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Chapter 101. Cae—sar!!!
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When Pucci and his team finally established their new production group, they relied on the chosen actors—arguably the most overpowered existence in this parallel world—to successfully cheat and develop new technology.
With this new technology, they were preparing to film "Stardust Crusaders," aiming to make it as iconic as suitmation with "Godzilla," CGI modeling with "Titanic," or motion capture and 3D technology with "Avatar."
While they didn't necessarily expect the project to go down in history, they did aim to secure a world-first title for using the Stand template technology in filming, leveraging this gimmick to recoup some of the investment in this new technology.
As the shooting schedule intensified, the lives of the audience outside Green Dolphin Studio also suddenly became more hectic. Of course, it wasn't because their holidays were over, and they were returning to long hours at work or school. Nor was it because Japan, often plagued by natural disasters due to its geographical location, had been hit by another earthquake or volcanic eruption.
No, it was because of something seemingly insignificant:
—Caesar A. Zeppeli, had died...
This was truly a trivial event. After all, similar scenes had played out before. The same Zeppeli, the same act of passing on hope of defeating the enemy to JOJO while willingly embracing death... Hadn't the audience already seen this in "Phantom Blood"?
Many viewers still vividly remembered the prophecy that foretold Zeppeli's fate: "In an ancient room filled with the stench of corpses, when a child opens the door to free the young lion trapped by chains, you will burn your wound and soon face a cruel death."
Long before this scene even played out, the audience was well aware of the trademark "JOJO" OP spoilers, and thanks to the relentless analysis by internet detectives, most had already predicted that the second part, "Battle Tendency," would carry on the tradition of the first part, "Phantom Blood."
But... But still!
"Death... death is not frightening..."
"But... I... I am a proud man of the Zeppeli family!"
"I've inherited the proud bloodline of this family!!"
In the audience's vision, through the full-dive helmet projecting the "Battle Tendency" scenes, Caesar, who had poured all his strength into it, finally came within reach of victory!
After having his pride and signature move crushed by Wamuu in their first encounter, Caesar, who had been left unable to even stand, was now just one step away from defeating Wamuu! But that last step was also Wamuu's chance to turn the tables...
Having honed his ultimate move to focus his Ripple into a single point and combining it with the power of rotating bubbles, Caesar created the Bubble Cutter, which not only negated the fear of Wamuu's Divine Sandstorm but also vastly outperformed his previous techniques. Moreover, since bubbles could refract sunlight like lenses, Caesar, while fighting with the Bubble Cutter, was secretly filling the mansion with sunlight by setting up numerous bubble lenses. Even though they were fighting indoors, away from direct sunlight, Caesar could still illuminate the entire mansion with these bubbles.
But he seemed to have forgotten...
The sunlight refracted by bubbles was insufficient to destroy Wamuu; even Santana could remain active under such light for a while. Let alone Wamuu, who was adept at using wind to deflect sunlight away from his body.
Thus, to not miss this rare chance to finish off Wamuu, Caesar had to personally charge forward and strike Wamuu with the Ripple, which had been verified by Joseph to be fully capable of killing a Pillar Man.
However, Caesar's body blocked the sunlight refracted by the bubbles, and to avoid obstructing his own advance, he couldn't let the bubbles block his path. This created a shadow, giving Wamuu a breathing space—a fatal opportunity to turn the tables.
And this was Caesar's downfall.
Unlike the Pillar Men, who could regenerate their bodies and had a high margin for error, Caesar, being human, was fatally vulnerable to serious injury. This single mistake led to his tragic death.
...Or so Wamuu thought as he achieved final victory.
But...
Dragging his mortally wounded body, Caesar managed to reach Wamuu. Seizing the moment when Wamuu let his guard down, even though his near-death body struggled to maintain Ripple breathing—let alone gather strength for an attack—Caesar still managed to grab Wamuu's lip ring and, using the earth's gravity and his body weight, ripped it off.
"Why... why would you do this...?"
"A non-human like you wouldn't understand."
Yes, even Caesar himself didn't fully understand why he did it. His father, who had long left home, hadn't even recognized him as his son but had still sacrificed his life to save him, a "stranger." His grandfather, Will A. Zeppeli, was said to have died after giving the Ripple power to JOJO's grandfather, Jonathan. Caesar had never understood why this had to be.
He had even thought he was responsible for his father's death. That JOJO's grandfather had caused his grandfather's death. But now, as he faced his own death, just like his father and grandfather before him, his mind wasn't filled with fear.
Instead, it was with the thought that, as a Zeppeli, he had to do something! He couldn't and wouldn't die a disgraceful death!
It's your lucky day, JOJO...
With this thought, Caesar combined the lip ring with his final Ripple and shouted out:
"My final act is to pass on the spirit of the Zeppeli, the hope for the future! This is the human spirit!!"
"Take it, JOJO! My final Ripple!!"
...
Silence.
Stillness.
Despite having prepared for this, all the viewers were simultaneously rendered speechless by the scene.
And then, like the calm before a storm, like a silent fuse before an explosion, all the viewers, as if paying tribute or bidding farewell to someone, shouted in unison.
They shouted: "Cae—sar!!!"