Gold Experience

Li Qing tried to soften his expression, so as not to scare the benefactors who had saved his life.

However, in the very next moment, an indescribable shock appeared on his face:

"This..."

"That flesh mass, that monster, it actually caught up!"

That's right, the strange flesh mass that had almost swallowed Li Qing in the forest just now was now following the trajectory of Li Qing's Echoes Act escape, pursuing him at an extremely terrifying speed towards the bus he was currently on.

Gales swept across its bloated, grotesque body, and the sound waves of tearing air continuously rolled in.

30 meters, 20 meters, 10 meters...

When Li Qing realized he hadn't shaken off the flesh mass at all, it had already approached to within about 10 meters of the back of the bus.

In other words, it hadn't been far behind Li Qing's Echoes Act from the very beginning.

"How is that possible?"

Li Qing's face turned extremely grim:

"The displacement speed when I used Echoes Act felt faster than a high-speed train at full throttle, and that monster can actually keep up with that kind of speed?!"

"This is too much..."

"Why do I keep running into these life-threatening perverts today."

He gritted his teeth tightly and roared at the group of shocked middle schoolers in front of him:

"Quick!"

"If you don't want to die, all of you run to the front of the bus!"

"Huh?"

This busload of middle schoolers couldn't understand Li Qing's agitation at all. They were still immersed in the shock of "a bald man suddenly appearing in the carriage."

And the bus driver in the driver's seat only realized belatedly that something seemed to have happened in the back of the carriage.

But he immediately discovered that this was far more than just a commotion.

Because the constantly wriggling and deforming bloated flesh mass had already leaped rapidly from the road behind and clung tightly to the rear window of the bus.

Crunch crunch...

Like a greedy beast, the flesh mass madly devoured the iron sheet of the carriage blocking it, and a strange and terrifying sound of metal deformation followed.

This monster seemed to be able to eat anything. Soon, the rear windshield and the carriage's iron sheet were completely devoured by it.

In their place, a wriggling, sinister wall of flesh appeared.

It seemed to regard the bus as a cradle for its own gestation. The flesh mass, like a plague, continuously contorted, stretched, and spread within the carriage, soon covering every seat and every corner of the carriage's rear with its disgusting tumor.

Li Qing should be grateful that he was blind. Otherwise, he would definitely have been disgusted to the point of getting goosebumps by this nauseating sight.

However, even just by listening, the sounds of the flesh mass wriggling nearby still made his heart tremble:

"Damn it..."

"What should I do? This monster can keep up with the maximum speed of Echoes Act, how can I deal with it?"

He stood there stiffly, no longer even having the inclination to escape.

After all, his previous experience had already told him that blind escape was futile in the face of this monster whose speed seemed to have no upper limit.

Li Qing stood in a daze, motionless, while the middle school students in the carriage were also greatly terrified.

Although they couldn't see the evil Stand with its strong Lovecraftian style, they could still see the carriage's iron sheet twisting and deforming in the "air" before eventually disappearing.

"God!!"

The Lord in heaven suddenly gained a group of stunned believers:

Their gazes passed through the "transparent" flesh mass, like a ghost, and looked directly at the scenery outside the car behind, where there was no longer any obstruction.

"The back of the carriage... the window, the iron sheet, the seats, why are they all gone!"

"Is it... is it haunted?!"

These middle schoolers were all in a panic and instinctively fled towards the front of the carriage, which was still intact.

But at this moment...

The flesh mass, like a shark that had smelled blood, suddenly leaped from the rear of the carriage and pounced towards one of the fastest-escaping teenagers.

"Ah!!"

The teenager, knocked to the ground by the flesh mass, immediately fell and cried out in panic during this extremely bizarre attack.

He instinctively struggled beneath the "ghost" that couldn't be seen at all, but the flesh mass instantly differentiated into several thick fleshy tentacles, firmly binding his flailing legs and arms.

"This..."

