JoJo's Gospel, Part One

"What are you watching?"

"Just a little kid. He seems interesting." The man, clad in blood-red and black, gazed down at Suotuo City on the Douluo Continent. Someone who fit the path of Asura so well existed in this day and age? Incredible.

"Have you found the foreign intruder? Don't tell me you've been watching this kid the whole time," the person opposite him asked in disbelief.

"The intruder was there for only an instant. How could I find them? They seem to know divine power well enough to evade a search and erase their tracks. Besides, wasn't there another intruder not long ago? The Sea God's awfully protective of that one," the man said dismissively.

"Heh, fair point. What about this brat, then? Are you planning to make him your successor? Don't you already have one?"

"We'll see. Doesn't he seem as promising as the Sea God's?"

"Boss, why do you insist on making people call you 'boss'?" Ma Hongjun asked as he sat down and tore into the barbecue.

Over the past two months, he and Oscar had often joined Jodio on his nighttime outings. At first, the three of them had wanted to play heroes. Then they realized that would only treat the symptoms, not the cause: they would make enemies without gaining anything. Given how things worked, even if Jodio wiped out one gang in Suotuo City, another, more shameless one would appear the next day. They needed to deal with the root of the problem.

And so Passione was born. With fighting prowess unmatched by anyone below level forty, Jodio swept through the entire street and beat the thugs on the neighboring streets into submission as well. A few Soul Masters from those groups tried to take their complaints to the Knights and the City Lord, only to discover that those people had been bought off too.

A clinic appeared near the entrance to the street. Called JoJo's Gospel, it charged ordinary people next to nothing beyond the cost of inexpensive herbs. Even surgery was cheap. Its prices could hardly have been more accessible.

A healing-type Soul Master was a treasure everyone valued. Knights and nobles could fall gravely ill and need treatment too. Besides, this was only a small sect—if it even counted as one—on a single street. The Knights were content to leave it alone.

Level twenty-two Soul Power was hardly impressive, but Jodio beat up even level-thirty Soul Elders. After the Soul Elders came a Soul Ancestor, who was dragged away by Jodio's elders before he could make a move. Everyone quieted down after that. Passione made a name for itself, becoming well known throughout Suotuo City in just two months.

To Jodio, it was more like laying the groundwork early. To Oscar and Ma Hongjun, it was a way to earn money. As for the academy's teachers, Flender at least was delighted. Jodio brought him half of his medical fees, greatly easing the academy's financial troubles. Jodio wasn't doing anything wicked, either, so Flender let him have his fun as long as it didn't interfere with training.

"Because it sounds good. 'My lord' and 'Your Excellency' are too stuffy. 'Boss' has a better ring to it." Jodio leaned back with his legs crossed and his feet on the table.

"We'll move after I finish seeing patients tonight. You two keep watch; I'll do the fighting," Jodio added.

"Boss, about the expansion..." A male Soul Master seated nearby stood and asked with utmost respect.

"I'll leave it to you. Within a month, I want to see their leaders here, respectfully kissing the back of my hand. Can you do that?" Jodio asked calmly.

"Without a doubt!" the Soul Master answered, snapping to attention.

Soul Masters in their teens often preferred being a big fish in a small pond, mixing among ordinary people. The man and woman Jodio had taken on as subordinates were no different. One had the Crimson Cat Martial Soul, the other the Phantom Blue Rabbit. Neither Martial Soul was particularly powerful, so it was no surprise they were still around level ten in their thirties.

The two had led a gang—which they called a sect—before Jodio conquered the neighborhood and flattened them with a single punch. Now they were his devoted followers. Their new boss had taught them a few Soul Power cultivation techniques, and their bottlenecks had actually begun to loosen. How could they not fawn over him?

"Well, back to seeing patients." Jodio stood.

"Then we'll head to the Great Soul Arena first, boss."

Ma Hongjun waved with a grin. The Great Soul Arena had begun working with Jodio, sending some of its injured fighters to his clinic for surgery. As an up-and-coming healing-type Soul Master, Jodio offered affordable treatment at fair prices, with Oscar there to help. Unlike those old healing types, he didn't jack up his prices whenever someone needed him. They were practically partners.

Jodio's rates pleased the Great Soul Arena so much that, to win him over, it even refunded the ten Gold Soul Coins he had paid to register. It registered Ma Hongjun and Oscar too. These days, the two visited the arena most evenings to watch. Occasionally, when a match got them fired up, they went down for a bout or two. That was about the extent of it. At levels sixteen and nineteen, they could only fight opponents around their own level.

That takes care of building a power base.

Jodio walked off with his two subordinates guarding him, his expression darkening as he thought about what would happen in five years. Above all, he was wary of that bastard obsessed with grass. Right now, the only real threat to him was that grass-obsessed man suddenly losing his mind.

He was a level-ninety-five Titled Douluo. If that bastard snapped, he could take down all five teachers without giving them a chance to fight back. And Jodio? Soul Ancestors were already beyond what he could handle. By the time Brother Tang arrived, Jodio figured he would only be level thirty or forty. Holding his own against a Soul Emperor would be impressive enough.

If that man suddenly decided Jodio couldn't be allowed to live, he would be done for. One punch, and whether he'd die wouldn't even be the question—whether there'd be a body left would be a mystery. That was why Jodio wouldn't dare go kill Tang San now. Tang Hao would swat him dead on the roadside, and not even the readers would pity him. He couldn't blame the matchmaking when he was the one who'd picked that fight.

Should I become a Tang Hao fanboy? No. I'm Jodio Joestar, a man determined to become an Emperor. Why should I fawn over Tang Hao, a fool so captivated by a roadside blade of grass that his lower half controls his brain? Forget it.

That leaves the second option. Fine. Trading a favor for safety isn't such a bad deal, Jodio thought.

"When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. If I were still as strong as I used to be, capturing Tang Hao would be child's play. Being number one beneath the divine bodies was no joke." Jodio couldn't help sighing again.

If Jodio truly had his old strength, capturing three generations of Tang Hao's family would have been no problem. Time Erasure and Epitaph were nearly impossible to counter on their own. Add King Crimson: The World, which he had obtained as his eighth Spirit Skill, and he became an absurd monster of raw power and abilities.

Capturing Tang Hao's family of three, who relied almost entirely on raw power, would have been easy. It would be like playing an unnerfed Void Reaver and thrashing a bunch of Uncaged Wraths of Thunder. Come to think of it, with those three split up, Void Reaver's isolation passive really would trigger!

"Oh, Doctor Jo is here."

"Doctor, my leg..."

"Sorry to trouble you, doctor. Could you take a look at my stomach?"

JoJo's Gospel was already full of patients waiting for treatment. Jodio's methods were alarming, but they worked. They were affordable too. Frankly, people were lucky to get treatment at all. Whether it hurt was beside the point.

"Line up and come forward one at a time. Show some manners, and don't cut in." Jodio sat down behind his consultation desk again and propped his feet on it.

"After all, I'm a merciful man. Even if you make trouble in my clinic, I'll only beat you half to death," Jodio said with a smile.

... To be continued.