Before the smoke and dust had completely dispersed, the pungent smell of dust mixed with blood permeated the area in front of Rohan's mansion. Jotaro's roar was like thunder, carrying a palpable killing intent.
"Ora!"
Without giving Rohan any chance to explain or activate his ability, Star Platinum's figure appeared before him like a ghost in an instant! Its speed was so fast it surpassed the limits of visual capture!
Rohan only managed to see a purple afterimage and those eyes burning with cold fury. The next moment—
Bang!!!
An incredibly heavy uppercut landed squarely on Rohan's chin!
"Guh—!"
Excruciating pain exploded instantly. Rohan felt as if his jaw was about to shatter. He was knocked off his feet, falling backward violently.
The pen in his hand flew out, spinning in an arc through the air. His mind was blank. All his calculations, arrogance, and excitement for "material" were shattered into dust by this pure act of violence!
He hadn't even managed to shout the name "Heaven's Door."
"The World"!
Time stopped flowing.
During those brief two seconds, Jotaro's world was utterly silent. His gaze once again became calm. Just as he had said, one must always remain calm, even in battle.
His cold eyes quickly scanned the scene. Josuke's back wound was horrifying. Okuyasu knelt in pain, clutching his twisted arm. Koichi, with a dazed expression, tried to crawl towards Josuke. Hazamada Toshiwazu lay slumped nearby like a rag doll.
And Rohan was still flying backward in the air, his face frozen in an expression of shock and intense pain.
That was enough. After a calm assessment, this bastard still deserved to die. He needed a severe beating.
"Ora Ora Ora Ora, Ora!"
Star Platinum moved again, its fists delivering a barrage of rapid blows to Rohan, hitting him all over his body.
After half a second of fierce pummeling, it precisely snatched the spinning, falling pen from the air. Simultaneously, its other hand flashed into Rohan's small leather jacket, pulling out all the manuscripts inside!
Then, without hesitation, and without even looking, it twisted and tore all these items into shreds, wrapping the scraps in Rohan's clothes.
"Time resumes."
The moment time resumed flowing—
"Thud!"
Rohan crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. His entire body was contorted, as if he had been hit thousands of times, bleeding from everywhere.
He felt all his bones wailing, his jaw burning with pain, and his vision blurring, almost causing him to faint. This was Jotaro holding back, remembering he was human, and leaving him alive.
He struggled to lift his head, only to see Jotaro standing there indifferently, holding his clothes.
"You... cough... cough cough..." Rohan tried to speak, but could only cough up bloody spittle.
Jotaro couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense. The evidence was right before him: Koichi and Hazamada's abnormal state, and the precise, targeted explosion attack that nearly killed his uncle and friends.
He didn't even need to investigate. The culprit was too obvious—clearly the bomber or an accomplice of the bomber. All he needed now was to ensure this dangerous individual was completely incapacitated and to retrieve any potential clues.
"Star Platinum."
As Jotaro's words fell, Star Platinum instantly delivered another series of precise and controlled punches to Rohan, who was lying on the ground!
"Ora Ora Ora Ora!"
Fists rained down like raindrops, skillfully avoiding vital points and targeting Rohan's limb joints and abdomen!
"Ugh ah! Ah! Cough ha—!"
Rohan was beaten defenseless, bouncing on the ground like a rag doll. Excruciating pain overwhelmed his consciousness.
He felt as if his shoulders, elbows, and knees had been dislocated, and several ribs might have been broken. The intense pain made his screams intermittent, and he completely lost consciousness.
Jotaro's anger subsided slightly, but his eyes remained cold. This kid was tougher than he expected. He had thought the previous few punches would have knocked him out, but it seemed he needed a few more separate blows.
He quickly dialed for an ambulance, "Moshi moshi, this is Green Hill 4-chome. There's been an explosion here, and 4 people are injured, needing treatment."
"Explosion?! Alright, sir, we'll be right there! Please wait at the scene, we're dispatching an ambulance immediately!"
Upon hearing "explosion" and "injured by explosion," the operator on the other end seemed to react instinctively. His voice instantly rose several octaves, filled with excitement.
