As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider.

The mall was deathly silent, save for the crackling of the emergency lights. Scattered clothes hangers and overturned shelves littered the floor, knocked over by the two security guards as they fled. From the third floor, there was no sound; the silence was chilling.

Bingchuan Cheng, rifle in hand, pressed himself against the wall and advanced step by step toward the stairwell, synchronizing each step with the position of the command center.

Sumiko Ozawa's voice came through the headset the entire time, devoid of any extra emotion: "Hikari, the target hasn't moved. It's standing right in front of the shop, with its back to you. Don't make any rash moves; wait for Lin Chen to arrive."

"Received." Bingchuan Cheng responded, stopping in the shadows at the top of the stairs.

He looked up and saw the blue figure in the distance.

It stood silently at the shop entrance, its back to him. Its deep blue scales gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the emergency lights, and its cobra-shaped head was slightly raised, as if gazing at the sky. Its arms hung naturally at its sides, like a cold statue, waiting in the darkness for some destined moment.

As for the G3 armored vehicle holding a rifle a few dozen meters away, in its eyes, it was no different from a wall or a shelf. It simply didn't exist.

"Lin Chen, in position." Lin Chen's voice came through the earpiece.

Bingchuan Cheng took a deep breath and gripped the rifle in his hand tightly.

"Received. I will launch the attack in three seconds."

"three."

"two."

"one."

Bingchuan Cheng suddenly burst out of the shadows, raised his rifle, and fired a series of shots at the Serpent Master's back.

Just as the bullet was about to hit it.

A pale blue halo appeared above the Serpent Lord's head.

All the bullets stopped in mid-air and then shattered silently like powder.

The Serpent Lord did not move.

It was as if the bullets that were fired at it were just a passing breeze.

Bingchuan Cheng's pupils contracted sharply. He gritted his teeth and continued firing as he charged toward the Serpent Venerable.

Just as Bingchuan Cheng was ten meters away from the Serpent Venerable, it suddenly moved.

His figure vanished from the spot and then reappeared in front of Hikawa Makoto.

The blue afterimage remained in place.

Hikawa Makoto didn't even see how it moved.

The Serpent Venerable slowly raised his hand.

A blue halo reappeared above its head, and a golden trident appeared out of thin air in its hand.

The rod of judgment.

It waved gently.

"Clang!"

A piercing sound of metal snapping.

The GM-01 reinforced rifle in Hikawa Makoto's hand was neatly cut in two. The broken barrel spun out and crashed heavily against the wall.

The tip of the cane grazed Hikawa Makoto's shoulder, and a strong numbing sensation instantly spread throughout his body. His fingers went numb, and half of the rifle fell to the ground.

The Serpent Lord slowly lowered the Staff of Judgment.

In its view, the annoying dust had been removed. Now, it just needed to wait.

It turned around and faced the shop's door again.

Hikawa Makoto stood rooted to the spot, his body stiff as a stone. He could feel the numbness spreading through his veins, making even lifting a finger incredibly difficult. But he remained conscious.

He knew that if the tip of its staff had been a few centimeters off course just now, he would now be an immobile corpse.

But he had no way out.

He used the last of his strength to lunge at the Serpent Lord's back.

This time, the Serpent Lord finally let out a low hiss.

That wasn't anger, but a sound of being disturbed and extremely impatient.

The staff of judgment spun half a circle in its hand before striking precisely into Hikawa Makoto's chest armor.

"Bang!"

With a deafening roar, a large section of the G3 armor caved in instantly, a gruesome gash torn through the thick alloy, sparks crackling from the electrical circuitry. Hikawa Makoto slammed into the concrete wall behind him like a kite with a broken string, then slid to the ground.

The power system of the armor's left leg was completely locked, and the alarm blared wildly in the headset. Ozawa's anxious shout was almost a scream: "Hikari! Evacuate immediately! The armor's durability is only 17%!"

The Serpent Venerable didn't even glance at Bingchuan Cheng, who was lying on the ground.

It seemed like the time had come.

It raised its hand.

Blue light shone through the crack in the fitting room door.

Kana Matsumoto screamed in terror from inside the fitting room.

The attack was completed in an instant.

A voice rang out at the shop entrance.

"Your opponent is me."

The serpentine Unknown ignored him; for him, eliminating the target was the most important thing.

Lin Chen stood at the shop entrance, raised his hand and took out the black Orga phone from his waist, his fingertips quickly pressing the buttons.

【Standing By!】

The moment the cold, mechanical voice rang out, Lin Chen slammed his phone into the belt clip.

【Complete!】

Black photon blood instantly swept over his entire body, and the heavy Earth Emperor armor covered his body.

With a single step, it instantly appeared before the Serpent Lord, like an insurmountable wall, completely blocking its view.

Disturbed again, it hissed.

The figure vanished from its spot once more, then reappeared behind Lin Chen. The Staff of Judgment, accompanied by a whooshing sound, slammed down towards the back of Lin Chen's neck.

Lin Chen did not turn around.

He threw a backhand punch, striking the Serpent Lord precisely in the chest.

A dull thud rang out, and the serpentine Unknown was thrown backward as if hit by a speeding truck, crashing heavily into the wall.

It slid off the wall to the ground and slowly stood up.

For the first time, surprise was revealed in its vertical pupils.

It raised its hand again.

