Phone Call

"Clash" missed.

The Stand attack, which condensed Squalo's last trace of mental energy and held all his hopes, missed.

Li Qing instantly charged to Andrew's side using the Golden Bell Shield's skill effect, and also applied a shield to himself that could resist damage.

White waves surged into the sky, and a heavy rain began to fall.

And in this drenching rain, "Clash"'s massive body quickly dispersed into nothingness.

"Sonically Enhanced Wave!"

Li Qing didn't hesitate for a moment.

After charging to Andrew's side with the Golden Bell Shield, perfectly avoiding the enemy's Stand attack, he immediately turned around at high speed and blasted the Sonically Enhanced Wave at Squalo's main body.

Squalo was already extremely weak and could no longer use his Stand to block the mark of the Sonically Enhanced Wave for him.

Soon, an indelible white mark was branded onto his chest.

At the same time, the dispersal of "Clash" did not make Li Qing relax his vigilance.

The next instant, Li Qing, without mercy, used the Sonically Enhanced Wave's mark to locate Squalo, who was still barely clinging to life on the speedboat, and sped towards him:

"Echoes Act!"

Under the heavy blow of Echoes Act, Squalo violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

He collapsed powerlessly at Li Qing's feet, only a faint trace of life remaining in his eyes.

"Oh, you're still alive?"

"It seems the main bodies of Stand Users are quite sturdy."

Li Qing casually commented a couple of times, then looked down at the dying Squalo and said:

"How about it, want to live?"

"If you want to live, just exchange it for information."

"You were sent by Diavolo to hunt me, right? Who are your other companions, and what are their Stand abilities?"

The head-hunter would never let go of a head he'd acquired; his proposed deal was completely insincere.

But if possible, Li Qing still wanted to try and trick his opponent to see if he could get any useful information.

"Dichano."

Squalo uttered a name.

However, he wasn't answering Li Qing's question, but was unconsciously muttering to himself:

"Dichano."

"Without me as your partner, your useless Stand ability must be pretty hard to manage, right?"

"Seriously, we said we'd have lunch together."

"We argue every time we eat, but this time I'll listen to you. Keep it simple. Order a Margherita pizza."

Squalo muttered, and the light in his eyes gradually faded.

"Margherita pizza?"

Li Qing didn't understand this overly strange last word, so he stopped wasting time:

"Forget it, forget it, you might as well die."

He reached out and gave Squalo a bit of "small help."

The experience bar on the System interface suddenly increased by a large margin.

"Alright!"

Li Qing turned around and waved to Andrew, who was still floating on the sea in the distance: "It's safe now, get on the boat!"

"Y-yes"

Andrew nodded foolishly.

After witnessing Li Qing's abilities of walking through fire with his bare body, his hands glowing white, and moving at high speed on the water, he finally realized that Li Qing was not just some ordinary bald Mafia member, but a bald Mafia member with superpowers.

He slowly swam over as Li Qing instructed and climbed onto the edge of the speedboat.

Before he could climb up, Andrew saw a pair of eyes that would never close in death—

It was Squalo.

The skin on his face was a mess of black and red, indistinguishable, and the dull gray eyes held the luster of dead fish, a truly terrifying sight.

"D-dead person?"

Seeing this horrifying scene, Andrew instinctively stopped his attempt to board the boat.

"Don't be scared."

Li Qing said with a smile, trying to comfort him, "I'll throw him into the sea to feed the fish right away."

"Hey, hey."

"You look even scarier like this."

Andrew grumbled inwardly, but in the end, he obediently climbed up.

"You take the driver's seat and pilot the boat to get us out of here."

"Judging by the current situation, you'll probably have to give me another ride."

As Li Qing casually instructed Andrew to start the speedboat, he lifted Squalo's corpse from the driver's seat with one hand.

However, just as he was about to throw the charred, unrecognizable corpse into the sea with a look of disgust...

A mobile phone ringtone suddenly blared from the speedboat.

It was Squalo's phone; someone was calling him.

"Oh?"

Li Qing paused his disposal of the body and picked up the phone with interest.

He exited Digitization Mode and glanced at the caller ID, which displayed the name:

"Dichano?"

"Is that the companion he mentioned earlier?"

Li Qing hesitated for a moment before finally answering the call.

The call connected, and the man named Dichano eagerly asked:

"Hello, hello?"

"Squalo, is your work there resolved?"

"If it's done, hurry back! Don't forget, we have a lunch appointment today!"

"I'm telling you, Squalo..."

"Don't order that terrible squid ink pasta again for lunch; that black stuff really ruins the appetite!"

He rambled on and on over the phone but received no response.

"Hello, hello... Squalo, why aren't you talking?"

"Are you playing dead?!"

The other party fell silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was distorted with agitation:

"Damn it..."

"Even if you're my partner, I can't tolerate such a terrible joke..."

"Squalo, talk to me quickly..."

"Lunch, what are we having for lunch?!"

"Sorry, he probably can't take your call right now."

After a long silence, Li Qing finally responded.

"You!"

The man named Dichano finally exploded: "You... you killed Squalo?!"

"Hey, hey..."

Li Qing sighed indifferently:

"Why are you making it sound like I'm the bad guy?"

"Since you guys chased after me like starved, rabid dogs, you should be prepared to be beaten to death with a stick!"

"Don't you go making threats either; let me say those lines: "

"Tell your boss—"

"I hope when he's drawing lots for housing in hell in a couple of days, he'll remember that ever since he angered me, a passing ordinary citizen, this morning, his death star has already begun to flicker."

Dichano on the other end of the line fell completely silent.

But he likely wasn't intimidated by these meaningless threats.

Because, amidst this deathly silence, Li Qing seemed to hear a faint, mournful cry.

The sound was like a stubborn dog that stood in the middle of a busy road, trying desperately to nuzzle its companion's corpse, only to finally realize it would never wake up again.

Li Qing unconsciously restrained his triumphant mockery:

"Oh, right."

"That guy named Squalo said you're having Margherita pizza today."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

"Let's go."

Li Qing casually tossed Squalo's phone into the sea, then slowly sat back down in his seat. "Start the boat, we're leaving here."

"Understood."

Andrew, in the driver's seat, nodded and expertly started the speedboat.

As the speedboat slowly began to move, Andrew asked, "Sir, where are we going now?"

"Where? That..."

Li Qing hesitated.

After a brief moment of thought, he suddenly asked Andrew out of the blue, "How far is Naples from here?"

"Naples?"

Andrew was slightly taken aback. "That's on the other side of the coast!"

"From this location, even with a speedboat, it would take at least 6 or 7 hours to reach the port of Naples."

"What if some strange person comes to hunt you down again?"

For his own safety, he couldn't help but offer a small suggestion:

"Why don't I take you back to the island, and you can catch a plane yourself?"

"Oh."

"That's a good idea, so..."

Li Qing didn't even lift an eyelid. "Listen to me, we're going to Naples."

"..."

Andrew's expression shifted several times, but in the end, he obediently followed Li Qing's instructions.

While busy piloting the speedboat, he couldn't help but turn his head and steal a glance at Squalo's gruesome corpse in the back seat:

"Uh, sir?"

"Aren't you going to dispose of this body?"

"No need."

"Let's just leave him whole. It's not like it takes up much space."

Li Qing replied expressionlessly.