Diego Brando—a name that absolutely shouldn't appear in this world under any circumstances. Dio's counterpart from a parallel universe... why would he show up in this timeline?
Zenith felt a bit dazed. *Please don't tell me a Heaven-Ascended Dio is going to pop out next, followed by a bunch of JoJos running around everywhere collecting Saint's Corpse parts. That wouldn't be fun at all.*
Theoretically, that possibility shouldn't exist. If it did, the ones messing with Zenith and the main cast wouldn't be this bunch of misfits.
Shifting the focus back to the tall tower, the remaining three had now reached the eighth floor. After finding the iron nuggets hidden in the powder snow on the fourth floor, they had respectively survived the dynamic maze on the fifth floor, the pufferfish rain on the sixth floor, and the deep-water stealth on the seventh floor.
"The scenery here isn't bad. It gives me the feeling of being in a starry sky."
The dark green hall was dotted with emerald light particles, and a gloomy aura lingered in the air.
The stairs leading to the ninth floor were placed right in front of them in plain sight. Anubis swung his blade. "Is this floor just for us to enjoy the view? Well, even if you beg for mercy on your knees, I won't let you off!"
A strange rustling sound echoed, as if something bizarre had been activated. On a small, square platform, two ribbon-like black tendrils were gently swaying.
Not far from it, a block with four white supports and a center resembling a radar interface received the signal. A blue halo instantly expanded, and the entire floor was rapidly enveloped in darkness.
Sculk Sensors and Sculk Shriekers!
These were special blocks that only generated in the Ancient Cities of the Minecraft Overworld. They could listen for sounds and issue warnings. Once the warnings exceeded three times, they would summon the ultimate creature from the Minecraft world: the Warden.
With a massive 500 health points and an attack power that could punch Zenith to death in two or three hits. Placing the summoning mechanism for this thing on the eighth floor was, to be honest, a bit of bullying, but Zenith really couldn't think of any other suitable traps.
The only things in his head involving Redstone traps were TNT, Trapped Chests, and TNT Minecarts. Obviously, none of them were very suitable to be placed here.
Actually, at first, he wanted to put a Wither here, but once that thing started flying around wildly, it would be very hard to deal with and could easily harm the innocent. After thinking it over, he ultimately chose the Warden as the final boss.
After all, they didn't really have to fight this thing. As long as they kept quiet, it was a good boy.
Continuous darkness, followed by a strong, powerful heartbeat—the Warden made its entrance. Heartbeats, freedom, rhythm... who says the Warden can't cosplay as the Nika fruit!
Pet Shop went in. Pet Shop got wrecked. Its loud, resonant screech in mid-air instantly maxed out the Warden's aggro. A blue sonic boom hit the bullseye, knocking it right out of the sky, its fate unknown.
*Gasp—*
Anubis didn't dare breathe a word. "Insta-killed! That arrogant bastard was taken out in a single hit! I'll die... if this thing hits me even once, I'll absolutely die!"
The air stilled. Anubis didn't dare to move, and the Warden, unable to perceive any sound, also remained motionless. The two non-human entities were locked in a stalemate.
The prophecy updated! Sensing the change in the Stand, he quickly turned to the next page to check its contents. At this, he finally smiled. "Hah, this thing should sit at the same table as N'Doul! They're both blind and need to rely on sound to perceive things!"
*In that case, as long as we stay quiet, everything will be fine... right?*
Zenith would say this was far too naive. Minecraft players could avoid the Warden's detection by sneaking, but that was because a Minecraft player's sneak directly negated the generation of any sound. It was an absolute, rule-based stealth.
No matter how hard ordinary people tried, they could never achieve that level. As long as even a trace of a sound wave was transmitted, it would be sensed by the Warden, and it would launch an attack.
"A diversion!"
Anubis made his decision. For Lord Dio, he would let this kid Boingo reach the ninth floor first, while he stayed behind to make noise and cover for him.
As long as Lord Dio could obtain the Red Stone of Aja, conquer the sunlight, and become the ultimate lifeform, then Zenith, the Stardust Crusaders, and the Joestar bloodline would be nothing but fish on a chopping block. And even if he sacrificed himself here, he could be saved by the invincible Lord Dio.
Throwing caution to the wind, Anubis controlled Boingo's body and sprinted toward the stairs. Just as the Warden noticed and began to chase him, he forcefully hurled his true body—the cursed sword—in the opposite direction with a single hand!
Run! Seeing the Warden change targets, Boingo used his short little legs to struggle up the stairs leading to the ninth floor. In his peripheral vision, he faintly caught sight of the cursed sword's main body being smashed into a pile of shattered fragments.
Compared to the other floors, the ninth floor was very ordinary—so ordinary that Boingo found it unbelievable. In the center of the empty platform sat an unlocked, wooden-colored chest. Beside it stood a sign with the words "Red Stone of Aja" written in bold font.
*This is the Red Stone of Aja? We survived a nine-deaths-and-one-life ordeal—no, wait, an eight-deaths-and-one-life ordeal to get here, and you just left the item sitting out in the open like this? It feels like some kind of sick joke!*
However, his prophecies would always come true. Boingo firmly believed this, so he opened the chest without hesitation and took out the item inside.
A crystal-clear red quartz, with a slightly faint cross vaguely visible in the center. Even if considered merely a gemstone, it was an incredibly precious treasure, not to mention the miraculous power it possessed.
The sound of pistons firing. Boingo's expression changed. This was the exact same sound he heard on the third floor when the surrounding walls continuously closed in. Were they repeating the same trick here? No, that wasn't it. The walls weren't shrinking, but this entire floor was constantly rising!
It was indeed rising. Zenith never actually intended to let Dio get his hands on the Red Stone of Aja, so the chest on the ninth floor was obviously a Trapped Chest. Opening the Trapped Chest triggered a Redstone signal, which activated the core mechanism of this battle tower.
A Redstone Rocket!
That's right, the entire tower was a massive Redstone Rocket. As long as the Trapped Chest was triggered, the tower would continuously ascend until it reached a specific height limit, where it would go "boom" and detonate the 256 blocks of TNT inside, setting off a gigantic firework in the sky.
Zenith and the others leaped from the top of the tower, activating their Flight Amulets. They watched the dazzling explosive fireworks in the sky, holding in their hands a shattered sword hilt, a dying falcon, and a traumatized little brat.
"That was pretty fun. And I managed to collect all the Nine Glory Gods along the way. My collector's itch has been greatly satisfied."
Jotaro glanced at him. "Good grief. Next up should be taking down Dio, right? I can't wait any longer."
He really couldn't wait. Although Jotaro claimed to be a delinquent, he was actually a top student, even becoming a doctor of marine biology later on. Having been away from school for so long, it was time to beat up a centenarian and get back to class.
It was absolutely ridiculous. Zenith really wanted to complain. Every time he looked at Jotaro's invincible face, he couldn't believe that this unbeatable, Ora-Ora-ing man was currently only seventeen years old—still a minor.
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