As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

Suddenly, a series of violent explosions rang out from all directions!

"boom--!"

The old buildings on both sides collapsed instantly, and countless pieces of rubble and bricks fell from the sky, burying Zhaojinglong under the ruins in an instant.

A woman in a black trench coat stood atop the ruins, coldly gazing at the pile of stones beneath her feet. It was Kujo Aya.

She turned to leave, but just as she took a step, a huge boulder suddenly flew from the side, blocking her way.

As the rubble exploded, a crimson knight rose from the ruins, gripping the engine sword tightly, its tip pointing directly at Kujo Aya.

"Kujo?! How could it be you?" Terui Ryu's voice was filled with shock and disbelief.

“That’s right, it was me.” Kujo Aya said coldly, her face expressionless. “I thought you would lose your mind when facing the enemy who killed your entire family. I didn’t expect you to be able to remain calm and dodge the sneak attack.”

"Why did you attack me?" Terui Ryu gripped the engine sword tightly.

"Of course, it's for my ultimate ideal, so please die." After saying that, Kujo Aya took out a Gaia Memory and inserted it into the interface on her thigh.

A purple Triceratops hybrid replaced her. "It's you! I see." Terui Ryu finally understood what he had sensed was wrong yesterday. Terui Ryu roared, demanding that Kujo Aya hand over the Triceratops Memory, or he would arrest her as a detective.

But he was knocked away halfway there.

"Dragon, you don't really think I can take you down with this little preparation, do you? Thank you for your help, Saeko-san."

The Triceratops dopant spoke to the figure of the forbidden dopant floating in the distance.

Rewinding to last night, Kujo Aya, who had finally killed Akutsu, knew that he wasn't her ultimate enemy; the organization was. So she recklessly stormed into the Sonozaki Manor, and the outcome was self-evident.

At the time, Ryūbei was furious about the disappearance of Philip and Wakana and was about to execute her on the spot, but Saeko stopped him. Saeko said that it would take a lot of power to take Philip and Wakana back from the enemy, and this hybrid was quite strong.

Ryūbei suppressed his anger and had Yako research all of Kujō Aya's information. He then took Kujō Aya to his museum and told her about his ideal: from ancient times to the present, many creatures have appeared and gone extinct, and he wanted to turn humanity into data so that it could exist in this world forever.

Kujo Aya didn't think this had anything to do with her. All she wanted was to avenge Mizoguchi.

But then something incredible happened: she saw Mizoguchi again. However, Ryūbei stopped her when she tried to do something, promising that once his ideal was fulfilled, the deceased Mizoguchi would be included in Earth's data at the moment of his death, so that the two could be together forever.

She agreed to Ryūbei's conditions, helping him eliminate the Kamen Rider in the Fuuto Police Department as a warning to the enemies lurking in the shadows, making them obediently return Philip and Wakana Sonozaki.

"Don't waste time, Kujo." Saeko's voice was icy. "Father has been in a bad mood since yesterday. Get rid of him quickly, we still need to go back and report."

"Yes, Ms. Saeko."

The Triceratops and Forbidden Dopant approached the fallen Terui Ryu from the left and right. Terui Ryu struggled to get up, but the attack had been too powerful; all the bones in his body felt like they were broken, and he couldn't muster any strength.

Just as their attacks were about to land, a burst of intense artillery fire suddenly came from the alley entrance!

Countless shells roared in, slamming into the two hybrids and kicking up clouds of dust. The Triceratops and the Forbidden Hybrid were forced to retreat, avoiding the barrage of fire.

The three of them looked in the direction from which the artillery fire was coming.

At the alley entrance, a massive, bipedal mechanical beast slowly approached. Two thick ship-mounted cannons extended from its sides, with wisps of gunpowder smoke rising from their muzzles.

Inside the cockpit of the mechanical beast sat a knight.

He wore a helmet with huge purple compound eyes, and orange-yellow lines intersected on his face to form a striking X-shaped outline.

Chapter 165 Data Undead

Before the dust had completely settled, Aya Kujo, transformed into a Triceratops hybrid, charged towards Terui Ryu like a madwoman, wielding a massive bone club as thick as a bowl. In her eyes, no matter how troublesome the newly emerged mysterious knight was, Saeko-san could handle it; her only task was to deal with Terui Ryu and complete the mission assigned to her by Ryubei.

Terui Ryu gritted his teeth and stood up, his legs still weak. He bent his right leg and raised it in mid-air, his center of gravity extremely low, his whole body like a fully drawn bow. His right hand held the engine sword to shoulder height, the blade still emitting lingering heat. The energy blast that Saeko had hit him in the chest earlier was still excruciatingly painful, but he had no way out.

"Bang!"

The giant club and the engine sword collided violently, sparks flying. The immense force sent Terui Ryu's arm numbing, and he staggered back two steps before regaining his footing. The Triceratops hybrid was all about sheer power, and Terui Ryu had already been seriously injured by the two attackers. Within a few rounds, he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position, barely able to parry with the engine sword, and had very few chances to retaliate.

