Chapter 964: Dio Appears |
"From Mai Yuqiang's introduction just now, I think the undercover agents and assassins sent by Swollen Woman are not very strong. They should be about the same level as the module bosses in our Hound of Tindalos region. Of course, the module bosses here are those who will fight with us, and we still have quite a few advantages, like some elite-level Ghouls, Deep Ones, and other mythical creatures, or fanatic believers who have learned a few magic spells, and some Great Old Ones with fatal flaws," Liu Xing said, stroking his chin. "So the air cannon is indeed the most suitable for Bai Liang’s level."
"Right, 'JOJO's Bizarre Adventure' is also one of the most influential anime series in the world right now. Even if you haven't seen it, you can see its memes and emoticons everywhere. So, in a player squad, as long as there is one player who has seen 'JOJO's Bizarre Adventure,' then Bai Liang’s explosive ability would be ineffective. Although Bai Liang's explosive ability is off the charts, he needs to touch the object to make it explode. So, we just need to avoid close contact with Bai Liang afterward."
"Then there is Bai Liang's ability gained in the second phase — 'Loser Eats Dust,' which is time reversal. This ability is somewhat bugged. If Bai Liang could use it unrestrictedly, then we might have a hard time dealing with him, especially since this ability is too weak without other abilities to complement it. Moreover, the ability to reverse time like this is unlikely to exist in the Cthulhu mythos. I don’t recall any Great Old One or Three Pillars God having the ability to control time."
"Finally, back to the air cannon, first of all, the air cannon's damage is not low, and its concealment is very good. Most importantly, the air cannon can be directly converted into an item or Magic Spells, which explains why Bai Liang can use the air cannon. And for us, it's acceptable, not too hard or easy. However, I am wondering if Yoshikage Kira's first ability — 'Heart-Piercing Attack' could become a remote-controlled car filled with explosives? This way, Bai Liang's ability would not be too singular," Sun Huiwen said, stroking his chin.
As soon as Sun Huiwen finished speaking, Li Hanxing couldn't help but say, "Turning the 'Heart-Piercing Attack' into a remote-controlled car would be a historical nerf. From an invincible automatic tracking explosive device to a remote-controlled car filled with explosives, that’s a rapid drop in style. However, Bai Liang is supposed to be an assassin in Morio Town, so we just need to wait for him to make a move to know what his ability is. And since we have already triggered this mission, Bai Liang should be about to make a move."
Liu Xing nodded, pointing to the map of Morio Town on the wall.
Since the buildings in Morio Town are quite scattered, the town is rather large, but it can generally be divided into three areas — the urban area where Liu Xing and others are, the suburban area where Bai Liang lives, and the dock area by the sea.
The urban area has the largest land area, with all kinds of public facilities, and can also be divided into the new town and old town, with the dividing line being the commercial street where Mai Yuqiang’s fish store is located.
Of course, since Morio Town is also a historically significant town, and with a developer like Swollen Woman and people like Mai Yuqiang who have some assets, the old town consists of traditional large mansions common in the Island Nation, while the new town is mostly blocks of four to five-story buildings.
Near where Liu Xing and others previously landed is the dock area. After all, Nagoya is the third-largest urban area in the Island Nation. Although it is somewhat overshadowed by Tokyo and Osaka, it has a population, so the dock in Morio Town is actually a professional fishing port, usually with only fishing boats docking.
On this map of Morio Town, Mai Yuqiang also marked the crime scenes of the assassins with a red pen. It can be seen that the assassins like to commit crimes in the new town, as the entire new town area is covered in red, while the suburban and dock areas have only a few scattered red dots. As for the old town, there is only a lonely red dot.
"It's interesting, I initially thought that these assassins would choose less crowded places to make their moves, but it turns out that the assassins sent by Swollen Woman did the opposite, specifically targeting crowded places to act. But speaking of which, there seem to be too many murders happening in Morio Town. It’s surprising that the locals can still live here," Li Hanxing continued to complain.
Liu Xing nodded, smiling, "Under normal circumstances, if a murder occurred in every building in my neighborhood, I would definitely choose to move out overnight, without even taking my luggage. But this Morio Town is not a normal place, and besides, it is overseen by an avatar of Nyarlathotep. So as long as Swollen Woman does some manipulation, it can make ordinary people forget those murders faster, and I think some of the murders involved supernatural powers, so Mai Yuqiang and others must have handled it themselves."
"That must be right. Now the question comes again, where will Bai Liang make his move? First, we can be sure that Bai Liang is an assassin with quirks, and his quirks should be related to a part of the body. First, we can probably exclude the hands, because it's unlikely that the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall would fully adopt Yoshikage Kira’s settings," Sun Huiwen said.
Li Hanxing thought for a moment, then nodded, "Right, this mission we have Mai Yuqiang's help, so it's unlikely that we will be disadvantaged in combat. So the difficulty of this mission should be how to ascertain Bai Liang’s assassin identity. Therefore, Bai Liang’s motive for murder might change, and I think Bai Liang's motive might be quite bizarre and obscure, because Bai Liang has lived in Morio Town for so long without making a move. You know, like Yoshikage Kira, who wants a peaceful life as an office worker, would still be unable to resist making a move due to the evil desires deep in his heart. So I think the reason Bai Liang hasn't made a move for so many years is that he has never been tempted."
"There’s also a possibility that Bai Liang is not an assassin!" Liu Xing suddenly said. "From the current situation, Bai Liang is just considered an assassin by Mai Yuqiang, but the reasons Mai Yuqiang gave are very subjective. Simply put, it's just a three-word phrase — 'I think.' So this might actually be a red herring. Besides, we can't be sure if there are other villainous characters in Morio Town yet."
