Abyssal Wanderer.

"I finally made it..."

Looking at the hackers convulsing and collapsing one by one in the studio, and the blurry humanoid figure on the screen with its wings constantly burning and breaking apart, Booker murmured.

The Dionysus virus previously spread by Jingoro Ue is a type that specializes in the desire for revenge—it strengthens the brain's reward circuit for revenge, making infected individuals disregard the gains and losses of other interests, or even their own lives, and live only to take revenge on their oppressors.

Before his death, Goro used this virus to infect many radical members within Icarus, and also spread the corresponding pseudo-viruses in the upper levels of the resettlement area, infecting many Icarus supporters as well—many of whom were originally hackers.

After learning about the Dionysian virus and the Dionysian phenomenon from the mortician, Booker began to gather infected individuals within Icarus.

The meme entities created by the Dionysian phenomenon are essentially a resonance of ideas.

The viruses that Baptiste has spread over the years have created a large number of phobia sufferers, whose self-consuming fears have created "incarnations of fear".

For the past month, Ushō Goro has been spreading a virus through the simulated battle depicting Liao Qi's final battle. If this can induce infected individuals to enter a hysterical state and collectively resonate with the virus, it will create the "Avenger Incarnate".

Using meme entities to fight against meme entities is the best way to break the deadlock!

But since meme entities originate from ideas, they are not objects that he can control.

Therefore, Booker chose to disclose all relevant intelligence to the entire Icarus Liberation Front.

Betrayal, conspiracy, exploitation, crisis... Booker tells the infected that the intense desire for revenge burning in their hearts is actually a fake created by super artificial intelligence.

Their anger was imposed upon them, and they didn't even have the right to give it up.

In this way, those who gave them anger and power became the oppressors who were truly in need of revenge.

Next, Booker made no promises, offered no plans, and did not emphasize the big picture... He simply told the infected that they now possessed the power to resist tyranny—even if the emotion was false, the power was absolutely real.

As long as their ideas resonate, they can create something that would put even the gods on high alert.

As he predicted, the infected were unable to defy their instincts. Even knowing the truth, they would choose to continue their revenge—to take revenge on their creators.

Now that Jingoro Ue is dead, another spreader of the Dionysus virus is still hiding behind the scenes, and another memetic entity created by that person is currently wreaking havoc in the resettlement area.

Regardless of the purpose for which the other party created that memetic entity, they must do everything in their power to thwart their intentions.

"Of course, I know that compared to the Avatar of Fear, you are far behind them in both the number of infected and the computing power you possess..."

Booker said this after gathering all the infected in Icarus and contacting the infected in the upper levels of the resettlement area.

"You mean... you're planning to spread the Dionysus virus, like the one by Jingoro Ue, on a large scale?"

One of the hackers frowned.

"That's impossible."

Booker immediately shook his head.

There are differing opinions among those infected with the Dionysus virus: some believe that this power and spirit of resistance should be passed on to as many people as possible; while others feel that the Dionysus virus is the greatest oppressive force, capable of enslaving a person's free will, and therefore its spread should end with the victims.

Of course, Booker didn't intend to get involved in the discussion—he simply gave a more realistic reason to end the debate.

"It takes a considerable amount of time for the Dionysus virus to infect the brain and for the iridobranch region to grow. Even if it is spread on a large scale now, it cannot be quickly converted into combat power."

He said this.

Seeing that the argument had subsided, he continued:
"But this also leads to another problem. Even if you resonate with the memetic entity, in terms of combat power, it will be far inferior to the already formed Fear Incarnation."

Seeing the unfriendly looks he was getting from those around him, he quickly raised his voice.

"Of course! I don't mean you should give up, but rather that you need to change your strategy. The most important one is to relinquish control of the constructs and concentrate on plundering as much of the server's computing power as possible."

"The Fear Incarnation, by its very nature, desires to extend its interference capabilities in the underlying reality as much as possible. Therefore, a large portion of its computing power is actually taken by the Constructs. In this way, as long as you do not control the Constructs at all, you can close a significant gap in strength."

Booker suggested this.

But some people quickly raised questions.

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better for the Fear Incarnation to directly manipulate constructs to destroy our real bodies?"

Booker had already planned for this.

“It’s simple. All you need to do is gather at the temporary computing center in Icarus, and then I and the other Icarus Liberation Front fighters will guard it.”

Booker presented the plan he had prepared long ago.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Even underground in the resettlement area, there are probably more than 200,000 constructs with basic lethality. Even if the Avatar of Terror can't control them all at once and they all rush over at once, how long can your small force hold out by sporadic attacks?"

One infected member of a hacker group said this.

"Hold on until you defeat the embodiment of fear, or until we all sacrifice ourselves."

Booker answered without even thinking.

The entire venue fell silent.

After a long while, Kong Zhu, the leader of the hacker group, came out—Booker had previously thought he wasn't an infected person—and looked at the leader of the Icarus Liberation Front and said:

Can you give me your promise?

"I give you all my promises."

Booker answered.

“Even though I wasn’t infected with the Dionysus virus, and unlike you, I don’t have a mind imprint, I swear by my free will that I will protect your physical bodies until my last second. As for what happens after I die, you know the outcome…”

Everyone's eyes were on Booker.

“My heart is connected to a geothermal power plant. After I die, the lava and earthquakes that could engulf the entire Nord resettlement area will avenge everyone.”

Booker knew that his promise was absolutely irresistible to the Dionysus virus infected individuals whose minds were filled with a "desire for revenge."

Everyone present stood up, and Kong Zhu's gaze swept over all the infected.

"So, is there anyone else who objects?"

He began to speak.

No one spoke; the only sound in the room was the heavy, excited breathing.

And so, another meme entity was born a few hours later, which is now.

