Great, we're doomed now!

Without hesitation, the man released the knife, turned around, and rushed out of the room.

He knew very well how powerful Ye Shou was, and that he had no chance of winning in a head-on fight!

It's okay. Even if he's exposed, with the Stand ability of [Silent Reaper], these people can't do anything to him. He's still an invincible being!

However, as soon as he stepped out, a silver light shot out, almost grazing Joseph's face and piercing into the wall next to him, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

"Polunarev!"

"Oh dear, I lost... I thought you'd be the first to attack me, but you went after Ye Shou instead. How disappointing!"

Polnareff stood in the corridor, blocking Joseph's escape route. The old man hurriedly turned around and saw Abdru coming out of the room. The two of them blocked him from the left and right.

Behind them, Ye Shou also got up and stood guard at the window!

"Varied!"

Joseph looked on incredulously: "You! Did you already know?!"

"Do you think everyone else is stupid? Although your Stand ability is indeed very secretive, we're not so careless as to ignore the abnormal situation on Mr. Joestar, are we?"

Avdol summoned a ball of flame: "If a Stand user really did attack us that day, then Mr. Joestar would undoubtedly have been the first one chosen. Although nothing seems to have happened afterward, how could we not have investigated?"

"Damn it... But how is this possible? How did you find me?"

"From the very beginning."

"nonsense!"

He refused to accept it: "My [Silent Reaper] is a Stand that is completely invisible to the naked eye. Even the original user who is being manipulated cannot perceive my existence. How could you possibly—"

"I guess your Stand moves using radio waves, right? That's why you were able to locate us even on the vast ocean, and while all other Stand users were helpless, you were able to enter Joseph's body through that transceiver."

"..." The man turned to look at Ye Shou, his eyes cold.

"Therefore, precisely because of this, the energy scale transmitted by the radio waves determines that this Stand will not be too powerful, so at the beginning it can only induce the host to enter a state of sleep."

But shouldn't the [Silent Reaper] possess the ability to absorb the life energy of its host, like a parasite, to grow stronger?

"you!"

Joseph looked on incredulously: "Even this... is impossible!"

"At first it was hypnosis, then it could create dreams, and slowly it could even form a second personality or something, controlling Mr. Joseph's body without his knowledge."

If they aren't discovered, they can kill us one by one in the shadows...

Honestly, your Stand ability is truly terrifying. It's like a malignant tumor growing inside the body; by the time it's discovered, the body is already on the verge of death!

Ye Shou said coldly, "The people you've set your sights on probably won't even know what happened until they die!"

"...You're right, that's roughly what my Stand ability is like."

Perhaps he felt emboldened, or perhaps he was simply throwing caution to the wind; in any case, his attitude suddenly hardened.

"As expected of the guy who keeps Lord Dio on edge day and night, you actually managed to see through the [Silent Death] technique. But I'm curious, when did you discover it? Why did you only expose me now?"

"The first question, I'll repeat it again: it was discovered from the very beginning."

"That's impossible!" the man asserted. "Don't try to fool me!"

"Others would probably only notice Joseph's unusual behavior, but wouldn't know exactly what happened."

But my [Prosperous Country] has left its mark on Joseph, so in theory it should accumulate a certain amount of life energy into him every day, just like the interest on a high-end bank account.

However, from the day the small boat wrecked, the energy the mark received began to decrease, and the decrease was becoming increasingly significant.

Ye Shou said quietly, "Do you think I wouldn't notice a thief stealing my property?"

"..."

Joestar's eyes widened, first in shock, then revealing an extremely malicious look.

Nemesis!

This guy is the nemesis of the Silent Reaper!

"Ye Shou! As expected, you are the biggest threat. Whether for Lord Dio's sake or for my own, I must eliminate you!"

"Oh my, you still dare to talk big in this situation?"

Popo and the silver tank behind him stood with their hands on their hips and said, "Don't even mention three against one. Mr. Joestar's Stand is the most useless in a head-on battle. Where do you get your confidence from?"

"Ah!"

The man pointed at the three men, his face full of disdain: "Even if this old man's substitute is useless, I'm now in control of his body. Do you dare to harm your own comrade—"

Bang!

The back of his fist pressed against Joseph's face, causing a visible deformation. After a shockwave, he was sent flying and slammed against the wall.

"cough!"

The man fell to the ground, clutching his jaw where countless teeth had been knocked out, and turned back in disbelief: "Ye Shou...aren't you afraid of killing Joseph Joestar?!"

