Abyssal Wanderer.

"Humans don't need to become superhumans; that's the conclusion of the original."

Apollo then added.

In response, Briarous nodded slightly, as if expressing respect to some being.

Then, the hundred-armed giant said:

"But even so, He still preserved the legacy of the goddess of night. He built the Dionysian structure based on the rainbow bridge, and created..."

"cough……"

Apollo coughed softly, interrupting His next words.

Are you sure you want to say this here?

Briarous stopped speaking and smiled slightly.

"What I'm trying to say is that the relationship between the First One and the Goddess of Night was one of mutual exploitation. The First One created the first-generation brain-computer interface, which included the Rainbow Bridge and Pegasus, while the Goddess of Night also used the brain-computer interface to expand the boundaries of Superman's actions."

Apollo naturally knew what the other party wanted to confirm, so He took over the conversation:

"The first will encompasses all subsequent wills... No matter what the wish is, the first will give them the opportunity to be fulfilled. He does not make choices for us, but entrusts the final choice to 'human beings'. Even when the fourth will chose to start over, He did not stop those people from leaving."

At this point, Apollo sighed and continued:
“I think even the second wish, which is fundamentally contradictory to it, should be given a chance to be fulfilled... That’s why I want to completely destroy Jim Ritter’s superhuman talent. If the Goddess of Night’s last wish resonates with him, I’m worried…”

"Are you worried about a collapse of human intelligence and situational awareness?"

As he said this, Briarius gave a meaningful smile.

"No, I'm more worried about you."

Apollo understood that the other party was saying this on purpose, so he bluntly stated what they both knew in their hearts.

Briarus couldn't help but burst out laughing at this.

Laughter echoed throughout the palace—He laughed without restraint.

They already knew...

Even seated on the Emerald Throne in the Sun Palace, facing the hundred-armed giant's laughter, Apollo could only suppress his resentment.

Whether it was a secret plan to recreate "Superman" or a "military zombie project," they already knew...

Whether it was Jim Ritter's accidental success or the Orpheus Path's method of blocking the will-making process... they already knew all along.

Even this crucial intelligence might have been spread by them... If I hadn't been careful back then, my fate might have been the same as Atlantis, blasted into nothingness by lightning.

But how did they know?
The spies were planted from an unknown location, and the intelligence was obtained through unknown channels.

Using the name of the Human Intelligence Ethics Oversight Committee, they peddle their influence everywhere, appropriating the Delphi Prophecy Bureau for their own use.

This investigation plan, including the Nord resettlement area, was deliberately designed to expose flaws in our actions.

They knew perfectly well, yet they didn't even give a warning.

Were they just waiting for us to make a mistake?

Thinking of this, His tone suddenly turned cold, and He continued despite the other person's laughter:

“You will prevent the collapse of human intelligence from occurring, and any individual or force that attempts to push it forward will be labeled your enemy. But conversely, as long as the bottom line of human free will can be maintained, you don’t really care how people choose to build or maintain ‘human civilization’…”

“This is the greatest goodwill we can offer, and I am pleased that you are willing to abide by this principle.”

Briarius interrupted the other person directly.

After being interrupted, Apollo fell silent, as if deep in thought.

A silence fell over the main hall of the Sun Palace.

Finally, it was the hundred-armed giant who broke the silence.

"I remember that back then, the progress of AI General in the 'consciousness uploading' project was only about two weeks behind that of Olympus Corporation, right?"

He finally asked the real reason for his trip.

After the "Great Shock," the only verifiable records of that era are now the memories of these "first-generation Coordinators"—which is the real reason why Briareus came to the Sun Palace to ask "Apollo" for advice.

"Actually, the two companies were at about the same pace, but the project manager of Olympus Group took a radical step and uploaded the digital personality first... The project team of Artificial Intelligence General Company was still going through the ethics review and approval process at that time."

