After finishing discussing some basic matters with Hikaru, Shay Obsidian was ready.
Having him personally try to contact other people would surely be somewhat difficult. But fortunately, his team still had that good brother, "Yuto."
When she learned Yuto had also come to this world, Lulu was very happy, but then she began to worry about Yuto's condition.
Yuto's situation was much the same as Shay's. He too had left the Xyz Dimension to search for Lulu. Except, unlike Shay, he had no additional work to be responsible for. There was another thing too: Yuto himself was very worried about Shay, because when Shay Obsidian lost his temper, he could become extremely stubborn. If no one was there to help, he might well cause some kind of trouble.
On this point, Hikaru was fairly in agreement.
In the original series, Shay Obsidian could even turn passing duelists into cards in the "Pendulum Dimension" without a word of explanation. He could genuinely be called an avenging demon.
Shay also decided to explain the situation here to Yuto afterward, and probably to bring Yuto along tomorrow to see Lulu too.
To be able to see her own brother and good friend in a foreign land was a considerable comfort to Lulu. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that she couldn't help voicing the idea she'd had before in front of her brother.
She wanted to study spirit-studies at a Fusion Dimension school.
"How could that be all right, Lulu!"
"Eh, really!? Lulu!"
Shay and Serena showed completely opposite reactions.
For Shay Obsidian, having finally found Lulu, he would of course keep her at his side every day like a national treasure to protect, so that she wouldn't one day be suddenly attacked again.
For Serena, Lulu returning to her own dimension was a matter of course, so she herself hadn't held any expectations. Although her already dull school life might become even duller with one same-age sister gone, in any case she still had Master and the other seniors, so there was always something to do each day, and she wasn't alone.
But if a same-age Lulu could stay around all the time, then for her, that would be nothing short of ideal.
Lulu was quite unhappy with Shay's reaction, but she was after all a fairly rational girl, and still explained some of her thoughts to Shay.
First was that the two dimensions had, because of the Fusion army affair, ended up with a rift between them. If they could conduct deeper exchange and study across the two dimensions, it would surely be able to further break the ice.
Second, the spirit-studies taught in the Fusion Dimension were something she'd never seen and never studied in the Xyz Dimension. She was quite interested in these things, and had recently already learned many brand-new things. To leave now would be a real shame.
She very much wanted to learn all the remaining coursework. That way, not only could she satisfy her own curiosity, she could also feed back to the Xyz Dimension, bringing back sufficiently useful new knowledge for the Xyz Dimension.
But for Shay, this was too awful, too hard to bear.
She actually wanted to go study that terrible Fusion Dimension's stuff.
Seeing Shay still looking unwilling, Lulu couldn't help puffing up her cheeks in a huff and planting her hands on her hips, staring him down without the slightest sign of backing down.
"Lulu, on this matter, it does need careful consideration."
"Eh? How come even you, Amagi?" Lulu was very surprised.
Shay was even more surprised.
He hadn't expected Hikaru would help him in this regard.
But he hadn't expected that Hikaru's next words would be very practical.
"Lulu, first of all, there's something you need to confirm, namely: the qualification certification our Duel Academy provides after graduation, can it even be used in your world? Does it have any meaning there?"
?
"Secondly, even if your dimension's government can smooth over the related matters, you still have to go home and see your parents first, right?"
"At the very least, you should let your own family know what actually happened and put them at ease. That's the better way, isn't it?"
"There's one more thing. If you want to study the relevant specialized knowledge at our Duel Academy, actually going through the proper official channels is better. That way you can specifically study this content without needing to divide your attention on other coursework."
...
Lulu hesitated a moment, held one hand flat at her chest, thought for a while, and gently nodded.
What Hikaru said made a lot of sense.
Hikaru hadn't considered anything like employment direction or other such things, nor had he thought about matters concerning dueling. Instead, he'd approached it from "supposing you really do study abroad across dimensions, then what should you do." Precisely because of this, this kind of persuasive language was very meaningful.
By comparison, Shay Obsidian's brook-no-argument refusal was, in Lulu's eyes, simply "the dumb judgment of a dumb brother."
Seeing that there was still room for maneuver in the matter, Shay Obsidian breathed a sigh of relief. Hikaru checked the time. There wasn't much left. He couldn't keep his Fusion Dimension friends waiting, so he spoke up to bid Lulu and the others farewell.
Seeing this, although Shay Obsidian did want to chat with his little sister a while longer, he still sighed and said goodbye to his sister and the "sisters," and arranged a time for tomorrow, when he'd bring Yuto to visit.
After settling these matters, Hikaru next arrived at the Fusion Dimension's base. Here, everyone from the Fusion Dimension had already been waiting for him for a long while.
