Abyssal Wanderer.

They agreed so readily?

Jiang Zhou, keeping an eye on Jim's situation, walked briskly through the data center.

This was Jim's desperate struggle. Before he even spoke it out, he had considered giving up on this reckless attempt several times. Even though his mental index seemed unlikely to change based on his previous experience with adjustments and modifications, no one could guarantee that jumping four levels in a row to reach the limit of human intelligence would not change it.

In addition, even after the crisis is resolved, one will still face enormous risks.

If the Jupiter Group saw that someone's mental index remained normal after a helicopter reached depth 7, Jiang Zhou was almost certain that Jim Ritter would be taken to the company headquarters for further investigation.

What if we discover the connection between Jim and Jiang Zhou?

If you're worried about this, why not just disconnect the Janus program after you've resolved the Nord issue?

It's unclear which side initiated it, but this idea popped into their minds.

After all, there have been precedents—although that time was an accident, Liao Qi had also broken the connection to the Janus program before. With more research, or perhaps a bit of shamelessness to ask the Goddess of the Underworld for advice, breaking the connection shouldn't be too difficult.

This way, after successfully rescuing the entire Nord settlement, he can disconnect when he is taken to Mount Olympus.

But what will happen to Hanel then?
This time, Jiang Zhou was certain that the thought that had surfaced in his mind mainly came from Jim.

Having finally reunited, choosing to go crazy or die right away seems a bit too cruel for her.

But it doesn't necessarily mean death...

They then pondered...

After all, it's hard to say whether the fact that the mental index didn't change before and after the adjustment was due to Jiang Zhou's Janus program or Jim's "Superman virus".

Thinking about this, the strange words and actions of the "master of ceremonies" came to mind.

Jiang Zhou had no doubt that the person who had just agreed to provide assistance through the emcee's body was not him personally—it was most likely a director of the Jupiter Group, or a dark web AI using the emcee's body as its steed.

His reaction when he agreed to Jim's suggestion was quite strange.

Not only did the riddle-taker keep asking questions, as if he knew some secret, but he also said he would witness it until the very end...

Thinking of this, Jim quietly asked Hanel in the encrypted channel:

[Was there anything strange that happened during my time working at the research zombie center?]

It's highly unlikely that the other party would notice anything special about the Janus program—Jiang Zhou had been right under the noses of the Pluto Deep Dive board members, and even they hadn't noticed anything amiss. It's improbable that a Jupiter board member would have noticed something unusual just by glancing at the emcee...

In other words, the other party most likely noticed something unusual about Jim Ritter.

[You? A zombie who has awakened self-awareness, you seem strange from every angle, don't you?]

Hanel answered immediately.

Her words were so true that Jim was momentarily speechless.

[Besides, I've handed over all my memories. Even if the Narcissus Path ability left some vague impressions, the details aren't very clear. Well, if I had to name something strange, there actually is one...]

【What?】

Jim quickly pressed for more information.

It seems that some high-ranking officials didn't want to include you in the "military zombie project" back then, but it appears that a high-ranking board member overruled the objections and included you, the only zombie who had awakened free will. I recall that every time you underwent adjustments and modifications, that important figure would be present to supervise by releasing a base adjustment factor.

Hanel said so.

That makes sense... Why would the only zombie that has awakened self-awareness be included in the "Military Zombie Program"?

Is it simply because the military zombie program has hit a bottleneck, so we need to try changing the variables?
But even if we were to do that, we'd have to create a replacement for ourselves first—a zombie that has also awakened self-awareness—before we could conduct the experiment.

Who would use a single, disposable seedling for a one-time, consumable experiment?

[By the way, it seems that the path you adjusted was also personally chosen by that important figure.]

Just as Jim was wondering, Hanel added more information. Upon hearing this, a possibility suddenly occurred to him.

Feeling the hairs on his body stand on end, he immediately got up and walked to the pharmacist.

Looking at the chimera pathway modulator that was constantly secreting "blocker bacteria," he asked:
"What secret mission did Apollo Biotechnology send you to the Nord resettlement area this time?"

Because his virtual personality had been given the order of absolute obedience by Hanel, he reluctantly replied, despite his displeasure:

"There are three tasks: eliminate Baptiste Morrow and those who learned about the 'Apollo Virus' from him; spread the 'Apollo Virus' among those infected with the 'Dionysus Virus' and collect various biological data about 'Superman'; and... recover former company employee Jim Ritter, which is your complete biological brain."

At this point, he said somewhat dejectedly:

"As far as I can remember, this is the third time I've said it. Your memory shouldn't be that bad, right?"

The first time was to answer Jim and Hanel's questions, and the second time was for them to provide the emcee with evidence of Apollo's crimes... Although they were later told by the emcee that words spoken by people with implanted virtual personalities could not be used as evidence under the law, this at least laid a solid foundation for their cooperation with the emcee.

However, Jim's question this time was not to hear the information again.

Did the person who gave you the task emphasize which of the three tasks was the most important?

Jim took a deep breath, then stared at him and asked.

The pharmacist smiled.

"You can guess the answer, can't you?"

Yes, he knew the answer the moment the pharmacist smiled.

Hanel then walked over and looked at Jim, who had a gloomy expression, with a puzzled look.

"what happened?"

She asked with concern.

"The Orpheus path adjustment and modification that Apollo Biotech made to me back then was most likely not to verify the feasibility of the 'zombie adjuster'."

Jim spoke slowly.

"Then what else could it be for?"

"I can't believe it," Hanel asked, puzzled.

Jim turned to look at Hayashihara Eri and Duanmu Youxue, who were being closely monitored, and then asked:

"What happened to me after the Orpheus path was adjusted and modified?"

"Your intelligence has declined."

"Hanell replied."

Jim nodded:

"That might be their real purpose."

"Just to lower your intelligence? Why?"

Hanel looked completely bewildered.

Jim did not answer immediately. He turned to look in the direction where the Heavenly God Path had set up his gun—just like before, Six Paths Theseus's arrival here was not a direct order from him or Jiang Zhou, but rather as if he had been guided by some unseen force.

Like fate.

"Because they fear me as 'Superman'."

Jim said so. (End of Chapter)