"Old man doesn’t want to cause any more misunderstandings. Ask someone your own age—don’t make things difficult for an old-timer like me!"
Joseph Joestar seemed to recall the earlier awkward incident, his eyes shifting guiltily as he firmly rejected Nianzi’s request.
Please reselect your roommate:
A: Choose Muhammad Avdol.
B: Choose Kujo Jotaro.
C: Choose Kakyoin Noriaki.
D: Choose Polnareff.
E: Insist on staying alone.
The old man had outright removed himself from the options!
He was the one who said she could pick anyone first, and now he was backing out?
Suddenly acting all proper—what was he pretending for? As if he wasn’t the one caught up in that illegitimate child scandal before…
Nianzi silently grumbled to herself, feeling disappointed. Maybe the old man wasn’t as easy to win over as she thought. He probably cared too much about his pride, especially fearing judgmental looks from his companions.
With no other choice, she worried last night’s incident might repeat itself. Accidentally harming a teammate would be disastrous. She shrugged and said, "Fine, I’ll take a room alone."
"I’ll stay with you."
But then, Kujo Jotaro suddenly cut in, speaking up on his own. "To prevent another situation like last night, I’ll keep an eye on you."
What?
Nianzi looked at him in surprise, meeting his sharp, deep green eyes.
She could guess his thoughts—this was purely about safety. But she wasn’t keen on sharing a room with him. She still wanted to try convincing the old man.
"I’m afraid I might hurt you in my sleep," Nianzi said seriously, adding, "Though if it were Mr. Joestar, I’d do my best to control myself."
"Why drag me into this?! What are you trying to say, girl?!"
Joseph panicked, unsure if Nianzi was mocking him, and grew visibly uncomfortable.
"Spare me, please!"
System Notification: Joseph Joestar expresses disapproval.
???
How could he disapprove so fiercely? Even his favorability dropped?
Nianzi couldn’t understand why her efforts to win over the old man were failing. She wasn’t bad-looking—fair-skinned and attractive by any standard. Clearly, charm stats didn’t do much in this game. Maybe she should keep investing in strength instead.
Damn it, the plan to room with the old man was ruined!
"Try it if you think you can," Kujo Jotaro replied coolly. His dismissive attitude was irritating, but Nianzi decided not to argue.
At least they hadn’t treated her like a lunatic after last night’s events.
Fine, whatever.
She was fighting against her instincts too, refusing to let that thing inside her take control.
After burning the bloodstained clothes, everyone regrouped and rearranged their rooms.
With two nights left before reaching Singapore, no further attacks occurred on the ship after the fake captain’s departure.
The crew seemed to be ordinary people. Nianzi wasn’t sure how Joseph had negotiated with them, but they agreed to keep what happened a secret.
Yet Nianzi remained on high alert. She was a light sleeper, easily roused by the slightest disturbance—especially tonight, when an inexplicable restlessness had woken her. Deciding she needed air, she made her way to the deck.
The moon was absent, leaving the sea a void of darkness. Leaning against the railing, Nianzi stared into the abyss, her mind fixated on the brutal murder of the fake captain. She had no memory of the event, but just then, a crimson shadow pooled at her feet.
Instinct screamed danger. She whirled around to see the blood-red mass coalesce into a grotesque figure: a diminutive, skeletal creature with jagged teeth, clad in a tattered, grimy butler’s uniform.
"!!"
Another attack!
Without hesitation, Nianzi clasped her hands and summoned her Stand to strike. But the monster didn’t defend itself—no Stand manifested, no evasion attempted. Instead, it gazed at her with tearful joy.
"My dearest master! I followed the stench of that wretched human you slaughtered and finally found you, in all your wicked glory!" It wrung its hands obsequiously, voice trembling with excitement. "Salaratus Fear, your most loyal butler! At your service!"
What the—?!
She didn’t wait for the system’s prompt. In one fluid motion, her dagger plunged into the creature’s throat. Yet it offered no resistance, letting out a euphoric wail before collapsing at her feet.
"Ah! You’ve killed me again! Salaratus Fear revels in this moment!"
"……"
…This had to be an enemy, right?
Only DIO would have minions this monstrous. And what was it babbling about?