The mysterious knight who had been riding on the mechanical beast had already leaped down. The pure black metal armor gleamed coldly in the dim alley, devoid of any superfluous decoration, exuding an aura of ruthless decisiveness.

He raised his hand and with a "click," drew the cross-shaped beam gun from his waist, firing three shots in quick succession.

Three golden light bullets, trailing trails, shot straight toward the forbidden dopant in mid-air.

Saeko's eyes narrowed, and she manipulated the air currents to float left and right, barely dodging the attack. She snorted coldly, and quickly condensed more than a dozen purple energy bullets in her hands, hurling them at the mysterious knight like raindrops.

The mysterious knight remained calm, lightly pressing his finger on his weapon. A sharp long blade popped out from the bottom of the cross-shaped spear, transforming it into a cross-shaped sword. With a twist of his wrist, a golden slash shot out, cleaving the incoming energy blast in two.

"You've got some skill." Saeko frowned, then condensed even more energy blasts, which swept over everything.

But the mysterious knight didn't waste time with her. He put on a gauntlet on his left hand, gripped his cross sword tightly in his right, and with a burst of speed, transformed into a black lightning bolt, charging straight into the rain of energy. Golden slashes sliced ​​through the dense energy projectiles, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the forbidden hybrid.

"What?!" Saeko hadn't expected him to be so fast and hurriedly tried to dodge. But the mysterious knight seemed to have anticipated her movement, suddenly turning around and raising his hand. A golden cursor shot out, hitting her squarely in the lower back.

"Ugh!" The forbidden hybrid let out a muffled groan, its purple energy instantly becoming chaotic. It staggered and fell from mid-air, crashing heavily to the ground.

The commotion instantly drew the attention of the Triceratops hybrid. She instinctively turned her head to look. That momentary lapse in attention gave Terui Ryu a perfect opportunity.

"Now!" Terui Ryu roared, twisting the throttle of the Accel Drive at his waist. The crimson engine roared up suddenly, and he transformed into a red afterimage as he charged forward, his engine sword moving so fast that it was just a blur, as he unleashed a series of fierce slashes at the back of the Triceratops hybrid.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Sparks flew everywhere. "Aaaaah!" Kujo Aya writhed wildly in pain, wildly swinging the giant club in her hand, trying to force Terui Ryu back.

Seeing this, Terujiro quickly did a backflip and jumped away, landing steadily outside her attack range. He held the engine sword horizontally in front of him and stared at her with cold eyes.

The situation began to turn one-sided.

The mysterious knight pressed forward relentlessly, leaving the forbidden hybrid, who had fallen to the ground, utterly helpless. His left-hand Caesar gauntlet, wielding a whistling force, slammed into her repeatedly with dull thuds.

Her right hand, wielding a cross-shaped sword, would occasionally deliver a finishing blow. Saeko was forced to retreat steadily, without even a chance to take flight again.

Teruya Ryuya also activated her accelerated form, her red figure spinning rapidly around the Triceratops hybrid, the engine sword constantly leaving new wounds on her body.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Kujo Aya completely panicked. She originally thought that with Saeko's help, dealing with Accel would be a piece of cake, but who knew that this guy of unknown origin would suddenly appear and be able to beat the organization's executive like this.

Just as she was about to retreat during the gap in Terujiro's attack, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her knee and collapsed to the ground with a thud. It turned out that the mysterious knight had completely suppressed the forbidden hybrid and even had time to raise his hand, striking her knee with a beam of light.

"Opportunity!" Seizing the opening, Terui Ryu rushed forward, and with a "whoosh," the engine sword in his hand was placed against the neck of the Triceratops hybrid.

"Surrender, Kujo Aya," Terui Ryu's voice was icy. "You've already lost."

Kujo Aya, with a sword held to her neck, suddenly fell silent. Then, she let out a maniacal and shrill laugh. "Hahahaha! You lost? You thought you won just like that?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her whole body suddenly began to swell and twist violently.

"What?!" Terui Ryu's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to retreat, the Triceratops hybrid's size began to grow at a visible speed. In just a few seconds, the monster, which was originally a little over two meters tall, transformed into a giant purple dinosaur that was over ten meters tall. Its thick limbs stomped on the ground, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Roar—!" The giant Triceratops let out a deafening roar, whipping its tail, as thick as a telephone pole, across the ground. Terui Ryu couldn't dodge in time and was struck directly by the tail, flying through the air like a rag doll and crashing heavily into the wall.

Immediately afterwards, it lashed out with its tail at the mysterious knight who was locked in combat with Saeko. Upon seeing this, the mysterious knight immediately jumped back to dodge, but was still thrown away by the gust of wind generated by the tail.

"Miss Saeko! Run!" The giant Triceratops lowered its head and shouted at Saeko on the ground.

Saeko immediately understood, and despite the excruciating pain, she once again used her internal energy to float up and land on the back of the giant Triceratops.

