Chapter 1299: Another Z-ONE

"Just as I said earlier, many of the things you are experiencing now have already happened once in my dimension."

The fake Z-ONE spoke. "Dark Signers, WRGP, then the Ark Cradle… How do you think things will ultimately develop? What kind of ending do you hope to see?"

The fake Z-ONE looked at the real Z-ONE of this dimension.

Z-ONE pondered for a moment before replying, "You're trying to tell me that the ending will be exactly the same as what you know."

"Why do you think it would be any different?" the fake Z-ONE asked. "I already told you—Yusei will fail. You can only choose to continue destroying New Domino City and watch the future be destroyed for reasons beyond the Ener-D."

Z-ONE asked, "Then what is the purpose of the copies you brought?"

"It's simple. They have the same personalities and abilities as the originals, and they have had more time to evolve and accumulate more experience in their own dimension. They—or more precisely, the Yusei from this world—are stronger than the one in your dimension. He believes that the Yusei and 5D's team of this dimension cannot stop you, but he can."

"Stop me?" Z-ONE said.

The fake Z-ONE replied, "Correct. He asked me how to make you change your plan, abandon summoning the Ark Cradle, and stop destroying New Domino City. I told him the only way is to defeat you. I understand this because I am you. I know your thoughts. I know you won't give up this plan easily. Am I right? Even after hearing all this from me, you still won't abandon the Ark Cradle's descent, correct?"

"Correct."

Z-ONE spoke in a low voice. "I won't believe everything you say based on just your words. And even if what you say is true, it is merely a possibility in your timeline. It does not mean the same will happen in my dimension."

Indeed. Countless worlds held countless possibilities. The history of other parallel worlds could not represent the future of a similar dimension. For example, in the official anime history that Kira knew, Yusei should have won the Ark Cradle battle, yet this fake Z-ONE said that in their dimension Yusei lost.

Similarly, even after the Ener-D was destroyed in the fake Z-ONE's dimension, the world still could not escape destruction. But that was only their world's experience and could not represent this dimension.

Z-ONE's time was already running out. The Ark Cradle was his final gamble carrying all his hopes. He had sacrificed too much for it. He would not change his decision over just a few words.

"I knew it would be like this," the fake Z-ONE said. "Likewise, the Yusei and 5D's team of this world will not easily hand over the city's future to a group of robots from another world. So a battle between them is inevitable. At the same time, the duel process itself is also a way to test the strength of this dimension's 5D's members. If the Yusei and his companions of this dimension are already stronger, the copies will naturally let them take control of their own future and will not interfere further."

After a pause, the fake Z-ONE looked toward Kira. "That was the original plan. But after we arrived in this dimension, we discovered a new variable…"

Kira understood. "Me."

"Yes, you," the fake Z-ONE said. "That's why Breo went to investigate you. He exposed himself and was dealt with by you. That was his own problem."

Kira replied, "I only came for my own world. I have no intention of interfering with this world. Once I confirm this dimension poses no threat to mine, I will leave immediately."

"Perhaps that was true at the beginning. I believe that was your original intention," the fake Z-ONE said. "But the fact now is that you have become too deeply involved in this dimension. Director of Security, the new Emperor of Iliaster, forming an alliance with Z-ONE—you have now become one of the top threats in this dimension. We have no choice but to evaluate the situation."

As he spoke, the fake Z-ONE's nautilus-like device glowed with a pale blue light across its entire body. The patterns on the metal shell flickered like breathing, and faint ripples disturbed the air as it floated.

His body slowly rose from the ground without any airflow disturbance. The gravel and dust beneath the floating device were pushed away by an invisible force, forming a perfect circular clearing on the ground. As he rose higher, the high-altitude winds howled past but could not move him in the slightest. The nautilus device continued operating with neither roaring flames nor loud noise—only an eerie silence.

The fake Z-ONE hovered among the clouds, overlooking the now-tiny battlefield below like a god who had broken free from gravity.

"I was originally just an observer, tasked only with witnessing the ending of the legacy left by the already-deceased Z-ONE. But since things have come to this…"

The armor plates on both sides of his mechanical device suddenly split open. Accompanied by the hiss of hydraulic systems, two giant mechanical arms slowly extended. The arms were silver-gray, with glowing blue energy rings at the joints. They hovered steadily in mid-air without any support.

The right arm ended in a sharp claw structure, with dangerous sparks of electricity dancing at the fingertips. The left arm was even more special—its back featured a large translucent card slot into which an entire deck had been inserted. The deck was quite large and remained completely still when the arm moved, as if fixed by some force field.

Kira looked up at him. "So you want to duel?"

"Correct."

The fake Z-ONE spoke coldly. "The King from another world wouldn't fear this challenge, right? Also…"

The fake Z-ONE smiled mysteriously. "The deck I use is a replica of the crystallization of Z-ONE's lifelong research—his greatest masterpiece, possessing the strongest power. I have observed you. Aren't you most interested in all kinds of rare and powerful decks? If you can defeat me, this entire deck will be yours."

Kira's eyes lit up. "Are you serious?"

"Of course," the fake Z-ONE said calmly. "I was only a witness to begin with. Coming to this dimension… this is probably our final journey. Once this matter is settled, regardless of the outcome, cards will no longer mean anything to me."

"Deal."

As if suddenly motivated, Kira mounted his Duel Runner without another word.

Of course, his Duel Runner couldn't fly. But the opponent was hovering in mid-air, clearly intending to have an aerial Turbo Duel like the final battle at the end of 5D's.

But that wasn't a big problem.

Kira patted his Duel Runner. "Silent, I'm counting on you."

Silent Magician pouted and floated out. She waved her staff. White translucent magic power formed a pair of wings on both sides of the Duel Runner. When Kira activated the Duel Runner, the clear white wings flapped, and the Duel Runner really lifted off and flew into the sky.

Silent seemed to say: What else do you expect? You want me to carry the Duel Runner the whole time?

Kira quickly ascended to the same height as the fake Z-ONE. The real Z-ONE of this dimension did not intervene. He simply watched with interest from the side.

He was interested in the duel between Kira and this copy of himself.

"Turbo Duel, Acceleration!" ×2

…