Abyssal Wanderer.

"Is that his car? Why are you shouting like that..."

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the mortician's distraction of the draftsman, Shen L and the others rode in a flying car and, under the cover of those constructs, quickly left the smoke-filled elevator shaft.

During this time, Shen L heard the roar of the mortician as he swooped down, and couldn't help but complain.

Unlike before, this time his complaints were becoming less and less frequent.

The reason is simple: things are unfolding exactly as the mortician predicted. If it weren't for his arrangements, they would most likely have already been dissolved into that piece of scrap metal as additional carbon.

Let's rewind to about five minutes earlier...

“We made quite a commotion when we blew up the elevator. If I were the one lying in ambush, I would definitely aim heavy weapons at the elevator entrance and come at it as soon as it shows up.”

Following the mortician's instructions, Shen L turned the auxiliary anti-gravity engine to its maximum power, allowing the all-terrain vehicle to descend slowly like a feather.

Taking advantage of this time difference, the mortician explained his speculations and plans to them in detail.

"So even if it's just to be on the safe side, the all-terrain vehicle must be used as bait and descend to the seventh basement level before us. At that time, I will leave some load-bearing points on the inner wall of the elevator shaft in advance, and everyone will temporarily evacuate from the vehicle to observe the situation at the elevator entrance before deciding on the next step."

The mortician said this.

For some reason, a hint of heartache flashed in his eyes when he spoke of these things.

Shen L raised questions.

"What if the enemy destroys the all-terrain vehicle and then keeps setting up weapons at a distance, waiting for us to show our faces? Also, without this only means of fast transportation, wouldn't we be trapped here and die?"

The mortician first nodded in acknowledgment of this possibility, then said:

"But the other side won't stay there for too long; they'll definitely come over to confirm the kill result... Of course, I guess the first time they won't come in person, as that would be too risky. They'll most likely confirm the kill through a construct first, and then they'll come out in person."

"And this is our opportunity!"

Shen L didn't understand where the opportunity lay—if those constructs surrounded them and engaged in battle, wouldn't they still expose their secrets?
In addition, the problems with new modes of transportation remain unresolved.

"Well... due to some coincidences, I previously contacted Icarus's meme entity, and the other party agreed to assist our operation. Currently, those constructs near the large elevator have been injected with the virus program by Icarus."

In order to infect those constructs without them noticing, Icarus used a large amount of computing power from the "City of Sages".

Of course, Jiang Zhou didn't explain in detail how he did it. He only told them the result—the constructs would ignore their existence and would leave three flying vehicles as their next means of transportation.

To be honest, none of the Icarus members present, including Shen L, thought this guy's plan was reliable.

Putting aside everything else, even Booker himself, the leader of the Icarus Liberation Front, couldn't control any of the actions of the memetic entity Icarus.

You should know that Icarus is a memetic entity born from that legendary collective memory. Why would he assist a project from an employee of the Pluto Deep Dive Corporation?
It's already considered kind of them not to kill him on the spot.

Although they all thought it was unreliable, they still did it in the end.

After all, sending the all-terrain vehicle down as bait wouldn't take too long. If they were indeed ambushed as the mortician said, they could at least save their lives for now—or, if all else failed, they could go to the sixth basement level and make further plans.

If there is no ambush, they can descend to the final level at their leisure.

Then, they all witnessed the final result firsthand.

The all-terrain vehicle was melted into a piece of molten scrap metal almost as soon as it emerged from the seventh basement level.

If they had been in the car earlier, they would have been caught in the act.

Then, a dense swarm of structures, like locusts, flooded into the elevator shaft. And just as the mortician had said, they were like blind men, ignoring all of them.

First, it made a show of inspecting everything, then left without a second thought.

In the end, exactly three flying cars remained—just as the mortician had predicted.

Shen L turned to look at the mortician beside him, who was looking at him with a smug expression.

Then, after waving to himself, the other party lowered the panoramic sensor mask—the V-shaped viewfinder that replaced facial features lit up with a blood-red slit.

"Evacuate according to the planned route after I give the instructions."

After the visor was put on, the mortician's voice, which sounded mechanical, took on a subtle pause.

