The Ominous 4

The Silver Chariot is a stand-in known for its speed.

Even in its unarmored state, the speed it can unleash far exceeds Li Qing's imagination.

Under Polnareff's exquisite swordsmanship, the Silver Chariot's extremely limited power was also brought to its fullest potential.

Each streak of light that was unleashed was so dazzling, so precise and effective.

For a moment, the Silver Chariot blocking the way barely managed to stop the attack of the Red Hot Chili Pepper, giving Li Qing a chance to catch his breath, who was already in dire straits.

"Let's go quickly!"

Polnareff stood in front of him with a serious expression.

He tried hard to project a confident tone, as if everything was under his control.

"You and Giorno go first, and quickly get Jotaro back to provide support."

"Don't worry about me. My Silver Chariot is fast enough to match it. I'll be the one to delay and cover the retreat!"

"Stop joking!"

Li Qing exposed Polnareff's lie without hesitation:

"You can't stop it, you simply can't stop it!"

"The Silver Chariot can only keep up in speed, but it is completely crushed by that bastard in terms of power."

"Do you think I can't see it? The Silver Chariot is now at a complete disadvantage!"

He was absolutely right.

Polnareff is now barely holding on by relying on his swordsmanship and the speed of the Silver Chariot.

Because of the absolute difference in strength, the Silver Chariot's sharp blade looked like a light cotton swab in front of Red Hot Chili Pepper, which could be easily flicked away with just a finger.

The Silver Chariot couldn't hold out for long; their paper-thin defenses would soon crumble.

"Let me do it."

Li Qing gritted his teeth and shouted in a resolute voice:

"Your mortal body simply cannot withstand the enemy's Riot Games."

"Only I, only I can stop that monster!"

"This is not the time to discuss such issues!"

The two seemed to be competing to see who could shout the loudest, with Polnareff responding with an equally deafening roar:

"How far can Giorno and I run on foot?"

"Only you, only your speed is enough to take Giorno away quickly!"

Because most Stands can only move around the host, no matter how fast a Stand is, its long-distance movement speed is limited by the host's 1000-meter physical test score.

Li Qing, however, is an exception:

He himself is a stunt double, a superman who can race cars on his own two legs.

Polnareff is right. If two of the three people had to be chosen to escape, rationally speaking, Li Qing should be chosen no matter what.

"That's right, Li Qing."

Before anyone knew it, Giorno also appeared beside Li Qing.

His voice was incredibly deep, and his words carried a coldness of absolute rationality, completely different from his usual demeanor:

"The best option now is for you to take me away."

"If you act rashly, you will only end up killing all three of us."

"Hurry, let's find Mr. Jotaro —faced with this overwhelming power and speed, only Jotaro's Star Platinum can solve the problem now!"

"I"

Li Qing simply couldn't refute such rigorous logic.

But he instinctively hesitated.

"Stop wasting time. Get out of here!"

Polnareff remained stubbornly blocking Li Qing's path.

At this moment, the Silver Chariot's defenses were on the verge of collapse, and several shocking dents had appeared on its silvery body.

This terrifying force also returned to his body, causing Polnareff's body to become covered in blood in an instant.

But Polnareff remained standing there steadily:

"I was a useless person long ago, but you young people gave me a new life."

"I owed you all this life, so it's no loss to repay it."

"Go quickly. Don't waste my life!"

A furious roar boomed like thunder, and the silver sword light shone brightly in that instant.

Giorno had already grabbed Li Qing's hand and started to flee into the distance.

Li Qing followed along stiffly, like a puppet on a string.

An unprecedented grief suddenly welled up in his heart, and this bald man, who treated battle as a game, finally felt a complete sense of immersion.

"Polnareff!!"

Li Qing shouted loudly, but his legs shamefully moved away from the battlefield.

But the tall man he had abandoned behind actually smiled:

"This is a truly awful sense of déjà vu, but this time..."

"I absolutely, absolutely will not."

Polnareff's gaze was as firm as iron, his blood-stained body standing ramrod straight:

"Let my comrades die before my very eyes!"

Li Qing carried Giorno and fled quickly into the distance.

At this ridiculously fast speed, they might actually be able to escape Red Hot Chili Pepper's pursuit.

But Li Qing felt no joy at surviving such a disaster.

His heart was heavier than ever before, because no matter how many brutal battles he had experienced before, this was the first time he had come into contact with the word "sacrifice".

So it turns out, people really do die in battle.

It turns out that sometimes victory is achieved by stepping over the corpses of one's comrades.

So this is the true nature of this fantastical adventure game.

"Damn it."

"That's not the kind of game I want to play!"

Li Qing cried out in pain.

Without realizing it, he had already dug bloody marks into his palm with his fingernails.

The bloodstain healed instantly under the influence of the digitized body, but the pain in Li Qing's heart remained.

Because he can still hear.

He could hear Polnareff fighting desperately behind him, in a place invisible to the naked eye.

He could hear the cracking sound of Polnareff's bones breaking, and his screams as he was being scorched by electric current.

