Chapter 1023: Wengluoluosi 3.0 (69)

Ahead was the Soul Forging Zone; the three pushed open the gate and saw a burly stone monster blocking their path.

From the piles of corpses at its feet and the blood‑stained heavy blade, it was easy to tell that this monster was the 'Heaven‑Sent Vanguard' mentioned by the registration official.

Although this monster looked far more dangerous than the other minions, Gnaeus easily subdued it; however, unlike other stone monsters, the Heaven‑Sent Vanguard, after suffering heavy blows, did not shatter but instead knelt on one knee, emitting a strange and dangerous golden aura.

"... Has it been dealt with?"

Gnaeus said in a low voice: "No… I'm afraid it's not that simple."

The fallen Heaven‑Sent Vanguard muttered brokenly from its mouth: "Fracture… soul… experiment…"

"Experiment?"

"That vassal king Oulipang tried to sever Nicadoli's divinity and store it permanently in a meticulously crafted vessel. Thus Nicadoli's divine body could become immortal… but before he began remodeling the Titans, he first conducted experiments on his retinue."

Star found it strange: "How do you know all this?"

Gnaeus looked up at the three golden statues near the distant altar, their sword points aimed at the altar's center: "... because Nicadoli's fragmented soul is stored in these statues. The summons I heard… comes from them."

——

JOJO's Bizarre Adventure: Puma Rascal.

The cold wind blew like a knife across the vast North American plains, sweeping up the dry grass and gravel.

Jonny pulled his thin clothing tight, cradling the tin flask of cheap whiskey in his hands, greedily sucking up that little warmth. The alcohol slid down his throat, turning into a fire in his stomach that spread through his limbs, letting his fingers, stiff from the cold, regain a bit of feeling.

"That man called Gnaeus…" Johnny narrowed his eyes. "Jero, don't you find it strange? Secrets of this level are usually known only to the core figures. This guy might have been Oulipang's most trusted subordinate, or even one of the planners' executors. Otherwise… how could he know so clearly what the statues deep in the inner city are for?"

"Hey, don't overcomplicate things, Johnny." Jero cut off his speculation, saying, "Rather than guessing his identity with conspiracy theories, I'd rather believe this guy is a 'hunter.'"

"Hunter?"

"Yeah, and he's that kind of top‑tier hunter who knows his prey's habits inside out." Jero extended his gloved finger and traced a circle in the air. "Think about it, Johnny—if you wanted to hunt a fierce lion, what would you do? You'd study how thick its fur is, how long its claws are, when it sleeps, what it eats. In short, Gnaeus's knowledge of Titans couldn't have been acquired overnight; he probably often sneaked into the inner city to observe and learn."

"Treating gods as prey… that's pretty arrogant." Johnny laughed, shaking his head, and passed the flask over. "But if King Oulipang's Titan‑remodeling project has already reached perfection, then perhaps it's the Titans hunting the three of them."

"In this world, nothing is truly perfect, Johnny." Jero took the flask but didn't drink, just turning it in his hands. "Whether it's that so‑called 'immortal' Titan or the saint's relic we're seeking—anything tied to humans inevitably has its limits or flaws."

——

"Reassemble its soul, let its divine core unite once more. Then it will regain the dignity of a Titan, and you'll gain a chance to defeat it head‑on."

Having finally found a way to break the Titan, the three immediately split up—Xiaodie took the lead in holding off the undead Heaven‑Sent Vanguard, while Gnaeus and Star went their separate ways to find the method that would restore the Titan's soul to wholeness, thereby correcting this history.

Using the relics of Oulonnis, Star and Gnaeus quickly pieced together the four parts of Nicadoli's divinity, but as the priest's soul had said earlier, a portion concerning 'reason' was still missing.

"Where should we go to find that missing divinity?"

"I was wrong—that final fragment of divinity isn't lost after all… I know where to look for it."

After dealing with the Heaven‑Sent Vanguard, Xiaodie rushed over: "Are we close to success, Lord Gnaeus?"

"Well… only this final step remains. At some point, from beyond the distant horizon, the Black Tide—Heichi—was born, slowly creeping toward the borders of Wengluoluosi; Nicadoli was the first Titan to encounter it. In its struggle against the Black Tide, its consciousness began to fade… at its peak, a single swing of the Titan's sword could reduce islands to ash, yet it could not sever the source of corrosion."

Gnaeus lifted his head and gazed up at the statue whose sword pointed at him: "It fought the Black Tide with willpower, but ultimately fell. Before its divinity was completely corrupted, he severed a part of himself…… that severed portion of divinity—the part he most wished to keep whole—is the 【Reason】."

"The Titan believes that its 【Reason】 will one day heed the call, return to the divine body's side… and fulfill its destined duty."

As Gnaeus's words fell, Star suddenly noticed that countless "Gnaeus" figures lay scattered around the altar.

Star's pupils shook: "Are you… a part of Nicadoli?"

Gnaeus calmly looked at the "himself" on the ground: "They represent countless attempts and failures. With your help, I can finally put an end to all this."

——

Absolute Zone Zero

"Eh?! This answer tree… seems like a step of raising a sigh (Uncle is actually part of a Titan)?"

Xixifu gulped down the egg pudding in her mouth, her voice unintentionally rising a few degrees from shock: "It's like…… like I accidentally lost my own tail, and then the tail grew a human shape outside and now it's come back to find me."

"Well… although your analogy is a bit abstract, Xixifu, it can roughly be understood that way." Ling, thinking, nodded. "No wonder Gnaeus knows the other Titans so well—it turns out he himself is the part of the Titan responsible for thought… everything now makes sense."

Moreover, he revealed many details about the 'Black Tide'.

Compared with the mission to defeat the Titan, Zhe was obviously more concerned about the 'Black Tide'; after hearing Gnaeus's explanation, he found that the Black Tide's emergence bore some resemblance to the Void Disaster: both gradually devour parts of the world and possess a kind of 'activity', making it hard for humans to survive in the Black Tide, and even the Titan is powerless against this disaster.