Kaiba Corp's Masterpiece

"Commander of the Ignition Blaster Spinner (Lv. 8)"

"Attribute/Earth"

"Type/Machine"

"ATK/2500 DEF/2500"

There were no special effects or projections. In this most straightforward of contests, all there was was the sound of cards being slapped onto the table.

Yet Yu Ming felt a burning pain across his face, as though the robot on the card art had reached out with its massive hand and slapped him.

"Gear monsters..."

"What is it?"

"...No, nothing."

Though he really wanted to complain about something, on second thought, all he could do in this situation was swallow his broken teeth.

After all, no one said the young master of Kaiba Corporation had to use that deck of 'Creation of Heaven and Earth,' right?

And if he really had to say something...

"I don't think I've seen this card before."

Although Geargia monsters had existed as early as the DM era, most people's impression of them likely remained with the red, yellow, and green Gears.

Little Yugi had used them in a wonderful duel, and their mutual searching had even given rise to things like Geargia.

But setting aside the usual real-world practice of making terrible cards with archetype names to squeeze players for money, in the anime timeline, it was not until the Dark Side of Dimensions movie that the gold and silver Gears, along with the classic Trap Monsters, appeared as support.

And following that line of reasoning...

"These aren't cards from Industrial Illusions, are they?"

"That's right."

Noah answered with a smile.

"To gain enough strength to withstand the harsh environment here, and to have the power to protect ourselves, we couldn't place our hopes on those outdated cards. So, we had no choice but to focus on developing new cards with a variety of effects."

Well... how should he put it? It sounded rather like an arms race.

But putting that aside, Noah had brought up a crucial fact.

"So these are cards you made?"

"Yes. I believe you've already seen the 'Motor' Keith used. That was our work as well. Most of these are still in the testing stage, though, and aren't particularly stable yet."

"I see. So you have a lot of new cards here..."

Noah merely smiled at that.

Though he did not respond directly, he slowly revealed a card.

"Then I'll activate this card's effect now."

It was a monster.

"'Geargia Commander Spinner'—this card can equip the 'Geargia' monsters previously expended, and then..."

Noah slowly placed it down.

"Special Summon."

"Geargia Commander Spinner (Lv. 4)"

"Attribute/Earth"

"Type/Machine"

"ATK/0 DEF/2000"

Then, he moved the two monsters he had previously sent to the Graveyard and placed them in his Spell & Trap Zone.

"I equip the 'Geargia Soldier' and 'Geargia Green' in my Graveyard as Equip Cards. For every Geargia monster Geargia Commander absorbs, its ATK increases by 1000. Therefore, its ATK is 2000."

"Geargia Commander"

"ATK/0→2000"

Just like that, on the very first turn, Noah already had two monsters standing on his field.

But precisely because it was the first turn, he could not possibly expend too many resources on piling up monsters.

"Both monsters have high ATK. It would be a shame to simply let them leave the field like this."

"Yes, which is why I need to reinforce my defensive line—with this card."

Click.

The card slowly fell into place. Though there were still no special effects, Yu Ming could not take his eyes off it.

That card was...

"Continuous Spell, 'Geargia Army's Defense Perimeter.'"

Though it was only a card, Yu Ming felt as if he could see a steel cannon slowly rising, sweeping out a vacuum zone with lasers.

"As long as there is a Level 7 or higher Machine monster on my field, you cannot select Level 6 or lower Machine monsters on my field as targets for attacks or effects."

"Machines, huh..."

Staring at that familiar archetype name, Yu Ming's expression could not help becoming somewhat strange.

"This is Kaiba Corp's masterpiece too?"

"Yes. I believe you know that Kaiba Corporation was originally an arms company."

An arms company making machines sounded perfectly reasonable, but Yu Ming still felt an old complaint stuck in his throat.

Amid the inexplicable silence, Noah continued his plays.

"I have not yet conducted my Normal Summon this turn, so I Normal Summon 'Geargia Red' from my hand in Defense Position."

"Geargia Red"

"Attribute/Earth"

"Type/Machine"

"ATK/1300 DEF/1500"

After placing down the third monster in horizontal position, he picked up his deck.

"When 'Geargia Red' is successfully Summoned, I can add one 'Geargia Yellow' from my deck to my hand."

Now, he had used up his Normal Summon as well.

That meant that aside from the 'Geargia Yellow' that was practically an open card, he had only one card left in hand.

And that final card was...

"Continuous Spell, 'Machine Drive Night.'"

Click.

Clank.

As the card fell into place, Yu Ming seemed to hear the sound of gears meshing together, as though a massive factory had begun operating.

"As long as this card remains on the field, all face-up monsters on the field are transformed into Machine monsters, and this card will provide support for my side of the battle."

As for how it provided support, there was a most basic rule in card games.

"My Machine monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF, while the monsters you Summon lose 500 points."

"Geargia Red"

"DEF/1500→2000"

"Geargia Commander"

"ATK/2000→2500"

"Commander of the Ignition"

"ATK/2500→3000"

Holding the only remaining card in his hand, Noah smiled slightly.

"I end my turn like this."

In the end, three monsters stood on the field opposite him, and not one had less than 2000 ATK or DEF. Meanwhile, the back row had a coordinated defense of Spell Cards.

"May I look at the card effects?"

"Please."

Yu Ming picked up the Commander of the Ignition on the field. Its effect text was just as he knew it—whether treated as an Equip Card or a Monster Card, as long as there was a Geargia monster on the field, this card could not be destroyed by battle or effects.

In other words...

"When the time comes, from a conventional standpoint, I can only choose to attack it or target it with an effect. But it cannot be destroyed by battle or effects, and even if it somehow were destroyed..."

Yu Ming picked up the Geargia Army's Defense Perimeter.

"This card can also quickly recover monsters from the Graveyard."

"Yes. This is the defensive perimeter I... no, Kaiba Corporation has established."

Watching Noah's confident smile, Yu Ming's expression became strange.

He suddenly felt as though his status as a transmigrator might be fake.

System, other people's cards are better than the ones you sell. Do you have anything to say for yourself, you pig?

"Are you troubled?"

Noah seemed to have noticed something.

When Yu Ming put the Commander of the Ignition back down, he saw an apologetic expression appear on the boy's face.

"Life here does not permit us to slowly develop as we would in reality, probing each other step by step. Shadow Games torment our minds and wills, so we have grown accustomed to going all out from the very beginning... I hope you will not see this as humiliation."

Oh, so you knew bringing out something like this was a dimensionality-reduction strike?

You just threw down two cards to directly bring out a 2500-ATK heavyweight with a card-destruction effect, and now you were also restricting attack and effect targets while pushing its stats to 3000.

But...

"Of course not. If anything, that makes it more challenging."

Yu Ming glanced at his hand and smiled.

"Only by defeating a powerful opponent can one feel a sense of accomplishment, right?"

"I'm glad you see it that way."

"Then enough nonsense. I'll begin."

Under Noah's gaze, Yu Ming reached for his deck.

"My turn, draw."

After glancing at the card he drew, he added it to his hand.

Then...

"I set three cards, then activate a Spell Card."

He slapped down a card.

"'Magical Armory.'"