Kamen Rider: Evolution

"At that time, the branch timelines were already showing signs of converging, and the situation was much more serious than it is now. However, through this method of saving the world by killing, the timelines returned to stability for a long time. Those branch timelines that had just split off and were in their infancy were eliminated by 'me' as soon as they were born."

"The number of people who have died at his hands must be countless," Jiang Xia sighed.

Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten in your life?

When killing becomes a habit, quantity becomes meaningless.

Multiplying the number of humans on Earth by the number of worlds destroyed to arrive at the total number of people killed would likely result in more grains of sand than the Sahara Desert, the world's largest desert.

"This is the price of choosing this path. Although this method has curbed the splitting of the timeline, it is only temporary. No matter how many timelines 'I' can destroy, it is ultimately limited. 'I' cannot gain energy to recover by killing enemies like you can. 'I' also get tired." Oma Zi-O said, looking at Jiang Xia.

Although they are born with the near-invincible power of the Demonic Power, they cannot become stronger through killing; in fact, they consume themselves in the process of destroying timelines.

Although destroying a timeline would consume as little power as a drop of water in the ocean for Oma Zi-O at his peak, it was still consumed nonetheless.

“I understand. The timeline splits infinitely. This action is like dividing an infinite number by an unbelievably large number. No matter how large the number is, the result is still infinite.” Jiang Xia nodded.

The Oma Zi-O who destroyed the world, as mentioned earlier, was the one he encountered in the Ryuki world. He was even a weakened version of Oma Zi-O who needed the Mirror World as a medium to influence the outside world.

He claimed to have destroyed countless timelines and wiped out countless worlds, and now it seems that this was indeed the truth.

No wonder he hesitated to speak at the time, and even said that Jiang Xia should make the same choice. He was probably referring to the timeline issue.

"Not only that, as 'my' power faded, 'I' was no longer able to destroy the world in such a low-cost way as I did at the beginning, and the extermination of life was no longer thorough. Many people escaped this universe before the countdown to destroy the world ended, using the Aurora Veil and science." Oma Zi-O continued to talk about another thing he had experienced.

"Let me guess," Jiang Xia said after thinking for a moment, "that these lucky survivors recorded their experiences after traversing the world and informed the humans of other worlds. They united all their forces and prepared to fight the demon king who was going to destroy the world and save it."

"The hatred of the world's destruction cannot be dispelled with time. These survivors, driven by hatred and a sense of justice, gradually came together to form a vast organization spanning multiple worlds. The members of this organization are the most outstanding figures from different worlds, and their combined strength is astonishing even to 'me'."

Oma Zi-O's gaze was lost in thought, as if recalling scenes from his memories:

"They created the Time Driver, a lower-level mass-production version of the Oma Zi-O, simply by using Oma Zi-O's battle data. They also created a blank watch face that can carry the history of the Riders, and the Time Mazinger that can freely travel through time and space, by imitating the characteristics of Oma Zi-O's power to merge the world."

"The Rider Watches can preserve power, allowing them to take the Rider Power of this world before it is destroyed by Oma Zi-O, leaving behind seeds for resistance."

"Wait, you mean this huge organization that can span the world, it wouldn't be... called the History Bureau, would it? The organization Woz is in?"

When Jiang Xia heard about a massive organization that could span multiple worlds, his first thought was Shocker and Foundation X.

But after hearing about what they developed, Shocker and Foundation X were completely unworthy of comparison.

Time Driver and blank dials are not things that Shocker and Foundation X can easily dabble in.

A blank watch face can be pressed onto any Kamen Rider except for the Zi-O series and its power can be forcibly taken away. This is far more advanced than the technology of the Zaibatsu X.

However, upon hearing that this was derived from reverse research based on the data of the Demon Power, Jiang Xia was certain that it was true. The fact that they could even analyze the Demon Power showed that their technology was truly extraordinary.

"It wasn't originally called this, but it was standardized later," Oma Zi-O nodded and said.