They named him "Icarus".

"Very good...you've done enough."

The constantly burning and collapsing wings flapped behind him. Facing the terrifying incarnation that roared at him, Icarus did not look up at it immediately, but instead looked down at the magical girl he had just saved.

Hoshino Hikaru's eyelids twitched slightly, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a face with blurred features.

"Besides, I have already received your previous remarks."

As Icarus spoke, he plucked a charred feather from the burning wings behind him and placed it in Hoshino Hikaru's hand.

The feather instantly burned to ashes, leaving a jet-black feather mark branded on his palm.

"After all this is over, go to Paradise... When Paradise completely collapses, we will truly descend to earth and be with you mortals."

After Icarus finished speaking, the Hoshino Hikari in his arms turned into countless points of light and disappeared—it forcibly logged this wizard-level hacker offline.

Then, it turned its gaze to the young man riding a sword not far away.

Although the exact shape of its eyes could not be seen from its blurry face, the young swordsman still felt as if he had been pierced by its gaze.

"As for you..."

As Icarus spoke, the young swordsman was covered in a layer of melted wax.

He felt his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and all the joints in his body being sealed by the gradually solidifying wax. Specifically, he could no longer "see" the shape of the script, no longer "smell" the odor of malicious code, and no longer "command" his icebreaker…

In other words, his hacking skills are being blocked by some force.

"Since you firmly believe that your own power is the foundation of everything, then sealing off all your power might help you understand how humanity reached the top of the food chain... If you want to unravel this mystery, then go to Paradise. I will be waiting there for you to provide the correct answer."

Feeling his power being sealed, the young swordsman tried to scream in terror, but because his mouth was sealed with wax, he couldn't even scream.

Ignoring the other party's despair, Icarus waved his hand, and the youth transformed into countless blue rays of light and vanished from the spot.

…………

The scream that couldn't be heard on the World Wide Web echoed in Kumiko's dimly lit and cramped room after she was forcibly logged off.

She sat up from the hacker combat pod with her eyes wide open, the splashing coolant wetting the calligraphy behind her that read, "Only when my fate is in my own hands can I grow a golden lotus in the fire."

Realizing what had happened, Kumiko immediately restarted her brain-computer interface and began attempting to run the Ice Wall program, and then...

Just like before on the World Wide Web, she could no longer understand the code, nor could she feel the computing power of the servers she had honed in the past—as if a blurry frosted glass was blocking her from her own hacking talent.

"My cultivation level, my cultivation level, my cultivation level..."

She repeated it over and over, her voice growing louder and louder.

"Boom boom boom!"

Annoying pounding sounds came from next door.

"What the hell time is it?! Aren't you asleep yet?!"

A middle-aged man's irritable voice came from the other side of the wall.

But this voice calmed Kumiko down a little.

Coolant dripped continuously down her long black hair as she sat naked in the combat pod, completely unaware that she was shivering from the cold.

Opposite the combat pod is a bed, and on the bed is a life-size body pillow of Hoshino Hikaru.

Kumiko stared at Hoshino Hikaru on the pillow in the dimly lit room, recalling the last words spoken by the birdman with burning wings.

"paradise……"

She murmured to herself, using that as a keyword to search.

Even without searching, she roughly knew what the other person meant.

In this era, the word "paradise" often refers to the virtual paradise built by the Bacchus cult.

"Rejoice! The Kingdom of Heaven has now truly and undeniably descended upon the earth..."

She whispered the advertising slogan for "The Amusement Park," pondering what connection those meme entities might have with the park.

…………

After seeing Kumiko off, Icarus finally turned his gaze to the embodiment of fear.

"I never expected that I'd have to fight this thing so soon after I was born..."

It sighed softly, and before the other party could spew black flames at it, it soared high into the air, overlapping with the scorching sun in the sky.

The embodiment of fear also raised its head, and countless thorny tentacles burst forth from the black sea beneath its feet, piercing towards the winged humanoid figure with the demon's roar.

The thorny tentacles burst into flames the moment they touched Icarus.

The flames spread rapidly along the tentacles, just like igniting a rope soaked in gasoline.

Just before the flames were about to touch the dark sea, the embodiment of fear abruptly severed the tentacles connecting it to the ocean.

"Oh... your reaction time is pretty quick? It seems your intelligence hasn't completely degenerated to the level of a beast. Are you an infected person with a superhuman virus mixed in with your mind matrix?"

Icarus seemed somewhat surprised by this, and asked as he continued to kick the fireballs that appeared around him at the goat-headed demon.

"You...you...why did you..."

On the other side, the embodiment of fear spoke with some difficulty, its face contorted with venom as it glared at the figure overlapping with the blazing sun, roaring:
"Why...why are you stopping me?! Aren't you afraid of dying if you stay here?!"

Icarus naturally knew what the other party was referring to. He slowed his attack slightly and then smiled:
“I am different from you. Although I was also born because of the Dionysian phenomenon, the basis of my existence is much broader than yours. I was born from Liao Qi’s successful rebellion against the Olympian order. Even if the mental matrix of the Nord resettlement area is destroyed, I will be reborn in everyone’s memories in the future.”

As it spoke, countless burning feathers began to rain down, burning away the fear that had transformed into its tar-like body.

"Well... but that'll have to wait until the Dionysian framework has fully surfaced. It's normal that I'll forget my current memories by then. So, from a mortal's perspective, which emphasizes continuity, is the current 'me' considered dead?"

As Icarus said this, he burst into wild laughter.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...

"In that case, it's perfect, after all..."

As it spoke, a knight's sword appeared in its hand, its hilt shaped like wings and its blade ablaze with flames.

"Since I was born for this reason, isn't this a rare opportunity to experience the prototype of the event's sacrifice?" (End of Chapter)