"Just as I thought—enemies!"
Joseph immediately shouted, his entire body tensing as he and the others instantly shifted into combat mode.
Nianzi had expected this. She was quite pleased with her own foresight and quickly began assessing the enemy's situation.
The Frenchman was Level 3, with a health pool of 107/107. His attack method seemed to be the metallic humanoid Stand beside him, wielding a rapier. More concerning was the giant gorilla, which had torn through the iron bars of its cage the moment hostilities began, bursting out with a staggering 247 HP!
Mr. Mikawa and the Japanese police had health values between 10 and 15—typical for ordinary humans. But this gorilla was terrifying. The strength required to bend cage bars was no joke, and it clearly wasn’t something they could take down in one go. A single hit from it would likely take half their health.
Who would’ve thought DIO’s subordinates included animals? Fighting both at once would be a challenge. But the good news was, they had five people.
That’s right—five against two.
The balding old man had been shoved into the sea and seemed to have been swept away by the waves.
Without hesitation, Nianzi used Mage Hand to grab an iron rod and struck the gorilla from a distance. The Frenchman initially proposed a one-on-one duel, but the fight quickly devolved into chaos as everyone rushed in. Avdol used his Stand to set the gorilla ablaze, its fur causing it to enter a continuous burning state. Howling in pain, it rampaged wildly before leaping into the sea—only for Nianzi to yank it back out with Mage Hand. The captain and crew had already fled in a panic. In the end, Kujo Jotaro delivered two lightning-fast critical punches, swiftly ending the messy battle.
Time for the post-battle assessment.
Nianzi noticed that while Kujo Jotaro had struck brutally, he seemed to have activated non-lethal attacks—both enemies were still alive. Unfortunately, team EXP wasn’t shared; only those who participated in the attacks received proportional rewards.
Still, she was satisfied. She had single-handedly taken down the old man and landed a few hits on the Frenchman and the gorilla, successfully leveling up to LV3!
Her HP had now increased to 108/108, and she had several new skills to choose from:
[Tasha’s Hideous Laughter]: Causes any creature with an INT over 5 to burst into uncontrollable laughter unless they pass a Wisdom save.
[Invisibility]: Renders the user invisible, though the effect ends if they attack or interact with something.
[Dancing Lights]: Creates a small light source for illumination.
[Feather Fall]: Negates fall damage when jumping from heights.
[Grease]: Summons a slippery patch under enemies, causing them to fall. Even if they resist, their movement speed is greatly reduced.
[Enlarge/Reduce]: Allows the caster to shrink or enlarge objects, enabling access to otherwise unreachable areas.
Reading through the skill descriptions made Nianzi’s head hurt.
She could only pick one, but she wanted them all! The agony of choice was real.
She initially considered Invisibility, but since the effect broke upon attacking or interacting, it felt useless for stealth—she’d be spotted the moment she tried to steal something.
But stealing wasn’t a necessity. If she killed the enemy, she could just take what she wanted. What she needed was a skill that would truly incapacitate foes, preventing them from escaping.
Grease it is!
After selecting her new skill and allocating her stat points to Strength, Nianzi hurried over to the unconscious gorilla to loot its body. She found:
- Charred Fur (3KG): Added to her inventory weight, which would slow her down if overloaded. Useless.
- A Water Pipe: Who would want a gorilla’s used pipe?
- A Pornographic Magazine (Featuring Women on the Cover): Wait, this gorilla smoked and read smut?
Nianzi pocketed the magazine and turned to the others.
"Anyone want this?"
Maybe she could gift it to a teammate to boost their affinity.
"Who the hell would want that?!" Joseph yelled in exasperation. "But seriously, this gorilla’s weird. Did it become DIO’s subordinate because it was too human-like…?"
"Never mind that. Come look at this."
Nianzi shoved the gorilla aside and crouched next to the unconscious Frenchman, pointing at his forehead. "This guy has DIO’s flesh bud too."
While searching him earlier, she had discovered the same parasitic organism that had infected Kakyoin Noriaki.
"So this man was also under DIO’s control…"
The Joestar group’s expressions darkened.
They had assumed that anyone with a flesh bud was someone who had resisted DIO. Attacking them couldn’t have been their true intention—so of course, they had to remove it.
"What’s going on here? Are we still leaving?"
The captain had reappeared out of nowhere, eyeing the charred gorilla and unconscious Frenchman with fear. "How am I supposed to explain this to the zoo? A dead gorilla during transport is gonna be a nightmare…"
"Not our problem. The gorilla attacked first—we acted in self-defense."
Since ordinary people couldn’t see Stands, to the captain and crew, it had just looked like the gorilla spontaneously combusted. As for how the old man ended up in the sea, Nianzi wasn’t volunteering an explanation.
