As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

Just then, from the stairwell behind them came the heavy thud of dragging chains, followed by a low growl filled with anger and helplessness—the voice of the Orphnoch. Immediately afterward, a large group of armed men appeared at the stairwell entrance. Dressed in uniform black combat suits and wearing black masks, they carried specially made stun batons and chains, marching in orderly formation around a massive figure in the center, heading towards the corner.

It was an elephant-shaped Orphnoch.

Its size was enormous, more than twice the height of an average adult male. Its body was covered in a thick layer of grayish-brown keratin, like a hard armor, and a pair of enormous tusks protruded from its mouth, gleaming with a cold, yellowish light. But at this moment, this elephant-like Orphnoch was firmly bound by several specially made alloy chains, the chains deeply embedded in its keratin, oozing black blood. Its limbs were chained shut, making even lifting its head extremely difficult. Its eyes were bloodshot, filled with ferocity and resentment, yet it could only be dragged forward by armed personnel, each step producing a heavy thud, carrying endless humiliation and helplessness.

Clearly, this elephant-shaped Orphnoch did not come here voluntarily, but was forcibly brought here by the armed members of the Disciplinary Committee.

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the elephant-shaped Orphnoch, and his heart sank slightly. He could clearly sense that this elephant-shaped Orphnoch was quite powerful, yet it was so easily bound and escorted.

Kurosawa glanced at the Orphnoch being escorted over, his eyes completely unmoved, as if he were already used to it. He withdrew his gaze from Lin Chen, his tone still cold, but less questioning and more reprimanding: "The underground area is the core controlled area of ​​the academy. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter. Do I need to remind you of this rule repeatedly?"

"Your subordinate knows his mistake. Your subordinate will never dare to trespass again next time." Lin Chen quickly lowered his head, his tone respectful, without any attempt to explain, fully displaying his "fear" and "admission of wrongdoing".

"Hmph." Kurosawa snorted coldly, pointed to the stairs above, "This is none of your business. Immediately return to the original route and continue patrolling. If I find you deviating from the route again, you will be dealt with according to the school's ironclad rules, without any leniency."

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys and will leave immediately." Lin Chen hurriedly replied, not daring to linger for a moment. After bowing slightly, he turned and quickly walked up the stairs.

He deliberately quickened his pace, but showed no sign of panic. As he passed the armed men, he even lowered his head to avoid their gaze. The armed men watched him walk by expressionlessly, offering no resistance. They simply stared intently at the elephant-shaped Orphnoch being escorted, dragging it towards the second basement level. The condensed primordial energy fluctuations extended deeper underground with each step they took.

Lin Chen hurried upstairs, exited the stairwell, pushed open the side door of the teaching building, and stepped back into the night. His back was already soaked with cold sweat. He leaned against the cold wall, panting heavily, his heart still pounding.

He looked up at the dark building of the main teaching building. The half-open side door looked like a gaping maw in the night, and deep underground, the unwilling roar of the Orphnoch seemed to still echo in his ears.

Lin Chen's gaze gradually turned serious, and he had already made up his mind.

Even if the Earth Emperor's Belt isn't hidden beneath this school building, it still holds a major secret of the academy. The Disciplinary Committee detains and deals with Orphnochs here, with Kurosawa personally overseeing the operation, and a large number of armed personnel guarding the area—this speaks volumes about its importance. Perhaps it's for secret experiments, perhaps for sealing away power, or perhaps for a brutal purge of the Orphnochs.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. He wiped the cold sweat from his temples, readjusted his mind, and headed towards the planned patrol route. His steps remained steady, but a hint of determination and calculation appeared deep in his eyes.

Today's initial exploration, though not reaching the core, has already given us a general understanding of the underground area and confirmed the existence of the secret. That's enough.

He would no longer act rashly. In the days to come, he planned to continue to secretly investigate the defenses of the teaching building under the guise of patrols, find out the shift change times of the armed personnel and the guard layout of the underground area, and wait for a suitable opportunity.

Chapter 17 An Encounter

The sun hung high in the sky, warming the tree-lined paths of Smart Brain Academy.

The dappled sunlight filtered through the layers of sycamore leaves and fell to the ground, making people dizzy.

Lin Chen, dressed in his uniform, walked unhurriedly along the stone path with his hands in his pockets.

He appeared to be carrying out his daytime patrol as required, but his peripheral vision was constantly scanning his surroundings.

A faint ripple of spiritual energy spread out, encompassing all movement within a radius of fifty meters.

Days of secret training have made his control over his body more and more precise. Even in human form, he can control the force and speed of every step just right.

Occasionally, we encountered students in school uniforms along the way, chatting and laughing in twos and threes.

Interspersed among them are several faint fluctuations of the Orpheus factor, all of which are very well converged, clearly the result of long-term discipline within the academy.

Lin Chen ignored this and simply followed the predetermined route, slowly walking towards the detached building where the photography department was located.

The tree-lined path next to the photography department is quieter than other places.

The sycamore trees on both sides are lush and form a natural canopy. When the wind blows, the leaves rustle and carry a faint fragrance of grass and trees.

As soon as he rounded the bend, Lin Chen paused almost imperceptibly.

Within his spiritual power, he detected a familiar aura.

He looked up.

