A Saiyan's Journey

After becoming Giorno's nominal godfather, Zuke left.

Next, Giorno had to handle Leaky-Eye Luca on his own, get approached by Bruno Bucciarati, and eventually be introduced by Bucciarati to join the organization.

This chain of events might be disrupted if Zuke stayed by Giorno's side, so he decided to leave Giorno temporarily.

However, Zuke did not plan to leave the world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure just yet.

In just a few hours, Giorno would undergo a test assigned by Polpo, a capo of the Passione organization.

The test required Giorno to keep a lighter burning for 24 hours without letting it go out. On the surface, it seemed simple, but in reality, it was nearly impossible.

The lighter was likely to extinguish due to various reasons, leaving the test-taker with only two options: either give up joining the organization or reignite the lighter, pretending it had never gone out.

If anyone reignited the lighter after it went out, Polpo's Stand, Black Sabbath, would appear and forcibly pierce everyone who saw the act with the Arrow.

That's right—the test appeared to evaluate whether the lighter could burn continuously for 24 hours, but its true purpose was to assess whether one could survive being pierced by the Arrow.

If they survived, they would awaken a Stand and qualify to join the organization.

Of course, if someone could genuinely keep the lighter burning for 24 hours, that person would be considered a talented individual with an unusual skill set and would also be recruited.

Zuke's target was Black Sabbath, the Stand that would pursue Giorno.

Black Sabbath had the ability to merge into shadows and move freely within them, a highly valuable power for a Stand.

Zuke wasn't going to let such a Stand slip away—its shadow-merging ability seemed to perfectly complement his own Stand, Black Bird.

"Is this your test?"

At the prison entrance, Bucciarati looked at the lighter Giorno was holding and asked with a serious expression.

"Yes, Polpo tasked me with ensuring this lighter burns for 24 hours without going out."

Giorno clutched the lighter tightly in his left hand, using his right hand to shield the flame from any stray gusts of wind.

He frowned slightly and looked at Bucciarati.

"Bucciarati, how did you pass your test?"

"My test wasn't this one. Polpo prepares different tests for each individual, often based on whatever comes to his mind."

Bucciarati shook his head and glanced at the lighter in Giorno's hand.

"Looks like he happened to have a lighter on hand this time, so he gave you this test."

"What a whimsical way to test people."

Giorno's expression turned grim. He had already been harassed by prison guards on his way out, narrowly avoiding having the lighter extinguished.

Since Polpo lived in the prison, the first challenge for any test would be navigating the prison guards, a difficult hurdle on its own.

Were it not for his Stand ability allowing him to evade the guards' inspections, the lighter's flame might have already gone out.

Bucciarati, meanwhile, watched Giorno walk away with the lighter, his expression growing serious.

He had just been ordered by the organization to investigate Giorno, but Giorno had fiercely resisted, as if anticipating Bucciarati's investigation into Leaky-Eye Luca.

After a brief fight, Giorno discerned Bucciarati's true nature—that he, too, despised the drug trade.

Thus, Giorno proposed that Bucciarati bring him into the organization, aiming to reform a country ravaged by drugs.

To be honest, Bucciarati was deeply moved when he first heard Giorno's declaration. But upon further reflection, everything seemed to be unfolding according to Giorno's plan, leaving Bucciarati with a sense of unease.

Moreover, Giorno had an odd black feather incongruously stuck to the ladybug emblem on his chest, giving off an inexplicably strange vibe.

If Bucciarati were to ask an ordinary person about the feather, they wouldn't even see it, as the feather was part of the Stand Black Bird and visible only to Stand users.

Though Giorno had been moonlighting as a taxi driver to the airport, he was only 15 years old and still a student.

After receiving the lighter, Giorno returned to his dormitory.

He placed the lighter on his desk, secured it within a piece of bread, and surrounded it with books to shield it from drafts. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

His plan was simple: keep the lighter burning in his room for 24 hours to pass the test.

Then, following the guidance of his godfather, he or Bucciarati would succeed Polpo as a capo and take on a mission to uncover the boss's location.

Giorno trusted Zuke, as he couldn't imagine what Zuke might want from him.

With Zuke's overwhelming power, he could obtain anything he desired. Giorno believed his godfather's actions were merely to support the dream of a "friend's child."

If that were the case, Giorno couldn't let Zuke down.

As Giorno selected books to shield the lighter, he stumbled upon something unexpected.

"Oh, it's that Neon man's passport… Should I return it now?"

He picked up a passport—Koichi Hirose's passport.

After stealing Koichi's luggage, Giorno had sold all the valuables but kept the passport.

After all, a passport was far more critical to a foreigner than money. Giorno wasn't heartless enough to sell that—and who would buy someone else's passport, anyway?

However, his brief hesitation triggered a chain of events.

"Echoes, Act 3!"

A furious voice erupted from the doorway. Suddenly, Giorno felt his body grow heavy and was forced to the ground.

"What?!"

Shocked, Giorno struggled to lift his head and saw Koichi Hirose standing at the door, his Stand Echoes, Act 3 floating beside him and glaring furiously.

"Thief! Give me back my passport!"

In the original story, Giorno had noticed Koichi's approach and hidden before Koichi entered the room.

But distracted by thoughts of Zuke, Giorno failed to notice Koichi's arrival this time.

Caught off guard, he was pinned down by Koichi's Stand ability.

To be continued...

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