Suppressing the many turbulent thoughts in his mind, Jotaro Kujo focused on what mattered most right now—the proposal before him.
Should he trust the girl standing in front of him, and use her Stand ability to obtain more concrete information?
Staring at Tokisaki Kurumi, Jotaro pondered for a long while before finally nodding.
If what she said was true, then in order to find his companion as quickly as possible, Jotaro was willing to give it a try.
Of course, this didn't mean that he let down his guard. With Star Platinum's speed and precision, even if a bullet were fired at him, he could intercept it the instant it touched his body should anything feel off.
In other words, even if Tokisaki Kurumi were deceiving him, at worst he would suffer only minor injuries. At this distance, Star Platinum could also launch an attack on her at any time.
With that level of confidence, Jotaro naturally didn't mind extending a bit of trust. Moreover, if her true goal really was to obtain that special Arrow from his companion, then deliberately providing him with information, luring him here, only to attack him would be utterly meaningless.
At the very least, Jotaro believed that for now, she genuinely intended to cooperate.
Bang!
Without any further words, the moment Jotaro nodded, Tokisaki Kurumi activated Zafkiel. A bullet instantly struck Jotaro's forehead.
In the next instant, unfamiliar fragments of memory flooded into Jotaro Kujo's mind.
These memories were none other than every scene involving Polnareff from Part 5 of the JoJo series—being mutilated by Diavolo at the seaside cliff, losing both arms and legs, followed by his later appearance in a wheelchair at the Roman Colosseum, where after a series of desperate maneuvers, he was driven into a corner by Diavolo and killed in a single decisive blow.
There were no memories beyond that.
The moment Polnareff died, the transferred memories ended abruptly, leaving Jotaro sitting silently in his seat, head lowered, his entire face buried in shadow.
"Diavolo…"
His fists clenched tightly.
Under Tokisaki Kurumi's gaze, Jotaro Kujo—who had just witnessed the death of his closest friend twice over, from a detached observer's perspective—was visibly seething with rage.
As his emotions surged violently, a faint golden aura, invisible to ordinary people, began to rise from his body.
"It seems Mr. Jotaro can hardly wait to go find his companion."
Tokisaki Kurumi watched the scene with the same gentle smile as ever, as though she were not the one who had caused this outcome.
Fortunately, Jotaro Kujo was not the kind of man who lost his reason to anger.
Once the memory transmission ended, Jotaro stood up, opened the car door, and without even retrieving the luggage from the trunk, strode straight toward the end of the street.
He no longer dwelled on Tokisaki Kurumi's Stand ability, nor did he ask her about the Stand user who could stop time or about DIO's descendants.
Right now, he only wanted to find Polnareff as soon as possible.
Once he reunited with his companion, every scheme would naturally reveal itself.
Watching Jotaro's departing figure, Tokisaki Kurumi said nothing more.
All the preliminary steps had already been completed. Now, she only needed to wait for the net to close.
Before that, she could first deal with the remaining Stand users of Passione and Diavolo himself. As for the Stand Arrow, she would have a few clones keep watch over it and notify Izayoi Sakuya when the time came.
...
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
Italy's capital—Rome.
Tokisaki Kurumi arrived in the city with a rather subtle expression.
To be honest, even she hadn't expected things to line up so neatly. The final few Stand users of Passione—Diavolo's personal guard—had all chosen to gather in this very city.
That said, it was understandable.
Rome was Italy's capital, the most prosperous and eye-catching city in the entire country. While Passione's influence spanned all of Italy, this location naturally drew the most attention.
Clearly, this was blatant bait.
They had likely already prepared ambushes, waiting for Tokisaki Kurumi to take the hook.
But the question was—would she be afraid?
What a joke.
With full knowledge of all their Stand abilities in advance, such actions were nothing short of suicide in Tokisaki Kurumi's eyes.
Inside a Passione stronghold somewhere in Rome.
Having already obtained partial intelligence on the enemy's Stand ability, the personal guard—ordered by the BOSS to move from the shadows into the open—had not fully gathered together.
The five members were split into three groups, positioned respectively at the stronghold's upper level, its perimeter, and its central area. The straight-line distance between each group was several hundred meters.
This way, even if the hidden enemy possessed a large-scale Stand ability capable of instantly stripping people of their power, they wouldn't be able to defeat all three groups at once.
That said, every member of the personal guard understood perfectly well—
If they failed to detect the hidden enemy in advance, then this setup was little more than a gamble that the enemy wouldn't come for them first.
Once an attack began, whoever was targeted first would be doomed. According to the intelligence, that dark red domain—formed by a Stand ability with a diameter reaching several hundred meters—could instantly deprive everyone within it of the ability to resist. It was simply too lethal.
These days, staying inside the stronghold under the BOSS's orders had felt like torture for the personal guard. The constant sense that the enemy might strike at any moment was unbearable.
Fortunately, this agonizing wait was about to end.
Humm—
Accompanied by a low hum resembling the turning of gears, the dark red domain abruptly manifested within the stronghold, instantly engulfing everything within several hundred meters.
"This is bad—the target… is us…"
Cioccolata, who had been indulging in some personal hobbies inside a specialized room, froze in expression before his body went limp and collapsed to the ground.
In just an instant, he lost all ability to resist.
Nearby, Secco reacted more quickly. Just before his body fully weakened, he managed to summon his Stand, Oasis, and used its ability to liquefy contacted objects, instantly burrowing into the ground.
"Oh my, how unexpected. This is the first time someone has managed to retain some ability to resist even after entering my City of Devouring Time."
"Could it be because wearable-type Stands can augment their user's body, thereby increasing resistance to some extent?"
Tokisaki Kurumi stepped gracefully out from the shadows, her red-and-gold eyes fixed on the spot where Secco had disappeared, as she spoke calmly.
This situation genuinely surprised her.
It wasn't her first encounter with wearable-type Stands. Among the Assassination Squad members she had previously eliminated, Ghiaccio's Stand, White Album, had also been a wearable-type Stand. However, he hadn't reacted in time—he hadn't even managed to summon his Stand before dying under the City of Devouring Time.
Still, it didn't really matter.
Even wearable-type Stands couldn't fundamentally change the fragility of the Stand user's body. Inside the City of Devouring Time, this was nothing more than a slower death.
Not to mention that Secco had chosen to dive straight into the shadows.
…
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