Am I a Kamen Rider or the real young master who was switched at birth?

(Oops, sorry for the slow update today. Our college was hiking all morning (╥_╥) for more than 5 hours, and I was so tired when I got back that I went to sleep, so I didn't update. I'm updating now (╥_╥))

Factory Night Raid

Night, an abandoned industrial area on the outskirts of the city.

This industrial zone was once the largest machinery processing base in the eastern part of the Federation more than a decade ago, but it was later abandoned due to urban planning adjustments and frequent attacks by the Silent Beasts.

The towering chimneys cast huge shadows in the moonlight, and the rusty gantry cranes creaked and groaned in the night wind.

The ground was littered with broken glass and wild grass growing from the cracks in the walls. Occasionally, a few stray cats would dart across the ruins, their pupils flashing a fleeting, eerie green light in the darkness.

The largest of the factories is located deep within the industrial zone. The outer wall still bears the large hole left by the beast that struck it years ago, with the steel bars at the edge of the hole sticking out like broken bones.

The factory windows were all nailed shut from the inside with thick black industrial canvas, preventing any light from passing through.

The only entrance was a half-collapsed iron gate on the side, next to which stood two people dressed in black combat uniforms, wearing night vision goggles, and holding energy rifles.

Inside the factory, on the second floor.

A row of suspended iron-framed corridors extends along the four walls of the factory building. The anti-rust paint on the railings has peeled off in large and small pieces, revealing the dark red rust underneath.

A man who looked to be about thirty-five or thirty-six years old stood in the middle of the iron-framed corridor, his hands gripping the railing.

Compared to the other men in black, his equipment was clearly superior.

The shoulder armor and knee pads were covered with additional dark metallic armor plates, and the bulletproof vest on the chest was embedded with several energy shield generators that had been worn smooth and shiny.

His helmet had an extra dark purple stripe that ran from his forehead to the back of his neck, unlike the others. It was the insignia of some old-style Awakened unit, which is now rarely recognized.

What is most eye-catching is the large sword on his back, which is nearly 1.6 meters long. There is an extremely fine blood groove on the blade that extends from the guard to the tip.

The handle was polished until it gleamed, and at the end was embedded a dark purple crystal core that was still faintly glowing.

His surname is Zheng, and his given name hasn't been used in a long time.

When he served in the Awakened Forces, his comrades called him "Old Zheng".

Later, he left the army and worked in the underworld, doing things for money. People in the underworld started calling him "Zheng Dao" (meaning "Zheng the Knife").

Zheng Dao looked down at the relatively empty concrete ground below.

A neat line of men in black stood on the ground, roughly twenty or so.

Each person had an energy shield generator embedded in their bulletproof vest, an energy pistol strapped to their outer thigh, and a short-handled tactical axe hanging from their waist.

Several of them had a dark purple pattern printed on their backpacks—a blurry outline of a beast's head, the equipment insignia that Shen Yunzhou had issued to them when he was still around.

The emergency light shone on Zheng Dao's sharply defined jawline, illuminating half of his expressionless face in bright light and half in shadow.

He scanned everyone downstairs to make sure everyone was there, then spoke in a low voice:

"According to intelligence, tonight, the authorities will escort Song Zhiming to the 'Abyss.' Regarding the Abyss—you don't need to know too much. It belongs to the government; it's a secret prison, its location unknown, built around an island."

"It's filled with top-tier Awakened criminals and Silent Beast test subjects. The security is so tight that not even a fly can get in. Even Young Master Shen only mentioned it briefly in an old file and never knew its exact location. Once Song Zhizhi is imprisoned in the Abyss, we'll never have another chance to get him out."

He paused for a moment. No one spoke downstairs, but the atmosphere felt even more tense than before.

The name "Abyss" is almost like a ghost story in the underworld.

No one who went in ever came out alive, and even those who tried to break in during transport disappeared.

"Song Zhiming is the key to reviving Young Master Shen, and there can be no mistakes. The Silent Beast Cocoon left behind by Young Master Shen needs his medical skills to perfect it. Without him, the cocoon is just a lump of rotten flesh."

"I've already planted an inside man. One of our men is in the convoy; he'll cause a vehicle breakdown at a designated point on the road. When the convoy stops for repairs, we'll launch a surprise attack from the side. Understand?"

"Yes!" About twenty voices converged into a unified response in the empty factory.

