Dangerous Ability

Abbacchio's fight had caused quite a commotion.

Not long after he defeated Mista, Bucciarati and the others, who had split up to search nearby, hurried over after following the noise.

"What?!"

Seeing the shocking patches of blood all over Abbacchio, a ripple finally appeared on Bucciarati's usually calm face.

"Abbacchio, are you all right?"

"It's nothing." Abbacchio skillfully tore open his blood-soaked clothes and roughly bandaged his wound with strips of cloth. "It only looks serious."

"That's good." Bucciarati let out a slight sigh of relief before shifting his attention to inspect the ruins where a fierce battle had just taken place.

Soon, he spotted Mista, who had been knocked unconscious amid the rubble.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know this kid's name either."

"But one thing is certain: he's a Stand User."

As he spoke, Abbacchio briefly recounted how Mista had covered for Li Qing and how the two of them had ended up fighting.

"I see. He's Li Qing's companion?"

Bucciarati stepped forward and crouched down, carefully studying Mista's groggy, unconscious face.

"He's out cold. I'm afraid he won't wake up anytime soon."

"If we want to get information out of him, we'll have to waste a lot of time waiting."

"However."

After pondering for a moment, he turned to Abbacchio and instructed him.

"Abbacchio, use Moody Blues to 'replay' this kid's actions over the past twenty minutes."

"If he's Li Qing's companion, then there's a good chance he encountered that bald man twenty minutes ago!"

"I understand."

"As long as this kid met Li Qing, Moody Blues can indirectly locate the 'time' and 'place' where Li Qing appeared during the replay."

"Once those two factors are clear, we can follow the trail and find Li Qing's later movements."

Abbacchio immediately understood what Bucciarati meant.

So, Abbacchio immediately ordered Moody Blues to transform into Mista's appearance and rapidly rewind Mista's movements over the past twenty minutes in "fast-forward" mode.

One minute ago, he had been sitting by the roadside talking to himself.

Three minutes ago, he had climbed up from the ground while clutching his slightly swollen cheek.

Ten minutes ago, he had collapsed groggily on the road, seemingly having just been attacked by someone.

Twenty minutes ago.

"Uh..."

Seeing Li Qing's bizarre sight of "borrowing" a motorcycle with one punch, the expressions of Bucciarati's group became rather strange.

"Hey, hey. He doesn't even know Li Qing!"

"Is something wrong with this guy's head? Why would he risk lying to Abbacchio for someone who stole his motorcycle?"

Narancia scratched his head and asked in confusion.

Everyone fell silent. No one answered that question.

Because they actually knew the answer—helping a good guy beat up bad guys. Mista's motive was just that simple.

And embarrassingly enough, they were the bad guys in this story.

"All right, all right."

Bucciarati broke the silence and directly ordered, "Don't waste time."

"Now that we've found the target's trail, hurry up and follow Moody Blues' replay!"

"Understood."

Abbacchio quickly changed Moody Blues' replay target to Li Qing.

Then, glancing at the still-unconscious Mista beside them, he asked with some concern.

"Bucciarati, what do you plan to do with this guy?"

"He doesn't seem to have anything to do with this matter, so there's no need..."

Abbacchio hesitated.

The Passion Organization was not a charity.

Bucciarati was gentle toward ordinary civilians, but when dealing with Mafia affairs, he had never hesitated to use violence that could only be described as inhuman.

If Bucciarati planned to treat that kid as an "enemy of the organization," then his fate would certainly be miserable.

"..."

After thinking for a moment, Bucciarati answered, "Bring him into the car!"

"Bring him into the car? Where are you planning to take him?"

Abbacchio asked bluntly.

Though it sounded somewhat ridiculous, he could not help worrying about this enemy's fate.

But Bucciarati did not answer directly.

He crouched down and helped the unconscious Mista up from the ground, his gentle movements revealing an unusual tenderness.

"You can't just leave an unconscious person lying on the ground."

"Bring him into the car first. If it's convenient, we can drop him off at a hospital to rest along the way."

Following the trail left by Li Qing's motorcycle, Bucciarati's group drove after him.

