Chapter 118: The Emperor of Crime Surrounded by Loyal Subjects
The driver, hearing Shinichi Kudo's explanation, didn't feel relieved at all. Instead, terror flared in his heart, to the point that tears actually sprayed out from fright.
But he was helpless. At this moment, not only was his body out of his control, but even his Stand had been turned into a literal string puppet. This was the most terrifying part: a Stand is the substance of one's soul and fortune. If the Stand is controlled, it means one's destiny is entirely mastered.
Just like now, despite the leader's immense dread, the thought "Go to the police station" surfaced in his mind again and again. It gradually became the sole will driving his body and dictating his fate—and all of this stemmed from a casual sentence from Shinichi Kudo.
Naturally, the leader tried to resist, but the moment the thought of rebellion arose, he would feel an unspeakable terror. This fear was like a demonic claw, tightly gripping his mind, body, and soul, inflicting boundless agony! Under this torment, what followed was the involuntary surrender of both flesh and spirit.
After all, this leader wasn't some iron-willed hero; he was just an average man with a quick wit who chose commercial espionage out of greed. In the hierarchy of crime, he was a mere peon. Facing the "God" who governed the domain of sin, submission was his only choice.
Shinichi Kudo was well aware of this. He could even feel the pitch-black humanoid in the back seat casting an appreciative glance at him, silently encouraging him to stride toward that deeper, grander darkness.
The path of the Emperor of Crime lay open before him.
As long as Shinichi continued to expand and broadcast his "Majesty" and "Dread," criminal after criminal would succumb. They would proactively or passively execute Shinichi's will, using endless crimes to please him, sacrificing everything—including their lives and their Stands.
Shinichi knew it all, but he remained silent.
The sinful blood, pumped by Moriarty's heart through his veins, made him increasingly proficient in all things criminal. He was falling step by step into that dark domain. But that wasn't the most troublesome part; a nameless, pure, and violent killing intent was radiating through his mind and body, using that blood as a medium.
The driver didn't know that Shinichi's true thoughts weren't as simple as just sending him to the station.
Perhaps due to the miracle of the sinful blood, as he drew near the leader, Shinichi could faintly discern the "sins" the man had committed in the past.
He wasn't a top-tier spy. Because of that, he wasn't picky about his jobs—for instance, taking contracts to sabotage certain businesses. He had targeted a factory once, sneaking in to damage the production line and maliciously causing accidents that eventually led the factory to bankruptcy.
He had succeeded brilliantly. The police investigation concluded it was an accident.
But none of this could be hidden from the current Shinichi, who possessed extraordinary perception for sin. He could faintly glimpse the factory owner weeping in despair and eventually choosing suicide.
The leader had seen all of this personally; like many criminals, he had the habit of returning to the scene to watch. Witnessing the owner's suicide hadn't bothered him; instead, he felt excited that he had fooled everyone, believing his reputation in the industry had grown.
As Shinichi saw through this, killing intent began to swirl within him.
However, Shinichi exerted all his effort to restrain himself. He merely passed the judgment of surrendering to the police to let the law handle it. He was unwilling to go further and personally end the criminal's life, even though he could do it flawlessly. Of course, this was mainly because the man was just a "small fry" who wouldn't reach the level of a plea bargain; Shinichi believed the justice system would be fair in this case.
To stop the killing intent from breaking his rational defenses, Shinichi focused his attention elsewhere, contemplating the power he now wielded.
After several uses of the Perfect Crime authority through his blood, Shinichi gained some insight. Moriarty's power looked mystical, but it wasn't complex at its core. Even without a Stand, Shinichi had the ability to sabotage or repair a car engine. He had the ability to intimidate or manipulate a commercial spy into becoming a puppet.
As long as he intended to do so, these were things Shinichi could achieve; it just required time and effort.
Moriarty's Perfect Crime ability simply bypassed the process of these acts. It removed all random factors and manifested the "inevitable supernatural result" in the world. He knew he had the ability, so he achieved the result!
Realizing the truth behind his power, Shinichi felt a mix of irony and helplessness. This was an ability with a terrifyingly high ceiling and an abysmal floor—its effect depended entirely on the user. If given to a petty thief, it would be a nuisance. Given to Shinichi Kudo, the results were entirely different.
All the knowledge and skills he had accumulated to become a Great Detective were now blossoming in the criminal field in a different way. This was perhaps a mockery of fate.
The only comfort Shinichi found was that fate hadn't been too cruel. If his father, Yusaku, or someone with even more terrifying talent had awakened Moriarty, the outcome would be far worse.
Regarding Shinichi's internal self-consolation, the black silhouette only smiled and watched. Not everyone is qualified to be Moriarty and wield the supreme authority of crime.
Breaking through the police roadblocks set up by the Organization's moles didn't mean safety; it meant the start of the crisis. The "Distillery" had locked onto Shinichi's location.