Jotaro could even imagine the person jumping up, excitedly clutching the phone while shouting.
"Mm, alright."
"Josuke! Okuyasu!" After hanging up, Jotaro temporarily ignored Rohan, who was slumped on the ground, and quickly walked over to Josuke and Okuyasu.
He first used Star Platinum's power to carefully reset Okuyasu's bones, and then used clean strips of cloth and branches found on Rohan to make a makeshift splint and stop the bleeding.
As for Josuke, he dared not easily move the embedded rock fragments, so he could only apply pressure to stop the bleeding. At the same time, his eyes burned with fury, "Damn it, these injuries are too severe! Bastard!"
Then, he took out his phone again and quickly contacted the SPW Foundation, "Green Hill 4-chome, urgent medical support needed. Two seriously injured, one lightly injured, one unconscious. I've already contacted the Hospital, but additional medical preparations might be needed.
Target Rohan has been apprehended and requires strict supervision and treatment. The scene was hit by an unknown explosion attack. Immediately dispatch personnel to cordon off the surrounding area for a search!"
After hanging up, Jotaro's gaze fell on Koichi, whose eyes were still dazed but seemed to instinctively fear the bloody scene around him. "Koichi, have you recovered?"
Koichi instantly nodded, fully recovering. His expression immediately turned terrified. He pointed directly at Rohan and shouted, "Brother Jotaro! It's that man! He's a Stand User, he can turn people into books!"
"You absolutely must not look at his manga manuscripts, those things he had in his jacket. Anyone who sees his manga manuscripts will be controlled by him, unable to attack him, and will turn into a book, allowing him to manipulate them.
He tears people's memories from the book and writes words to control others. I was just controlled by him, and those passersby were also controlled by him and had their memories taken. Brother Jotaro, you must be careful of him!"
As he shouted, Koichi trembled all over, his finger pointing at Rohan constantly shaking. Endless rage surged in his heart, especially when he saw Higashikata Josuke, who was severely injured from protecting him.
He gritted his teeth, wishing he could summon Echoes directly and beat that bastard himself.
Jotaro nodded. Although Rohan was instantly subdued and unable to provide information about the "Explosive Stand User," these "pages" themselves were clues. Moreover, that precise explosion earlier was certainly no accident.
A simple interrogation would surely yield a lot of useful information.
"A Stand that turns people into books and then controls them? Through writing?"
"Yes, Brother Jotaro, he wrote some words on our faces, and then we would do as he said without being able to control ourselves..."
"Oh, that makes it easier then. It seems that just beating the person until he loses consciousness will release the ability. But it is indeed a dangerous ability, quite annoying."
Jotaro's gaze grew deeper and angrier. Someone dared to scheme against him, harm those around him, and even try to divert blame and frame others.
How annoying!
Did the opponent really think he was a fool? To dare use such an obvious trick.
"Or do you think I can be brushed off just like this?"
From afar, Kira Yoshikage, having received his father's report that Rohan was instantly defeated and controlled by Jotaro, curved a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Just as I thought, Rohan is no match for Jotaro. Well, true, his ability is more suited for behind-the-scenes manipulation.
This is good too. With him controlled, his suspicion is solidified. Jotaro's attention will be completely drawn to him and the 'pages' in his hands."
"Father, come back. Don't forget to light another fire. The 'gift' has been delivered, and the effect is good. Now, let them slowly study that 'surprise.'"
The call ended.
Kira Yoshikage looked at the computer screen with satisfaction.
Although the process had a slight deviation, from Higashikata Josuke beating Rohan to Jotaro beating the young cartoonist, the result was even better.
Higashikata Josuke was seriously injured and hospitalized, Rohan was controlled as a major suspect, and Jotaro's investigation direction was successfully misled and plunged into a more complex situation.
His "peaceful life" seemed like it could be maintained for a while longer.
And all he had to do now was to continue playing the role of the ordinary office worker, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
His father would naturally set another fire at Rohan's house, burning everything inside, including those pages torn from people's faces.
Completely destroy the memories of everyone concerned with this matter, erasing any information that might link back to him.
It was just a pity he didn't seem to notice that fate was no longer on his side.