Kira Yoshikage stood before the bathroom mirror, meticulously adjusting his tie, ensuring his tie, clothes, and hair were all perfectly neat and tidy, without a single flaw.
The man in the mirror had calm eyes, with a faint, almost imperceptible, confident smile of a victor playing on his lips.
The madness of plunging the arrow into himself last night felt like a mere illusion; he was now incredibly relaxed, composed, and self-assured.
"Bites the Dust Rhapsody..." Kira Yoshikage repeated the name in a low voice, feeling the eerie power it contained, surpassing the original Bites the Dust. "It's truly wonderful. Time... fear... despair... this is the true invincible power."
He was no longer anxious, no longer irritated. Police interrogations? PSD surveillance? Jotaro's investigations? In the face of absolute power, these were merely minor noises on the path to "peace."
"Father," he said casually to Kira Yoshihiro in the photograph, "You and I will go out together today. Help me keep an eye on the movements of cinderella Beauty Salon and the daily routines of Kosaku Kawajiri's family. I'm preparing to change my identity."
"Yoshikage, your body..." Kira Yoshihiro was still a bit worried. As an old father, he completely didn't understand what had happened last night, only knowing that the arrow had been absorbed by his son.
But wasn't that thing supposed to awaken Stands in people? Enya's damned old lady never said anything about this!
"Never been better," Kira Yoshikage interrupted him, his tone filled with absolute confidence. "Everything is under control. Bites the Dust Rhapsody is a new bomb that grew from Killer Queen's right hand, just like Sheer Heart Attack.
It's a byproduct of Killer Queen, essentially the emblem on Killer Queen's gauntlet. Once it attaches to a person, as long as they feel despair or a fatal threat, it will destroy everything around them and rewind time by one hour."
"Nani?! Yoshikage, what did you say? Rewind time, one hour?!"
The old man completely lost his composure. This ability was too abnormal! Even Dio's ability back then wasn't this abnormal!
Suddenly, he twisted his hands, pulling an arrow from the photograph. This was Nijimura Keicho's arrow. He felt an urge to try sticking the arrow into himself, too, because with power, he could better protect his son.
"Don't think about it. The arrow chooses its own person. Only those recognized by the arrow can gain its power."
Kira Yoshikage merely glanced at it before turning back to continue styling his hair, thinking to himself, this isn't even the most terrifying aspect of this Stand.
Unlike in the original, his Bites the Dust Rhapsody does not occupy a bomb slot, and the upgraded Sheer Heart Attack also no longer occupies a bomb slot. Now, the three bombs are completely separated, essentially functioning as three Stands.
Furthermore, after Bites the Dust Rhapsody explodes, it doesn't affect his memory, though the person it's installed on cannot retain their memories. However, this thing can now be directly placed on himself, meaning its inherent ability has also undergone a qualitative change.
One could say that Bites the Dust Rhapsody is the ultimate enhanced version of Bites the Dust.
Now, as long as Jotaro and the others dare to come, he dares to take them all out, even directly eliminating all the police in the entire town. After all, now he only needs to stab himself to directly trigger Bites the Dust.
Although it lost the characteristic of exploding when information was revealed, the automatic trigger upon despair and fatal threat is more effective in actual combat than revealing information.
He could now truly be called invincible!
He drove to work as usual, facing even stricter interrogations at intersections. He appeared even more gentle and patient than in previous days, like an ordinary citizen who had completely grown accustomed to life under martial law.
But his purpose for coming out today was not to go to work, but to find a scapegoat, as this incident had caused too much of a stir, and the authorities needed to provide an explanation.
As he passed the checkpoint, after the police routinely questioned him, they suddenly called out to him again, "Wait, sir, that photograph of yours looks a bit strange!"
The fully armed police officer pointed to a photograph on Kira Yoshikage's chest. Although the photograph appeared to be of an ordinary old man.
But for some reason, he always felt that the old man was looking at him, making him feel completely uneasy.
"Oh, Officer, this photograph is a posthumous portrait of my deceased father. Is there a problem?"
Kira Yoshikage casually picked up the photograph containing Kira Yoshihiro and waved it in front of the officer, letting the officer see it clearly.
The officer looked at Kira Yoshihiro with furrowed brows, but after looking for a long time, he couldn't find any reason for his unease. He personally picked up the photograph, looked at it, and touched it, but in the end, he could only conclude that there was no problem.
"Oh, I apologize, sir. Perhaps I'm a bit too sensitive. Sorry for disturbing your life."
