Chapter 438: Saint's Spine
[A scorching pain suddenly erupted in your right eye, and your vision turned crimson. From an outsider's view, your right eyeball looked as if it were burning with blazing flames. Meanwhile, the ghostly Stand behind you began to change—its once-skinny frame grew muscular, and tiny droplets of water hovered around its body, as though just fallen from the sky. You have obtained the item: Saint's Relic (Right Eye).]
[It can now absorb surrounding moisture and convert it into localized rainfall. It can also condense water vapor into water spheres capable of explosive release—similar to a "water drop detonation," but far more precise. These spheres can deal immense destructive power and instantly vaporize upon impact, producing a freezing effect.]
[Furthermore, its destructive force, range, and precision have all greatly increased. (Your special skill "Rainbow Catcher" has leveled up to Intermediate.)]
[In an instant, everyone raised their heads toward the sky—rain began to pour down!]
[The new Rainbow Catcher darted toward your enemies, vanishing without a trace! With just a single exchange, water droplets exploded across Slade's body, and then Rainbow Catcher stepped upon the rain itself, unleashing a rapid flurry of du-la du-la du-la punches.]
[You simply stood upon the raindrops, silently watching the scene unfold.]
[Elsewhere, the multicolored-suited Batmen surrounded the Joker, engaging him in fierce combat. But to your surprise, Joker too awakened a Stand—behind him appeared a deep-blue figure wielding a magic gun and a folding chair. Just when you thought he would fight to the bitter end, his Stand suddenly grabbed him and bolted away! As he ran, he even had the gall to snatch up his fallen bicycle, leaving everyone dumbfounded. It seemed his Stand's ability was connected to speed.]
[After the Joker fled, the others were no match for you. Once Roman Sionis and Slade each had several ribs broken, they decisively chose to lie down and surrender.]
[When the battle ended, Bruce Wayne apologized to you. He admitted he had concealed his identity when joining the race—it was actually at the invitation of Joker and Lex Luthor. He had planned to use this tournament to gather all the relics. Lex Luthor, in fact, had already successfully and lawfully been elected as the 41st President of the United States. Previously, Bruce had believed Luthor might be that "truly worthy man" Joker mentioned.]
[However, when he heard you say, "There can never be a true saint in this world. Every human being has desires. When power and authority rest in the hands of one person, the world only grows worse," he felt deeply moved and realized you were right.]
[Lex Luthor might not be evil, but he certainly wasn't good either—he was, at the very least, a man obsessed with power.]
[From then on, Bruce said he wouldn't stop you from obtaining the remaining relics, though he intended to keep the portion he believed belonged to him—and he would not hand over his left eye to you. This was his necessary 'contingency plan.']
[You hadn't expected your offhand words to "talk-no-jutsu" a potential enemy into an ally. Trusting him instinctively, you and Bruce made an agreement—to work together to complete the tournament, and to ensure neither of your relics would be stolen. Although the relics fascinated you, winning the championship mattered just as much. You wanted to leave behind your own story in this world.]
[Afterward, Bruce revealed his Stand's ability: he called it "Sin Made Easy." By clamping any object between two arbitrary items, he could send that object to any parallel world—essentially "allowing different worlds to coexist in the same space." This also enabled travel between parallel worlds for himself or others.]
[For example, those Batmen he summoned earlier—all of them were versions of himself from parallel worlds. He could summon them limitlessly to assist in battle.]
[However, if he used this power on others—say, summoning a version of you from a parallel world—once the two of you touched, you would attract each other and form a Möbius collapse, causing both to gradually disintegrate.]
[A version of you from a parallel world? You didn't know what that version was like, but since you were this strong, the other you surely wouldn't be weak either. As long as you avoided close contact, this might become your ultimate trump card.]
[After crossing the Rocky Mountains, less than ten kilometers remained to the third stage's finish line. As you expected, you reclaimed first place.]
[Three rounds down—you were still firmly in the lead. As long as nothing went wrong, victory was within reach.]
[January 27, 1973. With over a third of the race complete, fewer than 1,500 participants remained. The fourth stage would begin in Canon City, cross all of Colorado, and end in Kansas—spanning a total of 1,250 kilometers.]
[At this time, your right eye revealed the location of the next relic: the spine. On your right retina appeared the encrypted code "T.U.R.B.O." In English, "turbo" means hurricane or whirlwind. Being something of an old-fashioned man, you were completely illiterate in Latin, but Bruce quickly deciphered the riddle. Owing to Colorado's high elevation and volatile weather, it frequently experienced intense hurricane activity.]
[Moreover, the Latin "Turbo" could be interpreted numerically as coordinates: N 39°6′24″, W 94°40′6″—the likely location of the next relic. This saint's relic would appear precisely when a hurricane manifested!]
[If your guess was right, the relic would be the spine—the body's central and most vital part. If you could claim the spine first, the remaining parts would naturally fall into place.]
[Coincidentally, the coordinates N 39°6′24″, W 94°40′6″ were located within the stage's destination—Kansas City!]
[As in previous rounds, the first half of this stage passed uneventfully. After his last failure, the Joker made no further attempts to attack, seemingly giving up on taking your relics for the time being.]
[Yet to your confusion, even without Joker's interference, trouble still found you. Along the way, you survived no fewer than ten assassination attempts—including several by so-called superheroes Bruce recognized!]
[February 6, 1973. Eighteen days had passed in a blur. As Kansas City finally came into view, the winds rose—just as you had foreseen, a hurricane swept through the city, accompanied by torrential rain.]
[Because you had been delayed along the way, Jonathan Joestar and Diana had arrived an hour earlier, followed by Dio Brando. As you and your group entered the city, the saint's eye in your right socket began to gleam—you sensed the spine's presence. But by then, it had already been unearthed…and was moving in your direction.]
[Sure enough, within the raging storm ahead, you saw Diana, Lex Luthor, and the others clashing fiercely over the Saint's Spine!]
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