Not long after they left the town that had nearly been reduced to ruins, Bucciarati suddenly received a call—it was from Polpo.

"Bucciarati, how are things going?"

The moment the call connected, Polpo got straight to the point.

"Were the clues those grunts provided accurate? Have you found Li Qing's trail?"

"We found it."

Bucciarati skipped over the details and truthfully reported the result.

"We've already identified the target's trail and are currently in pursuit."

"If all goes well, we'll soon meet Li Qing himself."

"Hahaha..."

Polpo's somewhat shrill laughter came through the phone's speaker.

"Excellent. Bucciarati, you truly are my most trusted subordinate!"

"Then let's stay in contact. Once you find the target's exact location, report to me immediately."

"And."

After giving those routine instructions, his tone suddenly became much more serious.

"Bucciarati, aside from hunting down that bald man, the boss has personally issued another order for you."

"An order personally issued by the boss?"

Bucciarati's expression immediately grew serious.

"Please give the order. I'll do everything in my power to satisfy the boss!"

That elusive boss was a Mafia godfather revered and worshipped throughout the Passion Organization, and indeed throughout Italy's entire underworld.

Without knowing what the boss was truly like, Bucciarati naturally held his superior in the most sincere respect.

Yet that respect immediately faded considerably because of the unreasonable order that followed.

"It's simple."

Polpo relayed the boss's command. "The boss wants to know the Stand abilities of you and your team members."

"You want us to report our Stand abilities?"

Bucciarati's tone was deeply conflicted.

Stand battles were primarily battles of intelligence. A Stand ability could practically be called a Stand User's greatest secret.

Telling someone else about your Stand ability was, in a sense, like placing half your life in their hands.

For that reason, in consideration of the unwritten rules among Stand Users, the Passion Organization had never required Stand Users within the organization to reveal their abilities.

But now...

"The situation is different."

"You used to be just an ordinary combat team. Like the assassination team or demolition team, you were merely workers who collected salaries and followed orders."

"But now, the boss has taken a liking to your ability to get things done. He intends to promote you to take my position, Polpo's position, and become the executive who rules Naples."

"When that time comes, all of Naples will be your 'fief'!"

"And you and your team members will be nobles directly under the emperor, true insiders of the Passion Organization."

"Bucciarati."

Polpo first painted his subordinate a rosy picture, then immediately spoke in an exceedingly subtle tone.

"The boss wants to entrust such a great enterprise to you, yet you still want to conceal your Stand abilities from him."

"Could it be that there is some reason you must guard against the boss?"

Those words struck straight at the heart.

But from another perspective, Polpo was not entirely wrong.

Even becoming a minor civil servant required a thorough background check. If the head of an organization wanted to promote someone into a high-ranking official governing an entire city, how could he not know that person's full background?

"All right. I understand."

After considering it for a moment, Bucciarati ultimately decided to place his trust in the boss.

"Bruno Bucciarati. Stand name: Steel Chain Fingers."

"Pannacotta Fugo. Stand name: Purple Haze."

"..."

In some corner of Naples, Diavolo, hidden in the shadows, carefully read the intelligence Polpo had just sent over.

Though he hated to admit it...

Diavolo had chickened out.

After witnessing his tragic fate on Rolling Stones, this Dark Emperor who had always considered himself invincible had unconsciously become more cautious.

He no longer trusted his own power as completely as he once had.

Polpo, the Bucciarati Team, and some members of the Royal Guard who were rushing toward Naples at full speed...

In an uncharacteristic move, Diavolo chose to mobilize the Passion Organization's forces and go all out against this enemy of fate who stuck in his throat like a fishbone.

And to be safe, he had even lowered himself to use his status as the boss to pressure others, learning the abilities of those "pieces" in advance.

"Narancia Ghirga. Stand name: Aerosmith."

"They're all decent abilities. But they're still nowhere near enough to threaten my King Crimson."

Diavolo relaxed slightly.

Then he continued reading.

"Leone Abbacchio. Stand name: Moody Blues."

"The ability is..."

"What?!" Diavolo's expression immediately became extremely ugly. "This ability... is too dangerous."