In the domain of stopped time, Jotaro's gaze, like a hawk, locked onto the priest's figure, who was about to turn and flee.
Without the slightest hesitation, Star Platinum, after pummeling the Weather Forecast Stand User, moved like lightning, directly charging at the priest!
"Ora!"
The heavy punch tore through the static air, aiming directly at the priest's back; if this punch connected, it would be enough to break an ordinary person's spine.
However, just as Star Platinum's fist was about to touch the priest's robe—
He saw the half of the opponent's face that was turned towards him, which actually shifted. This caused both Star Platinum and Jotaro to freeze.
Buzz—!
When Jotaro reacted and exerted force again, throwing a powerful punch—
A translucent, rippling barrier, like water, suddenly appeared behind the priest, forcefully blocking Star Platinum's fatal blow!
That was... the slime ball from before!
"What?!"
A hint of surprise flashed in Jotaro's eyes. This thing shouldn't be able to move in stopped time. Then he saw the priest grab the slime ball and continue to turn and run for his life.
Jotaro chased without hesitation, but every time he threw a punch, the slime ball would be tossed out by the priest, forming a wall to block his fist.
When time resumed its flow, the Stand User with Weather Forecast instantly coughed up blood, countless wounds erupted all over his body, and he immediately knelt on the ground.
'What happened? Why do I suddenly hurt so much...'
Then he rolled his eyes and fainted, and a disc depicting Weather Forecast, along with his memory disc, popped out.
And Jotaro was still in pursuit.
"Puh-ha—!"
Although the priest had most of the impact absorbed by the barrier, the remaining force still caused him to stumble forward, his throat tasting sweet, but he gritted his teeth and didn't fall, instead using the momentum to frantically sprint deeper into the corridor.
Behind him was Jotaro, chasing him madly, and White Snake, chasing Jotaro madly.
He was horrified in his heart, 'I didn't expect Jotaro to be so powerful. With such thorough preparations, I still couldn't take him down. How could this be?
But it doesn't matter. Although I don't know why, my body is also changing. I am gradually resisting the effects of time stop. Is it the effect of the gravity Stand? Never mind, it's no longer important. It's almost time... Soon he will be poisoned again, and then I can extract his memories.'
"Don't think of running!"
But Jotaro, behind him, would not let him go. A Star Finger was already prepared and, when fired, bounced off the wall to bypass the slime ball's protection.
Star Platinum's two fingers directly pierced the priest's shoulder, crippling one of his arms, but the priest gritted his teeth, ignoring the blood gushing from his shoulder, and continued to run forward, clutching his shoulder.
Upon seeing this, Higashikata Josuke immediately gave chase, wanting to help his nephew quickly defeat the opponent. Okuyasu and Koichi also reacted, wanting to step forward to help.
However, due to the residual poisonous gas, they did not have gas masks like Pucci, so they were all affected by the toxin, becoming drowsy and slowing down.
Jotaro, therefore, couldn't catch up to the priest for a while, and his head even started to feel a bit dizzy.
However, Koichi noticed, due to the chaos, the two discs that the other three hadn't noticed... In these precious, delayed few seconds, the priest's White Snake had already rushed to an emergency door at the end of the corridor. He unhesitatingly crashed through the door, his figure disappearing into the complex Hospital architecture behind.
In the instant before he vanished, he looked back at Jotaro, who had already reached him, his eyes complex, 'It seems the prophecy was indeed correct; fate is bound to be fulfilled.'
And behind him, dozens of bullets spewed out.
Jotaro instantly froze his movements, and Star Platinum greeted forward, "How could this be? Oh, right, right, this is the Stand that fired bullets earlier!"
In an instant, Jotaro deflected most of the bullets, but a few still pierced his shoulder and leg, shaving off large patches of his flesh, and this wasn't even the main point.
Jotaro could withstand these injuries; they wouldn't affect his combat. The important thing was that in this momentary pause, White Snake behind him grinned ferociously and lunged, his hand slashing across his forehead.
"Kujo Jotaro... The trajectory of fate has only deviated slightly, but I am still the one who wins... On the path guided by 'Heaven', I am destined to succeed, and those who will flock to me will undoubtedly be the bloodline of you Joestar family!"
Before he finished speaking, his figure had completely vanished, clutching Jotaro's memory disc in his hand, and swiftly ran out.
For him, this trip was already worth it. Even if he sacrificed several high-quality Stands, it didn't matter, as most of them were just some ordinary subordinates from Dio's past.
If they died, they died. Once he resurrected Dio, he could recruit countless more such subordinates. His only regret was his brother's Weather Forecast.
Now his brother had lost his memories and his Stand, which was indeed a bit tragic.
"Cough cough... That guy got away! And... Jotaro-san!" Okuyasu pounded the wall in frustration.
Jotaro walked to the emergency door, looking at the empty space behind, pulled down the brim of his hat, and felt the emptiness in his body, the lack of mental energy.
"Yare yare... He had prepared everything in advance, more thoroughly than us, and that prisoner... was a pawn."
He recalled the opponent's strange adaptation to the time stop just now, and the priest's last words, and fell into silent contemplation.
"Toth... 'Heaven'... Things are more complicated than imagined."
He turned around and walked back to the original battlefield, looking at the unconscious silent man and the anesthetist, Alessy, who had long since lost consciousness on the other side.
"However, it's not without gains. At least, we know the opponent's exact target, and... the intelligence that they possess precognitive abilities. Moreover, we've left a few 'tongues'."
"Josuke, first 'repair' these guys to a state where they can speak, but ensure they cannot use their Stands."
Jotaro calmly gave instructions, "We must quickly extract information, especially about that 'Toth', and their upcoming plans. From now on, it's up to you all."
Immediately after speaking, Jotaro leaned against the wall and sat down, falling into a coma. The removal of his memory disc earlier had caused significant trauma to his mind.
He had lost his past memories; being able to hold on for this long was already remarkable.
"Jotaro-san! What's wrong with you? Are you injured? I'll treat you right now..."
"Jotaro-san, what happened to you?!"
"Jotaro-san, please don't be hurt! Don't scare us."
But no matter how Josuke treated him, Jotaro did not recover. Thinking of this, Koichi pulled out the two discs he had just acquired...