In the world of Kamen Rider Kabuto.
Tendou Souji watched the Kabuto Zecter hovering and circling in the air beside him, clearly showing its affection toward him, and silently made a decision in his heart.
Although the chat group offered all kinds of cultivation methods, none of them were the most suitable for him.
What suited him best had been decided from the very beginning.
In the future, across the myriad worlds, he would walk the path as a Kamen Rider.
——–
Back in the real world, Haicheng.
This was a city in China situated close to the sea.
Before the reawakening of spiritual energy, the city had enjoyed tremendous benefits thanks to the ocean, and its people felt a deep closeness to the sea.
Every year, countless tourists would come here for vacations, to see the boundless ocean with their own eyes.
But now, in the age of spiritual energy resurgence, this city had become extremely dangerous.
As everyone knew, the ocean covers far more of the Earth’s surface than land, and the mutated sea creatures hidden within it were simply countless. If they ever set their sights on land, this would be where the war would break out first.
Interestingly enough, during the second wave of the spiritual energy tide, beast tides erupted all over China—yet Haicheng was an exception.
Though there were occasional mutated livestock incidents, the death toll here was far lower than in other cities.
But even so, because of Haicheng’s unique geographical position, some senior officials in the country still wanted to evacuate its residents to other cities.
However, evacuating an entire city’s population was not something that could be done overnight, nor was it a plan that would definitely be carried out just because one side proposed it.
Besides, in the current situation, was there really any city in China that was absolutely safe?
There wasn’t.
So in the end, no final decision was made.
Still, just in case, the higher-ups had built specialized fortifications here—tall walls separating the sea from Haicheng.
All to prevent an invasion by sea creatures.
Or rather, they hoped that such defenses would buy them enough time to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
The residents of Haicheng didn’t mind the walls, either. After all, their own lives were at stake. Except for a few of the older generation who held some kind of reverence for the sea, no one thought the ocean was more important than their own lives.
——–
That day, dusk had already fallen. The lingering glow of the setting sun carried a hint of tranquility and peace.
A light breeze brushed by, bringing with it a touch of coolness.
At the edge of Haicheng, atop the towering walls, soldiers stood with firm expressions and upright postures, vigilantly staring toward the sea, ready for any unusual movement.
When the time for the shift change came, they handed over their duties to their teammates and headed to the mess hall for dinner.
During the meal, they occasionally whispered a few words to one another.
“Sure, the spiritual energy tide is intense, but it’s not like it can make those sea creatures grow legs and live on land, right?”
“They’re not amphibians, after all.”
“Reality isn’t a novel. Even if they did evolve legs, it’d take who knows how many years.”
“Reality’s way more interesting than fiction. If something like spiritual energy reawakening can happen, then anything’s possible.”
“Who knows—maybe they’ll even turn into humans someday. You can never tell.”
“Let’s just focus on doing our jobs. If nothing happens, that’s all the better for us, isn’t it?”
“…”
——–
As time passed, night finally arrived. By now, Haicheng was ablaze with lights, like a lighthouse radiating a brilliant glow.
And right beneath that glow, countless densely packed crabs and lobsters emerged from the ocean, crawling onto the shore.
Perhaps the night was too dark, or perhaps their bodies—even after being bathed in spiritual energy—were still too small, so no one noticed this sight.
Just then, a massive, pitch-black, whip-like object lashed through the sea. Under the threat of this black tentacle, more and more crabs and lobsters were driven onto the shore.
Boom!
With a loud crashing sound, a crab over four meters long was hurled onto the beach. There was a deep, dented gash in its hard shell. But after getting back up, it shot a wary glance toward the sea, then turned its gaze toward the city.
There was curiosity in its eyes, as if it were looking at a world completely different from the ocean.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Several more thuds followed, as one giant crab and lobster after another descended from the sea onto land. They exchanged glances, then resolutely began moving toward Haicheng.
Out in the ocean, countless ripples spread across the surface, and several black tentacles coiled and writhed above the water.
A massive shadow swam beneath the waves, inching toward the shore, yet seeming to hesitate about something.
It merely drove more and more sea creatures toward the edge of the land, threatening them to go up.
Mutant crabs, mutant lobsters, mutant turtles, mutant sea snakes…
The threat of death forced them to abandon the ocean and march onto land.
This area had already been taken over by that terrifying being, and no creature could defy its commands.
Better to follow its orders and head toward the human city than to die so easily.
That way, at least there was a chance to survive.
One after another, crashing sounds rang out. With such an enormous number of mutated sea creatures, even hidden in the darkness of night, they were eventually spotted by the soldiers guarding the walls.
“Sea creature invasion!”
“Everyone, on alert! Sea creature invasion!”
Boom!
That shout instantly banished all drowsiness from the soldiers. Their faces tightened with tension as they watched the tide of beasts closing in from the edge.
The terrifying numbers made almost everyone’s pupils contract sharply.
This was a beast tide unlike anything they had ever seen—its scale far surpassed the outbreaks in other cities.
Even with all the rats, mutant birds, mantises, and zoo animals within a city, those outbreaks only numbered in the thousands, or at most tens of thousands. But what they were seeing before them now… was probably over a hundred thousand.
After all, this was the ocean!
At this moment, the mutated beast tide had already begun to devour its own. It seemed that after leaving the ocean, and no longer being threatened by that mutated sea monster, they felt relieved—and then turned greedy and hostile toward creatures outside their own kind.
In the ceaseless collisions, the beast tide eventually merged into one deep, dark mass.
Wherever it passed, scarcely a blade of grass remained.
Then it surged forward like a black wave, advancing toward the human city.
Woo—woo—woo—
Woo—woo—woo—
Woo—woo—woo—
The sirens of danger echoed throughout Haicheng. Countless residents were jolted awake from their sleep, fear painted across their faces.
They knew exactly what that siren meant.
But they never expected that day to come so soon.
“What’s happening? Why are the sirens going off?”
“Did those beasts come out of the ocean?”
“Dammit! We should’ve moved to another city back then.”
“In this day and age, nowhere is safe. Even if you ran to the capital, it wouldn’t help.”
“Trust the country. They’ll protect us.”
“…”
