Joseph had no physical injuries.
It was just that after suffering a massive mental blow, his body was affected by his shattered spirit and became extremely weak.
The healing potion only made his complexion a little better. He began recounting what had happened to Ryosuke, "...After Jotaro killed Dio, he saved me. I thought that battle was already over. But on that very day, another Dio appeared at the hospital, right in front of us."
Kujo Jotaro was killed on the spot.
Polnareff dragged his wounded body forward to attack and was also killed.
"After killing them, Dio didn't kill me."
Joseph still remembered what Dio had said.
("Old man, your Stand is the most useless of all... and you yourself are even more useless.")
After Jotaro's death, Joseph contacted the Japanese residence through the SPW Foundation. His daughter, Holly, because another stronger, more terrifying Dio had appeared, also died during the process of awakening her Stand.
Overwhelmed with grief, Joseph suffered severe mental trauma. He couldn't even summon Hermit Purple anymore and lost twenty kilograms.
His wife, Suzi Q, urged Joseph several times to return to America, but...
"I want to wait a little longer."
A trace of his former sharpness gradually returned to Joseph's eyes as he looked at Ryosuke.
"I'm waiting for the hope of revenge."
After that, Ryosuke asked a few more details.
Ryosuke could confirm that this was exactly the world described in the original plot of JOJO Part 3, with not the slightest deviation. It wasn't some other parallel world.
"Perhaps this is why Dio chose this world to invade, and why the Saint's Corpse guided me here."
Steel Ball Run and JoJolion, the way to determine the baseline world is the "Saint's Corpse."
For Parts One through Six, the way to confirm the baseline world is the "original plot."
"In other words, the Dio of the baseline world really was killed. The Dio causing this current turmoil comes from another parallel world."
"The question is… how did this 'super evil villain Dio', let's call him 'Super Dio', travel across parallel worlds to get here?"
When it came to crossing parallel worlds, the first thing Ryosuke thought of was President Funny Valentine's D4C.
"But 'D4C, which has the ability to travel between parallel worlds,' should be unique. That's why only when the President dies does D4C go look for a new President."
"And Valentine's D4C has already been disked by me. There shouldn't be anyone who could pull Super Dio over."
Besides, Steel Ball Run and Stardust Crusaders don't really count as parallel worlds. Whether D4C could even cross between them is questionable.
"If it wasn't the big rabbit… could it be that Super Dio found a way over on his own?"
Ryosuke stored this piece of information deep in his mind.
"Ryosuke."
Joseph grabbed Ryosuke's hand tightly. His eyes were slightly red, his jaw clenched.
"In my current state, I probably won't be of any help. You must win. You absolutely must. Otherwise…"
"Many people will die. In the end, one or two people will be left, like me, guarding the graves of the dead with despair."
This was the outcome of failure.
Forever living under Dio's control, rising and falling with his ambitions, life, dignity, and the future would no longer belong to oneself.
After obtaining the third piece of the Saint's Corpse, Ryosuke's team capacity increased by one.
Unfortunately, with Jotaro dead and elderly Joseph in poor condition, he was completely unfit for battle. After some discussion, Avdol voluntarily decided to stay behind to take care of the second JoJo.
Another rift of light appeared.
Ryosuke and the other three bid farewell to Joseph and Avdol and set off once more.
———
Battle Tendency.
A world ravaged by the Pillar Men.
This time, the enemies were two Pillar Men, Esidisi and Wamuu, along with several thousand vampires.
They surrounded a small town and launched an attack on Ryosuke.
As for the overall battle process…
There was nothing worth praising.
There was really no need to go into detail.
Perhaps out of mockery, Dio still did not kill or control the younger version of the second JoJo. Instead, he let the two Pillar Men pursue him endlessly.
The second JoJo wasn't afraid either. After running for several months, he somehow avoided being found and held out until Ryosuke and the others arrived.
"Drink, tui!"
A string of spit flew out as the second JoJo spat a mouthful of old phlegm onto Esidisi's head.
"The final winner is me, da!"
Hot Pants and Josuke looked at each other, mouths half open. They really couldn't connect the guy in front of them, laughing so hard his tongue was hanging out, with the strong, sorrowful old man they had seen not long ago.
