When he arrived, Qin Mo saw five tall figures standing by the sea, seemingly discussing something.
"This scene..."
Qin Mo watched their body language, as well as the old man taking off his gloves.
Wasn't this the part where Polnareff joined the Stardust Crusaders?
In other words, if he had come earlier, he could have beaten Polnareff up?
What a loss—fifty crystals wasted. And this was Hong Kong; JOJO and the others were about to set off again, so it looked like there would be no time to look around.
Qin Mo led the two girls toward the five of them.
At that moment, Polnareff had just declared that he wanted to join JOJO and the others in searching for his enemy.
"Even if we refused, you'd follow us anyway, wouldn't you?"
Joseph Joestar said with a shrug.
"Then in that case, take the three of us with you too."
As Qin Mo's voice came from behind them, all five instantly turned to look at him warily.
"That won't do, Jotaro, Mr. Joseph. You can't let your guard down so much while on the way to defeat Dio."
Qin Mo shrugged.
"Dio! You just said Dio, didn't you?!"
"More assassins sent by Dio?!"
"There are three of them!"
The five of them immediately summoned their Stands and stared at Qin Mo in battle formation.
Qin Mo was not nervous, though. The two girls behind him could not see Stands and naturally had no idea what was happening. Qin Mo had already told them on the way over that he would handle the negotiations.
"Mr. Joseph, there's no need to bring out Hermit Purple. It isn't a combat-type Stand."
Qin Mo said jokingly, "There's no need to be so tense, everyone. I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend—one could even say an old friend. It's just that you don't know me yet."
"What do you mean?" Jotaro asked expressionlessly.
"Time travel. You understand that, right? I came from the future to change certain things in the past."
Qin Mo opened his mouth and began his journey of bluffing.
Joining the Team
"The future?"
Qin Mo nodded. "In the future, I met Jotaro and Mr. Joseph. But by then, Mr. Joseph had already developed dementia. I figured it was probably because his brain had been injured during this journey by the Stand of that woman who could manipulate lovers."
Several of them looked at Joseph, clearly unconvinced. "Do you have any proof?"
"Man, finding proof isn't easy. After all, most of the information comes from the future, and in that future world, only Mr. Joseph, Jotaro, and Polnareff were still alive."
"Polnareff? Are you talking about me?"
Polnareff pointed at himself, not expecting to be dragged into this.
"Oh, right. There's something that only Mr. Joseph knows."
"Something only I know?"
Joseph Joestar pointed at himself, then looked at the others staring at him. "Go on, then. I'll make the judgment."
"That is, you once had an affair with a woman named Holy Joestar, and she has now borne you a child named Josuke Higashikata. He lives in Du... mmph..."
Before Qin Mo could finish, Joseph covered his mouth with one hand. "All right, all right, I believe you. What this young man says should be true."
"Good grief, old man. I'll tell Grandma Suzi Q about this."
Jotaro tugged at his hat. It was obvious by now that Qin Mo had been telling the truth.
Avdol and Polnareff nudged Joseph. "Who would've thought? You've got quite the romantic history."
Joseph scratched his head. "I didn't know Holy had given birth to a child. If it's true, neither I nor the SPW Foundation knew about it. But if that child really grew up, it would eventually be discovered. I'll have the SPW Foundation investigate it later, and then we'll know whether it's true or not."
Qin Mo shrugged. "Of course it's true. I just didn't expect that Mr. Joseph had never cared about Josuke at all. Speaking of which, he's currently running a high fever because of his Stand. If Dio isn't dealt with, he'll probably die too."
"Really? How do you know that?"
Joseph was utterly shocked. He only had two children, and both were now on the verge of death because of Dio.
"Of course, he told me in the future. He said that when he was four, he came down with a high fever. His mother's car broke down because of heavy snow, and then he was rescued by a young man with a pompadour. That's why he kept the same hairstyle afterward. Oh, and he's thirteen years younger than Jotaro, but he's Jotaro's uncle."
"Good grief..."
Jotaro tugged at his hat again upon hearing that, while Kakyoin patted his shoulder in consolation.
However, after hearing Qin Mo's words, the group began to place some trust in him.
"Enough about me. Tell us why you're here and what you came to do."
Joseph did not want anyone learning more about his romantic history, so he hurriedly changed the subject.
Qin Mo did not dwell on it and continued, "In the future, Dio's close friend inherited Dio's will and restarted the world."
"The root of that world restart was that after defeating Dio, Jotaro read his notebook. That friend's Stand ability was to turn people's Stands and memories into DISC."
"In the end, Jotaro, his daughter, and her friends sacrificed themselves to stop that person. But he still accelerated it halfway, and the original world was still destroyed."
Qin Mo roughly explained the events of Stone Ocean. The notebook was also something that would happen in the future.
"Jotaro has a daughter?! What's her name?"
"Old man!"
Joseph's focus was clearly in the wrong place. After Jotaro shouted in irritation, he sighed. "So you came here to stop me from reading that notebook?"
Qin Mo nodded, then shook his head. "Not entirely. This journey is something you'll remember for the rest of your lives. But because of Kakyoin, Avdol, and Iggy's deaths, you'll always regret it—especially Polnareff. So since I have this chance, I want to see whether I can change the outcome."
"I'll provide you with information about the enemies you told me about in the original future. However, there may be enemies you never mentioned, and my intervention may create a butterfly effect, so you still need to remain vigilant."
The group fell silent in thought after hearing Qin Mo's words.
