Chapter 206 Suspicion that cannot be put aside

The Colosseum in Rome.

This ancient building stands silently in the night.

The circular exterior wall, which has stood the test of time, outlines a classical and elegant appearance under the light.

Everything was so peaceful, just like every uneventful night in the past countless years.

But at this moment, in the closed Colosseum, in the place where the lights don’t shine...

A silver-haired man sitting in a wheelchair was listening attentively to all the sounds around him.

His eyes were extremely firm, sharp, and vigilant, and he had an indescribable aura of determination, just like a Roman gladiator who had once fought bloody battles in this Colosseum.

Even though he lost his legs and was trapped alone, this man from France did not choose to surrender to reality.

He never gave up resistance or hope.

This is Jean-Pierre Polnareff.

He kept the power to fight evil secretly and safely by his side, waiting for a rebel who dared to fight Diablo head-on to inherit this hope.

And now, after so many years of waiting, Polnareff is finally about to see the dawn of victory.

"Lee Sin, Giorno, Bucciarati..."

He tightly grasped the arrow with the beetle pattern, his eyes full of solemnity:

"Are you the ones I am waiting for?"

Polnareff muttered to himself.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard outside the dimly lit and deserted Colosseum.

“Here I come.”

Polnareff looked in the direction of the footsteps.

One with blond hair, the other with black hair, two young men appeared in Polnareff's sight with serious expressions.

※※※

In front of the Colosseum, Diavolo's heart was pounding.

Now the Americans are targeting him, the SPW Group is targeting him, Jotaro Kujo is targeting him, the "killed" Polnareff is suddenly "resurrected", and Lee Sin and others have taken over half of the organization with great momentum.

There is no doubt that Diablo has been forced into a desperate situation.

Under such circumstances, his main mission has unknowingly changed from killing Li Qing and eliminating the traitor to seizing the insect arrow and obtaining the so-called "power to change the world" in Polnareff's words.

There was no other way. After killing Lee Sin and Jotaro Kujo, the enemy he was facing now was too strong for him to resist.

Only by gaining overwhelming power can Diablo change this dire situation.

At this moment, that arrow was his hope.

"Polnareff, are you in here now?"

"It's really unexpected..."

"The rat that I had not dealt with properly before actually reappeared in front of me with such a 'gift'."

Diavolo looked at the Colosseum standing in the darkness before him, his eyes full of anticipation.

He took a step forward slowly, ready to "renew his past" with Polnareff before anyone else.

And just at this moment…

A car was speeding on the road in the distance, then it skidded, braked suddenly, and stopped roughly on the side of the road.

Giorno and Mista got out of the car side by side and ran quickly towards the Colosseum.

"Have you arrived yet?"

"It's all because of those stupid and nosy policemen who wasted so much of my time..."

Diablo's expression froze for a moment, but soon returned to normal:

In fact, because the remaining combat power of the Royal Guards was pitifully small, he did not expect from the beginning that those remnants could stop Li Qing and others.

If there are one or two fish that slip through the net, it will not have too much impact on his actions.

Moreover, if you think about it carefully, the appearance of Giorno and Mista might be a good thing for him:

"Polnareff said on the phone before that he no longer has the ability to fight."

"That is to say, what I have to face now are just two immature kids and a useless person who I have 'killed' once."

"The pressure in the battle is not that great, and the most important thing is..."

"Maybe I can use these two brats to help me get the usage of that arrow out of Polnareff."

Diablo made a quick decision in his mind.

Forced into a desperate situation, he urgently needed to obtain more powerful strength, so he irrationally regarded the arrow that suddenly appeared as his life-saving straw.

Now the arrow is in the Colosseum, but Diablo doesn't know how to use it:

After getting the arrow, should I stab myself, or poke a substitute, or draw a magic circle on the ground and perform a sacrificial ceremony?

He really wasn't sure.

After all, the arrow is a supernatural product beyond human cognition. Who knows what kind of trouble it can cause.

