As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

Shotaro deactivated his transformation and, together with Akiko who emerged from the shadows, stepped forward to carefully examine the wreckage of the vehicle after the explosion. The car was completely shattered, its metal frame twisted and deformed, but despite searching every piece of debris, the two could not find the Gaia Memory that should have been attached to the vehicle.

"Strange, where did the memory go?" Akiko frowned, squatting in the ruins and searching repeatedly, her face full of confusion.

Just as the two were wondering, the shadows in the corner of the warehouse slowly shifted, and a figure emitting a ghostly blue light slowly emerged from the darkness. The humanoid monster was covered with winding, crisscrossing blue viral patterns, which writhed slowly on its body like living things.

The real viral dopant has finally appeared.

W immediately transformed back into Luna Metal, assuming a fighting stance. However, the virus hybrid had no intention of engaging in direct combat; its body transformed into a streak of blue light, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. The next second, the blue light struck a corner of the warehouse. Hiding behind cover, trembling with fear, Yukio Blackbeard didn't even have time to scream before his body convulsed violently a few times, and he died instantly.

Having done all this, the viral doppelganger did not linger. With a flash of blue light, it completely disappeared into the vast night, leaving no trace.

The warehouse fell silent again, leaving only the wreckage of the explosion and the cold corpses on the ground. Shotaro deactivated his transformation and stood motionless, his expression extremely grave.

Philip noticed his unusual behavior and quickly asked, "Shotaro, what's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"

After a long silence, Shotaro Sakata slowly spoke, his voice low and complex, tinged with disbelief: "Just now... I clearly felt that monster crying."

Outside the battlefield, on a distant rooftop, Lin Chen observed the entire battle. Seeing that Yukio Kurobe was killed and the virus hybrid escaped, he took out his communicator and immediately reported the situation to Kirihiko Sonozaki.

Inside the Sonozaki residence, Kirihiko Sonozaki was standing in front of Saeko Sonozaki, enthusiastically recounting the mutation phenomenon of the viral memory.

His voice trembled with excitement: "Saeko, we've made a brand new discovery this time! The viral memory has undergone an unprecedented mutation. The user's physical body is long dead, but the extremely intense resentment has caused their consciousness to completely merge with the memory, evolving into a pure spiritual hybrid. This is a form that has never appeared in any previous memory cases, and its value is immeasurable!"

However, after hearing these words, Saeko Sonozaki showed no curiosity or surprise on her face, but instead revealed a look of disdain.

She crossed her arms, her red lips parted slightly, and her tone was full of sarcasm: "It's just a useless mutant. The original viral memory had the power to destroy an entire city, but now it's reduced to only being able to fight alone and kill one or two ordinary people. It can't even cause large-scale destruction. What good would it do to study such a useless mutation?"

After saying that, Saeko ignored Kirihiko and turned to walk straight out of the study.

Saeko's icy attitude was like cold water, instantly extinguishing all of Kirihiko's curiosity. He watched her departing figure, the excitement on his face gradually fading, eventually returning to his usual indifference. Just then, Lin Chen's report arrived.

Wu Yan glanced at the contents quickly, not even bothering to ask for details, and casually replied, "Understood. This matter ends here. You don't need to continue investigating; it's pointless."

Chapter 136 Lin Chen's Problem

Late at night, the Narumi Detective Agency was brightly lit. Akiko, still suffering from a bad cold and feeling stuffy and dizzy, pulled Shotaro around the table, and the three of them began to thoroughly analyze the clues in the entire case.

“The Blackbeard Group consisted of four people: Aoki, Akada, Shirai, and Yukio Blackbeard, who died last. All of them perished.” Akiko picked up a pen and paper and listed them one by one. “On the surface, Yamamura Kohei, who was driving the SUV, was the executor, but after the explosion, the Gaia Memory disappeared into thin air. The one who actually killed people was the virus admixture. In other words, Kohei was just a pawn that was used from beginning to end.”

Shotaro nodded in agreement: "That's right, the real culprit behind this is someone else. Considering all the clues, the person with a deep grudge against the Blackbeard Group and a sufficient motive for revenge is none other than Yuki Yamamura. But she is currently lying in a deep coma in the hospital and is in no condition to act."