"What was the outcome of the war between the History Bureau and Oma Zi-O, who couldn't go all out?" Jiang Xia was curious; this was indeed an unsolved mystery.

"How could the mere History Bureau possibly deal with 'me'?" Oma Zi-O snorted coldly, his words filled with unparalleled arrogance.

This is just like Swartz's expression and demeanor when he mocked Swartz for gaining Another Decade's abilities and planning to fight against Tokiwa Sougo—he didn't take him seriously at all.

"In that battle, the Historical Bureau was almost decimated, and almost all the assembled resistance forces were wiped out, but..." Oma Zi-O hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"But?" Jiang Xia asked, puzzled. "Is there any other possibility? Wasn't he crippled?"

"Yes, when the History Bureau was on the verge of destruction, they discovered another 'me,' a 'me' whose intellect, wisdom, strength, and even physical form had almost degenerated to nothing due to exhaustion of his own power," said Oma Zi-O.

“I know that Oma Zi-O gets stronger with age. Overuse of power can cause an old man to regress into a child, or even lose his memory and not remember who he is. Are there any more serious cases?” Jiang Xia asked.

“Yes, when power, intellect, wisdom, and even physical form all disappear due to the exhaustion of power, what remains is a frail ‘me’ like an infant,” Oma Zi-O said.

"Oma Zi-O went from a white-haired old man to a baby? That's equivalent to losing everything." Jiang Xia's eyes showed astonishment. "One destroyed countless worlds before regressing into a child, but what exactly did Tokiwa Sougo do?"

"Wait, the Historical Bureau got a baby named Tokiwa Sougo? No way?" Jiang Xia suddenly thought of something.

"That's right, exactly as you thought. After finding this baby, the crippled History Bureau confirmed through their research on Oma Zi-O that his identity was Tokiwa Sougo himself."

"They gave the baby back the power of time they had researched, allowing him to grow up again as Tokiwa Sougo. And so, this baby who was picked up grew up to become the director of the Historical Bureau, Tokiwa Sougo." Oma Zi-O nodded.

"Only I can truly fight against myself," Jiang Xia said, expressing his understanding.

Zi-O's strength lies not in his armor, but in himself.

"The regrown Tokiwa Sougo lost all his memories, and his nearly depleted Oma Zi-O power was replaced by a replica of the Time Power, so he could no longer become Oma Zi-O, but instead became Kamen Rider Barlckxs. However, even so, he still has the ability to be immune to the attacks of the Heisei Riders, which is the blessing of the Heisei Riders to Tokiwa Sougo."

“Okay, so that’s how our Director came to be. I have two questions. First, the one I just asked: what happened that caused Oma Zi-O to regress into an infant? I don’t think it was caused by destroying the timeline. Second, what was the Director’s fate?” Jiang Xia asked.

"You should know the ending. Under the leadership of Tokiwa Sougo, the History Bureau attempted to erase the history of the Heisei era, but was destroyed by the Rider Kick of the Heisei Riders, and the History Bureau split up again," Oma Zi-O replied.

"As for why they regressed into babies, it's related to the second way to save the world line. Be patient and listen to me finish explaining."

“Okay, no problem.” Jiang Xia agreed.

"Although Director Tokiwa Sougo has lost his memories, he still has a very vague impression of the split in the timeline, because this is the most important thing to him. He also doesn't think that Oma Zi-O keeps destroying the world just for fun; there must be other reasons."

"Finally, he discovered the timeline split and the world's inevitable doomsday ending. He also understood why Oma Zi-O kept destroying the world. However, due to his missing memories, he did not know that all of this was caused by the death of Shotaro Ishinomori. So he began to call on the Historical Bureau to investigate the matter. After an unknown amount of time to gather information and summarize the events, he came to the conclusion of why the timeline split."

"The conclusion is definitely not correct," Jiang Xia said.

