Giving Up a Head

Since Squalo's corpse was still on the boat, Li Qing found it inconvenient to land on the city's coast, where there were many eyes and ears.

As a world-famous Mediterranean tourist city, Naples' coastline was practically empty of any unoccupied spots.

He ordered Andrew to pilot the speedboat around the outer waters of Naples for a while before finally finding a seaside park nestled between the countless inns, parks, attractions, roads, and seaside villas that was conveniently free of passersby and tourists.

This place was not far from Mount Vesuvius, and the pitch-black mountain body, built from volcanic ash and basalt, could be clearly seen from the sea.

A dense forest grew by the sea in the park, lending the beach a rare sense of tranquility.

Beyond this dense forest, a coastal town road was built a few hundred meters away. Vehicles occasionally passed by on the road, and it seemed like someone could appear at any moment.

"Um... Mr. Li Qing?"

Andrew's voice trembled with nervousness:

"Someone could come here at any moment, you... you're not still planning to bring the body ashore with you, are you?"

"If we're seen, we'll be in trouble."

"Haha, don't worry."

"It's already the limit of my kindness that I didn't let him be utterly destroyed. I'm not so sentimental as to help him rest in peace."

"Leave the body here, and someone will take care of it."

Li Qing smiled kindly, a smile that sent a chill down Andrew's spine:

"Also..."

"Since we've arrived in Naples, you're no longer useful to me as the boatman."

"N-no longer useful?"

Cold sweat beaded on Andrew's forehead, but Li Qing added calmly, "Let's go!"

"Huh?"

Andrew blinked in surprise, then let out a sigh of relief: "I... I can leave?"

"That's right."

"You're no longer useful to me!"

Li Qing urged him with an unfriendly tone:

"Useless people shouldn't stay here and obstruct my view. Now, get out of here immediately!"

"Oh, right."

"Don't walk ashore with me."

He suddenly pointed at the vast sea behind him, making an extremely strange request:

"Turn around, get back in the water, and swim out to sea!"

"Huh?"

Andrew couldn't understand Li Qing's intentions, but under Li Qing's fierce gaze, he didn't dare to hesitate.

Soon, he obediently turned around as instructed and plunged into the sea, swimming towards the distant sea surface with all his might.

Watching Andrew disappear into the distance, Li Qing suddenly sighed softly:

"You were someone I painstakingly rescued from a sea of fire, so I can't just let you die for nothing."

"Go back and keep piloting your boat."

"If you want to be my 'teammate,' your skills are still too lacking."

After a bout of nonsensical self-talk, he suddenly turned back and looked at the dense forest in front of him:

"Honestly, they don't even let me catch my breath."

"It seems I've really provoked some formidable guys this time..."

"Hey, hey, stop hiding!"

Li Qing shouted loudly at the seemingly empty forest:

"Your breathing is heavy, and your footsteps are as heavy as a bear's. I guess you're a fat guy?"

"I could hear you approaching the shore from hundreds of meters away, so you don't need to waste your effort!"

"..."

The forest was deathly silent.

However, soon, amidst the rustling of leaves and branches, a tall and bloated figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the forest.

It was a person who was plump, with grayish-white skin, an eerily evil aura, and a ferocious, ugly appearance.

"Is it you?"

"I only heard your footsteps, which means Diavolo only sent you to chase me?"

Li Qing stared intently at the approaching figure's expression, trying to glean any useful information from their words and actions.

However, the other party showed no intention of communicating.

He started laughing hysterically the moment he saw Li Qing:

"Hee hee hee."

"It's you, it's really you."

"You are the prey we've been waiting for."

He advanced on Li Qing, his laughter growing more manic.

The guy was covered in flab, walking with a slow gait, his neck folds trembling with every step.

But this comical posture, combined with his gloomy and wicked aura and his crazed, dead eyes, created a chilling terror.

Finally, when he was just a few steps away from Li Qing...

The excess flesh on his neck and chest began to writhe unnaturally, and then a mass of indescribable flesh proliferated from his very being.

These flesh masses, clinging to him, quickly coalesced, vaguely forming a monstrous blood-and-flesh creature that resembled a human.

"As expected..."

"This is a Stand attack!"

Seeing the nauseatingly evil spectacle, Li Qing finally confirmed the identity of his attacker—

This was a Stand User sent by Diavolo to hunt him down.

Well-prepared, he immediately activated his digitized combat mode and, in the same instant, pulled the cocked pistol from his pocket, pulling the trigger without hesitation:

Bang bang bang!

The gunshots rang out three times in succession.

The distance between them wasn't far, and Li Qing was ready to strike first, so all three shots found their mark.

Three searing metal projectiles tore through the air faster than sound, ripping through flesh and creating three fatal cavities in the enemy's bloated, obese body without mercy.

"Ugh!"

The enemy let out a pained howl, his bear-like, corpulent body trembling violently.

He staggered back several steps in a spray of blood, looking as though he might die from the severe gunshot wounds at any moment.

However, Li Qing didn't let his guard down at all:

"Something's wrong..."

"This can't be that simple!"

The surprise attack had gone even better than he'd initially imagined, yet he felt even more tense:

"This fatty took on the mission to hunt me alone and dared to show himself so openly, which means he's no ordinary opponent!"

"And when I shot him, he didn't panic at all."

"What's more terrifying is that he didn't even perform a natural human evasive maneuver—this guy had no intention of dodging my bullets!"

"It's obvious..."

"His Stand ability allows him to 'ignore' the damage from bullets!"

"So... is this ability 'Super Regeneration' that allows for endless recovery, or the simplest 'Physical Enhancement'?"

Li Qing analyzed the enemy's Stand ability with a practiced air, but...

Under his extremely vigilant gaze, the opponent, leaning shakily against a tree and gasping for breath, collapsed into a pool of blood with a ashen face.

Then, a system prompt sounded in his mind:

"Ding!"

"Successfully eliminated Carne, a member of the Passion Organization's Royal Guard. Gained experience..."

"What?"

Li Qing's expression froze: "He's... dead? Really dead?!"

People could fake their deaths, but the system's kill notification was absolutely irrefutable.

The mysterious enemy named Carne was, at this moment, truly, completely dead.

He had walked up to Li Qing alone, hadn't attacked, hadn't exchanged any words, and had simply killed himself in silence.

"How could this be..."

Li Qing's face was filled with astonishment:

"Did he come here just to feed me kills?"