Stellar Note

"I surrender!"

There was absolutely no hesitation.

As Li Qing and the others began to rush towards him, Sam Sand decisively raised his hands.

"Stellar Note" also laid down its weapon and then disappeared into thin air.

"What?" Li Qing was somewhat incredulous.

The battle had barely begun when the enemy surrendered?

One second they were bombarding the enemy with "battery grenades", and the next second they were raising their hands in surrender.

There's definitely something wrong with this!

Sam understood Li Qing's doubts.

He not only raised his hands high, but also humbly knelt down.

Finally, he explained to Li Qing in a calm tone:

"I'm serious. You should have noticed that my abilities are best suited for surprise attacks, not head-on combat."

"The fact that you guys managed to fight your way all the way from Naples means I couldn't have handled it alone."

"Besides, I just tried it myself."

Sam sighed helplessly:

"The batteries launched by Stellar Note simply can't keep up with your pace."

"If this fight continues, I'll be the one who dies."

He was telling the truth.

He had already lost most of the battle because his first sneak attack failed to defeat the enemy in one blow.

While the "battery grenade launcher" was powerful, it had a fatal weakness: it was slow.

From the moment the battery leaves the barrel, to its ejection, flight, fall, and detonation, the entire process takes several seconds.

Li Qing and his group, along with three wounded soldiers, were able to barely evade the attack. However, once a direct confrontation broke out, the seemingly powerful battery-powered grenade launcher would be utterly ineffective in preventing their approach.

Li Qing Li Qing, in particular, has a long-range dash ability that would be a huge problem for him.

"For a ranged Stand like me, being approached by a melee Stand is certain death."

As he said this, Sam was carefully observing the expressions of Li Qing and the others.

Seeing that they didn't show any unusual reaction, he finally smiled faintly, relieved.

"I can't stop you from getting closer, and I don't want to die."

"So let me surrender, and I'm willing to help you fight against the organization."

"No way!" Fugo roared angrily, "You've already injured three of our comrades, how can we let you surrender so easily now!"

"Times change."

Sam wasn't bothered at all by Mista's questioning:

"I was the enemy just now, and it was my duty to ambush you."

"The surprise attack failed, and the artillery suppression was ineffective. My duty has been fulfilled."

"In short, I will no longer engage in futile resistance."

He obediently knelt on the ground with his hands raised, displaying a submissive demeanor:

"Whether you kill me to eliminate future troubles or turn me into an asset, it's up to you to decide."

Li Qing and the others hesitated.

On the one hand, they do need assistance, and they need intelligence about the technology group.

If Sam is truly surrendering, their upcoming battle will be much easier.

On the other hand, they always felt that the enemy's surrender came too easily.

Although Sam was right, he really had no chance of winning, such a casual sneak attack still made people suspicious.

"What?" Li Qing asked tentatively, "Aren't you afraid of the boss's retaliation for surrendering to me so readily?"

"Ha ha."

Sam smiled without changing his expression:

"Revenge is for later. If you don't surrender, I'll die now."

"If we take a gamble with you, we might just find an unexpected way out."

At this point, his motives and reasons were completely flawless.

From Sam's perspective, surrendering was indeed his only option.

Bucciarati thought for a moment, then tentatively asked:

"Since you say you want to surrender, then show some sincerity."

"Tell me in detail what your Stand ability is—be comprehensive. If there's anything missing from what Jamie told us, we'll kill you on the spot."

Sam's pupils contracted.

He knew that Bucciarati was bluffing him.

If he hesitates, shows any guilt, or tries to conceal anything at this moment, the other party will take his life without mercy.

If he were truly frightened into revealing all of his Stand abilities, he would lose any chance to retaliate.

Unfortunately, he had already figured out roughly what Jamie had said to the enemy and how much the enemy knew about the Stellar Note Stand's abilities.

Now, he knows how far he should push his Stand ability:

"My Stand is called 'Stellar Note,' and it actually has two abilities:"

"First, the manufacture and launch of batteries, as you just saw."

"Second, detonate all batteries within a 50-meter radius of the Stand."

At this point, Syme paused deliberately:

"Note that there is another very important limitation to detonating a battery: the operating voltage."

"The higher the operating voltage of a battery, the farther it can respond to an explosion."

