Sizzle, sizzle.
Hikaru carefully collected the card onto a rack, wearing wind-proof goggles as he studied it.
The card's illustration was a blue-haired maiden and an enormous mechanical puppet fish.
El Shaddoll Apkallone!
The Shaddoll series' core piece for backfield breakthrough, and a super single-card that combined searching and recycling in one!
When Special Summoned, it could directly target and permanently negate one card's effect. And when sent to the Graveyard, it could also directly add 1 Shaddoll card from the Deck or Graveyard to the hand.
Although as the cost, one had to discard a card from the hand after that, because it wasn't a COST but an effect, it could trigger the Shaddoll's own effects. So it wasn't a big deal.
This effect was the same as other Shaddoll Extra Deck monsters, effects triggered by being sent to the Graveyard. So it could also work with cards whose effects sent Extra Deck cards to the Graveyard, to search Shaddoll Spells and Traps.
With this card added, Hikaru's deck could naturally undergo new choices too.
That is, the "Shaddoll-Dogmatika-Invoked" deck built around Shaddoll, Dogmatika, and Aleister the Invoker as the main body.
However...
Hikaru rubbed his chin.
The best expansion route for Shaddoll-Dogmatika-Invoked was surely to Normal Summon Aleister the Invoker, transform him into the LIGHT-Attribute Magistery, then directly cast Invocation, allowing him to Fusion Summon Invoked Mechaba, uniting disruption and defense in one.
Then use the Dogmatika axis's effects to Special Summon Dogmatika monsters, or send Apkallone from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard to search Shaddoll Spells and Traps.
But the reality before Hikaru was that in this world, Link Summoning couldn't be used. So naturally there was no such option as "Magistery" either.
And Hikaru mulled it over carefully, discovering another path.
Card games always required drawing parallels and creating inventively, choosing the cards most suited to oneself based on the existing cards.
After Hikaru's careful research, he suddenly realized.
It seemed that compared to a classic deck like Shaddoll-Dogmatika-Invoked, actually a deck built around Shaddoll and Gem-Knights, "Gem Shaddoll," was more suited to him now.
This surprised him a bit.
If it had been before he came to this world, telling him to build a deck with Gem-Knights and Shaddolls would have given him a bit of a headache.
But now, the existence of cards like Gem-Knight Nepyrim and Gem-Knight Dispersion made Hikaru discover that Shaddoll and Gem-Knights actually paired quite well.
More importantly...
The duel with Masumi Kotsu and her two teammates earlier hadn't been without genuine gains either.
On that day, the card "Gem-Knight Quartz" had gradually begun to coalesce, so Hikaru had specially channeled all the duel energy into this card.
No matter when, Yu-Gi-Oh as a "competitive game" had a basic principle, which was to build one's deck according to the "environment."
For example: when the "Tearlaments" deck first ravaged the Yu-Gi-Oh competitive environment, there was a special little-sister deck at the time, unknown then and later vanished from view, called "Exosisters."
This deck was themed around "triggering special effects when the opponent's Graveyard changes" and "banishing the opponent's cards," and became for a time the "Anti-Tear Champion."
But its own endgame wasn't particularly strong, and it could easily crumble outright to a single field-wipe card. Compared to the invincible, three-dimensional Tearlaments, it could be said to be far inferior.
But it was precisely because of this deck's characteristics that it could take the stage in that environment.
Similarly...
While the EARTH El Shaddoll, "El Shaddoll Shekhinaga," wasn't particularly formidable, and the combination of Gem-Knight and Shaddoll was actually somewhat strange, the crucial point was that in this dimension's duels, what everyone primarily used was "Synchro Summoning." That made El Shaddoll Winda and Shekhinaga, and even Gem-Knight Seraphinite, extraordinarily formidable, extremely suited to the current environment.
Especially Gem-Knight Seraphinite. If it ran into someone using Pendulum Summoning, and the opponent didn't know Gem-Knight Seraphinite's effect, then Gem-Knight Seraphinite could directly achieve a 1-card-blows-up-5-cards result. Just imagining it was quite satisfying.
With this line of thinking as the main axis, Hikaru constructed another deck, that is, the current "Gem Shaddoll" deck.
