Li Qing's Counterattack

At 8:00 AM on April 6th, time rewinds to this point once again.

In front of Morioh tram station, Li Qing woke up once again on this familiar street.

Everything happened so suddenly; the heat from the explosion still seemed to linger around me, and the shadow of death still loomed over my mind.

Li Qing came to her senses with lingering fear and finally realized that she was still alive.

The warm morning sunlight fell on me at 8 a. m., while the sounds of noise were reassuring.

"Phew, 'loaded save' successfully."

Li Qing knew in his heart that he had almost ended up with no trace of his body.

If he hadn't made "Reader No. 2" ready to go at any time, and if he hadn't cautiously activated the data processing, he would have really died.

"How could it possess such a terrifying ability?"

"Yoshikage Kira."

This nobody, whom Li Qing once regarded as a third-rate villain, has now become an insurmountable peak standing in front of him.

Li Qing had just escaped the terror of being between life and death, but soon felt a suffocating despair:

"As long as the main body is attacked, the bomb will be triggered, and it will not stop until the attacker is blown to ashes."

"In other words, I can't reveal Yoshikage Kira's identity to anyone, and I can't attack Yoshikage Kira either—"

"Even asking for help is not an option!"

A thin layer of sweat had already covered his forehead, and his sweaty head glistened in the sunlight.

Even with Li Qing's exceptional intelligence, he could not unravel this unsolvable mystery:

"Invincible. This ability is simply invincible!"

"All the paths are blocked, and I can't do anything."

He can no longer rely on his companions or exert his strength; he can only fight alone in despair with his not-so-large head.

Does all of this make sense in the face of the invincible Bites the Dust?

At that moment, Li Qing almost thought of giving up.

But this pessimistic thought quickly vanished.

Because he was not fighting alone; he carried the lives of his comrades on his shoulders.

Li Qing knew that if he did nothing, Giorno and the others would disappear from the world the moment the clock struck nine.

"Think, think!"

"Thinking alone is not enough."

"I have to do more experiments and gather more intelligence."

'Loading save files' is the only advantage Li Qing can think of right now; the ability to rewind time gives him the possibility to test it repeatedly.

But this word "test" is far more dangerous than it seems on the surface; it could even be described as courting death.

Li Qing couldn't help but think of the scorching heat that suddenly erupted from within his body, and the terror of falling into the abyss of death if he wasn't careful.

For that sliver of hope that is currently impossible to even dream of, he has to risk his life to face everything he has just desperately tried to escape.

"Giorno, you just wait."

Li Qing's gaze gradually became firm and resolute:

"No matter how many times I try, I will definitely save you from hell!"

An attack will trigger an explosion, but to eliminate Bites the Dust, you must defeat Yoshikage Kira. It's a vicious cycle.

Li Qing couldn't think of a way to break this vicious cycle yet.

So he still chose to probe with his attacks, only he would use different methods.

"I won't hire an assassin this time; I'll do it myself."

"It would take three bombs to kill me, but it only takes one punch to defeat Yoshikage Kira!"

"As long as I'm reckless enough, death can't catch me!"

Li Qing boldly began his experiment.

After a series of operations.

"Number 3! Number 3!"

A Roman prison for serious crimes, 10,000 kilometers away.

A panicked voice rang in the ear of the serious offender, number 3:

"Yoshikage Kira is a serial killer!"

At 8:00 AM on April 6th, time rewinds to this point once again.

"Damn it! It exploded before we even got close to him."

"Is even the stealthy approach phase now considered part of the 'attack'?"

"This way, I have no way to get close to that bastard, let alone attack him before I get blown up!"

Li Qing diligently improved his combat methods after each failed attempt.

"Fine, let's use the Sonically Enhanced Wave for a ranged attack this time."

"Since I can't get close, I'll try using a super-fast movement skill."

"At that speed, even a premature explosion wouldn't stop me from getting close!"

Li Qing boldly began his experiment.

After a series of operations.

"Number 4! Number 4!"

A Roman prison for serious crimes, 10,000 kilometers away.

A panicked voice rang in the ear of the serious offender, number 4:

"Yoshikage Kira is a serial killer!"

At 8:00 AM on April 6th, time rewinds to this point once again.

