Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

At this moment, Gates spoke to Woz in a low, somber tone.

"I don't know what you're up to, but whether it's for that guy or something else, I don't want you to do anything reckless."

"Oh? The Gates who used to speak to me so forcefully is now using this pleading tone to discuss things with me?"

"you--!"

In that instant, Gates felt very annoyed by Wozniak, but he didn't know why.

He had intended to unleash his fury as usual, but he suppressed his dissatisfaction and left the apartment without saying a word.

Clang.

After the door was firmly closed, Wozniak stood alone in the living room.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Then, he opened the Omaguchi Descent Calendar KT in his hand and looked at the contents of the book. Everything that had just happened, as well as information about this world, was being slowly recorded in it.

"It's still slow, but at this rate, it should be finished sooner or later."

"His interest in Oma Zi-O, well... it's not bad, but not as intense as I thought. It was definitely not a coincidence at the beginning. If I'm not mistaken, the power of the Kamen Rider might not be the point at all. He could probably transform into that invincible form at any time according to his own will."

"And then there's Gates. He seems quite dissatisfied with my current situation, or perhaps he's sensed something's wrong with me. In any case, he's developed some friendship with my Demon King, and that miraculous power will soon emerge between the three of us."

"Once you reach that level, you'll be one step closer to becoming Grand Zi-O, then Oma Zi-O, and then..."

Bang—he slammed the book shut, and a kind of intelligence that no ordinary human could possibly possess appeared in Woz’s eyes.

"...Alright, it's about time to get back to normal Woz."

————————————————————

After listening to a lot of things from Woz, Yan Ming walked alone to the other side of the street.

Today is a day off, no classes. But then again, Yan Ming hasn't been to school for at least two days now.

He walked slowly, and then he heard footsteps behind him.

You can figure out who's behind you without even turning around.

What are you planning to do outside?

"Nothing, just looking around."

The person who followed was Gates, who was now handing Yan Ming a can of a drink he had bought from a vending machine.

"What's wrong? Did Woz's words disappoint you? How could someone like you feel disappointed?"

"No, I was just thinking about some things."

After hearing what Woz had to say, he began to think about it in light of the current situation.

As for the content of my thoughts…

"Gates, do you remember the power we three used at the end of the last world?"

When facing a demon named Valak, the powers of Yan Ming, Gates, and Woz seemed to combine and transform into a very magical state.

In that state, Yan Ming not only experienced the power of Gates and Woz, but also deeply understood what they were thinking.

"Uh... well, I think we don't need to discuss that..."

"After we used that power last time, the three of us haven't been able to use it again."

Yan Ming clearly saw that a connection seemed to have formed between the three of them, and a watch face appeared at the center of that connection.

Why did that power appear briefly and then disappear just as quickly? What conditions were met in that instant for us to conjure that power?

"Uh... I don't know either, anyway, that thing, I think..."

Just as Gates seemed to be trying his best to shirk something, Yan Ming noticed the situation not far away.

A large crowd had gathered there.

"What's wrong? Over there..."

Gates also noticed this, and the two walked towards the crowd, looking slightly confused, and noticed the person lying right in the middle.

His body was covered by a white cloth, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the body hidden under the white cloth had very unnatural and eerie protrusions.

The protrusions varied in size, while numerous police officers were evacuating the crowd and conversing in the center.

This is clearly a case of death, but…

"Hey... this doesn't look like a normal person who died, does it?"

Yan Ming glanced around the scene briefly, then grabbed Gates' hand and pulled him out of the crowd.

"Do you have a way to hear what the police are saying?"

"Huh? Those guys were surrounded inside, of course I couldn't hear what they were saying..."

"Alright then, I'll use my method to eavesdrop on them."

What? Just as Gates was looking on in surprise, Yan Ming had already taken out the Decade's driving watch.

He pressed the button, and a tiny aurora curtain, almost the size of an ear canal, appeared beside their ears.

And they heard it all.

"This body is really scary. It was discovered at eight o'clock in the morning. After investigation, it was confirmed to be the person who disappeared a day earlier."

"This should be the third case, right? Apparently, someone's saying it's just an urban legend online, what complete nonsense..."

"But speaking of which, this corpse is indeed in a very strange state. You all saw it just now, right? The face has been completely replaced with mechanical components, and the body is covered with uneven machine parts. How did they even manage to fit it in there?"

"Could it be that they encountered some kind of bio-engineered human? It seems that the victims in the two similar cases were in the same situation."

"The forensic autopsy indicates that this is a murder method that cannot be accomplished with current technology. What exactly happened...?"

Gates listened to the whole process with a shocked expression, while Yan Ming then removed all the aurora curtains.

"Did you hear that? At least we can confirm that this is not a simple case."

"How...how did you do that?"