“He’s close to right. He believes the culprit behind all this is the power of the Riders. If the power of the Riders is eliminated, the timeline will no longer be split, or even if it is split, the world will not lead to the end of the world,” said Oma Zi-O.

"The reason he came to this conclusion is because he discovered the concept of the common origin of Kamen Riders' enemies and allies. As long as the source of the Rider's power is eliminated, then monsters will not be born, and of course the world will not fall into the vortex of war. For example, the ancient meteorite in Kuuga's world, the battle between the power of light and the power of darkness, Ryuki's Mirror World... Erasing these will complete the task."

"With the technology of the Historical Bureau, it is possible to travel through a long enough period of time using the Time-Space Demon Machine to erase the source of the Rider Power. After embarking on this journey, Director Tokiwa Sougo discovered that he had the ability to nullify the Heisei Riders, so he went further and further down the path of sealing the Rider Power, and many worlds became peaceful as a result."

"But this is just an illusion. If a knight world is without knights, the only result will be destruction." Jiang Xia knew the flaw in this approach after just a little thought.

This is how the world of Tsukuyomi and Swartz slowly faded away.

"Yes, so he found his younger self before he became Oma Zi-O and secretly helped him correct history, suppress the apocalyptic factors caused by the story going out of control, and integrate the Heisei history. This way, only one Rider is needed to suppress twenty worlds. This person could be the younger version of Tokiwa Sougo or a Rider from the History Bureau. But this plan requires sacrificing the Heisei timeline, so you should know the final result."

"Is that young Tokiwa Sougo who eliminated the director you?" Jiang Xia suddenly asked after listening to the entanglement between Oma Zi-O and the Historical Bureau.

Oma Zi-O destroyed the world to save it, and the History Bureau was a remnant of the destroyed forces, but in the end, they were also trying to save it.

There's really no way to evaluate this.

There are three Tokiwa Sougos: one chose to destroy the world and regressed into a child, only to be defeated by Eka; another exhausted his power and regressed into an infant, becoming the director of the History Bureau; and the third is Tokiwa Sougo in his youth.

The first led to the birth of the second, and the second in turn led to the selection of the third.

The third choice was Jiangxia.

"Who knows?" Oma Zi-O said casually. "Now that the story is over, we should show you the second way to save the world."

"After you finish reading, you can choose either one, because your physique can handle both paths, and we respect your choice."

After Oma Zi-O finished speaking, the Oma power within him slowly rose up, turning into pale golden light spots that gradually illuminated the originally dim Oma chat room.

Moreover, in the boundless darkness, more and more pale golden lights began to appear, and these lights that lit up again were the numerous Oma Zi-Os that had just appeared in front of Jiang Xia.

At this moment, the power of the demon ignited within them, illuminating this darkness once more.

This time, after Jiang Xia clearly saw what it looked like in the darkness, he suddenly froze.

Countless vine-like things transformed into ropes, binding Oma Zi-O and the throne beneath him.

These vines tightly bound Oma Zi-O to his own Time Throne.

The surface of these vines constantly shimmered with golden light, the glow of demonic power.

The Oma Zi-O power within him is continuously being poured into the vines binding them.

"These are all branch timelines that have been derived from each other? You are using the power of the Demon King to rewrite the apocalypse of every timeline!" Jiang Xia stared wide-eyed in surprise, his face full of disbelief.

Each Oma Zi-O is bound by at least several hundred branch timelines.

"The reason why Oma Zi-O, who degenerated into an infant after exhausting his power, became like that was to maintain the stability of the timeline." Jiang Xia suddenly realized.

This is the second method. The first method, where Oma Zi-O kills indiscriminately, is only a minority. Most Tokiwa Sougos would not have the heart to watch these branching timelines collapse.

Because these were real human lives, they chose another method: to use their demonic powers to rewrite the story.

Forcibly steer these runaway stories back on track, which is clearly unwise and no different from the first approach of taking action to ensure safety by killing.

