Baiting with My Own Body

"Muda muda muda muda!"

Within the bus, which had practically become a living hell of flesh, Giorno's powerful battle cry echoed.

This dazzling Stand, radiating a faint golden light, had been "muda-ing" intermittently for nearly half a minute under Giorno's command.

As long as the mass of flesh showed any sign of shifting its target to attack ordinary people, Gold Experience, using its miraculous Stand ability, would infuse inanimate objects with life energy, transforming them into decoys to capture the flesh's attention.

Finally, with Giorno's desperate protection and Li Qing's harsh urging, the terrified ordinary people, carrying their injured, managed to escape.

They fled far enough to get out of the flesh's attack range.

Even if Giorno didn't create more Brown Swallow decoys, the twisted mass of flesh didn't turn to pursue his classmates.

However.

Li Qing and Giorno remained in place, in the human purgatory that was almost entirely covered by tumors and tentacles.

And whether it was luck or misfortune, there wasn't a single other pedestrian or vehicle on this empty road.

They had drawn the monster's hatred to themselves to protect the students, but now, no one could draw the hatred away from them.

"Hoo hoo..."

"Stop moving, Gold Experience."

Giorno, panting heavily, ordered his Stand to stop, sweat pouring down his forehead.

The immense strain from overusing his Stand ability had left him mentally exhausted, and he was only able to stay on his feet by sheer force of will.

At this moment, the monster, which had expanded to the size of a car, had also lost its target.

It instinctively settled on the bus, which had been half-eaten, and slowly, unconsciously, extended its writhing flesh blanket outwards, continuously encroaching on everything around it.

"Hey..."

"Mr. Baldy."

Giorno, struggling to maintain his rigid stillness, gasped and said:

"Have you thought of a way to escape?"

"If we keep this up, even if we stand still like statues, we'll eventually be swallowed by the monster's constantly spreading body."

"A way to escape?"

Li Qing also maintained his comical 'Red Light, Green Light' pose:

"Of course, I have."

"Otherwise, would I be staying here to wait for death with you?"

He gave Giorno a confident expression and then suddenly asked, "Kid, can you control the animals you create?"

"This..."

Giorno mustered his energy, maintaining his composure before the slowly approaching mass of flesh:

"The animals I create have their own consciousness, true life."

"It's impossible to control them at will. At most, I can only give them a simple command."

"That's enough."

Li Qing's expression relaxed considerably.

Even as the disgusting giant mass of flesh was nearing his body, his voice remained calm:

"Then, please create another bird."

"It doesn't have to be a Brown Swallow. Preferably a bird with a very slow takeoff speed, slower than a human's maximum running speed."

"After you create it, command it to fly straight up into the sky."

"Slower than a human's maximum running speed?"

Giorno was a little confused, but he didn't ask further.

He knew he could only trust the mysterious bald man: "Okay, should I start now?"

"Wait."

Li Qing stopped Giorno's eager movement:

"When I say start, you start."

As he spoke, he furrowed his brow slightly, concentrating to listen to everything around them.

"This..."

Giorno didn't know what Li Qing was listening for or what timing he was waiting for.

The only thing he knew was that, given the monster's slow but steady advance, he had at most ten seconds left to live.

In ten seconds, he and Li Qing would be submerged in that swamp of flesh, never to escape.

1098

The chunk of flesh was getting closer and closer, the distance between them less than a meter.

765

Li Qing still hadn't called out the start, but the flesh's pseudopods had already slowly extended to Giorno's feet.

The squirming sounds from so close, the nauseating stench, were enough to turn any brave and fearless warrior into a cowardly fugitive.

432

Li Qing still hadn't moved.

The tendrils extended from the flesh had already touched Giorno's shoes.

What is he waiting for?!

Giorno couldn't help but question this in his heart.

For a moment, he even suspected that Li Qing was actually out of ideas and just wanted him to cling to a false hope and wait quietly to die.

But, facing the overwhelming aura of death, he ultimately chose to believe Li Qing.

1

The flesh that touched Giorno's body was stimulated by the fragrance of his flesh and blood, 'awakening'.

It rapidly wriggled its bloated body, pouncing on Giorno's delicious flesh like a hungry wolf.

At this moment, Li Qing finally shouted:

"Start!"

"Gold Experience!"

Giorno, prepared, called out his Stand. The agile Gold Experience immediately unleashed a flurry of punches:

"Muda muda muda!"

Its golden fists condensed with powerful life force, instantly "punching" a nearby seat into a plump pigeon.

Yes.

To satisfy Li Qing's request for a "slow takeoff," Giorno had even added a bit of sustenance to this pigeon.

"Coo!"

As soon as the fat pigeon was born, it cooed.

Without Giorno needing to command it, just by sensing the invisible aura emanating from the giant chunk of flesh, it desperately began to fly towards the sky.

And although its speed was slow, it was still much faster than Giorno who was standing still.

Therefore, the flesh, which operated entirely on rigid programming, immediately abandoned Giorno and turned to attack the fat pigeon that had just flown a short distance.

"Sonically Enhanced Wave!"

At this moment, Li Qing suddenly waved his hand, unleashing a dazzling ball of light that branded a white tracking mark onto the fat pigeon.

"Coo coo coo!"

The fat pigeon, hit by the Sonically Enhanced Wave, felt immense pain and couldn't help but fly faster and more vigorously.

The flesh also abruptly contracted its strange and tough body, intending to spring up from the ground like it had preyed on the Brown Swallow before.

However, Li Qing stopped it:

"Let go of that pigeon! Come at me if you have something to settle!"

He let out a fierce roar, instantly unleashing all his strength, and rapidly fled towards the open road outside the carriage.

The flesh was a mindless, instinctive creature.

Like a monkey being toyed with by bananas, it immediately gave up on the fat pigeon it was about to catch and instead turned to pursue Li Qing, who had shown faster speed.

Due to its characteristic of "absolute speed faster than the target," this bloated monster, comparable in size to a car, suddenly erupted with a terrifying speed that was two points faster than Li Qing fleeing at full speed.

As expected...

He wants to use himself as bait, to let that pigeon fly safely into the high sky.

Giorno understood Li Qing's intention.

Seeing that Li Qing was about to be caught and devoured by the ferocious and terrifying chunk of flesh, his mood surprisingly calmed down.

An ordinary person fleeing so recklessly would undoubtedly be caught by the flesh within seconds.

But since he dares to use himself so boldly as bait to draw fire, he must have some means of self-preservation.

Giorno's guess was correct.

The flesh, which would injure or kill anyone it touched, did not manage to devour Li Qing after catching up to him. In fact, the monster couldn't even bite off a piece of Li Qing's flesh.

It could only tightly entangle Li Qing, constantly draining his health.

"Huh?"

Giorno then noticed something was amiss:

"On this bald gentleman's head..."

"When did a green bar appear?"