As soon as Liu Xing finished speaking, a burst of footsteps was heard outside.
Liu Xing turned around, and to his surprise, the person who came was a familiar face, and also the undisputed number one antagonist in 'JOJO's Bizarre Adventure.'
Yes, the person was Dio!
Liu Xing looked bewilderedly at Dio, not knowing what to say.
As for Li Hanxing and Sun Huiwen, seeing Liu Xing's reaction, combined with Dio’s distinctive appearance, seemed to guess Dio's identity. After all, they had already met Mai Yuqiang and Bai Liang in Morio Town, so seeing Dio now was quite normal. Although this Dio seemed to be on Mai Yuqiang's side.
Then Dio looked at Liu Xing and said with a smile, "Long time no see, Mr. Liu Xing, or should I say, Chris."
Liu Xing scratched his head and said, pointing outside, "Uh, let's go out and talk."
Dio certainly did not refuse, and followed Liu Xing to Mai Yuqiang’s garden.
"How did you know my identity? Did Crimson Ghoul tell you? I heard you were still in England," Liu Xing asked, somewhat puzzled.
Dio nodded seriously, "After the events of that year, I was rescued by Crimson Ghoul, and he also told me the truth — you are both Liu Xing and Chris. Then Crimson Ghoul had me leave a substitute in England, and then come to Morio Town incognito, because he told me Mr. Liu Xing, you would come to Morio Town in the future and might encounter some trouble, so he let me come here to help you solve the trouble."
Liu Xing furrowed his brows, suddenly finding himself increasingly unable to understand Crimson Ghoul, because it had been planning today's events more than ten years ago.
So how did Crimson Ghoul know he would appear in Morio Town?
If the previous arrangement of people in Blackstone Mountain Prison by Crimson Ghoul was just a coincidence, then now having Dio stay in Morio Town was definitely intentional.
Could it be that Chris, when he turned into Crimson Ghoul, also received part of Ithaqua's memories, so Crimson Ghoul could know the
future himself would come to Morio Town?
Of course, there is another possibility that Chris, while turning into Crimson Ghoul, was also taken over by Ithaqua.
So Crimson Ghoul is not Chris, but Ithaqua!
Thinking of this, Liu Xing's brows were tightly knit, because in Liu Xing's view, the possibility that today's Crimson Ghoul is Ithaqua is higher than Chris.
Since Ithaqua has the ability to possess "Liu Xing," then it would not be difficult for Ithaqua to possess Chris, who was turning into Crimson Ghoul... if it could deceive the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall again.
But why would Ithaqua arrange for Dio to come here to help himself?
Logically, with Ithaqua's intelligence, he should be able to guess that seeing Dio would make him start to doubt his identity, so isn't this a thankless task?
While Liu Xing was tangled up about whether Crimson Ghoul was Chris or Ithaqua, Dio continued, "By the way, Liu Xing, I haven’t introduced my current identity to you yet. My name is still Dio, an ordinary retired old man in Morio Town, but I am also a member of the Morio Town Protection Association, and a good friend of Mai Yuqiang, because we both like to go fishing by the sea, and I am also one of the few in Morio Town who can physically confront Mai Yuqiang."
Seeing Dio’s smiling face, Liu Xing raised his eyebrows and said, "So, Dio, have you become a Ghoul now?"
If Liu Xing remembered correctly, when he completed that module, Dio was still an ordinary person, and Dio was already in his thirties at that time. So, the only possibility for Dio, now in his fifties or sixties, to physically confront a superman like Mai Yuqiang would be — Dio has become a Ghoul!
Dio nodded, took a deep breath, and instantly transformed into the appearance of a Ghoul.
Is this the convergence of the world line? It’s unexpected that this parallel world’s Dio, although not a Vampire, has become a Ghoul.
But to be fair, under the backdrop of the Cthulhu myth, the dignity of a Ghoul is not lower than that of a Vampire... although Ghouls still look a bit uglier.
Then, Dio, who had transformed back into human form, said, "I just heard from Mai Yuqiang that after you came to Morio Town, I immediately came over to find you, so Liu Xing, you will have to speak well of me to Crimson Ghoul in the future, because I really like the identity of a Ghoul now, because this feeling of being full of power is really wonderful."
Seeing Dio’s ingratiating face, Liu Xing naturally nodded and said, "Of course, so I will have to rely on Mr. Dio to help a lot during this time."
"By the way, Liu Xing, I just heard Mai Yuqiang’s tone, he seems to have confirmed the identity of a certain assassin or undercover agent, right?" Dio said, stroking his chin. "If I remember correctly, Mai Yuqiang is now just one short of being able to leave Morio Town, so he must have left you guys to help him out, because Mai Yuqiang has told you about the situation in Morio Town, right?"
Hearing Dio say this, Liu Xing became somewhat curious and asked, "Right, Dio, Crimson Ghoul must have told you about the situation in Morio Town before you came here, right?"
Seeing Liu Xing’s curious face, Dio laughed and replied, "Of course, I voluntarily came here after knowing about the situation in Morio Town, because as you know, the situation in England, I was already unencumbered there, and even if I wanted to start a new life, I would probably be monitored by various forces, so I might as well come to Morio Town to start over. Although Swollen Woman’s subordinates are quite annoying, they can’t really do anything to me, so I’ve already decided to live in Morio Town for the rest of my life."
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Chapter 965: Panlong Town and Morio Town?