"This ability is called [I'm So Sorry]. Anyone I anger will be affected by this ability."
The little girl stuck out her tongue and continued, "You're really in the way. I threw a paper airplane at you, and you're not even angry?"
"There's no need for that, is there?" Johnson Joffrey replied, Reversed Hierophant appearing behind him, floating silently in mid-air.
Only Ghiaccio would get angry over something like that, right?
No matter what, if he didn't knock this little girl out, Ghiaccio's restraint wouldn't be broken.
"...Johnson," Ghiaccio suddenly said through gritted teeth, "Don't go over there..."
"What?"
"Don't go over there... I forgive her." Ghiaccio put his hand in front of Johnson, "If you're going to hit her for my sake, I won't forgive you!"
"Huh?!" Johnson's eyes widened as he looked at the smiling Ghiaccio, unable to believe such words came from his mouth. He trembled all over from suppressing his anger, and the right arm blocking Johnson began to emit freezing cold air. If Johnson took another step forward, Ghiaccio might attack him.
"Well, Big Brother Ghiaccio has forgiven me," the little girl said with a smile. "That's great! No matter what mistakes I make, I'll always be forgiven."
With that, she raised the robot in her right hand and suddenly widened her emerald eyes: "Johnson Joffrey, it's time to kill you."
The small robot looked like it should be a Stand… Was there another Stand?
The little girl's attack type could only be considered support. Was this the real enemy?
The robot was thrown to the ground by the little girl, who showed a cruel smile. She said, "NIGHTWISH!"
The robot's joints were flexible, and every movement produced a mechanical sound.
Just then, an electric indoor cart carrying luggage drove over, and the little girl nimbly sat on it.
"Two-meter radius, activate!" The robot's voice was distorted by metal, making it incredibly grating.
It assumed a standard runner's pose and lunged towards Johnson and Ghiaccio.
Johnson Joffrey's ability was to draw out all the threads upon contact. Although the Reversed Hierophant's power was weak and its range short, in close combat, he used the patterns and properties of the threads to fight Black Sabbath to a standstill.
However, the robot did not continue forward. Instead, it stopped less than three meters in front of Johnson and Ghiaccio, quickly squatted down, placed its mechanical arms on the ground, and a spherical halo began to rapidly appear with it as the center… "Johnson, run, don't mind me…"
Explosion… Repeated brushes with life and death had made him extremely perceptive. His mind immediately guessed what kind of attack this was… "Bang!!!"
Centered on the halo activated by the robot, accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, a huge explosion kicked up a raging hot wind. The nearby floor-to-ceiling glass instantly shattered into countless fragments, falling like streaking lights. Rolling smoke from the explosion rose into the sky, burning with a fierce red flame, and the surrounding passers-by screamed as they were blown apart… Johnson, in the nick of time, threw out the arrow, using the pulling force of the threads to create a momentary teleportation, taking Ghiaccio out of the explosion's range.
Because ordinary people couldn't see Stands, or even hear the sound of a Stand's explosion, they were leisurely chatting with friends, quietly waiting, when they were inexplicably blown to smithereens… Blood splattered everywhere.
Shattered limbs and broken bodies, and fragile, broken rebar and concrete fell like meteors… "Damn it…" Ghiaccio and Johnson landed heavily.
As the smoke from the explosion cleared, only the area within a two-meter radius around the robot remained intact; the rest of the area had been blasted into a circular crater… The closest spot to it wasn't affected by the blast? Johnson thought to himself.
Ordinary people couldn't see the moment of the explosion, but the destroyed physical objects were clearly visible before their eyes. People screamed, and chaos ensued… As Ghiaccio's anger intensified, the black mark on the back of his neck, called Apology Letter, began to transform into a pair of hands, firmly gripping his throat.
"Ugh… Ugh…" Ghiaccio's face turned crimson.
"Ghiaccio…" Johnson was helpless. Ghiaccio's face began to turn purplish-red from lack of oxygen… "One-meter radius!" the robot shouted at Johnson.
"Is Ghiaccio in the toilet?" Illuso asked impatiently. "Why is he taking so long?"
Risotto looked in the direction they left, frowned in thought for a moment, and said, "Things are not good. Prosciutto, you and Pesci go check it out."
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong man suddenly appeared on the previously empty tarmac, amidst the vast expanse of gray concrete and flat lawn.
"Hey, who are you?!" Formaggio said, "We've commandeered this plane." He then pulled out a revolver and ordered him to leave immediately.
