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

Qin Buwen stood with his hands behind his back in the corridor, which was illuminated red by the alarm lights. He watched the hole in the ceiling, which was still emitting wisps of blue-green energy particles, and the tip of his white beard curled up slightly.

His face showed no panic or anger that one would expect after a treasure has been stolen; instead, it wore a sly smile.

He pulled a palm-sized tracker from his sleeve. The light spot on the screen was moving at an extremely fast speed toward the outside of the auction building, its trajectory clear and stable.

He looked down at the small, blinking light on the tracker, then nodded in satisfaction, muttering to himself in an appreciative tone:

"Very good—this kid runs pretty fast. Looks like he's really confident in his skills—he didn't even look back after stealing the stuff. Young people, they're just too impatient."

Ye Yang walked over from the side. He glanced at the screen in Qin Buwen's hand that was steadily tracking the signal, and then at the smile on Qin Buwen's face that didn't look like that of a victim at all. Suddenly, he understood everything.

He crossed his arms, tilted his head to look at the seasoned veteran before him, and said with a hint of admiration in his voice, "Master Ren—it seems you had a backup plan. You knew he would come today, didn't you?"

"You let him in on purpose—those traps weren't meant to stop him, they were there to show him, to make him think he'd really broken through layer after layer of top-level defense. Even that 'random safety action verification' dance—you didn't really choreograph that just for fun, did you?"

Qin Buwen turned to look at Ye Yang. The red light from the energy machine guns was still reflected on his reading glasses, but the eyes behind the lenses were now gleaming with a cunning and calculating light.

He tucked the tracker into his sleeve, then put his hands back behind his back, his white beard swaying slightly as he spoke.

"I've been around for years. If I were that easily fooled, I'd be finished. That big shot from Haidong is indeed quite capable. He did manage to crack several of my security measures, but those were loopholes I deliberately left for him."

"I temporarily lowered the security level of those access control points by several levels. He thought he was very clever, but in fact, every step was within my plan."

Ye Yang blinked. He looked at Qin Buwen, then at the hole in the ceiling that was still sizzling and sparking, and quickly went over what had just happened in his mind.

Qin Buwen took his hand out from behind his back and casually reached his right hand into his sleeve.

When he stretched out his hand again, a fist-sized crystal, radiating a faint purple light, lay quietly in his palm.

The dark purple patterns on the surface of the crystal seem to be alive, slowly flowing, and with each movement, a very fine halo seeps out from the depths of the patterns.

He casually tossed the crystal toward the largest, empty display case.

The dense energy halo surrounding the display case sensed the approaching crystal and automatically cracked open, allowing the crystal to pass through the halo and float steadily in the center of the display case.

Then the halo closed up again, returning to its previous impenetrable defensive posture.

Ye Yang's gaze darted back and forth between the direction where Hai Dong Da Shu disappeared and the tracking device in Qin Bu Wen's hand several times, before he pointed to the crystal that had been put back in its place in the display case: "Then—what was that Hai Dong Da Shu holding?"

Qin Buwen leaned leisurely against the wall of the corridor, then crossed his arms and let out a smug laugh.

"Oh—that—that's the tortoise shell that forms after the crystal core secretes energy. The crystal core of the Silent Beast King is different from other crystal cores. Every once in a while, it secretes a layer of crystalline calcium deposits on its surface. The shape is exactly the same as the real crystal core, but that stuff is useless. It's just for looks. At most, it can be used as a night light."

"The Silent Beast Crystal Core at the auction is what the Zero Organization is looking for, and this King-level Crystal Core is the bait I placed here."

"If Hai Dong Da Shu takes the fake crystal core away, the organization will chase after him and won't bother the auction house anymore."

Qin Buwen held the tracker in his hand in front of Ye Yang. The light spot on the screen was already moving to the edge of the square.

A shrewd smile crept across his lips, his eyes narrowed to slits, and his white beard twitched with each laugh.

"I also have to thank that Hai Dong Da Shu. Once he stole the thing, it would definitely attract the attention of the Zero Organization. There are too many informants in that organization. They probably already know that Hai Dong Da Shu has taken that fake crystal core and fled north."

"Then they'll all be chasing after Hai Dong Da Shu, and we'll be safe here. That kid Hai Dong Da Shu is pretty skilled; it won't be easy for the organization's people to catch him."

"Let them wear each other down for a while, and we can then focus on the rest of the auction and, incidentally, uncover the organization's spies among the guests."

He tucked the tracker back into his sleeve, then put his hands behind his back and concluded in an extremely satisfied tone, "I'm a genius."

Ye Yang and Lin Ying exchanged a glance. Lin

Sakura's light gray eyes shone brightly under the red light of the siren, and Ye Yang could clearly see the adorable, bewildered expression on her face, a mixture of several complex emotions.

On the other side, at the main entrance plaza of Zhaixing Pavilion, Hai Dong Da Shu, wearing a navy blue uniform that he'd somehow managed to smuggle from some unlucky security guard, calmly walked out of the auction house.

He pulled his uniform hat down very low, the brim just covering the upper half of his face, revealing only his well-defined jawline and the signature mischievous smile at the corner of his mouth.

The square was in chaos; the alarm from the underground vault had clearly reached the surface.

Dozens of security personnel wearing dark gray tactical vests were rushing into the main gate in a line, several of them shouting loudly into their walkie-talkies as they ran.

Hai Dong Da Shu reached his right hand into the pocket of his trousers, his fingertips caressing the still slightly warm "King of Silent Beasts Crystal Core".

He walked along the retreat route he had chosen that morning when he scouted the area, and left without looking back.

"The plan was a success."