"You… what are you talking about? I don't understand."
From the three people in front of him, Ryosuke saw the same emotion in their eyes.
Yeah, anyone would be clueless if they saw a life-and-death comrade take a nap in the car, then wake up babbling strange intel nobody understood, with their whole demeanor completely transformed. They'd think he caught a chill, got possessed or something.
Thankfully, Anasui and Ermes didn't think that way.
One on the left and one on the right, they each quietly summoned their Stands and suddenly launched an attack toward Ryosuke,
"No matter who you are! Get out of Jolyne's body right now!" Anasui roared angrily.
They thought Jolyne had been attacked by an enemy Stand, which caused her to become like this.
With these two's straightforward brain circuits, they believed the enemy's flowery words and tricks were just traps to kill them in the end.
It was because they believed the priest disguised as Weather Report that F.F. died, and the Green Baby fell into the priest's hands.
One wrong step, and every step after goes wrong.
Ermes, who was just as hot-tempered, controlled KISS, clenched her fist, and charged forward.
"We're not making the same mistake twice!"
Seeing the two rush over, Ryosuke shook his head helplessly. He summoned Stone Free, planning to subdue them first, right then...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out.
Hearing the gunshots, Ermes and Anasui instinctively stopped and turned toward the source. The youngest in the team, Emporio, was holding a revolver, pointing it at the sky, thin smoke drifting from the barrel.
Seeing the two look over, Emporio hurriedly said, "Wait a second, you two! This sister Ryosuke..."
"It's brother," Ryosuke reminded.
"This brother Ryosuke can use Stone Free, which means his mind and body are Jolyne's, only his consciousness changed. Even if you subdue him, then what?"
This question stumped both Ermes and Anasui.
Their Stands didn't have the ability to rewrite consciousness. The only plan they had was to knock Jolyne out, thinking maybe she'd recover. But the aura "Jolyne" showed just now, even two against one…
They weren't confident.
Emporio then looked at Ryosuke and asked, "Are you planning to use Weather Report's Disc?"
Ryosuke nodded.
If he could use Weather Report's Stand, killing the priest would become much easier.
Emporio continued, "The stronger a Stand Disc is, the heavier the burden on the body and mind."
When Jolyne first obtained her father's Star Platinum Disc, she tried to use it and was blasted away. And after they obtained Weather Report's Disc, before they got in the car, they had all tried using it.
Maybe their mental strength wasn't enough, or they lacked the resolve in their hearts. Either way, none of them could use that Disc. They all knew just how heavy and overwhelming this powerful Disc was.
"If brother Ryosuke uses Weather Report's Disc, even if he can't use it, the mental shock will be extremely severe."
Emporio logically analyzed for everyone, "If he really is an enemy Stand attacking on the consciousness level, he'll most likely be heavily injured and forced out with this one blow."
"If he can withstand the Disc's shock, it means his spirit is unbelievably tough. I think even if you knock him out, Jolyne won't come back."
"Besides…"
Emporio pointed toward the Space Center.
"We don't have time to waste."
After listening to Emporio's analysis, the two impulsive teammates finally quieted down. Ryosuke smiled, this was the benefit of having a smart person on the team.
Under the three's gaze, Ryosuke picked up Weather Report's Disc, pressed it to his chest, and with a familiar click, the Disc slowly sank in.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew. A blue-white, cloud-shaped humanoid Stand appeared behind Ryosuke.
"Wea-Weather Report!"
Ermes was stunned.
Ryosuke carefully felt the power of Weather Report. With his mental strength, controlling a Disc was naturally no issue. But then, he frowned slightly.
There was a pop, and Weather Report's Disc almost escaped, ejecting itself from Ryosuke's chest.
Normally, it was the person who couldn't withstand the Disc who got blasted away. But here, the Disc couldn't withstand Ryosuke's mental strength and got launched in reverse instead.
A blue thread shot out, grabbing the Disc and pulling it back.
Ryosuke stared at the Disc in his hand, falling into thought, "This thing is rejecting my mind… is it because I'm not originally someone from this world?"
However, it wasn't that Ryosuke couldn't use Weather Report's power at all.
In the one or two seconds where the Disc fused, he could briefly use Weather Report's abilities, like a punch condensed with strong wind pressure, or a small patch of fog. After using it, the Disc would eject, and for a short time he couldn't use it again.
Even one permitted use was enough to expand Ryosuke's tactical options.
"Thinking about it, if I could use Weather Report freely, this trial mission wouldn't be considered difficult at all. It wouldn't even count as beginner level."
Ryosuke thought as he put the Disc away and looked at the three in front of him.
"Any other questions?"
Anasui and Ermes looked at each other, then could only shake their heads.
Ryosuke looked toward the nearby Space Center.
"Then let's go."
The group used the roadside guardrail like a ladder and climbed toward the Aerospace Center.
During the climb, after hesitating for a moment, Anasui still moved beside Ryosuke and whispered, "You said you… are a man?"
Ryosuke lightly tapped his forehead. "If you mean here, yes."
Anasui's expression turned serious, and he said very earnestly, "In that case, you are not allowed to touch Jolyne's body. Otherwise, no matter if you flee to the ends of the earth, I will never forgive you!"
Ryosuke was speechless.
With the enemy right ahead, he didn't expect this to be what Anasui cared about. As expected of JOJO's number-one romance brain.
"I promise you."
Ryosuke said, "However, you'll have to help me with something too."
———
[36 Hours and 49 Minutes Until the New Moon]
[Space Center: Visitor Reception Hall.]
Father Pucci was kneeling on one knee on a huge cosmic poster, gasping heavily, forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.
The battle with Weather Report had pushed him to his limit. If not for the favor of fate, the one who should have died was him. To survive, his body endured a burden far beyond human imagination.
But the real thing troubling Pucci wasn't his injuries.
"My body… is changing from the inside out."
A Stand is the manifestation of one's spirit and will. To reach heaven, he fused with the Green Baby and discarded Whitesnake, molding a new Stand. It was no different from smashing the framework of his own spiritual world and rebuilding it anew.
The pain of this process could not be described with words. Pucci could only tell himself, "This is a trial."
"My final trial before ascending to heaven."
No one knew how long it took, but a green Stand faintly surfaced behind Pucci.
A power that ignored personal will, filled with hope, awakened within him. This power was...
Gravity.
"The beginning of the world was with gravity, and it shall end with gravity."
At this moment, Pucci was the master of gravity.
He was the beginning, and the end.
As the vague and hazy Stand behind him slowly solidified, Pucci felt it, he was getting closer to the heaven he yearned for. It wouldn't be long now, however…
One final opportunity was missing.
Time, the new moon.
Location, 28°24' N, 80°36' W, this Space Center.
"Is the opportunity I seek just time and place?"
In front of Pucci's path, a final thin veil of fog remained.
He slightly tilted his head, as if listening to a divine revelation descending from God.
Just then, Pucci looked toward the outside of the Visitor Center and saw four figures appear in his view.
At that moment, he understood what the final opportunity was...
"The Joestar family's blood."
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