The man, dressed in what looked like off-road gear, showed no intention of stopping, walking quickly towards Risotto and the others.
"It's an enemy!" Formaggio immediately fired several shots at him.
The bullets seemed to sink into soft mud; his body burst with blood, but it was meaningless. The man's steps didn't even falter.
What's wrong with this guy?!
Formaggio raised his gun again, wanting to continue firing defiantly, but Risotto immediately stopped him.
"He's not a Stand User," Risotto said seriously, "just a corpse."
"This is a remotely controlled Stand; it should be able to manipulate corpses." Risotto had already been inside his blood, and there was no activity.
"Baby Face!" Melone whispered. A small Stand emerged from behind him and rushed towards the corpse. In an instant, the corpse disintegrated into countless blocks.
This Baby Face was prepared by Melone long before they set off. Baby Face requires a good mother and father. Melone had tried to obtain Johnson Joffrey's father, but unfortunately failed, so he had to find a new father from some unlucky fellow.
There was no other way; if he didn't prepare and train a sufficiently excellent Baby Face beforehand, Melone would be almost powerless in combat.
"It's dealt with," Melone whispered.
"It's a long-range Stand. Even if the corpse disappears, he can still send more corpses," Risotto whispered.
"Our position has been exposed. There should be many enemies lurking here." Risotto frowned; this was unprecedented, their Assassination Team being ambushed.
"Bang—!!"
A huge sound came from the terminal building, directly collapsing the entire building...
One more update. (No more)
Self-challenge failed... The limit for humans is three updates; four updates failed... August's monthly vote reward!
Sorry, this is not an update!
August has arrived, and I'm trying to start a reward event. Generally, people start their rewards on August 1st, but I'm only starting today, which I'm truly sorry about.
This is my first time doing a reward event as a new author on Shuke. I thought about it carefully; a recommendation ticket reward will probably turn into 'I'll keep writing until I die,' but for a tipping reward, I've always felt awkward, as if I'm only writing if readers tip me, which feels a bit unprofessional.
Of course, I'm not saying other authors who do tipping rewards are wrong; it's just a personal difference in opinion.
For me, readers tipping me already makes me very happy. I don't want to tarnish this beautiful relationship by using a 'tip me and I'll write' method. Moreover, not every reader has money to tip. Readers who read my novel and then subscribe are all good readers. It's not something I, as the head, want to do to trick tips by offering extra updates, which is something I should be doing anyway.
Furthermore, I think everyone has monthly votes, so every reader can participate in the great endeavor of turning me into a writing machine! How wonderful (not really)!
So I've decided not to do tipping rewards.
Thank you all for your support. I didn't originally want to do a reward because writing is my professional integrity, and so are extra updates. I have no reason, right? Just challenging myself.
Everyone doesn't need to worry about me, thinking that three updates are already a lot and that I should take care of my health.
Actually, I'm quite free every day. It's summer vacation now, and I only write at night. I play games all day (facepalm). But seeing myself so far down on the monthly pass and recommendation ticket rankings makes me feel a bit bad.
So, I'm also going to follow the trend and open a reward system for the monthly pass ranking.
Normally, I rarely ask for votes, unless I add an update, then I'll shamelessly ask for some.
Alright, enough talk, here are the rewards:
500 Monthly Passes — One extra chapter. (Valid until the end of this month)
Someone will definitely say I voted on the first, too early. No worries, even though I only started this on the third, I'm counting votes from the first and second too!
So, I already owe one update, because on the first and second, I already received 543 votes, which means one update. = =
I've always been hesitant to open a reward for recommendation tickets, fearing I wouldn't be able to fulfill it. So, I'll observe for a while and then decide whether to open one. However, if I can reach the number one spot on the recommendation ticket ranking, I'll add one extra chapter for every day I stay there!
Also, one thing to note: Hedgehog Cat's base update is 4000 words, meaning every author must write 4000 words daily. For me, that's two chapters, so most authors' rewards are based on two daily updates!
But I'm different. Always at the forefront of the times, challenging myself, and constantly pushing the limits of human potential, the Dean's daily base update is three chapters! This means that this month, even if no reader gives me a single vote, I will still update 90 chapters! So, all extra updates are on top of those 90 chapters!
I ask you, isn't the Dean awesome!!
Of course, if readers have some spare money and think my writing is good, they can give me some tips and 'razor blades' (a type of reward). I suggest everyone throw more 'razor blades'—this encourages the Dean to write more and helps me earn more money!
Thank you for your support!