At 15:25, Bruno Bucciarati, Pannacotta Fugo, Narancia Ghirga, and Leone Abbacchio drove to the tourist town at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.
Though called a town, it was actually part of the extended city of Naples.
Nestled against the still-active Mount Vesuvius, it boasted numerous natural hot springs using volcanic geothermal resources and was near the historic Pompeii. Its rich tourist resources made it perennially popular.
But when Bucciarati’s team arrived, they were met with a scene of devastation:
Buildings had collapsed, roads had cracked, damaged cars were scattered across the streets, and black smoke rose from the ruins. The once lively area was now desolate.
Tourists and passersby had fled during the chaos, leaving only firefighters trying to clean up the aftermath and a group of American soldiers scavenging through the wreckage.
“What the hell happened here?” Abbacchio couldn’t help but ask.
His first task as a gangster seemed far more significant than he had imagined.
“About half an hour ago, an American fighter jet crashed here,” Bucciarati explained. “For reasons unknown, it caused a severe riot.”
“According to reports from our street informants, about twenty minutes ago, an Asian bald man—the target of our mission—appeared here with a blond kid in a school uniform during the chaos.”
“Hey, does that mean…” Fugo started to get nervous. “Did that bald guy cause all this?”
He swallowed, looking at the devastation around him. “Can a Stand user really do something like this? What kind of monster are we dealing with?”
“Possibly,” Bucciarati nodded cautiously. “We must be prepared. This bald man must be incredibly strong.”
“After all, the bounty on his head is—”
“The rank of a capo!”
At the top of the organization was the boss, akin to an emperor, below him were the advisors, like a cabinet, and below them were the capos, who managed specific cities’ affairs, maintaining order among millions of people.
Bucciarati’s dream was to become such a high-ranking capo.
“Though I’m nervous…,” Narancia said, sweating but determined. “As long as you give the order, Bucciarati, I’ll follow through no matter who the enemy is.”
“And most importantly…” The 15-year-old boy looked at Bucciarati with hopeful eyes. “If we kill that bald guy, your dream will come true, right?”
“Yes…” Bucciarati agreed. “But now, it seems becoming a capo is secondary.”
Looking at the still-smoking ruins, Bucciarati’s face darkened. “This guy has wrecked Naples and harmed innocent tourists and citizens. No matter how powerful he is—I won’t let him leave alive!”
Bucciarati’s words were heartfelt, not just a gangster’s show of righteousness.
Because Bucciarati was inherently a good person.
He helped Polpo manage the gang’s local affairs in Naples and had done many violent things during gang conflicts.
But this darkness and violence were never directed at ordinary citizens of Naples.
On the contrary, Bucciarati always used his authority as a small-time mob boss to maintain peace and help those in need.
In the eyes of the citizens who had often benefited from his help, Bucciarati’s squad was a community team, functioning as a neighborhood committee, police station, and Red Cross all in one.
Bucciarati’s desire to become a capo was driven by his wish to wield greater power to better protect Naples’ peace and well-being.
“Alright…” Bucciarati took a deep breath and turned to Abbacchio. “Abbacchio, can your ‘Moody Blues’ track that bald guy?”
Moody Blues was the name of Abbacchio’s Stand.
Its main ability wasn’t combat but replaying past events at a target location like a video tape on rewind.
While not suited for battle, it had powerful intelligence-gathering capabilities.
With a Stand that could “see the past,” detective stories like “Sherlock Holmes” or “Hercule Poirot” could conclude in minutes.
“Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“My Moody Blues can use the ‘memory’ of the location to ‘rewind’ to a specified time and ‘transform’ into someone who was there, replaying their actions.”
“As long as there are ‘time’ and ‘location’ factors, nothing can escape its replay.”
Abbacchio explained confidently, knowing his role here was crucial.
“This place is heavily damaged, which might affect Moody Blues’ replay.”
“But that bald guy can’t have destroyed all the terrain he passed through. With some effort, we can trace his steps.”
“Good.” Bucciarati nodded, wasting no more time. “Get started!”
“Understood.” Abbacchio nodded, and a blue humanoid Stand appeared behind him.
This Stand, named Moody Blues, had no unusual features except for the “::” timer on its forehead.
“Moody Blues!”
Using the information provided by their street informants, Abbacchio found an undamaged spot and began searching for past traces of the target:
“Rewind twenty minutes!”
Beeps sounded as Moody Blues’ forehead timer quickly changed from “::” to “00:20:00”.
Then, its appearance rapidly transformed, like using a disguise technique, from a blue humanoid Stand into a blonde kid with three hair swirls.
“Not this one. Change.”
At Abbacchio’s command, Moody Blues changed again.
This time, it became an Asian bald man.
Moody Blues could only replay a specific person’s appearance and actions from the past, without restoring the surrounding scenery or objects.
So, when Moody Blues became this bald man, it floated a bit off the ground in a peculiar riding posture.
“Yes, this bald man!”
“He must be the Lee Sin we’re after.”
“But…”
Abbacchio observed Moody Blues carefully. “He was riding a motorcycle, wasn’t he?”
“Who cares what he was riding!” Fugo impatiently urged. “Just replay what that guy did twenty minutes ago!”
“Got it.” Abbacchio replied calmly. “Start replaying, Moody Blues!”
With that command, the timer on Moody Blues’ forehead jumped from “00:20:00” to “00:19:59”.
Like a suddenly played video, it began to move and speak as Lee Sin did twenty minutes ago:
“Hey, Giorno, are you ready?”
The voice and expression of Lee Sin from twenty minutes ago emerged through Moody Blues’ replay, along with the roaring motorcycle engine.
“Ready.”
Giorno’s appearance wasn’t replayed, but his voice was recorded in “Lee Sin’s” video: “What about you, Lee Sin?”
“Hahaha… of course!”
Lee Sin laughed heartily:
“Though it sounds cheesy, what we’re doing is stupid… so…”
“Giorno Giovanna, let’s save the world together!”
With that, the motorcycle’s engine roared even louder.
In replay mode, Moody Blues acted as Lee Sin did, riding the non-existent motorcycle and “floating” away.
“Save the world?”
Fugo and the others were baffled.
“Doesn’t seem like what we thought…”
“Maybe… this bald guy wasn’t causing destruction but fighting something?”
The four fell silent, and Bucciarati made the final decision:
“Follow his path.”
“Abbacchio, can your Moody Blues also replay the enemies he fought?”
“No problem.”
Abbacchio responded: “Whether it’s a person or a Stand, as long as there’s a time and place, I can replay it.”
“Then let’s see his enemies too.”
“I want to know what Lee Sin was doing.”
Bucciarati led the team forward, giving instructions.
About half a minute later…
“Moody Blues, change target!”
Abbacchio found a suitable location and ordered a replay of Lee Sin’s enemies as Bucciarati instructed.
Then…
“Huh?”
“Why is it dark?”
Narancia scratched his head, confused.
“No, it’s not dark…”
Abbacchio’s usually calm face finally broke:
“It’s because ‘that thing’ is so huge… it’s blocking the light…”
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