This Was Also Within My Plans

He keenly observed that as the meat mass squeezed and coiled with increasing force, the "green bar" above Li Qing's head was steadily shortening.

It was just like the health bar floating above a character's head in a video game.

"Could it be..."

"This represents his vitality?"

Giorno roughly deduced the meaning of the health bar above Li Qing's head, but immediately saw the direness of the situation from the continuously decreasing health:

Li Qing's health seemed insufficient.

He had already lost over half his health to this damn meat mass when he escaped the forest.

Fortunately, during the minute or so spent on the bus, others had helped to draw aggro, allowing him to slowly recover his health back to the safe line of 80% with his 0.5%/s health regeneration.

But this was still not enough.

After all, this meat mass was not the same one from a minute ago.

A minute ago, this monster was probably no bigger than a pig.

Now, after devouring the bus engine's energy, it had expanded to a size comparable to a sedan.

Bound, squeezed, and devoured by a monster of this magnitude, Li Qing's condition was naturally not good.

82% 61% 42%

His health began to plummet at an astonishing rate.

Finally, at the critical moment when his health dropped to a meager 30%, and he would have died if he lasted two more seconds, Li Qing made his move:

"Echoes Act!!"

His form rapidly turned into an intangible "ethereal body" that couldn't be grasped, and in an instant, he broke free—or rather, ignored the restraint of the meat mass.

Li Qing's body passed directly through the tough and thick flesh of the meat mass, and he shot upwards at an incredibly exaggerated speed.

And the target of his charge, needless to say, was naturally the fat pigeon he had marked from the beginning.

"I see!"

Giorno understood Li Qing's plan.

Since Li Qing was busy, Giorno helped out by acting as a commentator:

"The ability he's using now is the same one he used when he first boarded the bus."

"Back then, he could pass through walls directly without being blocked by the carriage's exterior. Now, he can also use it to escape the meat mass's restraint!"

At this moment, the meat mass also reacted.

Li Qing's charge speed with Echoes Act was faster than a high-speed train at full throttle, but this monster, which couldn't be understood by common sense, suddenly erupted with a terrifying speed that was no less than Li Qing's.

It abruptly contracted its flesh, turning itself into rubber, into springs, and then, using the powerful elastic potential energy accumulated in its own flesh, it suddenly sprang towards the sky.

"It's useless!"

Giorno subconsciously shook his head from the side:

"Even if it can catch up to Mr. Baldy in mid-air, it won't be able to stop Mr. Baldy from escaping."

"Because in this charging state, his body is absolutely 'ethereal' and cannot be restrained."

As Giorno had predicted:

The meat mass, whose speed had no upper limit, bounced with astonishing force. With a single leap, it caught up to the ascending Li Qing in mid-air.

However, it was to no avail.

It was like a monkey trying to grab the reflection of the moon in the water. It managed to slap its tendril onto Li Qing, only to pass right through the ethereal mirage.

Li Qing's ascending form was unaffected, only losing a small amount of health.

His health was only 22%.

But it didn't matter, because the meat mass could no longer catch up to Li Qing.

Yes, even though its speed was absolutely faster than Li Qing's, it couldn't keep up with him inch by inch like it had chased the bus from the forest.

Because—

"You can't fly, can you?!"

"Hahahaha..."

Li Qing let out a sigh of relief as he laughed:

"A meat mass is just a meat mass. No matter how fast you are, you can't grow wings!"

"With just leaping ability, you can't catch up to me as I 'soar to the heavens'!"

This was the core of his escape plan—

His escape target was not the ground, but the sky, where the meat mass absolutely could not follow.

Li Qing had just risked himself as bait to buy time for that fat pigeon, allowing it to fly higher and farther.

At this very moment

The fat pigeon, marked with Sonically Enhanced Wave, was flying about 150 meters in the air.

Li Qing, propelled upwards by Echoes Act, had already ascended to about 60 meters.

Although the fleshy mass's bouncing power was incredibly strong, it had expended all its kinetic energy after successfully touching Li Qing once. It began to freefall under gravity at around the 40-meter mark.

"Using the 'phasing' Stand ability to escape into the sky not only drew the monster away from me but also allowed me to safely break free from pursuit."

"What a perfect escape plan."

Giorno on the ground exclaimed sincerely.

However, just as he breathed a sigh of relief for Li Qing, the situation took a turn for the worse.

The fleshy mass, which had started to fall, suddenly convulsed violently and began to rapidly writhe and deform in mid-air at an extremely terrifying speed.

It was like dough, initially round and large, but now, under a massive "kneading and stretching" force, it became long and wide.

Then, it abruptly stopped its descent and shot upwards a considerable distance.

This wasn't because the fleshy mass had grown wings, but because it had "flung" itself into the sky.

Yes.

It had used its flexible and shape-shifting body as a slingshot, and a part of its body as a projectile, launching itself at high speed towards Li Qing above.

A normal creature would die after losing half its mass in blood and flesh, but this fleshy mass wouldn't.

It had no organs, no bones, no brain; it was just a mass of evil, twisted flesh.

Therefore, even if it discarded half of its flesh as a tool, it could still survive perfectly fine.

And so.

The portion of the fleshy mass discarded as a "slingshot" fell powerlessly downwards after separating from the main body.

Upon falling a certain distance below the main body, the detached part turned to ash in the air.

The other part, the main body of the fleshy mass that was launched as a "projectile," was currently pursuing Li Qing above at a shocking speed.

Its speed was fast.

Even though Li Qing was still in the high-speed advancement state of Echoes Act, he couldn't escape the pursuit of this terrifying fleshy mass.

"Damn it."

"It can still provide upward thrust to the 'warhead' that is its main body, stage by stage, like a three-stage rocket, even when its kinetic energy is depleted!"

Li Qing was shocked.

He also recognized the harsh reality—he was about to be caught.

What was worse, his health was only at 22%.

As an expert player who often pulled off comebacks with slivers of health, Li Qing was very precise about his remaining health.

This 22% health was actually a safety buffer he had specifically left after determining the fat pigeon's altitude and estimating the subsequent high-altitude fall damage.

If his health had been even a few percent lower, even if the fleshy mass hadn't devoured him, he likely would have died from the fall.

This meant.

At this very moment, Li Qing's health couldn't drop even a little.

The moment the fleshy mass touched his body, he would have lost.

This was a complete dead end.

Because Li Qing was currently in the advancement state of Echoes Act, he couldn't control himself in this state.

He could only watch helplessly as the fleshy mass shot up into the sky like a lit rocket, rapidly approaching his body.

In the next instant, the soaring fleshy mass was about to catch up to Li Qing.

He was about to die.

Unless.

Unless something faster suddenly appeared to draw the fleshy mass's attention.

But, in the sky, within this fleeting moment, to suddenly find an object faster than Echoes Act.

Could this.

Be possible?

Of course, it was possible!

"While the way you monsters pursue is a bit surprising, being caught by you in the sky..."

Under extreme tension, Li Qing felt extreme excitement:

"That's also part of my plan!"

Giorno didn't notice, and the mindless fleshy mass certainly wouldn't. Only Li Qing noticed:

The sky was already filled with a voice that encompassed heaven and earth.

The sound came overwhelmingly, sweeping across nearly half the city.

Just as Li Qing was about to be caught by the meat chunks, the tsunami-like sound wave reached its peak.

"That's..."

Giorno, on the ground, finally shifted his gaze beyond the battlefield, beyond Li Qing and the meat chunks.

He finally noticed the mysterious object flying at high speed at low altitude over the city, the source of the raging sound wave:

"That's the one that's been flying over Naples these past few days."

"A supersonic fighter jet!"