Jack felt a bit confused about Yugen's suggestion. To be fair, he wasn't really familiar with Poma, only knew that Poma became a Dark Marker holding a grudge against Godwin for sacrificing the people of his hometown, but later found out that it was the Earth-Bound God and not Godwin who did the sacrificing.
Later, Yugen beat up the Lord of the Underworld, bringing back several dead Dark Markers, including Poma.
But Jack only knew this much; he didn't have much interaction with Poma.
Yugen didn't elaborate further. In fact, the key to Jack's evolution wasn't on Poma himself, but hidden in Poma's hometown.
This was also in the WRGP animation episode, saying that the Earth-Bound Gods aren't just those few knocked out by the Dragon Sealers in the Dark Markers chapter. The truly strongest Earth-Bound God is called the "Crimson Demon," with terrifying powers unmatched by other Earth-Bound Gods, but it hadn't awakened during previous battles in the Dark Markers chapter.
Legend says that ten thousand years ago, the strongest Earth-Bound God ravaged the land. At that time, a Dragon Sealer from ten thousand years ago with the power of "Soul of Burning" defeated it and sealed the Crimson Demon underground, and its legend has been passed down for millennia.
Later in the animation, it's revealed that the modern Jack Atlas is the heir to that hero with the Soul of Burning from ten thousand years ago. Jack awakened the Soul of Burning, absorbed the power of the Red Lotus Earth-Bound God and made it his own, allowing his Red Lotus Demon Dragon to evolve into the "Red Lotus Nova Dragon," his strongest ace in the animation.
And the sealed land of the Crimson Demon from ten thousand years ago happens to be in Poma's hometown. That's why Yugen suggested Jack take a look there when he had the chance.
If the most crucial transformation for Yusei in the animation was the realization of the "Heart of Bright Mirror and Calm Water," then for Jack it's the "Soul of Burning."
The Crimson Demon in the animation never even had a chance to appear before being absorbed by Jack, leaving audiences unaware of what the strongest Earth-Bound God looked like over the years.
Nevertheless, in 2024, after the K Corporation continuously savored the sweet taste of selling nostalgia, they began crazily looking for any opportunity to sell cards from the classic old three-generation Yu-Gi-Oh!, and finally, this legendary Crimson Demon managed to get its own base card.
Earth-Bound God - Red Lotus Nova, Level 12, Attack Power 3500.
Effect: During the main phase, you can banish this card from your hand or graveyard, send an Earth-Bound God or Red Lotus Demon Dragon from your hand or field to the graveyard, then you can Special Summon an "Earth-Bound" monster or "Red Lotus Nova Dragon" from your Deck/Extra Deck.
Red Lotus Nova is Jack's benefactor on his path of evolution, the key monster, definitely a must-have.
Yugen said no more and left after notifying the Public Security Maintenance Bureau's subordinates to clean up the scene.
Jack was suspicious of what he said but thought it over and decided to take some time to visit Poma's side. He felt Yugen had a mysterious vibe yet seemed to know a lot, and probably wouldn't aimlessly lead him astray.
Surely he wouldn't make Jack waste a trip just for fun, right?
After returning, Yugen immediately conducted an investigation at Taiyi and quickly confirmed two things.
Firstly, this Fake Jack is also a product of ZONE. Or more precisely, ZONE's technology, the same counterfeit technology as that of the recently defeated Bleu.
Secondly, though the technology is the same, it wasn't made by ZONE—at least not the ZONE Yugen knew. No records of attempts to duplicate or counterfeit Jack were found inside Taiyi.
So this Fake Jack likely originated from the same force as the previous Fake Bleu.
However, being able to win against the genuine article, its performance is indeed not bad.
Yugen arrived at Taiyi headquarters and took a quick glance at the drawing progress of the "Loop." The effect was quite good, with WRGP now halfway through, and it's still during the preliminary stage—the truly intense battles haven't even started yet.
If things continue like this, ZONE's Arc Cradle should soon be summoned. It's unlikely the force behind this will just let them summon such a powerful weapon as the Arc Cradle; probably, they'd make a move once WRGP continues.
Speaking of intense battles, Yugen checked the predicted opponent for his "Duel Just Be Happy" team's next match and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
This time, it's an interesting opponent.
Holder of the Nordic Triad, the top-tier strong team in the 5DS animation, Twilight of the Gods Team.
...
...
The midday sun was refracted into a rainbow halo by the floating holographic projector above the arena, and the circular grandstand with tens of thousands of seats had already turned into a sizzling sea of metal.
When the WRGP broadcast announced "Twilight of the Gods Team entry," the entire dome suddenly projected the gigantic totem of the Nordic World Tree, with three beams of light piercing the smoke at its roots.
That was the entrance of the Twilight of the Gods Team. Harald, Brever, and Dragan, the three holding Extreme God power, each drove their D-Wheels out of the smoke, racing onto the track amidst countless cheers and screams.
"Alright, today we have the most anticipated duel in the entire WRGP preliminary stage!"
The commentator with an airplane hairstyle shouted.
"A stellar battle from Northern Europe, said to be Duelists who command the 'Gods,' the Twilight of the Gods Team!
Against WRGP's only single-member team, Duel Just Be Happy Team, also led by Fujiki Yugen from the Public Security Maintenance Bureau!"
"Fujiki Yugen has been on a winning streak in previous matches, always single-handedly defeating all opponents to achieve victory. Today, however, his opponent is extraordinary; can he continue to fight alone against three, extending this miracle?!"
The commentator was heating up the atmosphere, and the audience was also exceptionally enthusiastic. But upon hearing these words, the three members of Twilight of the Gods Team weren't very happy.
"One against three? A single person thinks they can defeat all three of us?"
Brever of Twilight of the Gods Team, holder of Extreme God Loki, crossed his arms and showed disdain.
"What kind of joke is this?"
Captain Harald said, "Don't underestimate. If this person dares to compete alone and has won so far, he must also be a formidable Duelist."
But Dragan also said, "This Fujiki Yugen should indeed be a strong Duelist. But no matter how strong he is, facing gods and wanting to defeat all three gods..."
He said, shaking his head.
"I think, having such a skillful Duelist, doesn't exist on this earth."
This time, Captain Harald didn't speak either, only silently agreeing.
He always tells his teammates not to underestimate opponents just because they possess gods and should remain cautious. But even he thought, no matter how cautious they may be, it's still three against one, all three wielding divine power—can they really fail?
If such were the case, wouldn't that opponent be the god himself?