Ultimately, the officer could only apologize and watch Kira Yoshikage drive away, pondering whether he had been working too much overtime recently.
'These damned bureaucrats, sitting in their offices all day! They make us run around every day, and all this overtime is giving me hallucinations!'
...PSD temporary command post.
Iwakura Yusuke sat behind his desk, feeling somewhat restless, and sneezed, vaguely sensing that someone was cursing him.
In front of him lay the high-risk observation list. Kira Yoshikage's name was highlighted in red. His subordinate reported that everything was normal; the target went to work on time, and his behavior was completely unremarkable.
"Damn it, damn it, truly damn it!"
"Who exactly is that hidden Stand User?"
He sighed heavily. The higher-ups were already pressing him again. Originally, a while ago, they had demanded that he absolutely not find this person, insisting that he must find a way to gloss over this matter and perfect all the details.
Now, however, the requirements had changed again, stating that he must find a way to catch this person, or his career would be over.
He understood the reason: the Democratic Party was in power in the United States, and their people naturally had to listen to their American daddy. The Democratic Party didn't want this person, but the Republican Party very much wanted such a super-powered individual with strong combat capabilities.
Therefore, once he was discovered, the Republican Party would certainly try every means to get him over to their side. So, the higher-ups' intention was to put on a show on the Surface, but in reality, pretend not to see him.
But now, perhaps the Republican Party had used some means to directly interfere with the Japanese high command's decision. They had now decided to listen to the Republican Party and help them capture this super-powered individual.
As a result, Iwakura, the executor, was suffering. The contradictory orders had caused significant problems in his execution. Now, the suspected targets hadn't shown any unusual behavior. If he were to arrest them directly, and the Democratic Party found out, he would be the scapegoat. But the pressure from the Republican Party on the Japanese high command was also immense; if he didn't make arrests soon, he would still be finished.
But Iwakura's attention always drifted involuntarily to the notebook on the corner of his desk, brought from Kishibe Rohan, which had been soaked in water and then dried.
Those scrawled, distorted abstract drawings and blurry handwriting now seemed to possess a magical power in his eyes.
He saw not a madman's doodles, but a... revelation, about the greatness of Kishibe Rohan's power, about the necessity of pursuing "truth," and even wanted to release him on the spot.
He slammed the notebook shut, shook his head, "Damn it... now is not the time, I have to wait a little longer."
He cursed under his breath, locked the notebook in the bottom drawer, and decided not to look at it for a while.
"Intensify surveillance!" he ordered his adjutant, his tone somewhat agitated. "Especially after work! I want to know his every minute of whereabouts! Anyone who contacts him must be recorded!"
"Yes, sir!"
...Hospital special floor.
Joseph Joestar was resting; continuous Stand usage was a considerable burden on his aging body.
Jotaro stood outside the Hospital room, listening to the "all normal" report from Iwakura regarding Kira Yoshikage, his brow slightly furrowed. Kira Yoshikage was also one of his key suspects. Based on his comparison of surveillance footage, he felt that this person had a huge suspicion.
He perfectly matched all of his suspicions and was very likely the real bomber, only he acted too normally.
This "normalcy," in Jotaro's view, was itself the greatest "abnormality." Unfortunately, these damned government bureaucrats wouldn't let him make an arrest, otherwise he would be at Kira Yoshikage's doorstep right now.
"Iwakura, he's too quiet," Jotaro said into the communicator. "This isn't the reaction of someone backed into a corner. Either he has absolute confidence, or... he's already preparing actions we don't know about."
"I understand, Mr. Kujo. We will maintain maximum alert." Iwakura's voice came through, seemingly having regained some of his previous efficiency. "But we need evidence to act. We currently have no evidence to prove he is the criminal, so please wait."
His voice still carried some weariness, even as an official, he was so powerless in the competition among the upper echelons.
Jotaro hung up the communication and looked at Josuke and Okuyasu, who were still unconscious in the Hospital room. Time was on their side; they could afford to wait for now.
After all, Kira Yoshikage and the other suspects were under surveillance, their energy constantly being deliberately depleted, while they were recovering, and the injured were gradually recuperating.
Strictly speaking, waiting like this was good for them.
But waiting passively like this was not in his nature; he still decided it would be better to go and see for himself.
"Yare yare, Kira Yoshikage, huh? I'll go see for myself."
Jotaro muttered to himself, "I just need to beat up all the suspects. Although doing so will harm innocent people, there's no other way. PSD and SPW will compensate them."