Under a sycamore tree not far away, a high school student wearing a white school shirt was holding a black SLR camera and repeatedly pressing the shutter button on the girl next to him.

The girl was wearing a light pink pleated skirt, holding a bunch of daisies in her hand, tilting her head slightly and smiling, her eyebrows and eyes curving.

The boy holding the camera was slender, with wispy bangs obscuring his eyes and eyebrows, and his fingers deftly adjusted the camera settings.

Lin Chen recognized him as the one who had transformed into Faiz in the garden that night.

His pupils contracted slightly, a hint of understanding flashing in his amber eyes. Although he only became a fan of Kamen Rider in the new decade, he had some knowledge of Kamen Rider Decade. After all, there was always online debate about whether Decade or Zi-O was stronger. However, he later heard that it was a poorly executed series, so he didn't delve into it further.

He knew about the Faiz arc in the Kamen Rider Decade TV series, where the user of Kamen Rider Faiz was a student at the academy. Seeing him today wasn't surprising.

He didn't stop walking; he continued to walk slowly towards the two of them.

When the distance closed to ten meters, Onoue Takumi seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up.

The camera in my hand suddenly stopped moving.

The moment their eyes met.

Time seemed to have been paused.

Onoue Takumi's eyes widened in surprise.

He recognized the security guard in front of him as the mysterious man who appeared that night, transformed into Faiz, and instantly killed two Orphnochs.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Lin Chen remained calm and continued walking forward.

Onoue Takuya pretended to be nonchalant, but Yuta Yuri, who was next to him, still noticed something was amiss.

"Skilled? What's wrong?"

Yuri Tomoda noticed the strangeness in the person next to her, put away her smile, followed his gaze to Lin Chen who was walking towards her, and asked softly.

Do you know that patrolman?

Her voice broke the stillness in the forest.

He shook his head slightly, scratched his temple with his finger, and said casually:

"I don't know him, I just thought his eyes looked a little strange, nothing."

He deliberately pulled Youli a few steps to the side to make way for Lin Chen.

But their eyes met again the moment Lin Chen passed by.

A complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

Lin Chen kept his eyes straight ahead and walked steadily past the two of them.

After Lin Chen passed by, Onoue Takumi pulled Yuta Yuri along and quickly walked towards the other end of the tree-lined path.

His steps were much more hurried than when he arrived.

After walking a few meters, Takumi Onoue couldn't help but deliberately glance back.

Lin Chen was still walking slowly with his back to them, his black figure blending into the dappled shadows of the trees, showing no sign of anything amiss.

Lin Chen did not turn around and continued patrolling along the established route.

But Takumi Onoue already had a plan in mind. He wanted to find out the true purpose of this tiger-shaped Orphnoch and prevent it from harming Yuri and her classmates.

Oogami Takumi.

A plan quickly took shape in his mind.

The daytime patrols were uneventful.

There is no out-of-control Orphnoch.

There were no abnormal energy fluctuations.

Only endless peace.

Night fell as expected.

The inky sky enveloped the entire academy.

The streetlights lit up one after another, casting a dim yellow glow that distorted the shadows of the trees on campus.

Taking advantage of the shift change by the disciplinary team, Lin Chen deliberately avoided his patrol time and quietly slipped out of the dormitory building.

He didn't transform; he remained in human form, his figure blending into the night as he moved like a ghost towards Onoue Takumi's dormitory.

He spread his mental energy to its maximum, firmly locking onto that familiar aura.

Sure enough, not long after,

Takumi Onoue then slipped out from downstairs in the dormitory building.

He carried the backpack containing Faiz's belt, looked around warily, and after confirming that no one was around, quickly walked towards the back of the mountain.

His steps were light, yet still carried the awkwardness of youth, far from the ease and control of Lin Chen.

Lin Chen followed far behind, keeping a distance of about 100 meters from him.

He would not be discovered, yet his every move could be clearly captured.

He memorized all the surveillance cameras along the way, and with every turn and every dodge, he precisely avoided their view.

Their mental abilities allowed them to detect spies in the shadows in advance, bypassing all surveillance points.

Takumi Onoue hurried along and eventually disappeared into the dense forest behind the mountain.

Lin Chen slowed his pace and followed him inside.

He concealed himself in the dense shadows of the trees and stopped behind a large tree not far away.

His gaze was fixed on the figure on the open ground.

On the open ground, Takumi Onoue was locked in combat with a lizard-like Orphnoch.

The lizard-shaped Orphnoch was covered in bluish-green scales, had a slender body, and moved with extreme agility.

Its sharp claws gleamed with a cold, eerie green light as it lunged at Tail, hissing and growling.

Takumi Onoue has transformed into Faiz.

The silver-black armor gleamed coldly in the night, and the red photon veins flickered slightly.

Although his movements were still somewhat clumsy, they were much more skillful than they had been in the garden that night.

Lin Chen's gaze sharpened slightly.

He immediately realized that Onoue Takumi's fighting moves were deliberately imitating the moves he made when he transformed into Faiz that night.

The angle of the punch, the posture of blocking, and the footwork of dodging all bear some resemblance.

The imitation was clumsy, failing to grasp the essence, and the control of power was still lacking, with each punch accompanied by unnecessary swaying.

Clearly, Lin Chen's battle that night had a profound impact on Onoue Takumi.