Zheng Dao gripped the hilt of the sword behind his back with both hands, and with one hand he drew the Blade of Light, its blade reflecting a cold, sharp light under the illumination of the emergency light.

He hoisted the knife onto his shoulder, the weight of the blade causing his shoulder to sag slightly, and then he took two steps down.

The metal corridor echoed dully under his footsteps—thump, thump, thump.

"There's one more thing. You must be careful of that guy named Ye Yang."

Several people downstairs visibly stiffened their shoulders.

"According to intelligence, he was a young master of the Lin family who had been lost. He was mentored by a master and possessed considerable strength. He could transform into a strange pink armor, and his combat power far exceeded that of ordinary awakened individuals. Young Master Shen was killed by his own hands."

Zheng Dao tapped his fingers lightly on the hilt of his sword twice, his eyes flickering slightly in the darkness. He stopped and stood at the edge of the iron-framed corridor, looking down at his silent subordinates.

The interplay of moonlight and emergency lights fell upon him, making the blade on his back gleam brightly.

"Song Zhiming was also captured by him. The mirror assassin we sent to the mall this afternoon to assassinate him hasn't been heard from since. Although the mirror assassin isn't the most elite, he has the ability to enter the mirror world, where he's invincible. Since he hasn't returned yet, he's probably already been killed by Ye Yang."

He took the Blade of Light from his shoulder, blade pointing downwards at the ground, and said seriously, "If you encounter him, fight if you can. If you can't, run away as fast as you can. The most important thing is to rescue Song Zhiming, that's the key. Understand?"

"yes!"

Zheng Dao nodded, then sheathed Shi Guang back into its scabbard on his back. The metallic scraping sound was particularly jarring in the quiet factory.

He was about to issue the final deployment orders—

All the lights in the factory went out at the same time. The factory was plunged into complete darkness.

"What's going on?" Zheng Dao's voice rang out in the darkness. "Backup power—who's in charge? Go check it!"

A brief commotion arose downstairs. Someone was groping for a flashlight in the dark, someone bumped into an empty oil drum, and a man in black who tripped let out a muffled groan.

Zheng Dao took a tactical flashlight out of his pocket, pressed the switch with his thumb, but the flashlight didn't light up. He patted the body of the flashlight, but it still didn't turn on.

"Boss, the backup power box has power, but all the lines have been cut off, as if something has cut off the power source."

A man in black on the first floor looked up and shouted to the second floor, and several very thin magenta stripes flashed in his night vision goggles.

"It's pitch black here too—the night vision goggles are still working, but the image inside is flickering—something's interfering—"

He subconsciously took off his night vision goggles, rubbed his eyes, and then put them back on. The stripes were gone, but the feeling of being watched by something in the dark was still there.

Zheng Dao stood at the edge of the second-floor corridor, one hand gripping the railing and the other resting on the hilt of his sword behind his back.

His fingers tapped repeatedly on the hilt of the knife; his intuition told him that someone was in the darkness, and that person was watching them.

In a corner on the first floor, an old mirror hanging on a rusty iron frame faces the dark factory.

This mirror has been hanging here for at least a decade; it was used by the workers on the assembly line to organize their work clothes.

At this moment, deep within the mirror, Kamen Rider Ryuki stands at the edge of the Mirror World.

He leaned against the inside of the mirror, his arms casually crossed over his chest, his silver-red armor gleaming coldly in the faint light reflected from the mirror.

Through the lattice-like silver mask, the metallic red compound eyes silently watched a man in black with his back to him outside. Then, he slowly raised his right hand and silently extended it from the mirror.

When the five fingers pass through the mirror, a very fine and light ripple appears on the surface.

The hand gripped the man in black's shoulder, all five fingers tightening simultaneously.

Just as the man in black was about to call out to his companion, before he could even utter a sound, he was suddenly pulled backward.

He only had time to see a silver-red figure flash in front of him.

Then the world spun around him, and in a very brief moment, the entire world turned into a void, with countless mirrors passing by him.

The next second, he was lying on the cold, hard ground of the mirror world, with a pair of calm red compound eyes watching him from above.

A ripple appeared on the mirror's surface before returning to calm, reflecting the still-dark factory outside.

A man in black turned on his spare flashlight, the beam of which happened to sweep across an old mirror on the wall, which was partially covered by a canvas.

