Chapter 193: Chapter 28: Task Bug
DIO’s body had already undergone one Reality Overwrite, making it permanently immune to sunlight. Disposing of it was proving more troublesome than expected.
Beyond the body itself, DIO’s mansion still held a fair amount of unfinished business. One room had been used to keep his "little snacks"—captive humans, among whom were women who had even willingly carried his children.
"So what’s next for you, Polnareff?" Kakyoin leaned against a window and gazed outside. The events of the previous night had drained them all, yet none of them could sleep even after the sun came up.
"I’ll tag along with you guys back to Japan for a couple of months, then head home to France. There’s nobody I know left there, but it’s still where I’m from."
"Is that so? I could set you up with a decent job, you know." Joseph—back in his aged body—stroked his chin whiskers and glanced at the man they’d caught during the mansion’s cleanup.
Tied up in the corner was an ugly little man with twin tails, bruised and swollen. This was the culprit responsible for de-aging Joseph’s body.
Among DIO’s underlings, aside from those controlled by Flesh Buds, not a single one had clean hands. But because Stand abilities were invisible to ordinary people, prosecuting them for their crimes was complicated.
Joseph intended to have the Speedwagon Foundation transfer this man to one of their privately funded prisons. The ability was dangerous, but under the right circumstances it could serve a constructive purpose.
"I hate to spoil the mood, but you might all need to settle in here for a while." Avdol pushed open the door, carrying a small toy bucket wrapped in mesh netting. "The airport lost seventy percent of its grounds to last night’s terrain damage. No flights out."
"Not unexpected, I suppose. I can have transportation arranged." Joseph poured a glass of milk and handed it to Yimi. "Suzi-obaachan says I’m to make sure you drink a glass of milk every day, or you’ll never grow tall."
Cats did love milk. But today the little cat didn’t even glance at it, tugging at Joseph’s shirt with one paw instead. "Goldfish."
The one he’d promised to buy her.
Avdol quickly pressed the toy bucket he’d just purchased into her hands. "Finding a goldfish in Egypt right now is a bit much. Half the shops are closed—my own shop ended up fused with the barbershop next door. Here, try this instead. See, you take the little shovel and scoop sand into the bucket like this, then flip it over—and there you go, a little fortress."
In truth, all of Cairo was in a state of near-total paralysis. Not a single shop besides the charlatans’ stalls had opened. Avdol had only managed to find the toy through his neighborhood connections—when it came to children, people everywhere went the extra mile.
He placed the small shovel in Yimi’s hands and let her try it herself, successfully capturing her attention.
Yimi reached out and gently toppled Avdol’s little sand fortress, then shifted into cat form and burrowed inside the bucket. It wasn’t large, but it was just the right size to hold her round little body.
"That’s not how you play with this thing... Oh, forget it. Whatever makes you happy." Avdol turned his attention to the woman sitting in the corner reading a book.
"As for this person—not sure whether to call it lucky or unlucky. His original body is almost certainly dead, so he’s stuck in this woman’s body now."
Doppio. Diavolo’s secondary personality. And the body he inhabited wasn’t even the Empress’s own—it was the body of a beautiful woman the Empress had killed and worn like a skin.
But under Silver Chariot Requiem’s influence, the body had undergone a transformation. The flesh belonging to the Empress herself had separated and sloughed off like degraded waste.
"Excuse me—does this body’s original owner have any family?" Doppio spoke up suddenly.
"My research says her parents are still alive. And don’t feel too guilty—it isn’t your fault. This body had been dead for some time before you arrived in it." Avdol rested a hand on Doppio’s shoulder.
As a fortune teller, the supernatural wasn’t exactly foreign to him. It was just that Joseph’s Spirit Photography via Hermit Purple was so convenient that Avdol’s less precise divinations hadn’t found much opportunity to shine.
Doppio pressed a hand to his chest. "I know it sounds selfish, but I’d like to take care of her family in her place."
While they talked, Yimi had already climbed out of the bucket, returned to human form, and run to the mansion’s courtyard to try the little shovel.
She didn’t remember much of last night. She might’ve been the person in all of Cairo who’d slept best through it.
What she did remember: running into the dinosaur Diego, then her Divinity leaking out, and then Diego dropping all pretense entirely, letting his signature voice break through.
But this time Diego had been finished off. By Jotaro.
She didn’t entirely understand. "Going to Heaven" seemed to be whatever DIO had been doing last night. Under Famine’s power she’d successfully stolen DIO’s Stand, but the result wasn’t what she’d expected.
Main Quest: Attain Heaven (Current Progress: —)
"What does this mean?" The little cat asked the System. When she’d first arrived in this world, the progress bar had shown three question marks.
"In response to the host: it means the quest is incomplete. The current task has lost its evaluation criteria and can no longer be meaningfully completed."
"Meow?"
"You did not personally attain Heaven." The System answered.
"Then I’ll... keep going. To Heaven."
"The host is confused. You already possess the Heaven Stand. How can you ascend to Heaven a second time?"
"Then my quest is done."
"The host is confused again. You never personally reached Heaven. How can the quest count as complete?"
Yimi’s face scrunched up. She felt like she was being bullied.
Detecting the irregularity, the System ran an optimal-recovery calculation. "Task bug detected. The System will rectify this matter and compensate the host with 100% portal energy."
"What about the quest progress?" The little cat didn’t care one bit about portal energy. She only wanted to know if she was one step closer to going home.
"Compensation has been issued. However, ironclad rules cannot be bent. Please continue your journey, host. If you find a place worth staying along the way, you are welcome to settle there."
"Stupid System." Yimi’s clear, childish voice cursed it out.
She counted on her fingers. It seemed like she’d failed to complete the quest three worlds in a row now. Was this System trying to keep her from going home?
"A misconception. The position of Hakurei Shrine Maiden still awaits you." The System rebutted immediately.
Yimi ignored it. She looked over at Iggy, sunbathing in cat form, and at the unsightly deposit he’d left beside himself.
She scooped sand from the bucket and buried it, then poked Iggy with the little shovel. "You have to bury it after you go. Properly."
This was something her nana had taught her since she was small.
"Meow." Iggy flicked a disinterested glance her way and ignored her.
"Oh right, Yimi—on the way over I think I saw a shop selling dolls..." Polnareff walked toward them from the building.
One foot landed squarely on the spot Yimi had just buried.
"What is this? It stinks!" Polnareff stared at his shoe in horror, then whipped around to glare at Iggy. "You disgusting cat! Relieving yourself wherever you want is bad enough—you actually buried it as a booby trap?"
"That’s terrible." Yimi pointed at Iggy in condemnation.
"Meow?"
Iggy and Polnareff went at it.
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