Yu-Gi-Oh!
5D’s has a vastly different worldview compared to its predecessors.
Compared to the DM and GX series, this iteration of Domino City is even darker and colder.
Everything must be traced back to an event called the ‘Zero Reverse’.
This incident occurred approximately twenty years after the ‘Duel Monsters – Yugi Muto era’.
At that time, Kaiba Corporation had already attained an extremely advanced level of technology.
To continue progressing into a new future, Dr.
Fudo, from the Ener-D Express Development Agency, discovered the ‘Ener-D particles’ and created the pollution-free perpetual energy device, the Moment.
However, during the research process, the Moment system suffered an extremely dangerous malfunction.
Dr.
Fudo attempted to stop it but failed, ultimately triggering a colossal explosion that shook the entire city.
And this catastrophic explosion was precisely the ‘Zero Reverse’ incident.
Affected by the powerful impact, the original Domino City was split into two, separated by an expanse of ocean.
With various emergency strategies implemented, New Domino City, located in the central zone, and Satellite, on the opposite coast, continuously widened the gap between them.
To this day, the two areas have formed a stark disparity, like heaven and earth.
All trash and waste from New Domino City is, without exception, funneled into Satellite.
Residents of Satellite not only have to collect and process enormous amounts of trash day and night but are also permanently forbidden from entering New Domino City.
The only remaining connection between the two cities was the pipelines for disposing of waste and the waterways for retrieving resources.
This twisted dynamic created a drastic wealth gap between the residents of the two areas.
All sorts of grudges and hatred rapidly festered amidst countless conflicts.
Almost every month, Satellite residents attempting to sneak in were repatriated.
Within Satellite itself, friction between various gangs and organizations frequently arose…
Sector 17, the Sixteenth Waste Recycling Plant, Metal Scrap Sorting Depot.
Piercing, cacophonous noise incessantly filled the factory floor.
A section of the conveyor belt had detached, causing countless pieces of trash to fall to the ground.
In just a few minutes, both sides of the production line were already piled high with refuse.
Amidst a cacophony of clanging, several young men, eighteen or nineteen years old, were loudly arguing.
Though they were all factory workers, they wore their own dirty, tattered clothes.
For about three years, this factory had stopped distributing work uniforms.
“What the hell!
I told you to go talk to them and stop the conveyor belt!”
“Why don’t *you* go talk to them?!
If merely flapping our mouths could stop the trash from flowing in, would Satellite be such a hellhole?!”
“Stop arguing!
Let’s figure out how to fix this quickly, or we’ll all be dead by tomorrow morning!” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Damn it…
It’s useless!
This chain is incredibly difficult to fix.
Once it’s broken, it’s impossible to put back together!”
Arguing, cursing, waste crashing, machinery rumbling…
All sorts of piercing sounds interwove, making the entire factory deafeningly chaotic.
Just then, a voice echoed from the factory entrance.
His voice was remarkably clear, and his words made it hard for them to ignore: “Using that method, you’ll only break the equipment!”
The young workers, a chaotic huddle, turned their heads in unison.
Standing at the entrance was a completely unfamiliar young man.
He appeared a bit older than them.
He seemed to have been well-off once, but now, for some unknown reason, he was down on his luck.
Having struggled for years in Satellite, they might not have had many skills, but they were always good at judging people.
The guy standing at the entrance wore ill-fitting, tattered clothes, yet his boots gleamed with an unusual preciousness.
At first glance, though dirty, his solid muscles were not something people like them could develop.
After hearing Yusei’s words, the young man, who had been squatting in the trash pile, sweating profusely as he tried to repair it, instantly flared up.
He threw his wrench to the ground with force and yelled in a hoarse voice: “I can’t?!
Then you goddamn do it?!”
But to their surprise, Yusei actually walked over, found a few tools on the ground, and stepped into the trash pile.
“I can fix it,” he stated.
This scene made the young men freeze in astonishment.
They had no idea where this guy came from, or what his purpose was.
One of them, more cautiously, asked his companion, “Hey, this… is it going to work?”
Another person carefully observed Yusei’s movements, nodded, and said, “He doesn’t look like an amateur…
Anyway, we can’t fix it.
Let him try…”
A short guy nearby nervously reminded them, “Where did he come from?
He’s not a fugitive from New Domino City, is he?”
In this area, all convicts had a special mark on their faces to allow Sector Security to track them.
Of course, this excluded fugitives who hadn’t yet been arrested.
Over the years, many who committed crimes in New Domino City would try to escape to Satellite.
Few Sector Security officers from New Domino City were willing to personally come to a dump like this just to apprehend a single criminal.
Therefore, many fugitives who arrived here were considered to have completely eluded pursuit and investigation.
As long as they didn’t alarm the local Sector Security, they could barely manage to survive.
Someone as peculiar-looking as Yusei might very well have snuck in.
Their hearts pounded, and they secretly drew the small knives hidden on their persons.
Just as they were tense and hesitant, the sound of the conveyor belt restarting rang out.
The trash and waste being transported from behind stopped falling, and once again moved orderly along the production line.
“It’s done.” Yusei wiped the grime from his forehead and stepped out from the mountain of refuse.
He pointed to a spot on the conveyor belt.
“But two parts are missing.
It’ll hold for now, but it’ll probably break again soon.”
The young men felt as if a great burden had been lifted, but as soon as they heard the latter half of his sentence, they immediately panicked once more.
“What parts?
Did they fall out somewhere?”
“Huh?
Then, how long will it last…?”
Yusei sat on a hard-shelled box, wiping his sweat.
“It doesn’t look like they fell out,” he said.
“The screws inside are very new.
It looks like someone deliberately removed them.”
Upon hearing this, the young men’s faces darkened.
The reason they were so flustered today was that this machine had just been repaired two days ago.
If it broke down again, the higher-ups would definitely think they had tampered with it to slack off, and a harsh punishment would be inevitable.
Yusei’s words, however, made them realize something.
If the machine wasn’t naturally broken today but intentionally sabotaged, then it must have been done by that group of people they recently had a conflict with…
“Damn it!” One of them fumed and was about to go find them to settle the score, but Yuan pulled him back.
“Don’t be impulsive.
Those bastards won’t admit it,” a spiky-haired youth, who seemed to be their leader, said, shaking his head.
Then he smiled and looked at Yusei.
“Today’s matter really troubled you.
Is there anything we can do to help you?”
Yusei hesitated for a moment, swallowing the words on the tip of his tongue.
The timing wasn’t right.
Asking so rashly might attract unnecessary misunderstandings.
After a long pause, he sighed and asked, a little awkwardly, “Is there… anything to eat?”
(end of chapter)