"Trying to run?!" Terui Ryu clutched his chest as he scrambled to his feet, roaring as he gave chase.

But the giant Triceratops suddenly swung its tail, the immense force of which swept away a nearby wall. A shower of rubble and bricks rained down, instantly blocking the two's path in pursuit.

By the time Terujiro and the Mysterious Knight broke through the rubble and rushed out, the giant Triceratops had already trudged away with heavy steps, its massive figure quickly disappearing at the end of the street.

"Damn it!" Terui Ryu slammed his fist against the broken wall beside him, his teeth grinding in anger. He had just cornered Kujo Aya, and she had gotten away with it, taking Saeko with her.

He took a few deep breaths, deactivated his transformation, and turned to look at the mysterious knight standing not far away, his eyes filled with wariness and doubt: "Who are you?"

The mysterious knight did not answer immediately. He removed the driver from his waist, and the black armor receded like water, revealing a pale but angular face.

Terui Ryu stared at the face, instantly stunned. Although he had never met the person in person, he had seen a photo of him in the case files—wasn't this the long-deceased son-in-law of the Sonozaki family?

Seeing his shocked expression, the man elegantly put his hands behind his back, his voice low and calm: "Me? Sudo Kirihiko. Right now, I'm just a redeemer."

...

The group followed Tsukasa Kadoya to a familiar place—the Seagull Billiards Hall.

"This is the Narumi Detective Agency—surprisingly, nothing has changed."

Akiko had already stepped one foot over the threshold, her voice pausing on the word "change," because to be honest, she wasn't sure if this counted as good news.

The Seagull Billiards Hall on the first floor has a green felt surface, and the wooden table rails are worn smooth. In the corner, three cues are lined up in an iron bucket, more neatly than a soldier's rifle. The half-dead "Minghai Detective Agency" signboard light on the wall is still hanging, but the bulb is black.

“…No ash,” Philip said.

He discovered the most crucial thing.

One hundred thousand years. The air in that city outside smells of humus and data, but inside this room—not a speck of dust on the ping-pong table. No grime in the gaps of the wooden floorboards. No rust on the inside of the iron bucket.

It's not cleanliness that has been cleaned. It's cleanliness that has never been allowed to get dirty.

Shotaro's eyebrows furrowed. He instinctively took a half step back, his hand reaching for his lower back—

"Don't be nervous." Tsukasa Kadoya was quite at ease, holding up his camera and leaning over to look around through the viewfinder. "This place isn't 'preserved'—it's still running. It's like when you leave home and the refrigerator isn't unplugged, and when you come back through the back door after a hundred thousand years, the lights are still on."

“Easy for you to say.” Sherrard didn’t come in; his bandaged body remained outside the threshold, his eyes behind sunglasses scanning the ceiling. “Something that’s ‘still running’ usually means someone is maintaining it regularly. But we don’t have an owner.”

“Yes.” Lin Chen walked up from the back of the line, but didn’t go inside. He just leaned against the other side of the door frame. “Shotaro’s Joker boundary has been stuck here for 100,000 years. You guys call it ‘no change’—he thinks it’s like wiping the table every morning.”

"...Is he still there?" Philip's voice suddenly dropped a half octave.

It's not fear. It's that feeling of suddenly realizing that an answer might be waiting at the second-floor stairwell, and you haven't even figured out how to say your first words.

Lin Chen didn't answer. He simply raised his chin slightly.

Squeak.

It wasn't a door. It was the half-open wooden door at the top of the stairs on the second floor; something bumped into it.

All eyes turned to him.

The stairwell was dark. But the darkness was unnatural—not the kind of darkness that is "without light," but a deliberate, unyielding, and thick kind of darkness, as if someone were standing in that color, but the light was unwilling to outline them.

Then a piece of paper floated down.

It was about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, folded twice. It spun around and landed lightly on the green felt surface of the table tennis table.

Philip took a step forward—half a body length ahead of Shotaro. Shotaro's hand had already reflexively landed on Philip's shoulder to stop him from going too far ahead—Philip picked up the piece of paper and flipped it open.

The writing on the paper is handwritten. It's from a ballpoint pen. The marks are deep, indicating the writer applied considerable pressure; in some places, the pen tip has scratched the paper fibers.

"Service hours: Daily. Scope of service: No one is allowed to touch the second floor. Note: Especially those who are barefoot."

In the bottom right corner, there's a hastily drawn little figure with only three strands of hair, next to two letters: S.

Akiko burst out with a "pfft"—half laughing, and half because for some reason her nose suddenly felt sore.

“…This guy.” Shotaro’s voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth, but the corners of his mouth were already uncontrollably turned up—not the tough guy kind, the kind with the brim of his hat pulled down, but a genuine upturn, a sudden, unguarded smirk. “You think you’ve been guarding someone for a hundred thousand years just because you wrote a note?”

“More than one,” Lin Chen said calmly.