Ryosuke walked up to Wamuu.
"Where's Kars?"
"…"
Wamuu refused to answer.
Esidisi was the same.
They had been close friends with Kars for tens of thousands of years, warriors willing to stake their lives for battle.
Ryosuke defeated them in a fair and honorable warrior's duel. Wamuu accepted the loss wholeheartedly and was prepared to face death.
"Don't even think about making me betray my kin," Wamuu said calmly.
At that moment, even the black light coiling around his body could not conceal the brilliant radiance blooming in his eyes.
"I understand."
As Ryosuke spoke, he was about to give the two Pillar Men a swift end.
Suddenly, a voice came from nearby.
"You'd better not act rashly."
A long-haired man with fairly handsome features stepped out from around the corner, one hand on his hip.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Steely Dan. Just now, my Stand, 'Lovers,' has already invaded her…"
Dan pointed at Hot Pants.
"…body. As long as I get even slightly hurt, she'll feel several times that pain."
Dan lightly tapped his own arm with a finger. Hot Pants immediately clutched her arm and cried out in pain.
Ryosuke frowned slightly.
Seeing the change in Ryosuke's expression, Dan chuckled.
"Ryosuke, she's your woman, right?"
"How about this, you let Wamuu and Esidisi go, then come over and polish my shoes. Maybe I'll consider lifting my Stand."
After saying that, Dan showed a smug smile.
He was extremely good at "threatening" people. He was already thinking about what demands to make after Ryosuke, face darkened, finished polishing his shoes.
Lick his toes?
Rub his face on his butt?
Dan thought to himself.
Then, Dan saw Star Platinum standing behind Ryosuke.
His heart stopped.
"Star Platinum: The World!"
When time began to flow again, Ryosuke had already pulled "Lovers" out of Hot Pants' brain.
Star Platinum lifted Dan up with one hand like a chick, and casually punched him twice, shattering both of his legs.
Both legs, shoes and all, flew off.
He'd never have to worry about polishing shoes again in this lifetime.
Ryosuke walked up to him and said bluntly, without a single word of nonsense, "Tell me everything you know."
"I can't! If I talk, Dio will never let me off!"
Hearing that, Ryosuke was relieved.
It meant this guy knew at least something.
In the previous battles, Ringo, an iron-blooded tough guy.
Vanilla Ice, Dio's diehard loyalist.
Wonder of U, ran away.
Pet Shop, a bird.
Akira Otoishi, a pure-minded hothead, and not one of Dio's confidants, so there was nothing to get out of him.
Until now, Wamuu and Esidisi, warriors who had lived for tens of thousands of years.
Finally, there was someone worth talking to.
Seeing that Dan still wouldn't talk, Ryosuke didn't waste time. He gave Star Platinum a look.
Star Platinum grinned.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
"Ora ora ora ora!"
When Dan was on the verge of death, Ryosuke didn't hold back, one bottle of healing potion went down.
Then continued.
After force-feeding him five bottles of healing potion in a row, Dan finally couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Stop hitting me!"
Dan's information overlapped quite a bit with what Ryosuke already knew.
After removing the overlapping parts, there were two new gains in total.
First, why do enemies carrying the Saint's Corpse appear in different JOJO timelines?
Logically speaking, after Wonder of U escaped, he should have told Dio that he was defeated by the combo of the Saint's Corpse plus the Tear Blade.
So why didn't Dio take the Corpse back?
From Dan's mouth, Ryosuke got an answer, "W-we carry the Saint's Corpse to different worlds as a kind of 'booster.'"
Those were Dan's exact words.
What "booster" meant, Dan didn't know. He had just heard Dio mention it once and remembered it.
Dan didn't know, but Ryosuke and the others already had a guess.
"A spacetime slingshot."
"That's why the eight timelines became distant, and cause and effect no longer had continuity."
As for the deeper principles, how it was even possible, perhaps it could only be explained by the special nature of the black light controlled by Dio.
The second piece of information was even more unusual.
Dan continued, trembling, "Kars was originally in this world too. But not long ago, he received an order from Dio to go to a very distant place, to do something important."
"What thing?" Ryosuke asked.
Dan's eyes went blank.
"He said…"
"To plant trees."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/XenosX
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