Sensing this scene, Li Qing's heart skipped a beat:

"It didn't attack me, but went to attack that child who has nothing to do with me?"

"Why? Could it be..."

He thought for a moment and then muttered in realization:

"Wrong!"

"I was wrong from the very beginning. This thing doesn't have any intelligence at all; it's just acting on instinct."

"It wasn't locking onto me as a specific target to hunt down earlier. Instead, it was like a mindless machine, executing a pre-programmed directive—"

"Attack the target within its perception range that is moving the fastest!"

With this thought, Li Qing hurriedly shouted to the students still crowding and fleeing towards the front of the carriage:

"Don't move!"

"Everyone, stay still!"

"Whoever moves fastest right now will die!"

Li Qing's roar had some effect.

The junior high school students were startled by the sudden shout and instinctively stopped their panicked pushing.

Including Li Qing, everyone on the bus froze in place, as if playing a game of "statue."

Of course, the unlucky student was still wailing under the restraint of the flesh.

If nothing unexpected happened, in a few seconds, he would be completely devoured by the sinister mass of flesh, just like the disappearing glass and seats.

However...

Just then, a blonde teenager unexpectedly stood up from a nearby seat.

He was Giorno Giovanna, an ordinary 13-year-old junior high student, the protagonist Li Qing had come to Naples to find.

"Hey!"

"Kid, didn't I tell you not to move around!"

Li Qing impatiently yelled to stop the 'nameless brat' from seeking his own death, but at the same time, he sensed something was off:

Something's not right.

The kid's breathing and heartbeat weren't even disturbed.

He's just a bystander, yet he's not panicking at all?

"Thank you for your concern,"

Giorno replied calmly, "but I believe I have the ability to save my classmate."

"Huh?"

Li Qing vaguely realized something: "Could it be that you are also a Stand—"

Before he could finish asking this question, Giorno made his move:

"You just said that the mass of flesh selects its targets based on 'movement speed,' right?"

"If that's the case, then..."

"Leave this to me!"

A ripple appeared in Giorno's emerald green eyes, and a golden-armored, slender, and agile humanoid Stand emerged from behind him:

"Gold Experience!"

As soon as the humanoid Stand named Gold Experience appeared, it unleashed a barrage of punches in the air, as dense and rapid as a meteor shower from an anime:

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!!"

While throwing punches, it also unconsciously let out a powerful roar.

For some reason, Li Qing felt a sense of familiarity with this roar.

But he didn't have the time to recall where he'd heard this "MUDA MUDA" roar before. Li Qing was more concerned about the mysterious teenager's incomprehensible actions—

This guy didn't order his Stand to attack the mass of flesh at all. Instead, he poured all those swift-as-the-wind punches into an empty seat beside him.

"What are you doing?!"

Li Qing asked, confused:

"Are you trying to lure the mass of flesh over with your punching speed?"

"But that monster has strong vitality. If you can't kill it, doing this will only lead to your own death!"

"No need to worry."

Giorno replied carefully and calmly:

"I'm not seeking death; I'm creating a 'lure' to attract its aggression."

"Creating a lure?"

Li Qing couldn't connect "beating up a seat" with "creating a lure" at all.

"That's right."

Amidst the barrage of punches from Gold Experience, the crumbling, shattered seat surprisingly transformed into a lifelike little bird:

"This is my Gold Experience's Stand ability—"

"Creating life."

PS: Stand Panel

Stand Name: "Gold Experience"

User: Giorno Giovanna

Destructive Power: C

Speed: A

Range: C

Durability: D

Precision: C

Growth: A

Ability: A humanoid, close-range power-type Stand. It can grant "life" to hit objects, transforming them into animals or plants found on Earth. The creatures it can transform into are limited to those Giorno recognizes and understands (cannot transform into extinct or imaginary creatures).

Creatures transformed by this ability can grow or die according to Giorno's will. It can transform objects into human organs to fill wounds, but the pain will not disappear.