"The Sonically Enhanced Wave triggered an explosion before it was even launched."

"With the impact of the explosion affecting my movements, it was impossible for me to hit the target from a distance."

"Damn it! Try another method!"

"."

"Number 5! Number 5! It's Yoshikage Kira!"

"."

"It seems that brute force is not the way to go."

"I've got it! Maybe we can try setting up a time-delay trap!"

"."

"Number 6! Number 6! Yoshikage Kira!"

"."

"We were all on the wrong track before."

"The key to understanding 'attack' lies in the criteria for determining what constitutes an 'attack'!"

"."

"No. 7! No. 7! Kira"

April 6, 1999, 8:50 AM.

At Kame Yu Department Store, Yoshikage Kira sat upright at his desk, concentrating intently on the work at hand.

He was just an insignificant clerk here, a replaceable cog in the machine, whose daily work was repetitive, tedious, and boring.

Anyone with even a little ambition wouldn't be content to sit on the sidelines like this.

But Yoshikage Kira was quite happy with it.

Ordinary, bland, uneventful.

His pursuit is that simple.

During his downtime, Yoshikage Kira would occasionally think of Li Qing:

The man who had driven him to the brink of despair in just one day could no longer be an obstacle in his path.

"What a cruel twist of fate!"

"But unfortunately, you are the one being played by fate."

A slight smile crept across Yoshikage Kira's lips.

In this pleasant mood, he quietly stroked the Mona Lisa in his pocket, and his smile instantly became even happier and warmer.

He could actually sense that Bites the Dust had been triggered, but he couldn't determine how many times it had been triggered.

But what is certain now is that Li Qing must have experienced the pain and helplessness of losing his comrade in the explosion.

Thinking about this made Yoshikage Kira feel even more cheerful.

Just then, his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello? This is Yoshikage Kira, an employee of Kame Yu Department Store."

"How can I help you?"

"Oh, so it's you, Li Qing."

Yoshikage Kira's formulaic smile instantly turned cold:

"Wait a minute."

"Let me find a more convenient place to talk."

He walked straight out of his workstation with his phone, avoiding the gaze of his colleagues, and went out of Kame Yu Department Store.

This is one of Yoshikage Kira's little habits; he doesn't like making private phone calls in crowded department stores.

And so, Yoshikage Kira strode out of the company gate and came to the side of the wide avenue.

He did not see Li Qing outside.

It seems that Li Qing simply made a phone call.

"Hehe, Li Qing"

"Has Bites the Dust been triggered already?"

"How many times has it been triggered? Now?"

Yoshikage Kira put the phone to his ear and began to mock the enemy who had once brought him endless nightmares in a mocking tone.

While he was talking to Li Qing on the phone in a cheerful mood, he was also pacing back and forth in the open space in front of the department store.

He unconsciously paces around while making phone calls; this is one of his little habits.

"Yoshikage Kira."

"Your Bites the Dust is indeed very powerful."

Li Qing finally spoke on the other end of the phone.

Contrary to his expectations of anger, the voice Yoshikage Kira heard sounded faintly tired, even powerless.

Compared to the Li Qing used to radiate boundless energy, this Li Qing is like a young office worker whose edges have been gradually worn down by life, and the spirit that once dared to fight against heaven and earth can no longer be heard in his voice.

"Oh? Judging from your tone..."

"You seem to have already witnessed the true power of Bites the Dust?"

Yoshikage Kira couldn't suppress his smile, and his steps became increasingly cheerful:

"Li Qing, it seems you now understand what you're facing."

"Yes— Bites the Dust is invincible!"

He has such absolute confidence.

Therefore, he made no attempt to hide his arrogance, nor did he conceal his contempt for Li Qing.

Li Qing, on the other hand, was like a desperate person whose spirit had been extinguished, showing no emotional fluctuation no matter how much Yoshikage Kira mocked him.

"Perhaps."

The voice was devoid of joy or sorrow, like a dried-out salted fish:

"You're right, Bites the Dust is just too unbeatable."

"I've tried so many times, so many times, but I still haven't found a way to crack it."

"."

Li Qing rambled on and on, spouting words that sounded like a sign of defeat.

It was as if his spirit and fighting will had completely collapsed in the face of that cruel reality.

