"Yugen... are you sure about this?"
Keihei watched as Yugen jumped into that massive D-Wheel of Paradox, feeling a bit worried.
"No worries." Yugen smiled and waved his hand, saying, "I might be back soon."
Although understanding the principles behind the Perpetual Motion Machine and these future technologies so quickly is impossible, at least Kaiba Group's think tank figured out how to use these machines over the past couple of days. Even if they can't develop them, using them is fine.
Yugen quickly got his hands on an instruction manual and roughly understood how to use the device.
Keihei nodded and said, "Alright. But once you leave, we probably won't be able to contact you or offer any help.
You'll have to be careful on your own once you're there."
"Got it."
That was his plan all along.
The D-Wheel roared to life as he heard the engine's fierce roar. The world seemed to twist in an instant, and the figures, buildings around him vanished as if dissolving into flowing aurora. Green, purple, and blue bands of light intertwined, like a magnificent river.
The scene before his eyes rapidly changed; countless images flashed before him like slides in a projector.
At the pyramid's peak flew the phantom of the Phantom God, a stern magician in a black robe stood on the ground, the White Dragon emitted dazzling white light all over, and a Cosmic Hero from the outer universe turned into a fireball rushing toward Earth...
A silver-white dragon streaked across the sky, leaving a path made of starlight. A golden armored warrior cleaved open the void with a slash; electric sparks leaped within the gaps of dimensions. A dragon with heterochromatic eyes roared beneath the starry sky, and yet another data storm converged into a Dragon Race overlord...
Each image represented a different time and space, a symbol of an era.
As the dizzying aurora and images were thrown behind, a blinding white light flashed, as if the flow of time and space had all been left behind. A brand new world unfolded before him, revealing its true form.
Coming back to his senses, Yugen was already hovering in the sky.
Looking down from above, he saw a modern city below him, filled with towering skyscrapers. Glass curtain walls reflected sunlight like countless mirrors. Cars flowed endlessly along the streets, and pedestrians appeared as tiny as ants. Uniquely designed skyscrapers pierced the clouds, with lightning rods at their tops flashing silver in the sunlight.
Looking farther away, a large river cut the city in half like a sharp knife.
On this side of the river stood shining high-rise buildings under the sunlight. Luxury cars smoothly drove through the streets where finely dressed people enjoyed afternoon tea at open-air cafes. On the opposite riverbank stood dense and broken low buildings with rust-stained iron roofs. The streets were narrow and crowded, resembling a post-disaster wasteland that had never been rebuilt.
And right there on that broken opposite bank, a conspicuous unfinished bridge drew attention. It stubbornly stretched toward the other side from the ruins, like a hand yearning to touch. The bridge extended into the air above the river, yet stopped abruptly. Fractured rebars bared their menacing ends, resembling snapped bones.
That was "Daedalus' Bridge."
Yugen recognized it at a glance.
This city used to be Tongshiyi City, the City of Duels, the hometown of Muto Yuugi, and the center stage for past Yu-Gi-Oh stories. A subsequent disaster swept the city, dividing this former City of Duels into two sides.
One side was the top-class area where the wealthy gathered, while the other was the Satellite District made up of abandoned poor. The incomplete Daedalus' Bridge represented the will of the Satellite District's people to resist repression and pursue freedom.
This was the 5DS era.
Yugen had set the program to track the historical anomaly of this dimension. Since he had arrived here, it indicated the historical anomaly was likely around this point in time.
However, what exactly the anomaly was still required investigation. For now, he might as well understand this world.
And see if there are any cards worth noting in this future era of the Other Dimension.
Yugen landed discreetly and merged into this New Tongshiyi City.
Whether because this was a future timeline or a different dimension from where he was before, this New Tongshiyi was a world apart from the Tongshiyi City he knew in the past.
Many streets and things he was familiar with were completely gone, with not even a trace remaining of their original forms. Even the iconic Kaiba Group Headquarters was nowhere to be seen.
Realizing this greatly shocked Yugen, as he had assumed Kaiba Group would stand until the end of human civilization.
However, after asking around, he found out Kaiba Group wasn't bankrupt; it just relocated. It seemed in this dimension, Kaiba Group made a tremendous breakthrough in aerospace technology after developing the Perpetual Motion Machine, so the entire company headquarters moved to a cosmic space station...
Well, that's alright then.
However, no news of the President, President Kaiba, seemed to have vanished at some unknown point.
About eighteen years ago, Tongshiyi experienced the world-shocking disaster "Zero Reverse." The world's first Perpetual Motion Machine MOMENT went out of control in Tongshiyi, slicing the city into its current halves.
After the disaster, the city was rebuilt and renamed as "New Tongshiyi." Since then, no one's heard from Seto Kaiba.
Yugen took an interest and casually popped into a card shop by the street. As expected, even though it was just a roadside shop, it was different from his own realm and a future timeline at that. A casual look revealed many good items not seen in the past.
However, when Yugen picked up a booster pack intending to buy it, he realized, touching his pocket, that he was penniless.
Right, the currency of this dimension was different from his own world. While wealthy in his original world, here he was back to being dirt poor.
Hard currency exchangeable across worlds isn't nonexistent; cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh World are the hardest currency, valuable across the Ten Thousand Realms.
But he hadn't considered this issue beforehand, bringing cards he wanted to keep, not to trade.
But no big deal.
Soon, Yugen set his sights on a duel arena nearby.
This era's city also had many duel venues to allow citizens to engage in duels. Among them, rules for betting cards were specially set up.
Even if it's in another dimension, it's still a card world. In a dimension ruled by cards, earning money should be easy, right?
So ten minutes later, Yugen was already standing in the duel arena.
The first opponent across from him was even wearing a uniform. Dressed like a security officer with an enforcement helmet and a police badge on his head.
Yugen raised an eyebrow.
Security Bureau?
He remembered that the Security Bureau of this era seemed to maintain a special Duel Pursuit Team.
"Hmph, daring to face me even after seeing my identity as part of the Security Pursuit Team."
The security officer was rather arrogant, laughing as he spoke.
"Looks like you're quite confident, kid."
Yugen made a gesture of humility.
"I just want to spar with a strong opponent to gain some experience. Please go easy on me, sir."
The security officer, feeling pleased by the compliment, laughed heartily and replied, feeling much better.
"No problem. I'll make sure you're satisfied. Come! Let me show you how our professional pursuit team duels!"