Abyssal Wanderer.

Insufficient energy

The red error message flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't even lift his feet.

"Ahem... I forgot to mention, this is the only drawback of this armor set."

As Number One spoke, he picked up the umbilical cable from behind the "Chainer" and inserted it into his own chest. The moment it was inserted, the suit and tie on his chest contracted inward like a kaleidoscope, revealing the orange-red core inside his body.

The cable was connected to the energy core in his chest.

Instantly, the exoskeleton energy storage percentage displayed on Jiang Zhou's eye-tracking control interface began to change by the second, much like subscribing to a cloud storage service when downloading resources.

"Because it lacks a furnace core and we don't want large energy storage devices to affect mobility, the Chainbound Armor is powered by an external energy source—connect this umbilical cable to any place with electricity, and it will quickly recharge the armor. Of course, in high-intensity combat, its energy consumption is also very high, so remember to always monitor the remaining energy."

Number One said so.

No wonder it's called "Chainer". So this urban combat-specific exoskeleton armor means it can only be used in urban scenarios, right?
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhou couldn't help but suppress the urge to complain.

Perhaps realizing that his own words were somewhat unconvincing, Number One continued to make empty promises:

"Of course... this is just a temporary measure. Once we get to the tenth floor, I'll give you a set of Depth 3 modifications."

As he said this, he lifted Jiang Zhou up along with his exoskeleton, opened the vector jets that had just been generated on his back, and flew out through the gap blasted open by the mechanical dogs, taking a shortcut to the tenth floor.

Only the Daoist priest remained, silently watching the two figures fly away.

And... using the remote control equipment left behind by Number One, three tons of computing elements are being continuously assembled into a kind of support structure.

…………

How's the firewall doing?

Under the influence of the sedative, Junjie Zhang finally calmed down.

And the first thing he asked after he came to his senses was this.

"The hacker coalition has retreated behind the firewall, abandoning all servers below the tenth layer... Relying on the computing power of the data center, we can barely keep the incarnation of fear out for now."

As the cybersecurity manager spoke, he handed the other person a chilled bottle of pink Magic Tooth.

Junjie took the drink but didn't pull the tab. Instead, he rolled it on his hot, smooth forehead.

Only after the sweat and condensation from the drink can had strands of his pink hair stuck to his forehead did he speak:

"Prepare me three times the dose of 'combat agent.' If I can overclock my 'private domain,' I should be able to..."

"The only thing you need to do right now is to rest here."

The cybersecurity chief said directly.

"Why? Staying behind the firewall is a form of slow suicide, but other hackers can't retaliate, so the only option is for me..."

Junjie immediately retorted, but the supervisor made a "stop" gesture to cut him off before speaking:

“I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just get straight to the point… First of all, we can’t be sure whether the information bombardment that Fear Incarnate gave you earlier had implanted a parasite in the iridobrain region. I know that even if it had, it wouldn’t have manifested so quickly, but it’s still a potential risk that we can’t afford to gamble on.”

Junjie opened his mouth, intending to say something, but seeing the other person's serious gaze, he couldn't help but lower his head and bite his lip in a somewhat aggrieved manner.

The security supervisor sighed, then said:

"I know it must be hard for you to believe me, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"It's alright, I understand..."

Junjie lowered his head and said, his tone no longer as energetic as when he attacked in his magical girl form.

Seeing this, the supervisor continued:

"Secondly, right after you fell, a wizard-level hacker who had been hiding in the Nord resettlement area finally couldn't help but show himself. He stepped in to hold your position and protect the other hackers who rushed out to save you... Yes, after you fell, many of your fans risked their own safety to come out and save you."

Junjie raised his head upon hearing this.

"Really? Who was that person? And was anyone injured?" The supervisor shook his head.
"No one was injured, and the man refused to reveal any further information about himself... but according to him, he had no knowledge of the civilian servers in the Nord resettlement area..."

The supervisor paused here, and the image of the unknown hacker in a blue robe and riding a black flying sword involuntarily resurfaced in his mind.

"...His 'refinement' level is far above yours, but even he couldn't repel that incarnation of fear outside the firewall. In other words, even if you were to reach your peak condition by taking drugs, it would be useless to go to the battlefield now. That malicious program is beyond the capabilities of a wizard-level hacker. Unless the legends about 'Ghost' in your hacker community are true, there is no point in retaliating."

Upon hearing this, Junjie couldn't help but give a wry smile.

The enemy is a "ghost," and an extremely powerful one at that.

"So...we're just going to wait to die behind the firewall?"

After a moment's hesitation, Junjie spoke.

Upon hearing this, the supervisor's face showed a rare hint of relaxation.

"It's not that bad... If I had to describe it, it's more like a stalemate."

He said this.

"How is that possible? We've all retreated behind the firewall."

Junjie immediately replied.

"Thanks to the computing power of the data center, and the envoy's perfect allocation of computing resources..."

The supervisor then turned to look at the server room where Hell's Path was located—the very hub of the entire data center.

"With the help of the firewall, we can at least withstand malicious programs for three hours."

"Only three hours..."

Junjie didn't think it was a long time.

But the supervisor continued:

"But we're not the only ones being consumed right now. On the malware side, the committee's special agents are physically taking down those civilian servers one by one... And in order to retaliate, they have to create a large number of constructs to fight the special agents, which results in a huge loss of computing power."

This back-and-forth has led to the current stalemate.

At this point, the supervisor's tone became even more hopeful.

"In addition, another team of commissioners from the committee... the regulators who can suppress the abnormal activity in the iris region of the infected are now calming those infected, which also weakens the power of the embodiment of fear to some extent."

"Furthermore, I just received intelligence that a Coordinator who has reached the limits of human intelligence is currently on her way here. With her abilities, she can suppress the brain abnormalities of infected individuals over a wide area. In other words, as long as we rely on the data center to drag out this stalemate until she arrives, we will win this battle."

Perhaps because of the supervisor's optimistic tone, Junjie felt relieved after listening to the situation analysis.

He began:

"if only……"

"Bang!!!"

His words were interrupted by the firelight and the roar.

The explosion came from the core server room where Hell's Path was located not far away.

The explosion reduced the entire core server room, including Hell Path, to ruins.

The mage tower behind the ten-story firewall collapsed instantly.

The hackers who were still fighting on the battlefield suddenly lost their source of "magic," and their lines collapsed.

The cartographer, who was controlling the "Charonlingdu" from a distance, whistled after confirming that the kill was complete and began to look for his next target.

Baptiste's head, draped over his waist by one of his limbs, blinked, a barely perceptible smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. (End of Chapter)