Just as Lucian was considering his next move, the large tree he was leaning against was sliced clean through.
The tree collapsed with a deafening crash.
Lucian was startled and immediately jumped to the other side.
Strange characters began to gather toward him from ahead.
Lucian immediately realized he was under a Stand attack; this appearance was clearly Soundman’s In a Silent Way.
Although he didn’t know why he appeared in this location, he knew that the enemy he was facing this time was also a very formidable opponent.
In a Silent Way can attach onomatopoeia to anything, and the words carried by the onomatopoeia possess their corresponding power.
When the object carrying the onomatopoeia collides with another object, the corresponding power manifests on that object.
The tree from just now was hit by the recorded sound of ‘slicing.’
Lucian figured that the fire he had built must have exposed his location, but now was not the time to reflect on his mistakes; he had to respond immediately.
He also didn’t know if the attacking enemy had any companions.
In the manga, Soundman set out together with Diego.
Even if he didn’t have teammates, his ability was a hard counter to him.
Soundman’s sounds could easily slice through metal.
His own Stand ability was not at an advantage in this situation.
Heartsteel emerged and looked around, quickly noticing that most of these sound characters were drifting down from upwind.
Lucian knew that the place where these strange characters were densest should be the direction of Soundman’s main body; his Stand’s precision was not high.
Through the Stand’s keen observation, Lucian realized that Soundman had attached the sounds to leaves, and the wind had carried the leaves over.
The enemy was upwind.
So Lucian threw the biscuit in his hand toward the place where the characters were densest.
As soon as the biscuit hit the characters, it crumbled into powder and burst into flames.
Soundman had mixed several characters with different effects together.
He himself was likely hiding behind a certain tree behind the dense characters.
After Lucian ran forward a few steps toward that direction, he saw dense leaves carrying sounds floating in the forest ahead.
Soundman stood in the distant woods, quietly watching him.
Upon seeing Lucian, Soundman spoke first: “Hand over the corpse part, and I will not take your life.
Otherwise, with a single strike, I can cut you into pieces.”
Lucian’s response was to raise his gun and fire a shot at Soundman.
However, Lucian also confirmed that he had come alone.
Without Diego, Soundman’s threat was not as strong.
Without other assistance, the movement speed of his characters recorded with sound was not fast.
Previously, he had relied on the wind to send those things to his side.
Lucian carefully advanced while keeping his eyes on the characters in the air.
Suddenly, a wound appeared on Lucian’s left leg.
At the same time, a wave of nausea surged within him, accompanied by a feeling of losing his balance.
Right!
Soundman can also create invisible sounds.
These should be the effects caused by infrasound or ultrasound.
Lucian realized that he had definitely just collided with a sound he had created.
But what did he record these invisible sounds on?
This wasn’t in the water; the things he could record sound on weren’t that convenient.
Lucian quickly scanned his surroundings; he was certain he hadn’t touched any leaves just now.
So he threw another biscuit forward.
When it hit the ground, the biscuit shattered.
Soundman had recorded that invisible sound on the dirt.
He had set a trap here long ago, waiting for the prey to find its own way over.
Perhaps there were even more traps on the dirt behind him; he had left a path for himself.
Heartsteel picked up a stone and rolled it forward across the ground.
Soon, the stone was pulverized.
However, the path the stone rolled over was safe.
Seeing that his trap had been detected, Soundman no longer held back.
He threw a pebble forward, which collided with characters recording the sound of an explosion.
An explosion occurred instantly.
Under the shockwave of the explosion, those leaves carrying characters began to drift rapidly toward Lucian.
Lucian’s Stand suddenly punched the large tree beside him, and the leaves drifted toward the direction of the impact.
Just as these leaves were about to touch the characters, they all became hardened.
Soft leaves could, of course, trigger the effect of Heartsteel.
In an instant, various sounds rang out in the forest—explosions, slicing, and burning—all tangled together.
It was indeed exceptionally perilous here.
The burning leaves ignited the dry branches on the ground.
Smoke rose from the forest.
After the sounds on the leaves had all been triggered by each other, Lucian fired several shots at Soundman.
Because Lucian had no experience using firearms, and even experienced marksmen would find it impossible to hit accurately at this distance.
A veteran marksman like Link would need to get within five paces to fire.
The bullets didn’t even graze Soundman; the deviation was quite large.
However, Lucian’s primary purpose in firing was to draw Soundman’s attention.
The moment the gunshot rang out, Soundman’s attention was drawn by the bullet.
This was human instinct.
At the same time, Heartsteel struck the large tree again, using the hardened leaves to pave a safe path for himself.
Lucian also took the opportunity to collect many leaves.
Lucian rushed forward quickly along this safe path.
Soundman was not afraid; he was a battle-hardened Native American warrior.
So Soundman drew the short knife from his person.
His Stand also emerged behind him.
Most importantly, he had almost no understanding of Stands, and his own Stand’s Power and Speed were both C, just like an ordinary person’s.
So in his impression, everyone’s Stand should be like this.
The President naturally wouldn’t explain the various abilities of Stands to him; in other words, his information was insufficient.
Soundman’s Stand was still constantly creating the sounds of slicing, explosions, and burning.
Lucian continuously threw those leaves, which were like throwing knives, forward.
As long as he touched those sounds in advance, Soundman would pose no danger to him.
The sounds in front of Soundman were touched off one by one.
The impact of the explosions was partially blocked by Lucian using his cloak.
Soon, the distance between the two was very close, the gap constantly narrowing.
The distance was already within ten meters.
Heartsteel suddenly accelerated, throwing a heavy punch toward Soundman’s Stand.
What followed was a barrage of punches like falling raindrops.