Yan Ming waved the Decad driving dial in his hand, then put it away.

"Study and practice diligently. When you have free time, use the Knight Rider Watches you have on hand more often. Their power is much greater than you think."

"We can't rely solely on the power of the revived and Zi-O's second-generation watch. We can't forget about these smaller abilities just because we have a big one."

That's true, but it's still not enough to create an aurora curtain the size of an earlobe!

Gates never expected that Yan Ming would use this method to eavesdrop; it was beyond the realm of common sense.

"Huh...? Is that Yan Ming?"

Another familiar voice came from behind Yan Ming.

Gates and Yan Ming turned around together and saw a girl with blond hair standing behind them with two other girls.

Who is this?

"Excuse me, who are you...?"

"How did you end up here?"

Gates was just about to say hello when he found Yan Ming calmly walk up to him and start a conversation.

The other party was Suwa Aoi, one of the friends Yan Ming had met over the years of living here, and also considered his next-door neighbor.

"Huh? What's going on? So you two know each other!"

"Is this your friend? I don't recall you knowing this gentleman."

"I just met him recently, and I also met someone else. I'll introduce you to him when I have the chance."

These two seem to be old friends. Gates looked quite awkward at this point, not knowing what to say, so he simply cleared his throat and stood aside.

"Well, the weather today... um, it's pretty nice."

After glancing at the inexplicably appearing Gates behind him, Yan Ming continued to look at the two people beside Kui Yu.

"...These two are..."

"Um, hello..."

The pink-haired girl and the blue-haired girl both nodded respectfully to Yan Ming.

"Hello, Yan Ming-senpai. I'm... Kaname Madoka, a second-year junior high student at Mitakihara Academy. Nice to meet you..."

"I'm Sayaka Miki! I never expected that Aoi-senpai and Yan Ming-senpai would know each other. Well, I'm the same here. Nice to meet you!"

Looking at the two girls he had rescued just last night, Yan Ming greeted them first, and then looked directly at Kui Yu.

"Is this the junior you recently met?"

"Yes~ Actually, we met a while ago, but I just happened to run into you while shopping with them today~"

Aoi Yu smiled and pointed to the coffee shop next door.

"Why don't we go over there and chat? I'm also thinking of getting a snow topping!"

"...You want me to treat you again?"

"What's wrong with that? I'll treat you later anyway, so don't be shy, Madoka. Sayaka, pick whatever you want to drink!"

"Huh? Really? I remember this coffee shop was pretty expensive..."

"It's okay, this guy is very rich!"

After Suwa Aoi, Madoka, and Sayaka went into the coffee shop together, Gates went straight to Yan Ming's side.

"What's going on here?! I've never heard of you being so popular with women!"

"Relax. I've said before that this is the place where I was born and raised, so it's normal to have some friends here."

"That's true, but they're all just a bunch of young girls!"

After that, Yan Ming and Gates walked towards the coffee shop together, and then…

Unbeknownst to anyone, atop another tall building, a red figure slowly looked down at them.

The figure, twisted and chaotic like a machine, bore the inscription on its chest:

"Drive!"

Volume 6, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Chapter 238 The Driver Monster with Heavy Acceleration

And so, the group entered the coffee shop together.

Gates casually ordered a regular coffee, and Yan Ming did the same, but the girls ordered a much more elaborate selection.

"Hey~ Xiaoyuan, do you like strawberry flavor?"

"I heard that the strawberries served at this shop are fresh and sweet, unlike the cheap feel of other coffee shops!"

"But, but it's very expensive..."

"It's okay~ If you're going to eat, don't be so stingy... Sayaka, you like sea salt flavored drinks?"

"Haha, it's because I have a slight sweet tooth. Aoi-senpai is the same, isn't she? I remember you said last time that you seemed to like some kind of dessert—"

Seeing the girls chatting happily together, Gates and Yan Ming, who had only ordered two ordinary iced coffees, automatically kept a certain distance from them.

"...I suddenly feel that it's actually not a bad thing to be around and argue with that guy Woz."

You'll get used to it.

In fact, this kind of situation probably happened frequently when Kui Yu came to Yan Ming's house for meals in the past, and he had long been used to it.

"Um... who is that person next to Senior Yan Ming...?"

“Meikoin Gates, that’s my name.”

"Senior Mingguangyuan...is it alright to call you that?"

"Uh...that works too."

Although Gates really wanted to say that he didn't go to school in this world at all, considering that explaining would cause all sorts of trivial troubles, he decided to just let things take their course...

After a short period of exchange and communication, the group gained a basic understanding of each other's communication styles.

Madoka Kaname, also known as Madoka, is a shy and gentle girl.

Sayaka Miki is about the same age as Madoka. Although she was a little reserved when she spoke at first, she quickly became more outgoing and familiar with people.