Continuing in the direction Johnny had gone, the road was lined with sparse trees, and the sun beat down relentlessly.
It was already afternoon, and after traveling all day, Lucian felt a bit drowsy.
The onset of sleepiness made him consider whether he should rest by the roadside for a while.
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure ahead of him.
Upon seeing this person, Lucian patted his face to keep himself awake.
The man was riding a chestnut horse, wearing a teal-blue coat, and had blond hair.
The hat on his head bore three large letters: Dio.
This person was none other than Diego.
His horse had been injured while competing for first place against Johnny and Gyro, so his ranking had dropped slightly.
Nevertheless, he remained in the lead pack.
Upon seeing Diego, Lucian began to speculate whether he had already made a deal with Valentine.
If Lucy hadn’t taken the Saint’s spine, Diego wouldn’t know that Lucy was a traitor by Valentine’s side.
In that case, Diego wouldn’t have enough leverage to move Valentine.
Therefore, Lucian believed that the current Diego was moving forward based on his own will.
In other words, not many people knew that the Saint’s right eye was in his hands.
At least in Valentine’s eyes, Diego was just an ordinary contestant.
Diego spotted Lucian at the same time.
Stand Users are drawn to one another.
Diego also realized the extraordinary nature of the Easterner before him, especially after the Saint’s right eye began to surface on him.
This was a change that only occurred when encountering another holder of a corpse part.
He had already learned this when he met Johnny earlier.
Diego had already begun to guess the true purpose of this race during the competition, but currently, he didn’t know much due to a lack of information.
The Easterner in front of him likely knew something.
Diego was certain this person wasn’t a contestant, as he remembered all the top-ranking participants.
Lucian also knew he couldn’t hide the fact that he possessed the Saint’s ears from Diego, as the Saint’s ears within him began to manifest as well.
Diego intentionally slowed his horse, waiting for Lucian to catch up to him.
Lucian didn’t get too close.
Diego’s ability, [Scary Monsters], possessed extremely powerful close-quarters combat capabilities.
Even Valentine, with his double-A stats in Power and Speed, was no match for him.
Most importantly, Diego was an unpredictable man; there was no telling if he would suddenly attack.
There might still be pursuers from Valentine behind him; he had no time to get entangled here.
“You’re a Steel Ball Run contestant, aren’t you?
You must be after the 50 million dollars.
My horse is slow, so I won’t ride with you.
I wouldn’t want to affect your chances of winning.”
Diego spread his hands and replied, “My horse was injured, so I’ve fallen behind.
Riding with you for a bit won’t change anything.”
He wanted to get some information out of Lucian, and if he could seize the Easterner’s corpse part, that would be a fine option too.
Lucian said in a teasing tone, “Oh?
Has the prodigy of the racing world lost heart?” Lucian knew full well Diego wasn’t that kind of person; every word out of his mouth was a lie.
Diego also understood that this Easterner recognized him, which meant he must also know of his ill repute.
After sizing Lucian up carefully, he realized the man was riding Mountain Tim’s horse.
Why was he riding Mountain Tim’s horse?
Lucian couldn’t tell horses apart, but to these experts, the characteristics of a horse were more distinct than those of a person.
“It seems you know Mountain Tim?”
This took Lucian by surprise; in the manga, there shouldn’t have been any interaction between the two of them.
“Yes, I know Mountain Tim.”
Diego asked with a face full of curiosity, “You’re riding his horse right now.
Did something happen?” Moreover, the horse showed no signs of resistance.
“Something just happened, that’s all.” The implication was that Lucian didn’t want to tell him.
Diego adopted a friendly posture and said:
“You may have heard some rumors about me, but unfortunately, they’re all false.
People always harbor contempt for someone of humble origins like me.
They think someone like me shouldn’t be on the same stage as them.
But since they can’t beat me in the race, they fabricate those stories to slander me.”
Lucian wasn’t sure which rumors were true or false—marrying an 83-year-old wealthy woman, framing Johnny’s brother—he didn’t know the truth of them.
However, Lucian knew exactly what kind of person Diego really was.
So, Lucian played along with Diego’s words, saying, “The public is always blind.
They don’t care about the truth; they only care about entertainment.” Get faster updates on g.com.
For instance, Lucian didn’t care at all about Diego framing Johnny’s brother, but he was incredibly curious about the 83-year-old wealthy woman.
These words hit Diego right in the heart, and he immediately launched into his pigeon flock theory:
“Exactly!
Humans are just like a flock of pigeons.
If one flies to the right, the rest will follow.
You truly can see through human stupidity.”
Lucian felt that he was probably one of those stupid humans.
The truth of celebrity gossip didn’t actually matter to people; everyone was just looking for a bit of fun.
He then wondered if he should steal Valentine’s lines about the Napkin.
Seeing that the atmosphere was decent, Diego took the opportunity to ask what he wanted to know:
“There seems to be something unusual behind this race.
I wonder if you could tell me a bit about it?”
Lucian thought it was a good time to badmouth Valentine to Diego.
After all, he would definitely face off against Valentine later anyway.
“Of course.
An event held at such a great cost must be aiming to gain something.
Think about it—spending at least seventy or eighty million dollars just for a race?
Without a specific goal, there’s no way they’d spend that kind of money.”
“Then what exactly is the purpose of this race?
It seems you know.”
Lucian pointed to the eyeball manifesting on Diego’s face and replied, “Naturally, it’s to find that thing on your face.”
Diego pointed to the Saint’s right eye appearing on his face and asked, “Then what exactly is this thing?”
“It’s a rare treasure capable of causing miracles.
You’ve felt the power it holds, haven’t you?
The organizers of the event want exactly this kind of thing.”
Diego squinted at the ears manifesting on Lucian, and then thought of Johnny’s other eye.
“This seems to be someone’s remains, doesn’t it?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“To obtain such rare remains, one must be chosen.
So, the moment the corpse chooses you, that power should belong to you.
However, the event organizers don’t see it that way.” Lucian began to slip in his own agenda.