Still Not Enough Power

"Oh? This arrow's pretty nice. How much is it?"

Zuke pretended to be seeing the arrow for the first time, casually reaching into the box to pick it up and examine it in his hand.

He casually asked about the price, even though he knew it wouldn't be cheap. Enya would definitely name a price several times higher than her cost, aiming for a profit.

Zuke only had the money he took from some local thugs… even after spending a bit on bus fare, so he knew it wouldn't be enough.

"This arrow isn't cheap at all. It cost me quite a bit when I acquired it."

Enya smiled as she watched him hold the arrow but made no move to stop him, simply slipping into the usual bargaining tone of merchants everywhere.

To be fair, she wasn't lying; she'd spent quite a lot buying five arrows from Diavolo.

How much, exactly?

Well, put it this way: with the initial funding Enya gave him, Diavolo built the "Passione" organization, which became powerful enough to influence politics, business, and the underworld alike.

Of course, this rise was due in part to Diavolo's methods, but a huge amount of startup capital was essential, too.

Zuke was fully prepared to hear an astronomical price.

But what concerned him more was how Enya didn't seem bothered by him holding the arrow in his hands.

Keep in mind, Enya was a short, elderly woman; if Zuke decided to run off with it, she wouldn't be able to catch him. Yet she showed no concern at all, implying she was certain she could stop him before he escaped.

"A Stand… Enya's mist-like Stand, 'Justice,' must be her confidence."

Zuke knew exactly what Enya's confidence came from. In truth, he had no reliable way of dealing with her Stand.

His fighting power of 40 was strong enough to crush most people in terms of strength and speed, but her mist Stand, "Justice," happened to be immune to physical damage.

If Zuke's power were higher, he could blast it with a strong enough ki wave to evaporate it altogether. But with his current strength, he couldn't create such a wave. If he learned the Kamehameha, it might be possible.

The Kamehameha is one of the most powerful ki waves, but unfortunately, he couldn't learn it for now.

Why "one of the most powerful"? There's actually another, even stronger ki wave—the Tri-Beam, though it's dangerous to the user's life.

As for Instant Transmission… his 1% synchronization rate isn't enough for him to teleport out of the market.

From the original story, Enya's Stand "Justice" could cover an entire town, making it difficult for Zuke to escape her range.

"This amount… and the arrow is yours."

Sure enough, under Zuke's gaze, Enya named an exaggeratedly high price, making his eyelid twitch.

The exact figure? Suffice it to say, it was a sum ordinary people couldn't afford.

After hearing it, Zuke's heart raced as he remembered that old man Yoshihiro Kira—how could he afford such a high price for a "craft item"?

But then he remembered Yoshikage Kira's introduction in the original story, where he mentioned his family descended from samurai, meaning they likely had a decent inheritance.

Still, spending so much on a "craft item" was absurd. Could Enya have given Yoshihiro a much lower price than she offered Zuke?

"It's too expensive; I didn't bring that much cash." Zuke calmly put the arrow back in the box, pretending to be deeply interested, and said to Enya, "But I am genuinely interested in this craft item. Could you hold it for me? I'll bring the money by tomorrow at the latest."

This was mainly to prevent Yoshihiro Kira from showing up and taking an interest in the arrow, as he did in the original story, where he ultimately bought it.

So Zuke hoped Enya would keep it aside for him and not sell it to someone else.

"Hehe, I can tell you really like this arrow… very well, I'll hold it for you. I won't sell it to anyone else until this time tomorrow."

Enya saw the genuine interest in Zuke's eyes and didn't suspect any other motives. She simply smiled kindly and nodded in agreement.

If someone didn't know her true nature, they might think she was just a kindly old woman. But Zuke knew very well—this woman wouldn't blink while killing.

"As I said, this arrow has a unique power; it chooses specific people… I can sense it; this arrow is as interested in you as you are in it."

Watching Zuke put the arrow back in the box, Enya's voice carried a strange, eerie chuckle, like a mystic seer.

"If you can't gather the money by tomorrow, you can come see me. There might be other ways to replace payment."

The arrow truly did choose people, and this arrow was likely the one Yoshihiro Kira possessed in Part 4 of the original story.

In Part 4, the arrow chose people with potential and even awakened new abilities in Stand users when needed.

The final boss of Part 4, Yoshikage Kira, used this arrow to awaken new powers in his Stand.

Though the arrow lay motionless in the box, Enya seemed to see something and gave Zuke a chilling smile.

Zuke knew her "other methods" probably involved swearing allegiance to Dio and aiding him against the Part 3 protagonists.

If merely pretending to be loyal would get him the arrow, he didn't mind. But Dio had ways of controlling his followers.

As a vampire, Dio could implant a special flesh bud to control his followers' thoughts and actions. Even after his death, these buds would turn people into mindless, undead monsters.

If Zuke pretended to be loyal, Dio would probably plant one of these buds in him—which he absolutely couldn't accept.

It would be better to be controlled by Babidi; at least, in that case, you could resist with willpower.

So the best option was to gather enough funds to buy the arrow directly from Enya.

Would Enya back out? From the fact that Yoshihiro Kira had it in Part 4, Zuke was confident she would sell it, so he wasn't worried.

"If I could synchronize more fighting power from the Dragon Ball world, I wouldn't need to play these games."

Leaving the market, Zuke sighed. All this scheming was necessary because he lacked strength.

To be continued…

Dear readers, this is a new piece of fiction, so please donate your power stones so it can reach the maximum audience. I will be grateful for your magnanimous acts.