Meanwhile, in a place Kira Yoshikage didn't know about, inside the temporary command post of the PSD.
Iwakura Yusuke was looking at the personnel information initially collected and summarized by the police on the screen, as a large amount of data was being cross-referenced and deeply analyzed by a more advanced system.
"Focus on individuals who exhibit 'almost rigid daily routines,' 'simple social interactions,' 'good economic status,' 'significant changes in recent behavior patterns,' and whose 'name or home address contains the syllables 'Ki' or 'Ra'," Iwakura instructed his subordinates.
His method was far more refined and cunning than the average police questionnaire, "Especially… those who appear 'too perfect' to be real."
"Although this information is based on the incomprehensible deductions of Jotaro, there's no harm in trying."
"Yes, sir!"
Kira Yoshikage's name, along with some of his basic information, was in this vast data pool, and as the analysis deepened, the weight assigned to his file was slowly but steadily increasing.
At the same time, Joseph Joestar, after visiting his son and consequently reuniting with his old flame Tomoko Higashikata, had finished his personal affairs and sweet nothings.
He was preparing to officially perform spirit photography.
The aversion of fate had begun to take effect.
In the northwestern suburbs of Morioh, police investigations revealed that several households had not left their homes for several days, and none of the officers who went in for further investigation and interviews returned alive; all had vanished without a trace.
Consequently, this area, marked as anomalous, had been officially taken over by the PSD and local police.
Yellow police tape sealed off the area, and a dozen police cars and black PSD vans blocked the entrance completely.
Five hours had passed since the first group of investigators went missing and lost contact; they were neither seen alive nor found dead.
Calls also went unanswered; these investigators were either dead or trapped.
Iwakura Yusuke stood outside the command vehicle, his face ashen, looking at the several houses that appeared particularly eerie and dilapidated in the twilight.
He had already dispatched three teams of reinforcements, armed with various firearms, to search those houses, equipped with thermal imagers and life detectors, but the results were despairing.
The second four-person squad, the first to enter, died within three minutes of entering the innermost house, and their camera equipment was successively destroyed.
The last images transmitted showed the team members seemingly being pulled by an invisible force, their bodies twisting at extremely bizarre angles, swelling into lumps of rotten flesh, before the screen turned to static.
The second team was more cautious, wearing light anti-riot gear, attempting to open the wall from the outside with demolition tools.
However, shortly after work began, one team member had just smashed a hole when he suddenly began to twist from the head down, also turning into a lump of rotten flesh.
He didn't even have time to scream before he died, though this lump of rotten flesh was brought back as a specimen.
But according to tests, the flesh was normal, just regular flesh, but it felt like jelly, springy and accompanied by a strange, putrid smell.
The third team couldn't even get close to the houses.
While setting up equipment about twenty meters from the houses, they were suddenly attacked by countless small, high-speed flying objects.
These things were as fast as bullets, and their strength was astonishing, easily piercing anti-riot shields; moreover, they were invisible and intangible, making defense impossible.
The team members screamed and fell to the ground, blood instantly staining the earth, and then they too began to swell and twist into rotten flesh.
The attack came and went quickly; when the supporting fire from the rear blindly covered the area suspected of being the source of the attack, only a mess was found, with no trace of any attackers.
At the same time, there were no footprints or other marks, the killer having acted silently.
This time, three team members died, and one was severely injured and disabled.
The severely injured person had an index finger attacked, which was directly broken, but his body still began to rot and swell from that finger; fortunately, this time they promptly cut open the body, preserving most of its integrity and saving the young man's life.
By this point, the PSD had lost a total of nine field agents in this area, yet they hadn't even touched the enemy's shadow, unable to even determine what the enemy was, how many there were, or what weapons they used.
This power was incredibly bizarre, like an invisible evil spirit harvesting their lives.
A sense of helplessness and fear spread through the police force.
They were not facing terrorists, but rather something incomprehensible, something that could not be dealt with using conventional tactics; they appeared so fragile and vulnerable before an unseen enemy.
"Sir… should we continue?" a deputy asked in a hoarse voice, his face still splattered with drops of his fallen comrade's blood.
"Is this truly an opponent humans can handle?"
"Gods protect us, gods protect us! Amaterasu Omikami, protect us!"
"Jizo Bodhisattva protect us, Guanyin Bodhisattva protect us, Buddha protect us!"
Iwakura Yusuke clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles white, looking at his subordinates who had already started praying to gods and Buddhas, some even performing impromptu worship; his expression became increasingly distorted.
But he was helpless; their organization had actually experienced many anomalous events, being an official specialized organization after all.
However, apart from some tangible strange items that they could forcibly destroy through physical means, other strange areas, evil spirits, and such things, they had basically never successfully eliminated them.
