After Chen Ran left.
Shuhua also left one after another.
After they were gone, a van followed by several armored vehicles quickly arrived.
Two people got out of the van, which served as the central command post.
A man and a woman.
If Chen Ran were here, he would definitely recognize them.
Tadokoro Shuichi and Misaki Yuzuki.
The main "responsible persons" of a certain ZECT branch.
They appeared frequently in the plot development of Kabuto.
They were definitely model workers.
The remaining fully armed Ant Warrior soldiers in the armored vehicles also quickly formed ranks.
However...
This supposedly bustling commercial district was completely deserted.
There wasn't a soul in sight.
This was unreasonable and unscientific!
As soon as they detected the news of Worm appearances, they immediately mobilized from the base. Their experience in multiple battles with Worms allowed them to quickly reach the scene.
But now, judging from the traces at the scene and the strange liquid left on the ground from the Worm's explosion.
This place had seen combat.
"Is it Kabuto?"
While ordering the Ant Warriors to clean up the battlefield and collect the liquid left by the Worms, Misaki Yuzuki, dressed in a professional OL outfit, asked Captain Tadokoro Shuichi beside her.
ZECT headquarters had recently equipped their branch with belts and Kabuto Zecters.
They had also sent suitably adapted individuals.
Unfortunately.
The adapted individual died before achieving anything, assassinated by the Worms.
Subsequently, Kabuto chose another person as the adapted individual.
That person was not from their ZECT.
They were not aware of his actions.
Moreover, that man named Tendou Souji...
His actions were always unpredictable.
"Perhaps."
Tadokoro Shuichi said.
As he spoke, his face remained as emotionless as before.
There were originally many surveillance cameras around the mall.
But they "happened" to be broken!
What a coincidence.
Chen Ran hadn't done anything unnecessary.
Of course, Tadokoro Shuichi inwardly agreed with Misaki Yuzuki's statement.
After all, the only Rider armor distributed by headquarters at the moment was Kabuto.
He heard that TheBee was still in the final stages of testing, and it would take at least a few more days to be truly put into combat.
By all logic, besides Kabuto, there shouldn't be any other Kamen Rider, right?
"By the way, Misaki, check the surveillance footage from the nearby streets, focusing on people who have passed by in the last half hour."
He said, pressing his temple.
The frequent appearances of Worms lately were tiring.
The Worms were now dealt with.
It was one thing if they didn't see them, but now that they had.
It was very important to figure out who solved them!
Kabuto was one thing.
He wasn't a ZECT member, but they had at least interacted.
If it was someone they didn't know...
They would need to investigate thoroughly.
This world had been greatly harmed by the Worms.
Although he was a Worm himself, unlike Negishi, who harbored malicious intentions, he wholeheartedly loved this planet beneath his feet and wanted to integrate into it, to live on this world together, not to invade!
And the most terrifying thing in this world was the unknown!
It was reasonable to expend some effort to clarify unknown matters, right?
"Yes, Captain Tadokoro!"
Misaki Yuzuki immediately responded.
...
At this time, Chen Ran, carrying his schoolbag, arrived at the outskirts.
He sat on the sandy beach by the river.
A gentle breeze blew,
giving a comfortable feeling.
He had never deliberately hidden his identity as a Kamen Rider, not in his world, and certainly not after arriving in this "other world."
If his battles were noticed by ZECT.
That would be excellent.
He had ideas about how to make money.
Ordinary methods required time.
And what he lacked in the Kabuto world was precisely time.
This was his first time here, and he had no experience.
Many things required exploration.
Chen Ran didn't treat his "dimensional travel" ability as a real vacation.
Enjoying the journey was only a tiny fraction of his itinerary.
(￣︶￣)︿
Compared to this, he was more interested in exploring the mysteries of evolution.
That was his heart's desire.
To save time.
The method Chen Ran chose was ZECT. The cooperation between humans and Worms was a last resort, as his own technological tree was temporarily unscalable. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend. While the Worms would eventually become bosses in the late game, as long as the Worms existed, they had a common enemy.
The Worms rampaged through the cities, but they did not overthrow the entire social order of the human world. This was thanks to the continuous efforts of the warriors belonging to the ZECT organization.
As for how to make money, Chen Ran thought of the method used by the young master Kamishiro Tsurugi.
Bounty hunter!
There were quite a lot of Worms, and ZECT couldn't possibly cover everything. There would always be oversights and omissions. Seeking external help when manpower was insufficient was a good choice.
In fact, this method had been used by many people throughout history.
Yes, he planned to have a simple contact with ZECT.
If that didn't work, he would have to "rob the rich to help the poor"!
When it came to dealing with those who wore human identities but harbored demonic hearts and had committed countless heinous acts, Chen Ran felt no psychological burden.
Blowing in the gentle wind.
Chen Ran propped his chin with both hands, contemplating the feeling after the battle ended.
"Outside the mall just now, I defeated all the Worms, saving... well, I guess you could call it saving." Chen Ran muttered to himself, also analyzing. The system had only presented a status panel and the initial awakening mission; it hadn't made a sound since then. He had to analyze every step himself!
The Kamen Rider world would bring him evolution.
But how would he evolve?
This was a problem.
"At that moment, it felt like mysterious particles were integrating into my body."
Chen Ran clenched his fist.
This was the most direct feeling!
In a digitized game world, such things were usually called experience points. When the experience reached a certain constant level, one would level up.
For Chen Ran, it was rephrased.
The increase in level was converted into his own evolution.
It was easy to understand when converted this way, right?
However, he had watched Kamen Rider.
Chen Ran knew very well that in his original world, there was no such setting. The Riders grew stronger and more mature through countless battles, which was the normal growth path.
And Chen Ran also felt that those particles were somewhat familiar.
"It's more like... hope particles!"
Thinking of this.
Chen Ran's eyes widened.
What were hope particles?
They were the powerful aid that allowed humanity to survive in his world.
Without hope particles, there would be no Rider era for humanity!
And no power to fight against monsters.
In his world.
Affected by the leakage from space rifts, everyone had hope particles.
It was just a matter of quantity.
Mu Qingzhu had a lot, those who awakened mass-produced Riders like Leo Buckle had fewer, and those who hadn't awakened had even fewer.
Chen Ran's awakening was due to the system's awakening mission.
He himself didn't know the specific concentration.
But judging from his combat power, it was clearly a significant amount.
And "fighting monsters to level up" in the Rider world could continue to increase his hope particles?
One must know that after awakening, the hope particles within the body were constant!
Before, when he encountered the Bat Orphnoch and Moth Ghoul, he hadn't had this feeling.
But this time, it just happened.
"Perhaps, this is my path to evolution..."
Chen Ran murmured softly.
...