Right at the center of White Dragon Island, the organizers of the tournament officially held the award ceremony. Under the attention of countless people, Yugen was officially granted the title of the new generation Duel King.
And of course, there was a large sum of prize money.
After all, the tournament was organized by the Kaiba Group, and Duel City has always been generous with prize money throughout its history. This time, with the president personally participating to gamble on the title of Duel King, the prize is even more substantial due to the extraordinary significance compared to previous occasions.
Recently, Yugen had been purchasing cards aggressively, not only to supplement his own deck but also acquiring a lot for research purposes.
Although his laboratory always had research funding, it needed to be divided among several project groups. Yugen often invested in the research of his regular card deck himself, many of the cards purchased were for research, and coupled with various equipment and facilities, he indeed spent a significant amount of his savings.
Fortunately, the spending did not exceed his income. This windfall immediately allowed him to replenish most of his savings, even surpassing previous levels. It seems he shouldn't lack money to spend for a long time to come.
And this is just prize money. Now that he has become the Duel King, his fame and influence will only grow. Driven by his reputation, the investments he receives will only increase, and the funding will certainly be much more abundant than before.
Furthermore, if he intends, in the future, he could certainly participate in advertisement endorsements, public events, and paid appearances in various events. The opportunities brought by fame and strength are innumerable and can be selected based on personal interest.
However, even with more funding, it might still not be enough.
Research, after all, is a bottomless pit. For example, the Kaiba Group's annual development funding for each department is astronomical.
Moreover, Yugen's trip to Duel City, even excluding the tournament rewards, was quite profitable. Just from the Judge, he acquired the once environment-ravaging Dark Armed Dragon, although the subsequent potential wasn't developed, Yubel, which is quite rare, the Elemental Hero used to unsettle Hibiki Momiji's mindset, and the full Orichalcos set from the Snake God's family itself...
The Orichalcos Barrier is not something to be used haphazardly. Although its effect is strong, the inherent soul-extraction BUFF is quite bothersome. As a righteous person of integrity, Yugen disdains using such evil objects.
Not to mention the ominous Debuff of "whoever uses it will die." Although the Judge managed to break the curse with strength and won a match against Hibiki Momiji within the barrier, this one victory isn't enough to erase the illustrious past achievements of this barrier.
Especially considering that it is suspected to have a direct connection with the Cheating Snake. Although it currently seems deceased, it claimed that as long as human darkness doesn't die, it will remain immortal. If the barrier is used too much and the Cheating Snake takes advantage and resurrects, that would be terrible, wouldn't it?
So, it's better to forget about it.
But among the heap of original cards created by Doma itself, there are indeed quite a few that are extraordinarily powerful. The Orichalcos series also released a few cards in physical form years later, although their effects had been so magically altered beyond recognition that they became useless junk to fill card boxes for nostalgia. In the early environment, however, they are not unusable and have development potential.
However, the most valuable gain from this trip is undoubtedly Yubel.
Future players all know Yubel's potential. Many new series cards released are reimagined old cards used by Yubel in the animation, yet their strength has increased by several dimensions. Even printing one or two of them would be a remarkable trump card.
Seizing the title of Duel King seems like reaching the peak, but the work at hand isn't reduced much, and the to-do list is rather getting longer.
The Duel City battle might seem like he was a War God from an outsider's perspective, but to Yugen, it felt like he barely touched his limits for the first time, recognizing that he cannot afford to slack off in the future.
The final two battles were augmented by the Sealing Artifact, and even with the Winged Divine Dragon assisting, the improvement for a duelist is immense without a doubt. Yet he knew this couldn't count entirely as his own strength... at least not at this stage.
After Orichalcos's god was resolved and the Judge was thoroughly dismantled and extinguished, he picked up the Winged Divine Dragon card from the Duel Disc, observed it briefly, and saw a burst of golden light emanating from it.
The golden light gradually dimmed, seemingly taking with it the supreme divine power contained within the card. Initially, the card image started to blur gradually, followed by the text below, as if the golden light transformed into a stream, washing away all the information on the card together.
In the end, until all content had dissipated, the card itself also began to blur, eventually turning into a drift of golden points of light, disappearing from his hand.
Yugen realized in his heart.
He was ultimately not the Pharaoh, nor was he someone related to the Tomb Guardian Race or Thousand-Year Divine Artifact.
The Winged Divine Dragon appeared, only to follow the Pharaoh's order, coming to deal with the God of Orichalcos. Now that the mission is complete, it naturally went to find its rightful master.
If anything, this trip was merely getting acquainted with the Winged Divine Dragon, somewhat considered fighting as comrades. Whether meeting again in the future could glean some favor from past encounters remains uncertain.
The Sealing Artifact's brilliance similarly dimmed, reverting to its pre-battle appearance, losing its luster with no activity. However, this instrument didn't disassemble and vanish but remained in Yugen's hands, simply dormant for now.
It's unknown if there is another chance it might be reactivated in the future.
But Yugen didn't think too much about it.
He had a premonition; his connection with the Sun God should be more than just this. The future is long with more opportunities to meet again.
The road ahead is still long, and he has much to do.
Just as in reality, Yu-Gi-Oh! is a game with continuously developing versions and updates, so is the animation. From Duel Kingdom to Duel City, to subsequent series throughout the ages, the rules and cards are constantly being refined and evolved.
As institutions worldwide fervently develop, archaeological institutions are digging everywhere, the card system becomes more mature, series are increasingly completed with development, becoming stronger is inevitable.
Even the iconic strong players from the past, like Yu-Gi and Kaiba, when appearing years later, they also possess a large number of new cards and new iterations, adapting their deck to the changes of the times.
Failing to keep up with new version eras, even past strong players have the risk of being phased out. True strong players grow stronger over time, with an evolutionary speed potentially outpacing others.
A typical example is the president who was already at the top contemporary level back then, after these years, progressed at a lightning speed, now leading several generations ahead of the broader environment.
Though Yugen temporarily reached the top, he also knows a duel involves moving forward, missing a step, and you fall behind. One must progress at an accelerating pace to avoid being overtaken by the newcomers.
"After Dazi's downfall, the remaining followers regrouped into what they are today. But that won't happen again."
Seto Kaiba said solemnly.
"This time, I'll ensure these scraps are utterly destroyed."
Now that the dragon's head is severed, and the Three Musketeers have been defeated, the president is clearly prepared to settle accounts with the remaining small fries.
Upon hearing this, Yugen's eyes lit up.
Right, with New Doma forces spread across the globe, its unique card printing technology is no slouch. Each of the Three Musketeers had taken out several exclusive great items, even the Judge alone had a pile of epic equipment.
If one could access their card printing armory, wouldn't there be more unparalleled treasures?
Thus, Yugen immediately stepped forward to state his stance.
"Count me in," he said righteously to the president, "As the current Duel King, I also have the responsibility and duty to contribute to the building of a bright future for the Dueling Realm!"