Well, well. Location confirmed.
Well, well. Hermit Purple.
Looking at the photographs in his hands, Anthony could only sigh — his heart brimming with a profound sense of appreciation.
At the same time, he found himself confirming something he'd long suspected.
That bastard DIO didn't know the first damn thing about Stands. I've always maintained that the old man is the single greatest Stand user in the entire series — anyone care to disagree?
Setting everything else aside — just that one tracking ability alone could find absolutely anything in the world. They had to give Joseph literal dementia in Part 4 just to put a lid on that power.
Calling it the greatest intel-gathering Stand in the whole series wouldn't be an overstatement. And now, having personally reaped the dividends of Joseph's Stand, Anthony had become — without a single moment's hesitation — a devoted, card-carrying member of the Joseph Joestar fan club.
[Bunny emoji: nodding vigorously.] The old man is absolutely based.
Not long ago, Anthony had split off a small number of Points and sent Jonathan back to the JoJo world to track down Joseph — to obtain the leads they needed. As a precaution against the possibility that Joseph's Stand might not be able to pick up cross-world signals, Anthony had specifically had his main body feed a fishing line through as well.
Using that single fishing line, a tenuous, barely-there connection had been temporarily established between the two worlds. And so, as naturally as breathing, Joseph had gone ahead and captured the photographs.
The first photograph showed Muzan's current location. Anthony took one look and recognized it immediately.
Oh, my. If it isn't the Infinity Castle.
Without even needing to think about it, Muzan was almost certainly planning to hunker down in there for the next several decades — possibly a century or more.
To be fair, the Infinity Castle was a genuinely tricky location. It existed in a separate dimensional space — and as a general rule, neither Anthony nor Jonathan had any means of accessing pocket dimensions. The other group members didn't have any solutions for that front either, at least not right now.
Which meant that, in theory, as long as Nakime or Muzan refused to open the door, neither of them would have any way inside...
But that was only a limitation for the group members themselves.
After figuring out the true nature of the chat group's capabilities, Anthony was left with only one thought.
Can't get in unless they open the door? Did you remember to ask the chat group's daddy about that?
Hey there. Want to go a round with the chat group?
When the time comes, I'll teleport directly to your front door — don't even think about asking me for an entry permit.
As a matter of fact, the full strategy was already in place. Anthony hadn't made any complicated arrangements. Put simply, the entire plan could be summed up in a single word.
Slash.
Jonathan leads the charge, Yoriichi covers the rear — what else even needs saying?
First priority: take down Nakime, to stop the Infinity Castle from ejecting them. After that, it was just a matter of Jonathan and Yoriichi unleashing everything they had. Anthony would stand in the back, cheering both of them on, while waiting to subdue Muzan and take him alive at the very end.
With Muzan's current location confirmed, Anthony cheerfully finalized the follow-up arrangements, then turned his attention to the remaining photograph.
This was one he'd specifically commissioned — entrusted to Jonathan, who had passed the request along to Joseph.
In a sense, it was also the key to Yoriichi Tsugikuni's resurrection.
The photograph showed a patch of overgrown wasteland. Within it, a small, rounded mound of earth rose gently from the ground — barely noticeable. Anthony took a pen, circled several identifying landmarks on the photograph, and then had someone deliver it to Ubuyashiki Kagaya, with instructions to use those landmarks to locate the spot — and to do so as quickly as possible.
"So — what exactly did you take a photograph of, and why?"
Jonathan looked at Anthony and asked. Anthony answered immediately:
"Oh, we're going to dig up Yoriichi's grave."
"...?"
Hearing those words, Jonathan froze for a moment.
"D-dig... dig up a grave?"
"Mm-hm. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and honestly — it's the only solution, isn't it?"
Anthony wore an expression of utterly unruffled calm. Using the Po avatar, he walked to the window, narrowed his eyes as he gazed outside, and said quietly:
"Nobody ever said this particular body can't be used, right?"
Based on everything Anthony had come to understand about the chat group over this period, he had arrived at one conclusion.
Namely: if the chat group hadn't explicitly prohibited something, then in all likelihood, it was permitted.
So — nobody had ever said you couldn't use a dead body for a resurrection!
And as it happened... Anthony had a feeling that Yoriichi Tsugikuni's body might actually still be intact somewhere out there.
As was common knowledge, the last person to have witnessed Yoriichi Tsugikuni's death was Kokushibo. And after Kokushibo had bisected Yoriichi's body — he had ultimately wept. Which led Anthony to conclude that Kokushibo had probably not consumed the remains...
If he hadn't eaten them, there was a reasonable chance Yoriichi's body was still buried in some shallow grave to this day. After letting his imagination boldly run with that thought, Anthony arrived at an idea.
Why not just dig up Yoriichi's grave, pull out the body, and use the original vessel directly? Original stock for the original recipe — what could be more fitting?
True, Yoriichi's remains were probably more mulch than man by now — but theoretically speaking, they should still work. The chat group hadn't placed any restrictions on that front.
And so, Anthony had Joseph use Hermit Purple's psychic photography to capture a shot of Yoriichi's grave as well.
Sure enough — the fact that Hermit Purple could photograph it confirmed it: Yoriichi Tsugikuni's body was still out there!
So... what came next went without saying.
It was time to pry open Yoriichi's coffin lid.
After Anthony explained it all in detail, Jonathan finally managed to wrap his head around the concept of "grave-digging for a group member's resurrection."
"So what do we do next?"
"We hold position."
Anthony thought it over for a moment, then answered: "The advantage is completely on our side. Staying put is enough to hold it."
"For now, all we need to do is wait for some good news to come in, sort out Yoriichi's resurrection — and then we can charge straight into the Infinity Castle."
Honestly, he was already growing a little impatient to see the look on Kibutsuji Muzan's face when that moment finally arrived.
The thought brought an involuntary, lighthearted smile to Anthony's lips.
......
That very day, following Anthony's instructions, Ubuyashiki Kagaya dispatched people to search for the small earthen mound Anthony had described.
Though he didn't fully understand the reason, when Anthony mentioned that it was one of the necessary conditions for defeating Muzan, Ubuyashiki Kagaya didn't hesitate for long.
In fact, he went ahead and dispatched most of the available manpower he could spare to go and search.
Even so, numbers were limited, and the search was going to take some time. Anthony, for his part, showed no particular sign of urgency.
After all... his Points hadn't finished accumulating yet.
Even if Ubuyashiki found Yoriichi Tsugikuni's coffin ahead of schedule, Anthony would still need to wait five full days to accumulate enough Points for the resurrection.
And finally, on the sixth day — by which point Anthony had already put his surplus Points toward constructing a [Worship Shrine] — word arrived at last from Ubuyashiki Kagaya's side.
The unmarked grave had been found.
"Let's move, Jonathan. It's time."
Setting down the shrine piece in his hands, Anthony stepped out the door and called over to Jonathan — and at the same time, opened the group chat.
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: @Strictest Father of the Demon King]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Sit tight for a little while — we're going to dig up your grave and see if your body can be used for the resurrection. If it can, we'll bring you along to fight Muzan!]
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👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Reborn as Naoya I Really Am Here for Revenge!
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone