Abyssal Wanderer.

Upon hearing this, not only the emcee, but also Hanel standing nearby, and even Kimi, who had been assisting nearby, turned around.

They all looked at Jim as if he were a fool.

“Mr. Jim Ritter, there’s no time for jokes now.”

The emcee's tone carried a hint of warning.

"Jimmy... are you crazy?"

Hanel, standing to the side, tugged at his sleeve and whispered something.

But Jim ignored her and continued to stare into the emcee's eyes as he spoke:

“I’m not kidding. The root of this terrible situation is that the Deep 7 Orpheus Path Coordinator encountered an accident on the way. In other words, all we need is one Deep 7 Orpheus Path Coordinator in the Nord Resettlement Area, right?”

Seeing the other party talking nonsense with a straight face, the emcee suddenly felt a little tired.

Although time was of the essence, he ultimately considered the other party to be an important witness to the crisis in the Nord resettlement area, and patiently explained the common knowledge that any Coordinator should know.

"There's an indicator called the Mental Index, which is closely related to another concept called the 'Uncanny Valley.' If you don't know it, you can search for it online. But if you do know about it, please tell us... how do you plan to maintain your human consciousness after skipping four depths in a row and reaching the limits of human intelligence?"

As the emcee spoke, he turned around and prepared to begin his "job".

But Jim sent a data comparison—it showed that his mental index did not change at all when he advanced from Depth 2 to Depth 3.

The emcee stopped and turned to look at Jim.

"This is the data recorded when the Icarus Liberation Front helped me get promoted. You can ask Booker Irwin to verify it."

Jim said directly.

The emcee looked him up and down, then said:
"Go on."

"I suspect this constitution originates from the Dionysian and Apollonian viruses I contracted in the Apollo biosphere. The balance achieved by a more powerful prefrontal cortex and limbic system might have the effect of helping humans stabilize their mental state, after all, it's Nyx's legacy..."

"Of course, this is just my guess. I must admit that I am not sure if I can maintain mental stability during the second metamorphosis, but I think at least Depth 6 will be fine. And Depth 6 is also the level that can completely suppress memetic entities on a large scale."

During the second transformation, that is, when depth 6 is upgraded to depth 7, the entire biological brain will be completely prosthetic.

Jim took a deep breath at this point, then looked at the emcee with utmost seriousness and said:
"But exchanging one set of printing permissions for a resettlement area, I think it's at least worth trying."

The emcee stood there looking at him for a long time before finally speaking:

"Regarding what you said, I will report it to a high-ranking official. Please wait here for a moment..."

Just as he was about to reactivate the [Hundred-Armed Giant Protocol] and report the situation to Director Briareus, news suddenly came from the mortician—the timing was so perfect it seemed like the two had planned it together.

[Master of Ceremonies, I've already moved the puppet equipped with anti-lithium bombs to your side. I suggest we gather all the Dionysus virus infected individuals we can find here and eliminate them all at once using weapons of mass destruction.]

This approach avoids triggering a chain reaction of fear among potentially infected individuals and also prevents the negative impact of personally participating in mass killings on your mental well-being.

Unless it's an antisocial personality disorder stemming from a problem with empathy, close involvement in the killing of innocent civilians will more or less affect one's mental health. To some extent, this can be considered a safeguard for ordinary people in the face of regulators.

Of course, by adding some cartoonish cognitive filters, or by using propaganda devices that instill hatred to temporarily disconnect the person from the empathy system, these services can now be purchased online—Mars War Company is particularly adept at this, after all, their company philosophy is "everyone can enjoy war healthily." But in any case, the mortician's suggestion not only showed consideration for the big picture, but also thoughtfully considered his mental health.

I never expected this guy to be not only meticulous and conscientious in his work, but also someone who considers his superiors' feelings...

The emcee sighed.

He initially thought that Pluto Deep Dive would definitely cause trouble in the Nord resettlement area, but to his surprise, this time he actually sent an honest and hardworking person.

On the contrary, the guys sent by the other companies were doing bigger and bigger jobs.

Thinking this, the emcee's gaze swept over the dazed apothecary not far away, and the makeup artist who had been completely sealed off by his broken spine.

Then he began to wonder where the draftsman was now—if the crash of the Sea Tower's private jet was Neptune Transportation's doing, then he couldn't expect that guy to be doing his job now.

But now that we have anti-lithium bombs as a backup, the emcee is willing to take a risk.

He said to Jim:
“Alright then, we’ll go report your proposal to our superiors. In the meantime, the two of you will need to continue suppressing the infected here.”

Jim nodded immediately upon hearing this, as if afraid the other party would change their mind.

Before he could even close his eyes to control the Nyx Factor, the emcee stared at him with wide eyes.

At this moment, the expression on his face was extremely distorted, as if he were under immense pressure that only he could feel.

"Jim Ritter?"

The emcee stared blankly at Jim, then spoke in a completely different tone than before.

In Jim's perception derived from the Nyx Factor, the light in the other person's mind dimmed again—as if it had transformed from a heavy neutron star into pure darkness.

In other words, it's not the emcee speaking here at this moment...

But who could it be?

Several possibilities flashed through Jim's mind, but none of them could make him optimistic.

So he nodded very carefully.

"So, you're the research zombie from the original Apollo biological project that awakened self-awareness, as mentioned in the report?"

The master of ceremonies continued to ask.

An invisible pressure made Jim feel a cold sweat break out on his back. He swallowed and nodded again—his throat was so dry that he could hardly speak.

“I see… your appearance… ah… that makes sense now… Orpheus… what a pity…”

The emcee's eyes scanned Jim's face repeatedly before he finally grinned and said:

"Since that's the case, then as you said before, I'll sponsor you a set of modifications and upgrades to a Helicopter Depth 7."

The man spoke casually, then looked down at his own body, as if talking to himself:
"And you, stay here and witness the end... I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends." (End of Chapter)