Breakthrough

In this peaceful town, a small disturbance has finally occurred.

Diavolo was stopped at the cashier because he was short of money.

This is utterly incredible—

He didn't love money, but he was never short of it either, even after his organization's foundation was seized.

Because Diavolo, a man as low-key and cautious as an ancient tortoise, had already prepared countless escape routes for himself when he gained power:

He has more than a dozen fake passports with different names and nationalities, and he also has safe haven accounts opened using these fake identities in more than a dozen major countries. Each account contains a huge amount of money that would allow him to continue living a wealthy life after fleeing to the corresponding country.

The card Diavolo just handed out contained a full 500 million yen.

"No money in your card?"

"Are you mistaken? Do you think I can't even afford to buy something at a convenience store with the balance on my card?"

Diavolo questioned in slightly broken Japanese.

He has an extremely high IQ and a strong learning ability. Although he only studied intensively, he was already able to communicate with the locals in Morioh with difficulty.

"I really don't have any money," the cashier said somewhat awkwardly. "I wouldn't joke about something like this."

"Try again."

Diavolo demanded that the cashier try again without further explanation.

This time, the payment still failed.

"How is that possible?"

"You really have no money?!"

Diavolo suddenly widened his eyes, somewhat losing his composure:

It wasn't that he lacked self-control, but rather that this bizarre event made him unable to help but think of even more things:

How could such a large sum of money, a full 500 million yen, just vanish into thin air like that?

Could it be that Li Qing and his team have already discovered my secret setup of a hedge account using the technology group's expertise?

Were all these funds "recovered" by the organization?

Diavolo grew increasingly alarmed—if Li Qing and the others could find his safe-haven account, it would only be a matter of time before they could locate him based on the account records.

"Damn it. Am I about to be exposed?"

Diavolo felt incredibly heavy-hearted.

Faced with such a life-or-death matter, he unconsciously forgot about the trivial matter of not being able to pay the bill.

However, whether it was the ordinary office worker behind him who was in a hurry to spend time with his "girlfriend," or the young cashier in front of him with a strange expression, they were all slightly dissatisfied with Diavolo's time-wasting distraction.

"Sir, sir?"

Can you pay in cash?

The cashier urged him very politely and restrainedly.

Diavolo's behavior of occupying the cashier without paying was indeed very annoying. The fact that he maintained such a polite attitude was due to his professional ethics and respect for foreign friends.

Unfortunately, the cashier and the onlookers were narrow-minded; they lacked a broad international and global perspective and were unaware of the diplomatic implications of maintaining Japan-Italy relations.

Seeing the foreign friend's face change color from red to green, it seemed he was so destitute that he couldn't even produce any cash.

Instead of selflessly paying for the foreign guests' bills and warmly resolving their urgent needs, some of them couldn't help but show their disdain with sour faces.

"Hey, hey."

"Foreigner, if you don't have money, then don't block the way, okay?"

"There are so many people waiting behind us. If you waste three minutes, we'll all lose half an hour!"

Some disgruntled shouts came from the back of the group.

"Sir, if possible..."

"Please wait over there for a moment."

The cashier also started subtly trying to get rid of the customer.

"."

Diavolo fell silent for a moment.

His face had never looked so dark before.

Because he had never been so destitute that he couldn't even pay the bill—this financial hardship made him feel the humiliation of being a homeless dog more deeply and directly.

"I've fallen so low."

The discordant greetings from passersby echoed in my ears.

Diavolo quietly clenched his Riot Games:

"King Crimson!"

This hideous, terrifying, and bloodthirsty evil king has finally reappeared in the world in a domineering manner:

Let time fly by!

Almost before anyone could react, time was cut off.

The cacophony of voices from passersby faded into the background as Diavolo entered his own unique dimension of time.

Then, he suddenly turned around.

The King Crimson followed suit, aiming his Riot Games at the blond man in the suit behind Diavolo.

Finally, Diavolo took a deep breath.

He gave King Crimson the most pathetic order he had ever given since becoming a Stand:

"Get me his wallet."

The King Crimson carried out Diavolo's orders without hesitation.

It stretched out its arm and, with incredible speed, reached its black hand into the bulging pocket of the blond man in the suit.

Diavolo, on the other hand, turned around cleanly and waited for his Stand to deliver the money to him.

The King Crimson is incredibly fast, and when used for theft, especially Time Erasure the weapon is active, it's practically unstoppable.

It succeeded in an instant.

Diavolo had barely turned around when the King Crimson handed him the contents of the blond man in the suit.

Diavolo instinctively took it, intending to borrow some spare cash from this "wallet" to spend.

Then, immediately afterward, he suddenly felt that something was wrong with the feel of his hand.

Why does this "wallet" feel so soft and even a little damp?

Then I looked down again.

"What! What! Is! This?!"

Diavolo was shocked.

He was horrified to discover that what he had stolen from the blond man in the suit was not a wallet at all, but a severed woman's hand that was still bleeding!

Diavolo was certainly not some novice who had never seen a severed hand before; he just had never seen such a pervert as someone who kept a severed hand in his pocket and constantly stroked it.

Although Diavolo is also a psychopath who can lock his own mother alive under his own floorboards, kill his adoptive father, neighbor, lover, and subordinates, and enjoy making human body slices.

But this kind of approach of killing someone and not cleaning up the mess, but keeping it as a souvenir and keeping it with him, is really too wild. He was caught off guard and suffered a great psychological shock.

"No wonder there's a faint smell of blood."

"So that's how it is!"

Diavolo's gaze towards the blond man in the suit instantly changed:

"He is a murderer, a deranged murderer."

After all this fuss, the time allotted for the Time Erasure is almost up.

Diavolo, however, had no interest in being a concerned citizen who reported criminals; such public appearances would only bring him trouble.

So he only thought about it for a moment before instructing the King Crimson to put the severed hand back into the man's pocket intact.

The whole process took place during the Time Erasure, so the blond man in the suit wouldn't even know that his "girlfriend" in his pocket had just been touched by another man.

He was in Time Erasure state of listlessness and sluggishness, just like all of Diavolo's past enemies.

"Then, the Time Erasure is over!"

At this point, Diavolo has lost all interest in stealing money to buy things.

All he wants now is to stay away from this deranged killer, keep a low profile, and minimize the possibility of getting involved in trouble.

However, at that very moment, at the very instant the Time Erasure ended.

The blond man in the suit, who had broken free from the constraints of Time Erasure and suddenly regained his senses, unexpectedly took a step back.

He instinctively took a step back, and an uncontrollable wariness flickered in his eyes.

"Um?"

Diavolo sensed something:

What is the other party wary of? Why did they suddenly retreat?

Everything I just did happened during the Time Erasure, so it should be absolutely impossible for anyone to find out.

But now, that guy is clearly showing wariness towards me.

Why is that?

Diavolo was puzzled, then carefully followed the gaze of the blond man in the suit:

"Wait. He wasn't looking at me, but..."

"King Crimson!"

"He lost his composure because of the King Crimson suddenly appeared before him after the Time Erasure— "

"This guy can see Stands; he's a Stand User!"

Diavolo's heart was suddenly stirred, but he remained calm on the surface.

After realizing what had happened, the blond man in the suit tried his best to act as if nothing had happened and continue to play the role of an ordinary citizen.

This little convenience store seems poised to return to normalcy soon.

But in Diavolo's heart, a much larger storm was quietly brewing:

"Pervert, murderer, Stand User."

"That's really interesting."

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Diavolo's lips:

"It seems I've found the breakthrough I've been looking for."