The more you listen to Yoshikage Kira, the more pleasant and invigorating it becomes.

His pace quickened and slowed at times, as if he were on vacation on the beach.

He knew he could live that ordinary, happy life forever, and even Li Qing couldn't stop him.

At that moment, on the wide avenue in front of Kame Yu Department Store, a car sped along the lane closest to Kame Yu Department Store.

It was driving very fast, like lightning, and it definitely deserved a speeding ticket.

But this is actually just a normal phenomenon on this path:

There are no speed cameras on this road, and the road is flat and wide with good visibility in the weather, so there aren't many pedestrians in the way.

At 8:51 a. m., when traffic was relatively light, it wasn't unusual for a driver to speed along such a well-maintained road.

That's what the driver of this car was thinking.

Yoshikage Kira didn't pay much attention to this either. He continued to stroll casually in the open space by the roadside while enthusiastically talking on the phone with Li Qing.

However, at that moment, Li Qing's voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became deep and somber:

"I keep failing, I keep repeating the same mistakes."

"But through countless attempts, I have gradually accumulated some experience."

Actually, the first point is:

"Fate will not be changed; what was destroyed before will still be destroyed in time!"

"The same applies to people and objects."

Yoshikage Kira immediately sensed something was wrong.

But Li Qing continued speaking methodically:

"On my third morning, at 8:51:23."

"At the entrance of Kame Yu Department Store, a dump truck collided with a speeding car traveling in the opposite direction."

"The front left side of the car was deformed, and it lost control and crashed into the side of Kame Yu Department Store."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of resounding clangs and dents echoed across the wide avenue.

The speeding car that was speeding down the road suddenly had its front left side damaged and deformed without any collision from other vehicles!

This time, Li Qing did not hire an assassin, so the dump truck that was the instigator naturally did not appear.

But even though the dump truck didn't show up this time, the car was still damaged as fate had ordained—damaged so suddenly that it left no time to react.

The sudden damage instantly disrupted the vehicle's stability.

The car, which was already speeding excessively, suddenly went out of control and veered off course, hurtling uncontrollably toward the roadside.

And in front of this out-of-control car, the first to face this horrific impact...

That's Yoshikage Kira!

"Wh-what?"

Yoshikage Kira's expression changed drastically:

He then realized that while he was taking a walk, he had unconsciously walked to the side of the road and to a position closest to the out-of-control car.

Faced with this sudden high-speed collision, he, being only human, had no time to dodge.

Killer Queen is still on Li Qing's body. Unless Yoshikage Kira can instantly recall his Stand by removing Bites the Dust, he will die under the wheels of the car in the next second.

"Damn it. Are we going to have to undo Bites the Dust?"

Yoshikage Kira's face was extremely ugly.

Everything happened so suddenly that he couldn't react at all.

However, in this almost frozen moment, Yoshikage Kira's brilliant mind, which had been buried in tedious work, suddenly came into play:

"Wait, I understand."

"I have absolutely nothing to be afraid of!"

"Since Li Qing knew in advance that the car would lose control and crash here at this time."

"His act of luring me to this specific time and place by phone was actually setting a trap!"

"This is undoubtedly also an 'attack,' an 'attack' that could trigger the first bomb!"

Yoshikage Kira instantly calmed down:

Since Li Qing is "attacking", Li Qing must have already triggered the first bomb before the "attack" officially took place.

At this point, Li Qing might have already been killed by the series of explosions, and the Killer Queen, having lost her host, would return to her original body the instant after Li Qing's death.

With the Killer Queen protecting him, Yoshikage Kira was confident he would survive the final moments before the car accident.

"Hehe. It shows you put in effort to think of this method."

"But my Bites the Dust is an invincible ability without any loopholes!"

"These tricks of setting traps by changing the method can't hurt me, Yoshikage Kira!"

The out-of-control car roared in, carrying a terrifying kinetic energy that seemed capable of crushing everything.

Knowing he couldn't dodge in time, Yoshikage Kira simply stood there calmly.

He was waiting, waiting for the Killer Queen to return victorious.

However.

The Killer Queen did not return.

The car was about to crash into it, but it still didn't move.

Yoshikage Kira's smile crumbled instantly.