Information Leak

In my hometown, there's a type of mold that attaches itself to insects. When the insect goes to a lower area, the mold begins to multiply and kill it.

We call the thing that grows from the bodies of these killed insects, Cordyceps.

Dawn explained, "The enemy's Stand attack should be something with a similar property. The dead bodies continue to spread the mold, which is why the entire town has died out. Now, we can only head to higher ground if we want any chance of dealing with the main body."

Giorno understood. Dawn's decision aligned perfectly with his own thoughts, and he immediately waved to signal the others in the secret room.

"Everyone, quickly move to an area lower than our current position. It can temporarily alleviate the mold's erosion."

Everyone complied. However, Narancia outside was already struggling to hold on. His ankles were completely covered by the mold, and they were on the verge of breaking.

"Narancia! Climb ashore quickly!" Mista shouted anxiously.

Narancia tried to obey, but his ankles, already unable to bear the weight, snapped with a "crack." The joints throughout his body began to corrode, making sounds like decaying gears.

"Narancia, throw the turtle ashore!" Bucciarati roared.

At this moment, tears welled up in Narancia's eyes. He felt like his mind was a mess, and his body, being corroded by the mold, couldn't make any movements.

"Damn it! Everyone's going to die!"

Abbacchio pressed himself against the corner of the secret room wall, supporting his body like a spider, his eyes filled with unwillingness.

"Mista, don't just stand there!"

At this critical juncture, Dawn pointed at the speedboat's fuel tank and shouted to Mista.

"Shoot it quickly! The explosion from the fuel tank might just blow Narancia and the turtle to shore."

Before Dawn could finish speaking, Mista had already pulled the trigger. He only needed to hear the words "fuel tank" to understand Dawn's intention.

Bang bang bang bang bang!!!

Five bullets shot out. The Sex Pistols, all hands on deck, kicked the bullets to change their trajectory, hitting the speedboat's fuel tank with precision.

Boom!!!

The violent explosion instantly tossed the dying Narancia aside, landing him and the turtle on the shore.

"We succeeded?!"

After the explosion subsided, Dawn immediately checked Narancia's injuries. Although he was in critical condition, no vital organs were damaged.

Giorno brought Narancia into the turtle's secret room. After some treatment, he stated that he could only temporarily stabilize his condition.

"A large amount of mold is still multiplying inside him. My Golden Experience can't completely cure it; I can only stop it from spreading for now."

Giorno laid Narancia down on the sofa and began bandaging him.

"Dawn, Mista, I'll come out and help you. The rest of you stay in the secret room; too many people will make us easy to expose."

Bucciarati emerged from the secret room, and the three of them began to advance upwards.

Meanwhile, inside the secret room, Trish appeared somewhat preoccupied.

"Is Bucciarati too cold-blooded? In that situation, the order he gave, making Narancia throw out the turtle first... I don't understand..."

Narancia, resting nearby, heard this and struggled to sit up, saying earnestly, "Trish, Bucciarati didn't do anything wrong. Fighting isn't child's play; there's no such thing as family or friendship.

If we fought based on emotions, we all would have died long ago and wouldn't have lasted this long."

Trish lowered her head. She had never had such resolve, nor had she ever been in a proper fight, so naturally, she couldn't understand Bucciarati's seemingly heartless order.

Outside, Rome.

The three of them, Dawn, Mista, and Bucciarati, climbed up the stone stairs step by step, carefully navigating around mold-covered corpses. These original inhabitants had long since been corroded beyond recognition by the mold.

Suddenly, a soda can dropped from a corpse's hand, but it bizarrely disappeared on the ground as if it had never existed.

Immediately, the entire stone staircase began to slowly sink, the ground swallowing everything around it like a quagmire.

"Another Stand attack! Quick! We need to get to higher ground immediately."

Just then, Secco, clad in a yellowish-brown tight-fitting suit, emerged from the ground. The ground rippled like water around him as he raised his camera and began filming.

Mista showed no mercy, raising his gun to shoot. Startled, Secco quickly burrowed back underground and disappeared.

The three successfully reached a platform. All they could see were corpses covered in mold. However, Dawn noticed vehicles moving on a mountain road in the distance, which meant the mold's range hadn't extended too far yet.

"We can steal a car and get away from this area. That way, the enemy won't be able to do anything to us."

Bucciarati made the decision, and the three immediately prepared to look for a vehicle.

Rumble~

The sound of spinning propellers grew louder. A black helicopter slowly rose in the distance, faintly visible in the night sky.

There seemed to be a figure on board watching the three of them.

"Who would still be alive at a time like this? The person on the helicopter is undoubtedly the main body," Mista muttered to himself, raising his gun to fire at the dark helicopter.

Bang bang bang bang bang!!!

The Sex Pistols sped up the bullets with their kicks, but the distance was too great to inflict any effective damage.

Bucciarati ran straight towards a car, shouting back, "Dawn, Mista, get in the car, it can still start."

Dawn didn't get in the car. He stared fixedly at the pitch-black helicopter in the sky. If it was left unchecked, the three million people of Rome could all fall.

Polnareff in the Colosseum couldn't be spared either.

"Cloud Dragon, shoot it down."

From within the high-altitude clouds, the Cloud Dragon, hundreds of meters long, let out a low growl. Its massive body, using the cover of night, swooped down.

Opening its mouth, a blast of cold wind, carrying Notorious Big, charged out with bared fangs and claws, fiercely colliding with the side of the helicopter, instantly erupting in a shower of metal fragments.

The plane's fuel ignited, spiraling wildly in mid-air before finally detonating into a brilliant fireball.

"You can hide all you want, but you're asking for death by flying in the sky."

Dawn calmly took out a cigarette and was about to light it when he suddenly froze.

Why hadn't the mold on his hand disappeared yet?

"No... something's wrong."

Dawn put away his cigarette and looked around. The mold was still there.

"This Cioccolata guy isn't dead. No one could survive a plane explosion, so there's only one possibility..."

"Cioccolata wasn't on the plane. They knew about Cloud Dragon, the plane... was just bait!"

Recalling Diavolo's absence in Sardinia and Risotto's sudden attack, Dawn had an answer in his heart.

"That Diavolo guy incited Risotto in Sardinia and witnessed Cloud Dragon, so Cioccolata knew my intel. Tsk~ This is a bit tricky."

The ground began to ripple again. Dawn looked down; this was the precursor to Secco preparing to attack.