In the early morning, after getting out of bed, Youyu was not at all surprised to learn from Mokuba that "Kaiba dug up the Millennium Pendant."
Mokuba concisely summarized the events of last night in a message, including their encounter with the mysterious young man known as "Aigami."
Mokuba also mentioned that Kaiba had a card duel with Aigami last night, but unfortunately, the duel was not completed. At the end of the duel, Mokuba collected all the Millennium Pendant fragments and ran off with them.
The president, with his heart set on the King of the Netherworld, was eager to return to assemble the pendant, leaving only a sentence, "Aigami, we'll finish our fight another day," and turned to leave directly.
The president was so focused on assembling the pendant that he didn't even finish a card game, his usual obsession, which perhaps shows his dedication to the king.
However, this did allow Aigami to escape unscathed.
Although the card game wasn't finished, many viewers felt that if the president hadn't been in a hurry to return to piece together the pendant and see the king, and had finished the game against Aigami in the temple, the rest of the movie might not have had anything to do with Aigami.
After reading the message, Youyu got dressed and got out of bed. By the time he went out, the domesticated vampire maid Quine had already made breakfast, standing with a sweet smile by the dining table, bowing deeply with a big, bright gesture when she saw her master come out.
... forming a stark contrast with Chinai-chan's Little Red Riding Hood figure.
At this point, you might ask, why Little Red Riding Hood?
Because, as everyone knows, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother was eaten by the Big Bad Wolf... (crossed out)
...
If Youyu guessed correctly, Kaiba will surely be running to the company's newly built cosmic space station today to assemble the pendant.
That thing is truly a piece of black technology. This year, not only did Kaiba build a cosmic space station up in the sky, but he even constructed a space elevator that can go directly from the ground to the station.
It is said that a person sitting in that elevator, without any additional safety measures, can rise near to the space station within six seconds. If Newton were to know, he might shed bitter tears.
But you might find it hard to believe that Kaiba spent so much money, and almost single-handedly advanced human technology by a generation in one year, just for... assembling the pendant.
Muto Yugi spent a full eight years assembling the Millennium Pendant, but the president said he couldn't wait eight years to drag Yugi up to duel, so he built the space station.
Youyu isn't quite clear about the principles, but according to the president's description, it seems the cosmic environment aids in assembling the pendant.
Youyu plans to check out the space station today while still pondering whether there's a way to dissuade the president from dragging people back from the Netherworld for a duel.
But before that, he has something else to do today.
...
At nine in the morning, at a restaurant in Domino Central Square.
"Happy birthday."
Chinai patted Judai's little head and handed him a beautifully wrapped gift box.
"A present for me!?" Little Judai's eyes widened, "Can I open it?"
"Of course."
So little Judai impatiently unwrapped the gift box and was thrilled to see a beautifully crafted "Elemental Hero Sparkman" figure.
"Oh, it's Sparkman!" Judai danced around with excitement, "Thank you, Chinai-neechan!"
Chinai nodded slightly, suggesting there was no need to thank her.
After all, being Youyu's student, what's there to be polite about?
Ed, who was nearby, came over enviously: "This is so cool! Can I take a look?"
"Sure!" Little Judai was quite generous with his friends.
Ever since they met last time, little Ed frequently nagged his dad about visiting Judai to play. Coincidentally, Mr. Phoenix had some business in Domino and needed to stay for a while, and he was also happy for his son to communicate and interact more with the Duel King's disciple.
So the two little friends became inseparable.
"Youyu also prepared a gift," Chinai said.
Little Judai's eyes sparkled upon hearing that, immediately turning a hopeful gaze toward Youyu.
Youyu smiled mysteriously and naturally didn't disappoint the little jellyfish. He pulled out a thick tutorial book, smiling kindly at Judai–
–"Cute little jellyfish, would you prefer this 'Test-taking Guide'? Or this 'Exam Express'?"
Judai: The smile gradually freezes. JPG.
Little Judai anxiously took two steps back, muttering softly, "Can I not have a birthday gift..."
Youyu nodded with a "worthy of teaching" expression.
"What a polite and well-mannered child. As a reward, I will give you both books!"
Judai: "..."
Little Judai held the two tutorial books in his hands, slumped on the chair looking quite miserable.
Of course, Youyu isn't a devil. While it's important to focus on a child's studies, appropriate encouragement is also necessary.
Besides the guide and the express, Youyu also prepared other birthday surprises for Judai.
"Excuse me... which of you two is Judai?"
An all-too-familiar voice sounded from behind them. The two little friends turned around in unison, almost simultaneously exclaiming, "Ah!"
"Yu... Yugi-san!?"
Muto Yugi stood smiling behind the two little friends, waving at them.
Following closely behind him were Jonouchi and other inseparable buddies.
Little Ed, reflexively, stood up straight as if he were a tightly drawn string, his little face blushing.
Yugi-san! It's Yugi-san!
To see both Youyu and the legendary Yugi-san at the same time!
Simply double the happiness!
Little Ed, already introverted, found himself at a loss for words when he saw his idol. But Judai had no such issue; the little jellyfish grabbed Yugi by the hand and started chattering away.
Youyu also greeted Yugi and the group of buddies.
They were all approaching high school graduation, each busy with their own matters, so they hadn't been in touch for quite a while. This time, it was Youyu, aiming to give his student a birthday surprise, who specifically contacted Yugi for a meeting.
Especially Yugi, who had a lot on his plate these days. It was said he had been selected as the representative of excellent students and that the school planned for him to give a speech at the graduation ceremony.
Honestly, given Yugi's attendance rate, possibly only slightly higher than Kaiba's, being chosen as an "excellent student representative" was quite miraculous. After all, it was known he spent almost an entire year last year dueling and rarely showed his face at school.
An excellent graduate... probably because no one in the entire school could out-duel him.
Watching the two little friends cheerfully surround Yugi, Youyu patted Yugi's shoulder, saying, "I'll leave them to you for now."
Yugi was taken aback: "Sure, but do you have something else to do, Youyu?"
"Yeah, there's a little something with President Kaiba..."
Yugi, realizing, revealed an "Oh, I see" expression and didn't ask further.
Apparently, he didn't yet know that Kaiba had already unearthed the Millennium Pendant.
...
Low Earth orbit, Kaiba Company's cosmic space station.
In a sealed container, countless lasers crossed paths, the world's most advanced computer running at full power, computing simulations, and performing one hundred thousand synesthetic simulations every tenth of a second, rapidly attempting to piece together the scattered golden fragments.
Kaiba Seto stood with arms crossed beyond the transparent container, his determined eyes unblinkingly fixed on the process of assembling the pendant fragments.
Soon, Yugi↑!
Get up and duel with me!