Abyssal Wanderer.

To make the most of his limited Nyx Factor, Jim found a venue in the fourth-floor resettlement area that was hosting a large commercial event. He worked with the remaining members of the fourth-floor security force to move the captured Dionysus virus infected individuals into the hall.

Thirty-five percent higher than the normal effective concentration of Nyx Factor stirred up a micro-magnetic field, and Jim suppressed the abnormal brain activity of the infected person in the center of the hall.

There are currently about two thousand infected people inside the hall. According to the emcee's calculations, if Jim does his best to suppress them, he can reduce the output of the Fear Avatar by about four percent—if no more potential infected people are activated with phobia.

Compared to Jim's widespread suppression, Hanel's method of implanting a virtual personality takes much longer to take effect.

After all, the injected daffodil pollen must be activated by her personally to be effective, and injecting and activating it one by one takes a long time.

Fortunately, once the virtual personality is implanted, it can persist until the daffodil pollen becomes inactive—meaning that with just one injection, the infected person can remain calm for at least twelve hours.

Hanel glanced at the remaining dose displayed on his arm and sighed.

“Jimmy, the daffodil powder I have here can only be injected into forty people at most... I have to use the rest on the pharmacist, because the regular dose of daffodil powder is only effective for half an hour on him.”

She turned to look at Jim.

Jim, covered in sweat, nodded with his eyes closed—maintaining the Nyx magnetic field at a high intensity for a long time was comparable to solving a math problem before the bell rang or finishing a manuscript before the deadline; in short, it was an extremely mentally and physically exhausting task.

If his wide-area suppression can reduce the strength of the Fear Avatar by about four percent, then even if Hanel used up all her daffodil powder, she could probably only achieve an effect close to two percent.

"It's alright... The emcee said earlier that the leader of the Dionysian Cult will be arriving soon. At Depth 7, suppressing these infected will probably be a piece of cake for her."

Jim offered this comforting remark.

With his and Hanel's suppression, plus the resistance from the memetic entity Icarus, no matter how you calculate it, they should be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive.

At that moment, accompanied by a dull tremor in the ground, Jim, with his eyes closed, felt someone land in front of him.

The other person's brain neural activity is very different from that of ordinary people.

It was both dim and complex, and in his perception it was like a heavy neutron star.

But the other party shouldn't be here right now—according to the previous plan, he needs to deal with the constructs that came knocking on his door outside the venue.

"We're giving you all fifteen minutes to evacuate from here."

Jim opened his eyes and just in time to see the emcee, dressed in a suit and tie, begin to speak. His expression was neither happy nor sad.

If Jim weren't an Orpheus path adjuster, he might have thought this expressionless man was bringing good news.

Such as the Dionysian leader arriving soon.

however……

"Wait, wait... are you going to kill everyone here?"

Jim said somewhat flusteredly, "I saw a cold-blooded rationality in the other party's topological representation."

The emcee looked at Jim, a fleeting look of helplessness crossing his face.

"So, we really hate working with the Orpheus path adjusters."

He said this.

Jim had heard similar things countless times, and he ignored them and continued to ask:
"Why? There's enough time!"

Comparing the fighting power between the Incarnation of Fear and Icarus, and considering their suppression, they are enough to hold out until the leader of the Dionysian Cult...

"The spacecraft carrying Theta Bisant collided with the migration of the Titan-class megamachine construct and crashed en route... No more reinforcements will arrive."

The emcee spoke with a cold face, but the topological structure of his body revealed his utter anger.

And the object of his anger was...

Neptune traffic.

Jim thought to himself.

“This is impossible! The movement trajectory of a Titan-class behemoth can be clearly seen by satellite even without Neptune Traffic’s navigation. How could the Olympus escort team make such a basic mistake?!” Hanel said incredulously.

The term "Titan-class behemoths" is a general term for those structures whose scale resembles artificial terrain. Specifically, these behemoths are extremely complex in composition—besides the remnants of super-intelligent intelligence, there are planetary-level terrain-modifying devices, structures spontaneously formed by runaway malicious programs, Coordinator entities that have surpassed the limits of human intelligence through certain pathways, and even some mobile settlement areas themselves…

Generally speaking, as long as they remain within observable areas such as the Earth's surface, sea level, and the air, the activity patterns and behaviors of Titan-class megamachines are relatively easy to track. Many official and private organizations even number and register them, treating their activities as climatic phenomena, which has led to the development of disciplines that study the "habits" and "ecology" of these megamachines.

But in any case, how could the Olympian Order, with its operational prowess, fail to detect the migration of such massive entities as mountains?

unless……

"Due to unknown reasons, the Titan-class mechs throughout Central Asia are now exhibiting abnormal behavior patterns due to the violent fluctuations in the Dark Web. The Titan-class mech that destroyed Theta's vehicle was a new model that only recently emerged from the depths of the Earth's crust... There's nothing we can do about being tricked like this."

The emcee initially gave a very professional explanation, but in the end, he couldn't help but let his personal emotions get in.

So, Neptune Transport is determined to get rid of Theseus Freight's shareholders...

Jiang Zhou thought to himself.

The ability to alter the trajectory of Titan-class behemoths to some extent is a tactic Neptune Transportation employed during the Third Cyber ​​War. However, according to publicly available historical records, this is a tactic Poseidon only resorts to when facing a significant disadvantage.

In other words, doing this will not be without cost.

But now, Neptune is determined to eliminate that shareholder in the Nord resettlement area, even at this cost.

"So there's no point in you continuing to suppress memetic entities here. Especially you, Jim Ritter."

The emcee suddenly called out Jim's full name, pulling him back to reality from his thoughts.

"While there's still time, go home and pack your things, then come with us on the last flight out of the Nord settlement... You will be the first witness to testify regarding Apollo Bio's experiments that violated the Olympus Accords."

As he spoke, he turned to Hanel beside him and continued:

"And so are you, and the pharmacists currently under your control. Seeking revenge for the deceased is also a way to uphold justice, so stop dwelling on it."

Jim and Hanel remained motionless, watching the emcee. Finally, Jim spoke:

"Perhaps we can try again..."

The emcee first nodded, then shook his head and said:
"Of course we'll try again, but not as gently... We'll take all necessary measures to resolve this crisis before the final judgment."

As the emcee spoke, his outline began to distort and blur, like air being scorched by flames.

Then, before Hanel could persuade him, he preemptively said:
"First and foremost, it's clear that there's no longer an option to save everyone. Starting with the two thousand-plus people here, we will kill every suspected infected person we encounter... including those from Icarus. Of course, out of respect for them, we will deal with them last—if there is still time."

Jim felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing the emcee's words.

"That's impossible. There are tens of thousands of infected people, and hundreds of thousands of potential infected people. You can't do it all by yourself..."

"We have to try. At least we can kill all two thousand people who have been gathered here in two minutes."

The emcee spoke in a very calm tone.

"but……"

Before Hanel could say anything more, the emcee interrupted him, saying:
“I know this is hard for people to accept, and even if you could accept it, the chances of this plan succeeding are less than one percent. Therefore, we will not ask you to provide assistance, and we can now arrange for a special plane to send you out of the Nord resettlement area as witnesses.”

Hanel opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

She then looked at Jim, who was standing to the side.

Jim looked at the emcee and then said:

"Or perhaps, there is another option."

The emcee shook his head and said:
"There are no other options left."

But Jim said with absolute certainty:
"Yes... that is to upgrade me to Depth 7." (End of Chapter)