The calm tone likely stemmed from the so-called assassin's pride and resolve.
An eight-person team had lost one member; it was impossible to be completely emotionless.
These three days were too long, yet too short. He didn't even have a chance to understand Illuso's past, future, life, or destiny.
A person's death is so fleeting.
And this death was related to him. If only he hadn't told Illuso to go to the hospital, Johnson Joffrey thought, listening to Melone in silence.
"This matter, in any case, is related to me. Just now I was saying everything was within my expectations, and now it's like this. They still call me the mastermind, what kind of mastermind am I?"
Johnson Joffrey was never a man who dwelled on the past. Self-pitying here would be the greatest waste of Illuso's life.
He took a deep breath, deciding to deliver another major blow to the Assassination Team—
"Trish was taken by Bucciarati's Team."
Melone couldn't help but gasp. Things were truly going badly. If they rushed to the hospital now, and Trish's mother was also captured by the Boss, that would truly be tragic.
"Are you two okay?" Melone asked.
"We're a little injured, but nothing serious for now."
In the world of JOJO, when a mission conflicts with life, the choice is always to sacrifice life for the mission's success.
For example, when Fugo was pulled into the mirror world by Illuso, he showed no fear, and his companion Abbacchio even decided to abandon Fugo to complete the mission.
Even if it costs their lives, a man's battle has no room for retreat.
Illuso could have escaped himself; his ability, mirror man, was perfect for escaping, but at that moment, something must have prevented him from fleeing.
Johnson Joffrey guessed it must have been Trish's mother; if he had fled, Trish's mother would surely have died.
But in the end, he didn't escape, so it's safe to believe he used his life to save Trish's mother's life.
In the narrow sky of the cramped alley, Johnson Joffrey wondered whether to laugh or cry at his Crossing to this world to witness these legends.
If things progress as they are now, after Bucciarati gets Trish and delivers her to Diavolo, Diavolo's personality dictates he will act directly, which would be the original plot, just in a different location.
After all, the current boss still trusts and admires Bucciarati, but at that point, Bucciarati might die, existing as a half-dead person.
Although this event was very sad in the original story, among Bucciarati's Team, only Abbacchio is most useful to me.
If Bucciarati dies, he could join us for revenge.
Risotto leaned against the doorframe, looking at Trish's mother lying in the hospital bed; the woman Illuso had desperately saved was now in a long coma.
"I'm sorry, we don't know when she will wake up," the doctor said regretfully, flipping through the medical record. "Her neck was hit by a heavy object, and the bruising blocked blood vessels, possibly leading to some neurological dysfunction. There are residual blood clots in her brain and neck, which could result in her becoming a vegetable."
Melone looked at Risotto; his expressionless face made one feel a little afraid, and even the highly respected and usually arrogant doctor could only speak cautiously.
The clue they had obtained was completely gone; the person Illuso saved with his life had become a vegetable, and Trish, whom they had finally found, had been taken away by Bucciarati.
Melone walked to the wall in front of the door, faced it, and punched it.
"Has anyone visited the patient before us?" Risotto finally spoke, his voice a low tremor.
The doctor thought for a moment and said, "No, this patient's condition was critical, and she has been in the intensive care unit, with a Nurse watching her 24 hours a day."
Risotto frowned, his black-red pupils shifting slightly in his eye sockets.
"Melone, come closer to me," he suddenly said.
Melone was a bit puzzled, standing at the doorway with a frown and asking, "What's wrong?"
"Get in here, quickly!" Risotto said sternly.
Then Melone looked around, found only an empty corridor, and then stepped towards Risotto.
"Ah, the IV drip is almost empty!" a Nurse suddenly spoke, interrupting Melone and Risotto's conversation. Risotto subconsciously looked at the IV drip —
In an instant, the IV drip, which had enough for several more drops, suddenly became zero!!
Why did the IV drip —
Risotto erupted with neural reflexes beyond human capability, tackling Melone to the ground. His right arm instinctively shot high, a pink figure flashed in Risotto's eyes, and Melone's right arm simultaneously broke —
Then, everything returned to calm.
What's going on?!
Melone looked at everything before him in surprise, including his missing right arm, which was gushing blood like a faucet.
Risotto's dark red eyes widened, then he got up and threw Melone into the hospital room—
Everything happened in less than a second.
How did he do that?!
Was that the Boss just now?!
He knew Melone could create a Stand that tracked bloodlines, so he risked exposure to kill him?
Actually, when Risotto asked the doctor if anyone had inquired about the woman's condition before them, and the doctor replied no, he knew that the Boss was still in this hospital.
Because he had to confirm whether this woman still had the ability to reveal his true identity. After he killed Illuso, he still lingered in this hospital like a ghost.
He could attack at any time.
"His hand, what happened?!" The doctor and Nurse looked at Melone's arm in surprise.
Things happened too fast. In fact, within King Crimson's time-erasure domain, Diavolo couldn't attack enemies; he could only continuously activate time erasure. Diavolo had demonstrated this ability of King Crimson's continuous time erasure in the original work, just like when he continuously erased time to sever Trish's arm and take her away from Bucciarati.
Continuously activating King Crimson's time erasure required immense mental and physical energy, but Melone's tracking ability was too strong. If he got blood from Trish, he would definitely be able to track him.
The cost was worth it; he had to act.
Damn it. He hadn't expected Risotto's reaction speed to be so high that he managed to knock down Melone between his first and second time erasures.
The future he saw in Epitaph was Melone falling down. He thought Melone was dead, but he hadn't expected it was Risotto who had tackled him.
— — — —
Continuous Time Erasure: Diavolo cannot attack enemies during the time erasure process. For him to sever Trish's arm without Bucciarati noticing, he must be able to continuously erase time. Not to mention in the final battle, he continuously erased time for half a day; he erased time to change clothes, and he erased time to fight Polnareff. Those who say he can't continuously erase time are truly laughable.
Since the original work's settings are unclear, this book explicitly states that Diavolo can continuously erase time.
Furthermore, what Epitaph sees is not necessarily 100% accurate. For details, refer to the original work when Risotto fought Torbio. Torbio saw a leg break and thought it was his own leg, but in the end, it was Risotto's leg that broke.
Let me give another example, it's like Boingo's prediction of Jotaro exploding, only for his own brother to explode—the same principle.