"For example, a 12V car battery can be detonated at a distance of about 40 meters, while a 3.7V mobile phone lithium battery can only be detonated within 20 meters."

He made no attempt to hide his abilities and openly discussed his Stand ability.

Moreover, this explanation is far more comprehensive than Jamie's few words.

"I see."

"The detonation distance is also related to the battery's operating voltage."

"No wonder Fugo's Walkman didn't explode when the car battery was remotely detonated."

Bucciarati understood this statement.

Syme's explanation and the problems he discovered fit perfectly, suggesting that there was no deception to be concealed.

After listening carefully, Li Qing's assessment corroborated Sam's honesty to some extent:

"His heart wasn't racing, so he probably wasn't lying."

This makes Sam's surrender seem much more believable.

Even though he harbored ulterior motives, and couldn't use the battery explosion to launch a sneak attack, nor could he stop Li Qing and the others from getting close, Sam seemed to have no ability to resist.

"Could it be a trap?"

Everyone couldn't help but have such doubts.

But they had been watching Sam's every move closely, so he had no time to set a trap.

There were no traces of batteries on the ground, and they didn't have any items containing batteries on them, so it was impossible for the other party to use their Stand ability to detonate batteries and launch a sneak attack.

Thinking of this, everyone felt a little more at ease.

So Giorno seized this rare opportunity to turn around and perform first aid on the three wounded, while Li Qing, Fugo, and Bucciarati cautiously approached Semi—in any case, getting closer to a ranged attack Stand was absolutely the right thing to do.

The closer the distance, the greater the advantage for Stands like Purple Haze and Steel Chain Fingers, which are purely melee-type Stands.

That's all.

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, shrinking from about forty meters to just five meters.

Sam made no attempt to stop him; he seemed genuinely intent on surrendering.

Fugo and Bucciarati are still moving forward.

But Li Qing stopped five meters away.

He felt that something was off.

What is it?

"There are clearly no suspicious points left, so where is the problem?"

Li Qing frowned deeply, a kind of doubt, like a sixth sense, lingering in his mind.

At that moment, he smelled the scent of ashes.

This smell is normal. With so many explosions just now, it's only natural that nearby vegetation would be ignited by the flames.

However, the smell made Li Qing subconsciously notice the ground.

He could roughly discern the outline of the grass on the ground, though it was blurry, he could still make it out with difficulty:

In the lush grass, there was a "circular clearing".

The grass in the surrounding area was growing perfectly intact, but that one ring of grass was completely barren.

It's as if someone deliberately burned a circle here.

"Natural flames cannot produce such perfectly round shapes."

"A circle, why is it a circle? Wait a minute."

Li Qing felt a surge of excitement.

In this hazy mist, he seemed to have grasped a clear clue:

"This barren, circular area seems to be where that stand-in just stood!"

"These grasses weren't burned away, they were blown up!"

A sudden thought flashed through Li Qing's mind, and a layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out from his bald head:

Yes, that makes sense now.

That guy was just faking his surrender. If everyone mistakenly took him for one of their own, he could create countless opportunities to launch another sneak attack.

At that time, he will be able to wipe out the opponent's entire team without lifting a finger.

After all, Sam Sand's sneak attack didn't even require a visible "battery"; he only needed to get close—close enough to detonate a "low-voltage battery."

Thinking of this, Li Qing hurriedly shouted a reminder to his companions who were still approaching:

"Stop! Don't come any closer!"

"That guy's Stand ability is to make 'batteries' explode—"

"Plants and animals can convert chemical energy into bioelectricity, and humans themselves are a kind of battery!"

PS: Substitute panel.

Stand name: "Stellar Note"

The true form—Sam Sand

Destructive power: B

Speed: B

Range: E

Endurance: B

Motion precision: E

Growth potential: E

Ability: Appears as a mecha infantryman wielding a grenade launcher.

Batteries can be manufactured and launched remotely.

It can release an invisible shockwave that detonates all batteries within a 50-meter radius of "Stellar Note" that meet the explosion conditions.

Apart from the original entity, Sym, all plants and animals with bioelectricity within their bodies can be considered as batteries to be detonated.

The higher the battery's operating voltage, the farther the detonation distance. (The detonation distance for a human body is two meters.)