Changing Fate

The future is proceeding according to the established plan.

In the first second, King Crimson unleashed a hand strike, but Li Qing slowed him down with "Heavenly Thunder Break" and "Bone Shattering Strike".

In the second, Li Qing deactivated his Digitization Mode and, taking advantage of King Crimson's slowed-down state, adjusted his posture, positioning his right shoulder to meet King Crimson's hand strike.

In the third second, he chopped off Li Qing's shoulder with a hand chop, severing his right arm at the root.

In the fourth second, Li Qing severed his arm to survive, rolling outwards.

In the fifth second, King Crimson adjusted his position and chased after Li Qing.

Six seconds.

Facing the King Crimson charging straight at him, Li Qing, enduring the pain of his severed arm, faced forward with his right shoulder, which was still gushing blood.

The Digitization Mode restarted, and the gushing blood on his right shoulder stopped instantly.

At that moment, the King Crimson was charging straight at him without any warning.

"Now!"

There was no fear in Li Qing's eyes, only a strong fighting spirit forged in the tension:

"This is the strongest strike I have ever mastered, the most powerful spear capable of shattering everything!"

His most powerful attack wasn't actually a system skill, but rather a strange characteristic he accidentally discovered from the "closing" and "opening" of his digitized body.

The first time Li Qing deactivated his Digitization Mode and fought with his bare hands was when he faced that undead Meat Chunk, a choice he had to make in order to escape.

At that time, his body was almost reduced to bones by the gnawed Meat Chunk, and his forearm and right hand were bent backward at a 270-degree angle.

However, at the moment of data restart

The flesh that had been gnawed off his body instantly regenerated, and his arm, bent at a 270-degree angle, twisted forward in a split second.

Even with the Meat Chunk binding it, it couldn't stop the arm from twisting forward.

Li Qing's strength at that time was far inferior to that of the Meat Chunk.

However, in order to restore his body to a perfect state, his severed arm suddenly unleashed an unprecedented power after the Digitization Mode was activated, easily breaking free from the entanglement of the Meat Chunk.

From then on, Li Qing kept thinking:

Since the Digitization Mode ensures his body remains in perfect condition, just like the indestructible 3D model in the game, then...

Before the datafication process, his arm wouldn't just have been bent; it would have been severed at the root.

What will happen?

Can my arm recover?

Can it still unleash that inexplicable power?

Although curious, Li Qing himself dared not try it—if the data could not repair the detached arm, he would be left with a lifelong disability.

However, he later met Giorno.

The Gold Experience's ability to easily heal wounds and reattach bodies gave Li Qing unlimited resources for "self-harm."

After discovering that his teammate was a powerful healer, he didn't hesitate to cut off his own arm with a knife to verify his long-held curiosity.

The result of this experiment was...

"It will be restored!"

"Even if my arm is severed at the root, my body will instantly return to a perfect state after digitization is activated."

"Moreover, it's not just limb regeneration, but 'reconnection of severed arms'—"

"My severed arm is like Thor's hammer; it will fly back to my original body the moment the data is activated!"

Looking at the King Crimson charging towards him, Li Qing Sin felt an overwhelming surge of excitement.

Diavolo seemed completely unprepared for his true purpose, with the King Crimson standing there, shielding him from the severed arm.

The severed arm had already sensed the activation of the Digitization Mode:

In an instant, it rose into the air from the ground and flew straight toward Li Qing's main body with an unstoppable momentum.

It was incredibly fast, as fast as a phantom.

Its power is immense, enough to penetrate any obstacle.

At this moment, it is less a severed arm yearning to return to its master and more an indestructible flying sword.

This is precisely the bug caused by the system rules:

In the Digitization Mode, Li Qing must possess an intact body.

Nothing could stop his body from recovering, and nothing could stop the arm flying towards his body!

Everything that stands in its way will be easily pierced like thin paper.

"It's a success!"