Just as everyone was stuck in a mental stalemate, the office door was gently pushed open, and Lin Chen walked in. He looked at the three men with furrowed brows, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke up, throwing out a revolutionary point of view: "Why do you assume that the victim is necessarily incapable of taking action?"

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the silence in the room.

Shotaro Zuo was stunned and shook his head repeatedly: "How is this possible? Yamamura Yuki is still lying in a hospital bed, in a coma, and unable to move at all. How could he have become a hybrid and committed a crime?"

Philip, standing to the side, suddenly brightened up, his eyes gleaming with intense curiosity. Lin Chen's words were like a key, unlocking a completely new direction for his thinking.

"Earth's memory is amazing! Cases of the spirit separating from the body and surviving as a vessel of obsession and memory are not entirely nonexistent. The victim himself acting as a resentful entity is theoretically entirely plausible."

Lin Chen continued, "Yujima Noriyuki, Yamamura Yuki's fiancé. Let's start the investigation with him; we're sure to find the answer."

He hadn't originally planned to get involved, but the unease he felt wouldn't go away. He didn't know if something major would happen, so he had to speed things up and get it over with as soon as possible.

With the information provided by Lin Chen, the division of labor was quickly finalized: Philip went to the Earth Library to search for all the information on Yujima Noriyuki; Zuo Xiangtaro and Akiko went to the hospital together to confirm whether there were any traces of the Gaia Memory in her body.

The hospital corridor was quiet and deserted late at night, with the smell of disinfectant permeating the air.

The two tiptoed to the door of Yamamura Yuki's hospital room and pushed it open. The girl on the bed was pale, her eyes closed, and she was connected to various monitoring devices. The steady beeping echoed in the room. Akiko walked quietly to the bedside and carefully rolled up Yamamura Yuki's sleeve. The moment they saw the inside of her arm, both of their pupils contracted simultaneously.

A tiny yet clearly visible living connector was imprinted on the skin. The truth had come to light: the unconscious Yamamura Yuki was indeed bound to the viral memory.

Just then, Shotaro's communicator rang urgently. Philip's voice came through with extreme anxiety: "Shotaro! There's trouble! Noriyuki Yujima is in danger! The virus hybrid has gone to find him. You need to get there immediately to rescue him!"

Over the communicator, Philip, without pausing, rapidly relayed the entire truth he had retrieved from the Earth Library.

Yujima Noriyuki's so-called identity as a "professional painter" was a carefully crafted lie from beginning to end.

He is not a down-to-earth and honest creator at all, but a conman who wanders around the city and specializes in deceiving single women.

His usual tactic is to win women's favor with romantic words and the refined persona of a painter, then use marriage as bait to swindle their money, creativity, and savings. Once he has drained his victims of all their value, he will ruthlessly withdraw and abandon them.

Yuki Yamamura was just one of his many victims.

An hour before the accident, a delighted Yamamura Yuki bought the virus memory from an underground vendor.

She sensed Yujima's recent coldness and felt uneasy. She decided to use the power of her memories to protect herself and her younger brother, Kohei, with whom she depended on each other, and also wanted to surprise her fiancé to solidify their relationship. But just before she was about to tell Yujima the news, a scene unfolding through a distant window shattered all her hopes—she witnessed Yujima kneeling on one knee, holding flowers, proposing to another wealthy heiress.

The sudden betrayal shocked Yamamura Yuki, and immense grief and anger overwhelmed her reason. Lost and disoriented, she walked through the rainy night, and while crossing the street, she was caught off guard and struck by a vehicle driven by four members of the Blackbeard Group.

At the moment of impact, her body went directly into a state of brain death, but two extreme layers of hatred intertwined in her heart: the pain of being betrayed by her beloved, and the resentment of being hit and killed by the Blackbeard Group and wantonly trampled on her life.

These two obsessions were so intense that they miraculously caused her consciousness to detach from her dying body and completely merge with the viral memory within her, transforming her into a resentful viral hybrid.

She first possessed the black SUV abandoned by the Blackbeard Group, and then took advantage of her younger brother Kohei's desire for revenge, using the boy's hands to gradually eliminate all her enemies.

