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

"What? Someone's trying to steal the auction's treasures?" The security guard standing at the entrance to the VIP floor looked at Ye Yang in disbelief.

Ye Yang nodded vigorously and said seriously, "That's right. He disguised himself as a waiter and entered our private room, served the drinks, and then left. He's not a real waiter; he's a master thief who specializes in stealing treasures."

The security guard scratched his standard buzz cut, his brows furrowed slightly, and he pursed his lips several times.

He stared at Ye Yang for several seconds, then took a deep breath:

"Please wait while I report this, Mr. Ye. I can't make decisions on this myself; I need to check with the monitoring room first."

As he spoke, he turned and walked into the security booth behind him.

He picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the talk button, and lowered his voice slightly than usual, saying:

"Monitoring room, this is the third-floor VIP area. Check if any waiters entered Mr. Ye Yang's private room just now. Yes, the Lin family's private room. The one that delivered drinks—get back to me as soon as you find out."

A lazy voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie, mixed with the hum of monitoring equipment in the background:

"Wait a moment—let me check the records. The Lin family's private room on the third floor—I've got it. Today's service records show that no one has entered that room."

"Weren't the drinks already placed on the coffee table before the guests entered? The drinks in the Lin family's private room were arranged by our staff at 9:03 a.m., and no one has gone in since then."

The security guard's expression suddenly changed. He gently placed the walkie-talkie on the table, then turned to look at Ye Yang and the others who were still waiting for his reply outside the glass window.

"Mr. Ye—our colleagues in the monitoring room just said that no one has entered your private room. Today's service records show that the drinks in the Lin family's private room were already set up before you entered, and there are no records of any waiters entering or leaving afterward."

Lin Xingran rushed to the window of the guard post, braced herself against the windowsill, and said emotionally:

"Definitely! He's a really handsome waiter with the kind of hairstyle that only manga male protagonists have. He's tall and straight, wearing your dark blue uniform, and he has a mischievous smile with the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He looks really annoying, but he's definitely very handsome."

The male security guard's expression completely changed.

He quickly stood up from the guard post, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times.

Then he picked up the landline phone on the table that connected directly to his superiors and quickly pressed several numbers on the dial pad.

"Wait a moment—I need to report this situation directly to Master Ren. Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

He spoke into the microphone in a low voice for a while, his voice coming out intermittently from the guard post, and the words "Young Master Lin," "waiter," and "not captured on CCTV" could be vaguely heard.

After hanging up the phone, he came out of the guard post and said with a serious expression, "Our auction organizer, Mr. Ren, said that you should go directly to his office to see him. Mr. Ren usually doesn't see guests—but he's making an exception today."

He turned and walked deeper into the corridor, his pace quickening considerably, his leather shoes making a series of dull thuds on the red carpet.

Ye Yang and Lin Ying exchanged a glance, then followed.

Lin Xingran, Han Shuang, Han Li, and Zhou Zhi followed behind.

Security guards led them through a fire door at the end of the VIP corridor and into a private passageway covered with dark carpet.

The lighting in the passageway was dimmer than in the outside corridor. At the end of the passageway was a golden elevator door embedded in the wall, with no buttons on it, only a tiny fingerprint recognition screen.

The security guard stood in front of the elevator door, first entered a complex password with at least a dozen digits, and then pressed his right thumb against the fingerprint recognition screen.

The screen flashed green, and the elevator doors slid open silently.

Lin Xingran jumped up excitedly as soon as she saw the dark gold elevator door, her deep red short jacket fluttering up and down with her movements.

"Wow! It's a private elevator! We can actually ride in a private elevator! This must be the legendary private elevator that only Master Ren and the core team of the Star-Picking Pavilion can use, right?"

"My dad didn't even get to ride it when he came five years ago—he said even he wasn't allowed into Mr. Ren's private elevator! And today I actually got to ride it!"

She straightened the collar of her short jacket, then roughly combed her hair, which had been messed up on the sofa, with her fingers several times. Then, she straightened her back and walked with extremely dignified steps toward the elevator.

Suddenly, Lin Yumin reached out a hand and gently grabbed the back of her collar.

"We don't need so many people. You stay here with me and observe the situation. If that waiter is still active in the venue, someone needs to keep an eye on things outside."

Lin Xingran seemed to have been put on pause, her dignified expression shattering into countless pieces.

She turned to look at Lin Yumin and shouted in a tone of grief and indignation, as if she had been deprived of significant rights: "No!!!"

Han Shuang, one hand cradling her stomach and the other pointing at Lin Xingran, laughed so hard her shoulders were shaking: "Hahaha—Lin Xingran, you stay down there! Don't worry, I'll definitely tell you what good things are up there when I get down!"

After she finished speaking, she strode into the elevator with an air of indifference, her newly bought high heels making a crisp "clack-clack-clack" sound on the carpet.