As he spoke, two metal gas canisters popped out from his waist. They exploded violently after falling about ten meters, releasing a large amount of lead-colored dust.

Under the cover of dust, the approaching footsteps of a colossal creature grew clearer and clearer.

then……

"action!"

After the mortician finished speaking, the dust cover on the back of the armor opened, and several streams of azure flames suddenly shot out. He rushed down like a shooting star.

First came the sound of metal clashing, followed by the charging of the railgun, and then...

"I'll teach you to wreck my car!"

Jiang Zhou roared as he swung his high-frequency vibrating armor-piercing dagger, using brute force to cut open the opponent's breastplate.

At the same time, the two railguns on his shoulders were firing directly at point-blank range, pressed against the opponent's chest—the kinetic energy contained in the projectiles was enough to blast two transparent holes through the cartographer.

"Snapped!"

"Oh!"

But the next instant, the vector jet pushed him directly into the scorched ground, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

At the same time, the Gaussian kinetic energy projectiles fired by the two railguns pierced through the ground of the seventh floor and went straight to the eighth basement level of the resettlement area—even though they were fired at the same time as the draftsman, they did not hit him at all.

Because it was too close to the point of impact, countless cement and metal fragments splashed onto the Chain-Binder Modified's visor, making a crackling sound.

Despite being firmly restrained by the Chained One Modified Armor, the illustrator broke free from his control like a ghost.

Not only did the two railguns miss their target, but the dagger that had been deeply embedded in the cartographer's breastplate was also pulled out by the enemy.

No, that's not how it works...

The electromagnetic cannon didn't miss, and the dagger wasn't pulled out...

Jiang Zhou thought to himself.

The vectoring nozzles on the armor quickly turned around, instantly restoring his balance.

The cartographer, who had previously dodged the barrage of attacks, watched with interest as he got up from the ground, without taking advantage of this excellent opportunity to strike.

The railgun has a muzzle velocity of Mach 10. If it fires at close range, no one has the reaction speed to dodge it.

Jiang Zhou stared at the draftsman, thinking to himself.

"I didn't expect you to actually still be alive."

Immediately afterward, the draftsman's voice suddenly came from beside him—even though he had been standing right in front of him just a moment ago. But before he could even blink, the other man had suddenly appeared to his left.

Acting faster than thinking, the armored man swung his armor-piercing dagger sharply in the direction from the left where the sound came from.

But as before, the blow missed.

In the blink of an eye, the draftsman reappeared before him. Only now could Jiang Zhou finally confirm that the attack had not been dodged using classical physics.

But what could it be?

Mass projection? Short-distance jump?
"Hey... calm down, there's no life-or-death conflict between us. If I could, I wouldn't kill you."

Just as Jiang Zhou was speculating about the other party's abilities, the cartographer suddenly said this.

"Heh, what about the data center explosion?"

Jiang Zhou did not act rashly, but stared intently at the other party.

"But wasn't that your puppet? The death of a puppet is at most a loss of property... Besides, you used that puppet to mislead me, didn't you?"

The illustrator admitted it without any hesitation.

Then, he turned to look at the three flying cars that were flying further and further away, and said in a teasing tone:
"Wow... three flying cars, three directions, is that your idea too?"

As he spoke, the Rampades-type blast pulse gun began to charge.

“Perhaps you can tell me which car Jim Ritter is in, so that the people in the other two cars won’t die… or at least they can die later.”

The illustrator spoke eloquently.

Jiang Zhou neither answered the question nor made any direct sarcastic remarks. Instead, he sent the other party the tainted witness pardon that the emcee had previously given him.

"You're right, there really isn't any life-or-death conflict between us."

Jiang Zhou spoke very quickly and fluently.

"This is a pardon signed by the directors of the Jupiter Group. As long as you sign it, everything you did before will be forgiven..."

Upon receiving the pardon, the draftsman was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

"But the way you acted earlier clearly meant you were going to torture me to death."

He said this without looking at the flying cars again, but instead looked at Jiang Zhoudao.

Jiang Zhou shrugged:

"Since it turns out neither of us died, how about we call this even with your bombing of the data center?"

Even with the performance of the Chainbound Modified and the absolute first-strike advantage, he could only leave a few scratches on the opponent's breastplate... Jiang Zhou felt that it was better to rely on this "pardon" to keep the opponent in check for now.

