I want to become a Kamen Rider

This was almost an unavoidable event; it was impossible for anyone to defeat him and Sakuta Azusagawa at that point. If they could all defeat him, wouldn't it be more direct to destroy or rule the world?

To this day, his only hypothetical enemy remains a colossal beast that could literally destroy the world.

So, going back to the initial reasoning, Mimasaka Kaze couldn't possibly be a close friend or relative of Ito Makoto. Therefore, her saving Ito Makoto was probably because she wanted to get something from him, or accomplish something through him.

Fan Kang still vividly remembers the conversation he had with the depraved Ito Makoto during that heavy rain:

"Then, what reason will you use to kill me, my hero, whose nature is one with mine? Is it justice, right and wrong, law, or rules?"

"Because you hurt others and trampled on life."

"I see. There's really nothing wrong with that. I acknowledge you, a sincere...hero. I hope you have a different ending."

Amidst the final blessings, Makoto Ito tossed him a card.

That was a gift from a scoundrel, hoping that a man whose nature was similar to his, yet whose heart was sincere, could have a different ending.

At the time, Fan Kang didn't pay much attention to it. After the battle, he picked up the card, which was stained with rain and blood, from the mud, simply put it away, thinking he would look at it later.

However, there was no time to check it afterwards.

Although it may sound careless, it was actually perfectly normal for him, because he had far too many things to deal with and too many enemies to defeat.

It wasn't carelessness, nor was it forgetting or giving up; it was simply that I was overwhelmed with other commitments.

Just as he initially set his goal of "obtaining" Sakuta Azusagawa and Houtarou Oreki, he only managed to complete half of it. It wasn't that he had given up on the goal, but rather that one event after another occurred—Golden Torch unexpectedly broke in, the space battleship took off from the East African Rift Valley, the Danish subterranean people landed, and the Gurongi were wiped out...

After searching through the rented room for a long time, Fan Kang finally found the card that Ito Makoto had given him.

The card's edges were worn and stained with blood. After a quick wipe, the image of a monster appeared on the card, somewhat similar in style to the Alien Dragon Fang. It should also be an Alien Knight, but... Fan Kang couldn't find any knight in his memory that matched this monster.

If the other party hadn't actually been wearing a belt, he probably wouldn't have considered it an Another Rider, but would have simply treated it as an ordinary monster card and tossed it into storage.

Remembering that Kyubey had once mentioned a knight he didn't know but seemed to take seriously—Oma Zi-O—he held the card up to Kyubey's eyes, letting the sunlight fully illuminate the card:

"Chubi, do you know this guy?"

'...Kang Jun, are you really not familiar with me, or are you pretending? Are you just teasing me again?'

"What image do I have in your mind? I really don't know this alien knight."

Fan Kang looked very serious.

Didn't you watch Kamen Rider W when it aired?

"Isn't Kamen Rider only airing one season a year...?"

Kewpie remained silent for a full two seconds before wagging its big, fluffy tail and telling him.

'This Another Rider is the counterpart to Kamen Rider Decade, which is... Another Decade.'

"Kamen Rider Decade?"

Fan Kang repeated it.

'Yes, Kamen Rider Decade, and also...'

Cupid paused for a moment.

'The destroyer of the world.'

The sunlight flowed silently, and the sky outside the window brightened. To Fan Kang's surprise, as daytime officially arrived, the figure on the card, originally an alternate knight, returned to its original form.

A knight by day, a monster by night.

It was a figure he had never seen before. In the center of the card was a figure clad in magnificent armor, predominantly magenta with black stripes. He was arrogant, exuding a wildness that disregarded rules, and held a strangely shaped longsword in his hand. The background was filled with countless silhouettes of shattered worlds.

That vivid magenta color, in the morning light, was as dazzling as congealed blood.

Chapter Seventy-Four: My True Heart

Xiao Feng doesn't like to dream.