Shotaro and Akiko rushed to Yushima's studio while hearing the whole truth, their hearts burning with rage. No one had imagined that such a despicable deception and tragedy lay hidden behind the entire massacre.

The art studio in the old town of Fuuto was nestled in a quiet alley, its interior bathed in a dim, yellow light. When Shotaro and his companion arrived...

The viral hybrid shed its car disguise, standing in the center of the studio in its complete monstrous form. Blue viral patterns writhed wildly on its surface, and its chilling aura almost froze the room. Its target was Yujima Noriyuki, who was cowering in the corner, trembling with fear. Long-suppressed resentment transformed into deadly killing intent, and it approached step by step.

"stop!"

Shotaro strode forward, standing between Yujima and the virus hybrid. Looking at the figure before him, a figure forged from sorrow and hatred, he spoke earnestly and painfully, shouting, "Yamamura Yuki! I know your heart is filled with pain, resentment, and bitterness. The taste of betrayal and hurt is indeed unbearable. But revenge can never heal wounds. If you wallow in hatred, you will only trap your soul in this darkness forever, never to be free!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shotaro grabbed the collar of the slumped-to-the-ground Noriyuki Yujima, yanked him close, and forced him to face the virus admixture. He shouted at him, "Apologize to her! Apologize sincerely for your deception and your betrayal!"

Yujima was already terrified out of his wits by the monstrous figure before him. His teeth chattered, and he stammered incoherently, "I'm sorry... I was wrong... Please, please let me go..."

The belated apology could not quell the deep resentment that had accumulated in Yamamura Yuki.

The viral hybrid emitted a shrill scream, and its blue viral energy surged suddenly. The intense blue light instantly covered the entire studio, and the walls and furniture were corroded by strange patterns.

The power of the vengeful spirit, which has completely spiraled out of control, continues to rise, making a deadly battle inevitable.

"Philip, transform!"

"Roger that!"

A flash of light, and Kamen Rider W appeared. W immediately switched to Cyclone Joker's Gale Joker form, unleashing a barrage of Gale Blades that slashed at the virus dopant. However, the opponent was purely a spiritual entity, rendering physical attacks completely ineffective. The Gale Blades passed straight through the opponent's body, causing no damage whatsoever.

W immediately reacted, switching to Luna Metal form and launching a fierce attack with her metal staff and Luna's tracking ability, but it was all in vain. No matter how W changed her moves or forms, all her physical attacks were like hitting thin air, unable to touch the opponent's essence.

After several attempts, Philip quickly analyzed the energy data and immediately concluded: "Shotaro! The opponent is a spiritual entity, and physical attacks are ineffective! The only way to completely purify and eliminate it is to use extremely high-temperature energy to completely evaporate its spiritual entity!"

"understand!"

W swiftly completed the transformation, flames erupting around him, and the Heat Trigger form appeared. The power of the blazing flames intertwined with sniper energy, the trigger magnum was steadily raised, and a blazing energy bullet gathered at the muzzle.

At this moment, the virus hybrid had lost its mind, abandoned Yushima, and rushed towards W with a sky full of blue light, intending to perish together with him.

"Now! — Trigger Explosion!"

W pulled the trigger, and a huge flamethrower roared out, accurately hitting the oncoming viral admixture.

The towering flames instantly engulfed the blue, resentful entity, the scorching heat frantically burning away the invisible spiritual energy. The mournful cries gradually faded in the flames.

Almost at the same moment, in a ward at the city's central hospital, the living interface on Yamamura Yuki's arm slowly faded and disappeared, and a cracked viral memory detached from her skin and fell onto the hospital bed.

Inside the art studio, the firelight dissipated, and the battle was completely over. W deactivated his transformation, and Shotaro looked at Noriyuki Yushima, who was slumped on the ground, his face ashen, his anger barely contained. He stepped forward and threw a heavy punch, which landed squarely on Yushima's cheek.

This punch was not for the sake of justice or the duty of a detective; it was simply to avenge the deceived and harmed Yamamura Yuki.

Tangdao covered his face and curled up on the ground, not daring to resist in the slightest.

Shotaro did not choose to call the police. He took out his communicator, dialed Mikio Keishinno's number, and recounted the whole story, including the events surrounding Yamamura Yuki, Yujima's deception, and all the details of the virus memory and its admixtures.