Everything will have to wait until Jim Ritter finishes adjusting and modifying Depth 7.

Seeing that the draftsman remained silent, Jiang Zhou continued to persuade him:

“Think about it carefully. You have no way out after killing Jim… The emcee won’t let you board the last flight out of the Nord settlement. Even if you do, you’ll be sent to Mount Olympus for trial. Don’t tell me you’re so loyal to Neptune Transportation that you’d be willing to die for it.”

At least based on Jim's psychological profile of the draftsman, he is definitely not that kind of person.

This guy is a typical opportunist; loyalty is a bargaining chip that can be traded at any time as long as it benefits him.

As Jiang Zhou had expected, the draftsman nodded slightly and then said:

“You’re right… The emcee offered very generous terms, even allowing me to keep my Depth 7 gear. Given some time to mature, I might actually reach the limits of Depth 7 intelligence.”

"Sizzle—Bang!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Rampades-type blast pulse gun fired.

When air molecules are passed through the plasma, they are instantly ionized, leaving a dim afterglow around the trajectory, like a flash of lightning dissipating.

The flying car that flew the farthest instantly turned into a bright flame in mid-air.

The draftsman, who had previously been considering whether to sign the contract to represent the topological structure, suddenly changed his mind and blew up a flying car.

"you!"

Jiang Zhou was taken aback at first, then restarted the armor-piercing dagger.

On the other side, the draftsman was also stunned for a moment, then he turned to look at the head soaking in the glass jar next to him—that was the wet component responsible for the ballistic calculation of the Rampades-type blast pulse gun.

"How could you..."

The illustrator immediately said.

"Don't worry, that's not the one carrying Jim Ritter."

A voice came from the speaker under the jar, interrupting him.

That was Baptiste Moreau's voice.

“Drawer, oh drawer… what can I say to you? Do you really think that after all the things you’ve done to obstruct the investigation, the master of ceremonies will let you leave the Nord Resettlement Area alive? Even your appendages show that as soon as Jim Ritter reaches Depth 7, he’ll use you as a sacrifice.”

"Oh...and there's Perseus One. He's currently on the tenth floor, getting thoroughly thrashed by the memetic entity using the printer. If he discovers that the medium for deciphering the universal printer was the Charon Link you provided, what do you think he'll do to you when he gets back?"
"You know, neither of them has anything to do with the Olympian Order whatsoever...they're completely outside the scope of that contract."

As he said this, the Rampades-type blast pulse gun popped out its heat sink, reloaded, and aimed at another flying car.

[Jump out of the car immediately!]

Upon seeing this, Jiang Zhou immediately sent an alert to Shen L.

"Sizzle—Bang!"

The plasma formed another bridge of light, and another dazzling burst of fire exploded in mid-air.

The signal on Shen L's end was lost.

As Baptiste analyzed the situation for the illustrator, the illustrator, who had initially wanted to argue, fell silent.

After a long while, he looked at Jiang Zhou and said:

Is that what he said?

Without needing to say a word, Jiang Zhou's slightly delayed reaction was the best answer.

“Jim and Number One may be hostile to you, and you may be hunted down by them in the Nord settlement... Yes, you may die.”

After a long pause, Jiang Zhou finally spoke:

“But if you stop Jim from advancing to Depth 7, you will definitely die… You understand, this is not a threat. You have to choose one, and at least the option I'm offering gives you a chance to live.”

As he spoke, he relayed the news that the autonomous mechs and Titan-class behemoths throughout Central Asia were now in riots to the cartographer—which also indicated that he had been abandoned by Neptune Transportation.

"Or perhaps..."

At this moment, Baptiste spoke again, his voice now sounding like a devil trying to entice someone to sign a contract.

"You can actually choose nothing. Your former employer and the Jupiter Group are both cesspools. You can choose yourself... Now you have the equipment of Depth 7. You are only one brain that is perfect enough to control them and are away from the true limit of human intelligence."

"And I can upgrade your brain to that level... just like those clever puppets of the guy in front of you. Do you know where the wisdom behind their designs comes from? I bet even the mortician himself probably doesn't know..."

He said so. (End of this chapter)