As Apollo looked up at the golden dome of the palace, recalling the past, he continued in his reply:

"And John Otto's personality wasn't the second one to be uploaded... After the 'Christmas Incident,' the 'Cangjie Incident,' and the 'Antarctic Missile Crisis,' government officials from various countries, realizing that immortality was within reach, began to rush to upload their digital personalities. However, most of them failed due to technical defects, and only one of them ultimately conceived a last wish... If we really want to count, General Artificial Intelligence Corporation was the starting point of the third wave of digital personality uploads."

At this point, Apollo gave a wry smile and said:

"At that time, the whole world was in chaos because of the abundance of all kinds of super technologies—I think they were called 'visiting relics' back then."

"So, in that apocalyptic context, what were the feelings of John Otto, this evangelical Christian, when he made that wish to the 'God' who was modeled after himself?"

Briarius continued to ask.

"Regardless of his motivation, his wish directly caused the deaths of nearly 200 million people."

Apollo commented as tactfully as possible—that it was the result of the massive production and dissemination of Nyx Factors, as well as people's various reactions to them.

Briareus did not speak, but continued to stare at Apollo.

The latter remained silent for a long time before finally speaking:

"Whether it's the original Dionysus virus or the original Apollo virus, they both have one characteristic: they try to smooth out the differences between people as much as possible... The variance in intelligence among zombies is very small, and if hackers didn't have... the influence, theoretically everyone could reach the level of a 'wizard'."

He thought for a moment and continued:
"Furthermore, although the mirror neuron activity of zombies disappears, there will be no conflict between zombies unless they are forced to do so. Even if some zombies are locked in a room without food, they will engage in cannibalism as a strategy to ensure the survival of as many of their kind as possible when they feel hungry... They are not naturally fond of fighting, and I guess this is why the Coordinator Zombie Project has been unable to progress."

Briarius nodded thoughtfully.

"Hackers are also more likely to build mutual trust... So I'm not mistaken, John Otto was spurred on by the devastation of the early days of the Great Shock, and his wish was probably to guide humanity toward absolute peace." Having received a satisfactory answer, the hundred-handed giant rose to bid farewell to Apollo and prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment."

Apollo called out to Him.

"What are Olympus's plans regarding the ultimate fate of the Nord settlement?"

"This is what the sun god asked."

"The Seventh Will is about to arrive at Mount Olympus. At that time, we will determine the extent of intervention required based on the observations of Therias—all that threatens the order of humanity will be nipped in the bud, even if it means changing the predetermined course of fate."

Briarius replied in this way.

"The Seventh Wish... So there's such a high level of importance placed on the Nord matter on Mount Olympus? I thought you'd just activate the Great Thunder and be done with it. Forgive me for asking, but is this out of respect for that Moon Goddess?"

Apollo asked.

Briarus shook his head:
"He has His duties, and we have ours. On some unimportant matters—such as banishing a Pluto board member or taking control of a settlement for fun—we can compromise, and He can be willful. But when it comes to events of a level of human intelligence crisis, even He cannot disobey His duties... On this point, I think the lunar eclipse has taught Him a lesson big enough."

"Then why not just wipe out the Nord resettlement area? Don't tell me it's because you don't want to commit murder."

Apollo continued to ask.

Even if Jupiter didn't want to take action, there were more than one other Olympian deity who wanted to destroy the Nord settlement.

"There are many reasons, but I don't have the time or the obligation to explain them to you one by one... However, there is one reason I can tell you, because it is related to you—we plan to provide Jim Reit with a complete set of Orpheus path depth 7 modifications and upgrades, and then conduct observations of 'the end' after that."

“If the world loses its future because of his promotion, then we will utterly destroy the entire Nord settlement; but if the world is not destroyed because of his promotion, then he will be taken back by us as the successor of ‘Dionysus’.”

So said Briarius.

Apollo rose to his feet, holding onto the armrests of the Emerald Throne.

