Holy City Hospital announced to the public the discovery of a special illness that could not be detected by conventional medical equipment. The severity of the disease would change with the patient's psychological and mental state, and it required special means for treatment.
At the same time, the Stark Group announced its collaboration with Holy City Hospital to fully prevent and treat this special disease.
As soon as the news was announced, it immediately attracted attention from all sectors of society. For ordinary people, this was naturally a good thing.
If such a disease that could not be detected or treated by ordinary means truly existed, there was now a clear method for a cure.
The government, military, and various intelligence agencies immediately focused their attention on Holy City Hospital.
A large number of doctors and nurses suddenly applied for positions at at the Hospital. The health department even organized specialized personnel to conduct investigations and studies at the hospital.
Personnel from Genm Game Corporation, which was the hospital's main sponsor before the Stark Group's investment, also entered, hoping to find some anomaly. Of course, the Genm Group was only a secondary target.
However, although various departments sent people to gather intelligence, they were temporarily not planning to take any actual action.
After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. already possessed the so-called Bugster Virus-containing cartridges, and the hospital was backed by Tony Stark.
In the eyes of the controllers of these special departments, since someone could create a device to control this virus, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s researchers should eventually find a way.
Moreover, research on this virus seemed quite dangerous. The military's previous operation at a military base outside New York suffered heavy losses with no gains whatsoever.
This proved that the unknown, so-called virus was very difficult to control and possessed powerful, destructive force.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. researched something successfully, everyone would naturally be able to get a piece of the pie. Why take the risk of researching the unknown themselves?
Wasn't it better to reap the rewards without effort?
Furthermore, Tony Stark's goal in this action appeared to be to counter the Bugster Virus and treat patients, so there was no legitimate reason for forceful intervention.
Rash action might even affect public support.
After announcing the news of the Bugster Virus and the Game Disease, many people who felt they had similar symptoms came to Holy City Hospital for checks over the weekend.
Among these people, Li Hua and Elena indeed discovered several patients who were already infected with the virus.
They immediately activated the medical pod to separate the Bugster Virus and notified Gwen to come and help.
After separating the Bugster Virus, they used the teleportation circle to deploy the Game Area.
Because these patients had been infected for a short time and the degree of infection was mild, the resulting Bugster monsters were not very strong.
Although there were five or six of them, about twice their number.
However, they posed no threat to the three Kamen Riders who had obtained Level 3 Game Cartridges.
Whether it was Gwen, Li Hua, or Elena, they could easily fight two enemies each.
It didn't take much effort to clear out these Bugsters.
After defeating the Bugster monsters, Elena shook her wrist: "That's it? These Bugster monsters are too weak, aren't they?
With the Game Area deployed, there's no need to worry about the Bugsters escaping. I feel like I could handle all of them myself."
"Don't let your guard down," Li Hua warned, "These Bugster monsters weren't strong because the patients hadn't been infected for long.
And we obtained higher-level Game Cartridges, which significantly boosted our levels, allowing us to deal with them easily."
Elena pouted but had to admit Li Hua had a point. She could only say, "Alright, I'll admit you're right. Since the virus has been cleared, let's go back."
"What's wrong? The Game Area won't disengage!" Just as she was about to cancel the Game Area, she suddenly noticed an anomaly.
"Did the Game Area malfunction? Are we trapped in here?" Elena asked with a hint of panic.
"Quickly try to contact Dan and see if he has a solution."
"Perhaps there is still some uncleared Bugster Virus in the Game Area?" Li Hua guessed.
"The Game Area? That's a truly interesting design," a voice suddenly said.
Gwen, Li Hua, and Elena immediately looked in the direction of the voice in alarm.
"You are the Bugster born from Dan's body?" Elena asked, looking at Genm, who had appeared.
Genm raised his head slightly and said haughtily: "You should address me as Lord Genm. I will forgive your disrespect this time.
In return for you showing me such an interesting thing in your game!"
"Gamer Driver?!" Li Hua noticed the Driver on Genm's waist, his eyes narrowed, and he asked.
"How do you have a Gamer Driver?"
Genm pulled out the Shakariki Sports cartridge and inserted it into the Gamer Driver.
"Shakariki Sports."
"Of course, I made it myself, not just the Gamer Driver, but the Game Cartridge too," Genm said proudly.
"Did you inherit Dan's knowledge and abilities?" Elena guessed.
Genm removed the wheel armor from his shoulder and held it as a weapon.
"The knowledge to create the Gamer Driver and Game Cartridges indeed comes from Dan Kuroto.
However, I have been continuously evolving. It won't be long before I can create a more perfect game that completely surpasses Dan Kuroto."
"Your level is 3, but the three of us are all Level 3," Elena said, holding up her Gatling gun, seeing Genm's fighting stance.
"Do you think you can take on three of us?"
Genm nodded upon hearing this: "One versus three is indeed unfair. Two versus three is much better."
Li Hua's heart immediately sank, a bad feeling rising: "Could it be..."
