"Here, want some soup?"
"That thing is soup?"
Looking at the purplish-red viscous liquid after it had finished cooking, Miles had assumed it would be something like a medicinal salve Viel needed to use on her injuries.
The bowlful of what sounded like wails from hell simply couldn't be called food.
"Making something like this from local materials is already pretty good," Viel said.
Seeing the look of utter disgust on Miles' face, Viel didn't mind at all. She took the bowl back and took a small sip herself, then revealed an expression of pain.
"As expected, it still needs a bit more sugar."
Miles dared to conclude that this was not a problem sugar could solve.
Speaking of local materials, in this run-down scrap processing plant, besides rusted parts and engine oil, what else could possibly be found? What exactly had gone into that pot of soup?
"No, now's not the time to be leisurely drinking soup! With things this bad, we absolutely have to think of a way to capture the berserk experimental subject!"
Even though Miles really didn't want to acknowledge that thing as a prototype version of his own body, he also couldn't just stand by and watch as a 'person' who had replicated his dueling style and tactical methods ran rampant across Axet, snatching up rare and powerful cards.
"We have to stop it," Krista nodded.
"We can't let a mere experimental subject ruin Miles' future reputation in Axet. After all, Miles will be staying here for a long time."
Oh? You've already decided I'll be living long-term in Axet after I get my body back?
Viel said, "Of course, I know we have to stop him. That's why I sent Luca to duel him, didn't I?"
"You were serious?"
Sending a walking legend of never winning to stop a duplicate—there was no way she could actually win.
"Of course. Sending Luca wasn't because I expected her to win the duel."
It was clear that even bratty loli Viel knew exactly how much Luca was capable of.
"I was just trying to confirm one thing. When an experimental subject is first created, it theoretically doesn't have a deck. However, after he came to the abandoned factory, he was able to defeat Luca in a duel. That kind of development is very bad."
"No deck?" Ren noticed something odd.
"Boss Viel, didn't you just say that the moment the experimental subject was completed, he summoned a monster you'd never seen before and destroyed the Witch Workshop?"
"Summoning just a single card doesn't count as having a deck."
Viel continued her explanation. "And that summoning undoubtedly drained most of the power from the experimental subject's Spirit Eyes. After all, relying solely on an individual's mental strength to fully summon an entire deck is definitely not something that can be done in a short time."
Krista said, "So that means the experimental subject found a deck somewhere else?"
Then, without a doubt, the place where the experimental subject could have found a deck was this long-abandoned scrap processing plant.
"Drawn in by the mysterious power hidden within the factory. Combined with what Vice Principal Orcus said, could it really be the Synchro killer—the Meklord Emperor?"
Miles estimated that if only his own obsessive personality toward dueling had been replicated, then, upon learning that it might be possible to obtain a Meklord Emperor deck inside the abandoned factory as a starter deck, he himself might very well do the same thing as the experimental subject.
He had to admit—Viel's recreation was extremely faithful.
"Hell, the more it's like this, the more we can't just leave that guy alone!"
If it didn't resemble him, that would be one thing. On the flip side, being this similar, even if it was the product of bratty loli Viel's antics, Miles couldn't help but feel a pang of conscience.
Ren reminded them, "Luca should know the experimental subject Miles' deck best, right? After all, she fought him head-on."
Asked directly, Luca said, "Meklord Emperor, don't know. But Machine monsters, yes!"
From Luca's fragmented reply, they could barely piece together the meaning.
Although Luca didn't know what a Meklord Emperor was, the deck Experimental Subject Miles used was indeed a Machine monster deck.
"No matter what deck it is, we have to deal with that guy!"
Miles preemptively activated the Spirit Eyes in Aisha's arm to load his deck. If the experimental subject really had obtained the power of the Synchro-killing Meklord Emperor, then Aisha's current Xyz-focused deck wouldn't be countered.
"Having a fighting spirit is a good thing. Then I'll leave it to you, Miles. Don't worry. Once the trouble's taken care of, I'll give you a discount."
With no pot to worry about, bratty loli Viel looked even more at ease as she drank her soup.
"Once I finish this sip, I'll tell you the position the signal's transmitting back from, okay?"
"Wait, Viel, you didn't install a tracking device in the experimental subject too, did you?"
"Better safe than sorry!"
"If you dare put weird stuff like that into my finalized body later on, I'll make you understand what consumer anger really means!"
"Wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare. o((⊙﹏⊙))o."
Putting on a show of surrender, Viel drained the entire bowl of suspicious purple liquid in one go, then began constructing a magical map at her fingertips.
"Let me see. He's run all the way to the innermost part of the abandoned factory, huh. Hasn't stopped moving at all—young people really are full of energy."
A floor plan of the factory formed from magical circuits, and the red dot moving through the various rooms was presumably the target: Experimental Subject Miles.
