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Chapter 112. Every Successful Protagonist Has a Guardian Spirit Behind Them
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Time flies, and the days pass quickly.
Before anyone realized it, the day after the latest episode of "Battle Tendency" aired, and after they posted that tweet on their official account, had already arrived.
But it was only just the next day.
When Pucci habitually opened the forums to check the audience's reactions to "Battle Tendency", as well as to the announcement they made to alleviate the public pressure caused by Caesar's death by revealing that the third part of the "JOJO" project was in production and would feature a brand new technology during its filming, what he saw was quite a sight.
The forum was almost entirely dominated by "Battle Tendency" discussions, especially those about the preview for the next episode, "The Warrior Returns to the Wind"! Even the once-popular news about "Stardust Crusaders" was nearly drowned out!
"It hasn't been long since "Battle Tendency" aired, right?"
"But considering this is all because of Caesar, it's not hard to understand why this is happening."
As Pucci reflected on the uproar caused by Caesar's death in the previous episode, he nodded thoughtfully. "I must say, the audience this time around is pretty sharp for figuring out the mystery behind the name "Caesar A. Zeppeli" so quickly."
He clicked on the post made by Sora and the others, and saw all sorts of speculation written by them and other fans.
From the headband Joseph wore during his duel with Wamuu in "Battle Tendency" to the weakness of the Wind Mode that Caesar discovered—after all, the Pillar Men are not magical beings and cannot use any supernatural energy. The so-called Wind Mode, Flame Mode, and Light Mode are merely specialized physical techniques, possible because the Pillar Men can freely manipulate and modify their bodies.
For instance, Wamuu used the Pillar Men's ability to twist their bodies like rubber bands to generate tornadoes and modified his bones into air tubes to release or inhale air.
In other words, Wamuu's Divine Sandstorm, created by rotating his arms, and the air vortexes released through his windpipes, all require an inhalation process!
So, if one could exploit this inhalation process, there would be no need to aim or search for a weak point—Wamuu himself would draw all nearby attacks directly onto his body or into his lungs!
This was why, during his battle with Caesar, Wamuu had to risk his life and had only a slim chance of defeating Caesar. If Caesar's bubbles could overcome their tendency to burst in the wind and were already spread around Wamuu, every time Wamuu used his Wind Mode, he would be actively sending those Ripple-infused bubbles into his own body!
Would Wamuu succumb to the accumulated Ripple first, or would he manage to kill Caesar beforehand? That was the grim determination Wamuu had to make during their fight. It was precisely because of his all-or-nothing resolve to win that Wamuu managed to bring Caesar down.
However, this didn't mean Wamuu had completely overcome this weakness; at most, he had suppressed its impact temporarily.
If the next episode indeed shows "Caesar A. Zeppeli" fighting alongside Joseph to defeat a revived Wamuu, then this weakness Caesar discovered would certainly be something Joseph would exploit, bringing his fallen comrade's unfulfilled resolve to fruition by defeating Wamuu.
"Still, even though the audience has figured out the plot twist from the information we released, we won't be changing the script because of it," Pucci said regretfully. "We wanted to surprise them, but it seems the surprise was spoiled before it was even fully prepared."
Shinbo Akiyuki, who was discussing this with Pucci, agreed, saying, "That's just the downside of filming in complete secrecy, I guess. Although, I must admit, the audience's theories on the forum are quite fascinating—some are really well thought out."
Indeed, after Sora posted his thread, besides the credible theories mentioned above, there were also many wild speculations. Some even imagined Caesar becoming a guardian spirit to help Joseph in his battle against Wamuu!
Although this guardian spirit theory was far-fetched from the perspective of "Battle Tendency", Shinbo, who knew Pucci was preparing for "Stardust Crusaders" and its new Stand battle system, found the idea quite intriguing.
Of course, this doesn't mean Shinbo actually wanted Caesar to become Joseph's Stand. But he did wonder what would happen if they introduced the concept of Stands at this point.
As one of the few Ripple warriors in thousands of years capable of defeating a Pillar Man, Joseph's Ripple had undoubtedly reached the level where it could evolve into a Stand. Like Gyro, who never obtained a Stand because his spiritual energy wasn't strong enough or because he hadn't fully awakened, Joseph might soon overcome this limitation.
Moreover, nothing can symbolize Joseph's determination more tangibly than a physical manifestation like "Hermit Purple", rather than something as intangible as a "feeling."
Unfortunately, this idea from the forum was not feasible, given that they were almost done filming the next episode's confrontation between Joseph and Wamuu...
"I see, so that's what you're lamenting," Pucci said. "Thanks to you, I think I've come up with a pretty interesting surprise."
Hearing this, Shinbo Akiyuki raised a curious eyebrow. "What's that about?"
"Remember how large gusts of wind can make it difficult to ignite a flame? That's not just middle-school physics; anyone who's used a lighter knows this."
"...?"
"So here's the question: In a windless environment where Wamuu has sucked all the air into his body, effectively creating a vacuum due to the massive storm, how does Joseph manage to ignite the headband he's wearing, which, after the previous battle, is inevitably soaked with sweat?"
"...Huh?"
Shinbo was puzzled not because of the question but because he wondered whether Pucci had somehow forgotten to shoot the ignition scene.
Just as Shinbo was about to check the previous footage, Pucci stopped him, explaining, "I'm well aware we shot a scene where Joseph figured out how to ignite the headband. But what if we deleted that scene instead?"
"You know, only Stand users can see Stands... That's the key feature of the new technology we've developed."
Fearing Shinbo might still be confused, Pucci continued, "And didn't we already hint at "Hermit Purple"? In the opening sequence of "Battle Tendency"..."
"...!!?"