Chapter 91: Unnoticed Fear
What are you most afraid of?
Some people may not be able to answer this question, such as Bucciarati.
This man, who had tempered himself into fine steel in darkness and pain, had no idea what he was afraid of.
Even in the darkest moment of his life, when faced with a group of villains who broke into the ward with knives and tried to murder his father, Bucciarati, who was only 12 years old at the time, did not feel afraid, but decisively killed and fought back.
But the fact that you are not afraid subjectively does not mean that you do not have fear in your subconscious mind.
Fear is an instinct rooted in the human brain. It can be overcome but cannot be eradicated.
So, the moment Willy's hand touched his body, a memory that he had never noticed involuntarily emerged in Bucciarati's mind.
That was when I saw the Meat Loaf replayed by Melancholy Blues not long ago at the foot of Mount Vesuvius:
"There is such a huge monster in Naples..."
"It is constantly devouring everything around it, growing endlessly..."
“Damn it…”
"If it can't be stopped, it will surely destroy all of Naples."
As the guardian of Naples, Bucciarati could not help but feel a sense of fear when he saw the giant rampaging in his beloved city.
Maybe there was only a moment when unspeakable fear arose from the heart and was buried deep in the heart forever.
Now, however, it reminds Bucciarati of it in a very bad way:
"Meat, meat chunks?!"
A piece of meat as big as a room appeared out of thin air, waving its bizarre tentacles and wriggling its bloated and fat body. The extended flesh blanket covered half of the alley, turning it into a living hell of flesh and blood.
Whether it was Li Qing and Giorno who had fought against this piece of meat before, or Bucciarati and others who had only witnessed its horror in replays, they all felt a chill down their spines at this moment.
Looking at the hideous flesh tentacles so close before them, they couldn't help but step back several steps subconsciously.
As soon as he took the first step, Li Qing felt a tightness in his heart:
"Shit... Don't move in front of this thing!"
He forced himself to stop, and then stared at the piece of meat with great vigilance:
The meat didn't move.
Even though it sensed movement nearby, it did not move.
"Yes... this is not a real piece of meat. This should be a substitute for Willy."
"It now appears that it is different from the real thing. It will not automatically chase the fastest target within its sensing range."
"etc…"
Li Qing suddenly thought of something, and his hair stood on end:
"It won't move automatically anymore... Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
He looked up at the piece of meat and soon discovered that its movement patterns were completely different from the previous brainless piece of meat.
Bucciarati and the others were subconsciously backing away, but it did not chase them.
It just quietly guarded behind Willy, and even deliberately deformed its huge body to create a gap, carefully preventing Willy from being touched by its bloated tumor.
It feels as if...
A little bit smart?
Li Qing felt a tingling sensation on his scalp and couldn't help but take a few steps back like everyone else.
On the other side, after a brief shock, Willy finally reacted to this huge change.
As a Stand user, he has a natural spiritual connection with his Stand.
No matter what his stand-in becomes, Willy can feel that it is his friend, a friend who can protect him.
“Haha…hahahaha…”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Just like the lucky guy who climbed up to the rooftop and was about to jump off the building because of failed stock trading but suddenly heard that his homestead in his hometown was demolished, Willy laughed wildly in shock, madness and disbelief.
"substitute…"
"Did you see that? This is my stand-in!"
"I've become stronger!!"
Willy threw himself into the soft body of the disgusting piece of meat without any disgust, his expression as intoxicated as if he was sleeping in his mother's arms.
No, not even a mother's arms could be as warm as this.
Since when, his mother also looked at him with contempt.
The only thing that can make him feel warm is this substitute.
And now, his stand-in is no longer the useless piece of shit that was mocked as “useless” before.
"Useless stand-in... Coward Willy... Psycho..."
"hehe…"
Amidst a twisted and perverted laugh, Willy slowly raised his head from the "arms" of the piece of meat.
"Do you remember what you said to humiliate me before?"
He looked at Li Qing, Bucciarati, and especially Fugo, who had once sent him to the intensive care unit, with a look full of tyranny:
“…”
Fugo took a few steps back with a grim look on his face.
Looking at the wall of flesh in front of him that looked like countless dead bodies, his voice no longer had the same toughness as before:
"I'm sorry, I have a little brain problem..."
"You know, a mentally ill person beating someone up... can that be called beating someone up?"
"hehe."
He was answered with a bone-chilling sneer:
“Go to hell!”
"I will grind you, all of you, and all of the people in this world who laugh at, despise, and humiliate me into minced meat!"
"No...it's not just that..."
"I will use this power to climb to the top of the world and make everyone crawl at my feet like dogs!"
"My friend..."
Willy called his stand-in a "friend" and said to it in a hopeful voice:
"Let's kill Fugo, Bucciarati... all of them!"
Amidst the crazy roar, the piece of meat moved in response—
It moved one inch... two inches... three inches... as slow as a turtle.
"how so?"
Willy was stunned for a moment, but Li Qing and Giorno, who had dealt with this original piece of meat, reacted instantly:
“It’s the speed limit.”
"This piece of meat should be the same as the original one. It will always maintain a speed slightly faster than the fastest target within the sensing range."
"And now that no one of us is running, that piece of meat naturally can't show a faster speed."
"Always faster than the target..."
After hearing this explanation, Bucciarati and the others looked even more serious:
Although the opponent's speed seems to be restricted at the moment, in fact, with this feature, the speed of the meat block will never be capped.
"Damn it... Even this thing can come out?"
Li Qing gritted his teeth, his expression looking as if he had seen ten Diablos in one breath:
"I risked my life last time, and finally managed to use the brainless nature of that piece of meat to seal it."
"Now this piece of meat not only restores the original's abilities, but can also be manipulated by humans and has a certain level of intelligence..."
“Damn it!”
"How do we fight this?!"
He had such a headache that he subconsciously pulled his hair, but in the end he only scratched his scalp:
"Once that Willy understands the properties of the meat - you know, it's not hard at all."
" If moves a little, the speed of the meat will increase dramatically."
"And if we just stand there, the only outcome is death."
The situation is extremely serious.
In front of the slowly approaching mountain of flesh, the air almost solidified into a solid.
Everyone wanted to escape, but they didn't dare to do anything unnecessary.
"oh…"
Willy was stunned at first, then burst into laughter:
"I see!"
"Have you discovered it..."
Li Qing felt even more headache.
Then, Willy's eyes sparkled as he shouted:
"Boss Bucciarati..."
"You and your companions are all afraid of me. You are too scared to move, right?"
“Hahahaha…as expected…”
He clenched his fists tightly, and his facial muscles were distorted due to excessive excitement:
"Now I am invincible!"
"Hmm..."
Somehow, Li Qing's mood calmed down all of a sudden:
"I take it back."
“I don’t know why… but I think I can win this one.”
※※※
PS: Stand-in panel
Alternate name: [Notorious B?I?G (fake)]
The Body - Willy Coward
Destructive power: A
Speed: ∞
Range: A
Durability: ∞
Movement precision: E
Growth: A
Ability: Immortality, can devour energy and grow infinitely.
It has a certain level of intelligence, but due to its limited control capabilities, it can only accept extremely simple commands.
It can sense all moving objects within range, but will prioritize Willy's orders and will not mindlessly chase the fastest target.
Once the main body feels fear, the substitute will teleport to the main body to provide protection.
