The night was falling, the skyline shrouded in a mysterious haze of purple dusk.
A huge and mysterious silhouette gently approached through the coastal fog, the seawater slowly parted under the pressure of the gigantic hull, forming long trails extending to the distant horizon. The crashing sound of the waves against the metal merged with the mechanical roar to create a majestic symphony.
"Wow, amazing!"
Staring at the ship bearing the KC emblem docking, Judai could not help but widen his eyes.
"Huge, powerful... It really looks like a battleship, huh?"
"This is the venue for the new round of Duel City, the Duel Ship!"
Kaiba was the first to step onto the ship.
"Duelists brave enough to accept the ultimate trial, step onto this stage of final battle!"
The Judge followed expressionlessly with hands behind back. Loren also boarded the ship, his eyes fixed on Kaiba.
Everyone boarded in succession, and the ship started moving.
After advancing to the quarter-finals of the initial Duel City, Kaiba organized a whole airship, and it even seemed to carry jet planes inside, quite extravagant indeed.
"I see," Yugen understood somewhat.
Anyway, first take these dangerous figures to a place far from the city. This way, even if they end up engaging in a Pokémon-style duel mode due to disagreement, it won't affect the public.
Back during Duel City, the Snake God's true form hadn't fully appeared, just a bit of its storm causing a disaster that halted the competition. If a direct fight broke out, who knows what might happen.
President Kaiba generously arranged a top-tier banquet for the advancing duelists, the banquet restaurant glowing brightly on the top deck.
A dozens-meter-long table was placed in the center of the restaurant, lined with pristine linen tablecloth. Silverware and crystal-clear wine glasses adorned the table, which was filled with an array of dishes, accompanied by soft classical music flowing through the air.
Competitors were allowed to bring one or two relatives or friends along, but Yugen had no one he particularly wanted to bring, so this rule didn't matter to him.
However, Hibiki Momiji did bring relatives.
"Eh!?"
Seeing a tall black-haired woman teacher, wearing a white shirt and high-waisted jeans, smiling before him, Judai widened his eyes in surprise.
"Teacher? You... you're here to participate too?"
She was the teacher from Obelisk Blue Dormitory at Duel Academy. Although Judai mostly slept through her class, the teacher surprisingly still recognized him.
The female teacher smiled, "Judai, after a semester of my class, I guess you don't even remember my name, huh?"
Judai sheepishly scratched his head, "Haha, teacher saw through me..."
"My name is Hibiki Midori." The teacher smiled, "This time, don't forget it, alright?"
"Hibiki Midori, Hibiki... Eh!?"
Judai was utterly astonished.
"Then you and Mr. Hibiki are...?"
"She's my sister," Hibiki Momiji appeared, smiling, "Judai is quite a good student, right?"
"A good Duelist indeed. But as a student..."
Hibiki Midori glanced at Judai, arms crossed with a half-smile.
"In fact, among all Duel Academy students over the years, it's rare to see someone with so many failing grades in one semester."
"Haha, haha..." Judai seemed at a loss for words, resorting to a dry laugh to ease the awkwardness.
"Judai, you're stellar in dueling, although theoretical scores aren't more important than practical skills, neglecting them too much isn't advisable."
Hibiki Momiji laughed patting his shoulder, then gave her sister a meaningful look.
"And, it's not wise to make sister angry. When she's upset, she's quite scary, even I must keep my distance..."
"Hey, what do you mean." Hibiki Midori was annoyed.
Judai watched their interaction and suddenly couldn't help saying, "That's nice..."
"What?" Hibiki Momiji looked at him.
"Oh, just seeing Mr. Momiji and Teacher Hibiki... It suddenly struck me, having siblings is quite nice. Actually, I didn't have many friends when I was young, and I often thought how great it'd be if I had a brother..."
"Is it?"
Hibiki Momiji closed his eyes, smiling.
"In that case... Judai, if you want, I can... be your brother too."
"Eh? Really?!" Judai was excited again.
"Hey hey, you didn't ask my sister's consent." Hibiki Midori spoke out.
"Sister Midori!" Judai quickly changed his address.
"Alright, alright." Hibiki Midori smiled helplessly, "But don't expect calling me that will help you pass next semester."
"..."
After feasting, the contestants were housed in their respective rooms to rest, then soon assembled, gathering at the ship's upper deck.
The duel field was already set here, along the wall was a White Dragon Lottery Machine, modeled after a chibi True Ultimate Blue-Eyes Dragon, the central mouth opened towards a glass dome above, while the other two pointed downwards.
A president with money even had the lottery machine customized for Bai Jia. But possibly more extravagant was that the president even made the lottery machine into a card.
{"Magic Card - Bingo Machine - Go! Go!"}
{"Effect: Select three cards from your deck, each containing 'Blue-Eyes' monster or note 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' or 'True Ultimate Blue-Eyes Dragon', and display them to your opponent. They choose one at random to add to your hand, the rest return to the deck."}
In essence, it's a lottery card.
Another proof that in Yu-Gi-Oh, anything and everything can be made into cards, whatever you see or think of is encapsulated in a card.
"Greetings, Duelists. I am the referee of this Kaiba Group-hosted Duel City Tournament, you can call me Izuno."
A man in a black suit with black sunglasses stepped onto the stage, his stern face showing no humor.
The legendary referee Izuno, an experienced fighter under President Kaiba's wing, weathering all challenges, handling huge stages with calm, is indeed a legendary figure.
"Next, using the lottery machine, the order of match opponents will be randomly decided, please wait."
The Ultimate Dragon machine started, and golden balls with participant numbers flew randomly inside the glass dome. Everyone held their breath awaiting the result.
"Who will be the first matchup?"
Judai's face was full of anticipation.
"Every one of them is a rival I want to face, so exciting..."
Two balls fell from the two mouths of the Ultimate Dragon, each representing the participant number of the competitors in the first duel match.
"Number One, Fujiki Yugen!"
Referee Izuno took the two balls in hand, announcing loudly.
"The opponent is Number Three, Mizuki Mackenzie!"