Ruins and Towers

The attack of the Sun Disc was silent and its light was not visible to mortals.

In addition, the dim lighting and loud noise meant that the brief but intense battle did not cause much of a stir on this bustling street.

Most pedestrians and vehicles hurried by, and only a few lucky ones witnessed the amazing sight of Fugo's "flying man," and they were rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

Fugo, of course, had no time to pay attention to one or two passersby who were staring at him with strange looks.

There is only one thing he needs to think about now:

How could that disc-shaped tower, which I had finally managed to leave 20 meters behind, suddenly grow out at my feet?

"Damn it, why?!"

Despite trying his best, he found it was all in vain, and the irritable Fugo couldn't help but swear.

His rapid escape not only failed to get him out of the enemy's Stand's attack range, but actually brought them even closer together.

At that very moment, the gleaming tower appeared at his feet, so close that it bumped into Fugo as it rose from the ground.

This feels like Kuafu from Eastern mythology, except that Kuafu could never catch up with the sun, while Fugo could never shake off the "sun".

Helpless, filled with despair, powerlessness, and intense indignation, he could only silently praise the sun in his heart:

"Damn! You're beautiful!"

And at this moment, just as before.

The tower appeared silently, and the disc began to rapidly accumulate light energy.

Before Fugo could even ponder the reason for the tower's appearance, the terrifying light blasts condensed from the Sun Disc shot towards him once more.

This time the distance was closer, his situation was more dangerous, and his reaction time to dodge was shorter.

But it was in this danger that he suddenly realized something:

"Etc."

"Why is the tower always targeting me?"

Fugo's eyes flashed, and his peripheral vision unconsciously lingered on Narancia was almost forgotten by the enemy not far away.

His brain began to work at breakneck speed in this critical moment:

"Since the enemy possesses such powerful long-range attack capabilities, then logically speaking, the Aerosmith, which is also a long-range attack weapon, should pose a greater threat to him than the Purple Haze, which has a range of only 5 meters."

"However, the tower's target remained firmly locked on me, without any change from beginning to end."

"If this wasn't done intentionally by the enemy..."

"That means this tower is very likely a kind of 'remote, automated substitute'!"

Seeing that the golden ball of light was about to hit him, Fugo rolled away in a sorry state.

His maximum speed, unleashed at full power, allowed him to narrowly evade the bombardment of the light sphere once again, leaving behind only a patch of cracked and broken land.

At this moment, as expected, the tower once again began to relentlessly gather light orbs to launch an attack.

The target of the attack, as always, was the troubled Fugo.

"The attack frequency is so fixed, and the attack targets remain unchanged."

"As expected, this is indeed an automatic Stand."

Fugo finally confirmed his guess.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. Only by knowing the type of Stand can you come up with the right countermeasures.

If his judgment is correct, then this information can at least illustrate two points:

First, the automatic Stand will only rigidly follow the program to hunt down the target, which means that Narancia does not seem to be targeted at the moment, is safe.

Second, automated substitutes often have special behavior patterns. As long as we find out the underlying operating rules, we can find corresponding solutions.

Once he understands these two points, he can at least...

He slipped away on his own without any worries.

"Narancia, be careful and protect yourself!"

"Well?"

Narancia was slightly taken aback, and was momentarily unable to react.

But Fugo decisively abandoned his companion, who was not being targeted by the enemy, and fled alone in a sorry state before the fierce bombardment of the golden orb.

The ball of light once again narrowly missed Fugo, startling him into a cold sweat of exhaustion and fear, before leaving a shocking crack and crater in the ground with overwhelming force.

"Purple Haze!"

Fugo's forehead was already covered in cold sweat without him even realizing it.

Unable to retaliate, unable to withstand the attack, and without even having time to consider the enemy's whereabouts, he had no choice but to flee.

He boarded the "Purple Haze" high-speed train once again.

This humanoid Stand, possessing the power of a tiger or wolf, easily dragged its original body off the ground and fled further away with Fugo.

On her first leap, Purple Haze jumped 7 meters.

The golden halo, which had condensed and taken shape countless times, followed closely behind the dust and smoke as the Purple Haze landed.

Purple Haze dared not linger and immediately took to the air under her master's command.

