"Whoa! Boss Jo killed Tong Bei! Boss Jo is invincible!" Ma Hongjun rushed over at once to flatter him.
"Hmph. He was so arrogant he forgot that a Soul Elder doesn't automatically lose to a Soul Ancestor." Jodio took the towel Ma Hongjun brought him and wiped the blood from his hands with a look of disdain. Back when he was level 75, he had beaten plenty of Soul Douluo who had made the same mistake. He had even fought Titled Douluo. Soul Power mattered a great deal, but it wasn't everything. Fighting skill mattered too.
"Dai Mubai, you look shaken. First time seeing a fight like that?" Jodio asked with a chuckle. Dai Mubai looked utterly lost.
"Urgh." Tong Bei's body suddenly twitched. Jodio glanced down and immediately summoned his third Spirit Skill, Fang 1. He shaped his left hand into a gun, ready to put a few more shots into him.
"Stop! Jodio!"
A burst of gunfire cut off Dai Mubai's shout. Five Nail Bullets pierced Tong Bei's brain, spraying fluid everywhere and nearly splattering Ma Hongjun. This time, Tong Bei was as dead as dead could be. Jodio refused to believe anyone could survive being shot in the brain—except a JoJo character, perhaps.
Jodio snapped his fingers. Several Passione officers came forward and nodded to him, then split up to carry away the body, gather the gold coins, and deal with the carriage. Other officers brought over the coachman, who approached timidly with his hands clasped. He looked at Jodio with both respect and fear.
"Lord Jodio, I swear I won't tell anyone what happened tonight," the coachman said at once.
"Mm. I believe you," Jodio replied, unconcerned.
"Passione will pay for the damage to the carriage and the horse's medical care. As for your employer, tell him this happened because you were helping Passione. Tell him I'll visit tomorrow to thank him for his help," Jodio continued.
"Let's go. We're pulling out." Jodio gave a small wave.
The rain gradually stopped. Jodio, Ma Hongjun, and Dai Mubai walked toward the city gate, stopping along the way to knock on the door of a mutton soup shop and order six portions to go. Jodio and Ma Hongjun chatted and laughed as though nothing had happened. Dai Mubai, however, remained silent, as if something weighed on him.
"Your third Spirit Skill should focus on speed," Jodio explained. "Ideally, it should give you both speed and offensive power."
"Your first Spirit Skill lacks offensive power, but the field of flames your second creates makes up for that nicely. Add a fast-attack skill as your third, and you'll be a fighter who can hit, run, and take a hit."
"And after that?" Ma Hongjun asked curiously.
"Well, your fourth Spirit Skill has to let you fly. Your fifth should strengthen your defense, and your sixth should boost your speed. That means your third Spirit Skill will have to be your main attack. You'll need to master it inside and out. I'll give you specialized training for that."
"That sounds incredible, Boss. I can't wait to awaken my Stand." Ma Hongjun clenched his fists in excitement.
"I'll find a way to fix your Martial Soul problem by level 40 at the latest," Jodio said. "Even if my Spirit Skill can't do it, I'll find someone who can."
"Hehe, Boss, you really do look after me." Ma Hongjun wriggled like a caterpillar with a cheeky grin. Jodio held up a hand to ward off his fawning, then turned to the downcast Dai Mubai.
"Little Dai, you look like you have something to say. Let's hear it," Jodio said.
"No. I have nothing to say." Dai Mubai shook his head.
"You can brood over it if you want. But after this, you don't get to oppose me or refuse me over the same kind of thing again." Jodio glanced at him, then looked ahead.
"Jodio, why did you have to kill him?" Dai Mubai blurted, as if jolting awake. "Couldn't we have locked him up?"
Ma Hongjun nearly spat. Holy crap, Little Dai, is that what you're into behind closed doors? You even want to play at imprisonment? Since when did that big white bird get to be Boss Jo's devoted admirer? Surely it should be some peerless beauty! Though a man might work too.
"Dai Mubai, you're trying to ease your conscience. You know he would have told everyone if he escaped. You know keeping him locked up would have left us with endless trouble. Yet you said it anyway," Jodio replied calmly.
"You gave in to your own morals instead of respecting your friend's decision. Dai Mubai, I know what's troubling you. So let me tell you how I see the world, and what friendship means to me." Jodio gazed at the clear night sky as he spoke.
"The world is made of groups of people coming together. At first, the weak hoped the strong would protect them, and the strong were willing to help without asking for anything in return. Later, the strong stopped being selfless. They began demanding a price."
"Demanding a price isn't wrong, but there should be a limit. Once the strong grow greedy, the burden on the weak doubles and doubles until they can no longer survive. Then the weak must seek out new protectors. That's how the world works: the strong act upon the weak, and the weak act upon the strong. But taken as a whole, the strong stand at the very top of society."
"Dai Mubai, do you think I kill indiscriminately? That I enjoy killing and do nothing but evil? That I'm no good guy?" Jodio couldn't help laughing. Then he laughed aloud, freely and from the heart.
"Yet that same person gave most ordinary people a measure of justice and a stable order. Since then, no Soul Master in Suotuo City has dared bully ordinary people at will or cause trouble in their shops. That same person also opened a low-cost clinic to help people for very little money!"
"Dai Mubai, I'm strong! The strong aren't divided into good and evil. They have only their own tenet and resolve, and they follow those alone. Someone who slaughters a city is strong; someone who protects one is strong too. In my tenet, there's no clear line between good and evil. Strength is the only certainty," Jodio said frankly.
"Dai Mubai, become strong. Only the strong can carry out their will without being pushed around. Only the strong can see either kindness or malice through. Do you want to be a good person? A good emperor? Someone who brings justice to the people?" Jodio stared at Dai Mubai.
"I..."
"If you can't do it, I'll help you. Because I'm strong. Because I believe I am. Because I consider you my friends. So you can stand behind me and wait for victory to come. You can wait for the protection I'll give you. Then you can act on your kindness—or your malice," Jodio said.
"Little Dai, Hongjun, remember this: one day, you'll be proud of me. You'll be proud to call me your friend."
← To Be Continued
Information currently available:
Gao Weis—JoJo! (Sound of a coin dropping) (JoJo Part Five transition music)
Martial Soul: Egret (level 43)
Holder: Tong Bei
Spirit Rings: yellow, yellow, purple, purple
Destructive power: C+; speed: B+; range: C; stamina: D; precision: C; growth potential: C
Martial Soul ability: Summons an Egret to possess the holder, granting exceptional speed. Because the holder gains wings while possessed, he can soar through the sky even at a low level.
Its Spirit Skills include speed boosts, ranged attacks, and melee attacks. It is a fairly well-rounded, standard agility-attack bird Martial Soul. Its theoretical superior form is the Azure Ice Egret.
Before you continue