Because I dream about the boss every time I have a dream, watching him fight alone.

He was there alone, fighting a solitary battle.

The backdrop is a shattered city, a burning sky, or a deep, lightless universe. Enemies surge in like a tide, each with its own unique and terrifying form. The leader, his figure—red, purple, blue, or black—stands at the eye of the storm, like an inextinguishable lighthouse, or a lone sail torn apart by the gale.

His fists shattered the shell, his kicks tore through the darkness, his back was upright and resolute, yet... he was always alone.

Every time, Xiaofeng wanted to rush over.

She wanted to stand by his side, as always, to shield him from attacks from behind, to clear away those annoying henchmen, and to cheer with him in victory.

She tried to reach out each time, but no matter what she did, she couldn't reach it.

"Boss! I'm here to help you!"

She screamed and ran as fast as she could in her dream.

No matter how fast she ran or how hard she stretched out her hand, there was always an invisible, thick barrier between her fingertips and that blood-soaked figure.

That distance seemed within reach, yet it was like an insurmountable chasm, forever uncrossable.

"Don't go, you won't be able to touch it."

A calm voice, tinged with a hint of detachment, sounded beside me.

Xiao Feng suddenly turned his head and noticed a figure squatting on the edge of the chaotic, creamy darkness of the dream.

That's a girl.

Silver hair, pale eyes, delicate features... exactly like her.

However, the girl's eyes seemed dead, perhaps like the dead fish that the boss had mentioned called Hachiman.

That kind of all-knowing, deeply weary, and... a kind of almost desperate calm in her eyes. She hugged her knees, rested her chin on her arms, like an abandoned porcelain doll, quietly watching the endless battle in the distance.

"I'm going to help the boss!"

She responded stubbornly, turned around again, and sprinted, jumped, and reached out towards the leader... repeating the same thing in vain.

Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times... a thousand times, ten thousand times.

She only looked at the figure squatting beside her when she was too tired to move in her dream.

"Big sister, why do you look just like Xiaofeng?"

The girl turned her head, her pale eyes calmly gazing at her, her voice like the wind blowing through an empty valley:

"Because I am you."

"You're not me..."

"Why?" Another "Little Wind" seemed to have become a little interested.

"Because you don't like the boss!" Xiao Feng pointed at her, his little face full of seriousness and accusation. "You didn't even go to help him! You just stood there watching!"

"..."

The older sister who looked just like Xiaofeng had a very sad expression on her face.

"...I just hope he can be free."

She pursed her lips and gazed at that figure in the distance.

Even in this illusory dream, the only impression he left on her seemed to be endless battles. Battles, battles, and more battles.

It never ends.

"This world is beyond saving. There's no way to save it, just like no matter how hard you run, you can't reach him. This is just a dream... and the ending in reality has already been decided."

Her voice was filled with despair.

"That person doesn't understand this principle at all. No one can bear the future of everyone. That's... a weight that even the gods cannot bear."

Xiao Feng became very angry because someone dared to slander her boss in front of her.

"That's not what you think, Boss! He just doesn't want to see anyone cry, doesn't want to see anyone sad. He just doesn't want to see anyone die in front of him anymore. Boss is the most amazing boss ever!"

Her words were like a key, seemingly triggering something.

The other "Little Wind," who had been squatting like a gray sculpture, stood up.

She also reached out her hand in that direction.

It wasn't running; it was simply standing still, facing that empty battlefield, facing that unreachable figure, waving its arms in vain, again and again. It was as if it were responding, as if it were offering support, or as if it were performing a desperate farewell ceremony known only to itself.

The attempt to wave her arms continued for a while, until the standing "other little wind" seemed to have exhausted the sudden impulse and slowly lowered her arms. She did not return to her squatting position, but simply lowered her head slightly, letting her silver hair cover her profile, standing in that flowing gray, like a lonely island about to be swallowed up.

She gave up quickly, but Xiao Feng did not.