Its form is not as light and elegant as the masters of light-footed skills in martial arts movies, but the pure power shown in its steps gives people a unique violent beauty.

The ground beneath its feet cracked instantly like a net, and the violent force propelled it into the air.

Two golden orbs of light shot through the air in succession, but could only miss their targets as the Purple Haze smoke soared into the sky and left its silhouette.

Finally

The second leap, the third leap.

Purple Haze landed heavily more than 20 meters away from the tower.

Amidst the rising dust, Fugo and Purple Haze moved away from the predicted attack range of the Tower of the Sun.

Just like before, the Sun Disc instantly lost its target, and its brilliant light seemed to dissipate.

"They escaped successfully?"

"But what comes next is the important part."

Having just experienced the "life tower" beneath his feet, Fugo realized that the strange energy tower was not something he could shake off by simply running away.

It is some kind of automatic tracking avatar that will relentlessly pursue its target in some way until the target is completely wiped off the face of the earth.

With this in mind, Fugo focused all his attention on observing his surroundings:

The tower was still 20 meters away, and its brilliance had faded and dimmed as the target receded into the distance.

There were no foreign objects, no strange markings, and not even a passerby who might be an enemy around him.

All that remained were a few roadside trees, a car parked on the side of the road, a road surface temporarily devoid of pedestrians and vehicles, and a crack left by the Purple Haze as it landed.

And just then...

Just as Fugo had no time to think further, the Tower of the Sun, which had been left 20 meters behind, collapsed instantly.

As expected, what just happened has been repeated.

Under Fugo's tense and helpless gaze, a magnificent and bright tower suddenly rose from the ground at Purple Haze's feet, releasing strange and dazzling light in all directions.

"It's happening again!"

"Damn it. They didn't give me a moment to breathe; I didn't even have time to think about how they were hunting me down!"

Fugo's expression became extremely serious.

Escaping from the rapid-fire bullets was an extremely demanding test of both physical and mental strength; the slightest mistake would likely eliminate any chance of survival.

After several close calls and Purple Haze's repeated all-out escapes, he was already showing signs of fatigue.

If things continue like this, if that tower continues to appear endlessly around him, if those light bullets keep bombarding him relentlessly, Fugo has absolutely no guarantee that he can hold out for as long as possible.

"What to do."

He did not give up thinking.

But faced with the relentless barrage of golden bullets that seemed to haunt him like an inescapable demon, Fugo had no time to think.

He could only mechanically dodge and dodge until he was caught off guard during one of his escapes, or until he was exhausted and died with resentment in the endless dodging.

"Fugo!"

At this critical moment, Fugo heard Narancia's urgent and eager voice.

This comrade, whom the enemy had temporarily ignored and whom he himself could not keep up with, finally saw through a crucial piece of information at a critical moment.

As Narancia instinctively ran toward Fugo, he shouted urgently:

"The key is the location, specifically the ground conditions where that tower appeared!"

"I realized that when that tower first appeared, it 'grew' out of a piece of broken road surface that was under construction."

"And its second and third appearances both occurred suddenly on the broken road surface where the Purple Haze landed!"

In other words...

Narancia's cry was like a spring rain in a drought, instantly extinguishing the flames of anxiety in Fugo's heart.

His eyes lit up, and his vision, which had been obscured by shadows, suddenly opened up:

"I see!"

"Like other remote-controlled automatic Stands, the enemy's Stand will only appear under specific conditions."

"And that condition is—a damaged road surface!"

PS: Substitute panel.

Stand name: "Sun Disc"

Body—— Kino Azir

Destructive power: A

Speed: None

Range: A

Endurance: A

Precision of movement: C

Growth potential: E

Ability: Its appearance is a golden tower with a sun-shaped luminous disc floating at its top.

Once a target is locked, if there are "ruins" within 20 meters of the target, the Sun Disc will automatically appear in the "ruins" closest to the target and launch a continuous light energy attack on the target.

If the target moves out of the Sun Disc's 20-meter attack range, but "ruins" still exist within 20 meters of it, the Sun Disc will move accordingly.

(Damaged roads and ruined buildings can be considered ruins, but the damage needs to reach a certain level.)