Once again, You Xuan arrived at KaibaCorp.
He hadn't been there long before he was swarmed by the researchers of the Black Luster Soldier team, all of whom sported deep panda eyes from sleep deprivation.
Without a word, the team leader excitedly dragged him off for testing. He explained that You Xuan's previous tip had been vital, guiding the series in a new direction and helping them break through yet another stagnant bottleneck.
You Xuan had to take a moment to recall what he had actually said last time.
Oh, right. That.
This time, he hadn't even provided a series of "visions" as he usually did. He had merely pointed them in a general direction with a casual remark.
He had simply mentioned that Yugi Muto, the King of Games, used to love combining Gaia The Fierce Knight with Black Luster Soldier. He suggested there might be a deeper synergy there and advised them to focus their research on strengthening that connection.
If anyone else had suggested such a thing in the past, the research team would have likely dismissed it. After all, aside from both being Warrior-Type monsters with cool designs, Gaia and Black Luster Soldier had virtually no mechanical overlap. There was zero evidence to suggest they belonged in the same deck.
But because it came from You Xuan, it was different. He had shattered years of stagnation with just a few sentences before, producing results that had stunned the entire industry.
Now, they didn't dare ignore a single word he uttered.
The results proved You Xuan right once again. The reason no one had discovered the link until now was likely because no other research team had ever thought to look for it. These two trump cards of the former King of Games really were connected.
The proof lay in the two new forms of Gaia they had developed under You Xuan's guidance.
*Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight*, Level 7, 2300 ATK.
Its effect allowed it to be Normal Summoned without Tribute by reducing its ATK to 1900. Furthermore, if it was Tributed, the player could add a "Black Luster Soldier" monster from their deck to their hand.
*Arisen Gaia the Fierce Knight*, Level 7, 2300 ATK.
Its effect allowed it to be Normal Summoned without Tribute if the opponent controlled more monsters. When Tributed, it could Special Summon a "Black Luster Soldier" from the hand or Graveyard. Additionally, it could be banished from the Graveyard to serve as the entire requirement for a Black Luster Soldier Ritual Summon.
The team leader was ecstatic, claiming this was a monumental breakthrough that opened up a whole new frontier for their subsequent research.
They had already reached out to the Gaia research team within the KaibaCorp umbrella. The Gaia team was equally thrilled, and both groups had decided to join forces for further development.
The head of the Gaia team had even expressed a strong desire to meet the legendary You Xuan. They hoped a word or two of guidance from the "Big Boss" might yield similar miraculous results for them.
Hearing the leader relay this message, You Xuan drifted into his memories.
Researching the Gaia archetype, huh?
The first thing that came to his mind was that the key to playing a Gaia deck was shouting at the top of one's lungs. During the summon, one had to cry out "GAIA!" with enough vigor and piety, or the spirit wouldn't respond...
Ahem, anyway. He remembered that the Gaia archetype actually had quite a few powerful support cards.
While they were technically cards released in the distant future, their situation was similar to the Black Luster Soldier series by the time they received support, they could hardly keep up with the brutal competitive environment. They were often relegated to "for fun" casual play.
However, if they could be developed this early, they would still be a formidable force.
Thus, You Xuan agreed, stating that he would get in touch with the Gaia team when he had time to assist with their research.
The team leader was overjoyed. He even mentioned that You Xuan's name had been added to their newly published paper in a heavyweight international journal.
You Xuan mused that at this rate, his academic achievements as a first-year student were already enough to crush every teacher at the Academy. It was a strange thought.
Later, You Xuan and Mokuba looked over other recent deck research being conducted by KaibaCorp.
Among them was the deck centered around Felgrand Dragon. It was quite powerful, but since he had already "signed for" that one from Alpha the deliveryman, he didn't need a second set.
However, there was one deck that caught him completely off guard.
His gaze was instantly glued to the cover of a specific card box.
Holy crap, is that...
The legendary Sphere Kuriboh?!
*[Sphere Kuriboh, 300 ATK]*
*[Effect: When an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard; change the attacking monster to Defense Position. Also, when you Ritual Summon a monster, you can banish this card from your Graveyard as one of the required Tributes.]*
As an evolved branch of the legendary Kuriboh, its effect had been upgraded from merely negating battle damage to forcing an opponent's monster into Defense Position. Because its appearance was a cute, chibi version of The Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode, it was reverently nicknamed Sphere Kuriboh.
"Oh, this one? It's a series developed for the Kuriboh archetype," Mokuba explained, picking up the box and handing it to him.
You Xuan opened it and hissed through his teeth. Good grief, the box was packed with various Kuriboh "costumes" and support cards.
Wait a minute... didn't Kaiba keep calling this thing 'trash'? Doesn't he have a grudge against Kuriboh?
Or has it finally come to this? After all these years, has Kaiba decided: 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em'?
"Brother told the researchers not to look down on this card," Mokuba said. "He said it hides a potential they can't even imagine."
You Xuan nodded.
That makes sense. Even though Seto Kaiba still called Kuriboh "trash" every time he saw it, the little furball was his lifelong nemesis, having tormented him countless times since the Duelist Kingdom days. The reason he hadn't changed his tune was likely out of habit and a healthy dose of tsundere arrogance.
But deep down, this tiny, one-star hand trap had long since earned his respect.
Thinking about it, You Xuan realized Kaiba was investing heavily in research for all of Yugi's early trump card series: Black Luster Soldier, Gaia, Kuriboh...
Not to mention the Dark Magician and Magician Girl series.
It was as if Kaiba wanted a dedicated team for every single card Yugi had ever used.
You Xuan's first thought was that Kaiba might be worried the Pharaoh would suddenly "rise from the dead" and be unable to keep up with the current meta, so he was pre-printing cards for him. But on second thought, that didn't seem right. The Pharaoh was the type of powerhouse who could literally create whatever card he needed with a snap of his fingers.
Looking at it from another angle, Kaiba was likely operating under the mindset of "know your enemy." He probably feared that if the Pharaoh ever returned, he'd whip out a whole deck of new cards printed in the Underworld and crush him again. It was better to research them ahead of time to be mentally prepared.
"I'll take a set of these," You Xuan said, pointing to the Kuribohs.
"That's fine, but the current evaluation of this deck's combat capability isn't great," Mokuba warned.
"It's fine, I know," You Xuan replied with a smile.
The Kuriboh family were essentially auxiliary hand traps; their effectiveness depended entirely on the deck's construction. A pure Kuriboh deck was indeed a bit of a meme.
Hmm, but maybe it could work.
You Xuan pondered.
With a few adjustments, a pure Kuriboh deck might actually be viable.
If I can beat someone to death using nothing but Kuribohs, wouldn't that destroy their mental state even faster?
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