Though Bucciarati placed a degree of trust in Takatsuki after seeing his previous words ring true, all of this remained in the realm of future speculation for the crew. Bucciarati faithfully chose to carry on with his duty.
He didn't even reveal his inner thoughts to anyone else.
Just as in the original course of events, despite all the variables, Bucciarati guided the squad into hiding inside a secluded country villa.
When watching the series, Takatsuki hadn't paid close attention to the exact timeline, so he wasn't certain how long Bucciarati's squad remained there. But he knew it wouldn't be too long, and he needed this brief window to make necessary preparations.
Once they settled into the estate, Bucciarati came by to speak with Takatsuki in private about what lay ahead. To keep future developments within controllable parameters, Takatsuki disclosed only select portions of the future—such as how La Squadra Esecuzioni would begin hunting for Trish, eventually tracing their way to Polpo's turf to find the squad that inherited his mission.
He also mentioned that Narancia would be ambushed by Formaggio, user of Little Feet, during a routine supply run.
Based on this, Takatsuki laid down a few specific requests.
"I'll handle the supply run. I'll take care of Formaggio myself while I'm out. In the meantime, help me gather a list of materials."
Promoting to Capo yielded far more than dangerous assignments; it conferred significant authority. Beyond retaining fifty percent of the territory's income, a Capo possessed direct command over local Passione members.
In the original story, Takatsuki recalled that Bucciarati hardly got to exercise his authority as a Capo before embarking on an endless escort mission that led directly to his death. This time, at least before they staged their betrayal, they might as well make full use of it.
Bucciarati browsed the list Takatsuki handed him, his brows furrowing. "What do you need these for?"
The requested items were bizarre. He couldn't imagine what they could possibly be used for—a strange assortment ranging from biological specimens to raw minerals.
"They're for crafting items to save your lives. You remember why I was dragged here by fate, don't you?"
Takatsuki made no attempt to disguise his intentions. Anyone clever enough could infer his purpose anyway, and being forthright was often the quickest way to build genuine trust with someone like Bucciarati.
"I see," Bucciarati said, putting the list down after a moment's thought. "I'll have our members prepare them. However, since we're currently under escort duty, I cannot have items delivered directly to this location."
"No problem, understandable. Just have them drop the materials at a designated spot. We'll be forced to relocate soon enough when they track us down anyway, and I can pick them up then. For now, I'll make do with whatever materials I can improvise."
In truth, if Bucciarati and the squad simply wanted to lay low, they could have hidden in this villa for a long time.
However, they were carrying Trish Una with them.
She was a young girl who had wrapped herself in a prickly, defensive exterior out of deep insecurity and confusion. Raised in a modest single-parent household, she demanded nothing less than the absolute finest luxuries the moment she arrived, insisting on specific brands for everything down to her bottled water and tissues.
It was nothing more than empty bravado to protect herself.
Unfortunately, she failed to realize that such displays only lowered others' impression of her.
That was precisely why Takatsuki held no interest in buttering her up. For one, her guard was far too high right now; for another, it simply wasn't necessary. Rather than wasting effort gaining her favor, he preferred to resolve matters here as quickly as possible so he could return home to hold Mei and Bianka.
Compared to Trish, he cared far more about the fate awaiting Bucciarati and the squad.
Fate's quest commanded him to kill them all, but Takatsuki had made up his mind—he was going to fight fate every step of the way.
The materials he asked Bucciarati to compile were meant specifically for defying fate.
Even without his hardened original body and energy reserves, he still possessed an upgraded Stand and the vast knowledge he had accumulated.
The puppetry crafts he had studied under Touko Aozaki weren't mere skill points granted by a system menu; they were techniques he had learned and practiced step-by-step. Even now, he was fully capable of constructing artificial human bodies to serve as proxies.
While the primary materials couldn't be delivered immediately, he could adapt using alternate methods.
This world might lack a formal magic system, but it possessed something far more versatile: Stand powers.
"Giorno, can you lend me a hand?"
Takatsuki found Giorno reading quietly in his room.
During their period of seclusion, the squad members could do as they pleased so long as they remained inside. With nowhere to go, everyone had plenty of downtime.
"Help?" Giorno set his book down and looked over. "Sure. What do you need me to do?"
"I need your Stand ability to help me manufacture a few things... living components, specifically. But you must not revert these creations back to their original form."
Giorno's Stand, Gold Experience, could transform inanimate objects into living organisms and revert them at will. While typical Stand abilities vanished if the user lost consciousness, Gold Experience operated on different rules.
In the original timeline, Giorno frequently created biological tissues to patch up critical injuries. Had those tissues reverted the moment his Stand toggled off, he would have suffered instant death from foreign objects inside his body.
"Refrain from reverting them? No problem," Giorno agreed, nodding. "As long as I don't actively dismiss the power, they will remain permanent."
"Good. Then help me produce a few... biological components. Along the way, I'll teach you a few alternative ways to apply your Stand's ability."
Constructing puppet bodies required a substantial amount of organic material—sometimes even complete human tissue.
Neither Touko nor Takatsuki were ruthless enough to murder people for raw parts. Now, sitting right in front of him, was a walk-in source capable of generating human biological matter without taking a single life. Naturally, Takatsuki intended to make good use of it.
When Giorno saw Takatsuki asking him to craft actual flesh, blood, and internal organs, he was visibly taken aback.
He had never attempted to manufacture a complete human using his ability, as doing so was impossible. Consequently, it had never occurred to him to synthesize individual human body parts.
"This is one technique I want to teach you," Takatsuki explained calmly. "By creating fresh flesh and tissue, you can patch over life-threatening wounds on your own body. It's going to be painful, sure, but compared to dying of blood loss, isn't that a far better trade?"