Infiltrating

"Do arrows even have differences?"

With that, he handed over a cup of hot tea.

Li Ming calmed his mind slightly, took the hot tea, and communicated with Diavolo in his heart, activating Crimson King.

During the process of time erasure, Crimson King busied himself as he approached the two.

First, he poured out some of Li Ming's tea, then carefully swapped the teas of the two, even adding a simple disguise out of thoughtfulness.

Diavolo couldn't afford to be careless; if Li Ming died, he wouldn't survive either.

After finishing everything, Diavolo silently chanted in his heart.

"Time, resume."

Once everything returned to normal, Li Ming remembered Kishibe Rohan's words and couldn't help but ask, "You just said that Stand users' physical bodies are frail. As far as I know, after a Stand awakens, their strength and speed generally far exceed that of ordinary people."

Kishibe Rohan calmly put down his teacup.

"Let me give you an example, DIO. His Stand, The World, is just a time-stopping tool in his hands. The fighting is basically handled by the user himself. His Ripple mastery is extremely high. As far as I know..."

"No Stand user has ever survived him."

Li Ming took a tactical sip of tea. This DIO was a bit too powerful.

Unprecedented, unrepeatable?

As far as he knew, the highest manifestation of Ripple in the original work was Ultimate Life Form Kars—possessing a temperature close to the sun.

If DIO could reach that level and still couldn't defeat Kars, just how terrifying was Kars?

However, it was normal not to be able to defeat him. As an Ultimate Life Form, Kars's Ripple mastery would only be above DIO's, not to mention his immortality and agelessness; the longer he lived, the stronger he became.

"I once thought about using a Stand arrow on Kars to make him awaken a Stand, and then focus fire on the Stand, perhaps we could defeat Kars."

Kishibe Rohan said, "But I gave up later. Not to mention the arrow is already damaged, what if he awakens a Stand beyond comprehension? Humanity would truly be doomed."

Li Ming nodded. That method was too risky.

"What's the plan next? Perhaps I can help."

Kishibe Rohan smiled slightly. He had been waiting for this.

"In the next few days, the 'Sunlight Yellow Overdrive' targeting Joseph Joestar is about to begin. We need to infiltrate it and rescue him. At the very least, we need to get information about the fragments."

"For this operation, DIO and Darby will accompany you. Please forgive my rudeness, but we truly have no one else to send."

"In exchange, we will do everything in our power to help you with your request."

Li Ming straightened his body slightly and said seriously, "If the plan is successful, I hope to be able to use the arrow fragments. Other than that, I have no other thoughts for now."

Kishibe Rohan extended a hand and smiled, "Deal. I'll notify you of the specific time later. I'll arrange a room for you to rest first."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Li Ming shook Kishibe Rohan's hand. The two hit it off and went about their business.

At noon, Darby knocked on the door, bringing food—a hind leg of some beast, cooked very tender.

After a brief exchange, Darby immediately informed Li Ming of the specific time of the operation.

"Li Ming, the situation has changed. We're heading to the sewers of Night City tonight via the Steel Ball Run. We'll disguise ourselves and look for an opportunity to rescue our companion."

After speaking, Darby rubbed his hands and looked at Li Ming with a smile.

Li Ming understood and handed him a cigarette, striking up a conversation, "Darby, have you awakened your Stand yet?"

Darby was taken aback for a moment, then quickly nodded.

"I awakened my Stand many years ago. I can extract souls through games of chance, but I don't have much combat ability. On the battlefield, it's all about fists."

Li Ming's heart stirred. He suppressed Diavolo's soul in his mind, preventing him from hearing their subsequent conversation.

"After this is over, I need you to extract another soul from my body. I'll be counting on you then."

Darby, who was lighting the cigarette, stopped and hesitated for a moment before finally asking doubtfully, "I can do this now. Why wait until after the operation?"

Li Ming gave a mysterious smile.

"Fate favors the two-faced emperor."

After Darby left, Li Ming finished his breakfast in a flash and returned to his bed, sitting cross-legged without interacting with anyone.

"Hey, Li Ming, you suppressed me just now. What did you say?"

Li Ming didn't answer, merely closing his eyes to rest.

Diavolo felt inexplicably uneasy, but still said stubbornly, "Hmph, now that we are one soul in two bodies, sharing honor and disgrace, don't force me to take you down with me."

Li Ming curled his lips. He wanted to test a thought in his mind. With a thought, [Stand: Beyond Imagination · Wasted Time] activated.

The world before his eyes flickered for a moment. Li Ming deactivated Wasted Time's effect and found a robust figure standing before him.

Dio was practicing Hamon when he heard a strange noise. He opened his eyes and looked at Li Ming.

"Li Ming, you're in a very strange state. The leader is very worried and asked me to stay by your side."

Li Ming took a breath. It seemed that the "Wasting Time" ability consumed his vitality, or rather, his mental power.

The duration this time was about the same as the last, but he hadn't expected the actual time passed to be so different.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I was just experimenting with an ability I awakened."

Li Ming felt a slight hunger and thirst in his stomach. He got up, poured a glass of water, and drank it down in one go.

Under the "Wasting Time" state, Li Ming confirmed one thing: although he entered an invincible state, he would still get hungry and thirsty.

It seemed he would have to carefully control the duration when using this ability in the future.

"We're about to depart. For your safety, I'll give you this knife."

Dio handed over an ancient-looking demon blade. It looked like an ordinary sword in terms of material, but it exuded an astonishing charm.

"This is Anubis, a Stand that resides within the blade. It has already memorized my attack power and speed, and can cut down any ordinary enemy with a single strike."

Dio drew the demon blade, and a cold light flashed. The stone table was split in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Anubis was as docile as a kitten, easily controlled by Dio.

"Anubis can control the mind of the wielder. Don't draw it unless absolutely necessary."

Dio gave a thoughtful reminder and turned to leave the room.

Deep in the night, the three gathered.

After meticulous disguises, both Li Ming and Dio sported vampire fangs, and their skin was painted pale.

The three boarded the Steel Ball Run. The fat man began to command it to burrow, occasionally consulting a map to check their location and avoid getting lost.

After an unknown amount of time, the Steel Ball Run broke through a wall and entered a dimly lit underground drainage system filled with a foul stench.

"We've arrived. Thank you for your hard work, Weasel. Wait for us at the extraction point according to the original plan."

The Steel Ball Run turned and burrowed back into the wall, leaving two large holes as it departed.

Li Ming sniffed the air, detecting some unpleasant odors.

The smell of decaying corpses was everywhere, and even decaying body tissues could be vaguely seen in the sewage.

The three moved forward, searching for the location of the manhole cover.

Soon, Li Ming spotted a manhole cover in an alley and called out to Dio to open it.

Dio nodded, his monstrous muscles exerting force as he crushed the iron chain and pushed open the manhole cover above.

As the manhole cover was pushed aside, a vampire holding a blood bag looked down at Dio with astonishment.

"This place is full."

"The World!"

Time stopped. This was Dio's world.

Dio poked his head out, surveyed his surroundings, and then grabbed the vampire, pulling it into the sewer. With a sweep of Hamon, the vampire turned to dust and vanished.