A massive blue dimensional rift slowly opened above Lin Chen's head. A powerful suction force emanated from the rift, pulling in the surrounding shelves and clothes racks, which instantly vanished into the sky.

Lin Chen raised his head and looked at the blue light gate above him.

He leaped upwards and punched the center of the dimensional rift.

"Snap!"

A sharp, shattering sound, like glass breaking.

The blue dimensional rift shattered like a mirror.

Seeing this, the serpentine Unknown raised its Staff of Judgment once more and charged towards Lin Chen. A series of short-range teleportations turned its figure into a blue afterimage, and the Staff of Judgment pierced towards Lin Chen from all directions.

Lin Chen stood still, unmoved as a mountain.

He accurately caught each attack, then rained blows upon the Serpent Lord.

Finally, Lin Chen grabbed the Judgment Staff that the Serpent Venerable had swung at him and snapped it off with force.

The sturdy golden staff was forcibly broken into two pieces.

Lin Chen clenched his right fist, and photon blood condensed on his fist into a black halo.

A punch imbued with terrifying power landed squarely on the Serpent Lord's head without any fancy moves.

A dull cracking sound rang out, and the Serpent Lord's body instantly froze, the coldness in its vertical pupils rapidly dissipating. A final pale blue halo appeared above its head, and then its entire body transformed into countless blue light particles, disappearing into the air.

Lin Chen deactivated his transformation, put away his belt, turned around and quickly walked to the door of the fitting room, then pulled the door open.

Matsumoto Kana, pale-faced, huddled in the corner of the fitting room. Upon seeing Lin Chen, her legs went weak and she nearly collapsed. Lin Chen reached out to steady her, then quickly turned and walked to Hikawa Makoto, who had fallen to the ground, and helped him up.

Hikawa Makoto struggled to remove his helmet, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his mouth bruised, and his breathing rapid. But the first thing he did was turn to look at Matsumoto Kana. Seeing that she was safe and sound, his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

He looked at Lin Chen, a hint of embarrassment and apology on his face, his voice trembling slightly, and said earnestly, "Mr. Lin Chen, thank you. This time, we owe you a great deal."

At that moment, Toru Hojo rushed up with the First Investigation Division. He glanced at the scene—the traces of blue light particles remaining on the ground, the broken fragments of the Staff of Judgment, the wrecked G3 armor, and Lin Chen supporting Makoto Hikawa.

His gaze swept quickly across the Orga belt before settling on Hikawa Makoto. His expression darkened, and he waved to the people behind him: "Seal off the scene, collect all evidence, and have the First Investigation Division take over all eyewitness testimonies. Send the unconscious security guard to the hospital for a statement."

After the team members dispersed, he walked up to Hikawa Makoto, lowered his voice, and sneered, "In the end, a newbie has to clean up the mess. It's time for you to give up your position as G3's uniform officer."

Bingchuan Cheng pursed his lips, offering no rebuttal, but instead leaned against the wall and slowly straightened up.

Not long after, Matsumoto Kana's family arrived after being notified. Her husband, holding a five or six-year-old boy, was overjoyed to see his wife safe and sound, tears welling in his eyes as he hugged her tightly. The little boy broke free from his father's grasp, clutching a brand-new Ultraman toy, and toddled over to Lin Chen.

He tilted his little face up, his eyes sparkling like they held stars, and forcefully shoved the Ultraman toy in his hand into Lin Chen's. His childish voice was full of admiration: "Brother, you're so amazing! The policeman said you saved my mom! This is my favorite Ultraman, I'm giving it to you! You're as amazing as Ultraman!"

Lin Chen was stunned.

He looked down at the Ultraman toy in his hand, then at the little boy's adoring face, and his heart felt like it had been struck hard. Before, he fought to survive, to avoid being killed, to earn a place in a dog-eat-dog world. But this time, he fought to protect these strangers, to safeguard these ordinary, vibrant lives.

He crouched down to the little boy's eye level, gently placed the toy back in the boy's hands, ruffled his soft hair, and said softly, "Thank you, little one. But this is your favorite thing, so keep it safe."

The little boy nodded vigorously, hugged the toy to his chest, and gave Lin Chen a big smile.

It was past 1 a.m. when I got back to the Metropolitan Police Department's underground base.

Sumiko Ozawa had already led the repair team to send the G3 armor into the hangar. Seeing the two of them enter, she, with a lollipop in her mouth, gestured with her chin towards Makoto Hikawa: "Hikari, although half of the armor was destroyed this time, we managed to save the person, so it's not shameful. If you dare to use your body to pounce on Unknown again, I'll lock your armor access, and you'll only be able to clean guns at the base."

His words carried a reprimand, but there was not a trace of blame in his eyes.

Lin Chen remained silent, his thoughts elsewhere. According to the Agito timeline, by this time, the protagonist should have already awakened the power of Agito, appeared countless times at the scene of attacks by unknown life forms, rescued the victims, and had numerous interactions with the G3 team.

It's been almost half a month since he transmigrated to this world. He asked the other members of the G3 team, and even subtly inquired about it with Sumiko Ozawa.

No.

Absolutely not.

There is no record of Agito.

In all the Unknown attacks, the knight who was supposed to appear never showed up.

Shoichi Tsugami, the protagonist of this world, seems to have vanished into thin air.