"Ahhhh—"
Placido was directly hit by the six thousand Attack Power Chimeric Fortress Dragon, sent flying and doubting his life with wide eyes.
"Impossible..."
I actually... got one-shotted?
Summoned myself with invincible consciousness, yet got killed in one turn.
Chimeric Fortress Dragon... what the hell is this crap?
How can it eat his five Machine Emperors unconditionally with just one card?
Eating five monsters in one go, then directly using six thousand attack face-riding... what's the point?
The most annoying part is that seeing him get one-shot by the six thousand attack Fortress Dragon, Luciano, who was clearly his partner, laughed so hard while holding his stomach, tears of joy in his eyes. It's as if the frustration from being one-shot by the Chimeric Fortress Dragon not long ago had vanished.
Placido frowned: "Is it really that funny?"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Luciano laughed even harder. Even Jose, the most composed of the trio, who usually had a straight face, suddenly seemed to make a strange sound as if he found it hard to hold in.
Indeed, sharing is the greatest joy in life. True brothers not only share happiness but also pain... Or, in this scenario, more accurately, transfer pain.
When pain transfers from oneself to teammates, one naturally feels happier.
Placido was furious, feeling very indignant, grumbling something unclearly. Though it wasn't clear, one could guess it was mostly complaints about the ridiculous Fortress Dragon, thinking it unfair how it countered his Machine Emperor and could eat the opponent's materials without reason, claiming victory was not honorable and so on.
Yugen chuckled: "Well, you use Machine Emperor to absorb Synchro Monsters, claiming to target D-wheel hands using Synchro as your 'Synchro Killer'. How is my Fortress Dragon any different?"
If we must discuss differences, perhaps it's that Fortress Dragon is much simpler to summon, consumes far more materials, is easier to use, yet has a much more brutal effect...
But essentially, it's the same, both targeting specific monsters and duelists, both are Minotaur.
If you can rampage through this dimension with Synchro Killer, why can't someone rampage with Machine Emperor Killer?
Placido remained furious, but at this moment, Jose patted his shoulder and spoke calmly: "Alright, you've seen the power disparity. This person truly is an emissary arranged by the Gods.
Even if you don't want to admit it, this person's current strength does indeed surpass you and me."
Placido replied coldly: "That's not for sure. If the three of us were to combine all our powers..."
He stopped without continuing further.
But even stopping there, Yugen understood his meaning.
It was already mentioned earlier, Jose, Placido, and Luciano, these Three Emperors, were originally one person, split into three and made into three robots. In their divided state, their strength would naturally be affected. Only when they combine, reverting to their true form as Apollia, would they possess the complete personality and memory, naturally also complete strength.
Though they were each beaten up now, they didn't think they wouldn't have a chance if they combined their powers. In Apollia's form, their strength would combine considerably, as a duelist their Destiny Power would greatly increase, while their card decks could print more cards not present in their current decks.
However, now is not the time, it's not yet the time for combining.
Yugen smiled and said: "If you want to challenge, I'm always ready. Whether you come alone, come all three together, or want to become one, I'll be your opponent."
The trio's eyes flickered, surprised in their hearts.
This person actually knows they can combine...
But thinking it over, since the Gods have ordered him to take over Taiyi Emperor's position, knowing some internal matters isn't strange. So none of the trio asked more about it.
"Alright, no objections, then I'll humbly take the position of Taiyi Emperor for now. I've said all I need to, everyone has things to do."
Yugen waved his hand.
"Now then, start working... Oh right, before that."
He paused, revealing a meaningful smile.
"First, find someone to guide me to Taiyi's Card Printing Factory and Card Warehouse."
...
...
Becoming Taiyi Emperor, Yugen first visited the local Card Warehouse and collected a wave of resources, also prioritizing work guidance towards the Card Printing Factory.
Card printing is a technical task, but Yugen is already quite experienced now.
First important is to uncover card decks worth developing, then control a broader direction, constantly guiding the series enhancement thoughts for the team. Lastly, it's best to find duelists with the best destiny power compatibility with the respective card decks, capable in research, to join the team.
Speaking of which, Crabbro Yusei Fudo should probably count as the most suitable protagonist in Yu-Gi-Oh's history for this job. Crabbro is undoubtedly the top techie among protagonists, clearly with research talent.
Yes, Yusei Fudo is called Crabbro because his hairstyle looks like a crab...
Currently, Yugen feels his relationship with Yusei and others is quite decent, finding an opportunity to pull Yusei into research should not be difficult. ZONE would most likely support this—provided the card printing efficiency is high enough. After all, ZONE God put in so much work and resources, naturally wanting to see Yusei and others' evolution.
Yusei's card decks have countless enhancing directions; after successive improvements in later generations, themes like Junk, Stardust, Savior, etc. associated with Crabbro greatly evolved. Strength levels are incomparable to now, randomly enhancing one series could easily make Crabbro soar.
Furthermore, if Crabbro joins the team, this project would likely receive strong support from ZONE God, resulting in research funds and various resources beyond ordinary comparison. Yugen has no doubt that with ZONE's technology, even Divine-Level Triangular Accelerated Synchro Monsters like "Cosmic Radiance Dragon" might be printed.
Aside from Yusei, Yugen also considered Shirley having potential. After losing her parents, she learned all kinds of techniques and knowledge for revenge; from astronomy to geography, humanities to mathematics, from fighting to gaming, she's mastered almost everything, akin to Batman traveling the world to learn universal knowledge.
Shirley probably has research talent too; her card deck still has heavy-hitters like "Baroness of Flowers" not appearing yet. Moreover, ZONE seemed to favor her in the original, once trying to recruit her, potentially providing certain funding.
Shirley is already half-persuaded, and Yugen thinks there's hope in recruiting her to the dark side.
As for others, like Jack Atlas, though his card deck also has great development potential and strong trump cards not yet shown, his nature as a duelist is like Judai, purely aggressive, evidently not the research type, so for now not Yugen's top pick.
"This should about do it for now."
Sitting on the Taiyi Imperial Throne, Yugen closed the floating screen.
For now, it seems there's nothing much happening these days.
"Anyway, pretty soon... it might be time to go back and take a look."