Just as she was about to step into the elevator, Han Li reached out his large, iron-like hand and gently pressed down on Han Shuang's shoulder, pulling her back a step.

"Little sister, you're naturally lively and active, so you'd better not go up there and cause trouble. Master Ren's office isn't your playground. Last time you visited the Zhou family's medicinal herb warehouse, you almost ruined their prized Ganoderma lucidum."

Han Shuang's shoulders slumped visibly, and she looked like a deflated balloon. Even her usually unruly short hair seemed to droop a bit.

Lin Xingran grabbed her arm and pulled her forcefully toward him, a gloating smile on his face.

"Hahaha, Han Shuang, you've finally met your match! Weren't you laughing so happily just now? Come wait here with me. You laughed for a whole minute when Big Sister stopped me, now it's your turn."

Zhou Zhi stood to the side watching the two girls with their arms around each other, and covered her mouth to chuckle softly.

She put her trench coat back on, then nodded slightly to Ye Yang and Lin Ying: "It's alright, I'll stay here with them. You two go upstairs. I heard that there are many precious medicinal specimens in Master Ren's office, but I don't think you'll have time to keep an eye on them for me today."

Ye Yang and Lin Ying exchanged a glance.

Lin Ying's light gray eyes blinked slightly under the corridor light. The collar of her light blue shirt was turned up a little, probably from rubbing against the sofa earlier, which she hadn't noticed.

Ye Yang pointed to her collar. She lowered her head and gently flipped it back up with her fingers, then looked up at him with a faint smile on her lips.

The two of them entered the elevator together.

The elevator doors slowly closed behind them, and Lin Ying turned around and waved somewhat blankly to the few people left behind outside.

The elevator was quiet, with only the slight sound of mechanical operation.

The dark gold interior walls reflect a warm luster under the soft light.

Ye Yang leaned against the elevator wall, tilted his head and looked at Lin Ying, a helpless yet amusing smile appearing on his lips.

"In the end, it still comes down to the two of us. The eldest sister is observing the situation outside, the second sister is stopped by her eldest sister, Han Shuang is stopped by her eldest brother, and Zhou Zhi voluntarily stays behind to keep them company."

Lin Ying chuckled softly, then said in a low voice, "Hmm. But—it's better this way. Fewer people means it's easier to control the situation."

"I think... he probably made us go up there specifically because you said someone was going to steal the treasure. You... you were so serious when you were talking in the security room just now, the security guards were... scared of you."

The elevator made a soft ding as she spoke, and the dark gold doors slid open silently.

What appeared before Ye Yang and Lin Ying was an office that had stood the test of time, fully embodying the gravitas and elegance of a blend of Chinese and Western styles.

Underfoot was a dark old wooden floor, each plank worn smooth and warm, making a very slight creaking sound when stepped on.

To the left is a wall of Chinese-style antique display shelves, on which are displayed blue and white porcelain vases, small bronze tripods, and some handwritten ancient books that look very old.

To the right is a floor-to-ceiling glass window, through which the afternoon sun pours in, casting a pale golden light on the floor.

On the wall directly opposite hangs a huge calligraphy scroll with a powerful and vigorous character "藏" (cang).

The desk was made of a single piece of dark brown old mahogany, and there was nothing on the table except for a desk lamp, a Duan inkstone, and a few open booklets.

A set of dark brown leather sofas was placed by the window, and next to the sofas was a bonsai pine tree that was meticulously trimmed, with water mist still clinging to its needles.

The kind-faced old man in a dark Zhongshan suit who was on stage just moments ago is now standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with his back to the elevator entrance.

Sunlight streamed in from in front of him, enveloping him in a warm halo.

Ye Yang took two steps forward and then stopped some distance from the desk.

He gently tugged at the hem of his suit jacket, then clasped his hands in a fist salute, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, "Mr. Ren, we are truly sorry to disturb you. We shouldn't have come so abruptly, but we have something urgent to discuss."

An old man's somewhat hoarse voice came from the window.

"Regarding the theft? Don't worry, I've already sent someone to check the underground vault, and I'll be going down myself later. These are minor matters, so don't trouble yourselves with them. You've all come to this auction, so just enjoy it when you get back."

Ye Yang straightened up, took another step forward, and his tone became more earnest and determined.

"Mr. Ren—this matter is indeed very troublesome. The main problem is that our opponent this time is not an ordinary thief, but a space thief, a Kamen Rider who is extremely obsessed with treasures."

"He has the ability to travel between worlds, specializing in stealing the most precious treasures from each world. His sense of smell is sharper than anyone else's; he appears wherever there is treasure. Once he sets his sights on someone, it's very difficult to shake him off. Moreover, he is exceptionally powerful—he can transform into armor just like me."

He paused for a moment, then tilted his head slightly to look at the old man's back. His brows furrowed again, and that familiar feeling welled up in his heart once more.

