Chapter 44: Prelude to the Awakening of the Substitute

If I ever find myself in a similar situation again, at least I won’t be shouting at Qiao Zhe, “JOJO! Use your unbeatable intelligence to figure something out!” Depending on others is never a long-term solution, and besides, Qiao Zhe hasn’t transformed into Nexus lately—ultimately, the only person I can truly rely on is myself.

Speaking of which, I wonder how that old charlatan is recovering. Looking back on everything that’s happened, I can’t shake the feeling that Noah was just putting on an act for him.

Lost in thought, I suddenly sensed a wave of hostility and instinctively stopped in my tracks. Qiao Zhe was standing on a pedestrian overpass, the only person there at the moment. Footsteps sounded from the stairway ahead, accompanied by a cold, mocking laugh. “What should I call you? JOJO? Qiao Zhe?”

Fujimiya, dressed head to toe in black, strode onto the overpass, stopping a short distance opposite Qiao Zhe. “Or perhaps… the Harbinger of the Root’s Annihilation!”

As he spoke, the blue sapphire bracelet on his wrist shimmered into view, clearly ready for combat at any moment.

Qiao Zhe thought, “?” He used to think, watching Gaia TV, that Fujimiya was cool and had a flair for drama. But now, facing him in person, Qiao Zhe found the whole scene rather absurd.

“Can’t refute me, can you? Because I’ve hit the mark!” Fujimiya’s face radiated a mysterious confidence. Seeing Qiao Zhe’s silence only confirmed his suspicions. “You might fool that naive boy I Dream, but you can’t fool me!”

Speechless for a moment, Qiao Zhe realized Fujimiya’s prejudice ran deep. Clearly, there was only one way to calm him down: “I can’t be bothered to explain. You’re not worth listening to.”

His expression hardened, and in that instant, Ultra psychokinesis burst forth! Crimson waves of energy surged out, engulfing Fujimiya in a flash.

The sudden phenomenon startled Fujimiya, but by the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late. He was instantly bound from head to toe by Qiao Zhe’s psychic power, as if tied up by invisible cords.

“What is this? Damn you! What have you done? I can’t move!”

Fujimiya struggled with all his might, but aside from his mouth, his whole body was immobilized. The more he fought, the less effect it had—instead, he collapsed to the ground.

Qiao Zhe strode toward him, the overpass deserted except for the two of them. “You’ve saved me the trouble of coming to find you yourself.”

“Damn it!” Fujimiya glared as Qiao Zhe approached. Even pinned to the ground, he refused to yield. “So you’re going to kill me just to silence me? Go ahead, try it if you dare!”

Fury blazing in his eyes, the sapphire bracelet on his wrist flashed with light as the transformation device’s wings unfurled.

Qiao Zhe raised an eyebrow. If only his Ultra psychokinesis were more precise, he thought, he could have Fujimiya’s head spinning so badly he couldn’t even attempt to transform. As it was, that level of control eluded him.

But that wasn’t a major concern. With the Meta Field in play, even if Fujimiya transformed into Agul, there was no need to worry about collateral damage to the city during their fight.

“If my Ultra psychokinesis were stronger, I could snatch his transformation device right off him,” Qiao Zhe mused.

As he prepared to transform alongside Fujimiya, a sudden thought crossed his mind—and in that instant, a purple apparition surged out of his body!

It moved so fast, it was as if time itself had stopped. The apparition skimmed across the ground, leaping in a heartbeat to stand before Fujimiya, and with a mighty fist, struck his wrist.

“Ora!!”

With the apparition’s roar, the sapphire bracelet went flying, breaking Fujimiya’s transformation on the spot. The apparition snatched the bracelet from the air and, in a flash, returned to Qiao Zhe’s side—then vanished as quickly as it had appeared, seemingly due to unstable psychic energy.

The bracelet clattered to the ground. The entire process had taken less than half a second.

Only then did Fujimiya cry out in pain.

Qiao Zhe’s transformation paused; he had no interest in Fujimiya for the moment, nor did he pick up the fallen bracelet.

“Was that… my Stand? It looked just like Star Platinum—no, it was Star Platinum!” His expression shifted from shock to awe. He was certain he hadn’t imagined it. Even though Star Platinum had only appeared for a split second, it was no illusion.

Glancing down at the transformation device, Qiao Zhe recalled his earlier thought about taking it from Fujimiya.

The more powerful a Stand is, the more likely it is to go berserk upon awakening, automatically acting in accordance with its user’s subconscious desires. Qiao Zhe realized he was on the cusp of manifesting his Stand.

Given the strength of his psychic energy—and the fact that he wasn’t an ordinary human—his mental power far surpassed any Stand user from the Jojo world. Awakening a Stand was only natural.

“So this is the prelude to awakening a Stand,” he thought, holding his breath and focusing, attempting to summon the Stand again. But this time, Star Platinum didn’t appear—it felt as though it was on the verge of manifesting, yet couldn’t quite break through.

He was about to try again when Fujimiya’s angry voice rang out.

“Damn you! Give me back the sapphire bracelet!”

Momentarily distracted, Qiao Zhe’s psychic grip loosened.

Seizing the opportunity, Fujimiya broke free. Noticing his transformation had failed and the bracelet had somehow landed at Qiao Zhe’s feet, he sprang up and lunged with astonishing speed.

Though Agul and Fujimiya were somewhat fused, and even without the bracelet he radiated a faint glow, there was no matching Qiao Zhe’s reflexes. He sidestepped Fujimiya’s punch and delivered a casual knee strike to his gut.

“Ugh…” Fujimiya doubled over, pain lancing through his abdomen; he collapsed to the ground, eyes shut tight, gasping in agony. The bracelet lay just before him.

Gritting his teeth, Fujimiya reached for the device, but Qiao Zhe’s psychic power bound him again before he could grasp it.

“Ocean’s Light, a fine color,” Qiao Zhe remarked, picking up the bracelet and holding it up to the sunlight, examining it closely.

“Give it back!” Fujimiya lay prone, glaring with seething hatred.

Qiao Zhe ignored him and tried to call upon Agul to transform.

Unfortunately, Agul refused.

Having failed to “steal” the transformation in front of its owner, Qiao Zhe glanced down at Fujimiya’s furious face and thought that pushing him any further might just provoke a remote transformation. That wouldn’t be unprecedented—I Dream had managed the same feat in Gaia TV.

“For the sake of the Earth, Fujimiya, consider yourself lucky to be alive.”

His gaze swept over Fujimiya, whose face, arms, and knees were all scuffed and bloodied from their struggle. He looked utterly bedraggled. The wrist struck by the Stand was also bent at an odd angle—clearly broken.

After a moment’s thought, Qiao Zhe crouched beside him and took hold of his arm.

“What are you doing?” Fujimiya’s face tensed with suspicion, his eyes full of hostility.

Qiao Zhe’s tone was calm. “Don’t shout. You’re hurt. Let me heal you first.”

For a Jojo, this was only natural, but Fujimiya was momentarily stunned, his expression baffled as if he wanted to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.

He stared blankly at Qiao Zhe, at a loss for words.

Golden energy flowed down Qiao Zhe’s arm, but as the Ripple passed into Fujimiya’s body, he instantly sensed something was wrong!