She steadied her breath, only to turn and find Kujo Jotaro—who should’ve been asleep below deck—watching her from a distance.
"……"
After a beat of silence, Nianzi spoke. "What are you doing here?"
"Smoking."
He stepped closer, eyeing the corpse before pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. "What happened?"
"No idea. I killed it before it finished talking." She frowned. "Probably one of DIO’s lackeys. Also, you’re a high schooler. Smoking’s bad."
"Think what you want."
Expressionless, he took a drag, asked no further questions, then hoisted the clearly inhuman creature and tossed it overboard.
…Well, that aligned with her thoughts.
"I’m going back to sleep. Enjoy your smoke." She waved dismissively. Jotaro merely grunted in response, his gaze lingering as she left the deck.
Nianzi quickly put the incident out of mind.
But it was far from over.
The next night, the monster appeared in her room.
"My revered master! Though I cherish being slain by you time and again, we have unfinished business! I’ve returned with your dreadful inheritance!"
It looked exactly the same as it had the night before—still groveling and hunched over—but the wound on its neck had vanished. Nianzi, sitting on the bed with a dagger in hand, stared at it in shock. The creature bowed deeply and produced a white jade dagger, placing it reverently at her feet.
"A common weapon is beneath you, Master. You deserve a finer tool to carry out your sacred slaughter! Please accept this reward from your father!"
How was this possible?! It was supposed to be dead!
Nianzi vividly remembered throwing its corpse into the sea the night before. The ship had sailed for another full day—how had it returned?!
"What is it this time? Another assassin sent by DIO?"
Kujo Jotaro, also roused by the commotion, frowned at the monster. "I thought you killed this thing last night. Why is it back?"
Kujo Jotaro summoned his Stand. The creature didn’t seem hostile, but its ability to resurrect was undeniably strange. They decided to hear it out first.
"DIO? That vampire? No, no, he’s unworthy! He isn’t even fit to lick your father’s boots! Celestis Phil serves only the true heir!"
The self-proclaimed butler waved its hands indignantly, as if offended. It was an enigma, yet it wore a reverent smile when addressing Nianzi. "I can hardly wait for your next slaughter! When the time comes, I shall bring you another reward. Before you end me again, is there anything you wish to know?"
[This creature claims to be your butler and seems to know much about your past.]
Options:
A: Ask how much it knows about you.
B: Ask about DIO.
C: Kill it again.
"Who am I, really? What do you know?"
Nianzi hesitated, glaring at the creature, ready to strike at any moment. She voiced the question that had haunted her all this time.
"An excellent inquiry! Believe me, Celestis Phil would love nothing more than to answer!"
The creature let out an exaggerated cry and bowed theatrically before explaining.
"But a terrible force prevents me from revealing the truth. I cannot even utter your father’s glorious name! What I can tell you is this: follow your instincts, revel in the slaughter, and the answers will come. Only then will you reclaim your true self!"
"That’s no answer at all. What’s your real goal?"
Nianzi’s patience was wearing thin. She hated riddles, but the butler merely bowed again, whispering with a smile.
"Pay it no mind. We have always been with you… and we always will be."
The butler dissolved into a mist of blood and vanished, leaving only the dagger at the foot of the bed.
She had no idea what was happening, but she had no choice but to get up and examine the strange dagger with Kujo Jotaro.
To her astonishment, when she picked it up, she realized it was an orange-tier legendary weapon!
—Dagger of the Bloodseeker: Strikes first, razor-sharp with piercing effects, highly likely to land critical hits.
A fine blade. So… was this really a reward? Could the butler have truly been her subordinate in the past?
"At least it’ll be useful for cutting off a vampire’s head," she muttered.
Nianzi ran her fingers over the dagger, muttering to herself under her breath.
Meanwhile, in Cairo, Egypt.
Inside a dim, velvet-draped room with all its windows sealed shut, a blond man with a gruesome scar across his neck stared blankly at the television screen. Behind him stood an elderly Romani woman, her hands both grotesquely deformed into right hands. Her mouth hung open in silent shock, her expression twisted with horror as she fixated on the screen, disbelief etched across her face.
Yet the strangest thing of all was the footage playing on the television—it showed Kujo Jotaro and Nianzi inside the ship's cabin.
