the Selfless Painting School from, he would obtain some information about Gladiator Beasts. Combined together, he actually extracted quite a bit of Gladiator Beast information from the Selfless Painting School.
This astonished him.
It seemed the Selfless Painting School wasn't merely reflecting information from "the last dimension Hikaru had visited," but had some other details as well.
However, Hikaru couldn't yet analyze the cause.
Perhaps there were more other details.
Or perhaps...
Actually, the "Selfless Painting School" spirit wasn't simply letting Hikaru photograph it at will. On the contrary, it was actively transmitting information to Hikaru.
Among it, was the Gladiator Beast information the most useful thing it believed Hikaru had taken during this period?
But...
"Gladiator Beast Claudius " didn't look like a card that could be casually created.
If Hikaru wasn't mistaken, creating "Gladiator Beast Claudius" through alchemical means would require at least five different Gladiator Beast Fusion Monsters.
Hikaru didn't even have five copies, let alone use them for easy fusion.
But this kind of thinking and strategy might be useful. So Hikaru thought for a while, worked with Tierra to build a special robot, and sent it to the Selfless Painting School.
This robot would continuously and repeatedly recite Hikaru's conjectures, along with greetings to the "Selfless Painting School."
Hikaru didn't know whether the Selfless Painting School was friendly toward humans, spirits, or any other life. In any case, he'd try first.
And to all the spirits' surprise...
Not only did this machine uncommonly avoid being inexplicably destroyed in that dimension like other robots, it even brought back additional information!
Yes.
Additional information!
Hikaru stuck his fingers in both ears, listening to the piercing, blaring sound, feeling his teeth on edge.
The robot had brought back an audio clip. Clearly, this audio had been directly implanted into the robot by the "Selfless Painting School." But this string of sound, merely by playing, gave Hikaru a splitting headache. Some weaker spirits even fainted outright, forcing Hikaru to play the audio in a sealed room in the central area.
They didn't know what this audio was. Even Tierra couldn't analyze it.
But that wasn't actually the point.
The point was...
Whether Hikaru, Tierra, or the spirits, they could all sense an "intention."
Namely, the owner of that voice actually didn't want to proactively harm them and bore them no malice!
The reason they couldn't withstand the sound was simply because it was too piercing, too loud!
After this, Hikaru analyzed the information while Tierra, as if competing, built a brand-new machine, single-mindedly determined to bring back the sound and imagery intact.
So...
Ten days later, the second experiment began.
The new robot's appearance was no longer that of an ordinary next-generation little robot, but rather the "Qliphort Monolith" that Tierra built using her real skills. This machine was full of Tierra's design aesthetic and discarded all extra functions, retaining only information reception and calculation functions.
Beyond that, Hikaru also left a card on the robot, one fairly popular and common in this world: "Friendship."
This was a card reprinted countless times, a card symbolizing the legendary friendship between the legendary duelist and the King of Duels. It was also a card many students loved to collect, and Hikaru had obtained one during this time.
As a result...
The robot returned intact as before.
But Friendship caused serious consequences!
It wasn't that Friendship was torn or destroyed. Rather, when Friendship returned to the Great Universe Workshop, it carried a large amount of black energy. The moment this energy appeared, the Three Sacred Beasts and the Earthbound Gods collectively entered a state resembling a rampage. Although they didn't actually attack, in that brief instant, chaos erupted in Hikaru's workshop, and the positions of several planets were affected.
"It's a Darkness-type entity." Tierra analyzed beside Hikaru.
Hikaru nodded.
"And... a Fiend-type at that."
Hikaru scratched the back of his head.
Now it could be confirmed.
The Selfless Painting School was a Darkness-type Fiend, possibly a Fiend-type deity. But in any case, its classification could now be roughly determined.
And this time, the Assembler brought Hikaru a decent voice recording.
Or rather, a message?
"Take the power of the Gladiator Beasts and a hundred martial arts, add weapons and the Gladiator Beast arena, mix and synthesize all power, bestow it upon slave and bear and transform it at the final moment, and gather the heroic spirit of sky, earth, and sea. Then the wild Emperor shall descend."
"The connection between dimensions is not coordinates in the conventional sense. Coordinates do not fail to overlap with one another. A single coordinate actually has multiple reachable positions. What you seek will not arrive in the way you desire."
"Hello hello hello hello hello..."
Hikaru covered his ears again.
Even more pronounced than last time!
Just listening to these sounds, Hikaru felt dizzy.
But this wasn't actually his mental fortitude failing. On the contrary, it was that the "Selfless Painting School's" voice was too loud. A string of sounds and words compressed into less than a second, and Hikaru physically felt discomfort and pain.
The good news was...
It really was rational!
The Selfless Painting School!
It was responding to Hikaru!
Hikaru dug at his ears and muttered under his breath. "It's this noisy even at the lowest volume. No wonder ordinary people can't withstand that dimension. How could anyone possibly endure this."
As the saying goes, the greatest sound is silent. A sound this loud could completely envelop anyone who reached the Selfless Painting School's dimension without them even realizing it. And a sound this immense, probably just from the vibrations it created in the air, could make a person feel ill.
Hikaru shook his head.
But at least, this confirmed something very good for Hikaru: the Selfless Painting School wasn't irrational. On the contrary, they could actually communicate.
It was just...
"This is infuriating, why is it so hard to deal with..." Beside him, Tierra directed several Infernoid machines, hurriedly repairing the Assembler.