After listening to the account, Mikio Renno on the other end of the phone complained, "That's enough, how am I supposed to compile and report on a case like this?"

After hanging up the phone, Shotaro and Akiko embarked on their journey home, slowly walking back to the Narumi Detective Agency.

Pushing open the door to the firm, the sight inside made the two of them widen their eyes in shock.

On the sofa, Lin Chen lay motionless, the hard-boiled novel he had been holding lying to the side. His whole being flickered like a shaky television signal.

Chapter 137 Crazy Fans

Many days have passed since Lin Chen experienced that strange frame-jumping state.

Philip had a great curiosity about Lin Chen's shimmering, almost transparent appearance at the time. In the past few days, he had been holding relevant books from the Earth Library, repeatedly searching for similar abnormal cases. He would often come up to Lin Chen and ask him with bright eyes what he felt at the time.

Lin Chen's unusual state lasted for less than an hour. When he slowly regained consciousness, Akiko, Shotaro, and Philip were already gathered around the sofa. He casually made up an excuse to reassure them. Fortunately, he didn't exhibit that behavior again in the past few days, and everyone was relieved.

Lin Chen leaned back on the sofa, recalling what had happened before he fell unconscious. That night, the palpitations grew stronger and stronger, his heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, the dull pain almost suffocating him. He subconsciously wanted to find Philip to ask about the situation. He went into the inner base, where Philip had just woken up from his coma and told Lin Chen that the incident involving the viral doppelganger had been resolved.

Philip asked Lin Chen what had happened. Lin Chen shook his head and returned to the sofa in the office lobby.

Lin Chen understood—what was making his heart pound was probably unrelated to the incident in Fengdu.

He continued flipping through the tough-guy novel, trying to calm his restless mind.

Just then, the system panel suddenly popped up on its own, with warning characters filling the entire panel. Through the prompts, Lin Chen finally understood what was causing his palpitations: the original Faiz parallel world of his body had been destroyed.

I was supposed to disappear along with the world when it was destroyed, but the system forcibly severed the connection, which is the source of my palpitations. The flickering frames in my body are because the system is rebuilding its anchor point for me.

Lin Chen didn't care about the world being destroyed. He knew that the world would reappear soon after Tsukasa Kadoya resolved all the problems.

At that moment, the popular radio program "Wakana Sonozaki's Healing Princess" was being broadcast live in Fuuto. Shotaro and Philip listened intently, and when Wakana's new song came on, they both sang along. Shotaro couldn't help but exclaim, "She's truly an angel!"

Lin Chen raised his eyes and spoke at the right moment: "Don't forget, Sonozaki Wakana is also a member of the Sonozaki family."

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the firm fell silent.

Shotaro's smile faded, his brows furrowed slightly, and his tone carried a hint of disagreement: "Lin Chen, you can't be so arbitrary, can you? Even if she's from the Sonozaki family, it doesn't necessarily mean she's involved in those shady dealings."

“I will investigate this thoroughly.” He said firmly, his eyes serious. “If she is really involved in those things, I will absolutely not show favoritism, I will handle this officially and without hesitation.”

Philip nodded in agreement and added, "I checked Princess Wakana's information. According to public information, she is just a popular DJ and idol singer with a gentle personality who focuses on her music career. There is no trace of her being involved in selling Gaia Memory."

Lin Chen shook his head slightly. Indeed, in that family, Sonozaki Wakana only cared about her idol identity and completely ignored the family's business.

As soon as she finished speaking, Wakana's sweet voice came through the radio again: "Thank you for listening. Next, we'll be opening up a call-in segment for listeners~"

The moment the call connected, a deep, somewhat eerie male voice came through, its tone calm yet tinged with inexplicable madness: "Hello, Princess Wakana."

Wakana's voice remained gentle: "Hello, may I ask your name? Is there a song you'd like to request?"

"I don't have a name, you can call me 'Mr. Problem'." The male voice chuckled, his tone strange. "I'm not here to request a song, I'm here to give you a 'special gift'."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen seemed to remember something and stopped flipping through the novel.

The next moment, he raised his hand and took out the Gaia Driver and the Saber-toothed Tiger Memory, inserting the gilded Saber-toothed Tiger Memory into the interface.