In that fleeting beam of light, a ephemeral silver-red figure was reflected in the mirror.

The mirror trembled violently, as if something had struck the glass from the inside, and then everything returned to calm.

The small flashlight in his hand swung wildly for a moment, then vanished into thin air, just like its owner.

Only the last beam of light pierced the darkness, drawing a twisted arc between the mirror and the factory, illuminating the row of silent old mirrors on the wall and an empty corner.

Zheng Dao was standing on the second floor when he heard those screams.

He didn't speak, but his fingers tightened their grip on the knife handle.

The eyes of the seasoned hunter narrowed slightly in the darkness, the pupils shrinking to the size of pinpoints in the dim light of the night vision goggles.

He had a rough idea of ​​who the enemy in the darkness was. Only one person could make someone disappear into thin air without them noticing.

He gritted his teeth and said in a serious voice, "Everyone—report your positions! Those who can hear me, count off!"

A few scattered responses came from downstairs; he didn't count them, but he knew there were far fewer.

There were nearly twenty people standing there a moment ago, but now less than half of them have responded.

Without further hesitation, Zheng Dao gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand, then braced himself against the railing with his left, and tumbled down the second-floor iron-framed corridor.

The combat boots slammed onto the concrete floor on the first floor with a dull thud, and concrete fragments exploded outwards from beneath his feet.

Without pausing after landing, he rushed to the backup power control box, kicked open the door, and yelled at the still-humming backup batteries inside, "Start the backup power now!"

The backup power supply has finally started.

The emergency lights overhead flickered several times, their tubes emitting a rapid, hissing electrical hum, before finally settling down. A dim, yellowish light once again filled the factory building.

The group of men in black, who had been standing in neat rows just moments before, disappeared by nearly half in the brief darkness.

Of the original group of about twenty people, only seven or eight are still standing.

Several tactical axes, a few flashlights still buzzing, and two or three pairs of night vision goggles that had been torn off were scattered on the ground.

Zheng Dao's gaze swept across the empty ground, finally settling on the old mirrors hanging quietly on the wall.

He slowly straightened up, then drew the Blade of Light from its sheath; the blade reflected a cold, eerie light under the emergency light.

The dark purple crystal core at the end of the hilt began to glow, and energy flowed out from the crystal core, slowly spreading along the blood groove to the entire blade, and a faint dark purple halo appeared on the blade.

"Everyone, stay away from the mirrors. Don't turn your back to any mirror; that thing is in the mirror."

The remaining men in black hurriedly moved towards the center of the factory, forming a defensive circle back to back, with their guns pointed outwards.

A young man in black was shaking violently, his gun barrel swaying wildly, when his companion grabbed his wrist.

Just then, a silver-red figure flashed in an old mirror on the wall.

The speed was so fast that it left only a blurry silver-red afterimage, followed by the same figure appearing in another mirror, then a third, a fourth...

Zheng Dao spoke in a deep voice: "Playing tricks." He raised his left arm towards the largest mirror, and a circle of blue light shone from the energy shield generator on his wrist.

The moment the blue light appeared, his pupils contracted slightly as he went through all the information he had just received in his mind again.

"He didn't just vanish into thin air; he dragged someone into a mirror! Everyone, listen up! Smash every mirror you can find around you right now!"

In the largest floor-to-ceiling mirror, the Dragon Knight stood in the center, coldly watching the men in black who were still trying to defend themselves back to back.

Then he jumped out of the metal frame mirror on the left side of the assembly line, and the moment he landed, his combat boots made a very light swishing sound on the concrete floor.

He then raised his right hand and grabbed the shoulder of the nearest man in black, the bulletproof armor on the man's shoulder creaking under his glove.

Using the momentum from landing, Dragon Rider pushed forward, leaping into another mirror along with the man in black he had grabbed.

The whole process was so fast that the naked eye couldn't even react in time. The men in black only saw a silver-red figure jump out of the mirror and disappear into another mirror, dragging the struggling man in black along with a final scream.

The scream abruptly stopped the moment it passed through the mirror, as if it had been cleanly and decisively cut off in the middle by some force.

Zheng Dao roared and then swung his sword at the mirror.

This strike was delivered without reservation; the dark purple crystal core on the hilt burst forth with a blinding light the moment it was swung.

