´´Star Platinum: The World!"
The moment Jotaro's low voice rang out, everything froze, colors faded to a grey-blue, and only raindrops hung suspended in the air.
"Time… has stopped flowing."
He had appeared between Higashikata Josuke and Labura at some point. After a brief explanation to Higashikata Josuke, he paused time and simultaneously held down Josuke's slime-covered fist, which was about to strike.
He looked around. He hadn't participated in the fight earlier precisely because he was observing his surroundings.
At this moment, the entire street had become a battlefield. Strangers, like enraged beasts, were savagely fighting each other, completely oblivious to the Stand User's supernatural battle happening nearby.
All they needed was a graze, a shove, to serve as a reason to fight. Under their frenzied combat, blood had long since stained the ground, yet no one screamed for mercy. Those on the verge of death merely roared and continued to fight desperately.
This extreme abnormality, of course, went unnoticed by Josuke and the others, whose minds were already clouded by anger.
"Is this the enemy's true Stand attack? As for this guy, he's just a target placed in the open to attract attention and firepower."
Jotaro carefully scanned his surroundings, pulling down the brim of his hat. He now understood; such large-scale, targeted chaos must undoubtedly be the work of a Stand ability.
After a few seconds of observation, he had already reached a conclusion: "And the enemy's Stand ability relies on water—no, or rather, this strange, water-like slime. Only people within the range of the water are caught in the fight."
"The ability's effect is to incite anger and lead to close-quarters combat… But why wasn't I greatly affected? I also came into contact with the rain… Is it the degree of contact? Or does it have to be through the puddles on the ground?"
Jotaro analyzed, silently pondering how to deal with it. Directly knocking the opponent out definitely wouldn't work. Josuke hadn't seen it himself, but he had seen it clearly.
"Josuke's attack has already proven that the slime can absorb impact and even reflect damage."
"The more you attack, the more slime you get on you, the slower you become, and the stronger your opponent gets… What a troublesome ability, it almost perfectly counters close-range Stands."
Getting covered in slime would make him slower and slower, while the opponent would correspondingly get faster, and also significantly reduce damage.
It would be more reliable to just kill him directly. There happened to be an iron rod nearby… No, Jotaro immediately realized that he too was being influenced, only he was calmer, so the impact on him was smaller.
"Damn it, I'll just knock him out first then. There's no other way. Maybe if he's unconscious, the ability will wear off…"
After a moment of hesitation, Jotaro still grabbed an iron rod from the roadside, had Star Platinum break it, and then unhesitatingly stabbed it towards the opponent.
In frozen time, Star Platinum's arm became a blur, the sharp iron rod, like a surgical scalpel, precisely and swiftly stabbed into non-fatal parts of Labura's body, such as his shoulders and limbs.
At the same time, his other hand clenched into a fist, delivering continuous heavy blows to the opponent's head, attempting to shatter the protective slime.
"Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora—!"
Dozens of stabs and strikes were completed in an instant.
The moment time resumed, dozens of bloody holes burst open on the man's body. The sharp iron rod had directly pierced through the slime on his body, but his head was mostly fine, only the slime was significantly dented and dispersed.
Clearly, this slime primarily defended against blunt force, not stabbing. It was a powerful close-combat Stand.
"Nani?!"
Josuke, who was about to deliver a powerful blow to him, also froze, then quickly reacted and looked at Jotaro, who was holding him back, "Mr. Jotaro, why are you stopping me? He insulted my hair!"
"And why are you interfering with my fight with him? This is my fight, a brawl! I've already seen his glowing shoulders and legs, those beautiful muscles, I must crush them!"
Looking at the crazed Higashikata Josuke, Jotaro slapped him without a word, instantly calming him for a moment, his head ringing.
A crisp and forceful slap landed on Josuke's face, snapping his head to the side and leaving his ears ringing.
Even with the Survivor's ability furiously stirring his fighting spirit, this sudden blow forced him to calm down for an instant. For no other reason than his brain being stunned.
"Hey, Josuke! Think carefully about why you're here!" Jotaro's voice was like ice, "It's to complete your training and save your parents! Not to kill people. You're clearly under a Stand attack right now! Control your anger!"
Before he finished speaking, Jotaro's peripheral vision caught Koichi, who was controlling Echoes ACT3, silently approaching Josuke from behind, a twisted, abnormal grin on his face! He looked like a traitor about to backstab a comrade.
Star Platinum instantly struck, delivering another slap that sent Koichi staggering.
"Stand attack?"
Josuke clutched his face. Although the influence of Survivor hadn't faded, his intellect remained. This thing only brought anger, it didn't control people.
Just as Jolyne had once experienced, once one realized their state was abnormal, a strong willpower could begin to contend for control.
"But… this anger…"
Just then, a bullet shot from a distance. Jotaro was about to touch or deflect the bullet when he saw an empty Stand floating in the air, taking the bullet for them.
"Is it another enemy Stand?"
Jotaro cautiously watched the thing in the air, but after it made contact with the bullet, the thing gently spun in the air.
Pfft!
The bullet precisely embedded itself in the center of Labura's forehead, who was lying on the ground groaning.
"Ugh…" Labura's body trembled, and the light in his eyes completely extinguished.
"Ugh…"
And several hundred meters away, John G. lowered his sniper rifle, "OK, mission accomplished, but can't I really put a bullet in that Jotaro?"
And in his earpiece came the voice of the priest, "No, I know the resentment and anger accumulated in your heart, but this is necessary for Dio's resurrection."
"Alright, for Lord Dio, come back, Manhattan Transfer…"
"Wait, you should observe a bit longer."
Watching the eerie Stand quickly float away, Jotaro's expression drastically changed, "Quick, Josuke! Heal him immediately, right now, quickly! Don't let him die!"
At this moment, Jotaro seemed to realize something, looking at the still furiously fighting crowd, and the slime on the ground that had lost its elasticity and turned into normal water.
"The enemy has had more than just this one Stand User all along! Quickly heal him! This is the enemy's…"
"Ah, okay…"
However, dozens, even hundreds, of lightning bolts instantly struck from the sky, like dozens of pale electric snakes, directly landing on the ground with thunder and lightning. Terrifying electricity instantly permeated the entire street.
Only Jotaro, having realized the problem with the water on the ground, had stood on a dry spot during this time and avoided the electric shock. As for everyone else, they were all instantly knocked out by the electricity, and the unlucky ones were directly charred.
"Josuke, Koichi!"
Jotaro's eyes were bloodshot, blood almost bursting from his eye sockets! He stood on a dry elevated spot, luckily escaping harm.
But the cooldown of Time Stop prevented him from rescuing them! He could only watch helplessly as Josuke and Koichi were swallowed by the lightning!
As for why he didn't call Okuyasu?
Because he was fine. He was lying next to Jotaro. He saw that the situation was wrong and thought Jotaro made sense. When Jotaro shouted that there was danger, he cut off space and pulled himself next to Jotaro.
Fools have their blessings; this kid's intuition was indeed very good.
At the same time, because he could now cut space with both hands, he was still thinking about whether to pull Josuke and Koichi along.
Before he could finish thinking, the lightning struck.
"Indeed… I'm still not smart…"
Looking at his two charred companions, Okuyasu murmured, and the anger in his heart dissipated quite a bit, only to be replaced by a deeper anger towards the enemy.
But he and Jotaro didn't notice that the body of Labura, who had also been charred, was stirring. Eerily, a large amount of water, appearing from nowhere, began to gather on him.
It transformed into numerous slime tentacles, growing and intertwining on the corpse, forming a small tree, as if about to bear its own fruit…