The Fusion Dimension's lodging had been given a simple decoration, some colored lights and small confetti poppers. The instant Hikaru walked through the door, they all lit up and burst at once. Hikaru paused a moment upon entering, then looked toward the familiar friends he knew so well.
Chazz, Jaden, Atticus, Rex Raptor...
Everyone was waiting for Hikaru's return.
They didn't ask Hikaru why he'd been going to Team 5D's during this time, nor did they doubt him. When Hikaru arrived, they softly welcomed him.
Hikaru paused briefly for a moment, then smiled and waved to everyone.
No matter where Hikaru was, wherever the Fusion Dimension and Duel Academy's people were, that was his warm "home."
After reuniting with everyone for a bit, amid friends' teasing and grumbling remarks, Hikaru gradually told everyone the intelligence he'd gathered during this time, as well as the things Shay had told him today. Upon learning that Bastion Misawa was actually on the City Hall team, quite a few people on the team were heartened.
Amnesia wasn't so frightening. As long as the person was alive, that was fine.
Moreover, based on Bastion Misawa's presence, everyone came to believe all the more that "Polaris" might really be Zane Truesdale.
But whether he was or not, before the mask came off, no one could guarantee it.
Even if the face beneath the mask really was Zane Truesdale's, there was a tiny probability that it was genuinely a "parallel-world isotope."
Although the probability of such a thing was low, it was after all not zero.
In any case, learning this news at least let these friends from Duel Academy who'd come to find people feel a bit more at ease.
As for that special card of Syrus's, Hikaru held it and studied it for a while.
Judging by Hikaru's experience, this card was absolutely a coordinate card, but it also contained some strange aspects. Hikaru couldn't say for sure and needed precise tools to run tests. Syrus was a bit anxious, but no amount of anxiety could conjure up an answer.
Fortunately, Hikaru said a day or two would be enough to research a detailed result. On the third day of the intermission, he'd come find Syrus again, and at that time they'd perform the summoning of this card.
As it happened, during this period Hikaru had also been researching the last "El Shaddoll," El Shaddoll Apkallone. He could test this card while also trying to create this final El Shaddoll.
Although Hikaru reckoned there might be even more El Shaddolls in the "future," at least in the knowledge he was aware of, this was the last one.
And while he was gathering with his friends, elsewhere, a certain person's matter had also come to an end.
In the Nordic trio's base, the three Nordic members watched Yusei Fudo with grave expressions.
After a day of contact, and a simple "sparring" at the card table, they had already clearly recognized one thing.
This was a terrifying opponent even without relying on "power," on skill alone!
Even though everyone had dueled using only preconstructed decks, Yusei Fudo's dueling was quite astonishing.
They couldn't help sizing this guy up seriously.
When they'd learned that this guy had come to visit and even hoped to "become friends" with them, the three of them had been quite astonished.
After all, their relationship with Team 5D's was actually terrible. Dragan's hostility toward Jack Atlas was common knowledge.
But Yusei Fudo chatted with them as if this thing didn't exist at all.
And the content of the chat expressed Yusei Fudo's own... genesis philosophy!
He hoped to gain everyone's recognition, to gain the support of all existences, to let the Synchro Dimension return once more to a state of "Synchro symbiosis," where all things coexist in harmony and cooperate to create a perfect future, and to win the One God War in the capacity of a human.
To increase his own credibility, he even told them where this idea had been born: Hikaru's duels had made him believe all the more firmly that his own dimension's summoning method surely had a meaning to its existence.
The Nordic trio possessed the Eye of the Rune, able to see through many things ordinary people couldn't. So right away, they'd seen that Yusei Fudo had undergone bodily modification.
But precisely because of this, the three of them were all the more astonished after hearing Yusei Fudo's words.
Unity of knowledge and action, combining his own genesis philosophy with his own dueling philosophy. Not only that, in order to achieve this, he'd even cast aside the most noble "identity."
You have to understand, this world's "power of the Crimson Dragon" was no simple hired hand. It was a status and standing that could share in the glory of the "One God"!
If Yusei still retained the identity of a "Signer," then after the Crimson Dragon became the One God, at minimum he could become a subordinate god, a human-god, possessing vast power beyond any ordinary human's imagination.
His descendants, his family and friends, all could enjoy inexhaustible wealth in the "new era," and even become like the current "nobles," enjoying a thousand years of victory-glory that would never fade for all eternity.
This was an inheritance more enduring and more immense than the dynasties of ancient times. And yet Yusei Fudo had actually cast all of this aside, and not even for his own sake, but for... others?
