Industrial Illusions, Headquarters.
The helicopter descended as if riding a gale. KaibaCorp veteran Roland jumped out first, standing like a guardian.
Seto Kaiba's brother Mokuba, dressed in a white suit, followed down.
"Sorry, sorry, kept you waiting. Got held up on the way."
Mokuba smiled as he shook hands with Yako Tenma.
"No worries, I just got here myself," Yako smiled lightly and made small talk. "President Kaiba is truly a busy man. I suppose you're working on some new important card design again?"
"Uh, not really."
Mokuba scratched his head.
In truth, recently his brother seemed to be researching something about dimensional crossing again. Mokuba figured maybe his brother felt the current realm had gotten too grim under the influence of a certain new Duel King, and thought the underworld duels were actually brighter, so his itch to duel flared up and he wanted to go down to find his old rival again…
"Shall we go in and talk?" Yako gestured politely.
"No, let's wait a moment. The Duel King is on his way—he told me he's almost here," Mokuba said.
"Oh?" Yako grew interested. "He's coming too? How long?"
"About… ten seconds?"
As the words fell, everyone looked up to see a burning tail-flame in the sky.
A wingsuit glider—the dazzling fire traced a blazing arc. Kira dove, adjusted his angle, dropped straight down, landed in a crouch on the helipad, stirring up a transparent whirlwind.
"Kira!"
Mokuba greeted him first, grinning.
"You've been busy too—haven't seen you in a while."
"Had some things going on… but it should be handled soon."
Kira smiled, then shook hands with Yako as well.
"I heard KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions are collaborating on an important series deck study?"
Walking into the building with them, Kira asked.
"Yes, several projects," Mokuba smiled. "There are a few in-development decks you might find interesting—Yako, why not show him?"
Yako smiled, took a tablet from his assistant, and handed it to Kira.
Kira flipped through casually. There were indeed some decks he hadn't seen on the market. Compared to his past-life memories, most were half-finished—only a few cards existed; most weren't there yet.
Still, some caught his interest.
One surprising example: a "Genex" archetype.
In his memory, that should be a 5D's-era deck because it focused on Synchro. No spells or traps—the entire deck was monsters, with Synchro at the core, gaining effects based on the attributes of Synchro materials.
Unsurprisingly, only a handful of cards existed—no Synchros yet. Because of that, the internal evaluation wasn't high; the dev team didn't see great potential.
Kira figured while research had begun now, full realization would have to wait for the Synchro era. Even he couldn't unlock its full potential in the current format.
But a few of those cards still interested him.
"Could my lab apply for sets of these in-development decks?" Kira looked up. "I'm interested."
"Knew you'd say that."
Mokuba chuckled.
"So I've already talked to Yako and had sets prepared just for you. You can take them when you leave."
Kira couldn't help but sigh again—Mokuba knows me best; reliable as ever.
"Also, we're considering reorganizing a new project team, and we hope your lab can join," Yako said.
"It's a special project on Duel King Yugi Muto."
Kira was puzzled. "Wasn't research on Mr. Yugi always a priority?"
"Yes. Outsiders don't know, but strictly speaking, the Duel King Yugi Muto back then was two people: the present-day Yugi Muto, and the Pharaoh from three thousand years ago," Mokuba said.
"In recent years, most research focused on the Pharaoh who's no longer with us—well, pushed largely by my brother," Mokuba added wryly.
"But what many don't realize is that present-day Yugi's dueling style and card choices differ quite a bit from the Pharaoh's. This project will study the cards Mr. Yugi himself used and the potential of those related series."
Kira understood. The reference was to "Atem-less" Yugi.
"Mr. Yugi reportedly hasn't dueled in many years—at least not publicly. But his tactical style is unique; it would be a shame to let it fade away with his retirement."
Yako said, then gave Kira a curious smile.
"Mokuba says you've shown unique insight into many of Yugi's used cards, and that your style… well, let's just say it aligns with Mr. Yugi's in some ways.
"So if anyone were to lead the project, you'd be the most natural choice."
Kira: "…"
Sounds about right.
He did know there was plenty to develop in the "Atem-less" Yugi's pool. He'd even dropped hints to a few KaibaCorp teams before, just pointing them in some directions, not diving deep. Taking over himself wouldn't be bad.
The cards Yugi used cover so many themes—several promising avenues came to mind at once.
"But that's not the main event today," Yako said, leading them into a conference room and taking a seat.
"KaibaCorp seems to have heard something," Mokuba asked from the side, taking a seat too.
"Is it true Industrial Illusions made an important discovery at an overseas ruin recently?"
KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions had excavation teams worldwide. It used to be widely believed that Duel Monsters originated in ancient Egypt, but that view had been shaken in academia.
Many now think Egypt was just one of the regions where Duel Monsters flourished, not necessarily the origin. Archaeology shows traces of Duel Monsters worldwide—huge finds could be anywhere underground.
"Yes. One of our European teams, after six years, finally found what we'd been searching for," Yako said, then smiled. "Have you heard of 'Gladiator Beasts'?"