For the first time, Li Qing hated himself for having such acute hearing, which forced him to use such a cruel method to remotely perceive the death of his companion.

Polnareff is dying, and there's nothing he can do.

"Li Qing."

Giorno sensed Li Qing's pain.

From the moment he began persuading Li Qing to escape, he maintained an extremely eerie silence. That cold silence, which could disregard the lives of his companions, was completely unlike the rational yet kind man he used to be.

But now, just as they were about to escape, Giorno suddenly spoke in a meaningful voice:

"Stop it."

"We can still make it back in time."

"Go back?"

Li Qing suddenly stopped the car.

A sudden light shone in his lifeless eyes:

"Giorno, you mean..."

"Have you figured out a way to deal with that Red Hot Chili Pepper?"

"That's right."

Giorno replied in a low voice.

It was supposed to be a joyous moment to reveal the answer, but he showed none of his usual ease and confidence. Instead, his expression was as solemn as if he were about to walk to his execution.

"The enemy's advantage lies solely in its strength and speed."

"Faced with such an insurmountable gap in attributes, all wits become a joke."

"To deal with this kind of enemy, the standard for entry is to be able to match, or at least approach, the opponent's strength and speed."

"Unfortunately, on our side, only Star Platinum and Crazy Diamond have the qualifications to enter."

"But they are all gone now, and they won't be coming back anytime soon."

"That?"

Li Qing pressed on with questions.

Even though conversations don't take much time in this world, he was now incredibly eager to know the answer as soon as possible.

"Then you can go!"

Giorno gazed intently at Li Qing:

"Weren't you just a little short of leveling up?"

"You will receive unimaginable attribute boosts every time you level up."

"If we can get you to level 5 right now, your strength and speed should be able to match, or even surpass, Red Hot Chili Pepper."

"Of course I know that!"

Li Qing said impatiently:

"But that lack of experience can only be made up for by the life of a Stand User!"

"Where am I supposed to find a Stand User I can kill?"

"Go back to the Higashikata Family to kill Yoshikage Kira? That kid isn't some chicken to be slaughtered. By the time I kill him, it will be too late!"

"Or is it Kill Okuyasu Nijimura? If I turn around now and run into Red Hot Chili Pepper, how could that guy let me do as I please?"

"Etc."

As they were talking, Li Qing's expression suddenly changed.

He suddenly realized that something was wrong:

"I was standing at the door of the Nijimura house before I ran away."

"That was the closest I ever got to Okuyasu Nijimura. I could have easily turned around and killed him."

"But, but..."

"Giorno, why did you urge me to run away immediately back then?"

Li Qing stared intently at Giorno with lifeless eyes.

He had a very bad feeling about it, a very bad feeling.

Giorno's answer, however, confirmed this:

"Because this is the plan I came up with, how can it be accomplished by sacrificing other people's lives?"

"I don't need Okuyasu Nijimura to upgrade you."

Giorno paused slightly, a calm and relieved smile appearing on his lips:

"Just use me."

"If you kill me, you can level up, right?"

"."

Li Qing's face turned extremely ugly:

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly do something like that!"

"This is a necessary sacrifice."

Giorno's tone remained calm, as if the sacrifice needed for the upgrade he mentioned wasn't himself:

"Li Qing, do you still remember when the Meat Chunk was sealed in Naples?"

"You could have easily returned to the ground back then."

"But in order not to involve me, you still chose to stay in the Lava Well."

"This is the sacrifice you made for me, for countless citizens of Naples, and now it's my turn to make the sacrifice."

These words are rich in emotion.

In fact, this was the first time Li Qing had ever felt such complex emotions from this protagonist who was as perfect and rational as the Son of God.

But Li Qing's reaction was anger, an uncontrollable anger:

"Shut up!"

"You were the one who saved me at the Lava Well, so it's not your place to repay this life!"

"I would never do such a thing, absolutely never!"

"We'll see."

Li Qing rejected the idea with a gloomy expression:

"Don't forget, I can't damage my teammates at all."

"I can't kill you, Giorno."

"No, you can kill him."

Giorno continued to look at Li Qing with that calm gaze:

"You just said that to Rohan Kishibe this morning."

"As long as you use external weapons, you can even deny your teammates."

As soon as he said this, Li Qing's face turned ashen, as if it had been painted with ink.

He really wanted to go back to this morning and sew that arrogant guy's mouth shut.

But it's too late to say anything now.

Giorno, halfway through his sentence, unexpectedly pulled an extremely sharp fruit knife from his pocket:

"I took this from Hongcun's house."

"You can upgrade simply by using it."

"You, you"

Li Qing said with a distorted expression:

Were you thinking of dying before you even left the house?

"Damn it! Why did you force me to do this, you idiot!"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

Giorno gently placed the fruit knife into Li Qing's hand:

"You said you're at level 4 now, right?"

"Perhaps Mista's superstition is not wrong, after all, it's according to the customs of your hometown."

"4 is indeed a very unlucky number."

He covered Li Qing's trembling hand and pointed the knife at his own neck:

"Bring it on."

"Change 4 to 5."

"The bad luck will soon be over."