Chapter 5

At this moment, the conference room fell into absolute silence.

The coffee cup fell to the ground, the shattering sound like a boulder dropping into a still lake.

Lu Qingzhou snapped back to awareness, his expression darkening slightly: "What exactly is going on?"

"Perfect timing, perfect terrain, perfect harmony—a man who can no longer transform, a waste!"

"Yan Qing failed even under these conditions?!"

Is he joking? The assistant's expression twisted: "At the end of the call, Yan Qing said—Su Jing transformed into a pink Kamen Rider!"

"A pink Kamen Rider? Impossible!"

The moment he heard this, Lu Qingzhou cut in firmly: "Forget his body is too damaged to transform!"

"Under current conditions, he has no Driver—we searched thoroughly back then, and the only Zero-One Driver was taken by us!"

"He shouldn't be able to transform into a Knight at all!"

"That director…" the assistant suddenly spoke up: "I didn't believe he could still transform, so before coming here, I confirmed the status of the Zero-One Driver."

"But the Zero-One Driver has vanished!"

Lu Qingzhou froze, his expression shifting in shock: "What?!"

"What's going on! Is there a traitor in the organization? Who?!"

"The surveillance systems were hacked immediately—the attacker is highly skilled; our technicians found zero traces," the assistant replied.

"Hmm? What other organization has this capability?" Lu Qingzhou paused—his Knight Association's AI was developed in partnership with Truth Technology.

To infiltrate their system and steal the Zero-One Driver—no external organization could possibly possess such technology and capability.

Then it must be internal?

Is there a traitor inside the organization?

No!

Better to say—there are supporters of Su Jing? That makes sense!

After all, given his former status as the strongest, with his record of suppressing countless Monsters and factions, having supporters is no surprise.

But… "Are you certain Yan Qing's final words were that Su Jing became a pink Knight?"

"The Zero-One isn't pink!"

The assistant was about to insist—certainly, definitively, without doubt—

When Yan Qingxue, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke: "Enough!"

"Hmph~"

A faint, unexpected, mocking smile touched her cold face: "A pink Knight… I didn't know he had such a taste."

"That's not the Zero-One. Though there is a pink form called Flying Falcon—I know for certain that Secret Key is not in Su Jing's possession."

"Then how is he still a Knight? Not only is the Driver's origin mysterious, but his body should be incapable of transformation!" Lu Qingzhou asked grimly.

"I don't know." From Yan Qingxue's end came the sound of cleaning up broken coffee cup shards.

"That's your Jianghuai Association's job. I only care about the outcome."

"Whether it's Su Jing—or the missing Zero-One Driver!!"

With that, she hung up the call.

"Chief, what do we do now?" the assistant whispered.

"What else can we do?! Deploy every Knight! Find Su Jing!!" Lu Qingzhou roared.

"Yes!"

In October, the nights in Jianghuai were already bitterly cold.

"To want me dead is a collective will—is it because of that incident?"

Su Jing returned from the hospital before his injuries had healed.

One major reason: he discovered that the Knight Association, originally formed to eliminate Monsters, had members secretly collaborating with them.

He told Yan Qingxue—but received no positive response.

From then on, he realized:

During his two years of recovery, everything had changed.

So he ignored his injuries—after all, they were beyond saving—and immediately returned to the Knight Association.

Yet he never expected to encounter Saint Blade's death—and be falsely accused and put on trial.

If Yan Qing's words were true—that the collective will wanted him dead—

Then the entire Knight Association… "Hmph~ How fickle fate is."

"But regardless, first I'll retrieve the Zero-One Driver."

He didn't want his old partner used by someone else someday.

Especially not by someone in the Knight Association—so he directly opened the Dimensional Wall.

The Dimensional Wall, also known as the Aurora Curtain.

It is the innate ability of Kamen Rider Decade—or rather, Wang Xiaoming.

It grants spatial traversal, an extremely useful spatial ability.

As the gray-white curtain passed over his body, Su Jing instantly appeared at the Jianghuai Knight Association.

He wasn't familiar with this place.

He'd only arrived two days ago, but he understood the general layout.

He was currently in the logistics warehouse, the floor littered with all manner of equipment and items, covering every aspect.

The Zero-One Driver should logically be here.

But Su Jing couldn't find it.

So he suddenly spoke out of nowhere: "Iris!"

The instant the sound fell! A projected light screen suddenly appeared before him.

Within it, a deep blue orb materialized, and a voice as mechanical and devoid of emotional fluctuation as a machine's came through.

"Greetings, Mr. Su Jing."

Iris.

An artificial intelligence assistant developed by Truth Technology and currently under the complete control of the Knight Association.

And Truth Technology is a super-giant in the field of artificial intelligence, the most vast power in the AI domain.

In fact, when the Knight Association was established, Truth Technology provided immense help.

In the initial stages of its founding, the Knight Association was penniless.

But Yan Qingxue secured investment and assistance from Truth Technology, becoming the Knight Association's financier.

Even Su Jing's Zero-One Driver at that time was manufactured by Truth Technology.

And besides that, the most important product the Knight Association purchased from Truth Technology was—Iris!

An artificial intelligence assistant!

She is involved in every aspect of the Knight Association.

From the investigation of Monster tracks and the deployment of battle plans to the issuance and notification of orders.

To the management and regulation of monitoring equipment, work assignments, and so on.

"You are indeed here."

"So where is my Zero-One Driver?" Su Jing spoke, asking calmly.

"Mr. Su Jing, your permissions have been revoked; you have no right to inquire."

"But given that you are currently only a suspect, Iris can only tell you that the Zero-One Driver is no longer at the Jianghuai Association."

"No longer there? Heh, Yan Qingxue really strikes fast~" Su Jing let out a cold sneer.

He knew that Yan Qingxue and the others were curious about the Zero-One Driver.

After all, it was the strongest symbol.

But he didn't expect it to be so fast.

However, at this moment.

"You misunderstood; the Zero-One Driver was stolen."

Su Jing: "??"

"Stolen? By whom?!"

"Mr. Su Jing, do you still have the mood to worry about these things now?"

Iris did not answer directly, but reminded him with that emotionless voice:

"The fact that you appeared here and exposed yourself before Iris has already been known by President Lu."

"They will be here soon."

"According to Miss Yan Qingxue's orders, the trial plan regarding you is scheduled to proceed as planned in ten days."

"Please surrender and accept the trial you deserve!"

The instant the sound fell! Beep beep beep!!

Inside the entire logistics warehouse, the alarm bells rang continuously.

The piercing sound accompanied by red alarm lights.

Signaling the arrival of the intruder!

(End of this chapter)