Like Rock Rose

Mista only has one chance to attack.

He chose to make the most of this hard-won opportunity:

Since we can't kill anyone, let's destroy the arrows.

This successfully grasped the main contradiction.

After all, Diavolo's last hope for a comeback rests on his arrow.

Once the Bug Arrow is destroyed, he will never have another chance to become stronger and will be unable to resist the overwhelming force of justice on this side.

Jotaro Kujo, who caused him so much trouble, would become an insurmountable obstacle for him, an eternal nightmare he could never escape.

Diavolo himself clearly recognized this:

"The arrows are all gone."

"Without that power, I..."

The consequences are self-evident; just consider the enemy lineup he faces at this moment:

Li Qing's squad, the organization that has changed hands, Jotaro Kujo, the SPW Foundation, and even the biggest rogue state on Earth that dares to kill generals from other countries at will.

Without sufficient power, let alone turning the tables and settling scores, he would probably struggle even to protect himself.

"You bastard!"

Diavolo's eyes were already red.

"It's all your fault, you two brats! You ruined everything I had!"

Giorno and Mista, these two inexperienced young men, became Diavolo's two most wanted targets.

Even Li Qing, whom he had regarded as his nemesis since yesterday, did not inspire as much hatred in him as Giorno and Mista.

These two brats destroyed his self-esteem and his hope.

"He deserves to die!!"

Diavolo roared angrily.

He was like a mad dog cornered in a dead end, leaping over the wall of reason in his mind:

"King Crimson!"

The grotesque-looking humanoid stand-in then made its move.

The cooldown period for the Time Erasure hasn't completely ended yet, but that's no longer important.

In his attempt to ensure that the final bullet would destroy the target, Mista had completely exposed his own weaknesses:

Those are the three little people, No.1, No.2, and No.3.

They had just ridden the bullets all the way here, and while successfully controlling the bullets' trajectories on the spot, they were also forced to put themselves in the tiger's den.

This was an unavoidable situation, or rather, it was a difficult choice that Mista made voluntarily.

He knew what he was going to face.

Now, the three little figures are floating in the air not far in front of Diavolo.

They turned around and tried their best to fly back to their owner.

But King Crimson is much faster.

This hideous and evil clone suddenly unleashed a hand chop, sweeping up a fierce and terrifying high-pressure storm.

The three little figures were like a small boat tossed about in a storm, powerless to resist the towering waves of the tsunami.

With just one strike, they were all blasted to pieces.

These tiny figures, formed from spiritual energy, were crushed into nothingness fragments by that immense power.

"Ah!"

Mista, who was standing downstairs, immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

Although the destroyed little creatures will slowly regenerate, the immense damage they suffer when they revert to their original form upon destruction is not to be underestimated.

That attack was almost fatal for Mista.

Even with his exceptionally strong and robust physique, he couldn't withstand the triple damage that was spread throughout his entire body.

His muscles and bones were torn and trembling violently from the severe injuries, and his internal organs were showing faint, fatal cracks.

Mista instantly lost his fighting ability.

Thump--

The revolver, now out of bullets, fell limply to the ground.

Mista fell into a pool of his own blood.

He was still alive, conscious, and had the strength to speak, but he no longer had the strength to fight.

"Not enough!"

Diavolo was clearly not satisfied with just seeing such a tragic scene.

He has always liked to take revenge on his enemies in the most cruel way, such as the human body slices that were once widely circulated within the Passion Organization as educational propaganda material.

Now, Mista is not just an enemy, but a sworn enemy.

"Go to hell!"

Diavolo roared as he climbed the rock railing on the second floor and then jumped down.

He landed steadily as the King Crimson approached, about ten meters in front of Mista and Giorno.

Then, Diavolo straightened his posture and strode forward, approaching his goal step by step.

With every step, one could hear a chilling power emanating from him.

"Gold Experience!"

At this critical moment, Giorno made his move:

"Wood big wood big wood big wood big!"

"Wood big wood big wood big wood big!"

The Gold Experience slammed into the ground with tremendous force, the shadow of his fists as swift as the wind and as powerful as waves.

While the enemy's "Time Erasure time" was still up, it used its maximum power and speed to build lines of defense for its master.

First, there is a wave of vines growing backward.

These vines immediately restrained Mista's severely injured and immobile body, transporting him to a farther and safer rear area.

Then there are the weeds that grow on the ground.

These weeds grew wildly, forming a continuous patch, and then withered and fell off as they grew, piling up layer upon layer.

In just a short while, they actually covered the ground with a grass carpet that was more than ten centimeters thick.

Finally, there were clusters of shrubs rising from the ground.

These shrubs formed a wide, solid defensive line around Giorno.

The green leaves overlapped one after another, and the branches were adorned with beautiful white and yellow flowers.

There seemed to be many other kinds of plants mixed in with the shrubs, but the dim lighting and the fact that the plants themselves were covered by the lush shrubs made them hard to notice.

Giorno thus built a fortress of plants around himself.

Then, he guarded the plant fortress, protecting Mista tightly behind him.

"This"

Mista saw what Giorno did:

"Those plants... could they be Rock Rose?"