"For the optimal interception route, let's set off from here!"
Guided by the magical map, everyone immediately sprang into action, launching the Prototype Miles Capture Plan.
Aisha: "( ?▽?) Whoever catches him first gets him? Then I'm joining too!"
"You just stay put and behave yourself. Don't make things harder."
However, just as everyone officially began their operation, the red dot marking Prototype Miles on the magical map came to a stop in the innermost room of the factory.
"Looks like he knows he can't run and has given up resisting! Just you wait!"
Miles' fighting spirit unexpectedly surged. As for why, perhaps it was because this was the first time he'd ever had himself as a dueling opponent.
"It's right in there."
Running at the front, Ren was the first to slow her steps, trying to observe the situation inside the room.
"That's it! Prototype Miles…"
Peering through the half-open door, Ren's mismatched eyes—one deep, one pale—shook a bit, her cheeks flushing a deep red.
"S-So cute!"
"What, what, let me see too!"
Rushing forward in excitement, Krista also pressed up against the half-open door, peering inside.
In the innermost room, the prototype shota Miles was sitting cross-legged on the factory floor, fully focused on the deck in his hands.
It had to be said—Viel's transmutation technique was simply impeccable.
Relying solely on a personality analysis conducted from data gathered during D-Wheel Turbo Duels, she had perfectly recreated Miles' handsome appearance—an appearance even goddesses had praised.
The only flaw was a slight deviation in hair color. Instead of Miles's blue hair, it leaned toward Aisha's white.
And his age was only around ten or so: a proper shota.
Even so, it still landed a direct critical hit on both Ren and Krista.
Shotas had their own appeal, after all.
Especially at this moment, with little Miles sitting cross-legged on the floor, his long eyelashes trembling, clear eyes utterly focused as he studied the deck in his hands—the sight carried a uniquely captivating charm.
"I really want to raise one!" Ren and Krista exclaimed in unison.
This was probably maternal instinct being triggered.
"ヾ(??▽?)ノ What is it like? I want to see too, I want to see too, Mr. Miles!"
That left Aisha—who could only stay inside the Millennium Puzzle for now, unable to move freely—thoroughly flustered.
"These women are hopeless!"
Dragging Ren and Krista away from the door where they were gawking in a daze, Miles didn't hesitate and pushed the door open, stepping straight into the room.
Only then did Aisha see, for the first time, the true appearance of the prototype shota Miles.
"(*?ロ?) Th-This, this, this… this is my and Mr. Miles' child!"
No one knew what kind of bizarre mental gymnastics Aisha Yuna Carlos had gone through to arrive at such a conclusion.
Regardless, judging purely from little Miles' appearance—having inherited Miles' facial features along with Aisha's pure white hair—if one insisted on calling him the product of the two of them, it almost sounded plausible.
Ren muttered softly, "I think he'd be even cuter if he had red hair."
"No matter what color you are, this ends here!"
Having already activated the Spirit Eyes and loaded his deck in advance, Miles had no intention of allowing a counterfeit with such a similar appearance and identical dueling personality to roam around like a ticking time bomb.
Stopping his hands from flipping through the deck, the cross-legged little Miles finally noticed the group that had gathered around him at some point.
"You again. Still not scared after losing last time?" Little Miles spoke slowly, opening with an extremely arrogant provocation.
Miles fired right back without restraint, "You just beat a walking legend of never winning. Don't get full of yourself."
"Wow, Miles trash-talking Miles, heh. What a spectacle," bratty loli Viel said from outside the room, looking utterly entertained, with no awareness that this was entirely her doing.
"Since we're fighting anyway, perfect timing. I can try out the new deck I just got." Little Miles activated the Spirit Eyes in his arm as well, stuffing in the deck he'd been tuning earlier. "It's definitely going to be interesting!"
Aisha: "This inexplicable, baseless yet unbelievably cool confidence… it's exactly the same as Mr. Miles'!"
…Please, just stop talking.
Right now, Miles felt as if he were staring into a mirror, facing his "true" self, overwhelmed by a deep sense of embarrassment.
And from time to time, the thought surfaced: …Was I really this kind of person?
"No!" In the end, Miles steeled his resolve. "A personality made of nothing but dueling is incomplete! No matter how similar it is, it's not me!"
"Um, Mr. Miles, if you're going to fight, please go a little easy. Otherwise, it'll feel like watching our child get beaten up, and that would hurt too."
Miles only frowned: Get a grip, Miss Aisha Yuna Carlos. With your conditions, it'd be hard to raise a child this big.
"DUEL!"
[Miles, LP: 4000]
[Miles, LP: 4000]
A battle against oneself; An unknown Machine monster that lay dormant at the site, shrouded in Meklord Emperor rumors, and the deck the experimental subject obtained, which was most likely tied to the duel from ten years ago that had leveled the academy's back mountain.
...
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