章節 87: Hunter 87: Testing
"Ever since Dio's resurrection, these Stand users have been popping up one after another. Before this, they were so hard to find."
Lin Jiu was practicing swordsmanship in his spare time, but even the sweat dripping from his face couldn't hide his furrowed brow.
In this derivative world, Hamon is not the only supernatural power; Stands are even more mainstream. Lin Jiu hoped to obtain a Stand scroll from the chests of Stand users.
Of course, he didn't need to use it himself. A Stand is a decent early-stage ability that doesn't require much resource investment and grows stronger as the user becomes more powerful.
After all, it is an image with powerful abilities, based on the soul of the individual, sustained by life energy. It would be perfect to give to his reincarnation avatar.
But right now, it's too rare to find Stand users out in the open. Lin Jiu borrowed a plane from the SPW Foundation and traveled around for fifteen days, investigating people suspected of possessing supernatural powers.
The results were limited; most were just ordinary people pretending to be something they weren't. A few did have some special abilities, but none worth mentioning—some were even weaker than the weakest contractors in this derivative world.
While he didn't find any Stand users, he did encounter plenty of troublemakers. The soul energy harvested from ordinary people, each worth one or two points, was just enough to bring Lin Jiu's soul energy value to the 150-point limit in this derivative world.
There are only a few ways to obtain a Stand: one could have a Stand ability awakened due to a relative having one.
For instance, Joseph, Holly, and Jotaro all have Joestar blood. Since Dio, who stole Jonathan's body, had a Stand, they too awakened their Stand abilities due to their bloodline connection.
Then there's natural awakening, where some Stand users are born with Stand abilities or have the potential to awaken one, possibly due to genetics.
The most common method is being injured by a Stand Arrow. Most of the main Stands in JoJo were artificially created this way.
Father Pucci's Stand, Whitesnake, can take a Stand from a Stand user and turn it into a disc-shaped object, a DISC. When this DISC is implanted into a target, the person gains the Stand ability contained within. This method, however, relies on Father Pucci having obtained a Stand first.
Dio is still asleep in the Pacific Ocean, and the meteorite used to create the arrows is still buried in Greenland due to insufficient mining technology. It won't be discovered for another fifty years by an archeologist.
Before that archeologist, someone else had discovered these meteorites, studied the rocks, and used them to create the bow and arrow. But that was a long time ago.
This means the only Stand users active right now are the rare natural awakeners, which are as difficult to find as fishing Dio out of the Pacific Ocean.
"Sigh, this derivative world…"
Lin Jiu sighed. This timeline, which houses the most powerful boss in the entire series, offers the least benefits.
In the later parts of the series, Stand users become plentiful. During the third part, just defeating the Stand users of the Tarot Cards and the Egypt 9 Glory Gods could yield Stand abilities from the treasure chests. Not to mention the coveted Stand, The World.
Right now, it feels like facing the strongest boss but receiving the least rewards—it's frustrating.
Lin Jiu was now heading to Europe to meet Stroheim. The German military, with its national power, undoubtedly had many hidden benefits.
He hadn't considered this option earlier because, at this point, the German military was an enemy of the world. He didn't want to get too entangled with this power. But since Stroheim invited him personally, he decided to make the trip.
This seemingly comedic German officer, Stroheim, had significant influence within the military. After the failure to control the Pillar Men, they not only used the latest research based on Santana's data to create a body for him, but they also still controlled a battalion of soldiers. This was clear evidence of his power.
However, Stroheim's character seemed upright, so Lin Jiu wasn't worried about any treachery; otherwise, Speedwagon wouldn't have had so many interactions with him later.
From what Stroheim said, it seemed he wanted Lin Jiu to help test the military's latest research results. A part of Santana's body had fallen into their hands, and it was likely related to that.
"Long time no see. Check out what's different about me now!"
Stroheim said, striking a bodybuilding pose as he greeted Lin Jiu.
Thud, thud!
Lin Jiu lightly tapped Stroheim's arm. Sure enough, Stroheim had become a cyborg, but his body hadn't been split into pieces like before; only a portion had been modified, not a complete overhaul.
"Shall I help you test the metal hardness?"
Lin Jiu asked.
"Ahem… there's no rush. We'll get to that," Stroheim said, shaking his head, noticing the katana at Lin Jiu's waist, which had easily sliced through reinforced glass.
Stroheim led Lin Jiu into a new base and said, "Of course, asking for your help isn't without compensation. If you need anything, just let us know!"
"Do you have Vibranium or Adamantium?"
Lin Jiu asked, recalling Stroheim's modified body strength was twice that of Santana's, on par with Captain America. The German military technology in this derivative world was certainly advanced.
"Huh? Never heard of it. But do you need some special metal?"
Stroheim asked.
"No, just asking. Have you ever seen crystals with similar power?"
Lin Jiu gathered a bit of soul energy in his hand and showed it to Stroheim.
Soul energy is essentially soul power, closely related to soul crystals, making it easy to identify. Some derivative worlds do have soul crystals, though they might go by different names.
Unfortunately, Stroheim hadn't found any crystals like that.
After some basic data tests—similar to testing basic attribute values—the researchers in lab coats didn't seem surprised, confirming to Lin Jiu that they had already mastered human enhancement techniques without relying on mechanical modification.
Otherwise, these researchers would have been wide-eyed and excited to see someone whose physical stats far exceeded those of ordinary humans.
Then it was time to test Stroheim's modified technology, and the two of them sparred.
"I won't hold back!"
Stroheim said as he raised an arm, from which a Vulcan cannon emerged.
Although the Vulcan cannon looked similar to a Gatling gun, it was a cannon, not a gun. Even though it was a smaller version, it was still a cannon. The U.S. military even mounted this thing on helicopters, showing its power.
"Wow, that's some serious black tech!"
Lin Jiu exclaimed. This was World War II, yet they had already perfected the technology for a small Vulcan cannon.
Thinking about it, the ironclad Red Army that could make Stroheim fall and never get back up must be incredibly powerful.
But now wasn't the time to ponder that. As the torrent of firepower rained down, Lin Jiu quickly moved to avoid it. If he took a direct hit, he wouldn't survive, but luckily, despite its power, the explosive rounds didn't travel quickly.
With [Dawn Shadow] in hand, Lin Jiu pushed his sensing abilities to the limit, weaving through the explosions.
A few small missiles were launched from Stroheim's leg, and the relentless gunfire and explosions continued, but Stroheim soon realized something was wrong—no matter how fierce the firepower, it couldn't stop Lin Jiu from closing in.
This kind of barrage couldn't last long because Stroheim's modifications weren't full-body, and his ammunition reserves were limited.
Seeing Lin Jiu approach, Stroheim quickly retreated. His speed wasn't fast, but it wasn't slow either—by Lin Jiu's standards.
Lin Jiu didn't stop, keeping pace with Stroheim. With a swift slash, he cut off one of Stroheim's mechanical legs, sparks flying. Stroheim couldn't stop himself and fell to the side.
Then Lin Jiu removed all the weaponized mechanical parts from Stroheim's body. The battle was over.
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