# Chapter 149: Before the Friendship Cup Begins
While Sugihara Yo was undergoing his transformation, Garros and the others outside were frantic.
Garros found Sugihara Yo collapsed in his room the next morning. When he couldn't wake him, he rushed him back to the hospital.
However, the doctor's examination results greatly surprised everyone.
Not only was Sugihara Yo perfectly fine, but the hidden injuries in his body were also slowly recovering, and even the grotesque scars on his face began to gradually heal.
"Has he been targeted by those unclean powers again?" Due to Sugihara Yo's past history, Garros couldn't help but ask with concern.
"It doesn't seem like it." The doctor pointed to the continuously flashing azure number 101 on the back of Sugihara Yo's right hand. "Isn't this the symbol of the Number monsters that Chief Yūga Hōzumi and the others often use? Although the color isn't quite right."
"Furthermore, I've examined his body dozens, if not hundreds, of times, and this time it's not that kind of evil power," the doctor stated confidently.
"Then when will he wake up?" Garros asked gloomily.
"I'm not sure about that. In any case, this power isn't a bad thing," the doctor said, ushering Garros and Shinjō Katsu out of the hospital room, while continuously muttering, "He needs plenty of rest right now. You two also need to pull yourselves together. You can't rely on them for everything. Our Chiefs are, after all, just a group of kids under 20. They get tired too."
"I understand." Hearing this, Garros glanced back at Sugihara Yo and Yuto, who were lying quietly on their hospital beds, then gritted his teeth and turned to leave.
The doctor was right; they could no longer rely on their Chiefs for everything.
...
Meanwhile, Yūga Hōzumi, who was in the Synchro Dimension, was scratching his head at the messages popping up from the System.
What on earth happened with Sugihara Yo? How did he suddenly bring out Nash's inheritance?!
Moreover, according to the System's display, Sugihara Yo's current state was excellent—in fact, his life force was continuously rising. On the other hand, the display for Number 70 showed that Yuto had sustained severe injuries.
"What on earth happened back home? Did an enemy show up?" Yūga Hōzumi was a little anxious from this early morning news. "But I can't go back now!"
Yūga Hōzumi was distracted by the news all morning. Kaito noticed this and approached him privately.
"Did something happen?" Kaito asked directly.
"Something happened back home. Yuto was injured," Yūga Hōzumi said.
"How could that be?" Kaito asked in surprise. "According to our estimates, the enemy shouldn't have been able to make any moves for the next two months, right?"
"Exactly. We already dealt with most of the skilled generals in the enemy's camp during our last battle. The remaining people shouldn't be able to threaten Yao and Yuto," Yūga Hōzumi said.
"How are they doing now? Are they still alive?" Kaito asked.
"Their life force isn't a problem, but we can't go back now," Yūga Hōzumi said through gritted teeth.
"Calm down." Kaito thought for a moment before saying, "If they're not in any immediate danger, it means our base hasn't been compromised. The enemy probably doesn't know that the three of us aren't in Heartland City. Even if they used some unknown means to injure them, they wouldn't dare to act rashly. Let's finish up things here first."
"That's the only way." Yūga Hōzumi nodded. "Besides, the dimensional gate we used to come here probably won't open again until things are settled here."
As Yūga Hōzumi spoke, he looked out the window at Bruno, who was wildly racing his D-Wheel with Yugo to practice Accel Synchro, and thought to himself, "Bruno, don't disappoint me."
...
In the following days, after implanting an anti-intrusion duel program into all the Revolutionary Army's Duel Disks, Yūga Hōzumi began modifying the D-Wheels for Kaito, Yugo, and Bruno, who were preparing to participate in the Friendship Cup. According to the original plot, the so-called Director of Security would tamper with the Action Cards during this Friendship Cup, a move they absolutely had to guard against.
It was also during these few days that Bruno, greatly encouraged after listening to Yūga Hōzumi's story about the adventures of the Crab-Head Big Boss, stumbled his way into performing an Accel Synchro for the first time.
After completing this side quest, Yūga Hōzumi also obtained two more Number monsters: Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir and Number 52: Diamond Crab King.
At the same time, from a lottery draw for the "Zexal" archetype, he obtained a very crucial Xyz Monster: ZS - Hope Sage.
But this was nothing. The reward the System gave Bruno was truly outrageous. It wasn't enough that it directly gave him T.G. Halberd Cannon and T.G. Recipro Dragonfly—it gave him the anime versions of the cards.
First was T.G. Recipro Dragonfly. Compared to its lackluster real-life card effect, which can only de-synchro its own archetype's monsters, the anime version was a De-Synchro that could be summoned from the Extra Deck at will, making it excellent for farming resources with T.G. Hyper Librarian.
Then there was the anime version of T.G. Halberd Cannon. Although it could negate and destroy a Summon, Flip Summon, or a Special Summon that doesn't start a Chain, just like its real-life card, this effect could only be used a number of times equal to the number of Synchro Materials used for its summon—typically three times for a Delta Accel Synchro—whereas the real-life T.G. Halberd Cannon didn't have this restriction.
But the outrageous part was that, compared to the real-life card's once-per-turn effect, the anime version of this card could expend all its 'ammunition' in a single turn, meaning three summon negations in one turn.
Furthermore, this item disappeared on its own after teaching Bruno Accel Synchro. From that day on, a dragon's head mark also appeared on Bruno's right arm.
According to the System's explanation, once Bruno reached the level of "Top Clear Mind," which surpasses "Clear Mind," he would also gain the qualification to use Cosmic Blazar Dragon and other Level 12 boss monsters.
This explanation made countless 'grass mud horses' gallop through Yūga Hōzumi's mind. Whose system was this anyway?! How could everyone else's rewards be better than the host's?!
Soon, it was the day for the Friendship Cup participants to gather. Before departing, Yūga Hōzumi gave Kaito a generic Rank 4 gift package to pass on to Shun Kurosaki. Meanwhile, Kiryu handed his memento and his formulated plan to Bruno, instructing him to deliver them to Shinji Weber, who was under Security's control and thus forced to participate in this Friendship Cup.
"That's enough, don't waste any more time." Just then, Yugo said impatiently from the side, "I can't wait to settle things with Jack Atlas."
"Don't be careless, kid. This tournament isn't simple," Yūga Hōzumi couldn't help but remind him. "Also, be sure to keep your distance from that Yuya Sakaki."
...
(end of chapter)