If he doesn't know how to use it, and the arrow happens to be very troublesome to use, then it's useless for him to get the arrow.

But Polnareff is a tough guy, and it is obvious that he will never tell Diablo the answer on his own initiative.

"In that case..."

"Then let me listen carefully and let you guys come up with the answers yourself."

Diablo gave up the idea of killing and robbing directly.

He slipped silently into the darkness, and hid among the ruins of the Colosseum without Giorno or Mista noticing.

※※※

Giorno and Mista hurriedly entered the Colosseum.

Unlike their unlucky companions who were targeted as soon as they got off the plane, the two of them were very lucky not to encounter the enemy.

The two quickly reunited after landing from the parachute jump, and together they borrowed a car from passers-by, and arrived at their destination safely and unimpeded.

Polnareff showed a cautious face from behind the stone pillar on the second floor.

He carefully looked at Giorno and Mista's faces, and after comparing them with the personal photos he had exchanged in advance, he temporarily confirmed their identities:

"Girno, Mista."

His eyes lingered between the two of them.

There was nothing unusual in their expressions, and their appearances matched the intelligence.

Although Giorno's immature face always made him inexplicably associate him with an uncomfortable guy, Polnareff finally ignored this small anomaly and took the initiative to show his figure:

“You are finally here.”

He pushed his wheelchair a step closer and looked down at Giorno and Mista.

"Is it you?"

Giorno carefully looked at the strange man who suddenly appeared from the darkness:

"Are you the mysterious person who contacted us to meet here?"

"Yes, it's me."

Polnareff nodded and asked cautiously:

"What about the others?"

"Your team should have 7 people, why are there only 2?"

"We were attacked in Rome."

Giorno said seriously:

"Diablo learned of our itinerary in advance, and he shot down our helicopter halfway."

"Attack?"

Polnareff couldn't help but hold the insect arrow in his hand tighter:

"How did Diavolo know?"

"According to what you said before, haven't you already taken control of the intelligence agency of the Passion Organization?"

He had previously vowed that he had the technology team under control, but now he suddenly said that the itinerary had been exposed in advance. This contradictory situation cannot but arouse suspicion.

Maybe the other party is actually Diablo's man.

They just wanted to create tension with lies and trick themselves into handing over the huge secret as soon as possible.

Polnareff couldn't help but think so cautiously.

It's not his fault that he has paranoia - if he hadn't been so careful, he would have died under the Passion Organization's pervasive surveillance.

"Can I still deceive you?"

Facing Polnareff's questioning, Mista couldn't help but growl before Giorno could say anything.

Compared to Giorno who remained calm, Mista's performance was more anxious, but also more real:

"Right now our five companions are still trapped in this city and their lives are uncertain."

"And the two of us abandoned our companions and rushed here at the risk of our lives, just to protect you, a stranger who refused to even reveal his name from beginning to end."

"You suspect we have a problem, but we also suspect your identity!"

Mista said without flinching:

"Tell me, who are you?"

"Is your claim of 'the power to definitely defeat Diablo' true or false?"

"We don't have time to waste now, so please say everything you need to say as soon as possible!"

“…”

Polnareff was silent for a while .

He saw a glimmer of light in Mista's anxious eyes, a look that only people who truly care about their companions can have.

If the other party is not an actor, then he should not be lying now.

"All right…"

"I am Polnareff, a man who once fought Diablo."

Polnareff finally said his name:

"Of course, who I am doesn't matter right now."

"What's important is this arrow. This arrow will help you gain overwhelming power and completely defeat Diablo."

As he spoke, he slowly raised the insect arrow in his hand, allowing Giorno and Mista to witness his sincerity.

"very good…"

In the shadows, Diablo clenched his fists in excitement.

He did not rush out to kill people and seize the arrows. Instead, he hid in the corner like a mouse without making a sound, just for now.