"I, Kuze Yoshimori, am a man of my word."

Ye Shou raised his fist, his expression indifferent: "I will show no mercy to either women or old men!"

No way, this guy's Stand seems to have healing abilities. He's definitely thinking of beating Joseph half to death to force me out!

"Ha... If you think I'd give up this body because I'm afraid of pain, you're sorely mistaken!"

The man shouted in a lousy voice, "Besides, even if you cruelly kill Joseph, I'll only lose a substitute."

"The Silent Reaper is an extremely special Stand. The one speaking to you now is not me, but a simulated personality that has grown using the host's energy. Even if I am destroyed, my true self, thousands of miles away, will not suffer any loss!"

"A long-range, automatic tracking Stand has a great deal of independence. Although the user cannot perform precise operations, even if it is destroyed, the user will only suffer some mental strain. It can be said to be an invincible Stand that is invincible—it is indeed very troublesome."

"……Um?"

The man was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Automatic what?"

How come the other person seems to know more about these stand-ins than I do? They're absolutely right...

"If it were someone else, they would probably be helpless against you and would only be able to ruthlessly kill their comrade, but they wouldn't know who to take revenge on."

However, [Silent Reaper], your luck isn't so good.

Ye Shou held up two fingers: "Second question."

"……what?"

"Didn't you just ask 'Why did it take you so long to expose me?'"

Ye Shou, Bobo, and Abdru all stared coldly at the man, making him feel uneasy.

"We've been enduring this for so long!"

"This……"

He stammered, "Yes, why?"

"I worked as a doctor for a period of time, although I was unlicensed, but I still have a lot of experience."

Most lesions can be treated as early as possible, but sometimes the tumor needs to grow a bit larger to be easily removed—just like yours.

Ye Shou summoned the [Prosperous Country], and a cyborg humanoid clone raised a flaming longsword behind him.

Joseph witnessed this, but wasn't particularly frightened:

At worst, I'll just give up this body. What else can I do?

Even if you defeat the Silent Reaper, you won't be able to harm his true form!

Don't worry, my Stand is truly invincible! They're just bluffing!

"Heh... You want to kill me? Then see you next time." He spread his arms, not intending to resist. "Let's take down Joseph Joestar too. Hopefully, your Stand can come back to life!"

puff!

The flaming sword pierced through Joseph's body cleanly and decisively!

The man's eyes widened; he hadn't expected Ye Shou to be so resolute.

"The Holy Grail Mark... is already 'overflowing'!"

Ye Shou gave a low shout, drawing his longsword from the two Qiaos' bodies. At the same time, the golden mark shattered and disappeared after a fleeting flash.

"Ahhhh!"

A semi-transparent, masked scarecrow "ghost" was dragged out, impaled by a longsword!

"W-what?! What are you doing?! How is this possible?!"

"Rejoice, Silent Death—I have given you a mark and fixed your 'soul shape'!"

A substitute is a manifestation of spiritual power. Regardless of its type, it is always closely connected to the original body; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a clone of the soul.

"So what?!"

The scarecrow screamed madly, "Kill me! I'll be reborn inside the original brain!"

"Didn't I say I'd already 'locked you in'?"

Ye Shou narrowed his eyes: "No matter how much you are attacked now, this 'soul' will not dissipate unless I release the restraints."

Interestingly, my [Prosperous Nation] can reduce the life energy of others, and it also works when attacking a substitute.

"I... I would rather die than—"

"You won't die. I will repeatedly pierce your body, constantly reducing your life energy. Of course, you don't have that much reserve to begin with—so guess where the rest of the energy I cut off comes from?"

"!!!" The scarecrow struggled frantically.

However, its direct combat ability is almost non-existent, and it can never get rid of the Flame Sword.

"If you were originally a water valve that limited the flow and would automatically shut off if the flow was exceeded, then once you are fixed in place, your existence is like a notch chiseled directly into a container... which will drain your essence dry!"

"The real body will definitely remove the substitute and take me back!"

"Mudada~"

Ye Shou laughed and said, "The long-distance automatic tracking type is very convenient, but the disadvantage is that the host can hardly sense the situation of the stand. He has no idea what happened and will only feel that his body has become weak for no reason."

"Ah, Yami! Don't do such a cruel thing!"

Ye Shou ignored it and said to himself, "Generally speaking, this will take time because your own energy is very weak. Even if it is reduced ten times, it probably won't threaten the life of the main body. It will definitely notice and react."