Outlandish Attire

Adam couldn't fathom why Li Qing, a complete novice, would suddenly have such a breakthrough.

Worse still, he no longer had time to think about the problem.

As Adam himself said, the challenge hosted by "Do You Know?" was absolutely fair.

Even his own will could not change the operating rules of this substitute.

"No, no!"

Amid Adam's incredulous and terrified screams, the chain of light that had pierced his brain suddenly blazed brightly.

His translucent soul, glowing with a pale golden light, was thus forcibly pulled from his body by the light lock and exposed to the air, which was now devoid of any protective shell.

"How could this be? How could I lose!"

Adam's soul was frantically baring its fangs at its body, looking like a stranded shark trying to jump back into the sea but unable to do so.

But ultimately, he couldn't resist the rule he himself had set—the Stand reflects the inner world of the Stand User, and in a sense, this rule is precisely the life creed that Adam believed in:

People who are short-sighted and ignorant have no right to live in this world.

"Aaaaaaah!!"

Amidst a mournful, resentful howl, Adam's soul was sucked into the book that was suspended in mid-air.

His soul was like a key that unlocked the key. The ethereal spirit had just merged with "Do You Know?" and the book, which contained the souls of countless losers, suddenly trembled.

As it trembled, a dense spiderweb of cracks gradually appeared on its surface, and beyond the cracks, strands of brilliant golden soul light overflowed.

Finally, the book shattered in mid-air.

Nearly a hundred souls broke free from the shattered pages of the book, then instantly soared into the sky and returned to the heavens.

Only one soul remained in the world: Fugo.

Before his body had completely cooled down, Fugo instantly returned to his original form and came back to life.

Meanwhile, Adam's body slumped back into his seat, completely and utterly dead.

"We won."

Li Qing breathed a long sigh of relief.

As a third-rate student who graduated from a second-rate university, with very limited knowledge, he had to thank the lucky goddess who had just blessed him.

Then, Li Qing helped up Fugo, who was still a little dizzy from just being reformed:

"Are you alright?"

"Nothing my foot!" Fugo muttered to himself, his face deathly pale. "Astral projection... another new way to die. I knew it. I shouldn't have betrayed the organization in the first place."

"It seems everything is alright."

Li Qing nodded in relief, then turned to Bucciarati and the others and said:

"Let's hurry up and go, we can eat these things in the car."

"Since this Adam was able to find us, who knows what other cats and dogs might come knocking on our door."

"Um."

Bucciarati nodded:

Although Stand User are often used to fighting alone, it is indeed hard to say whether Adam will have any companions with him this time.

Moreover, Adam died silently in this restaurant (at least silently in the eyes of ordinary people), and if they don't get away from the crime scene quickly, they'll probably get into a lot of trouble.

"However," Bucciarati still pointed out an objective reason why they had to stay there. "Our car needs to be refueled; we need to go to the gas station at the service area before we leave."

"Um," Mista quietly interjected, "I need to use the restroom."

"We want to go too."

After spending six hours on the bus, many of my companions needed to change their clothes.

After seeing this situation, Bucciarati thought for a moment:

"Alright. You guys go to the restroom together, Li Qing and I will go fill up the car with gas."

"Um."

To save time, everyone temporarily split into two teams.

Bucciarati and Li Qing were responsible for packing the food into the car and going to the gas station to refuel, while Giorno, Fugo, Narancia, Mista, and Abbacchio went to the toilet together.

Then, before Adam's "sudden death" could cause public panic, they quickly left the restaurant.

All roads lead to Rome, and as Italy transportation hub in Italy, this highway service area outside Rome is exceptionally large.

The auto repair, catering, shopping and leisure facilities are connected in a long line, while the gas station and toilets are built at opposite ends of the service area, about 700 or 800 meters apart.

"Be careful."

Noticing the somewhat awkward distance, Giorno immediately said to his companions around him:

"We are now too far away from Li Qing and Bucciarati."

"If one side is attacked by the enemy, the other side may not be able to provide support immediately."

"Clear!"

Everyone nodded solemnly.

The incident at the restaurant has proven that their whereabouts have now been completely exposed.