Because the power of the Demon King is not infinite, just like that one that regressed into an infant, sooner or later, the old guys in front of Jiang Xia will all regress due to the exhaustion of their power.

Chapter 599 (Final Chapter)

"Your disappearance is only a matter of time. Even if there are more Tokiwa Sougos, it can only slow down the branches of time and bring those brief moments that would have been the end of the world back on track. But time is infinitely long. It has only an origin, but no end."

Jiang Xia closed his eyes, slowly exhaled, and the look of surprise on his face gradually calmed down. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze hardened.

"That's right, but it's our choice. This is the price of becoming a king, because there are always things that come before others." Even as the timeline relentlessly drains his power, Oma Zi-O remains unfazed. "We are Zi-O, the kings of time. Maintaining the stability of the timeline is Zi-O's responsibility. Besides being Zi-O, we are also Kamen Riders. Kamen Riders exist to protect the freedom of humanity. The combination of these two is what makes the true Kamen Rider Zi-O."

"I understand. If I choose the second option, what should I do?"

This is the responsibility of Kamen Rider Zi-O. Just now, when he closed his eyes, he once again observed the timeline of the entire Kamen Rider universe.

As the story went mad, things that shouldn't have existed began to appear one after another, the most serious of which was the world of Kabuto, because it began to collapse from the very source of the story.

There is no Worm Queen or Protoss Queen in the Kabuto world. The birth of that powerful tree-shaped crystal life form was just a very, very coincidental accident.

As time went by, this accident grew stronger and stronger until it became a threat to the entire world.

It has even developed the ability to cross world barriers and wreak havoc on other worlds.

There are countless other Kabuto worlds like this, and what Oma Zi-O has to do is to erase life forms like the Worm Queen on the asteroid, according to the original history.

He also needs to ensure that he, as the Supreme Commander of Kabuto Tendou, will not perish due to interference from unknown factors.

As for the changes that occurred in other worlds, there are many more. For example, in the Den-O world, Ryotaro was possessed by the ghost Imagin and could not be saved, which led to Yone, who was at the point of divergence, being killed by Guy, and the timeline of the divergence shifted towards the Imagin.

For example, the chairman of the Fouze world successfully performed a space jump, and the surface of the earth was directly flattened by the dark nebula, causing the extinction of mankind.

In Gaim, the planetary mechanical lifeforms did not give Kouta Kazuha a chance to revive, and after killing them, they mechanized all of humanity and the entire Earth.

In the world of Spirit Riders, Sky Temple was taken away by the Great Eye, and when the Great Eye left, it casually destroyed the Earth.

The Exide World Invincible Gadget was completely destroyed by Dan Masamune, who then used the Glitch Driver to seal Dan Kuroto, thus achieving the complete game-like fate of Earth...

This is what the story looks like after it goes off the rails and develops freely, which means there are an infinite number of branching timelines in addition to the stable timeline. These changes are what the current Oma Zi-O needs to expend power to rewrite.

After hearing Jiang Xia choose the second option, Oma Zi-O didn't seem particularly surprised. He simply said, "Use your innate ability, 'Containment'."

"The first method, in detail, is to make your abilities stronger by constantly killing and using thousands of lives as 'materials'. We will delay the destruction of the timeline as much as possible. Once you have evolved to the point where you can match the Knight Universe, the problem of the destruction of the timeline branch will be solved. This is what you need to do next if you choose the first method."

"As for the second type, it is like us, using ourselves as pens and rewriting the world from the source with our will. Your ability is different from ours. The power of the Oma Zi-O can rewrite history, but it cannot replace history. But you are different. You can now replace the cosmic consciousness in a certain world and reach omniscience and omnipotence. Going further, you can reach the multiverse, replace Shotaro Ishinomori, and ascend to the throne of gods."

“Both options sound wonderful, but I can understand the dangers hidden beneath them,” Jiang Xia said.

This is something far more dangerous than fighting desperately.