Youyu quickly saw the D-Wheel that President Kaiba was personally responsible for replicating—strictly speaking, it might also be the first D-Wheel ever created by humanity in the long river of history in this entire world.
Because it was modeled after the D-Wheel brought back by Yusei, its appearance was very similar. Its core was also a Moment, but it couldn't operate independently.
Although it had been constructed, this prototype had not yet been tested and wasn't ready for battle.
According to the original plan, President Kaiba seemed to be ready to personally test it later today...
...and include Yusei.
President Kaiba appeared to have accepted the setting that Yusei was a Duelist akin to a future Warrior from Terminator—perhaps after witnessing Yusei's card skills, he no longer cared about the truth.
In any case, he simply had to duel immediately!
He had racked his brains to design this prototype in these few days just to see Yusei unleash his full potential in the new form of duel called "Riding Duel," aiming to compete with Yusei at full strength.
However, when he worked day and night to finally complete the D-Wheel, this rare opportunity was snatched by the annoying You↑yu↓!
When Youyu "commandeered" the D-Wheel that President Kaiba had just hurriedly finished, President Kaiba stood off to the side with his arms crossed, his face livid and his gaze unfriendly.
This scene felt somewhat familiar to the President.
Back in the Duel City days, President Kaiba was earnestly wishing to duel the annoying You↑gi↓, but Youyu suddenly showed up out of nowhere.
In the final match of those days, President Kaiba also had to stand in the audience, watching as the two men he recognized as Number One and Number Two competed for the title of Duel King, while he watched from below feeling hot-blooded but powerless...
Back then, President Kaiba poured in money and effort, allowing the entire city to give way for their duel competition for two days, spending untold amounts of money just to defeat You↑gi↓ and obtain the coveted title of "Duel King."
Ultimately, he never imagined that the competition would result in a double draw—birthing two Duel Kings at once, and neither was the President...
Such scenes inevitably triggered some of the President's unpleasant memories.
The President might be angry, and this time he didn't even show up. However, Youyu couldn't believe the President could resist watching the match from afar, speculating that he was likely spectating online from his office with his legs propped up.
The competition venue was set on Duel Academy Island—a track was cleared on the island specifically for this Riding Duel.
The dimensional rift appeared on the Academy Island when The Supreme King vanished, so if they wished to reopen the path to that dimension, the duel naturally had to be held on this island.
Thus, all those concerned about Judai also flocked to the island to witness the duel with Youyu. They only waited for the portal to open to rush inside.
Besides them, a batch of players acting as mentors on the island also arrived.
This time was the perfect opportunity to use these tools.
If Youyu's guess was correct, the Other Dimension should be similar to the animation setting—any summoned spirits would materialize, and each duel's damage would convert to real harm, and the loser would vanish directly in the duel.
Under such premises, aside from the strong and excellent students, only these tool-type individuals who wouldn't be missed even if they died were suitable for accompanying.
The forces in the Other Dimension were intricately distributed, with each major power taking charge, embodying their armies, countless miscellaneous tools.
Though Youyu had confidence not inferior to anyone, facing enemies when venturing into the Otherworld head-on and individually would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and impractical.
So bringing a troop of his own was undoubtedly a good option.
Upon completing the final adjustments, both Youyu's and Yusei's D-Wheels arrived at the starting line.
By this time, the spectators were already buzzing. Someone live-streamed the match, igniting the entire player forum.
"Whoa! Is that Crab?"
"Crab is my man crush!"
"Crab is my husband!"
"Coveting my husband, how different are you from Cao Thief?"
"Cao Thief: This pot I really can't carry; I have no interest in men..."
"..."
More and more people noticed the situation on Academy Island and exclaimed "Whoa!" in amazement.
Wasn't Crab the child of the world in the next version? Why did he run to GX's Duel Academy?
Moreover, is he about to duel with Mr. Youyu?
And in a card-riding duel!?
Whoa.
"Mr. Youyu," Yusei said politely, his face full of anticipation, "It is my greatest honor to face you in this era. Let us enjoy the duel together!"
"Mm."
Youyu casually responded, then glanced slyly at the D-Wheel under Yusei for a moment, then hesitated before deciding not to say anything.
As long as you don't unscrew the bolts...
Yusei is one of the rare protagonists in Yu-Gi-Oh with a zero defeat track record, but, saying so, this zero defeat should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Once, facing a formidable opponent called "Earthbound Immortal" during a Dark Duel, Yusei's D-Wheel allegedly lost a bolt just before his defeat, resulting in a crash and terminating the duel.
Since then, "unscrewing bolts" became famous as one of the most notable gags in Yu-Gi-Oh history and became Crab's personal label. Eventually, it evolved into a kind of mystical saying—"Crab can't win a duel without unscrewing bolts," akin to "Sakuretsu Armor can't be activated," perceived as the will of the Macro Cosmos...
However, anyway, the very goal of this duel was to open the channel to the Otherworld, not the victory itself, so Youyu didn't care how it would end.
"Riding Duel, Accelerator!" x2
[Youyu, LP 4000]
[Yusei, LP 4000]
As two accelerators were sounded off, the D-Wheel engines roared fiercely, like iron horses breaking free, rushing from the start line, kicking up brown dust in their wake.
If following the rules of "Riding Duel" properly from the future, conducting a Riding Duel required automatic activation of the field magic "Speed World" first.
Speed World couldn't be nullified, doesn't leave the field, nor be replaced, ruling the whole field from the start of the duel.
Once within Speed World, aside from Riding Duel exclusive "Speed Spells" (non-physical cards), no other Magic Cards could be activated by either side.
Of course, those were products of the future. Obviously, the current era wasn't so extravagant.
So even though it's called "Riding Duel," for now, both sides are actually just riding while dueling, and the duel rules themselves haven't changed.
"Then I'll take the first turn, Mr. Youyu."
Yusei was evidently a veteran, skillfully drifted through a curve to advance through the first bend and gained the first move under the rules of "Riding Duel."
"Please watch from now on, Mr. Youyu," Yusei said with determination, "the power I possess now!"