He rubbed his chin.
The Shaddoll portion of the two decks was actually fairly similar.
The rest could be swapped, replaced, or even have cards from other series added. He could test each afterward to see which deck flowed better.
Of course, besides this, Hikaru actually had one more "urgent matter."
That was that El Shaddoll Apkallone's Fusion conditions were "2 Shaddoll monsters of different Attributes." Among the low-level monsters in Hikaru's hand, only Captain Crystal, El Shaddoll Grysta at Level 9, was FIRE Attribute. The other monsters were uniformly DARK Attribute. To Fusion Summon Apkallone, he either had to use Captain Crystal, or he had to first Fusion Summon a differently-attributed El Shaddoll, then Fuse again.
That would be a bit of a loss.
So Hikaru also had to figure out how to make the two cards "El Shaddoll Wendigo" and "Naelshaddoll Ariel" afterward.
Hikaru scratched the back of his head.
Refining these two would be extremely difficult. But after last time's encounter with Sophia, Hikaru had tried again and found he could now do proportional refinement.
Hikaru reckoned it might be that his previously activated related power hadn't quite matched.
However, Hikaru had been engaged in real "alchemy" all that time, that is, trying to make the Metalfoes deck. So he'd had no time to refine. Now he could change his crafting direction.
The must-have cards for the Metalfoes deck were basically complete. From here on he could let Alkahest do it himself. Hikaru was happy to take it easy.
Hikaru finished his work, then went on to research that special card.
A coordinate card. If he could, Hikaru actually very much wanted to place it directly onto the dimensional gate and teleport through. But Tierra had stopped him directly earlier, telling him not to do dangerous things like that.
With precedents like the Selfless Painting School and the Branded Dimension, now every brand-new dimension should first have a robot dispatched to observe a little, confirm there was no unexpected danger, and only then set out.
What she said made a lot of sense, so Hikaru obediently listened.
As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, ten years of fearing coiled rope. Hikaru didn't want to end up going to a new dimension only to be inexplicably attacked by strange things again.
But after the first attempt, Hikaru discovered he actually couldn't activate this dimensional coordinate.
Strange.
Hikaru handled the card, cross-referencing it against the dimensional gate's data, feeling a bit puzzled.
He had the coordinate, the dimensional gate, and the energy, and it wasn't blocked. So why couldn't the teleport happen?
He studied the card for a while, looking at the Big Dipper insignia on it, feeling genuinely puzzled.
If it had been another time, he might have set it aside and researched something else first. But "Drytron" was probably very important to Syrus and to Zane Truesdale, and it might well be an important tool for awakening Zane's memory.
Hikaru didn't know how Bastion Misawa had lost his memory. But being unable to recall anything even with spirits accompanying him, and not even seeking out the Fusion Dimension companions, meant that in the spirits' view, Bastion's condition wasn't suited to being brought before others.
Very likely some kind of special shock or injury, where just trying to recall would cause pain. So it was best to take things slow and not rush.
That made sense.
Naturally, Zane Truesdale's situation was probably similar to Bastion Misawa's. Simply trying to awaken his memory might be a bit bad. It might be better to "shake out" the memory from another angle.
What's more, since it was a request from Zane Truesdale's own younger brother, Hikaru would surely be willing to support it.
Of course, there was another thread in this, that Hikaru was willing to trust Syrus because Syrus's conduct had always been trustworthy. So Hikaru was willing to extend his own trust in return.
Whatever the case, contact and interaction between people were reciprocal. When the other party respected you, you respected them in return. This was the way of goodwill communication.
Hikaru and Tierra had also started out from hostility, and finally, through more and more contact, had gradually come to get along quite well.
After mulling it over for a while, Hikaru suddenly thought of a possibility.
"Could it be... one card isn't enough?"
"What do you mean?"
Tierra asked, puzzled.
"Perhaps one coordinate isn't enough." Hikaru gave an example. "Like the Branded Dimension, several dimensions overlap, and just one coordinate can reach them all. Naturally, there could also exist a single dimension that requires two different coordinates to reach, right?"
That was a bit strange.
Tierra was a little puzzled.