The three of them exchanged glances. Bommer found it a bit hard to believe, while Dragan, because of his "old grudge" with Jack Atlas, was also somewhat suspicious of Yusei Fudo.
"If you want us to believe you, then show us your true skill."
"That's right, words won't do!"
The Eye of the Rune in the two men's eyes began to change, runes gradually appearing. Clearly they were preparing to duel Yusei Fudo ahead of time, before the tournament.
But...
"Wait."
Halldor suddenly cut off his two companions.
He stood face to face with Yusei Fudo, the two looking at each other, the Eye of the Rune manifesting an unusual radiance.
He was a person quite similar to Yusei Fudo.
In his youth, he had once set out on a journey to obtain the power to open the Eye of the Rune, gaining the "ability to see through everything." And after obtaining this ability, he made his first prophecy about this world of his, and that first prophecy sent a chill through him. This world seemed to be doomed. If nothing were done, it might soon be too late.
For this, he gave up his colonel's rank and began searching for other inheritors of the Eye of the Rune, to awaken the Aesir, and in the capacity of a "God's Favored," participate in the duel of the One God.
As someone who had easily become a colonel at a young age, he could have lived an extremely affluent life. But once he realized the world's crisis, he gave up enjoyment, gave up pleasure, and devoted himself to study, seeking the truth of the world.
So he could understand Yusei Fudo very well.
But precisely because of this, he could all the less support Yusei!
"Yusei Fudo... you say you want to connect all existences and once again perform the dimension's 'Synchro,' is that right?" Halldor met Yusei Fudo's gaze and spoke unhurriedly.
Yusei Fudo firmly nodded.
"Then let me ask you, Yusei Fudo. If that's the case, why cast aside the power, the ability, the identity that the 'Crimson Dragon' gave you? If you gain victory, then doesn't that mean this world's future will never again have the 'Crimson Dragon'?
Can that also be called connecting all existences?"
His words were calm, but the question struck at the very root.
This was the special ability the "Odin the Aesir" had bestowed upon him, the power to see through everything!
Yusei Fudo slowly widened his eyes.
He, he was right!
At the very beginning, he had already cast aside "one side."
But...
"But if the Crimson Dragon is included, then the Crimson Dragon alone is enough to match the weight of all of humanity!" Halldor continued. "At that point, wouldn't you still just become the Crimson Dragon's agent?"
Yusei Fudo furrowed his brow and didn't refute, but this was precisely what was in his own heart too.
"Yusei Fudo, your philosophy is extremely lofty and admirable. But your actions simply cannot accomplish what you speak of. So, let's meet on the tournament field.
No wonder so many contestants can't make normal contact with you, and even instinctively develop hostility toward you.
Because your goal and your process are inherently contradictory."
He sighed and shook his head, extending a hand in a posture of seeing Yusei Fudo off. Yusei stood dazed for a while, then silently turned and stepped away.
It seemed... this really was the truth.
As he left, Halldor added a final thought: "I hope you can find your own ultimate answer."
Although he felt there couldn't possibly be any brand-new possibility, he still added that line.
Yusei fell silent for a moment. He didn't press further or argue, but left with a heavy heart.
He looked up at the sky.
In the sky, the stars twinkled, beautiful and brilliant.
In the City's lower quarter, you couldn't see the stars. All you could see were the upper quarter's racetracks and rolling thick smoke. But now, being in the upper quarter, he could see the myriad stars.
Where you stand differs, and what you see differs too.
He patted his face, took out the warm milk from his D-Wheel, drank a couple of mouthfuls, then rallied his morale again.
There were still two days left. No matter how many people's recognition he could gain, no matter how he ought to think about the future afterward, right now he should make good use of every minute and second to get to know more people.
But this problem still remained in his heart.
The matter of getting along with a "god," was it...
Hikari should have a lot of experience, right?
Perhaps I can learn something from the way he and Tierra get along.
While he was pondering the way Hikaru and Tierra got along, another "star-creating god" of a rank completely equal to Tierra's also began her own genuine "special training."
In the Pendulum base, in Declan Akaba's personal research room, he had all the staff leave, and alone in the research room, in the empty room, many things began to move on their own without wind. Some machines began to operate. Several human figures gradually reflected on the glass.
This ghostly, phantom-like scene didn't frighten Declan Akaba. He merely pushed up his glasses lightly, then pressed a button.
"Mechanical God Pseudo-Deity Engine test, first battle, begin."
Zzzzt. The enormous machine began to operate. Countless streams of virtual data transformed into cards and flew into its left hand.
At the same time, directly across from it, the red reflection in the mirror also lightly raised its left hand.
Mechanical God Pseudo-Deity Engine, LP: 4000.
Shadow of Sophia, LP: 4000.