Chapter 126: The Cheat 1

They walked into the command room.

The equipment and facilities remained, while the personnel had already departed of their own accord. Qiao Zhe turned his gaze to the two people behind him. Ignoring the way they were currently staring at each other, he spoke up to remind them: "You two should familiarize yourselves with this place first. I have something to take care of and will be gone for a while."

These words brought Mitsurugi back to his senses. "Wait." He called out to Qiao Zhe in a hurry, realizing he still didn't know the name of their team. "What is our team called?"

"A few people haven't arrived yet." Qiao Zhe hadn't settled on a name, so he said offhandedly, "We'll name it once everyone is here."

He had thought of several himself, but he was conflicted about all of them. The Dunamist Defense Team? There was no Nexus anymore. The Space Garrison? That sounded ambitious, but it clashed with the name of the Land of Light.

"You can think of some names, too." Instead of struggling with it alone, he figured he might as well get others involved.

After saying this, Qiao Zhe stepped into the subspace and vanished.

Hearing this, Mitsurugi looked puzzled. He hadn't even thought of a name yet?

Seeing Qiao Zhe leave, Nagi Saijo muttered to Mitsurugi, "Why does he seem so mysterious?"

Inside the subspace, Qiao Zhe intended to check on the status of his "cheat." It was naturally the most discreet place to do so. After opening the interface, his eyes went straight to the section for his Stand.

[Cheat 1: (Pending Selection)]
[Note: You already possess a Stand. A second Stand may lead to mental instability. A compensation mechanism has been triggered. Please select one from the following options to confirm, or continue to persist in awakening a second Stand.]
[Stand Arrow: When in a specific situation, the arrow will automatically and voluntarily pierce the Stand user, allowing the Stand to permanently awaken a new ability; when piercing an ordinary person, if their spirit is strong enough, they may awaken a Stand.]
[Stand Beetle Arrow: Piercing a Stand with this allows it to evolve into Requiem form. There is a risk of the Stand spiraling out of control.]
[Unknown Stand: A second Stand awakened through the host's own spiritual power. The upper limit is determined by spiritual strength.]

Looking at the three options provided by the interface, Qiao Zhe fell into deep thought. It was too hard to choose. Logically speaking, only being able to pick one was heartbreaking.

"Children make choices, but adults want them all!"

His expression was full of distress. As for the mental instability caused by awakening a second Stand, couldn't he just turn into an Ultraman? Once he transformed into his purple form and used a purification ray on himself, any mental side effects would vanish immediately. Unfortunately, the interface had no intelligence; it was a rigid, mechanical cheat, and communication with it was impossible.

The Stand Arrow would automatically pierce a user when their emotions reached an extreme state, fusing with them permanently and granting the Stand a new ability. Yoshikage Kira, in extreme despair, was pierced by the Stand Arrow, allowing his Stand, Killer Queen, to awaken the third bomb: Bites the Dust. It was a time-looping ability.

The Stand Arrow wasn't just triggered by despair; other extreme emotions could also activate it. Fundamentally, it was a measure of spiritual strength. Qiao Zhe’s current spiritual strength was undoubtedly stronger than anyone in the JoJo universe; the spirit of an Ultraman and that of a human were worlds apart. Even Star Platinum had been enhanced, a fact he confirmed only after his battle with Zagi.

Before that fight, he had intended to use Zagi to help Star Platinum grow rapidly through combat. However, even when they reached sub-light speed, and finally light speed during the final battle, Star Platinum showed no signs of triggering time-stop. From that point on, he realized that in the current Ultra universe, the upper limit for Star Platinum's time-stop had been raised, and light speed was no longer its limit. Perhaps he would have to surpass light speed to feel the time-stop, but his enemies didn't see it that way. Qiao Zhe didn't feel a time-stop because, after Star Platinum possessed him, he could react normally at light speed. However, few people could react to light speed; to an enemy who couldn't keep up, it was practically indistinguishable from a time-stop.

He could only choose one of the three. His gaze wandered between the Stand Arrow, the Beetle Arrow, and the second Stand. No matter which one he chose, giving up the others was painful. After much deliberation, his eyes settled on the Beetle Arrow, and his consciousness clicked "Select!"

If he had to pick one, he felt this would maximize the benefits. Although there was a risk of the Stand spiraling out of control, that only applied to ordinary people. Those who were truly qualified would be recognized by the Beetle Arrow; it would pierce the Stand voluntarily, and the Stand would not lose control.

The rigid mechanism of the interface clearly still treated "Cheat 1" as if it were still in the JoJo universe. As Qiao Zhe confirmed his choice, the interface changed.

[Cheat 1: Stand Beetle Arrow]
[Cheat 2: Bond (Inactive)]

He didn't know where the interface space was, but Qiao Zhe now felt he could manifest an arrow. The word "Bond" for Cheat 2 sparked a guess. Could the cheats unlocked by the interface be related to the worlds he traveled to? This Earth originally belonged to the world of Nexus, and the core theme of that world was "bonds." As for the effect of the "Bond" cheat, he would only know once it was activated.

With a thought, he summoned the Stand Beetle Arrow. The wooden handle rested in his hand; the arrow did not pass through him, which clearly meant he was qualified to possess it. He looked at the arrowhead, named for the beetle emblem on the gold tip. As long as he pierced his Stand with this arrow, it would evolve into its Requiem form. That was a state that elevated a Stand's ability to an almost unsolvable level. Even Giorno Giovanna didn't fully understand what abilities Gold Experience had gained after evolving into Gold Experience Requiem.

"Star Platinum!"

A purple figure emerged from Qiao Zhe's body, standing beside him. Qiao Zhe held the Beetle Arrow and brought it toward Star Platinum. Even with his composed heart, he couldn't help but feel nervous and excited.

The Beetle Arrow aimed at Star Platinum’s chest. Star Platinum lowered its head, its eyes widening.