Hikaru lightly pushed against the table, his chair rolling to the side on its wheels. He opened his card protection cabinet and pulled out a card, showing it to Tierra.
Ursarctic Drytron.
Tierra scanned it quickly.
"Banish 1 'Ursarctic Big Dipper' and 1 'Drytron Fafnir' from my hand and/or field, and Special Summon 1 'Ultimate Flagship Ursatron' from my Extra Deck. If 'Ursarctic Polari' or 'Drytron Alpha Thuban' exists on the field, I can also banish 1 of the cards to be banished from my Deck instead."
"A Fusion?" Tierra asked.
She didn't know what kind of deck Drytron was, but since it was something Hikaru had brought out, it was probably a Fusion.
As for the other cards, she'd only seen that Polari once, and didn't really understand at all.
"Ursarctic Big Dipper and Drytron Fafnir are Field Spells."
"A Field Spell Fusion?!" Tierra exclaimed the moment she heard.
She hadn't expected there was this kind of trick.
Hikaru had never performed this kind of thing.
But if this was the case, then Hikaru's theory could actually be understood.
"If that's the case, then actually the coordinates of the other card could be derived through calculation, right?" Tierra said next.
Hikaru nodded.
The card provided by Syrus was very similar to the "Big Dipper" data of their dimension.
And since the "Ursarctic" had appeared in this dimension, then perhaps the other coordinate data of this special dimension was precisely the spatial data of this dimension's "Big Dipper."
These could be derived through calculation.
Tierra nodded, patted her chest, and said outright: "All right then, we'll push Qliphort Scout over to the Synchro Dimension later, and integrate the calculations."
Hikaru nodded.
Calculating the spatial data of the starry sky was a major undertaking even for the two of them, not something that could be worked out with the naked eye. Using Qliphort tools to first tally and calculate was the more reasonable plan.
Just as he was planning together with Tierra to set up a telescope to gather data, on the other side of the dimensional gate, a machine slowly rumbled through with the aid of energy.
It was the Assembler!
Hikaru and Tierra hurriedly set aside what they had in hand. Beside them, Flame Swordsman, Crystal, and Gaia also came running over, helping push the Assembler to the brand-new room Hikaru had specifically opened up before.
At the heart of the Grand Cosmos Workshop, Hikaru had specifically opened up a separate "Analysis Room" to analyze Boss A's return correspondence. On one hand it prevented ordinary spirits from being contaminated. On the other, it was to make preparations in advance, to make gathering and organizing information more convenient.
Buzz, buzz.
The moment the Assembler entered the Analysis Room, it gave off a faint rumble. It seemed some internal disorder had cropped up, possibly issues on the component level. But overall it wasn't as bedraggled as last time, which left Tierra quite satisfied.
Above the Assembler was a card. Hikaru frowned as he took the card and looked at its contents, letting out a slight breath of relief.
Fortunately, it wasn't a spatial coordinate. It seemed he didn't need to set out immediately in search of a second "Outer God Azathoth."
If it could be avoided, Hikaru certainly didn't want to encounter that kind of thing on the other side.
The card was a Trap Card, "Forbidden Apocrypha." Its effect: it could be activated only by declaring one type of Monster Card (Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz). If two or more of the declared type existed on the field, both players had to send all monsters of that type on the field to the Graveyard.
What did that mean?
Hikaru was a bit puzzled and didn't understand why Azathoth would send him a card like this.
The card wasn't a purely, simply, plain card. It gave off an exceptionally pronounced crimson. Even after Hikaru just picked it up and glanced at it a couple of times, he felt slightly dizzy. But compared to directly looking at or listening to Boss A's voice and information, it was significantly simpler.
Unable to make sense of the situation, Hikaru chose to check the information Boss A had provided. Not long after he began looking, his eyes lit up and he cheered excitedly.
"Captain! Quick, quick, quick, come look at this!"
Gem-Knights actually had a brand-new Fusion Monster!
Not only that, Captain Crystal also had an additional brand-new form!
Gem-Knight Master Diamond - Dispersion, and Gem-Knight Hollow Core!
Looking at these cards he didn't recognize at all, and their effects, Hikaru couldn't help letting out cries of delight.
So strong.
Explosively strong!
Uh... there's no crafting method?
