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

Lin Xingran rested one hand on the steering wheel, casually tossed his sunglasses onto the dashboard with the other, turned to look at Ye Yang in the back seat, and said in a low voice, "Kid, sit in the car. I'll be right back."

After saying that, she pushed open the car door and stepped onto the asphalt road.

Before getting off the bus, she looked back at Ye Yang one last time and pointed at him with her finger.

Lin Ying unbuckled her seatbelt at almost the same time.

She and Lin Xingran exchanged a brief glance before she got out of the car.

Looking out the back window, Ye Yang saw Lin Xingran standing casually by the car door, her hands on her hips.

She turned her head left and right, glancing at the crowd running towards her from the front.

People ran over in twos and threes, some carrying groceries they had just bought, some holding children, and some looking back as they ran.

Lin Xingran casually reached out and grabbed a man who was running past her.

The man was wearing a wrinkled plaid shirt and looked to be in his thirties. His forehead was covered in sweat, and he almost tripped when she grabbed him like that.

"Hey bro, what's up ahead?" Lin Xingran asked lazily.

The man was pulled so hard he stumbled, and after regaining his balance, he took a couple of breaths.

Then his eyes widened, and he pointed behind him: "Ahead—there's a Silent Beast ahead! Run, little girl!"

After hearing this, Lin Xingran's previously listless eyes instantly lit up.

Her lips curled up, revealing the most radiant smile Ye Yang had ever seen since they met.

"Silent Beast?"

She loosened her grip on the man's sleeve. Before he could react, the short, wine-red-haired girl in front of him had vanished.

Lin Xingran's legs moved so fast they were almost invisible as he charged towards the opposite direction of the crowd like a rocket that had been set ablaze.

"Silent Beasts! Silent Beasts! Credits!" Lin Xingran shouted as she ran, her voice filled with undisguised elation, "Killing Silent Beasts earns me credits!!!"

The man she had grabbed and questioned stood there, dumbfounded, watching as the little girl who had just been asking "What's going on up ahead?" sprinted off towards the direction of the silent beast at top speed.

Lin Ying stood by the car door, watching her second sister's figure shrink rapidly, and sighed softly in helplessness.

Then she turned around, bent down slightly, and whispered to Ye Yang through the car window, "Don't move in the car. Second Sister's car is very sturdy. Ordinary beasts can't penetrate it."

Then she turned and ran, her silver-white hair stretching into a straight line behind her, making it seem as if she were flying close to the ground.

Ye Yang sat alone in the back row.

The song "Sunny Day" was playing in the car, and it was just the last chorus.

The familiar voice from the speaker was singing "Once upon a time, there was someone who loved you for a long time."

He looked down at the magenta camera hanging around his neck.

The camera lens was quietly pointed at him, then the camera flashed again.

This time he could see it clearly: a very thin magenta light was flowing around the edge of the camera lens, and the camera was slightly warm to the touch against his chest.

……

About two hundred meters ahead on the main street, when Lin Xingran rushed into the crowd, the situation was already quite chaotic.

Several armored vehicles belonging to special police officers were positioned across the middle of the road, forming a temporary blockade.

Five or six SWAT officers in black combat uniforms were firing energy rifles at the massive object in the middle, the energy bullets making muffled thuds as they hit it.

The silent beast was perched on the wreckage of a truck it had overturned, its compound eyes scanning the humans around it who were trying to stop it.

Its eight arthropods were bent and supported on the ground, and the exoskeleton of each leg was covered with an uneven, dark purple carapace.

Its oval, flat head is adorned with six pairs of dark red compound eyes.

Below the compound eyes are a pair of enormous chelicerae, each as thick as an adult's arm. The surface of the dark black chelicerae is covered with fine barbs, and they are opening and closing rhythmically.

"Run! Run!" Lin Xingran shouted, waving to the crowd still watching nearby as she rushed towards the scene. "Everyone back off! Let the professionals handle this! Don't just watch the spectacle, your lives are more important!"

Her voice cut through the noisy crowd, and several passersby who were still taking pictures with their phones were startled by her shout and quickly backed away.

A special police officer turned around and saw her rushing over. Just as he was about to stop her, Lin Xingran simply sidestepped him.

Lin Ying followed closely behind. As she ran past the SWAT team's cordon, she turned to the nearest SWAT officers and quickly said, "Leave this to us, no problem."

The special police officers were stunned for a moment, and then the leader finally saw what the two of them looked like.

Flames were already dancing in the hands of a girl with short, wine-red hair, while a girl with long, silver-white hair began to emanate a visible chill.

His expression changed to one of relief.

"It's an Awakened!" he shouted, gesturing to his teammates, "The Awakened are here! Everyone cover!"

Lin Xingran did not slow down. When she was about ten meters away from the spider-like beast, she pushed off the asphalt with her toes and leaped into the air.

Her jumping ability was amazing; she could jump several meters high, directly over the heads of the two special police officers crouching at the front.

Her body spun once in mid-air, and as she spun, her right leg kicked out, and a burst of orange-red flames suddenly erupted from her heel, drawing a scorching arc in the air.

"I'm here!"

Her heel struck the center of the spider-like beast's head with pinpoint accuracy.

The flames exploded upon contact, producing a muffled bang, and orange-red flames, accompanied by black smoke, spread outwards.

The spider-like beast let out a piercing screech, its entire body flying backward as it was kicked by her.

Its eight legs paddled wildly across the ground, carving deep grooves into the asphalt pavement with their tips.

It tumbled twice in the air before crashing into the hood of an empty car, shattering its windshield.

But it quickly rolled off the roof of the car. It raised its head, and all twelve dark red compound eyes were aimed at Lin Xingran. Its chelicerae suddenly opened, and it let out a sharp roar.

