Morioh's sewer system wasn't particularly complex, but for a panicked, severely injured rat familiar with dark environments, it was a sufficiently vast maze.
Jotaro stood inside the broken house, his face devoid of any expression as he listened to Iwakura Yusuke's tone in the communicator sharply change for the worse.
But Iwakura on the other end was getting anxious. There was no one else with supernatural abilities who could help him here. "Mr. Kujo, please rest assured! I will immediately mobilize all available personnel, the municipal department, the water company... I will completely seal off all sewer exits, manholes, and drainage outlets leading to the river within a one-kilometer radius centered on the incident location within ten minutes! I will absolutely not let that... uh... rat escape!"
Iwakura's voice carried an almost fawning urgency; his previous anger and doubt had long been replaced by fear.
A rat with bizarre abilities that could turn people into jelly escaping into the sewers? The mere thought of this scenario made his scalp tingle.
If this got out, or caused new casualties, his career would truly be over. He might even go to prison. Now, let alone Jotaro setting conditions, even if he was told to personally go down and catch the rat, he would probably have to consider it.
"Ah. As soon as possible," Jotaro responded blandly, ending the communication. He didn't completely trust PSD's efficiency, but he had his own methods.
He bent down, Star Platinum manifested, and with its precision that surpassed a microscope, carefully examined the bloodstains and a few gray rat hairs remaining on the edge of the sink drain.
After picking up some, Jotaro then checked the entire house, making sure there were no other rats hiding in the corners, before he walked out of the house, preparing to find a sewer to hunt the last rat.
When he reached a sewer outlet by the river, he was surprised to find a group of workers studying a jelly-like piece of flesh, very similar to the one left in the house.
However, this time the flesh was made from a rat... Jotaro's eyes became more serious. 'Does it not even spare its own kind? This evil creature that wants to exterminate both its own kind and humans in its territory, leaving no one alive, must be eliminated!'
He did not crawl into the filthy, narrow sewer, because it was too narrow for him to enter, and the environment inside was more suitable for rats.
He was just waiting, because this time he wasn't the only one taking action. If worst came to worst, the available rat hair and blood could also be used to directly kill this evil rat through Crazy Diamond after Josuke recovered.
At the same time, Iwakura Yusuke's efficiency was also demonstrated.
Piercing sirens blared from afar, municipal engineering vehicles quickly drove to the designated locations, and workers began sealing manholes one by one with heavy iron covers and special locks.
The main drainage outlets leading to the river were also temporarily fitted with sturdy iron grates, and a physical net targeting the rats was rapidly tightening.
At the same time, a large number of smoke bombs and poisoned bait were thrown in. They wanted this rat to either run out and be killed, or be directly poisoned.
Deep underground, the injured rat scurried in terror through the darkness. The wound on its back constantly seeped blood, and the mental backlash from the destruction of its Stand, "Corrosion Needle," made its head throb.
It could hear the dense footsteps from above, the roar of vehicles, and the clang of manholes being heavily closed! Its escape routes were being cut off one by one!
And the pungent white smoke from an unknown source made it feel dizzy and pained.
"Squeak! (It's over!)" A sense of despair enveloped it.
It frantically scurried into an even narrower branch pipe, where sewage flowed and the smell was nauseating, but it might be the only way out, leading to the river, their old nest.
However, it didn't know that it was running towards Jotaro... About half an hour later, Jotaro was eating lunch by the river, with a sewer drain in the distance.
This drain had been sealed off by PSD personnel with barbed iron grates, and several police officers were nervously guarding it with guns.
"Oh, it came here?"
Suddenly, Jotaro stopped, his ears twitched, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He casually pointed at a police officer, "Hey, you! Yes, you, go call Iwakura over!"
"Huh? Me?"
The police officer was stunned for a moment, pointing at himself with a bewildered expression. What was his status? How could he contact such a leader?
"Yes."
He wanted to say something more, but under the gazes of Jotaro and his own captain, he dared not speak further. Instead, led by his captain, who yearned for merit, he went to make the contact.
Before long, a car sped over. After a sharp tail-whip and emergency brake, Iwakura Yusuke couldn't even wait for the car to stop completely before jumping out, looking at Jotaro eagerly.
"It's inside, about fifteen meters from the exit, stopped," Jotaro said to Iwakura Yusuke, who had rushed over.
Iwakura looked at the dark, foul-smelling drainpipe and swallowed. "What do we do next? Smoke it out? Flood it? Dynamite?"
He really didn't want his subordinates to go in and die again, but he also didn't want to miss this opportunity.