All of them were handled with the help of Onmyoji, diviners, monks, and similar individuals from various temples, but this time, the higher-ups hadn't sent any such talent… "What exactly does this mean?"
He muttered to himself, his expression twisted like a bitter gourd; honestly, if it weren't for the higher-ups ordering him to suppress the surface situation regardless of whether the true culprit was caught, he would have long since fled with his men.
And now, to continue the assault? It would only increase casualties. To give up? Not only would he be unable to account to his superiors, but what about the eight missing and dead team members? What about the orders from above?
'Honestly, I really didn't want to come… Just a few poor commoners, if they die, they die, and why are the orders from above so… sigh.'
Finally, after a deep sigh, he abruptly turned and strode towards the command vehicle, picking up the encrypted communicator; now, only one option remained, though it filled him with immense humiliation… Morioh Central Hospital, Special Floor.
Jotaro had just checked on Josuke's condition; his injuries were still severe, but his vital signs were stable.
Okuyasu was snoring loudly on a nearby bed, his arm in a heavy cast, while Koichi was in a drug-induced slumber.
According to the SPW Foundation doctors' diagnosis, Koichi needed to be monitored by them for at least a month, with occasional surprise checks, to ensure an accurate assessment of his mental state.
As for Okuyasu, his recovery ability had already astonished the doctors; injuries that would normally take months to heal were now estimated by the doctors to recover in just two more weeks, possibly even without scarring… The doctor said this about it, "This is the first time in my life I've seen such a person; he's practically a superhuman, oh, no, it's the second time, the last time was also a friend of yours, Mr. Jotaro, Mr. Polnareff."
As he spoke, the doctor couldn't even hold his water glass steady, and the scalpel by his hand seemed to be itching, as if he couldn't wait to dissect him for study and create an epoch-making medical paper… At this moment, an SPW staff member quickly approached, interrupting Jotaro's thoughts, "Mr. Jotaro, Mr. Iwakura Yusuke urgently requests to see you. He… looks very bad."
Jotaro frowned slightly and nodded, "It seems there's more trouble."
Soon, Iwakura Yusuke was brought in.
He was still wearing a suit, but his tie was loosened, his hair a bit disheveled, and most importantly, his eyes were now bloodshot, filled with an undeniable weariness and… a trace of lingering shock.
"Mr. Kujo," Iwakura's voice was hoarse, having lost its usual composure, "We need your help. Immediately."
Jotaro said nothing, merely gestured with his eyes for him to continue.
"The northwestern suburbs… we encountered… an incomprehensible attack."
Iwakura struggled to organize his words, describing the heavy losses and lack of results, "…Personnel would twist out of thin air, turning into rotten flesh, and would also be attacked at high speed by unseen things… We lost nine people, and we don't even know what the opponent is; this is definitely not something ordinary humans or known weapons can do."
He suddenly looked up, his gaze burning as he stared at Jotaro, "This is what you call a Stand attack, right?"
"Ah. Sounds like it," Jotaro responded calmly, his expression seemingly unconcerned.
"We are powerless."
Iwakura Yusuke almost gritted his teeth as he said this, which was undoubtedly a huge setback for a high-ranking official, "Conventional methods are completely ineffective, and if we drag this on, the missing people will probably…"
He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.
"So," he took a deep breath, his tone carrying an unprecedented solemnity and a hint of plea, "as the head of the PSD, I formally request you and your… team, to assist us in handling this anomalous event. We need your strength and experience."
Jotaro was silent for a moment.
He didn't have much fondness for official agencies, especially their previous eagerness to close cases.
However, the continuous casualties and disappearances were facts, and that bizarre attack method also reminded him of certain troublesome Stand abilities.
"Yare yare daze…" He adjusted the brim of his hat, "There might be more than one enemy, and their abilities are very troublesome. We don't have many people who can act right now."
Okuyasu was severely injured, Josuke was unconscious, Koichi's condition was unknown, leaving only him.
And the opponent, according to the description, likely possessed powerful Stand abilities, most likely a Stand User, or less likely some anomalous natural phenomenon or an evil spirit.
Neither was easy to deal with.
"We need any possible help!" Iwakura said urgently, "Any terms can be discussed! Equipment, authority, logistical support… as long as you can resolve that place!"
Jotaro glanced at his companions in the hospital room, then looked at the government official who had finally lowered his stance.
"All right," he finally nodded, "I'll go take a look. But how to act will be decided by me. All your people, withdraw to the perimeter; do not approach without my signal."
"Understood! Everything under your command!" Iwakura Yusuke agreed without hesitation; no matter how idiotic the orders from above were, as the executor, he had to complete them, otherwise his political career would be over.
Jotaro took out his phone and began contacting the SPW Foundation, urging their personnel to intensify the interrogation of Kishibe Rohan, hoping to pry more information about "Kira" and potential Stand Users from the mad mangaka.