Chapter 206: The CEO's Lifelong Rival
Chapter 206: The CEO's Lifelong Rival
And so, You Xuan found himself once again at the Kaiba Corporation.
No sooner had he arrived than he was surrounded by the team of panda-eyed researchers from the Chaos Soldier Research Group.
Without a moment's hesitation, the leader eagerly pulled him into another testing session, excitedly explaining how the last piece of advice You Xuan had given them had been crucial in guiding them towards a new direction for the Chaos Soldier series, helping them break through yet another bottleneck.
You Xuan had to rack his brains to remember what he had said before.
Oh, that.
This time, he didn't bother with the so-called "divine sight" and its visual imagery; he merely pointed them in a general direction.
He had simply mentioned that the former Duel King, Yugi Muto, often liked to combine "Dark Knight Gaia" and "Chaos Soldier" in his duels, and that there might be something special about that combination. He suggested that they strengthen their research in that direction.
If anyone else had made such a suggestion, the research team would have likely brushed it off. After all, aside from both being Warrior-type monsters with cool designs, there seemed to be little connection between Gaia and Chaos Soldier, and there was currently no evidence to suggest that the two cards had any synergy.
But when it came from You Xuan, they had to take it seriously. His previous insights had helped them break through bottlenecks they had been stuck on for years, achieving results that shocked the entire industry.
As such, they dared not ignore any of his words.
And indeed, You Xuan proved to be right once again. The reason no one had discovered this connection before was probably because no research team had ever thought to look in this direction.
There truly was a link between these two ace monsters used by the former Duel King—Dark Knight Gaia and Chaos Soldier.
And the proof was in the new forms of Gaia that they had developed under You Xuan's guidance.
Sprinting Dark Knight Gaia, a 7-star monster with 2300 ATK.
Its effect allowed it to be Special Summoned without Tributing, by changing its ATK to 1900. Additionally, when used as a Tribute, it let the player add a "Chaos Soldier" monster from their deck to their hand.
Awakened Dark Knight Gaia, another 7-star monster with 2300 ATK.
Its effect allowed it to be Special Summoned without Tributing when the opponent had more monsters on the field. When used as a Tribute, it let the player Special Summon a "Chaos Soldier" from their hand or graveyard.
Furthermore, when used as an Ritual material for the Ritual Summon of "Chaos Soldier", this card could be banished from the graveyard instead of Tributing a monster.
The team leader was thrilled by these developments, declaring that it was yet another breakthrough that opened up new avenues for their future research.
They had already contacted another research team within the Kaiba Corporation that specialized in Gaia, and they were just as excited by the discovery. The two teams decided to join forces for further development.
The leader of the Gaia research team also expressed a strong desire to meet the legendary You Xuan, believing that just a word or two of guidance from him could be immensely beneficial to their work.
After hearing the team leader's message, You Xuan fell into a moment of reflection.
The development of the Gaia deck... The first thing that came to his mind was that the key to playing this deck was to shout loudly enough. When summoning Gaia, one had to bellow with all their might, "Gaiaaaaaa!" If the shout lacked volume or sincerity, the spirit of the card would not answer.
Cough cough, he remembered that there were indeed quite a few ways to strengthen the Gaia deck.
Although the support cards for Gaia had been released in later generations, just like with Chaos Soldier, they had come out at a time when the meta had already left them far behind, to the point where they were barely playable even in casual games.
However, if they could be strengthened early on, they would still make for a decently powerful deck.
And so, You Xuan agreed to help, promising to reach out to the Gaia research team and assist them with their work.
The team leader was overjoyed and expressed his gratitude, mentioning that You Xuan's name would be included in their upcoming research paper, which would be published in a highly reputable international journal.
Among them was a deck centered around "Shining Dragon," which also possessed decent combat strength. However, he had already received it from the deliveryman, Alpha, so he didn't need that one.
But there was one other deck that caught his eye, and he was quite surprised to see it.
His gaze was instantly drawn to the cover of that card box.
"Wow, is this the legendary Kuriboh God Dragon Sphere Form!?
[Sphere Kuriboh Ball, ATK 300
Effect: When an opponent's monster declares an attack, send this card from your hand to the graveyard, and that attacking monster becomes Defense Position.
Additionally, when used for a Ritual Summon, you can banish this card from your graveyard instead of tributing a monster.]
As an evolved form of the God Card Kuriboh Ball, its effect had been upgraded from merely negating battle damage to changing the opponent's monster to defense position. Its appearance also resembled a super-deformed version of the Sphere Mode Winged Dragon of Ra, hence the revered title of Kuriboh God Dragon Sphere Form.
"Oh, this one," Keihei said as he picked up the card box and handed it to You Xuan. "It's a series developed based on the Kuriboh Ball deck."
You Xuan opened it and couldn't help but gasp. Goodness, it was filled with various Kuriboh Balls in disguise and support cards. But then again, hadn't the CEO dismissed this card as a weakling? Did he have a grudge against Kuriboh Ball?
Or perhaps, after all these years, the CEO had finally decided to 'join them if you can't beat them.'
"My brother told the researchers not to underestimate this card," Keihei said. "He said it has potential beyond their imagination."
You Xuan nodded.
That made sense. While the CEO still called Kuriboh Ball a weakling, it had, after all, tormented him countless times since the Duelist Kingdom. The reason he hadn't changed his tune was probably similar to how he still called Jonouchi "bone-head"—it was a combination of habit and a bit of tsundere attitude.
But this little one-star hand trap had long since earned his respect.
Come to think of it, You Xuan suddenly realized that the CEO seemed to invest a lot in researching the early ace-related series that Yugi had used. Be it Chaos Soldier, Gaia, or Kuriboh Ball...
Not to mention the Dark Magician and Magician Girl series.
It was as if he wanted to have a dedicated team researching every card Yugi had ever used.
You Xuan first thought that perhaps the CEO was worried about Yugi making a comeback one day and wanted to keep him up-to-date with the latest versions. But then he dismissed that idea. After all, Yugi was the type of duelist who could make anything work with his incredible skill and luck. He wouldn't need anyone else to print cards for him.
So, from another perspective, perhaps the CEO was adopting the mindset of "know your enemy." He might be thinking that if Yugi ever returned and pulled out a brand-new deck printed in the afterlife, he would be in big trouble. So, it was better to research them now and be prepared.
"I'll take this one," You Xuan said, pointing at the Kuriboh Ball deck.
"That's fine, but the practical combat capability of this deck isn't highly regarded at the moment," Keihei warned.
"It's okay. I know that," You Xuan said with a smile.
The entire Kuriboh Ball family was essentially a bunch of cheat-like hand traps, and their effectiveness depended on how the deck was constructed. A pure Kuriboh Ball deck was indeed a bit of a joke...
Hmm, maybe not entirely impossible.
You Xuan pondered.
With some adjustments, a pure Kuriboh Ball deck might actually work.
If someone was beaten from start to finish with nothing but Kuriboh Balls, wouldn't their mental state be more likely to crumble?
(End of Chapter)
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