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Chapter 191. Protagonist's Halo?
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In a certain hidden room...
L was biting his finger, frowning as he watched the scene from "Stardust Crusaders".
Like most of the viewers who had come to love the "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" series, L found himself captivated by the series and eagerly awaited each episode in his full-dive device.
He, too, had been moved and inspired by Jonathan's golden spirit.
As an Interpol officer looking for a successor to help share the workload, L had a particular fondness for people with such a golden spirit.
If only being an Interpol officer required nothing more than a golden spirit.
Unfortunately, it also required a pitch-black will.
Had that not been the case, Jonathan might have already received an invitation from him.
Of course, it was equally likely that, after sending out the invitation, it would have been promptly returned by the SPW Foundation's security personnel.
But still...
That didn't stop L from enjoying the story of "Phantom Blood".
If Jonathan and the others had merely given L a favorable impression of "Phantom Blood", then the second part, "Battle Tendency", was full of surprises!
Joseph, the second JoJo, although more cunning and sly than Jonathan, the first JoJo, came across as more of a rogue than a gentleman.
Yet Joseph, who had not forsaken the golden spirit passed down from his ancestors, with his slightly lower moral threshold, was better equipped than Jonathan to deal with enemies far stronger than himself.
For instance, the vampires that had given Jonathan such a hard time, and the Pillar Men, who were even more powerful than the vampires.
Joseph was able to use Ripple, which was far weaker than his opponents' powers, to defeat these formidable enemies!
From that moment on...
L, who had initially watched the series purely to appreciate Jonathan's golden spirit, began to develop a competitive mindset.
Especially after "Stardust Crusaders" introduced the new Stand concept.
If one day, a similar case involving superpowered crime were to arise in this world, how could he, an ordinary person with no special abilities, solve it?
Driven by this thought, L became envious of the various strange and unique Stands introduced in "Stardust Crusaders".
That was until he came across a certain book...
—[Thoth].
It didn't possess overwhelming destructive power, nor did it have blinding speed, and being a book, its range was naturally limited.
Its only advantage?
Perhaps it was so weak that it was easier to maintain than any other Stand.
Even ordinary people who weren't Stand users could see it.
Yet, despite being such a seemingly weak book-type Stand on paper, L felt a profound sense of humanity's limitations from it.
For the first time, he realized...
Expanding the range of suspects to include superpowered individuals was not enough.
He would need to widen it even further, to include concepts like fate, gods, and other supernatural entities, to truly bring criminals to justice!
Otherwise, it would be like Jotaro and the others now—not even aware that they were under attack by an enemy's Stand!
Though in truth, there was no real need for them to be aware...
Because until the end of this episode of "Stardust Crusaders", it seemed as though [Thoth]'s prophecy had never really come to fruition...
No, it wasn't that it didn't happen.
[Thoth]'s prophecies were always correct.
Whether it was Jotaro and his friends inevitably entering that café and preparing to drink the poisoned tea, or Jotaro being blown up by a bomb hidden in an orange—these events were destined to occur.
The only difference was that the process turned out to be completely contrary to Boingo and Oingo's expectations.
After all, as long as [Thoth] didn't draw out the process, the results could be altered.
For instance, during Boingo and Oingo's second attempt, when [Thoth] predicted that they would successfully assassinate Jotaro...
A small mistake in the execution changed the outcome—
The orange bomb, meant for Jotaro, was intercepted when Joseph and the others discovered Oingo, who had disguised himself with [Khnum].
Since Oingo had transformed into Jotaro, looking and smelling identical to the real Jotaro, the outcome foretold by [Thoth] transferred to the disguised Oingo.
He ended up taking Jotaro's place, suffering the fate of being blown up by the bomb...
"So, the only way to defeat [Thoth] is with the protagonist's halo?"
Clearly.
Although [Thoth], nearly invincible, didn't offer the intense man-to-man battle that [Geb] and N'Doul had, with its unique ability and equally unique downfall...
It still fascinated the audience, initially drawn in by the phrase, "Even villains need saviors."
The viewers couldn't help but be curious.
Or perhaps they simply didn't understand the episode, finding it hard to accept that a seemingly invincible Stand could be defeated in such a comical manner.
This sparked heated debates on forums like 2CH.
Stone Free: "It really seems like Green Dolphin Studio has run out of ideas. First, they design an unbeatable Stand to draw us in, then when they realize it can't actually be dealt with, they go all out and use the protagonist's halo to dumb down the villains..."
Stone Free: "You can already predict that the rest of "Stardust Crusaders" will be just as boring."
That's right!
Cujoh Jolyne was definitely fueling the flames.
Pucci, you did so well! And yet you still managed to screw it up!
Not Wearing It is Really Cool: "That's impossible..."
Stone Free: "Then tell me, did Jotaro and the others use anything other than the protagonist's halo in their fight against [Thoth]?"
Not Wearing It is Really Cool: "..."
Stone Free: "See, you can't say anything! And it wasn't just this fight—Joseph's final battle with Kars in "Battle Tendency" was already showing signs of the protagonist's halo!"
As Jolyne was about to seize the opportunity to make things even worse for "Stardust Crusaders"...
—Ding Dong!
A familiar notification sound rang in Jolyne's ears.
White Snake: "Upstairs, what is said is a bit too extreme."
—White Snake!!!