"Here you go."
Keihei handed a suitcase to Yugen and smiled.
"With this, you should have all the 'Emperor' cards you need."
Yugen opened the suitcase to confirm and nodded, quickly closing it again.
"Thanks." He smiled, "This should be just about enough."
Earth, water, fire, wind, thunder, evil, light, dark—these are the early eight Emperor cards. However, Yugen knows this card deck has great potential for development and holds great future promise.
As a card deck without an animated prototype, it's remarkable that after so many years, it still receives substantial new card enhancements, indicating its high popularity.
In the future, each of these attributes will have upper-level evolved forms, and each Emperor will have subordinate vassals for assistance, not to mention dedicated fields, Magic Traps, and more.
At least at this stage, the potential for development seems limitless. As a future card deck, even in its complete form, it relies solely on Upper-level Summons, not involving any yet-to-be-born summoning methods, making it a series worthy of research investment.
Yugen has already established a specialized project team to develop this area, providing guidance on potential upgrades for all Emperors and developing directions for support cards he remembers.
Currently, his laboratory is collaborating with the world's leading Emperor development department to proceed with Emperor-related development. The Trap card "Dark Upper-level Summon" he used earlier is one of the latest results.
Although Dark Upper-level Summon doesn't have the Emperor tag, strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with the Emperor Series. But the Trap's effect clearly states "Monsters with Attack Power of 2400 or above and Defense Power of 1000," nearly revealing the full identification of the entire Emperor family, making it half an Emperor series.
"By the way, the classmate I mentioned earlier..." Yugen remembered something.
"Oh, that one... Yuki Judai, right." Keihei nodded, "No worries, I've communicated with the committee, they'll give a spot."
He paused, then curiously asked, "It's rare for Yugen to pay special attention to a classmate. Is he a very good friend?"
"Haha, sort of. But I recommended him not just because we're good friends; he's also very skilled as a duelist." Yugen smiled, "Even President might take notice of him."
"Really that amazing?" Keihei wondered, "But I remember the record says he's Osiris Red..."
"Uh, well... it's because he's rather unique." Yugen shrugged, "Besides, I'm in Yellow Dormitory."
"...That's true."
Keihei nodded and asked no further questions.
"Alright, it's about time for the opening." Keihei stood up with a smile, "Next is the opening ceremony..."
"I've been wondering..."
Yugen questioned.
"Isn't there a venue for the opening ceremony? They only said to have the participants arrive in Tongshiyi, but no specific address..."
"Well."
Keihei smiled mysteriously.
"You'll find out soon."
Initially puzzled, Yugen quickly understood Keihei's meaning.
Because the moment the countdown ended, President Kaiba suddenly appeared... right in front of him.
Even Yugen had to admit, he was a bit startled. He felt that since arriving in this world where even ghosts engage in card duels, few things could scare him.
Like the special effects when monsters are summoned, a summoning vortex appeared, followed by majestic golden light effects. Seto Kaiba rose in the midst, the hem of his coat fluttering dramatically, and then landed in a superhero-like pose, half crouching.
With a flick of his coat, he gracefully stood up.
Yugen was taken aback, but quickly guessed something.
"Holographic projection?"
He glanced towards his Duel Disc.
All the contestants' Duel Discs were produced by Kaiba Group, making it easy to speculate that President Kaiba was using each person's Duel Disc to project a 3D image.
"Not quite." Keihei beamed, "Though it's a virtual image, it's not holographic projection, but inside your brain."
Yugen: "?"
Now, he had some understanding of the President's technology and quickly guessed the applied technique.
It's the duel imaging technology used in the movie version. By interacting with the memory region of the Duel Discs and the duelist's brain, it can achieve in-brain projection functionality.
Thus, President Kaiba was appearing before all the contestants in a monster projection-like manner.
"To all the participants arriving in Duel City, I welcome you as the host."
Kaiba folded his arms and chuckled.
"Each of you is a battle-hardened warrior, winning the opportunity to come to this battleground with your own strength and track record... But this is just the beginning."
Kaiba stepped forward and shouted aloud.
"This city will transform into the capital of battles! Here, the duel will be the stage, your card decks will be the only swords you rely on, and only those who survive the battle will reach the top!"
He held up the Duel Disc in his hand, indicating his card deck.
"However, this isn't the first Duel City tournament, so I think everyone knows the continuation of its rules.
The winner of a duel can take a Rare Card from the loser, with the card chosen by the victor."
Indeed, the stakes rule.
Yugen squinted his eyes.
A rule that's been in place since the first Duel City, originally set by Kaiba to win three Phantom God Cards but retained as a feature of the Duel City tournaments up to now.
Those who lack confidence in their strength and can't accept betting cards or losing Rare Cards do not participate in this event.
"Oh no, that means I absolutely can't lose." Yugen sighed.
"Here you go again." Keihei chuckled, "As if you ever intended to lose."
Kaiba continued explaining.
"Only the eight fastest victors in this city's chaos will qualify for the finals. The finals location is hidden somewhere in this city."
Kaiba sneered.
"Of course, I don't know where it is either. Don't even think about using past tournament locations as reference, since each tournament's location is chosen differently.
Each contestant will have a piece of Puzzle Card, a specially crafted Puzzle Card from the host.
Only the first one to collect six Puzzle Cards, layering them together, will reveal the complete map, indicating the location of the path to the finals."
Yugen wasn't surprised.
It's almost a one-to-one replica of the rules from the first Duel City tournament.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing. This Duel City also has an additional rule."
Seto Kaiba stated calmly.
"The champion of this Duel City... will earn the long-vacant title of 'Duel King.'"