As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider.

The jet skider's engine hummed low in the night, and pale blue photon energy left a fleeting trail of light on the ground.

He knew very well that he had failed to complete the tasks assigned to him by Kurosawa; he had neither killed Tsukasa Kadoya nor retrieved the Faiz belt. As a pawn being used, what awaited him was likely Kurosawa's cold-blooded reckoning. But he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go back, at least to return the Delta belt intact, and then try to find a glimmer of hope.

Soon, the familiar library-style building came into view. Lin Chen maneuvered the glider to a steady stop at the entrance of the stairwell, flipped onto the ground, and the Delta armor around him slowly dissipated into particles of light, revealing his slightly pale face. He gripped the Delta belt in his hand, took a deep breath, suppressed the unease in his heart, and stepped into the stairwell.

The corridor was silent, save for the figures of Kurosawa and Narutaki standing quietly by the concrete railing. Kurosawa was still dressed in his impeccably white suit, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his gaze calmly fixed on Lin Chen. He had clearly witnessed the entire battlefield. Narutaki wore a light brown fisherman's hat, the brim pulled down to obscure his eyes, radiating an aura of unapproachability.

Lin Chen walked up to the two men, offered no explanation, and bowed deeply, his tone filled with genuine remorse: "Captain Kurosawa, I am incompetent. I failed to complete the mission you assigned me. I neither killed Decade nor retrieved the Faiz belt, and I was also thwarted by Daiki Kaito. I have disappointed you."

He adopted an extremely humble posture, preparing himself to withstand Kurosawa's wrath.

Surprisingly, Kurosawa showed no anger. Instead, he waved his hand gently and calmly comforted her, "Don't blame yourself. I saw everything. This defeat wasn't your fault. It was Kaito Daiki's sudden intervention, coupled with Lucky Clover's lack of consideration for the bigger picture, that disrupted the entire plan. You've done a great job bringing back the Delta Belt intact while fighting seven opponents alone."

Lin Chen suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with astonishment, clearly not expecting Kurosawa to let him go so easily.

Kurosawa didn't say anything more. He reached out and took the Delta belt from Lin Chen, his fingertips tracing the cold metal surface of the belt. He turned around and carefully placed it into the black leather box on the concrete railing beside him, then fastened the buckle.

After doing all this, he turned to look at Narutaki beside him and asked in a calm tone, "Narutaki-san, after what just happened, I wonder if our previous deal will continue?"

Narutaki slowly raised his head, his gaze behind his glasses sharp as a knife. Without the slightest hesitation, he said firmly, "Of course, continue. As long as you help me take down Decade and end his journey, I will give you even more advanced techniques."

After saying that, he didn't linger and turned to walk out of the building.

But just as Narutaki was about to step out of the building, a sudden change occurred!

A pale blue dimensional wall suddenly unfolded in the middle of the corridor, causing ripples of spatial distortion. Kaito Daiki's figure instantly appeared from within the dimensional wall. A cynical smile played on his lips as his gaze fell directly on the black leather suitcase atop the concrete railing. His tone was laced with undisguised greed: "So this is the Delta Belt? Looks pretty good. It's mine!"

His appearance instantly interrupted Narutaki's departure and left Kurosawa and Lin Chen completely stunned. Before the two could even react, Kaito Daiki had already reached for the black leather suitcase and retreated towards the dimensional barrier behind him.

"Stop!" Kurosawa finally reacted, roared, and his aura instantly became violent as he reached out to snatch the suitcase.

But it was too late.

Hai Dong Daiki smiled and took a step back, disappearing into the pale blue dimensional wall. The dimensional wall closed instantly, and the space returned to normal, as if it had never existed. Only a faint spatial fluctuation remained in the air, proving that he had indeed been there.

Lin Chen instinctively wanted to chase after him, but he was stopped by Minglong's cold voice as soon as he took a step: "Give up, you can't catch him. The power of the dimensional barrier is something you can't contend with."

Narutaki's tone was tinged with impatience. After saying this, he ignored the astonished Kurosawa and Lin Chen, turned around and left quickly, disappearing into the night.

Only Hei Ze and Lin Chen remained in the hallway.

Kurosawa stood frozen in place, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief. In just a few seconds, the Delta Belt had been stolen, Narutaki had vanished—a series of unexpected events that had caught him completely off guard. He stared intently in the direction where Kaito Daiki had disappeared, his face so dark it could drip water. His pent-up anger finally erupted, and he cursed viciously, "Damn it!"

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, his aura extremely violent, only gradually calming down after a long while. He turned to look at Lin Chen, the anger in his eyes fading, leaving only a cold resolve: "Lin Chen, go directly to the third basement level of the teaching building tonight. I have something for you to do."

Without offering any further explanation, Kurosawa left those words behind and turned to leave quickly, leaving Lin Chen alone in the stairwell, watching his departing figure with a heavy heart.

He knew very well that the task Kurosawa was about to entrust to him was anything but simple.

As night deepened, the entire Smart Brain Academy fell asleep.

In the early hours of the morning, Lin Chen arrived at the core laboratory on the third basement floor of the main teaching building as promised.