His eyes widened, and another trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth.

"Don't worry."

Giorno turned around and said, word by word:

"I will protect you, just like Rock Rose."

About half an hour ago.

The helicopter crashed, and everyone parachuted to safety.

Giorno and Mista successfully met up on the streets of Rome and managed to borrow a car from a passerby.

"How lucky I am!"

"I originally thought I would be ambushed by the enemy after landing, but I didn't expect to be safe and sound all the way."

Mista drove while muttering to himself, feeling incredibly fortunate.

"No, this isn't necessarily luck."

Giorno, sitting in the passenger seat, inappropriately poured cold water on the situation:

"We have a smooth journey and will definitely arrive at the Colosseum soon."

"And Diavolo himself will most likely be there too."

"Huh?" Mista jumped up in surprise. "Then, what do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do."

Giorno sighed softly:

"Given the current situation, how can we possibly not go?"

"."

"Yes, we have to go."

"However, now that we know Diavolo might be there, we should think of a plan in advance, right?"

This is a serious issue.

In fact, Li Qing and others had already discussed this matter:

The final conclusion was that they should stick together.

Form a team of at least three people, stand back to back and watch each other, and maintain a defensive posture throughout the entire process.

It's a bit frustrating, but it's the only way to deal with the elusive King Crimson.

Only by preserving one's life can one devise a counterattack based on the specific environment, terrain, timing, and other circumstances.

And now.

"Now it's just the two of us."

"If it's just the two of us, or even worse, how do we deal with Diavolo?"

Mista knew perfectly well that her Sex Pistols seemed unworthy of a one-on-one fight with the King Crimson.

Let alone winning, it will be difficult to even save your life.

"If we don't have enough manpower..."

When this question was raised, Giorno's expression became unusually serious:

"Then we can only try to use some tricks to protect ourselves."

"For example, you can set up traps with area-of-effect damage around yourself in advance, so that Diavolo will not dare to get close, or if he does get close, he will be hit and killed."

"Ha?"

Mista followed Giorno's train of thought and considered the following:

"Then aren't we finished?"

"Fugo has Purple Haze and poisonous fog that he can release, but all I know how to do is shoot."

"Adding you to the mix, your Gold Experience doesn't seem to have any area-of-effect destructive power."

No, there are.

Giorno said meaningfully.

"Oh?"

"You can also release poison?"

"I can indeed release poison, after all, many plants in nature can release toxic gases."

"However, most of these plant toxins that naturally evaporate into gases are not very potent, often only causing dizziness and nausea."

"Most highly toxic plant toxins need to be ingested or come into contact with blood, which greatly limits their use in actual combat."

"So, I actually prefer to use fire."

"Fire?" Mista, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Gold Experience has the ability to set things on fire?"

"Gold Experience certainly can't be set on fire, but plants can."

For example

Giorno continued his explanation:

"By simply piling up the weeds and then using the Gold Experience to accelerate their internal respiration and heat production, heat will continuously accumulate inside the pile, eventually leading to 'smoldering'."

"Now I have fire to use."

"But isn't that enough?"

Mista, who came from a rural area, couldn't help but raise questions:

"I've witnessed hay spontaneously combusting on my ranch back home."

"That kind of spontaneous combustion is far too slow; how could it possibly be used for combat and to injure people?"

"This is just a 'source of fire'."

"Haystacks can provide a source of fire, while other plants can provide a large amount of flammable material."

"For example, there's the eucalyptus tree, which secretes a lot of eucalyptus oil; Dictamnus dasycarpus, which secretes isoprene; and our local specialty, the Mediterranean Rock Rose."

Giorno's voice paused slightly:

Do you know?

"The leaves and stems of the Mediterranean Rock Rose secrete a flammable volatile essential oil."

"It often deliberately 'kills' itself."

"Suicide? Plants can commit suicide?" Mista stared in astonishment.

"Yes."

"However, there is a reason why it did this."

"In the Mediterranean climate, summers are hot and humid, and rain and heat do not occur at the same time. Rock Rose are very likely to die of thirst in the hot summer due to water loss."

"Therefore, it chooses to secrete large amounts of essential oils under the scorching sun, creating conditions for spontaneous combustion to burn itself to death."

"When it is burned to ashes, the 'enemy plants' that compete with it for nutrients in the nearby soil will also be burned to ashes."

"And in the fertile fire soil where wood ash has accumulated, the children of the Rock Rose will sprout green shoots from their heat-resistant shells and thrive in the embers of their parents."

Giorno tells a breathtaking epic of plants.

As Mista listened, she was moved by the story of a shrub:

"The sacrifice of one generation is exchanged for the lives of the next."

"It turns out that there are such touching stories in nature too."

"That's right."

So, don't worry.

Giorno said to Mista very solemnly:

"I will protect you, just like the Rock Rose."

"Um."

Mista nodded with deep emotion.

"Etc."

He was slightly taken aback, suddenly realizing that something seemed off about Giorno's words:

"Protect me like Rock Rose?"

"The Rock Rose is a plant that sacrifices its life for its offspring."

"Giorno, could it be..."

"You"

Mista's expression changed drastically:

"Are you trying to take advantage of me?"