Back to the Future

April 6, 1999, 6:24 PM.

The Higashikata Family, second floor, a room covered in blood.

"The Ouroboros, altering the Time Anchor!"

"Target--"

"March 26, 1999, 4:53 PM."

With Diavolo's silent roar, he and Li Qing Sin were sent into the River of Time by the power of spacetime.

In that instant, both Diavolo and Li Qing vanished from this world completely.

Josuke Higashikata, with his broken body, struggled to walk back here.

He happened to witness the moment when Li Qing and Diavolo disappeared together.

This scene was shocking and tragic enough, making Josuke Higashikata realize that Li Qing's desperate plan had succeeded.

After Li Qing and Diavolo disappeared.

The next moment, they did not reappear.

"Mr. Li Qing!!"

A complex emotion, difficult to describe, surged within me.

Josuke Higashikata but let out such a sorrowful growl for Li Qing.

Although he had only just learned about Diavolo's abilities from Li Qing, he had also read many movies and novels about time travel.

Therefore, Josuke knew very well that if the journey was smooth sailing, the time travelers should reappear the moment they left.

Just like Diavolo has shown on many occasions before.

But this time...

Neither Li Qing nor Diavolo returned.

Without a doubt, Li Qing succeeded; he had defeated Diavolo in the past.

At the same time, Li Qing has probably also failed:

He was also unable to return from the past.

They are most likely already dead.

Thinking of this, Josuke Higashikata's heart grew heavy:

To be honest, he didn't know much about Li Qing.

Prior to this, his impression of Li Qing consisted of only a few simple labels:

Jotaro's friend, an experienced warrior, and a foreigner who speaks fluent Japanese.

But now, seeing Li Qing chop off his own head for that sliver of hope, Josuke Higashikata was deeply moved.

Despite the darkness and despair, Li Qing used his own life to pave a path to light and hope for everyone!

So this is what death and sacrifice are.

This young man from a small town, who had always lived a peaceful life, finally came into contact with the cruelty of the world.

"Li! Qing!"

Josuke Higashikata cried out Li Qing's name once again in anguish.

His eyes even welled up with tears.

Why are you yelling so loudly?

"Save your energy, there are a bunch of wounded people over there waiting for you to save them."

Li Qing's voice suddenly rang out from behind Josuke.

He's like Prime Minister Cao, always there when called upon.

"Huh? Huh?"

Josuke Higashikata was startled, thinking he was hallucinating.

But when he turned his head in shock...

Li Qing was indeed standing there, alive.

And not only Li Qing, but also an unexpected person was standing next to Li Qing:

"Rohan Kishibe?"

How did you get here?

Josuke Higashikata couldn't help but feel somewhat bewildered:

Well...

Rohan Kishibe put down his paintbrush and sketchbook, and said with a playful expression:

"I'm here to enjoy the story."

"I wrote the script, so of course I can't miss this magnificent finale."

As before, he started saying things that were incomprehensible to everyone.

Josuke Higashikata confused, and then turned his surprised and puzzled gaze to Li Qing:

"Mr. Li Qing, you... you didn't die and go back to the past, did you?"

"How come he's showing up with Rohan Kishibe?"

Well...

"It's a long story."

Li Qing didn't answer, but instead unceremoniously hoisted Josuke Higashikata:

"Now is not the time to answer questions."

"Your eldest nephew and second grandfather are still lying there."

"Hurry and come with me to save them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Qing's figure suddenly transformed into a phantom.

Josuke Higashikata's fluffy hair danced wildly as he sped along, gradually transforming into the shape of the wind.

April 5, 1999, morning.

Rohan Kishibe walked unsteadily out of the Higashikata Family.

Although he appeared to be fine and was actually very healthy, his face was filled with fear, as if he had just crawled out of hell.

All of this was because he had just entered the Higashikata Family to test the waters.

And Li Qing, that damned bastard, actually used a crazy staff technique on him even though he knew he was a teammate.

"Demons. These guys are all demons!"

Rohan Kishibe lingering fear.

Li Qing's "physical education" was actually bearable, but when Giorno used Gold Experience to treat him by replacing his flesh, that was the real nightmare!

Just recalling that pain made Rohan Kishibe shudder.

"However, the intelligence was indeed correct."

Rohan Kishibe's face, which was filled with pain, suddenly broke into a fanatical smile.

He carefully examined the watch on his wrist, then looked up at the seemingly unchanging sky over Morioh:

"The real story is about to begin."

"Alright, alright."

"Stop using such pretentious lines."

A slightly anxious voice suddenly rang out from the side:

"Let's get out of here quickly, I don't want to stay any longer—"

"It's so close to 'myself,' if I were to discover it from the past, I'd be doomed."

As he spoke, a man who had wrapped himself up tightly in a hat, sunglasses, and a mask quietly emerged from the side of the road.

And hidden beneath that almost completely covered disguise was Li Qing's face:

"Rohan, now you should believe me, right?"

"I was standing outside the house the whole time, while there was another 'me' in the Higashikata Family."

