Awareness of Sacrifice

At the same time.

After some effort in searching, Bucciarati and his group, who remained on the ground, finally managed to borrow an SUV nearby suitable for their seven-person team.

Meanwhile, Li Qing had already disappeared into the horizon in his helicopter.

Although the time was short, based on the helicopter's previous flight speed, they were already at least four or five kilometers away from Li Qing.

With no other option, Bucciarati and the others had to hurry and drive off in the direction where Li Qing had just disappeared.

The car drove through a deadly field of fungal infection, with rotting, rotten, twisted, and grotesque corpses all along the way.

The air was deathly still and heavy, and everyone traveling through this desolate wasteland couldn't help but have gloomy expressions.

However, soon

"There are living people here?"

Looking out the window at the survivors appearing in twos and threes, and at the rapidly fading green fungal carpet covering their bodies, Mista couldn't contain his excitement and shouted out:

"It was Li Qing! Li Qing defeated that scumbag!"

Fungi don't just disappear for no reason; this situation can only mean that Li Qing has fulfilled his mission as expected.

"He did it."

Giorno let out a silent sigh of relief, then slowly spoke in his usual calm and composed voice:

"Keep driving forward, and remember to call his name from inside the car later."

"Li Qing's hearing is exceptionally sharp; when he uses it at full power, he can even distinguish the voices of people talking from a distance of over a thousand meters."

"As long as the distance is roughly the same, he can find us by sound."

"Clear!"

Mista smiled and stepped on the gas, accelerating to chase after the direction the helicopter had taken off.

Everything went smoothly.

They only need to drive a few more kilometers to reunite with Li Qing Chung, who has already secured victory.

However, not long after, just as the car was about to cross a highway bridge...

Bang!

A loud bang, like a tire exploding, came from under the car.

The car traveling at high speed suddenly veered off course and then quickly crashed into the roadside.

Mista slammed on the brakes and tried to steady the steering wheel, but he couldn't stop the car from going out of control.

Ultimately, the car crashed head-on into a roadside tree.

Fortunately, all six people in the car had fastened their seatbelts as a habit after getting in, so their heads didn't explode like the front airbags.

"Hey, hey. How do you drive?"

Fugo's volatile temper suddenly flared up in his fright.

"How can you blame me?" Mista patted his slightly dizzy head. "The tire on this car just blew out!"

"Stop arguing."

Bucciarati's tone was very serious.

He stared intently out the window and said, word by word, "This is a substitute attack."

The reason Bucciarati was able to quickly realize that this wasn't an ordinary accident but a Stand attack wasn't because he noticed any subtle or indistinct clues, but because...

The enemy made no attempt to conceal their presence.

The human double, dressed in a black cloak and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, looking like he had stepped out of a theatrical stage, was now standing conspicuously outside the car window.

It stared at Bucciarati through the shattered window, neither attacking nor moving.

"This is."

Giorno and Mista were still completely confused, but Fugo, Narancia, and Abbacchio all exclaimed in surprise, "Black Sabbath!"

Black Sabbath is the stand-in for Polpo, the organizational officer in charge of local affairs in Naples.

Polpo was the former leader of Bucciarati Team and also the censor for core members of the Passion Organization to join.

Therefore, Bucciarati and others are very familiar with this Stand called "Black Sabbath".

Just as everyone was surprised by the sudden appearance of Black Sabbath, a deafening roar of engines echoed from the road across the bridge.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a Hummer SUV driving aggressively across the bridge.

This off-road vehicle has clearly been modified; the tires alone are 1.5 meters high, and the cargo box is tall, wide, and sturdy, so large that one might suspect an elephant could fit inside.

At first glance, it looks like a tank is coming straight at you.

"Mr. Polpo"

"He actually came all the way here in person?"

Bucciarati immediately recognized the car as Polpo's exclusive ride, the only one of its kind in the world.

Because Polpo is a huge man who is nearly three meters tall and weighs more than half a ton, there is no other vehicle on the market that can fit him except this modified behemoth off-road vehicle.

(Actually, trucks and vans could fit Polpo, but as a respected gang leader, none of his underlings dared to use such cheap vehicles to transport him.)

"Bucciarati".

The massive Hummer slowly came to a stop.

Sitting upright in the spacious carriage, Polpo rolled down the window, revealing his fat, bloated yet imposing face from the shadows:

"You have disappointed me greatly."

