"Just as I thought, it's an enemy!"
Looking at the car-shaped Stand called Wheel of Fate, everyone summoned their own Stands.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Accompanied by a harsh laugh, the grotesque car suddenly raised its front end and fired a sheet of transparent liquid at them.
But it was blocked by an invisible wall.
"White Album: Silent Cry!"
The air before them froze, forming an invisible wall. Even real bullets could not penetrate frozen air, so these high-pressure gasoline blasts naturally could not break through either.
"Huh!? What's going on!?"
The frozen air was invisible and colorless, so naturally, the enemy had no idea why its attack had been blocked.
"Since it attacked us directly, does that mean this fog is the Stand?"
Justice's Stand had no other offensive power. Even ordinary people could remain inside it for a lifetime without being affected. However, if they were injured within the fog, even by the slightest wound, the mist would seep inside and form a hole, taking control of that part of their body.
Wheel of Fate's gasoline bullets could not cause fatal injuries, but they could carve countless cuts into a person's body.
"Hmph! In that case, I'll run you all over!"
Wheel of Fate suddenly transformed. Its front end opened and closed like the jaws of a ferocious beast, spikes forcibly protruded from its four tires, and the entire car charged at them as if it had come alive.
But the result was a thunderous crash, as though it had slammed into an iron wall.
"What's going on!?"
Blocking gasoline bullets and blocking Wheel of Fate's charge were two different matters. Although Wheel of Fate would not be damaged by crashing into the frozen-air wall, it still could not advance. Moreover, because the air wall was invisible, it did not even know what had stopped it.
In truth, Qin Mo had not created a wall capable of stopping Wheel of Fate's charge. Instead, when it rushed over, he created frozen air along its path and within the gaps around its wheels, jamming it in place.
"Avdol!"
After stopping Wheel of Fate's charge, Qin Mo looked at Avdol beside him.
"Leave it to me!"
Pressing his palms together, the bird-headed, human-bodied Magician's Red appeared behind him. The temperature, lowered by White Album, rose slightly as well.
"Crossfire Hurricane!"
A massive explosion of flames shot past everyone in an instant and struck Wheel of Fate's body. Burning flames even lingered in the air...
No, they were not flames burning in the air. The frozen air had been ignited by the fire.
Stand abilities were just that absurd and bizarre, to the point of disregarding the laws of physics to a certain extent. Magician's Red was called a magician because its flames could be manipulated as freely as magic.
Their temperature, direction, and rate of burning could all be controlled at will.
It could even make them cling to the frozen air like a festering parasite.
Although Wheel of Fate's car had high defenses, it still howled as those inescapable flames burned it. Before long, it ceased moving.
"Ah, good thing we had intelligence on these guys."
Looking at Wheel of Fate, which had been scorched by Avdol's flames until it completely lost its ability to resist and reverted to a wrecked car, Joseph let out a breath. "Information really is crucial in Stand battles."
"Then what about this fog..."
Joseph looked at Jotaro beside him, and Jotaro tugged at his cap.
"Good grief..."
The platinum vacuum cleaner began madly sucking in the surrounding fog. In less than a minute, all the mist around them had been sucked away.
"I knew it could do something like that, but seeing it in person is still terrifying."
Polnareff stared wide-eyed at Star Platinum as it sucked in the fog filling the valley. That Stand really was invincible.
"Good grief. The only question is where the user is hiding."
After Star Platinum sucked up all the surrounding fog, there was still no other movement.
Justice covered too wide an area. Even after defeating the Stand, they had failed to find where its user was hiding.
"Alright, since the enemy has been dealt with, let's keep moving. Hopefully, we can reach the next rest stop before dark."
Everyone nodded and returned to the car. However, no one noticed Qin Mo quietly stuff a chunk of ice into the ground. Inside that ice was a tiny Stand too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Fate Leaves Traces
"Qin Mo, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Sitting in the back row of the car, Raiden Mei looked at Qin Mo, who had been frowning ever since they dealt with the enemy, and asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about something."
What Qin Mo was thinking about was none other than the fate that existed in the world of JOJO.
As a JOJO fan, he knew full well that fate existed in JOJO's worldview. Though intangible and elusive, many events and Stands intentionally or unintentionally demonstrated that fate truly existed.
After coming here, Qin Mo had defeated several enemies in succession and once again sensed the existence of fate. The order in which they defeated their enemies was roughly the same as in the original story.
Yet the enemies had clearly chosen different actions because of their arrival.
For example, the five Stand users in Singapore had attacked everyone at once.
However, there had been one exception. Empress was originally supposed to appear after The Hanged Man and Emperor, but because she attacked Mei and the others, she was defeated before them.
That was what troubled Qin Mo. He had caught Lover this time not because he had constantly been monitoring the surroundings, but because after seeing Wheel of Fate and Justice appear together, he realized that Lover, who originally appeared after Justice, would attack next, so he set a trap.