After resting enough, she stood up again, waving her small fists and shouting at the enemies who couldn't see her at all, trying to draw their fire and relieve even the slightest bit of pressure for her boss.

She reached out in vain, over and over again, repeating the gesture that was destined to remain untouched. Sweat soaked her temples again, and she staggered, but she did not stop.

Until he fell to the ground again.

"I've already said it, it's useless, you can't touch it, you can't help him. It's all a waste of time..."

The other "Little Wind," now an isolated island, continued to pour cold water on her. She looked at Little Wind lying on the ground and softly asked:

"Aren't you tired?"

"I'm so tired..." Xiao Feng on the ground said in a muffled voice, panting.

"Don't you find it very tiring?" the girl asked again.

"It's very hard..." Xiao Feng's voice was a little aggrieved.

"Then why..." The girl's voice was filled with confusion, even a hint of bewildered anger, "...why do these meaningless things?"

The breeze on the ground fell silent for a few seconds.

Then, she struggled to sit up, raised her dusty little face, and looked at the sad "Little Wind".

She didn't answer directly, but instead raised her hand and forcefully wiped away the moisture that had seeped from the corner of her eyes, whether from exhaustion or something else.

Against the backdrop of weariness, her eyes rekindled the flame of hope—bright, pure, and unquestionable.

She looked at the girl who looked exactly like her, but had chosen to give up and be sad, and said clearly, word by word:

"Because I like the eldest brother."

"I believe in the boss."

"I will always stand by the boss!"

The sorrowful "Little Wind" stiffened abruptly, her eyes beneath her silver hair widening in shock and unbelievable pain. She looked at Little Wind as if gazing upon a most precious phantom, one she had long ago buried with her own hands.

Perhaps what she thought was burial could not suppress the passion that defied time and penetrated the years.

"Even though...even I have given up on him...do you still...believe in him?"

The past self left her with only a silhouette and a sincere sentiment repeated a thousand times.

"Xiao Feng, I like Boss the most."

Chapter 75 Unaware

It is worth mentioning that Fan Kang believes he is neither bad at thinking nor slow-witted.

When faced with various events, although he often abandons thinking in the name of pragmatism, it is only because thinking is meaningless. When your military power is all-powerful, most of the world's schemes will become useless. He can often find the various plans that the dark organizations he has eliminated have formulated against him in the bases of the organizations he has eliminated, which are very detailed.

From seduction to psychological warfare to persuasion to encirclement, there are all sorts of methods, but... none of them matter.

There are no strategists in this world who can devise a plan that is linked together, like dominoes falling, accumulating victory bit by bit to achieve a huge win from a small beginning. Such scenarios only happen in carefully crafted stories.

Coincidences far outnumber schemes. Strategists don't calculate every step and every possibility of an event, but rather the hearts of the people and the general trend.

Anyone who has actually formulated and executed a plan knows that the simpler, clearer, and more well-defined the plan, the easier it is to implement. On the other hand, the more complex, meticulous, and interconnected the plan, the more likely it is to have flaws in the details.

For example, in his hometown, during the Three Kingdoms period, there was a very famous strategist, Zhuge Liang, who was a brilliant strategist and had outstanding military skills. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he was even described as "almost a demon in wisdom." People talked about Zhuge Liang's ingenious plans with great interest.

However, Zhuge Liang's military training abilities are rarely mentioned, even though that is the foundation and key to all his brilliant strategies. No matter how good a plan is, someone needs to implement it, and the entity that can bring a fantastical plan to fruition is not the plan itself, but the people.

Imagine if Zhuge Liang had a million elite troops with complete supplies and ample provisions, would he still need to go to such lengths for brilliant strategies? Probably not; he could have simply swept through the enemy lines.

Therefore, Fan Kang believes that he is not bad at using his brain; it's just that most of the time, he doesn't need to specifically study the type, strengths, and weaknesses of his enemies to destroy everything with pure force.