The earlier attempt to save his life by cutting off his arm was just a smokescreen; this was the most crucial part of Li Qing's escape plan.

As long as the severed arm that flies back to its original body can injure the King Crimson, even just a little, it will give him time to escape using the Sonically Enhanced Wave.

However.

Li Qing didn't notice, and couldn't possibly have noticed, what was going on.

As his severed arm soared into the air with a digital reboot, Diavolo had already launched his counterattack:

"Now."

A glint flashed in Diavolo's eyes at the same time as Li Qing's:

Time will begin to etch its marks once more—

"King Crimson!"

With the activation of the "Time Erasure" ability, Diavolo and his Stand become beings independent of the timeline.

And Li Qing.

He was completely unaware that the timeline had already been subtly shifting.

He remained in that deleted time, indulging in beautiful but useless fantasies about the King Crimson who didn't actually exist.

And just like that, the future was changed.

Time was proceeding as Diavolo had planned.

Sixth second:

Li Qing reactivated the data processing, and his severed arm transformed into a "flying sword".

Diavolo his Time Erasure, and the King Crimson vanished into the "Void".

The seventh second:

The severed arm pierced through the King Crimson's body, penetrating its chest.

However, King Crimson had already entered Time Erasure state, was not affected at all.

Soon, the severed arm flew to Li Qing and was instantly reattached.

The King Crimson, however, calmly strode forward and, following Diavolo's instructions, stopped at a special location.

Eighth second:

Li Qing was completely unaware that his attack had failed.

Still trapped in the deleted time, he unleashed a Sonically Enhanced Wave into the distance, just as Diavolo had previously foreseen.

"Time erasure, deactivated!"

Diavolo deactivated his ability in time.

The deletion only lasted for a mere two seconds, but those two seconds changed everything:

First, the "flying sword" attack that was powerful enough to kill Diavolo failed.

Secondly, the Crimson King had adjusted his position, standing perfectly in the path of Li Qingtian's sonic waves.

In Li Qing's perception.

He was only slightly distracted when his consciousness jumped from the "data reboot" two seconds ago to the "Sonically Enhanced Wave emission" now.

Something's not right!

"This is a 'Time Erasure'!"

Looking at his right arm, which had somehow recovered, and the Sonically Enhanced Wave that had been released from his hand, Li Qing felt a bone-chilling cold almost instantly.

The next instant, the Sonically Enhanced Wave struck the King Crimson squarely.

The location marker appeared on King Crimson's muscular arm, instantly extinguishing any hope of escape.

"It's blocked?"

Li Qing's face turned extremely ugly:

"How is this possible? Why!"

"Why was Diavolo able to notice my arm-severing attack during my data reboot? How was he able to launch the Time Erasure so perfectly at the right moment?"

"I only discovered my ability to recall severed arms less than an hour ago, so how could he have been on guard beforehand?"

No matter how smart or cautious a person is, it is impossible to guard against a severed arm.

Diavolo, however, seemed to have a premonition, triggering Time Erasure at the most crucial moment of Li Qing's counterattack.

Was it a coincidence or an inevitability?

An unprecedented sense of panic welled up inside me:

"Could it be this guy?"

"What kind of 'predictive' ability do they have?"

Li Qing, who had always thought that the King Crimson's abilities were only limited to Time Erasure, finally began to vaguely sense that something was amiss.

But it's too late to say anything now.

The Sonically Enhanced Wave, which can only be used once every seven seconds, has already been wasted on the King Crimson.

Diavolo was clearly aware of his ability to conceal himself, so there was absolutely no way he could have injured his opponent by using a severed arm as a sneak attack.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Looking at Li Qing's ashen face, Diavolo couldn't help but burst into wild laughter.

All the fear and repression that had arisen since encountering the Rolling Stones were released in this moment:

"I am not dead, I am still alive!"

"So-called destiny has been completely changed by me, Diavolo!"