With a powerful pull, Raven tore off the chains and the iron mask covering the Mimic Tendo's head.
The true face of the Mimic Tendo was revealed.
Kagami, Tendo, and Hiyori all widened their eyes simultaneously.
"That's impossible..."
Kagami's first reaction was to look at Tendo beside him. "Are you a twin?"
Tendo shook his head.
"Then he must be a Worm," Kagami surmised. "But why would a Worm that mimicked you be locked up in here?" He was utterly baffled.
"Hiyori... Hiyori!"
The Mimic Tendo's first coherent word was Hiyori's name. This was the only memory fragment he had retained after mimicking Tendo.
"You have my memory, but it doesn't seem like much." Tendo stepped forward to face the Mimic Tendo.
"You... are me..."
The Mimic Tendo still seemed confused, but quickly realized that between himself and Tendo, only one could truly exist. He immediately tried to launch an attack.
However, before the King could make a move, Raven casually held the Mimic Tendo in place with one hand, immobilizing him.
"Let me go!"
"Release me!" the Mimic Tendo yelled, furious and indignant. Even without the chains, he was completely unable to resist. This feeling was intensely frustrating!
"Your true enemies are the ones who conducted experiments on you," Raven stated calmly to the Mimic Tendo.
"The people who modified me..."
Hearing this, a scene seemed to flash through the Mimic Tendo's mind: lying vaguely in a laboratory, a group of people in white coats doing something to him.
"Ah... Ugh!"
Clutching his head, he collapsed to his knees, unable to bear the painful memory.
Just then, a massive contingent of ZECTroopers appeared outside and surrounded the area. Leading them was Kageyama, who had transformed into Kamen Rider TheBee.
"This is not a place for you to be," TheBee declared to the people inside.
"Who are they..." The Mimic Tendo looked up at Kageyama and his troops.
"They are your enemies," Raven said, standing by his side.
Raven's words seemed to possess a certain power, directly influencing the Mimic Tendo's undeveloped mind.
"Enemies."
The Mimic Tendo rose from the floor, his eyes turning sharp and cold.
The Mimic Tendo grabbed the Dark Kabuto Zecter floating above and attached it to the belt.
"Henshin!"
Instantly, the armor covered his body. He had transformed into Kamen Rider Dark Kabuto!
This sight immediately stunned Kageyama in the distance. "There are two Tendos?"
Seeing this, Kagami and Tendo also retreated to the side.
Dark Kabuto plunged into the ZECTrooper ranks, displaying terrifying power. His fighting skill was not inferior to Tendo's in the slightest. Facing the Mimic Tendo's full-power assault, TheBee naturally couldn't gain any advantage.
TheBee immediately entered his accelerated state.
Dark Kabuto refused to be outdone.
"Clock Up!"
"Clock Up!"
As they entered the accelerated field, time seemed to stand still for them. Raven was the only one in the vicinity who could still observe the entire battle.
Kageyama, facing Dark Kabuto's full-scale offensive, was completely overwhelmed. He was soon beaten, causing his transformation to be forcefully undone.
"How can he... be this strong?" Kageyama lay on the ground in disbelief.
He reached out, trying to pick up the fallen Rider Brace.
At that moment, a figure wearing leather shoes walked over and stopped in front of Kageyama, then picked up the Rider Brace.
"Mishima-san?" Kageyama looked up at the person.
"Worthless," Mishima said. He was becoming increasingly disappointed with Kageyama. In his view, subordinates who lost their value could be discarded at any time.
He kicked Kageyama aside.
Masato Mishima looked at Dark Kabuto before him and adjusted his glasses.
"Get back into your cage."
Saying this, he put on the Rider Brace, then summoned the TheBee Zecter.
"Henshin!"
As the Zecter was loaded onto the Brace, Masato Mishima's body was covered in armor. He had transformed into Kamen Rider TheBee!
"Kageyama, watch closely. This is what true battle is."
Masato Mishima slowly stepped forward and engaged Dark Kabuto in combat.
It could only be said that Mishima was worthy of being the future strongest Native Worm. Although he was currently still human and hadn't undergone the Worm's biological modifications, he still displayed astonishing power. At least in terms of combat strength, he completely overwhelmed Dark Kabuto.
"Mishima-san can also transform into TheBee?" Kagami exclaimed in shock from the distance.
"It seems ZECT is indeed hiding many things. Let's leave for now."
Tendo temporarily decided against a direct confrontation with ZECT here. He planned to take advantage of Mishima's fight with Dark Kabuto to slip away.
Raven also felt it was enough. Masato Mishima, the future strongest Native Worm, still had value. He needed time to grow before he could be devoured.
So, the group left the underground laboratory buried deep within the ruins. Dark Kabuto, meanwhile, remained behind, continuing his battle with Masato Mishima's TheBee.
…
At the café.
Tendou, Kagami, Hiyori, and Raven returned from the Shibuya ruins. They temporarily gathered here, intending to make sense of the events they had encountered that day.
"Raven-san, how much do you truly know about ZECT?" Kagami was the first to ask.
"If I told you everything, I fear you wouldn't be able to accept it," Raven said, looking at him calmly.
At this point, Kagami was still unaware that Hiyori was not human, and that ZECT was an organization established by the Native Worms to fight the other Worms. Knowing all of this would be a huge shock to Kagami.
"So, the answer is something you must find for yourself."
Raven decided to play the mysterious man for now. Given Kagami's personality, telling him everything now might cause unexpected trouble, making him difficult to control.
Tendo was different from Kagami. While also curious about how much Raven knew, he wasn't pressing for the reason. He already had a rough judgment in his heart. Furthermore, he was more convinced by a truth he discovered firsthand.
Therefore, in order to personally uncover ZECT's hidden secrets, Tendo decided to approach the problem from the inside. He would infiltrate the Metropolitan Police Department and start investigating ZECT's secrets from the source.