"Hello, Illuso?"
Melone answered the phone, and an unfamiliar voice came through.
"Hello, are you looking for the owner of this phone?"
Melone frowned slightly, looked up at Risotto, who gestured for him to continue.
"Yes."
"I am a doctor from Cagliari Public Hospital. I regret to inform you that this gentleman was murdered in the hospital today. The cause of death was a heavy object piercing his chest…"
Melone suddenly froze, swallowed, slowly closed his eyes, and fell silent. He didn't hear the rest of the conversation and immediately hung up the phone.
In a sparsely populated cafe in the city center, a cross breeze blew through. Apart from a few chatting women and couples, only Melone and Risotto sat in a corner. Bright sunlight streamed into the cafe through the smooth floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Illuso is dead." Melone silently informed Risotto, placing his hand on his forehead, propping up his head, unable to accept the news for a moment. Facing death, the Assassination Team was always composed. As assassins, they had already prepared for death.
Risotto paused for a fraction of a second and immediately said, "Calm down, it's the Boss. We need to go to the hospital right now! Quickly!"
Melone nodded solemnly.
"Given Illuso's resolve," Risotto said, sitting on the back of Melone's motorcycle and putting on his helmet, "he wouldn't die in vain. The doctor said the time of death was ten minutes ago. Now we must go to the hospital to see what message Illuso left for us."
Risotto's dark eyes showed no emotion whatsoever. In fact, as a reliable leader, he possessed astonishing calmness and emotions that surpassed everyone else's.
As Melone silently started the motorcycle, Risotto pulled a smooth mirror from his pocket. The mirror reflected the blue sky, like a clear lake. This was something Illuso had given Risotto when they first met.
Mirror World.
When Risotto learned of Illuso's Stand Ability, he wasn't too surprised, because the man had always been good at escaping reality.
The Stand Ability, born from an obsession with an illusory world, was now permanently closed with his passing.
Mirror World was likely empty, unless Illuso himself allowed others to enter.
The Stand Ability to perfectly replicate the real world, yet be completely devoid of people, was like a lonely world he had locked himself into. Risotto didn't know if Illuso enjoyed this lonely world, because the source of a Stand Ability usually reflected one's own soul.
Illuso was probably a lonely person.
The lonely morgue is not your final resting place. I swear, I will make the Boss pay for this blood debt.
————
I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream, and that is to become a gang-star.
All this time, no matter what happened, I have held firm to my beliefs. For me, to achieve my ambition, using slightly extreme methods is also correct. I call it—the ability to distinguish right from wrong.
I was once saved by a gang thug, and from then on, I understood right from wrong. Some people, as dark shadows, become guardians of light, just as only those who constantly gaze into the abyss can fight the abyss.
Giorno Giovanna thought to himself.
He decided to let this man, who claimed to be his older brother, know his resolve and determination.
Giorno tilted his head slightly. He swore to achieve his ambition by any means necessary, a spirit that even DIO in "eyes of heaven" acknowledged.
Giorno said with an unwavering tone, "Do you have a dream?"
Johnson Joffrey across from him was startled and a little surprised. Giorno truly was someone destined to be a mob godfather in the future; his words sounded like a mentor Johnson Joffrey had seen on a music show before he transmigrated.
Hmm… My dream is, of course, to become the best villain, but that dream is a bit hard to articulate. The existence of a villain must be relative to a hero, so the question arises, who is the hero?
Regarding heroes, there are two conjectures. On one hand, the JOJOs are the heroes, and I am the villain. But I am also a JOJO myself, and my heart is quite righteous, at least what I am doing now is much better than what the true villain Diavolo does.
On the other hand, it's possible that someone in this world has a hero system, but the achievements given to me by my system do not include anything about defeating a hero system.
This is bad.
Johnson Joffrey put on what he thought was a kind and charming smile, but in others' eyes, it turned into a cruel and mocking grin.
"Giorno, I don't think it's a good idea to always talk about your dreams," Johnson Joffrey said. "You have your golden dream, and I have my meager, dark wish."
"No, what I want to tell you isn't that," Giorno heard the sarcasm in Johnson's tone. "But you're right, no matter what others think of my dream, to me, it is a golden dream."
"What I want to tell you is that I will not forgive anyone who obstructs my golden dream."
"That's all I have to say, Johnson Joffrey. Please uphold your promise as well."
A gentle breeze in the alley ruffled Giorno's golden braid. The curls on top of his head formed three perfect doughnuts, making him look a bit like a small lion up close.
Indeed, he was a young man with a lion's heart.
Giorno Giovanna turned and left, carrying Trish, leaving his back to Johnson Joffrey.
Johnson Joffrey watched Giorno take Trish away. He had always been taking risks, constantly being called the mastermind, yet nothing had ever gone according to his expectations.
"It's far beyond my expectations. I don't understand how someone can sit in a dark room, strategizing, with everything falling into their plan."
"But!"
"Handing Trish over to Bucciarati, at least, is within my plan. Having Ghiaccio and Formaggio fight Fugo and Narancia, this absolutely cannot result in anyone being sacrificed, otherwise the collaboration will immediately fall through."
"It's too difficult!"
Johnson Joffrey pulled a small knife from his pocket and cut several marks on himself; these were likely traces of a battle.
Contacting Mista to retreat now, the possibility of Mista stopping Bucciarati and Abbacchio is zero.
Just as Johnson pulled out his phone, Melone called. He took a moment to compose himself, preparing to deliver the bad news that Trish had been accidentally taken by Bucciarati.
He answered the phone, and before he could speak, Melone's calm voice came from the other end:
"Johnson, Illuso is dead. The Boss personally intervened."