"Leave the three of them to me," Parado appeared, his tone sounding quite interested.
"I wanted to see how strong they are after leveling up."
"Alright then, if you want to play alone, I can also take this chance to study this Game Area," Genm nodded, indicating he had no objection.
"Parad is Level 50, and we are only Level 3."
Li Hua said seriously: "In terms of strength and speed, we are at an absolute disadvantage, so we can't confront him head-on. We need to use tactics flexibly and utilize the power-up items in the Game Area."
Elena and Gwen nodded.
The three decided on their tactics: the Shooter would use powerful firepower for long-range harassment and suppression.
Brave and Lazer would cooperate to entangle and hold back Parad.
"Nice, very synchronized cooperation, much better than last time."
Parado punched away Brave's sword slash. When he tried to retaliate, he was blocked by the Snipe's long-range artillery.
When he tried to avoid the firepower, Lazer's light arrows shot from the bow-sword tripped his steps.
He seemed a bit overwhelmed.
However, Parado wasn't annoyed at all, instead, he praised the Kamen Riders' coordination with a smiling tone.
"Damn it, even though we can hold back Parado, our attacks don't seem to have much effect," Li Hua said, feeling a little frustrated.
"Our consumption is huge. In this high-intensity battle, the Rider Gauge is rapidly decreasing," Gwen said.
"Curse it, Level 50's defense is too high," Elena cursed under her breath.
"It looks like only by using the power-up items in the Game Area to increase our output do we have a chance of winning."
So Elena started searching for power-up items in the Game Area.
"Is this Defense Up?!" Elena looked at the coin in her hand and immediately tossed it to Li Hua. Although it wasn't the item she wanted, it was still an enhancement, which was better than nothing.
Parado saw the clear enhancement Brave gained after absorbing the item coin.
"I see. No wonder I felt several special convergences of the Bugster Virus in the Game Area.
It's these game power-up items."
Parad's tone seemed slightly excited: "This game is getting more and more interesting."
He switched forms to Perfect Puzzle.
"Let me try."
Then, all the item coins in the Game Area converged and lined up in front of Parad, seemingly available for him to choose.
"What's going on?! He can directly control the items in the Game Area?!" Elena was astonished.
"Super Speed."
"Muscle Up."
Parad selected and combined two power-up items. Li Hua, Gwen, and Elena then saw Parad vanish before their eyes and were struck by ultra-high-speed attacks that could not be tracked by sight.
They all fell to the ground, their Rider Gauges bottomed out, with no strength left to fight.
"We're done for. The Game Area won't disengage, and there's nowhere to run," Elena looked somewhat pessimistic.
"Your Rider Gauges have bottomed out, so just lie there quietly," Genm stepped forward and said meaningfully.
"You are actually on the verge of death right now. If you force yourselves to fight any further, you will immediately be swallowed by the Bugster Virus bursting forth from the Game Cartridges."
"Don't worry, we won't be completing the game with you guys just yet," Parad ointerjected.
"After all, without you, Kamen Riders, the future games would be very boring."
"What exactly is your goal?" Li Hua asked, propping himself up with his Holy Blade.
"Of course, it's to create the most interesting, terrifying, and ultimate game!" Genm laughed with a hint of fanaticism.
"However, the reason we came for you this time is to collect data—death data."
"Death data?" Gwen asked, confused.
"That's right. I've already collected a significant amount of data from when the Bugsters disappear.
Adding the data of your Riders on the verge of death when your Rider Gauges bottom out, I can complete my special Game Cartridge."
As he spoke, he pulled out the Gashat Gear Dual, which sprayed light particles resembling gauze, enveloping the three Kamen Riders.
"It's finally complete, the Level X Game Cartridge."
Genm inserted a blank Game Cartridge into the Gashat Gear Dual. The blank cartridge affixed itself with a game icon amidst flashing black and white light.
"Dangerous Zombie."
"The Dangerous Zombie Cartridge is a special Level X, or unknown, Game Cartridge."
Genm inserted the newly acquired Game Cartridge into the Gamer Driver to transform.
"Buggle Up! Danger! Danger! (Genocide!) Death the crisis! Dangerous Zombie! (Zombie screech)"
He then explained, as if introducing his proud masterpiece: "Dangerous Zombie possesses the immortality of a zombie and has no HP bar.
Its level is X, which means it can continue increasing its level."
"What?!" Li Hua, Elena, and Gwen exclaimed in unison.
"This is all thanks to the data I collected from you," Genm laughed triumphantly, raising his hands in a strange posture, somewhat like a zombie in a game.
"Since I've helped you complete your Game Cartridge, let's go back.
It's your turn to help me start the ultimate game," Parado said to Genm.
"Of course, no problem," Genm agreed.
"Well then, see you in the next game." Parad waved at the three: "I hope you can bring me a more interesting gaming experience then."
After Genm and Parad left, the Game Area was finally able to disengage normally, but the expressions of the three Kamen Riders were not pleasant.