That did surprise Hikaru a bit.
Then, thinking about it, it seemed normal. Even "Gem-Knight Dispersion" was a card created by his Super Polymerization, only then could it be normally born in the spirit world. So a form no other Crystal had ever possessed naturally wasn't something that could be achieved through conventional means.
But Hikaru still felt a little regret. After all, Boss A had been able to provide the crafting method for Gladiator Beast Emperor. Hikaru certainly had been rather looking forward to directly obtaining the crafting methods for other Gem-Knight cards.
Fortunately, Hikaru wasn't a greedy person. Since he couldn't directly obtain the crafting methods, then for him this was actually better. This way, he could also create even more Fusions together with Captain Crystal!
After finishing looking at these things, Hikaru noticed the usage method of "Forbidden Apocrypha." He frowned and took out the "Book of Emerald," hesitating a little.
Hikaru had chatted with Boss A before and told him a bit of his own story. Today, Boss A directly told him that during this brief period, he'd viewed all of Hikaru's experiences since coming to this world in dream form. Truly interesting, truly fitting for Fusion.
This "Forbidden Apocrypha" was Boss A's gift this time, and also an auxiliary tool for future use when Boss A had Hikaru search for other "body fragments."
As long as he used alchemy to fuse this card into the Book of Emerald, he could activate the ability He had bestowed upon this card.
Hikaru was willing to trust a god without malice or goodwill, neither friendly nor unfriendly. But the Book of Emerald was, whatever else it was, a "graduation gift" from Teacher Banner. He didn't quite want to mess with it casually.
But after thinking it over a moment, he mulled it over and figured that at worst he could separate it out again. So without further ado, he used alchemy right there to fuse the card into the book.
Not long after, an extra page appeared in the book. At the center of this page was a blank rectangular frame. Hikaru paused, observed its size, and instinctively took out a card and stuck it on.
Immediately, all the card's name and effects appeared in full.
Hikaru let out a small "whoa," then took the card back off and tried calling out a name, calling out "Gem-Knight Master Diamond Dispersion." Within milliseconds, the card image and effect of Master Diamond Dispersion appeared on this page of paper.
It was, it was...
It was an invincible card lookup!!!
Hikaru's eyes went wide.
Two years in, Hikaru finally had a "card lookup device"!
You have to understand, in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, because of information inequality, looking up cards was an extremely difficult thing. It often happened that you didn't recognize the card your opponent was using at all.
And now, Hikaru, in an information-unequal world like this, had obtained "card lookup." This was a colossal advantage!
Even more astonishing was that this page of the book, by the looks of it, could look up all cards, including future Synchro Dimension cards Hikaru had never seen!
"Whoa, that's pretty cool, Captain." Flame Swordsman lightly nudged Crystal with his elbow. Crystal gave a soft cough and stood ever more straight and formal as he watched the card.
If he was to become the King among knight kings, he had to become the exemplar of all knights. His current self was still far from possessing that confidence and strength.
But since there was still a road forward for him, he naturally had to complete this Fusion for his lord.
Hikaru cheerfully continued to look through Boss A's voice, and only then did he understand.
At Boss A's side, Hikaru often asked Him about cards he didn't recognize or speculated on the existence of certain cards. In His view, this was truly a bit of a waste of time and rather inefficient. So He simply extracted a portion of His own knowledge and made it into a card. He happened to see that Hikaru possessed this kind of alchemy compendium, which happened to be able to bear this knowledge. So He helped Hikaru make a "card lookup."
Because it was just a card lookup, it didn't include the cards' crafting methods, future possibilities, coordinates, or power bonuses. It was purely information, so its harmfulness wasn't high. With Hikaru's superhuman constitution, plus the fact that Hikaru had once been granted power by the red light and had a certain adaptability, bearing it wouldn't be too difficult. So He simply gave it to Hikaru in one go.
He had watched Hikaru's two years of experiences and had come to know Hikaru's character, so He was willing to give this "reward" in advance, so Hikaru could better help Him recover His body fragments.
"Wonderful, now you're basically omniscient." Tierra said with a smile.
Yes.
Hikaru nodded excitedly.
Now, he really did seem to have become "the one who knows all Fusion"!
...
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