He looked at Bucciarati with a hint of regret in his eyes.

Bucciarati knew that this regret was not Renekton tears, but rather Polpo's true feelings.

Because Polpo truly regarded Bucciarati as a confidant.

He trusted Bucciarati implicitly, relying on him not only in daily gang affairs but also entrusting Bucciarati with the safekeeping of his own slush fund, which he had secretly set up behind the organization's back.

"Feel sorry."

"I have failed your trust."

Bucciarati sighed softly, but there was not a trace of regret in his eyes:

"However, this is the choice I made, and I believe it's the right one."

"You don't need to tell me that."

Polpo sat upright in the car, gazing at Bucciarati from afar:

"I did expect this to happen."

"Bucciarati, you've been different from us gangsters from the very beginning."

"Even though his hands are stained with blood, he's still just as weak, or rather, kind-hearted as those pushovers?"

He gave a mocking laugh, his eyes suddenly turning icy cold.

Looking into those eyes, Bucciarati knew that a fierce battle was inevitable.

Thinking of their past friendship, he concluded by saying, "I'm sorry to offend you, Mr. Polpo."

"Etc."

Polpo, on the contrary, showed no intention of making a move.

His double, Black Sabbath, remained silently in the shadows by the roadside, and what he himself held was not a weapon, but a cell phone.

"Bucciarati, don't get me wrong, I have no intention of fighting you."

"It's a little embarrassing to admit, but you should know that I'm actually a guy who values my life a lot."

"If the BOSS hadn't suddenly given me a death order to come here and stop you, I would have even turned a blind eye and let you troublesome guys leave Naples as soon as possible."

As Polpo casually dialed a number on his phone, he said to Bucciarati with a playful tone:

"Therefore, I hope you can cooperate."

"I will not fight you, nor will I take your lives."

"And all you have to do is cooperate with me to complete the boss's urgent task and stay here obediently for ten minutes."

"Wait for ten minutes?"

Bucciarati frowned deeply:

Clearly, Diavolo's urgent task for Polpo was not to eliminate their own forces, but to delay their advance.

Why did Diavolo do that?

And how did Polpo manage to appear here so precisely? Were their movements exposed?

These two questions are difficult to answer when considered separately, but they become clear quickly when considered together:

"This bridge is the only way to reach the area where the helicopter disappeared."

"Polpo was waiting here early because he didn't... because Diavolo saw the helicopter carrying Li Qing."

"He knew that Li Qing had been separated from us, and he also guessed that we were going to meet up with Li Qing, so he urgently sent Polpo to guard this strategic point."

"So."

Thinking of this, Bucciarati couldn't help but break out in a thin layer of cold sweat on his forehead:

Polpo was tasked with delaying their progress and preventing them from joining up with Li Qing.

So, what about Diavolo, who's hiding behind all this?

Why did he suddenly give such an order to Polpo?

The answer is self-evident.

"Li Qing is in danger!"

"Diavolo will likely take advantage of Li Qing being alone and make his own move!"

Bucciarati revealed this extremely terrifying possibility.

Everyone was taken aback, and Giorno, without hesitation, summoned Gold Experience, glaring angrily at Polpo:

"Polpo, right?"

"If you don't want to die, get out of my way right now!"

"Tsk tsk. What a terrifying look."

Polpo observed Giorno's resolute and cold expression, and said with a slow and deliberate smile:

"Although he is very young, he already has the demeanor of a strong person."

"So, you, and Bucciarati and the others, since you challenged the organization, you should have been prepared to 'sacrifice' yourselves, right?"

"The awareness to sacrifice?"

The hot-blooded Mista immediately shouted:

"Nonsense! We've come this far, why would we be afraid of dying?"

Mista shouted with great enthusiasm, but Bucciarati, standing to the side, felt a chill run down his spine.

Because he knew Polpo too well, and Polpo knew him too well.

Bucciarati knew that Polpo was capable of anything to achieve his goal.

Polpo also knew that beneath Bucciarati's tough and ruthless underworld exterior lay a soft side unknown to outsiders.

Really

"Hehe."

"The 'enlightenment' I'm talking about isn't the enlightenment to sacrifice oneself, but the enlightenment to sacrifice others."

Polpo sneered as he turned on his phone's speakerphone, then said meaningfully to Bucciarati:

"Bucciarati, I've heard about him."

"You're on good terms with those old guys on the street?"