The blade of light struck the mirror, instantly shattering it and sending shards flying everywhere. Several shards grazed Zheng Dao's cheek, leaving a few very thin streaks of blood.

He was breathing heavily, veins bulging on his forehead, and purple energy was still sizzling on the blade.

Just then, a loud crash came from the ceiling above.

Everyone instinctively looked up and saw three miniature missiles trailing white flames shooting down from the hole blasted in the ceiling.

Three missiles flew at extremely high speed through the space above the factory building and swooped down precisely towards the ground.

Zheng Dao's pupils contracted sharply at the blinding tail flame. Almost instinctively, he rolled backward while shouting, "Scatter!!!"

Three missiles landed on the ground, exploding into three blinding bursts of light.

The shockwave blew all the empty oil drums piled up in the corner away. The drums tumbled several times in the air before crashing to the ground with a deafening bang.

The impact sent a man in black rolling several times on the ground. When he got up, his helmet was askew on his neck.

Another person couldn't dodge in time and was cut on the arm by the shards. His black combat uniform was soaked with blood. He gritted his teeth and pressed the wound, blood seeping out from between his fingers.

Broken glass and chunks of cement rained down on everyone, and the factory was filled with a pungent smell of gunpowder and burnt metal.

Zheng Dao got up from the ground, his shoulder armor plate dented in several places by the debris.

He used the blade to block the flying debris, the edge remaining perfectly still amidst the sparks.

He knew that tonight's mission could not proceed as originally planned.

They hadn't even seen Ye Yang's face and had already lost two-thirds of their men; staying here would only lead to their deaths.

He pointed the tip of his knife at the remaining men in black and shouted in a hoarse voice, "It's not safe here—get into the tunnel! Retreat! Everyone retreat!"

Several men in black helped their injured companion up and rushed towards a corner of the factory.

There is a rusty hidden door, behind which is the drainage system that the factory used back then.

The hidden door was pushed open, revealing a dark tunnel entrance.

The stench of stagnant sewage and the faint sounds of some damp creature crawling emanated from deep within the tunnel.

Zheng Dao was the last to enter. He stood at the entrance of the tunnel, his sword held horizontally in his hand, the purple energy on the blade still slowly flowing.

He glanced at the shattered mirrors in the factory, and then he saw in one of the larger shards that the Dragon Knight was standing at the edge of the Mirror World, his red compound eyes calmly watching him.

Behind him was a pile of unconscious men in black.

Zheng Dao stared into those red compound eyes, his lips moved as if he were memorizing something, then he turned and disappeared into the tunnel.

The hidden door closed behind him with a dull thud.

The factory fell silent again. Only a few flames were still burning, and moonlight shone through a hole in the ceiling.

The broken glass scattered on the ground gleamed with a cold white light under the moonlight, and the scattered tactical axe and flashlight lay silently on the ground.

The figure of the dragon rider slowly emerged from a small mirror on the wall that hadn't yet shattered, and then he stepped out of the mirror.

He stood amidst the shattered glass, looking at the sealed hidden door, and tilted his head.

The silver-red armor slowly faded under the moonlight, revealing Decade's magenta armor once more. Finally, Decade deactivated his armor, transforming back into the ordinary boy in a black T-shirt and jeans.

Ye Yang stared silently at the direction of the hidden door for a moment, then raised his left hand and pressed a button on the communicator on his wrist.

"Aotian, they fled north. The tunnel leads to the main drainage canal on the north side of the industrial zone; you can take over there now."

A serious yet slightly excited voice came through the communicator: "Received, Senior Brother. I've already set up a barrier at the drainage ditch outlet. We can close the net once they come out."

Then a muffled thud came from over there, as if something had been knocked over. Then Long Aotian muttered to himself in embarrassment, "Why is this lid so slippery?" Then there was a rustling sound of someone steadying the lid.

Ye Yang smiled, then held the camera up to his eyes and pressed the shutter to capture the shattered glass and the short-handled tactical axe lying on the ground.

The photo popped up, still showing a very faint double image at the edges. He flicked the photo, then stuffed it into his chest pocket and turned to walk towards the factory gate.

Tonight's harvest was quite good; we intercepted an armed squad that was preparing to break into prisoners and captured most of them alive.

More importantly, he confirmed one thing from Zheng Dao's appearance and mission objectives.

Shen Yunzhou's remaining forces are still operating, and they already know that Cocoon needs Song Zhiming.