Upon entering the laboratory, he was immediately overwhelmed by the heavily armed presence. Dozens of armed personnel in black combat uniforms, armed with specially made photon rifles, stood guard in every corner of the laboratory, their guns pointed at the center, their expressions solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy. The laboratory walls were covered with complex energy detectors and monitoring equipment, the screens flashing with dense streams of data. The atmosphere in the entire laboratory was extremely oppressive.

Kurosawa was already waiting there. He had changed out of his signature white suit and into a fully armed black combat uniform, with a specially made energy pistol at his waist. His face was expressionless, and his aura was cold and murderous.

Upon seeing Lin Chen arrive, Kurosawa didn't waste any words. He raised his chin, signaling Lin Chen to follow him, and then turned and walked towards the center of the laboratory.

Lin Chen suppressed his anxiety and quickly followed.

Soon, the two arrived at four completely transparent culture vessels. Pale blue protective gas flowed slowly within the vessels, and the other three knight belts lay quietly inside.

Kurosawa stopped and turned to look at Lin Chen, his gaze complex, carrying a hint of barely perceptible resolve. He raised his hand and handed something to Lin Chen.

It was a dark gold belt with ferocious patterns and a faint, chilling energy fluctuation around it. It was the Earth Emperor Orga Belt that Lin Chen both longed for and feared!

"Originally, I didn't intend for you to use this power so soon." Kurosawa's voice was low and hoarse, tinged with a hint of helplessness, "but that damn thief ruined all the plans."

Lin Chen stared blankly at the Earth Emperor's Belt in Heize's hand, his heart pounding wildly, his face full of hesitation.

This was the power he had always dreamed of, the imperial power that surpassed all other knights' belts. But when he thought of the tragic end of the horse-shaped Orphnoch that turned to sand in just ten seconds after its transformation, a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making him tremble all over.

He knew very well that the load on the Earth Emperor's Belt was a hundred times more terrifying than that on the Delta Belt. Even though he was a high-level tiger-type Orphnoch with a pure origin, he couldn't guarantee that he could withstand this power. If he failed to transform, he would be reduced to ashes.

Looking at the densely packed armed personnel around him, their guns pointed at him, and feeling Kurosawa's icy gaze, Lin Chen felt a chill in his heart.

He had no choice.

Either refuse to transform and be deemed disloyal by Kurosawa, and be eliminated on the spot by these armed personnel; or you have no choice but to bite the bullet and forcibly transform into the Earth Emperor, risking your life for a chance to survive.

Since we're going to die either way, we might as well take a gamble!

Lin Chen gritted his teeth, a resolute glint in his eyes. He gripped the jet-black, gold-plated, vein-like imperial phone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. Without hesitation, he inserted the phone into the matching card slot at his waist, the cold, mechanical sound slowly filling the empty space.

"Standing By."

Before the low notification tone had even faded, he uttered two words in a deep voice, his tone filled with a desperate resolve.

"Transformation."

In an instant, the core of the belt suddenly erupted with a blinding golden light, like a blazing sun exploding, or the oppressive aura of a sleeping emperor awakening. Dense, inky black energy particles surged and spread wildly from the center, carrying with them blazing golden photon blood, rushing swiftly along the body's veins like magma flowing in the dark night. Wherever it passed, thick, hard, dark armor layers covered the body, its sharp edges and solemn lines exuding an undeniable sense of oppression.

Golden patterns, like an emperor's sash, crisscross and are inlaid on the jet-black armor, completely different from Faiz's crimson and Kaixa's bright yellow. This is the nobility and awe-inspiring presence unique to the emperor of the earth.

The armor on his head rapidly closed and took shape, and a helmet outlined in the Greek letter Ω slowly materialized. A single eye in the center shone with a blood-red light, and the golden crowns on either side were slightly raised, resembling the crown of a dark pope, majestic yet sinister. An energy shockwave swept outward from him, causing dust and air currents to tremble wildly, as if even the air itself was being distorted by this imperial power.

In the blink of an eye, the transformation was complete.

The knight, clad entirely in jet black and gilded gold, stood tall and imposing, surrounded by a faint black aura. His crimson single eye coldly surveyed the surroundings, exuding an overwhelming sense of power and destructive pressure, as if everything in the world would come to an end under the might of this earthly emperor.

Lin Chen slowly clenched his fist, feeling the terrifying, almost out-of-control power surging within him, and his whole body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

This force is simply too powerful!

Far surpassing the Delta Belt and the Tiger Orphnoch Complete Form, it seemed as if it could tear through space and destroy everything with a mere gesture. Dark golden photon blood surged within its body, and with each heartbeat, it could feel a surge of power, a qualitative leap in its physical body, speed, and mental strength.

Feeling this power, an uncontrollable urge to kill surged up from the bottom of his heart, making him want to take action and kill everyone here.

But Lin Chen forcibly suppressed this impulse.

He knew very well that Kurosawa's willingness to so easily hand over the Earth Emperor's Belt to him, allowing him to transform, meant he must have a backup plan and a means to counter the Belt. To act rashly without knowing Kurosawa's trump cards would only lead to certain death.

Now, all he can do is endure it.

To thank all the readers for their votes, I will be adding two extra chapters each Saturday and Sunday at 8 PM. The school arc will also conclude tonight. I will also be releasing a few bonus chapters.