Soon, numerous motorcycles and vehicles sped toward them. These were the peripheral syndicates dispatched by the Organization.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Shinichi watched them approach. He felt the oncoming malice, and the darkness in his eyes grew deeper. Of those sent as "claws" by the Organization, how many were good people? The answer was obvious: at the very least, these men carried the sin of causing permanent injury to others.
The darkness emerging from Shinichi's eyes began to spread as a supernatural phenomenon. A piercing wind rose abruptly, carrying a bone-chilling shiver across the land. Even the dark clouds in the sky, carrying various demons, wavered under this wind of killing intent.
Stimulated by this, the dark clouds—already manifesting in the mortal realm—accelerated their descent. Even ordinary people could now see the black clouds appearing out of thin air in the sky.
But the biggest change was yet to come. On the charging henchmen, various Stands began to appear. They were awakening as Stand Users. In this world, Fortune is condensed from the "Heavenly Killing Intent." Acts of conspiracy, deceit, and slaughter cause Fortune to surge, tearing through the once-impregnable boundary between the world's backend and reality.
However, things are two-sided. The surge and manifestation of these sinful fortunes acted as a breeding ground for the power of the other side.
Pulled by the mass awakening of criminals, the members of the Beika Police force—Inspector Megure and others—as well as ordinary people with justice in their hearts like Kogoro Mouri, instinctively looked up. They felt something flickering behind them.
Yusaku Kudo's Stand, Night Baron, was particularly excited. It had somehow pulled out two chainsaws shaped like a knife and fork, tied a napkin around its neck, and was let out a series of "Ke-ke-ke" cackles.
Yusaku sighed at his Stand's behavior but said nothing. He greeted Megure, and they headed toward the sensing point. While the skill of "Reading the Heavens" hadn't been popularized yet, Yusaku had already mastered "Sensing a Sudden Impulse," faintly knowing his son's location.
The world was changing violently. Shinichi felt it, but he didn't indulge in it; he focused on the present.
The mass awakening of Stands had affected the Organization's thugs, but they quickly recovered through their link to their Stands. They grew even more excited, charging forward with wild howls. Before they were even close, they pulled their firearms and began firing manically at the sedan.
The Distillery's orders were clear: attack at all costs. Shinichi's survival was secondary.
The driver was shaking from head to toe. As a "white-collar" criminal, he never expected to be in a Hollywood-style car chase and gunfight. Fortunately, his Stand ability was the Reinforcement of Vehicle Piloting. Both his driving skill and the car's performance were granted supernatural buffs. The car's durability increased to the point where, like a movie protagonist's vehicle, the people inside remained unharmed despite the bullet impacts.
But this couldn't last forever. Shinichi had no intention of waiting to die. He didn't do much; he just took a "look" through the rearview mirror.
Amidst intensifying heart pain, some of the pursuing thugs found their guns jamming or exploding. Vehicles malfunctioned or flipped over. Perfect Crime had a cost, but for Shinichi, it wasn't an issue. He didn't tell the leader to stop; he simply opened the door and leaped, landing perfectly on a motorcycle driven by a thug.
When the thug drew his gun for a point-blank shot, he found he couldn't move. A nameless fear, a formless darkness, swept over him like a gaping maw, devouring everything.
"I'll take temporary custody of your sins. Now... fight for me."
Accompanied by the sinister whisper of the youth from behind, the thug's body trembled violently. Finally, he shouted:
"Lord! I offer everything to you!"
He yanked the handlebars, carrying Shinichi, and charged back toward his former companions!
To an outsider, this looked like a traditional action movie chase. But Shinichi saw it differently. This wasn't an attack. These were the subjects, blinded and enslaved by the "Distillery," waving "flowers" and "cheering" to welcome their King!
Shinichi decided to respond to their "enthusiasm," granting them liberation from their slavery and... a brand-new rule!
For the thugs, the scene shifted from an action movie to a supernatural horror film. Sitting on the back of the motorcycle, Shinichi crossed his arms and stared coldly ahead. In the thugs' hearts, it felt like a tsunami of darkness was sweeping over them!
Not a single gun raised could fire. Petty evil did not deserve to rebel against an Emperor. Vehicles failed and stopped one by one. No sin noticed by the Emperor could escape.
Their murderous arrogance and their fledgling Stands bowed their heads in submission before that overwhelming black will.
The result was exactly as Shinichi decreed. Thug after thug knelt on the ground, their bodies and minds crushed, captured by the demonic claws of that black will—transformed into loyal subjects offering everything to the Emperor of Crime.
"Gin... you didn't say this monster was more ridiculous than Master Yuri from Red Alert. He controls people just by looking at them!"
In the distance, the formal members of the Distillery watched. Their previous disdain had turned into solemnity. One of them couldn't help but ask into the comms. The only response was Gin's icy whisper:
"Petty evil is naturally no match for that monster. But we... are not such petty things. Now, proceed with the plan."
End of Chapter
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