Kars drifted through the Sea of Mist.
This was a journey filled with deja vu. In his overlapping, layered memories, countless versions of himself from parallel worlds had been thrown into space by that brat Joseph, drifting endlessly until... their thoughts stopped.
By contrast, Kars instead felt that his fierce battle with Ryosuke had been more than satisfying.
Although he still died in the end, that was simply because he was outmatched.
That was what "life" was all about.
The strong seize everything and carve a path forward.
The weak return to the soil and nourish the land.
A ring of black light enveloped Kars, providing him with the power to move forward.
He continued traveling through the mist. In this foggy ocean far removed from time and space, the concept of time itself lost all meaning, giving Kars plenty of time to think.
About evolution. About Dio. About Ryosuke.
And also about Wonder of U, which was attached to his body.
"We're almost there."
Wonder of U raised a finger.
"The spring of calamity… is just ahead."
Different worlds, Naruto, JOJO, reality…
Different timelines, Steel Ball Run, JoJolion, Stardust Crusaders…
And then different parallel timelines, the baseline world, other parallel worlds…
Behind all these "differences" lay happiness and misfortune.
Some worlds were simply happy. Others were far more unfortunate, and some parallel worlds, under the influence of many factors, would even head toward destruction.
This kind of fortune and misfortune was also a form of calamity.
It was just broader in scope and beyond what Wonder of U could directly control.
But it could sense it.
"Eight timelines, countless parallel worlds behind them, streams of world-level calamity…"
"They flow through the Sea of Mist like rivers, and this place..."
Wonder of U removed its hat and placed it against its chest in a gesture of respect, lightly tapping a patch of mist with its cane.
"...is where the largest of those 'rivers' converge."
Standing to the side, Kars looked left and right, but still couldn't see anything special.
He had always been a pragmatist.
If Wonder of U weren't truly an incredibly powerful Stand, even if Dio had demanded it, Kars wouldn't have accepted such an overly mystical Stand.
Kars set down the large crate he had been carrying on his shoulder the whole way.
"So basically, just plant the tree here, right?"
"Of course."
Wonder of U stepped back half a pace and made a courteous gesture.
Kars glanced at it.
He didn't know much about Stand users, but in his impression, other Stand users always stood with their hands on their hips, striking poses while issuing orders, while the Stand bent its head and worked hard.
Why did it seem reversed here?
Sensing Kars's gaze, Wonder of U coughed theatrically a couple of times, its back seeming to hunch slightly, like a frail old man.
Kars couldn't be bothered to argue with it and opened the large crate, which was as tall as a person.
Inside lay a sapling.
Its trunk and branches were extremely straight, almost without any bend at all. From its appearance, it was clearly a sapling cultivated from the New Locacaca branch taken from the JoJolion world.
But looking down along the trunk, Yasuho Hirose's body was fused together with the New Locacaca fruit tree. Flesh and wood were inseparably intertwined, and the fruit tree even pulsed faintly in rhythm with Yasuho's heartbeat.
Kars was naturally not surprised by this.
Because this was something he and Dio had done together.
Kars proposed the plan based on his understanding of different life forms, and Dio used the "black light" to bring that idea into reality.
Now, this tree and Yasuho had merged into one, possessing both the abilities of the New Locacaca and Paisley Park.
After going to all this trouble to fuse them, and then carrying this tree all the way here…
"This is the place?" Kars asked one last time.
Wonder of U nodded seriously.
Kars lifted the sapling, Yasuho included, and drove it into the formless convergence point of calamity.
Jet-black light erupted simultaneously from the sapling and from Wonder of U.
Under the dual influence of the New Locacaca sapling's equivalent-exchange rules and Dio's black light, Wonder of U briefly touched the world-level calamities gathered here.
"Heh..."
A smile appeared on Wonder of U's face.
In the next instant, countless calamities surged under its control, pouring endlessly into the sapling.
The person-tall sapling immediately began to grow and expand at a terrifying speed, turning into a towering tree hundreds of meters tall in the blink of an eye.
Countless branches stretched straight into the distance, crossing the Sea of Mist and reaching toward the eight brilliant stars that belonged to the JOJO worlds.
No one knew how long it waited…
The branches pierced into eight JOJO timelines.
"The first step is complete. Next comes the second step."
Wonder of U raised its cane and gently tapped the roots of the tree.
Paisley Park appeared.
It was an extremely powerful reconnaissance-type Stand. Its only weakness was that it could only be used in a modern environment, that is, where there was electricity. As long as that condition was met, Paisley Park was almost omniscient.
But...
Bioelectricity was also electricity.
This calamity god-tree, connecting eight timelines, had countless branches extending outward. They were like streams of current flowing through the Sea of Mist, and the eight distant timelines that had already been invaded were like individual chips.
The calamity god-tree, countless currents, eight world-chips, and Paisley Park controlling it all…
All of this, under Dio's black light and Wonder of U's control over calamity, turned from fantasy into true reality.
Yasuho was the same as before, half her body embedded in the tree, her eyes tightly closed.
Kars lightly touched Yasuho's face, then slid his hand down to her neck, and then to her chest. There was nothing particularly suggestive in the process; it was more like operating a computer touchpad.
It was just the body of a human woman. It wasn't Lisa Lisa's legs, how could Kars possibly be interested?
His eyes lost focus, as if looking toward an extremely distant place.
"It still needs a bit more time."
The positions of the eight timelines weren't quite right.
The calamity god-tree still needed to grow further.
Most importantly...
"Ryosuke isn't dead yet."
Using the branches and Paisley Park's abilities, Kars's gaze crossed time and space and landed on Ryosuke.
"Ryosuke, I really want to kill you with my own hands."
"It's just a shame… you're about to meet 'that one,' so I probably won't have another chance to fight you."
Wonder of U shook its head slightly.
"My view is the opposite. In my opinion, aside from Dio, no one can kill Ryosuke, including 'that one.'"
Kars chuckled softly, thinking that Wonder of U was just trying to reclaim a bit of its remaining dignity after its failure.
"Want to make a bet?"
Wonder of U said, "The winner becomes the main body, the loser becomes the Stand. How about it?"
After all, both Kars and Wonder of U could be seen by ordinary people, and the power they displayed was far greater than that of normal Stands, no matter which one it was.
Kars naturally didn't refuse.
The two clapped hands to seal the wager.
Kars once again placed his hand on Yasuho's lower abdomen. The angle didn't seem very good, so he moved it down a bit more, finally getting a clear view of where Ryosuke was.
Ryosuke, who was in the middle of exchanging information with the second JoJo, suddenly raised his head and looked toward the sky.
Meeting Kars's gaze.