"We're not twins, you should be able to tell."

"I believe it."

Rohan Kishibe nodded excitedly:

Li Qing contacted him 11 days ago via a cross-border phone call.

After that, Li Qing discovered that he had spent a full hour in the past without being sent back by the power of time and space.

Because he had already killed the driver of that time-space train.

As an undocumented passenger, Li Qing could only remain in the past.

To return to the future, he could only rely on his lifespan, like Yi Xiaochuan in "The Myth," to endure it day by day.

Twelve days is not a long time at all.

On his first day of being stranded in Italy, Li Qing smuggled himself from Italy to Japan by Italy to the landing gear of a passenger plane. After getting off the plane, he borrowed some Japanese yen from a kind Japanese friend to use on the way.

In the end, he arrived in Morioh Rohan Kishibe's house.

For the past two weeks, Li Qing has been hiding in her home on the shore, afraid to go out, lest she accidentally trigger a paradox.

At the same time, he kept explaining his experience to Rohan Kishibe.

After spending nearly two weeks together, Rohan Kishibe had already subtly come to accept Li Qing; otherwise, he wouldn't have been identified as Li Qing's teammate by the system.

However, Rohan Kishibe always kept his own opinion about the captivating time-travel story Li Qing told him, and did not choose to believe it completely.

Rohan Kishibe merely showed strong interest and demanded that Li Qing produce evidence of his time travel.

Li Qing first accurately predicted several important international news events that had occurred in the past two weeks.

Then, he sent Rohan Kishibe to the Higashikata Family on April 5th to investigate and verify the information he had given them.

You're absolutely right.

"My experience after joining the Higashikata Family was basically exactly the same as what you described."

"Such a precise 'prediction' down to the second is almost impossible to fake, so I believe you."

Rohan Kishibe and Li Qing quietly moved away from the Higashikata Family, Rohan said excitedly:

"However, there was clearly no need to make things so complicated."

"If you had allowed me to read your experiences using 'Heaven's Door' from the beginning, it would have directly proven your claim."

As he spoke, his eyes, which were gleaming red, almost glowed as he looked at Li Qing.

It's like a hungry wolf seeing fresh meat.

Rohan Kishibe instinctively sensed that Li Qing's past must contain many more wondrous stories.

Li Qing couldn't help but shudder under their gaze:

"Stop daydreaming!"

"I will absolutely not allow you to use Heaven's Door on me."

"Your hobby of prying into other people's lives is disgusting. Even teammates need to have their privacy!"

Although he had no doubts about Rohan Kishibe's character, Li Qing did not want to expose all his memories and privacy.

To be honest, Rohan Kishibe's little hobby of splitting one's head open when the mood strikes is really not a good thing.

"All right."

Rohan Kishibe turned his gaze away in disappointment.

Then, he straightened his expression and said seriously:

"I accept the time travel story, and I will also help deal with Diavolo."

"However, Li Qing, some things seem to be a little different from what you predicted."

"The future has not unfolded exactly as you described."

"What?"

Li Qing's heart skipped a beat.

Rohan Kishibe had quite frightened him:

"What's different?"

"Doesn't this avoid triggering a paradox?"

"You didn't mention that I would get beaten up at the Higashikata Family."

Rohan Kishibe clutched his chest, which still seemed to ache slightly, and said with a somber expression:

"But just as I was preparing to leave safely as prophesied."

"The old you beat me up badly with a stick and even had that horrible curly-haired guy treat me—that so-called Gold Experience was absolutely terrible."

"Why is this happening? Has something gone wrong with the time loop?"

"This"

Li Qing's expression suddenly became somewhat subtle:

"This is actually because..."

"I remember you seemed quite surprised when you saw I was going to beat you up; that panicked look was definitely not an act."

"If you were told in advance that you would be beaten, you wouldn't have been so surprised at the time, which could have created a paradox."

"I see."

Rohan Kishibe nodded earnestly.

But something suddenly seemed off about him:

"Wait a minute. So you deliberately sent me to the Higashikata Family to get beaten up?!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Li Qing scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly:

"How can you say that I did it on purpose?"

"While you're always trying to pry into my privacy and that makes you a bit annoying, Rohan Kishibe, don't get the wrong idea."

He sighed deeply and said with a serious expression:

"It's not me who's going to beat you up this time."

"It's fate!"

"This," Rohan Kishibe froze.

The screenwriter pondered over and over in his script, but ultimately couldn't figure out who had beaten him up.

The finale is expected to be tomorrow. To be honest, the ending is a bit difficult to write. Having come this far, I suddenly don't know what scene to use to bring it to a close.

I'm also debating whether to write two extra chapters to kill off the priest. Li Qing is at his peak strength at level 5, so the priest's ending in this book is actually predictable even without writing about him. However, some readers have suggested that I write two chapters, so I'm still considering it (well, actually, this book hasn't even reached 1 million words by the end, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm considering whether to use extra chapters to fill the last 10,000 words).