"As expected of Johnson," Formaggio murmured in admiration.
"There's no need to repeat that, is there?" Prosciutto stated as a matter of course. "Johnson's wisdom is indeed beyond what ordinary people can achieve."
Formaggio glanced at Prosciutto in surprise, really wanting to mock him, 'Weren't you the one who doubted Johnson the most before?'
"Then let's hurry to Olbia!" Ghiaccio exclaimed.
"Alright," Risotto said calmly. "Diavolo's ability, King Crimson's Time Erase, cannot be attacked during the erased time, and it only lasts for a few short seconds. If we all use Blood Drip Timing simultaneously, he can only kill a few people in those few seconds. The remaining people will buy time to kill him."
Indeed, with his King Crimson's Time Erase, the only way to counter it is with a human wave tactic, which means there will inevitably be sacrifices.
Moreover, this is under the condition that Diavolo must fight multiple opponents. Diavolo knows his weakness; he's not foolish enough to put himself in a one-against-many situation. Most importantly... Risotto doesn't know that Diavolo's most powerful ability is Epitaph.
Epitaph can see a certain extent into the future, and Time Erase can alter the future he sees.
The combination of the two makes Diavolo invincible.
This is a despair-inducing level of power.
If Polnareff hasn't yet discovered how to use the arrow and cannot be contacted, then the only option is to find Jotaro for help.
These guys are my companions. To let everyone sacrifice for my ambition is no different from depriving others of their ability, because I clearly have a way to save everyone.
Illuso's death has already broken me enough.
Soon, Johnson was about to give up on his idea of taking on Diavolo alone. Then, when he heard that Moody Blues could fly a plane by replaying, Ghiaccio loudly declared, "No need for replay... we have..." His words suddenly stopped, and then he muttered a curse.
Everyone was silent for a while, then Formaggio broke the silence:
"I'll hack into the airport network first to see if there are any unused planes that have been to Olbia."
"Hey, don't touch that one yet," Melone said, frowning. "Let Giorno and me handle it. Don't get counter-reconned by others."
Johnson's pupils instantly widened, looking at Melone in surprise.
"What did you just say?!"
Melone repeated with some confusion, "Don't get counter-reconned by others."
Johnson frowned. He roughly understood that Melone was already a top-tier hacker. He had only used Diavolo's name to find out about his past act of setting fire to his foster father, unlike Giorno in the original story.
Although Giorno also had skills, Melone had already investigated much further. Polnareff wasn't a professional in this field either; hacking skills also needed to be learned. So... Polnareff very likely wouldn't have the ability to counter-recon Melone... Moreover, Polnareff had always been monitoring a certain line, and Melone might not have even searched that line, especially since Giorno could only assist Melone in searching for data.
So that's it. Johnson was overjoyed. Is this the legendary escape from death? Every time I give up, I can make a comeback?
Sure enough, my destiny has been completely changed. Your choices at certain times and places can all affect the development of events. Things won't always unfold exactly as I imagine.
Let's try again, but how can I get Melone to give up counter-reconnaissance and search again?
"Search again," Johnson suddenly said.
"What?"
"The BOSS's past," Johnson said, "I still suspect he left something behind in his past, otherwise he wouldn't have been so eager to erase it."
"There's no need for that, is there?" Formaggio said. "Now shouldn't we hurry to Olbia to prevent him from destroying the original location, making it impossible for us to repeat?"
Yes, Formaggio was right. At this, their gaze fell on Johnson again, who was racking his brain for an explanation.
"I never thought Johnson would be such a cautious person," Prosciutto interrupted Ghiaccio, his voice full of reverence, entirely free of flattery. It was a heartfelt compliment. "When all of us thought his analysis was completely correct and were ready to go to Olbia, he didn't assume he was right; instead, he started exploring other possibilities."
"Bold hypotheses, careful verification—that's why Johnson is far superior to us."
Bucciarati nodded, his face also filled with admiration.
Johnson masked his surprise, putting on a 'precisely so' expression. Ever since earning Prosciutto's admiration, it was as if some strange attribute had been unlocked.
Unlike Mista and Ghiaccio, Ghiaccio isn't smart, and Mista isn't good at thinking, but he is genuinely intelligent and greatly admires me.
It's fine; this 'it's just like you' mindset is very beneficial to me anyway. I've finally found a true tool.
"Then Giorno and I will search again," Melone said.
"This time, let's use fingerprints to see if he has a criminal record."
"Alright!"
Then, while no one was paying attention, Johnson unhooked the safety pin from Trish's mother's quilt and attached it to Babyface Giotto's shoe.
"Go get Melone a glass of water," Johnson commanded.
He pulled the pin's thread, and as Giotto approached Melone with the glass of water, he pulled the Reversed Hierophant thread.
"Ow!" It fell directly onto Melone's computer, spilling all the water from the glass onto it. Then Johnson quickly went over to meticulously wipe it with paper, and in the process, broke the computer.
"Hey, Trish, keep it under control!"
Johnson handed the computer back to Melone, but Melone had barely typed twice before realizing the computer was completely broken.
"I'm going to kill that kid!" Melone said furiously, and Trish quickly hid Babyface behind her.
"Where did you buy such cheap junk? It broke with just a little water!" Trish retorted.
Babyface wanted to cry but had no tears, not knowing why it had fallen.
"Use this one," Ghiaccio pushed a computer towards him.
"What a hassle. This way, I can't clear all traces one hundred percent. Oh well, just this once."
Melone began searching continuously on another computer. Johnson watched his constantly flickering pages.
Ten minutes later, Melone spoke again: "Nothing. I estimate the Boss must have deleted his old criminal records too."
If that's the case, then going to Olbia is the only option.
"Scratch, scratch—"
The moment Melone finished speaking, the computer emitted a hoarse sound. Johnson looked at the computer in surprise, only to see the icons on Melone's screen starting to flicker.
Melone was startled and cursed under his breath, "We really are being counter-surveilled."
He was about to cut off communication when he heard the other party say:
"Don't cut off communication! I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
Johnson Joffrey let out a sigh of relief, looking at the computer screen with a barely perceptible smile.
I've been waiting for you for a long time too, Polnareff.