I felt that the figure looked familiar when I looked at the stage through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the auction hall before, and now that I'm looking at this figure up close, that sense of familiarity is even stronger.

"Mr. Ren—have we met somewhere before? I feel like I know you so well. I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before, but I can't remember where."

The old man's body stiffened very slightly. Then he hunched his back slightly and coughed several times.

"Young man—I'm old, don't joke with me. You don't recognize my old face so easily. You've probably mistaken me for someone else—old people my age all look pretty much the same from behind."

Ye Yang took two steps forward. The old man turned his body slightly to the left, so that his back was still facing Ye Yang.

Ye Yang took another step to the right, and the old man turned a little to the right again, his back still facing Ye Yang.

The two of them started pacing silently in the office.

When Ye Yang went left, the old man went left; when Ye Yang went right, the old man went right.

An old man and a young boy started circling around the mahogany desk, as if they were performing some kind of strange dance.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting the shadows of the old man and the young boy onto the old wooden floor.

Lin Ying stood at the elevator entrance, looking at the strangely comical scene in front of her.

She blinked, her silvery-white eyelashes fluttering gently in the sunlight, her expression filled with confusion.

She slightly opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but found that she didn't know what to say.

She couldn't think of any reasonable explanation for the fact that Mr. Ren and the new young master of the Lin family were pacing around in the office.

Ye Yang circled the table several more times before finally stopping, leaning on the corner of the table, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

He bent over, panting for several breaths, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand: "Alright, alright—Mr. Ren, I won't watch anymore, okay? Please stop spinning me—I've never played spinning games with an old person before—I'm dizzy."

The old man stopped and stood opposite Ye Yang with his back to him.

He put his hands back behind his back, resumed his composed stance, and then let out a few kind laughs:

"Haha, young man, that's right. Some things don't need to be looked at so closely—knowing too much is actually a bad thing. Look, you're dizzy after spinning around a few times, aren't you? I'm dizzy too. So let's not make things difficult for each other."

Before he could finish his last word, Ye Yang suddenly braced himself against the edge of the desk with both hands and leaped over the side of the desk.

The movement was so fast that Lin Ying only saw a blur.

He landed steadily in front of Master Ren, and the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

The kind smile still lingered on Mr. Ren's face, but the composure in his eyes was gone, replaced by an embarrassment at being recognized by acquaintances.

Ye Yang carefully examined the old man in front of him. The gray hair was a wig, with slightly unnatural seams at the edges.

The way those eyebrows were drawn and the curve of them were exactly the same as the old man eating sunflower seeds in the courtyard of Kowloon City this morning.

"Oh! You're not—!!"

Ye Yang's eyes widened instantly, and he opened his mouth, about to shout out that name.

With a speed completely out of character for an elderly person, Mr. Ren swiftly reached out and covered Ye Yang's mouth with his fingernail-less hand.

He lowered his head and leaned close to Ye Yang's ear, whispering something very quickly that only Ye Yang could hear.

Then he slowly lowered his hand, his kind smile returning to his face, and nodded to Lin Ying, who stood blankly at the elevator entrance:

"Hahaha—young man, don't get so excited. You've looked at my old face for so long and you still think it looks familiar? That's because I'm an ordinary-looking old man."

He withdrew his hand from Ye Yang's mouth and put it behind his back again, then coughed twice.

Ye Yang looked at him and whispered, "It really is you! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be running a clinic in Kowloon City?"

Qin Buwen gave a very light snort through his nose and replied in a breathy voice, "Don't ask too much about my affairs. We'll talk about it later."

Standing at the elevator entrance, Lin Ying finally found her voice again.

She took a step forward, pointed at the two of them, then scratched her head cutely and asked softly, "You two—know each other?"

Qin Buwen coughed again. He smiled kindly at Lin Ying, then turned his head and glared at Ye Yang with a quick look.

Ye Yang immediately stood up straight, quickly adjusted his expression, and then turned to Lin Ying and said:

"Ah—I just—I think Master Ren is a bit like my master. No, just in terms of temperament, they are both very kind."

Qin Buwen smiled behind him, then turned his gaze back to the window, reverting to the composed old man he had been before.

"Right now—it's more important to check out the underground storage first, right? You two come with me—the elevator goes directly to the third basement level. I'll tell you some information about that Kaito Big Tree on the way."

As he spoke, he walked behind his desk and pressed an inconspicuous button on the corner of the desk. A bookshelf on the side of the office slowly slid open, revealing another elevator door embedded in the wall.

He walked to the elevator door, pressed his fingerprint, and the elevator door slid open silently, the lights inside automatically turning on.

He stepped into the elevator, turned around to look at Ye Yang and Lin Ying, the tip of his white beard swaying slightly in the elevator lights.

"What are you all standing there for? Didn't we say we were going to catch a thief? If you keep dawdling, that curly-haired kid is probably already picking out treasures in the underground storeroom."