Obtaining information from the Selfless Painting School, this basic prerequisite alone was enormous. And every time it was sent out, it required lengthy repairs upon return.
It would probably take a full half-month before Hikaru could exchange a single "question and answer" with the other party.
Moreover, Hikaru figured that since the other side was so friendly, shouldn't he send something to prove his side bore no malice either?
But thinking about how the other party's "volume" alone was beyond anything they could match, he was a bit unsure what to send. In the end, after seven days of preparation, still not knowing what to do, he wrote a letter of thanks and curiosity and once again placed it on the Assembler, which had undergone a second modification.
On one hand to thank the Selfless Painting School, on the other to ask whether it wanted anything.
Finally, Hikaru also attached his own "request": the coordinates of the Branded spirit dimension.
"This time it'll definitely work!" Tierra patted her chest with full confidence. Then the next day, she saw the Assembler half-shattered again, looking as if it had collapsed.
Tierra took a deep breath.
The durability still wasn't enough!
The mechanical materials on hand couldn't be improved any further!
Furious, she shouted at Hikaru to hurry to the DT spirit dimension. She needed some convenient materials for a third modification.
But what mattered more was the Selfless Painting School's reply.
Hikaru rubbed his head, organizing the information together with Mudragon, Haine, and the Golden-eyes Idol extracting as much as possible. Before long, Haine excitedly cried out: "Lord Hikari, we've got it, the coordinates!"
The coordinates!
Wonderful!
Hikaru quickly took the audio segment that Haine handed over and examined it carefully.
The question he'd asked this time was the location of the "Branded Dimension." And this time, the Selfless Painting School really did give him a string of coordinates!
At the same time, Hikaru and the others gradually analyzed the Selfless Painting School's other responses.
First was "thanks." It was also very grateful that Hikaru could send little toys to amuse it amid its daily slumber and boredom. After all, it truly struggled to communicate with other life. Now having a chance to chat with someone was, for the bored-out-of-its-mind entity, a ray of light in its grey, dull existence.
Regarding Hikaru's "questions," it indicated it could answer. Whatever it knew, it could tell Hikaru. However...
It wouldn't give to Hikaru for free.
It had long seen that Hikaru and the other spirits were trying to obtain information from it. And wasn't it likewise using Hikaru and the others to change its own life?
So it wouldn't refuse Hikaru's "compensation." Although in scale they were on completely different levels, there were some things the Selfless Painting School couldn't do, and it hoped Hikaru could help.
In exchange, it would provide some information Hikaru wanted to know, of the same tier as the things it wanted recovered.
"Recovery from specific dimensions?" Hikaru looked at the audio information in his hand, puzzled.
"It seems... it has different lost parts scattered across different dimensions?" Tierra, on the other side, analyzed along. "I see. Pierced head-on by that red light, although it gained a will, at least half its body was actually blasted into other dimensions, right?"
"Oh!" Several magician spirits suddenly understood.
Hikaru read further down.
The first target... the Dark World?
Hikaru froze slightly.
Could it be... one of those "special dimensions" recorded by Professor Banner?
"The Selfless Painting School says you'll find it once you get there, because it's very obvious. In appearance, it's literally a card." Haine, read on.
"That makes it convenient."
Hikaru figured this matter wasn't difficult for him now.
Because his spirit adaptability was already high enough, he was no longer limited to just a single spirit dimension each month. Helping search for things was something he could fully handle.
But before that...
Hikaru gazed at the coordinates the Selfless Painting School had provided as if looking at a treasure.
The coordinates of the Branded World!!
He called to his companions, telling them to get ready, then directly input a string of coordinates within the Great Universe Workshop.
Purple light slowly flickered on the dimensional gate. But soon, the green light dissipated, and a streak of crimson entirely replaced the gate's color.
The next second, Hikaru's body dispersed and reassembled. When he came to, he had already appeared at the foot of an enormous hillside.
Red light streaked across the sky.
In the sky, what looked like a rift had torn open, with countless bolts of lightning falling from it. Before Hikaru could even react, an enormous axe-staff came crashing down beside him.
Seeing this, Hikaru raised his left hand. Purple energy materialized, blocking the attack.
Then he hurriedly retreated, dodging out of the attack range as much as possible.
Fortunately, the next second...
"Get lost!"
Tierra appeared beside Hikaru. She swung her hand, and countless purple puppet strings shot out, knocking the inexplicable attacker flying.
However, the attack that had always been invincible dealt little damage to that monster. With only a "heh heh heh" laugh, the monster swung the axe-staff in its hand, seemingly completely unaffected.
Hikaru followed the movement with his gaze.
He saw a tall, slender figure, its back covered with red spikes and claws, a demon resembling a "fallen angel," grinning savagely while swinging an axe-staff lined with interlocking fangs...
Red light flickered across its body, black aura permeating the surroundings, giving off a foul, nauseating impression.
Hikaru studied it for a moment, then grew surprised.
Wasn't this, wasn't this...
"Who are you looking for"?
Tragedy Player - Whom Do You Seek!
The name Hikaru was more accustomed to was "Despian Tragedy of the Holy Tomb Visitor"!
The demon giggled for a moment, swung the long staff in its right hand, which transformed into a fang-like Duel Disk, then stabbed into its right hand like a blade.
DUEL!
Despian Quaeritis, LP: 4000.
Hikaru, LP: 4000.