At the moment of death, Shinobu still didn't want to close her eyes.
Is it that every dying person has such thoughts, do they all have things in this world they still long for?
In the dark world, a beam of light suddenly appeared.
Her already stiff, cold, and numb body suddenly felt a trace of warmth.
'Final flare of vitality?'
She thought it was an illusion.
But that faint ray of light gradually became vast.
"ORA!"
BOOM!
With a loud bang, a bloody hole suddenly appeared in the monster's body, blood splattered everywhere, and a dark figure leapt out from it. His movements were as agile as an eagle.
His coat danced amidst the splashing blood. Jotaro held Shinobu and landed lightly on the ground like a swallow returning to its nest.
His movements were gentle and steady. Shinobu didn't feel the slightest bump, she didn't even realize she had already left the monster's body.
But how could the monster's body be so warm?
Her fading consciousness struggled to squint her eyes into a thin slit. The outside world was not blinding, there was no sun underground in District 14. What made her feel warm wasn't the sun, it was Jotaro's body heat.
Jotaro's body was soaked in blood, yet he did not appear disheveled.
His gaze remained as resolute as a blade, his figure still as lofty as a distant mountain.
He seemed like an ice block of a man, but his heart was hotter than the sun.
Shinobu's vision was hazy, only a dreamy shadow appeared before her, but it was enough. She didn't know where the strength came from, but her weak hand reached to her chest and took out the stack of documents.
Jotaro's pupils narrowed slightly. Without a word, he took them.
The paper, light as a feather, now felt heavier than a mountain.
Her skin, once delicate as snow and frost, had been corroded by the monster's strong acid and was ruined, yet the documents remained perfectly intact.
Were these documents more important than her life?
She had actually protected them with her own life.
"Jo…ta…ro-san… hand the documents… over to…"
Her gaze dimmed, her thin lips opened and closed with difficulty, as if speaking with all her remaining strength.
Jotaro directly interrupted her.
"Yare yare… this isn't the time for talking too much. I understand you…"
His words stopped abruptly. He saw Shinobu's cheeks turning rosy, and her gaze suddenly became clearer.
She finally saw Jotaro's face, colder than ice, yet warmer than the sun.
Jotaro was stunned at the smile spreading across her face.
At the moment her smile bloomed, golden radiant light detached from Shinobu's delicate body and drifted toward the sky.
Spirit… soul!
A golden soul!
This scene in his memory was always accompanied by pain.
Jotaro's arms holding Shinobu trembled slightly.
He was too late again.
Shinobu's life force was not as tenacious as her spirit, she had already reached her limit.
Perhaps inside the monster's body, she should have closed her eyes, yet she held on.
Because she knew, if she could protect the documents for just one more second, Jotaro would have one more second of hope to find them.
This disaster could be resolved one second earlier.
Jotaro could leave this world one second sooner.
Jotaro didn't like showing his emotions, often leading to misunderstandings from strangers, but once familiar, one would see he was a simple and pure person.
His emotions were almost written on his face.
Because of that, Shinobu could understand what troubled Jotaro.
Lifespan.
A human's brief lifespan simply couldn't support a long journey.
If he wanted to return to his own world quickly, he couldn't spend too much time in these other worlds.
To mortals, aging meant death was approaching, an unavoidable cycle of nature.
At some point, Jotaro's troubles had become her troubles. In the final moments of her life, she still thought about sharing his burden…
"Yare yare…"
The shadow of the hat brim covered Jotaro's face.
He wasn't a block of wood, he was a living, breathing person. Seemingly heartless, but actually full of emotion.
If his lifespan could be exchanged for the life of someone he cherished, he wouldn't hesitate to give it away.
Golden, dazzling light leapt in his hands.
Ripple?
No! This was purer energy than ripple, life energy!
When a human body loses life energy, it rots; when it gains life energy, it regains vitality.
Joseph Joestar, on the verge of death, revived after a blood transfusion.
It seemed like the transfusion saved him, but it was actually because his body regained life energy.
Even without blood, just pure life energy alone could revive him.
Life energy could trigger regeneration. Its essence was more complex than blood.
"Life", a simple word, yet truly understanding it was incredibly difficult.
Jotaro didn't fully understand it either, but he could control it better than anyone.
Ripple, Stands, and Haki, every power was closely related to life energy. Unknowingly, his mastery of it had reached a level beyond humans.
Jotaro furrowed his brows, his expression solemn. This was his first time using life energy to heal someone else.
Unlike Joseph's case, he revived because it was his own life energy.
But Shinobu had already exhausted hers.
Now, what was filling her hollow body, was Jotaro's life energy.
Life energy transferred from one container to another would lose some of it, he couldn't help but worry, could his life energy really save her?
But as long as there was a chance, he would do it, even if it meant wasting his own life energy.
Vast and immense life energy, under Jotaro's control, entered Shinobu's body with extreme gentleness.
Her eyebrows, fine like willow leaves, furrowed slightly. She let out a soft moan, and her still chest began to rise and fall.
Seeing this, Jotaro sped up the transfer of life energy. Sweat gradually formed on his forehead.
Though a bit exhausted, he could still bear it.
Shinobu didn't need much life energy to survive.
Perhaps the quality and quantity of his life energy differed significantly from hers.
Long eyelashes fluttered like raindrops hitting them, Shinobu struggled to open her eyes.
The surrounding environment was incredibly familiar, District 14.
How could it be raining in an underground city?
Jotaro supported himself with one hand, holding Shinobu in an awkward position.
Fatigue filled his expression, but the moment he saw her open her eyes, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Jo…taro-san?"
At that moment, she suddenly realized Jotaro had changed a little.
He was indeed the Jotaro from her memories, yet he gave off a calm and steady aura.
That face, once sharp like a blade, now seemed softened.
If Josuke and Koichi saw him now, they would surely find him more approachable.
Shinobu didn't know if this change came with age.
But she didn't care anymore, she buried herself in Jotaro's arms and hugged him tightly.
"You… in my journey… are essential."
Jotaro didn't push her away, just let her hug him.
He had no intention of telling her the details of how he saved her.
He knew she was a gentle woman, if she knew he traded his own life energy for hers, she would feel more pain living than dying.
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