He was the kind of duelist who could practically print a card on the spot when the mood was right. Yet he skipped classes or slept through them most of the time. Putting him in a research position was not practical.
Two days later, Yugen finally received news from the research team at Kaiba Corporation. The head of the Research Division sounded extremely excited. Using the clues from Spirit Vision that Yugen had provided, they had made a breakthrough in the development of the Black Luster Soldier Deck theme and wanted him to come immediately.
It was nearly midnight when the leader called, and he even offered to send someone to pick him up at once. Yugen declined, saying he needed to request leave from Duel Academy and would go the next morning instead. There was no need to rush through the night.
Early the next day, a helicopter marked with the KC logo arrived at Duel Academy Island. Yugen boarded and flew directly to Duel Sanctuary, the Duel capital of Domino City. It was also the location of Kaiba Corporation Headquarters.
When he arrived at the corporate tower, the team leader in a white lab coat was already waiting on the landing pad. The man grabbed Yugen by the sleeve and pulled him inside, talking nonstop about the sleepless days of research. Even without the explanation, the heavy dark circles under his eyes made it obvious.
Yugen almost told him to slow down and take care of himself, since future chaos upgrades would depend on him. Overworking to the point of collapse would help no one. Still, the leader seemed full of energy as he led him quickly into the laboratory.
The room was filled with researchers who had clearly been waiting. One of them immediately walked to the far end of the lab, where a cylindrical device was embedded in the wall. The leader and another researcher each inserted a key into separate locks and turned them in opposite directions.
With a sharp click, the mechanism unlocked and a keypad slid out. After entering separate codes and passing iris and fingerprint scans, the cylinder rumbled and slowly rotated outward. Inside were several sealed cards.
"These are the cards we just completed," the leader said with near reverence as he handed them to Yugen. "The test field is ready."
Yugen glanced at them and recognized them immediately. They were exactly as he had described.
Knight of Beginning, Level 4, ATK 500, DEF 2000.
If this card was used as ritual material to Summon Black Luster Soldier, it granted two effects. Once Per Turn, it could banish one monster on the opponent's field. It could also make an additional attack after destroying a monster by battle.
Its effect resembled that of Envoy of the Beginning, but it was even stronger. Envoy of the Beginning could not attack during the turn it used Dimensional Slash. However, the Black Luster Soldier summoned with this material had no such restriction.
There was also a DARK counterpart.
Knight of Twilight, Level 4, ATK 500, DEF 2000.
Like the first knight, when used as ritual material it granted extra effects to Black Luster Soldier. The first was also Dimensional Slash, banishing one monster on the opponent's field. The second effect banished a random card from the opponent's hand, though that card would return during the opponent's next End Phase.
If both knights were used together to Summon Black Luster Soldier, the summoned monster would gain all these abilities at once. It could banish monsters, make additional attacks, and even disrupt the opponent's hand. In the current Duel scene, it would easily stand among the strongest high level monsters, finally allowing Black Luster Soldier to live up to its title as a legendary warrior.
The new ritual spells he had described were also completed, and there were two of them.
Super Soldier Ritual was a dedicated ritual spell for Black Luster Soldier. While it was in the Graveyard, by banishing itself along with one LIGHT and one DARK monster from Yugi Muto, it could special Summon a Black Luster Soldier ritual monster from the hand, ignoring its normal conditions.
In other words, as long as it was in the Graveyard, any Black Luster Soldier ritual monster in hand could be summoned under conditions similar to Envoy of the Beginning.
Super Soldier Origin allowed one LIGHT and one DARK monster from the hand and Deck to be used as materials for the ritual Summon of Black Luster Soldier. It was the strongest ritual spell in the current system.
Printing entirely new cards from nothing was far more difficult than upgrading an existing Anime-Original Card to match its real life version. Only a top team under Seto Kaiba could achieve this. Yugen had also provided information about new forms of Black Luster Soldier, but the leader admitted progress there was slow.
This matched what Yugen had learned while studying card creation. The stronger the monster, the harder it was to print. Even this elite team had so far only developed support monsters and Spell and Trap Cards. Creating a powerful endgame Deck was clearly much more challenging.
The Research Division had invited him urgently because, as the holder of the Black Luster Soldier Spirit, he could perform the ritual Summon using the new cards. They needed data for further refinement.
For Yugen, the test was simple. It was as easy as opening his Duel Disk and running through a routine. After completing the trials, he returned to the control room and saw Mokuba Kaiba waiting inside.
"Development looks smooth. Thanks," Mokuba Kaiba said with a smile. "Once these results are made public, it should be another major breakthrough."
After a brief exchange of polite words, Mokuba Kaiba got to the point. "Later I'll take you to see the company inventory. But do not expect too much. We do not keep everything in stock, and ultra Rare Card cards like Black Magician or Red-Eyes Black Dragon are out of the question."
"No problem. I'll just take a look," Yugen replied.
"Oh, and about that surprise I mentioned before." Mokuba Kaiba gave a mysterious smile. "The Link System we talked about is almost complete. Want to try it?"
"Link System?"
Yugen walked side by side with Mokuba Kaiba down a long corridor and asked the question aloud. The hallway was bright and quiet, lined with sealed laboratory doors.
"Yes." Mokuba Kaiba nodded. "We actually started developing the related technology years ago. Back then my brother created a new type of Duel Disk that could link the quantum data of Cards with the memory regions of the brain."
"All Duel information could be converted into images inside the mind and visualized within a space."
"I think I've heard of that."
Yugen quickly understood what he meant. It was the system developed by Seto Kaiba in The Dark Side of Dimensions during The Dark Side of Dimensions, a product that mixed advanced science with something harder to explain. It digitized Card data, linked it to human memory, amplified a Duelist's self awareness, and under certain conditions could even print a card from memory data.
The famous Topdecking moment of Seto Kaiba had relied on that system. In a desperate situation, he drew Obelisk the Tormentor from the floor, a card that should no longer have existed in this world, shocking Aigami for a long time.
"But that development was only groundwork for a much bigger project," Mokuba Kaiba continued. "And now it's finally about to be completed."