Everyone present covered their ears, and several SWAT officers dropped their energy rifles due to the shock.

Lin Xingran landed steadily on the asphalt road and returned to the ground.

She twisted her neck, and her cervical spine made two crisp cracking sounds.

Then she clenched her fists and moved her wrists. The flames between her knuckles had not been completely extinguished and were still flickering between her fingers.

She looked at the silent beast that was howling at her, and a smirk appeared on her face. "Fine. Today, either you beat me to a pulp, or I'll turn you into my academic credits—come on, you ugly monster."

Just then.

Click.

A crisp click of a camera shutter came from not far away.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads to look in the direction from which the sound came.

Ye Yang stood on the curb about twenty meters away.

The setting sun shone from behind him, gilding his silhouette with a golden edge.

He held the magenta camera in his hand in front of his eyes, the lens pointed directly at the spider-like beast, and a photo slowly popped out from the bottom of the camera.

His expression was completely different from when he was in the car; his eyes held a strange calm.

A gust of wind blew by, ruffling the hem of his T-shirt and the stray hairs on his forehead.

Lin Xingran's jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"What the hell?! How did you get here?! Didn't I tell you to wait in the car?!"

Ye Yang didn't respond to her. He pulled the photo out from the bottom of the camera, then shook it by the edge.

The sunlight shone on him and also on the photograph that was being developed.

He looked down as the image in the photo slowly appeared, a small smile curving his lips.

"I've been waiting for this day. Now I hold the future in my hands."

Lin Xingran's chin has become even longer.

She stood there, mouth agape, one finger pointing at Ye Yang, her mind clearly undergoing some kind of intense information processing.

Is the person standing calmly in the sunlight, spouting nonsensical lines, really the same person as the cheerful, ordinary high school student on the bus just now?

His appearance seemed to have changed, as if a veil covering his face had been suddenly removed, revealing something underneath.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, the spider-monster suddenly opened its chelicerae, and a swarm of white spider silk shot out from between its fangs.

The spider silk unfurled in the air into a large net two meters in diameter, carrying a pungent, sour smell, and headed straight for Lin Xingran.

Lin Xingran raised his left hand without turning his head and casually tossed it behind him.

A flame shot out from her palm, unfolding into a thin barrier of flame in the air.

The spider web was burned to ashes the moment it touched the flame, leaving not a single thread behind.

She withdrew her hand and continued to look at Ye Yang with the same kind of "caring for someone with intellectual disabilities" gaze. "What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?!"

She paused, squinted, and carefully examined Ye Yang's expression. Then, pointing her index finger at him, she bluntly exposed him: "And—can you stop trying to hold back your laughter! Your mouth is practically stretched to your ears!"

Ye Yang almost couldn't help but laugh, but he still suppressed his laughter and said seriously, "Don't talk, I'm getting into the mood for my transformation."

The special police officers crouching behind the armored vehicle looked at each other in bewilderment.

Standing next to Lin Xingran, Lin Ying blinked, her light gray eyes filled with confusion and a hint of worry.

"Transform...?" Lin Ying repeated the word softly.

Lin Xingran's lips twitched. She pointed a finger at Ye Yang, "Don't tell me..."

Before she could finish speaking, Ye Yang took a deep breath and composed himself.

Finally, he held the photograph high in his hand. Sunlight shone through the back of the photograph, and then the photograph began to emit a magenta glow.

The light radiates outward from the center of the photograph, as if something is surging outward from within it.

The light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping the entire photograph in a magenta glow, which then transformed into a particle of light between his fingers and reassembled.

He now had an extra card in his hand.

The card had a pure black background, like the deepest night sky.

The card features the head of a Kamen Rider.

The magenta lines flowed slowly across the card, as if they were alive.

At the same time, a belt suddenly appeared out of nowhere around his waist.

A crimson light flashed at his waist, and then the belt was hung around his waist.

The belt is white overall, with black and silver metallic textures, making it look like a sophisticated instrument.

In the center is a transparent circular crystal, and around the crystal are nine different knight emblems.

The crystal refracted a rainbow halo under the sunlight, and within the halo, one could vaguely see complex energy circuits slowly rotating.

Directly above is a card slot, the metal contacts inside glowing with a faint magenta light, as if waiting for something at any moment.

The entire belt emitted a low hum, as if some long-dormant machine had finally been started.

Several SWAT officers' jaws dropped.

A SWAT officer who was changing a magazine slipped, and the magazine fell to the ground.

Another SWAT officer reached out and nudged his teammate's shoulder, whispering, "Did you see that?" The teammate shook his head, indicating he didn't know how to respond.

Lin Xingran's eyes widened.

She stared incredulously at the belt that had suddenly appeared around Ye Yang's waist, then at the glowing card in his hand.

She had seen many awakened individuals and all sorts of superpowers before, but she had never seen anyone conjure a belt out of thin air.

Lin Ying stood beside her, her light gray eyes fixed on Ye Yang.

Ye Yang lowered his head, looked at the belt around his waist, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He raised the card in his hand and aimed it at the slot directly above his belt.

"Well then—please take a good look."

He inserted the card into the slot.

The moment the card slid into the slot, the light inside the slot suddenly blazed, illuminating the energy circuit of the entire belt at the same time.

Something inside the crystal began to rotate, emitting a crisp and rhythmic mechanical sound.

"My Henshin!"

He grabbed the handles on both sides of the belt with both hands and pushed them forcefully towards the middle.

The central crystal, along with the entire frame, rotated ninety degrees.

All nine knight emblems lit up at the same moment, projecting nine different symbols of light around the crystal.

The surrounding air vibrated and buzzed, and the shockwave scattered gravel and dust from the asphalt road.