"Ghiaccio!" Illuso said sternly, "Don't be lazy! The ice you made isn't thick enough; we can't take off at all!"
Ghiaccio, clad in White Album, squatted on the sea making ice, feeling truly resentful in his heart as he watched the others leisurely enjoying the sunset.
You guys can stand on the sea all thanks to me, alright?
Coupled with Illuso, the pilot, acting as a supervisor, he was furious. Ghiaccio, already a short-tempered person, felt that familiar surge of anger, and he suddenly burst out of the water, punching Illuso in the face.
"Are you f*cking sick?" Ghiaccio cursed, "My [White Album] has its limits. If I make it that big, I can't make it that thick, do you understand? All of this consumes energy, you idiot!"
Illuso suddenly pulled a small knife from his pocket and pointed it at Ghiaccio, who was speaking, "Who are you calling an idiot, you f*cker!"
Ghiaccio was about to retreat when a hand suddenly reached out from the smooth, bright blade and tightly grabbed Ghiaccio's neck.
"You bastard!" Ghiaccio stomped his foot, and the ice beneath Illuso's feet froze his lower body like vines.
Risotto looked at the two people who were about to fight, frowned, and said sternly, "What are you two doing?! Stop it!"
Ghiaccio and Illuso glared at each other and withdrew their abilities.
"Can't we take off?" Prosciutto asked.
"The thickness and breadth of the ice surface are not up to standard," Illuso said frankly.
"Tch!" Ghiaccio snorted angrily and turned his head away.
This was very troublesome. Ghiaccio's energy had limits, and he would sooner or later be unable to maintain these ice surfaces. It was difficult to find a boat on this vast, endless sea.
"If it's just Ghiaccio's energy not being enough," Johnson Joffrey suddenly spoke, his tone hesitant, "I can help."
"Hmm?" Everyone in the Assassination Team looked at Johnson Joffrey.
From the moment Johnson Joffrey first joined the Assassination Team, Risotto had introduced him as a Stand User. He had defeated the fat Polpo, caused that level of destruction at the terminal, defeated two Stand Users, and saved Ghiaccio.
But Johnson Joffrey was only fourteen years old.
The members of the Assassination Team had been together for several years, understood each other's abilities, and sometimes their cooperation was incredibly tacit. As a newcomer, what exactly was Johnson Joffrey's ability?
Of course, no one would ask directly; this was an unspoken rule among Stand Users.
"Johnson told me about your ability last time, but I didn't understand it," Ghiaccio suddenly broke the awkward atmosphere, "Explain it clearly to me."
What?! He actually told Ghiaccio directly? The members of the Assassination Team were all a bit surprised.
"My ability is the absorption and control of energy," Johnson Joffrey said calmly. A few seagulls flew in the distance, and the clear sound of ocean waves was in his ears.
"In fact, I'm not entirely sure myself. I only awakened my Stand four days ago, and everyone has been busy these four days, so I haven't had time to study my Stand Ability."
"Simply put, my Stand can pull out energy lines from other places. These lines should be the materialization of the concept of energy transmission."
"These lines can only be pulled out by my Stand, Reversed Hierophant. Reversed Hierophant can manipulate these lines, but the prerequisite is that these lines must be in Reversed Hierophant's hands. Once released, the lines will immediately return to their main body. The strength and speed of returning to the main body are completely unimaginable."
"Therefore, I believe my ability deals with conceptual things, such as energy existing in all things, and only my Reversed Hierophant can make it appear in a physical form."
"Unlike others who manipulate physical objects, such as Ghiaccio manipulating ice or Formaggio making objects smaller, my ability manipulates conceptual things."
"Rather than saying the speed of retracting into the main body is fast, it's more accurate to say it disappears quickly."
Ghiaccio: "?" What is this guy talking about?
"I don't understand, but it seems very powerful," Melone said frankly.
Johnson Joffrey sighed silently. He felt that his Stand was the same type as Dio's and Giorno's Stands, though not the so-called stopping time or creating life.
Rather, time and life are intangible things. Take life, which is easier to understand, for example.
For instance, what exactly is the loss of life? Is it when the heart stops beating, or when the brain stops thinking, or when metabolism completely ceases?
Life is also a concept. But Giorno materialized it; he could bestow life upon others.
What exactly is the life he bestows? Is it a portion of life, or a living being, or even a strand of life?
Intangible conceptual things are of the same type as Johnson Joffrey's energy.
"Be more straightforward!" Ghiaccio said, pretending to understand, feeling a bit embarrassed to be as frank as Melone, "What exactly are you useful for?"
"Because it's very powerful, it has many limitations, so much so that many times it can only serve as an auxiliary. This is the law of a Stand," Johnson Joffrey said. "I can make the Reversed Hierophant find a certain point on an object by striking it, draw out energy lines, and manipulate them freely. I can even extract all of it, or even devour it myself."
"Oh, I understand!" Formaggio said. "You can replenish energy at any time!"
"Exactly!" Johnson nodded.
"So this is how you treated yourself after Polpo was already injured, using your ability?" Risotto asked.
Johnson nodded again.
"Then you can also heal us!" Ghiaccio said.
"Yes, that's right. If your energy isn't enough, I can help you."
"Well, it's still very strong! It could have a very good effect in actual combat!" Melone praised, his tone not sour. Indeed, he was surprisingly good-tempered and honest among the Assassination Team. Unlike his somewhat feminine appearance, he was the least tsundere, like a tough guy.
He spoke frankly, his intelligence was never offline, he was very cautious, and he was also very aware, possessing the pride of a strong person.
Before Johnson arrived, he and Ghiaccio had the best relationship.
"However, as I said before, there are many limitations," Johnson said. "For example, the Reversed Hierophant must strike and touch the opponent to draw out lines. When absorbing energy, the energy tends to clump together. The one with more energy will re-absorb the one with less. This is a law, and the Reversed Hierophant cannot change it."
"Most importantly, the Reversed Hierophant cannot currently tell who has more energy and who has less, so absorbing rashly is quite dangerous. It's possible to be re-absorbed by someone else."
"But the Reversed Hierophant can find some patterns from it, such as inanimate objects having less energy than something else, adults having more than children, the timid having less than the bold... Some patterns can be deduced, but these cannot be fully confirmed, because too many things affect the amount of energy."
"But you keep recharging yourself!" Formaggio asked. "For example, sometimes I carry cats or something with me to deal with people who shrink. You could also carry some cats."
"Theoretically, it's possible, but unnecessary. In this world, I can use even a stone to recharge, so there's no need to carry cats, and I can't shrink like you."
"Besides, based on the experiment I did with your cat earlier, recharging when the body cannot consume too much energy is very painful."
"That cat..." Pesci recalled the cat he saw. "That cat that looked like it was about to explode?" The cat's whole body was about to burst, its eyeballs almost popped out... "Exactly! If you don't lack energy but forcibly recharge, the process will be very painful. If it's a little less, perhaps it can be digested like that cat, but if it's too much, it will explode."
Ghiaccio suddenly clapped his hands, and a triumphant expression appeared on his face inside White Album. "I know! Johnson, your ability is explosion!"
---
Thoroughly explaining the first stage of the Reversed Hierophant's ability, I felt satisfied.