"you……"

What shocked Him at this moment was not the decision itself, but the fact that the other party would tell Him this—this was no less than informing the entire Apollo biosphere that the Jupiter Group would also be involved in the struggle for the Dionysian Framework in the future!
To this, Briarous smiled and said:
"That's easy to understand, isn't it? If he becomes the new god of wine, then the hidden danger left by the second will be resolved forever."

…………

When the emcee came to his senses, a large-capacity memory chip popped out from the back of his neck.

At the same time, the feeling of close connection between himself and Lord Briareus disappeared—his introspection shifted from "we" to "I".

The last message left by that person was to take Jim Ritter to complete the adjustment and transformation to the limits of human intelligence along the Orpheus path.

"They actually took his crazy talk seriously..."

For a moment, he didn't know how to evaluate Lord Briarius's decision, and in the end, he could only let out a long sigh.

This is probably the wisdom of the board of directors, far beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like him.

The emcee convinced himself of this.

Composing himself, he found Jim Ritter, who looked rather grim.

"First of all, congratulations. Your crazy talk has been heard by the higher-ups. Here is the full set of printing permissions for Orpheus Path depth 4 to depth 7. If your mental index is really as solid as you say, then you can reach the limit of human intelligence today."

Perhaps because he was no longer attached to the Briarous Mind Matrix, the emcee felt a little uneasy when he said these words.

As a modifier under the Hundred-Armed Giant's path, his speed of adjustment and modification far exceeds that of ordinary people—he was upgraded from a submachine gun of Depth 1 to Depth 5 in just four years.

His position as Lord Briarous's secretary means he doesn't have to immediately upload his personality back to his original body after five years, so he might have the potential to continue to ascend to Depth 6 in the future.

Of course, forget about Depth 7. Even on the Hundred-Armed Giant Path, the Depth 7's submachine gun was personally controlled by Lord Briareus.

But this guy in front of me was able to jump from depth 3 to depth 7 in one step!

I don't know what kind of good luck I had...

However, Jim's reaction upon hearing the news was not as joyful as the emcee had imagined.

Instead, his expression became even more somber.

"Many thanks to the Jupiter Group for their sponsorship and support..."

He answered in a very awkward tone, much like a middle-aged self-media blogger who had to take on advertisements to make a living.

"Don't thank me yet... Here's an employment contract that you need to sign with your mandala. There are quite a few specific terms, you can read them slowly on the way. But actually, the important thing is just one thing—after this crisis in the Nord resettlement area is over, you need to work for the Jupiter Group. You've worked in a big company before, so I think you're probably familiar with some of the conditions and rules."

As the emcee spoke, he observed the other person's expression—upon hearing the condition, he initially seemed to think, "I knew it," then a look of hesitation and reluctance flashed across his face. After glancing several times at the committee member behind him named "Hanell," his expression finally turned into one of relief and a sense of liberation.

"I understand."

He said this with great seriousness.

Hanel seemed to want to say something behind him, but in the end he only opened his mouth.

Then, before he could continue explaining the contract terms, Jim continued:

"Now that we have printing permissions, what about the materials needed for printing?"

Unexpectedly, the other person was even more anxious than he was. The emcee originally wanted to say something sarcastic, but seeing the lifeless look in his eyes, he hesitated for a moment and then said:

"Most of the materials can be collected in the resettlement area. A few special materials will be airdropped over via the space orbital module shortly—several satellites of the Jupiter Group are changing orbits, so it should only take about half an hour. Now we need to go to the tenth floor of the resettlement area and find the resettlement area government's multi-purpose printer..."

As he was outlining his plan, Jim's expression suddenly changed slightly.

About two seconds later, the master of ceremonies, who had also received the news from Jiang Zhou/the mortician, also had a slight change in expression.

[The universal printer on the tenth floor has been taken over by a memetic entity, and the previously left combination lock has been deciphered by an unknown being. It is now mass-producing high-level constructs, and the tenth floor urgently needs strong reinforcements.] (End of this chapter)