Chapter 8: The Bootleg Rider

"Recently, those gangs have been much more restrained in their activities. Something big happened. Look at this."

Zhu Yuan pointed to an enlarged photo in the file. The photo was taken from a surveillance camera. It showed a strange person on a motorcycle. The reason he was called strange was because he was covered from head to toe in a leather suit, his head covered by a helmet made of some unknown material. His two eyes took up a large portion of his face, looking like an insect's eyes, and they were crimson, giving a sense of blood-stained beauty.

When Mo Xuan saw this photo, his expression was calm, but his heart was starting to ache. Because the person in the photo was him, just in his transformed state, riding a motorcycle. He was young and foolish back then, speeding through the streets on his motorcycle, and then the police tried to arrest him for speeding.

As a Kamen Rider, Mo Xuan of course wouldn't bother with those police officers. So he twisted the throttle and sped away at a crushing speed, leaving only this photo behind.

The belt he had randomly gotten that day happened to be Kamen Rider Kuuga's, and the transformation form he used was the crimson Mighty Form, so a crimson photo was left behind. This was the benefit of being a Kamen Rider; no one knew who he was, so he didn't have to worry about his identity being discovered no matter what he did.

"Haha, a die-hard fan of the Star-Emblem Knight."

Qingyi laughed when she saw the photo. Mo Xuan opened his mouth; he wanted to tell Qingyi that this wasn't a fan's act, but a genuine Kamen Rider, not a tokusatsu drama.

The reason Mo Xuan had this thought was because this near-future world also had people who filmed tokusatsu dramas. It seemed that as long as a world's technology reached a certain level, someone would film tokusatsu shows to make money. And the Star-Emblem Knight that Qingyi mentioned was this world's Kamen Rider. Its setting was almost identical to Kamen Rider's; the protagonist could use a prop to transform into the Star-Emblem Knight and fight against evil Ethereal monsters.

Mo Xuan felt a headache when he first learned about this. He had hoped to leave the legend of Kamen Rider in this world, but someone had beaten him to it. Now he couldn't help but suspect that he wasn't the only transmigrator. It was worth investigating whether the person who filmed this was a fellow traveler.

"No matter who he is, he's still a fugitive suspect. And he did something earth-shattering. Look at the next photo."

Zhu Yuan said with a serious expression, then pointed to the next photo. Qingyi and Mo Xuan looked at the photo together. This time it was still Kamen Rider Kuuga, but the background had changed to burning houses and streets, with people lying scattered on the ground. The photographer's hand was shaking when they took the picture, causing the focus to be off. They could only vaguely see that Kuuga's form had changed slightly.

"Just this? My grandma could take a clearer picture with a door lock."

Qingyi complained. Zhu Yuan looked at her helplessly. It was a serious matter, but with this senior's interruption, it wasn't so serious anymore. But there was nothing she could do, it was just her personality.

"This was taken by a gang member who was seriously injured. This person, let's just call him a knight for now, he destroyed the entire Giant-Tooth Gang by himself. That gang was one of the top forces in a certain district, and it was destroyed overnight. All the members were seriously injured, but no one died. It should be that this person showed mercy."

Zhu Yuan said seriously. Mo Xuan nodded slightly. Probably because this world had a tokusatsu show like the Star-Emblem Knight, he was officially recognized and given the status of a knight. It sounded better than some leather-suit weirdo.

"This gang deserved it. These bastards are a bunch of human traffickers, kidnapping people with high Ether adaptability all over the streets. These people either become gang thugs or are pushed into the Hollows to work as Hollow raiders, eventually turning into Ethereals. Which one of the people in this gang doesn't deserve to die ten thousand times?"

Qingyi said with a serious expression, her smile gone. Although she was usually cheerful, she would become serious when it came to serious matters. This was not something to joke about, and it was caused by the Public Security Bureau's inaction.

Mo Xuan also deeply understood that he had not come to a peaceful world, but one closer to a post-apocalyptic wasteland. If it weren't for the people of New Eridu developing the application of Ether, with so many large Hollows gathered together and expanding, wouldn't it be a scene of doomsday? In such a time, the lawless old city district was undoubtedly a breeding ground for crime and evil. What was even more frustrating was that the place could not be managed. The Public Security Bureau's power was not sufficient to this extent, which led to a vicious cycle.

Qingyi and Zhu Yuan both knew about the shady dealings of the Giant-Tooth Gang, but the police needed evidence to arrest people. Without evidence, they could only grit their teeth and endure. Mo Xuan was different. The only evidence he needed was what he saw with his own eyes. That was enough.

Coincidentally, it was the day Mo Xuan got Kuuga's belt that he saw the Giant-Tooth Gang kidnapping a person with high Ether adaptability on the street. He followed them to the Giant-Tooth Gang's base and listened to them describe their work from beginning to end, as well as the tragic situation of the victims. The string in Mo Xuan's heart almost snapped. Although he was just an ordinary law-abiding citizen, if he didn't intervene when he encountered such evil deeds, it would be the same as watching an innocent person die.

Under the power of Kamen Rider Kuuga, Mo Xuan destroyed the Giant-Tooth Gang by himself. From the leader to the small fry, no one was spared. He broke both their hands and feet. Even if they didn't die, they could only spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair. However, he didn't know that he had been photographed by a small fry with a mobile phone at that time. It didn't matter, anyway, no one knew it was him.

The gratitude and grateful gazes he received when he rescued the kidnapped victims from their cells that day were something he would never forget in his life. But he didn't decide to become a righteous knight who punishes evil because of this. This involved many problems.

First of all, Zhu Yuan's attitude had already made everything clear. The knight who did these things in the dark was not recognized by the officials. The people of the Public Security Bureau would only think that a dangerous existence had killed those weaker than him, which was a shady business that couldn't be brought to light. When they encountered a Kamen Rider, they would inevitably be in a hostile state. If Mo Xuan kept doing this kind of thing, he would sooner or later be targeted by both the black and white sides. A knight might be invincible, but Mo Xuan was not made of iron. He couldn't be on guard against people from both the black and white sides every day.

Another thing was that Mo Xuan didn't want to define evil with his own thinking and then punish those bad people with the power of a knight. Qingyi said that everyone in the Giant-Tooth Gang deserved to die, and Mo Xuan knew this too, but he still didn't kill them. Instead, he tried his best to hold back and leave them alive. As a tokusatsu fan, he knew that if he took a life, he couldn't go back.

Especially when he held absolute power, he couldn't take human life lightly. Mo Xuan couldn't guarantee that his judgment would never be wrong. Once he was wrong, the life he took could never be brought back. This would be a very dangerous thing, so he was very grateful to Shinji Kido for saying that sentence, which allowed him to maintain his original intention.

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