Jotaro glanced at him, saying nothing.
He simply pulled down the brim of his hat, turned and left. "It's over. The rest of the cleanup is your business."
Iwakura Yusuke watched Jotaro's departing back and let out a long sigh of relief, then a complex expression appeared on his face.
Relief that the crisis was averted, awe of supernatural powers, and... thoughts on how to write the report.
"Block the other entrance. Just use gas."
A few days later, the investigation results announced by PSD were classic:
"Upon investigation, the series of disappearances and deaths in the northwest suburbs of Morioh were caused by a new type of highly corrosive, highly contagious unknown virus.
This virus is suspected to be carried by mutated rats and can be transmitted through bodily fluid contact and aerosols. Infection leads to rapid pathological changes in human tissues. If there are any signs, please go to Morioh Hospital immediately... After meticulous deployment by the police in conjunction with multiple forces, the source of infection, two virus-carrying mutated rats and their nest, have been successfully eradicated... During this process, several brave investigators unfortunately became infected and died in the line of duty, and a gas explosion accidentally occurred in the suburbs... But the threat has now been removed, and citizens need not panic..."
The report made no mention of Stands, superpowers, or machine guns that could turn people into pulp. Everything was attributed to "viruses" and "mutated rats."
Iwakura Yusuke perfectly packaged a supernatural disaster into a successful, albeit costly, biochemical crisis response operation, and could even use this to apply for more funding and authority... Hospital special floor.
Joseph Joestar looked at his son, Josuke, on the Hospital bed, his wrinkled face filled with heartache and anger.
The joy of reuniting with his old lover, Tomoko Higashikata, had long been diluted by the current reality. This was his only son!
"Jotaro, what exactly happened? How did Josuke get so badly injured?" Joseph's voice carried the hoarseness unique to old men and suppressed fury.
Jotaro concisely explained the situation, including the bomber, Kishibe Rohan, the bizarre disappearances, and PSD's involvement.
"Another evil Stand User!" Joseph clenched his fist, and the phantom of Hermit Purple's vines flashed across his arm, "We must find him quickly!"
"Ah," Jotaro nodded, "So, we need your Spirit Photography. The targets are 'the culprit who severely injured Josuke' and... 'Kira.'" He mentioned the name obtained from fragmented information.
SPW personnel quickly prepared the Spirit Photography equipment, a specially calibrated old television and some fragments of Josuke's blood-stained clothing.
"Are these the fragments that were bombed by the opponent? Hmm, they're enough as clues."
Joseph took a deep breath, placed his hand on the television, and concentrated.
"Hermit Purple!"
With his low voice, the thorny purple vine phantom instantly spread from his arm, wrapping around the entire television like a living thing, connecting with it as one.
Purple, arc-like energy flickered and danced on the screen's Surface.
The television screen suddenly lit up, blinding static and noisy white noise filled the room. Then, the channels began to switch automatically at a frantic speed!
News broadcasts, Weather Forecasts, anime shows, advertisements, blue screens with no signal... Various images and sound fragments flashed by at a dizzying speed, as if an invisible hand was frantically pressing the remote control.
However, the picture was extremely unstable. Joseph closed his eyes tightly, his brows furrowed, completely immersed in his connection with his Stand, trying to capture the "truth" related to the fragments in his hand from this flood of information.
Suddenly, the switching stopped, or rather slowed down, and sounds from the programs gradually emerged.
"...explosion... Morioh... Kameyu... unable to... understand..."
"...hand... calm... tracking... disgust... cat likes... Kira..."
Finally, the screen jumped abruptly and turned into a music channel again, and the changes completely stopped. The rock star's screams in the MTV were stretched and distorted, turning into sharp noise, and the afterimages of burning mansions and streets flashed in the background.
"...KILL..."
Puff! The television screen suddenly went black, a faint smell of scorching emerged, and a wisp of green smoke even rose from the top cover. The purple vine phantom entwined around it also instantly dissipated.
"Ugh..." Joseph groaned, releasing his hand, sweat beading on his forehead. "The interference is strong... The opponent's Stand... seems to have the ability to interfere with detection. This time, I can only get this much information. I can make the next prediction in about 2-3 days and get a photo of the opponent."
Jotaro recalled the words that appeared on the television just now, carefully chewing on every piece of information, and did not reply to Joseph Joestar, merely pulling down the brim of his hat.
"Yare yare daze..."
Although the clues were fragmented, the direction seemed to be slowly converging. Everything seemed to have found its direction, but these abstract pieces of information still needed to be compiled.