Ryosuke took quite a while before he finally connected the gentle woman in front of him with the Slug Sage.
Seeing how shocked Ryosuke looked, the Slug Sage covered her mouth and smiled lightly. Her curved eyes cast over a clear, curious look as she asked, "Ryosuke, do I look more like a human, or like a god?"
Ryosuke was stunned.
Was she here to ask him for a title?
"Don't misunderstand."
The Slug Sage explained, "When we enter the River of Time, we are in soul form."
"After the Past Projection is completed, we can communicate with fellow practitioners of the Path of the Past across the spatial rift."
"Ryosuke, your soul is very stable, so you appear in your original form."
"But I'm different."
"I have too many clones. My existence is non-fixed, so everyone who sees me sees a completely different appearance, usually whatever form makes the observer feel most relaxed."
Ryosuke suddenly understood.
No wonder the moment he saw her, he felt extremely comfortable.
Ryosuke walked to the edge of the spatial rift. Through a layer of invisible force, he looked at the Slug Sage's Past Projection.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Since we can communicate, during critical moments, like when one side runs out of energy, can we draw energy from our own Past Projection and transmit it through the rift to the other?"
This time it was the Slug Sage's turn to be stunned.
She had thought Ryosuke would ask about her form, or about how to construct a second Past Projection. She didn't expect such pure pragmatism.
"Not a bad idea. I don't mind lending you energy, but…"
The Slug Sage gently shook her head and said, "In this world, we are fellow travelers, observers of each other."
"Observers cannot step into each other's River of Time. It would trigger extremely severe rejection."
Ryosuke nodded.
If he could borrow the Slug Sage's power, that would naturally be great.
After all, she was a senior who had truly cultivated for a thousand years. The energy in her Past Projection must be immense.
But being unable to borrow it was also understandable.
Otherwise, there would be no need for cultivation, you could just ask the friendly Slug Sage to 'lend her account' every day.
The Slug Sage said, "Constructing the second Past Projection will multiply both difficulty and danger by dozens of times. I recommend you rest for a while."
This was exactly Ryosuke's plan.
Not because he feared difficulty or danger, but because he currently had no way to absorb energy on the level of the Dragon Vein.
It's not like he could just casually jump into some power plant.
Even if he completed the second Past Projection, he didn't have nearly as much free time as the Slug Sage to slowly polish and absorb energy.
So he might as well take it slow.
Ryosuke's next plan was to first deal with the Otsutsuki Toneri on the moon. After landing, he should receive one Ascended Star Core. After that, he would proceed to the Ripple Technique trial, to challenge Kars.
'With the power and Stand I currently have, defeating Kars isn't a big problem.'
'But based on past trial missions, I'll probably be unable to use my Stand, and can only use my real body… or even be unable to use my own power and have to possess a character within the story.'
There were plenty of Ripple users in Part 2 of JoJo, Battle Tendency, he just didn't know which one it would be.
'Hopefully it won't be the woman Lisa Lisa.'
'Gender doesn't matter, but the structural differences in a female body do cause slight differences when exerting force. Against someone like Kars, even tiny differences could mean failure…'
As he thought about it, Ryosuke became speechless.
He hadn't even completed the moon landing yet, nor seen the Ascended Star Core. Thinking about trial missions now was a bit premature.
"Sorry, I got distracted."
"It's alright. Once freed from the body's restraints, thoughts naturally scatter more than usual. Besides, I'm used to waiting."
The Slug Sage held the sides of her dress, performed a proper curtsey toward Ryosuke, and smiled, "In any case, I'm truly very happy. In this long, long life, I've finally gained a lovely neighbor like you."
"Please take care of me from now on."
"I'm honored as well."
Ryosuke said softly and slowly opened his eyes.
Having such a thousand-year senior as a neighbor meant that whenever he encountered something he didn't understand, he no longer needed to worry, he could just enter the Past Projection and ask.
'Thinking about it like this, that evil serpent organization backed by the White Snake Sage really did enjoy a huge information advantage.'
Sasuke stood beside him, holding his sword in both arms, quietly gazing out the window.
Ryosuke followed his gaze.
There, C-Moon was crouched beside the pond, staring blankly at the water, muttering something under his breath.
'When I enter the Past Projection, only an instant passes in the real world. Meaning, the very moment my consciousness left my body, C-Moon must have run outside.'
'This guy…'
Some of Ryosuke's Stands couldn't act on their own, like Hermit Purple. Some could act autonomously but behaved maturely, like Star Platinum, and wouldn't appear unless Ryosuke was in danger.
Only C-Moon, who was always dazed and silly, would pop out randomly when not in combat.
Ryosuke sighed lightly, walked out of the room, and patted C-Moon on the shoulder, "Now isn't playtime. I still have work. Wait until later..."
His words abruptly stopped.
On the bank, a small fish was flopping nonstop, clearly about to die.
Ryosuke frowned and scolded, "C-Moon, you can't bully small animals."
Children sometimes unconsciously pinch ants or kick small cats and dogs.
It's an unconscious behavior and unrelated to 'good' or 'evil.'
But as an adult, one must stop such actions immediately, or else it may easily nurture a child into someone who enjoys cruelty, an antisocial personality.
C-Moon opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but didn't know where to begin. He stammered, "It wasn't me… it was gravity…"
"Gravity is changing."
'Gravity?'
Ryosuke turned to look at the pond.
There was no wind today, and the water should have been calm. But the surface was continuously rising and falling in waves. In such a small pond, there actually appeared…
"Sea waves"?
C-Moon pointed a finger upward at the bright blue sky under the blazing sun.
"The moon… is getting closer."
Ryosuke snapped his head upward, looking into the sky. His sight seemed to pierce through the clouds, through 380,000 kilometers, and he saw... the moon, racing straight toward them.