A crisis can strike at any time, so even going to the toilet should not be taken lightly.

And so, the five men stood cautiously together, intently observing their surroundings, as they walked side by side toward the toilet built on the edge of the service area.

Fortunately, nothing happened along the way.

Everything in the toilet was normal, clean and bright.

There were very few travelers going in and out of the restroom, and there were no signs of any enemies nearby.

Giorno and his group of five quickly completed the main tasks of their group operation, and the next step was to head to the gas station to meet up with Li Qing and Bucciarati.

However, just as everyone was about to leave the restroom, a man suddenly walked in.

The man was different from ordinary travelers; he was dressed strangely and at first glance looked like a walking human penguin.

To be precise, he was wearing a penguin costume:

With a white belly, black body, and red webbed feet, he was covered in fluffy fur. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't wearing a headgear, he would look exactly like a penguin.

"This guy"

The atmosphere in the restroom became somewhat awkward the moment the penguin stepped through the door.

Giorno and the others exchanged glances, each sensing a deep wariness in the other's eyes.

There must be something wrong!

Wearing a mascot costume isn't anything special; after all, people handing out flyers on the street and holding events in shopping malls all wear mascot costumes these days, so a mascot costume doesn't really prove anything.

However, it's already close to midnight.

In the middle of the night, at this highway service area, who would be handing out flyers or organizing events?

Something unusual must be going on. Giorno and the others, who had just been attacked, immediately sensed danger.

"Make a move?"

"Okay, let's get this under control first!"

They communicated silently with their eyes.

Then, seeing the man in the penguin suit take another step closer, Giorno and the others suddenly launched an attack:

"Gold Experience!"

A golden humanoid clone appeared in front of him and threw a punch at the newcomer with lightning speed.

"Aerosmith!"

The small plane hovered under the ceiling, flashing its machine gun at the approaching person in the bright light.

"Sex Pistols!"

Mista drew his gun and pointed it at the approaching enemy. Six stand-ins took their positions, ready to perform the wonders of "gunfighting" for the enemy.

Abbacchio and Fugo haven't made a move yet.

One of them can't do much damage when they make a move, while the other can take a life with a single strike.

"What?"

The man in the penguin costume was slightly taken aback when he saw Giorno and the others suddenly casting hostile glances at him.

The next second, he received a heavy punch to the face from Gold Experience.

Before his cry of pain could even spread through the air, he was like one of those criminals caught red-handed by the police in the news, helplessly pinned against the wall by Gold Experience.

Meanwhile, two miniature machine guns and a revolver were firmly pointed at his head.

"What... what is this?!"

The man in the penguin costume, his face pressed against the wall, shouted in a panic:

What's pressing down on me from behind?

"Help! This toilet is haunted!"

He acted as if he were an ordinary person who couldn't see the stand-in at all, displaying a kind of terror that was completely incomprehensible to the current situation.

"Hmm?" Giorno frowned.

He loosened his grip on Gold Experience slightly, but still carefully pinned him against the wall.

Then, while carefully observing the other person's expression, Giorno tentatively asked, "Sir, can't you really see it?"

"What is that?"

The man in the penguin suit turned his head with difficulty, looking at Giorno and the others who were on high alert:

"What are you talking about? I have no idea!"

"Hey, hey."

He yelled at Giorno in a panic, "Is this some kind of prank you guys are playing? Stop messing around! If this keeps up, I... I'm going to call the police!"

The man in the penguin costume screamed hysterically, behaving just like an ordinary person terrified by an unexpected event.

No matter how you looked at it, there were no flaws, but everyone still remained vigilant.

"Don't play dumb!"

Abbacchio resorted to his old tricks from his time as a policeman, half-intimidating and half-bluffing as the bad guy:

"No matter how well you pretend, it's useless; you're 100% suspicious!"

"Otherwise, why would you be wandering around outside dressed like that in the middle of the night?"

"Ha?"

The man in the penguin costume was taken aback at first, then glanced at Abbacchio, Fugo, and Narancia's trendy attire:

"What's wrong with me dressing like this—"

"Do you even have the right to criticize me?!"

P. S.: The second update isn't finished yet, it'll be posted later _(:з"∠)_