Dangerous Ability

Abbacchio's fight wasn't exactly quiet.

It hadn't been long since he defeated Mista, so Bucciarati and the others who had split up to search the vicinity hurried over, drawn by the noise.

"What the?!"

Seeing the large, shocking bloodstains on Abbacchio's body, a flicker of emotion crossed Bucciarati's usually calm face:

"Abbacchio, are you alright?"

"It's nothing," Abbacchio said, skillfully tearing off his blood-soaked clothes and using strips of cloth to crudely bandage his wounds. "It just looks worse than it is."

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

Soon, he spotted Mista, who had been knocked unconscious and lay amidst the rubble: "Who is he?"

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

"But he's definitely a Stand User."

With that, Abbacchio briefly recounted how Mista had covered for Li Qing earlier and how he had then fought Mista.

"I see. Is he that Li Qing's companion?"

Bucciarati stepped forward and knelt down, carefully observing Mista's dazed and unconscious face:

"This guy is out cold; he probably won't wake up anytime soon."

"This means it'll take a lot of time to wait if we want to get any information from him."

"However..."

He pondered for a moment, then turned to Abbacchio and gave an order:

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

"Since he's that Li Qing's companion, it's highly likely he interacted with that bald guy twenty minutes ago!"

"I understand."

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

"Once these two elements are clear, we can follow the clues to track Li Qing's subsequent movements."

Abbacchio immediately understood Bucciarati's meaning.

So, Abbacchio commanded Moody Blues to transform into Mista's appearance and quickly rewind Mista's actions from the past twenty minutes in "fast-forward" mode:

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

Three minutes ago, he was getting up from the ground, holding his slightly swollen and red cheek.

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

Twenty minutes ago...

"Huh..."

Seeing the bizarre sight of Li Qing "borrowing" the motorcycle with a single punch, Bucciarati and his companions wore strange expressions:

"Whoa, whoa... they don't even know each other!"

"Is this guy out of his mind? Why would he help someone who stole his motorcycle and risk lying to Abbacchio?"

Narancia scratched his head, asking with some confusion.

Everyone remained silent; no one answered the question.

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

And what was embarrassing was that they were the bad guys in this story.

"Alright, alright..."

Bucciarati broke the silence and directly commanded, "Don't waste any more time."

"Now that we've found traces of our target, let's hurry and follow the replay from Moody Blues!"

"Understood."

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

Then, glancing at the still unconscious Mista beside him, he asked with some concern:

"Bucciarati, what are you planning to do with this guy?"

"He doesn't seem to be related to this matter, so he probably doesn't need to..."

Abbacchio trailed off.

The Passion Organization wasn't a charity.

While Bucciarati was gentle with ordinary citizens, he never hesitated to use brutal violence when dealing with gang affairs.

If Bucciarati decided to treat the kid as an "enemy of the organization," his fate would be dire.

"..."

Bucciarati pondered for a moment and replied, "Bring him in the car!"

"Where are you taking him by putting him in the car?" Abbacchio asked frankly.

Though it sounded ridiculous, he couldn't help but worry about the enemy's fate.

Bucciarati didn't answer directly.

He leaned down and helped the unconscious Mista up from the ground, his slight movements revealing a peculiar gentleness.

"We can't just leave someone who's fainted on the ground."

"Let's get him in the car first. If possible, we'll take him to the hospital on the way."

Following the trail of Li Qing's departing motorcycle, Bucciarati and his team drove in pursuit.

Not long after they left the town, which had practically turned into ruins, Bucciarati suddenly received a call—it was from Polpo.

"Bucciarati, how's the situation?" Polpo asked directly as soon as the call connected.

"Are the clues provided by those underlings accurate? Have you found any trace of Li Qing?"

"We have." Bucciarati reported the results truthfully, skipping the details.

"We've got a lock on the target's movements and are currently in pursuit. If things go smoothly, we'll be meeting Li Qing himself soon."

"Hahaha." Polpo's somewhat sharp laughter echoed from the phone's speaker.

"Very good, Bucciarati. You truly are my most trusted subordinate!"

"Then let's stay in contact. Report to me immediately once you pinpoint the target's exact location."

"Also..." He gave a couple of routine instructions, but his tone suddenly became much more serious.

"Bucciarati, besides hunting down that bald guy, the Boss has also personally given you an order."

"An order from the Boss himself?" Bucciarati's expression immediately turned serious.

"Please, give me your instructions. I will do everything I can to satisfy the Boss!"

The Boss, who was as elusive as a dragon that only showed its head but not its tail, was a revered and worshipped mafia godfather throughout the entire Passion Organization, and even the entire underground world of Italy.

Without knowing the Boss's true nature, Bucciarati naturally held the most sincere respect for his superior.

However, this respect quickly diminished due to the unreasonable order.

"It's very simple." Polpo conveyed the Boss's command: "The Boss wants to know your Stand abilities and those of your team members."

"You want us to report our Stand abilities?" Bucciarati's tone was very conflicted.

Stand battles were primarily fought with intelligence; Stand abilities were practically a Stand User's greatest secret.

Telling someone your Stand ability was, in a way, like handing over half your life to them.

For this reason, to accommodate the tacit understanding among Stand Users, the Passion Organization had never required its Stand Users to publicly reveal their Stand abilities.

But now...

"The situation is different."

"You were originally just an ordinary combat team, like the assassination squad or the demolition squad, just a group of hired hands who took orders for a salary."

"But now, the Boss has taken notice of your competence. He intends to promote you to replace me, Polpo, and become a cadre governing Naples."

"At that time, the entire Naples will be your 'fiefdom'!"

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

"Bucciarati..." Polpo first painted a grand picture for his subordinate, then continued in a very subtle tone, "The Boss is entrusting such a grand undertaking to you, yet you still intend to hide your Stand abilities from him..."

"Is there, perhaps, a reason why you must guard against the Boss?"

These words were truly cutting.

From another perspective, Polpo wasn't entirely wrong.

Even becoming a minor civil servant required a thorough background check. How could the organization's big boss promote someone to be a "regional governor" overseeing a city without knowing that person's background?

"Alright. I understand."

Bucciarati pondered for a moment, ultimately deciding to place his trust in the boss.

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

"Pannacotta Fugo, Stand name: 'Purple Haze'."

"..."

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

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Diavolo had become "cowardly."

This self-proclaimed invincible dark emperor had become cautious without even realizing it after witnessing his own tragic fate from Rolling Stones.

He didn't even fully trust his own power like he used to:

Polpo, the Bucciarati Team, and some of the personal guards who were rapidly converging on Naples...

Diavolo, uncharacteristically, chose to deploy the Passion Organization's combat power, going all out to deal with the fated enemy that had become a thorn in his side.

And to be safe, he specifically put aside his pride and used his position as the boss to pressure others, learning about the abilities of those "chess pieces" beforehand:

"Narancia Ghirga, Stand name: 'Aerosmith'."

"These are all decent abilities. However, they still pose no threat to my King Crimson."

Diavolo felt slightly relieved.

Then, he continued to flip through the pages:

"Leone Abbacchio, Stand name: 'Moody Blues'."

"His ability is..."

"This?!" Diavolo's expression immediately turned extremely grim: "This ability... is too dangerous."