Under Diavolo's nervous and expectant gaze, Mista asked the question he wanted to ask the most:

"How do I use this arrow?"

"How do you obtain that so-called overwhelming power?"

This question is undoubtedly the key among the keys.

And for Polnareff, who risked emerging from hiding and exposing himself to the outside world, this secret was also his last bargaining chip.

"this…"

Polnareff held the insect arrow in his hand and remained silent for a long time.

After all, the power that insect arrows can bring is really terrifying.

If this power falls into the wrong hands, it could even lead to the destruction of the entire world.

But now, he had to admit that he could not completely trust the two young men in front of him.

"Before I tell you this secret, I want to hear your explanation carefully."

In the face of Diablo's extremely disappointed gaze, Polnareff changed the subject to something completely different:

"Why didn't you contact Jotaro?"

"Explain the process in detail. I will make a decision after listening to it."

This is the biggest doubt, the hurdle that he can never get around.

At the beginning, Li Qing claimed that he had taken control of the technology team and said that everyone did not need to bother meeting offline, and could speak freely about secrets online.

Polnareff chose to refuse cautiously at the time, and what happened later proved that his caution was necessary:

Because now almost a whole day has passed, Li Qing and others have not been able to make even a simple long-distance call.

So...

What Li Qing said before seemed like a lie to trick him into telling the secret quickly.

The reason why the call didn't go through is most likely because... they simply didn't dare to make the call, for fear of letting Jotaro notice anything unusual.

“Hello…”

"What are you doing!"

Mista shouted impatiently.

Now that his lost companions were still in doubt about their fate, he had no mood to accept a stranger's inexplicable interrogation:

"How many times do we have to say the same thing before you listen?"

"The phone call just can't be connected. It can't be connected from morning to night——"

"Maybe the phone has been shut down due to unpaid bills? Maybe they've changed their number? Can you blame us if we can't get through?"

"impossible."

Polnareff was not convinced by Mista at all:

It is a huge joke that the grandson of a real estate tycoon's cell phone would be shut down due to unpaid bills.

The mobile phone is an important medium for him and Jotaro to communicate regularly about the arrow search work, and Jotaro will never change his mobile phone number easily.

"Damn it...why don't you believe it?!"

Mista choked violently.

Polnareff's excessive caution was unbearable to him:

"Don't waste your time... You don't believe it, right?"

"good--"

Mista impatiently took out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Jotaro Kujo's number neatly:

"I'll make a call in front of you , can you see if you can get through?"

“Beep…beep…beep…”

"Hello?"

The call is connected.

"It's connected..." Mista and Giorno were slightly stunned.

"It worked?" Polnareff looked surprised.

"It's connected!" Diablo, who was hiding in the dark, suddenly changed his expression.

In the face of Diavolo, who looked as pale as if he had eaten two kilograms of fermented organic fertilizer, Jotaro Kujo's steady and powerful voice came from the speaker of the mobile phone: "Hello, who is that?"

"Jotaro... is that Jotaro?!"

Although he hadn't seen him for many years, Polnareff recognized the extremely familiar voice at the first sight.

During all these years of being trapped in a foreign country, he didn't know how much he wanted to hear this voice.

But under the pervasive surveillance of the Passion organization, Polnareff never dared to take the risk to make that call; and now, Mista's impulsive behavior unexpectedly helped him realize his wish.

"Polnareff?"

Jotaro also recognized the voice of his old comrade.

But before he could say anything, Polnareff had already suppressed his excitement and said cautiously:

"Wait... the sound alone doesn't convince me."

"If you want me to believe that this is the real Jotaro, if you want me to tell you the secret of the arrow, then he has to prove his identity!"

Years of life on the run have made Polnareff extremely cautious.

Even the voice of his old comrade could not break his defense:

"Jotaro, if you are really Jotaro..."

"Then tell us something that only we know!"

Polnareff shouted into the phone.

"this…"

Jotaro's voice was filled with doubt.