She suspected the old man was "Tower of Gray," the perpetrator behind the airport terror attack—another of DIO’s lackeys. The age matched. Good thing she’d pushed him into the ocean first.
"Fine, let’s just say the gorilla died in transit. We’re setting sail now—get on board if you’re coming."
Under the captain’s urging, Joseph hoisted the unconscious Frenchman onto his back and glanced at Jotaro. "Let’s take him with us. We’ll question him when he wakes up."
"Fine."
Kujo Jotaro’s reply was curt. The group boarded with their luggage, and after Nianzi thoroughly inspected the cabin for bombs or suspicious individuals, the ship finally departed.
With all other passengers gone, they essentially had the whole vessel to themselves.
They laid the Frenchman on the deck, and this time, Jotaro removed the flesh bud with practiced ease—yanking it out in under a second. The parasite evaporated in the sunlight, after which Avdol and Joseph bandaged the man’s head with gauze.
Seemed like Jotaro had a high success rate with this procedure…
While Kujo Jotaro was removing the flesh bud, Nianzi had been quietly observing. Joseph had called it nothing short of a miracle, so even after Kakyoin Noriaki’s parasite was removed, she wasn’t entirely convinced. However, after confirming the precision of Star Platinum’s movements, she couldn’t help but ask Jotaro as he withdrew his Stand, "There might be a parasite in my brain too. Could you check for me?"
"Hm?"
Kujo Jotaro immediately turned his gaze toward Nianzi. His expression remained unreadable, but the others reacted with surprise.
"What’s going on, Miss Nianzi?"
"It’s not related to DIO, but I keep having this nightmare—a man with an octopus face puts a tadpole-like parasite into my eye. My memories feel jumbled, and my mind doesn’t seem as sharp as it should be. I suspect it might be because of a parasite. Could that dream have been real?" Nianzi explained seriously.
Joseph studied her face for a moment, as if trying to determine whether she was joking.
"...I don’t think your mind’s dull at all."
In fact, she was quite sharp—always coming up with ideas no one else could.
"But I feel like I should be smarter than this."
Nianzi pointed to her left eye. "It went in through this one."
"Then let’s check."
Without further questions, Kujo Jotaro stepped forward, using his fingers to lift her eyelid while Star Platinum assisted in the examination. His tall frame brought him so close that his nose nearly brushed against hers—the first time they had ever been this near.
Nianzi could only endure it.
After a careful inspection, Jotaro looked at her and replied, "No parasite detected."
"Really? But something still feels off. It was so vivid, like a memory of something that actually happened..."
"I think it’s just your imagination," Joseph sighed. "After a nightmare, the mind can mistake terrifying dreams for reality. It’s like a psychological suggestion, making you relive the same nightmare over and over. You’re just under too much stress. Honestly, you seem perfectly fine to me. Don’t overthink it. If you’re still worried, we can get you a brain CT scan in Singapore. I’ll arrange the hospital and doctor for you."
"Alright, thank you."
Nianzi relaxed slightly and set aside the parasite topic for now. Because she had repeatedly struck the unconscious Frenchman in her eagerness to gain experience, he likely wouldn’t wake up today. The group left him in the cabin and retreated to their respective rooms.
They still had four days until Singapore, and everyone had their own way of passing the time.
Kakyoin seemed preoccupied, quietly sketching something in his notebook. The delinquent-like Kujo Jotaro stayed in his room, reading an English-language marine biology newspaper. Joseph and Avdol kept watch over the unconscious Frenchman. Meanwhile, Nianzi sat on her bed, inspecting a freshly sharpened knife. She stared at her reflection in the blade for a moment before calmly turning her gaze to the ocean outside the window.
At the same time.
The Captain slipped into the kitchen. After ensuring no one was around, he stirred a white powdered drug into the juice supply, a sinister grin spreading across his face.
The Joestar group would never expect it—DIO’s assassins weren’t just limited to those three!
The real Captain had been killed and replaced before they even boarded!
He had laced all the food with sleeping pills. Once the Joestar team ate it, they’d be out cold like catfish. Then, he would slaughter them all and complete DIO’s mission!
He waited smugly until nightfall. After everyone consumed the drugged food and fell asleep, the imposter Captain crept into Nianzi’s room, leering at the slumbering girl with wicked anticipation.
"Since they’re all going to die anyway… might as well enjoy myself first… heh…"
He stepped closer, but just as he reached her, the supposedly unconscious girl suddenly shot her hand out and seized his throat.
"!?"
How was she awake?! No—this wasn’t right—!
The fake Captain thrashed violently, but the grip on his neck only tightened. The girl showed no signs of awareness—her eyes remained shut as she lifted him effortlessly, as if in a sleepwalking trance.
