Chapter 93: My Dream: What kind of absurd joke are you playing on me?!

If that was the case, then it made perfect sense why he had spent so long searching here without receiving any distress signal from those beings of light.

At the thought, Jojo turned into a mass of radiance and shot straight out over the Pacific.

Since there was nothing to be found here for the moment, he might as well ask Gamu whether they had managed to study that thing.

XIG command center.

Perhaps because he had merged with the Light of the Earth, Gamu had only slept for two or three hours, yet he already looked fully restored and brimming with energy.

Jojo had guessed correctly. Gamu had indeed been studying Jojo’s data, though he had not saved anything further.

Atsuko and Georgie entered the command center with yawns, taking over a shift from a duty officer.

So far, with the exception of the time Bockrago appeared, XIG’s detection radar could sense any enemy or monster as soon as it showed up.

Unlike the Mac Team next door, where aliens entered Earth as casually as walking into their own back garden.

Only after they had begun destroying cities on the surface would the Mac Team’s radar react.

Besides Atsuko and Georgie, three burly men sneaked into the command center behind them, all looking as though they were up to no good, and made their way toward Gamu.

Shima, Yoshida, and Kuwabara. These three were the Hercules Team, with bodies as solid as three mountains of flesh.

When Shima reached Gamu from behind, he suddenly slapped both hands onto his shoulders. “Hey, bubblegum.”

Gamu, who had been thinking about Jojo, was startled by the sudden gesture.

“Shima, don’t do that. You nearly scared me to death.” Seeing that it was one of the Hercules Team, he muttered in irritation.

Hearing this, Georgie turned around, her expression puzzled. “Bubblegum?”

“Haha, don’t be such a scaredy-cat.” Shima teased Gamu, then answered Georgie, “Gamu’s nickname is bubblegum, isn’t it? You could call him chewing gum too, haha.”

Gamu had long since grown used to that nickname. It meant nothing to him anymore.

At that moment, Shima noticed Jojo’s video on the computer screen, and immediately draped an arm around Gamu’s shoulders. “So you like Jojo too! Then we really ought to get a little more intimate!”

“Huh?” Gamu looked utterly baffled.

Yoshida lifted a thick arm and flexed his biceps in front of Gamu. “If you like Jojo, then you’ve got to build muscles like ours!”

A bad feeling rose in Gamu’s heart.

Shima hauled Gamu up out of his seat and, without further explanation, dragged him toward the exit of the command center. “Jojo has a powerful, well-trained body. A skinny fan like you just doesn’t make the cut.”

“Wait, no—stop!” Gamu struggled in Shima’s grip, but Yoshida and Kuwabara came over and took hold of him too. “Don’t—I don’t want to be the one hauling shells!”

Yoshida grinned broadly. “As a member of XIG, and a fan of Jojo, you need to train with us too. Being this frail just won’t do.”

Big men are drawn to other big men, just as in a gym one may not always look at the girls, but one will certainly look at the muscle-bound fellows.

The three members of the Hercules Team had become devoted fans the moment they laid eyes on Jojo’s tall, powerful body.

Of course, there was also a bit of training in their rough treatment of Gamu.

All three had come from special forces backgrounds, and whenever they saw a rookie like Gamu, they could not help but want to whip him into shape.

With all the equipment, fuel, shells, and so on added together, it came to nearly nine hundred kilograms.

By the time Gamu had finished helping, he was drenched in sweat and had gone limp with fatigue, as though every ounce of strength had been drained from him.

The communicator gave a sharp beep.

Gamu raised an arm that trembled slightly and opened the communicator’s cover.

Jojo’s face appeared on the small screen. “Why do you look so wiped out?”

“Because of you, of course.” The instant he saw Jojo, Gamu’s face filled with grievance. “Shima and the others from the Hercules Team insisted that, since I’m your fan, I should have a strong body too, so they dragged me off to haul shells.”

Gamu’s words left Jojo staring in surprise. “Since when did you become my fan?”

“W-Who’s your fan?” Gamu shot back at once, all sweaty and red-faced, as though someone had stepped on his tail. “I never said that. They did!”

Jojo did not dwell on the topic.

“All right, forget that. Have you managed to study the space-time travel device?”

He needed to confirm whether this had any connection to the film adaptation.

“Huh? How did you know?” Gamu looked stunned.

At that, Jojo fell silent for a moment. So there really was a connection to the film version.

Which meant Gamu would one day be summoned to that world.

“Don’t worry about how I know.” Jojo had no intention of explaining further. He looked at Gamu seriously. “Listen. If one day you discover that you’ve traveled to a parallel universe and plan to go there again, you have to take me with you!”

Although transformation in that world, where there was no light, would consume a great deal of energy, Jojo was not worried about that.

“Me... travel to a parallel universe?” Gamu looked blank with confusion, remembering what Jojo had just asked him. “Does that have something to do with the space-time travel device?”

“Very much so!” As Jojo spoke, the Blue Sapphire Ring appeared on his wrist. “Find somewhere empty first. I’m teleporting over now.”

Gamu understood that Jojo meant to come over and explain everything face to face, so he forced his exhausted body to its feet and headed toward his room.

Unfortunately, Georgie saw his utterly drained appearance as she came out to fetch water.

Thinking that Gamu had probably been thoroughly trained, and might even be aching with sore muscles by tomorrow, Georgie could not help looking at him with sympathy.

At the same time, she felt a strange sense of kinship, remembering what she had looked like when she had first begun kendo training.

After a moment’s thought, she headed back to her room, intending to bring Gamu the massage gun that had been gathering dust for ages.

By then, Gamu had clicked his door shut.

A teleportation curtain unfolded beside him, and Jojo stepped out from within it.

Seeing Gamu’s profoundly haggard expression, Jojo’s own face turned odd. He stepped forward, placed a hand on Gamu’s shoulder, and sent a ripple of energy through him.

Golden wave-like energy flowed from Jojo’s palm into Gamu’s body, instantly making him feel invigorated.

The fatigue in his body vanished at once, and the soreness in his limbs returned to normal.

Jojo withdrew his hand and frowned at him. “Your body is far too weak. You can’t keep going on like this.”

As he said this, he thought of Fujimiya as well.

“Fujimiya’s body isn’t much better either. You two are both hopeless. Find a time and train with me.”

Gamu, who had just recovered and was smiling brightly, froze at those words.

Remembering what Jojo had said earlier, he asked in disbelief, “Wait, Jojo, you’re not saying you want us to go into the deep sea, are you?”

“At first, that really wouldn’t be suitable.” Jojo looked thoughtful.

Gamu’s heart relaxed at that, but then Jojo continued, “In that case, there’s a large waterfall by Hikaru Falls Shrine. It should be a few hundred meters high, just right for climbing.”

“???”