When the people downstairs and Mei rushed to the third-floor room, they saw a messy room.
Looking at the torn quilts scattered everywhere and the shattered windows and walls.
"Kiana was attacked, but there's no blood, so she must have escaped from here."
After a quick glance at the scene, the group quickly made a judgment.
"Chase!"
The broken window faced the back street.
It wasn't tourist season, and the few occasional people had already left their rooms early in the morning, so no one noticed Kiana's battle commotion.
There were no witnesses even on the back street.
"There are traces here."
With the help of Star Platinum's microscope, the group found some traces, whether left by Kiana or her attacker.
They even found some bullet holes on the wall.
The group followed the empty street until they reached a street where they occasionally saw people.
"Kiana must have been attacked suddenly; she should still be in her pajamas."
Since there were people, there might be witnesses.
"Hello, have you seen a white-haired girl in pajamas?"
Compared to random passersby, the owners of shops open by the roadside were more likely to know something.
"A white-haired girl…"
This was a roadside teahouse. In the early morning, there were already a few scattered customers. The boss stood behind the counter, wiping a cup in his hand. His squinted eyes, squeezed shut, made it impossible to tell what he was thinking, but he tilted his head and looked at the teapot beside him.
"Hmm… give us five cups of herbal tea."
Joseph slapped a few coins on the table. The boss slid the coins into a drawer with one hand and picked up the teapot to pour out a few cups of herbal tea with the other.
"Didn't see her."
"Hey! What do you mean by that! Your shop is right here, and you're telling us you didn't see anything!?"
Polnareff's temper flared up at the obvious perfunctory reply. He slammed his fist hard on the counter.
"Polnareff!"
Joseph reprimanded him, "Since that's the case, let's ask someone else."
Meanwhile, Takatsuki and Mei were on the street, trying to ask some passersby, but naturally, they found nothing.
Oh, it's not entirely accurate to say they found nothing; Takatsuki successfully caught a wild cat.
"Takatsuki, we still don't know where Kiana is."
Mei said, somewhat anxiously, watching Takatsuki pet the cat in his hands.
"It's fine, Kiana should be okay for now."
After glancing at the system, Takatsuki smiled, petting the struggling cat in his hands with more force before casually tossing it away. The cat spun in mid-air, scrambled up the wall in a few quick movements, and escaped.
"Rather, we might be running into some minor trouble."
When Takatsuki brought Mei and Jotaro's small group together at the teahouse, they indeed saw the expected scene.
"My name is D'Arby."
"Daniel J. D'Arby, a gambler, and the person you're looking for."
The middle-aged man, sitting in a chair, said while rapidly shuffling the cards in his hands, "I know where the person you're looking for is."
D'Arby!?
The group instantly realized who the person in front of them was.
He was the user of the Stand Osiris, whose ability was to take the souls of losers in gambling and turn them into chips.
"You bastard! Do you think we'll fall for that!"
The hot-tempered Polnareff immediately summoned Silver Chariot. Silver Chariot performed a flourish with its sword in the air and lunged directly at D'Arby.
But D'Arby only made one move to stop Silver Chariot.
He held up a chip in his hand…
A chip with a human face printed on it…
"Kiana!"
D'Arby continued, glancing at Mei, who shrieked upon seeing the familiar face.
"Hmph, it seems you already know my ability, so I don't need to explain further. Your companion has lost to me, and this is her soul."
D'Arby said, looking at the blade just one centimeter from him, without any worry. As a gambler, he possessed extraordinary psychological composure under normal circumstances. Even with the blade at his neck, he remained completely unconcerned.
"Even if you kill me, her soul won't return, but I can give you a chance."
"That is to gamble with me. If you win, I will release her soul, but if I win…"
D'Arby smiled without speaking, but the group already knew the outcome.
"Alright! Then let me challenge you! What do you want to gamble on! I'm not gambling with you on poker! And we don't have time to waste here with you!"
Polnareff retracted his Stand and slapped the table.
At this moment, he thought to himself that he already understood D'Arby and his Stand's ability, and the opponent was clearly a pure gambler. As long as he didn't gamble on poker with him, there was nothing to fear.
A Stand that could only act after winning a gamble was much weaker than his brother's Stand!
"Good! Things are getting interesting."
D'Arby flicked his hand, pretending to survey the surroundings, "Since we're not gambling on poker."
"Oh, there's a cat over there, do you see it?"
D'Arby grabbed a piece of smoked fish from the table and tossed it onto the ground in the distance, looking at the cat pacing on the rooftop. "We'll bet on whether that cat eats the left piece or the right piece first."
There was a clear difference; the right piece of fish was much larger than the left. Plus, Takatsuki had only mentioned everyone's Stands, not detailed the methods used by those they encountered, so Polnareff unhesitatingly chose the right side.
"The right one is clearly bigger. If I were a cat, I'd grab the bigger piece of meat first!"
"Good, then I'll choose the left."
D'Arby said indifferently, "Then let's see when the cat discovers those two pieces of fish."
"Oh? It seems to have found them."
The cat on the rooftop jumped to the ground and ran towards where the two fish pieces had landed.
Its running direction was clearly towards the right piece of fish.
The others frowned, feeling puzzled at the seemingly easy win. Could this D'Arby really be dealt with so easily?
Just as it was about to reach the fish, the cat suddenly pushed off the ground and leaped towards the left piece of fish.
The Stand users present could naturally see this speed, and their expressions changed. D'Arby's lips curled into a slight smile.
Unfortunately, D'Arby's pleasure didn't last long. The cat, which had just pushed off the ground, suddenly flew backward towards the right, as if struck hard by something in mid-air.
"Nani!"
D'Arby stood up abruptly at this sudden sight and turned to look at the others.
But none of their Stands were out, and there were no signs of a Stand attack.
The cat, struck back in mid-air, seemed to be punched again by something, suddenly turning, its head rushing towards the right piece of fish. Its entire cat face smashed onto the fish, and the fish meat naturally entered the cat's mouth.
Then the cat immediately got up, fled in terror from the two pieces of fish, and ran away like the wind.
"How is that possible!"
D'Arby froze, staring at the completely incomprehensible scene before him.
"Hehehe! How about that! I won, didn't I!"
Although he didn't know what was happening, it didn't stop Polnareff from kicking him while he was down.
"Impossible! That cat already jumped to the left! It was hit back!"
"But we didn't hit it, and it bit the right piece of fish in the end, didn't it?"
"You must have cheated! I didn't lose!"
Jotaro took a step forward, "If you say we cheated, then show us proof, otherwise…"
Star Platinum silently emerged from behind Jotaro, giving D'Arby a chilling smile.
D'Arby frantically scanned everyone, but with his information, he couldn't figure out who could have done this.