"If that's the case, your intelligence is indeed useful. Then who are these two young ladies? And how did you travel through time? What is your Stand ability?"
Joseph nodded. For the moment, he believed Qin Mo's unbelievable explanation, but he still asked cautiously.
"Traveling through time isn't my Stand ability. It was a one-time power I gained through another opportunity. The price was that my own power became restricted. My current Stand is an ability I borrowed from a Stand user I met in the future."
Qin Mo did not hide anything. He summoned Crazy Diamond. "This Stand is the one your son, Josuke Higashikata, will obtain in the future. Its ability is restoration. Even at the instant someone dies, as long as their soul hasn't dispersed, it can heal them."
After saying that, Crazy Diamond punched the ground and shattered it. Yet a golden energy held the fragments suspended in midair before restoring them to their original state as if by a miracle.
"Oh! It really restored it."
Everyone exclaimed in amazement.
"And then there's this. It's the Stand of Josuke's friend, Killer Queen."
Crazy Diamond suddenly transformed into Killer Queen, its right hand sweeping toward the wall beside them. "Its ability is to erase space."
"How is that possible?! One person has multiple Stands?!"
Qin Mo smiled at everyone's shock. "That's also something I gained through an unusual opportunity. And there's this Stand too—King Crimson..."
"Its ability is to erase time, causing people to lose their memories of several seconds. Polnareff, this is also the Stand of the man who will cripple you in the future. His name is Diavolo, and he is the boss of Passione."
"Cripple me?! With this ugly Stand?"
Polnareff pointed at himself in shock, then suddenly realized that Qin Mo had disappeared. "Where did he go?!"
"I'm right here!"
A white hand landed on Polnareff's shoulder.
"When did you..."
"So fast!"
Joseph was the first to understand. "No, did it erase time? What a terrifying ability. I didn't notice a thing."
After releasing Polnareff, Qin Mo smiled. "This is nothing. Dio's and Jotaro's abilities are the truly terrifying ones."
Everyone's gazes turned to Jotaro.
"Good grief. Star Platinum has an ability too?"
Everyone had assumed Star Platinum's ability was simply its overwhelming physical attributes, but it now seemed that it possessed an undeveloped power as well.
"Time stop. Dio can currently stop time for five seconds, and it may even develop to nine seconds later. Jotaro has the same ability, but because he's human, his limit is only five seconds."
"Stopping time..."
"A terrifying ability..."
"Can we even beat that?"
Joseph looked at Jotaro. "If that's true, then perhaps the key to defeating Dio lies with you, Jotaro!"
"Good grief..."
Qin Mo finally introduced Kiana and Mei. "Actually, this isn't my first stop. I went to other worlds and gained some special powers, and they're the people who have traveled with me all along."
"This white-haired one is Kiana, and this is Mei. They're both my best friends."
"However, because of the time travel, our powers have been sealed. Neither of them is a Stand user yet, so they can't see Stands. But after some time, they'll recover a portion of their strength, and then I'll let them use the other two Stands."
Kakyoin Noriaki looked at Qin Mo. "To think you can let other people use Stands. What a terrifying opportunity."
"Hahaha, no one doubts him anymore, right? Since they're our future friends and the friends of our friends, they're our friends too. Let's celebrate together tonight. The ship arranged by SPW should arrive tomorrow."
Joseph laughed heartily, apparently very satisfied with the day's events. The others nodded as well.
However, just as they turned around, Jotaro's Stand suddenly appeared, throwing two punches at Kiana and Mei.
They stopped at the absolute last moment.
"Good grief..."
Jotaro lowered the brim of his hat and withdrew his Stand, while Kiana and Mei had no idea what had just happened.
"Remember to apologize tonight."
Jotaro said nothing in response to Qin Mo's words. He merely pulled his hat even lower.
Conflict with Polnareff
"You're welcome. To celebrate our four new companions today, cheers!"
That evening, Joseph paid to treat everyone to a lavish local meal, while their departure ship had been arranged for the next morning.
That afternoon, they had already booked rooms at the hotel, and Qin Mo had told them about the Stand users they would encounter, as well as their Stand abilities.
When Polnareff heard that The Hanged Man was the enemy he had been searching for, he jumped to his feet. When he learned that he had nearly suffered setbacks all the way through, either winning miserably or relying on others to win, he became even more indignant.
Kiana and Mei listened nearby in amazement. They still could not see Stands, and the bizarre range of Stand abilities Qin Mo described was eye-opening for both of them.
Kiana was especially eager to try, wishing she could awaken a Stand immediately and experience it for herself.
"Then I won't hold back."
Kiana had been hungry for a long time. The Great Eruption had broken out that morning in their original world, causing the three of them to miss lunch. Then they had arrived in a new world that afternoon and spent the whole time explaining and rushing around. It was not just Kiana—Mei and Qin Mo had long since become hungry too.
"Hahaha, don't hold back."
Seeing that Kiana was completely genuine, Joseph smiled as well. Kiana had that kind of power; she could always influence those around her.
Mei, looking somewhat embarrassed, poked Kiana, who was eating as if she had been reincarnated from a starving ghost, then politely thanked Mr. Joseph.
Whatever else could be said, Joseph was the oldest person present. Though he sometimes acted like a young man, and Jotaro often rather rudely called him old man, it was clear that everyone actually respected him.
"But this makes our group even younger."
Joseph looked around as he spoke. Though he was still vigorous despite his age, he also realized that he was getting old.
"Mr. Joseph isn't even fifty yet, right?"
Before you continue