He had not expected the enemy to really come.
So was fate interfering with them or not, and to what extent was it interfering?
Qin Mo had no definite answer.
Qin Mo was not worrying needlessly. Although the world of JOJO was only a passing stop for him, he would be staying in the Honkai world for a long time. As everyone knew, fate also existed in the Honkai world.
For instance, Kiana was destined to become the Herrscher of the End.
Though he had not closely followed the story, he had learned from discussions among other players that Honkai Impact 3rd's setting involved a world that had been restarted, and Kiana had restarted the previous world.
He had not played through the ending before being transported here, so he did not know how this timeline would end. But given the writers' habit of handing out tragedy after tragedy, he did not think it would be some happily-ever-after ending.
As an outsider, he could tolerate watching tragedies unfold. But as someone involved, Qin Mo had no desire to experience them himself.
He did not voice his speculation about fate. Even if the others knew, it would only give them more to worry about.
They continued driving. The long journey was exhausting, and by the end, the two people beside Qin Mo in the back had both fallen asleep against his shoulders.
Even Kiana, usually full of energy, had done the same. Perhaps having familiar people by her side made her feel at ease.
"Hm? Something's not right."
Kakyoin Noriaki, who seemed to have just finished dozing, frowned and looked outside. "Did any of you bring a watch?"
Everyone took out their watches, while Qin Mo pulled out his phone. "Let me see..."
After arriving in this world, Qin Mo had adjusted his phone's time to match this world's time.
"It's already nine at night!?"
The time on his phone clearly showed that it was already late, but...
Outside, the sun was still blazing.
Because the road had been smooth and there had been no danger, everyone had taken turns dozing off. No one had noticed that so much time had already passed.
"Wake up! This is a Stand attack!"
In an instant, everyone awake realized this was the Stand called The Sun, and immediately woke those beside them.
"Ah!"
The instant Kiana woke up, she punched Qin Mo in the face.
She was so fast that Qin Mo could not react at all.
Though he possessed considerable combat strength, Qin Mo in his normal state was no match for a Kaslana warrior capable of fighting Honkai Beasts.
"Ah, sorry, Qin Mo."
Seeing that she had given Qin Mo a black eye with one punch, she quickly apologized.
Rubbing his aching right eye socket, Qin Mo silently thanked his luck. Good thing he had the Dog Talisman. Otherwise, that punch might have blown his head apart.
"Qin Mo, are you alright?"
Raiden Mei had also woken up. Seeing Qin Mo's miserable state, she used Crazy Diamond to treat him.
"I'm fine, but what was that about, Kiana?"
Kiana scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "I don't really remember either. I just feel like I forgot something."
"Kiana, you too?"
Hearing Kiana's words, Raiden Mei also revealed a strange expression.
"Hm? Mei, you feel that way too?"
"You two girls as well?"
Joseph's voice came from ahead. "I also feel like I've forgotten something. It would be one thing if it were just one person, but all three of us..."
They looked at one another and realized it at the same time. "It's Death Thirteen!"
Death Thirteen was a special Stand. It could not appear in reality, but it could pull sleeping people into dreams. Stands could not be used within those dreams, but Death Thirteen could freely create anything there.
Injuries and healing within the dream would also be reflected on the real body.
They immediately checked themselves, but no injuries remained.
"There are no injuries left behind. Could it be someone else?"
Memories of the dream could not be retained, but injuries could be brought out by carving words into one's body.
But now that they knew this method, Joseph would not possibly fail to use it.
"Either way, stay alert. The Sun is nearby, and Death Thirteen only needs to summon its Stand while we're asleep."
Death Thirteen was easy to deal with. Its greatest threat was its terrifying first encounter, but once they knew about it and were prepared, it was nothing to fear.
"Polnareff! Drive us out of here as fast as possible! The enemy's Stand range can't be too far. If they follow us, they'll expose an opening!"
Everyone summoned their Stands and examined the surroundings, but found nothing unusual. Joseph immediately made his decision.
"Alright!"
Polnareff understood the seriousness of the situation and immediately floored the accelerator, speeding forward.
But even at top speed, they still could not shake off the sun that remained directly above them.
"What's going on!? We've been driving for over twenty minutes! How are we still not out of its range!?"
This car could reach a top speed of two hundred kilometers per hour, meaning they had already driven nearly a hundred kilometers.
"The enemy must be following us!"
Everyone realized the seriousness of the situation. If they did not defeat The Sun's user now...
"The car is almost done for! The temperature outside is probably over sixty degrees Celsius!"
Polnareff had been driving at high speed the entire time and gradually noticed that something was wrong with the car.
"This won't work! We have to stop!"
If they kept driving in such extreme heat, never mind the other components—the tires would melt first.
But just as Polnareff began slowing down to stop, the sun above them suddenly sprayed out a massive amount of scorching lava.
"Star Platinum!"
Before you continue