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Chapter 18 - Information

The entrance leading down to the third floor slowly closed, accompanied by the distinct sound of Minecraft Piston blocks. In the pitch-black third floor, only the continuous sound of Pistons extending and retracting could be heard.

If a player familiar with Minecraft were standing here right now, he could easily guess that this was the signal of Redstone mechanisms in constant operation. But obviously, the ones here were a sword, a bird, and a child—their sensitivity to this sound was absolutely zero.

"Damn it, it's too dark in here. I can't see a thing. Boingo, did you bring a flashlight?" Anubis was somewhat anxious. This kind of darkness reminded him of the days when he was sealed away in a museum.

As a demonic sword capable of controlling people's minds, he naturally had no ability to move on his own without a host. If Dio hadn't rescued him from the darkness, all that awaited him was endless loneliness until he finally couldn't bear it anymore, his mind fading from this world.

Pet Shop, the falcon, was clearly also a bit agitated in the dark. Coupled with the continuous sound of the Pistons, he couldn't stop flapping his wings in place.

Zenith couldn't stand watching them anymore. The trap on this floor was that the surrounding walls would continuously compress inward. If they didn't find the mechanism to open the way to the upper floor within a certain amount of time, they would be crushed into meat paste by the iron walls.

But right now, the surrounding walls had already advanced four blocks—meaning four meters—and they were still just standing there in a daze.

This was a Minecraft building, but it had also been modified by a modern construction team. The speakers Zenith used to communicate with them were installed with extra wiring, and of course, some emergency lighting had been installed here as well.

"Still spacing out? You're going to be flattened in a minute! Haven't you noticed the walls getting closer and closer to you?!"

Zenith friendly-sponsored them four lights. They finally realized their current predicament, and sweat immediately began pouring down their faces.

Against the solid metal walls, their sword strikes and ice bullets were like mere tickles, completely useless. So if they wanted to survive, they had to find the mechanism to go upstairs.

"Boingo, what does the comic book predict?"

It had to be said, the prediction ability was indeed very useful. Abstract comic characters surfaced on the paper: "The three brothers in distress—Boingo, Pet Shop, and Anubis—are trapped on the third floor of the tall tower. How terrifying! The surrounding walls are constantly shrinking."

"But the clever Boingo discovered the secret to opening the door to the fourth floor, which is to trigger the untriggered revolving door at the entrance."

"Anubis sacrificed himself and dove into the trap, and only then were Boingo and Pet Shop saved."

The revolving door that trapped Daniel J. D'Arby... If that was the case, didn't that mean they had to lose another member? Anubis quickly racked his brain and suddenly realized, *'My true body is a demonic sword! I just need to throw the sword out for Boingo to catch the moment I rush in!'*

Anubis gave himself a mental thumbs-up. If he was wielded by a Stand user, he could use his own power and the Stand user's ability at the same time. So, the one who got the Red Stone of Aja in the prophecy was himself?

The door leading to the fourth floor opened. Anubis adapted to Boingo's body for a moment. The short, youthful physique would affect his swordsmanship, but it was fine; as a sword master, he could overcome this minor difficulty.

"So cold!"

Completely opposite to the second floor, the fourth floor's defining feature was the cold. The entire space was covered in thick Powder Snow, and taking a single step forward would cause more than half a leg to sink in.

Pet Shop, who could use ice, felt like a fish in water on this floor. He liked the environment here, but Anubis, who was currently using Boingo's body, obviously did not.

The cold was draining the life from this young body. He had to quickly find a way to the next floor. The comic book... damn it, why hasn't this thing updated with the latest prediction yet?

Next came Zenith's explanation. The remaining members of the Nine Glory Gods were pure, brainless fools; without hints, they might not even make it past a single floor. "Hidden within this Powder Snow is a specially made Iron Nugget. I say 'nugget,' but it's actually the size of a fist. You must throw the Iron Nugget into the Hopper on the central platform for the door leading up to open."

Boingo's prediction ability had a cooldown time, so Zenith decided to let them search bit by bit. Right now, he needed to imprison the other six "Gods" first.

Using the same trick of teleporting and force-feeding them Rokakaka fruits, he first erased their Stand abilities, then tied them up securely. Zenith was about to begin interrogating them for information.

Enya the Hag, who held the most information and had directly helped Dio awaken his Stand, kept her mouth shut incredibly tight. Add to that the fact that Zenith's group had killed her son, getting information out of her was harder than ascending to heaven.

But these guys were different. The Nine Glory Gods, jokingly referred to as the "One Glory and Eight Disgraces," were a mixed bag. Aside from the blind man representing the God of Earth, who actually had some backbone and spirit, the rest were hard to even describe.

Zenith was quite confident in his ability to handle them.

"I've hired professional lawyers and many elites from the Speedwagon Foundation. They've provided me with the extensive list of crimes you've all committed, as well as estimates for your sentencing."

Zenith held a stack of documents in his hand, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed as he flipped through them. "In my opinion, the crimes you people have committed are too numerous to record. Even the least offensive among you has several lives on their hands. Whether you did it of your own free will or were bewitched by Dio, that is an indisputable fact."

Zenith looked up and glanced at them. Among them were those who harvested people's souls through gambling and video games, those who used prediction abilities to extort money and commit revenge killings, a massive simp who treated human lives like breadcrumbs for the sake of love, and clueless mercenaries who had been successfully brainwashed.

"If it were up to me to judge, every single one of you would get the death penalty. But then again, back in my hometown, we have a saying: leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist. If anyone can spit out some information, I can make an exception and count it as a major meritorious service."

No one responded. They were still reeling from the massive blow of losing their Stand abilities. But that didn't matter; there were plenty of people who could force them back to reality. Zenith's money wasn't spent for nothing.

The interrogation process was too brutal, so Zenith didn't participate, instead waiting on the sidelines for the results. These people would be temporarily detained by the Speedwagon Foundation afterward, and once Impel Down was fully constructed, they would be transferred there together.

The Rokakaka fruits had stripped them of their Stands, but it wouldn't erase their innate, superhuman spiritual energy. Perhaps many years later, their Stands would naturally awaken again, so it was safer to keep them locked up in Impel Down.

Not much information came out of the interrogation. The details about Dio's Stand ability to stop time were more or less the same as what Zenith already knew, but there was one thing that caught his attention.

The world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3? Why did it feel like something strange had mixed in here? The intelligence report clearly had a line written on it: there seemed to be two Dios.

"Diego Brando"—a bolded name marked with a massive question mark.

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