Abyssal Wanderer.

The Chainbound One's modified metal spine extends segment by segment to reinforce the load-bearing structure, strengthening the entire armor. The outer leg armor also unfolds, deploying spike anchor points to stabilize the body.

At the same time, the bionic muscle fibers of the armor began to rearrange, adjusting the entire body into a form most suitable for close-quarters combat.

The two auxiliary mechanical arms behind him drew out high-frequency armor-piercing vibration daggers, while his own two hands drew out and grasped a heat sword with a crimson blade from his waist.

The Chainbound Modified Armor's energy reserves are nearing depletion, and the armor's ranged weapons are powered by the armor itself. Furthermore, because the enemy possesses a fission reactor, they don't need to worry about sustaining power until their nuclear materials are exhausted.

In addition, there was a significant difference in firepower between the two sides... The final conclusion was that maintaining distance would mean certain death.

Jiang Zhou recalled the terrifying ability of the other party to shatter the ground of the resettlement area with a single step, and thought to himself.

That wasn't pure power, but rather the release of some kind of shockwave.

It can be said that only close combat offers even a slight chance of victory.

Even if the opponent has a phase form that is immune to physical damage, you have no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

With that thought in mind, he rushed forward.

"Zizzi-"

But just as he charged forward, the draftsman suddenly turned around. The charging coil of the Rampades-type blast pulse gun, which he had previously concealed, was already lit up—he had been charging up the shot as the draftsman descended.

It had been planned for a long time and was already unstoppable.

Then, there was no gunshot, no recoil, no ejected cartridge cases, and a bright light appeared from the muzzle of the pulse gun.

The deadly blue-white pulse shot out in a fraction of a second; it was an attack that he could not dodge with his reflexes or the Chain-Binder's modified abilities.

The energy pulse was too fast to dodge, but it still missed him.

In that instant, as if he had anticipated that the other party would fire, the auxiliary vector thrusters on the side of the Chainbinder Modified suddenly ignited, forcing him to make a very awkward dodge maneuver.

The pulse shot out almost close to him, piercing right through a building behind him.

No, it should be called a prediction!

At this moment, Jim was intently observing the minimal topological structure of the draftsman beneath the armor through Jiang Zhou's field of vision, trying to predict the opponent's actions.

The pulse explosion shattered all the glass in the entire building behind him.

The instantaneous flash of light from the explosion behind him momentarily dimmed the V-shaped viewfinder on the Chained One Modified Mask.

At that moment, he had already rushed in front of the draftsman. And the heat sword in his hand had already slashed down!
But the blazing blade merely pierced the cartographer's body—they re-entered phase form.

"You think you can defeat me with close combat?!"

The draftsman growled.

As the phase form dissipated, his two appendages immediately became covered in fluorescent green mist—a sign that the disintegration field had lit up.

Compared to the faint mist on the white rapier or Hanel's rapier, the decompositional force generated on the draftsman's limbs at this moment was several levels higher in both scope and intensity.

Two appendages swung at him from the left and right, the thick fluorescent green mist swirling around them causing the air to crackle and explode.

Faced with such a pincer attack, even though Jim's prediction came true again, he barely managed to dodge the limb that would take his life.

As for the other appendage that was heading towards the thermal sword, it completely disintegrated the weapon that could have harmed the opponent into scrap metal.

Another faint flash of light streaked across the distance—Tian Shen Dao fired a shot the instant the opponent dispelled their phase form.

A high-explosive bomb struck the cartographer's back armor, but given the sturdiness of the "Gift of Hecate," the explosion, powerful enough to destroy an entire vehicle, only caused him to stagger.

At the same time, Jiang Zhou once again ordered his armor-piercing dagger to be thrust out, aiming straight for the jar containing Baptiste's head.

He missed again.

"They're not using anti-lithium bombs? Are they unwilling to die with me?"

After being struck by the Heavenly God's Path again, the cartographer, instead of being angry, laughed and said...

After they finished speaking, the two exchanged blows at a dazzling speed for more than ten rounds.

Jiang Zhou's judgment was correct; close combat was the cartographer's weakness.

However, this weakness is only relative.

In a real fight, the cartographer, relying on the equipment he wore, would be superior to him in every aspect, whether it was defense, attack, or mobility.

The fact that he was able to barely survive several rounds of combat was entirely due to Jim's mind-reading judgment, the constant gunfire from the distant Celestial Path providing cover, and his tactical skills far exceeding those of his opponent.

Even so, the damage on the Chained One's body was increasing.

Even these damages are just minor issues; the bigger problem lies in the energy.

Just to barely keep up with the draftsman's movements, the Chainbound Modified Armor had to maintain overload mode. Although he no longer used any energy-consuming weapons, and barely used the thrusters to adjust his position, after just a few rounds of combat, the armor's energy was almost depleted.

To make matters worse, the Celestial Path's continuous firing to cover him had already attracted the attention of the surrounding constructs. Through the Celestial Path's perspective, Jiang Zhou could see countless constructs swarming towards the building where he was.

Left with no other choice, the Heavenly Gods Sect had to temporarily withdraw.

After several more rounds of combat, the cartographer easily removed several pieces of armor from the Chainbreaker Modified due to the loss of long-range sniping interference, and twisted off both of his arms—one auxiliary mechanical arm and the other the embalmer's own arm.

Fragments of metal and bone flew everywhere, accompanied by the mortician's agonizing screams.

"You're about to die."

The illustrator stated the obvious facts of the day.

But this isn't mockery; it's an expression of doubt... or rather, a reminder.

Don't you still have a backup plan?

They're already on the verge of death, why haven't they used the anti-lithium bomb yet?

Even if he somehow acquired such a high-performance exoskeleton armor, the mortician would be no match for him.

Calling them opponents would be an understatement. If they were to unleash their full power, whether it's the "Bronze Heel-Type Vibration Generator" or the "Cerberus III Phosphating Incineration Device," these two wide-area weapons would be enough to wipe them out in an instant.

In reality, there is only one threat that can make an embalmer wary.

That was the anti-lithium bomb.

Even if he enters the phase state, if he were directly hit, the enormous energy released by the antimatter explosion would be enough to kill him.

This forced him to be on guard.

He was confident he could withstand the hit as long as it wasn't a direct hit to him.

As long as it doesn't explode within 20 meters, he can even save most of his equipment.

Therefore, he kept the intensity of the battle under control, carefully pushing his opponent into a corner.

"So you're telling me... you idiot, you don't understand me at all."

Jiang Zhoudao, who had distanced himself after losing an arm.

"I know what you're afraid of, that anti-lithium bomb, right?"

Jiang Zhou chuckled, then looked around at the residential apartments.

This is the bustling downtown area on the seventh basement level, the place where Liao Qi once fought.

Despite the rampage and slaughter caused by the Fear Incarnate, most of the lower-class residents in the nearby resettlement area survived because Booker and members of the Icarus Liberation Front drew the majority of attention.

They either hid in their homes or, guided by members of Icarus, sought refuge in various organizations' shelters.

His earlier battle with the cartographer had even attracted many residents to watch from a distance.

"If I really wanted to use an anti-lithium bomb, why didn't I use it when you were still halfway through the air?"

Jiang Zhou continued, "You—"

Upon hearing this, the illustrator instantly understood what the other person meant.

He almost instinctively wanted to refute something, but when he opened his mouth, he realized he had no right to refute the other party.

After a moment of silence, the draftsman sighed:
"That's really stupid..."

It's unclear whether he was referring to the mortician or himself.

This was the opponent's only chance to defeat him.

The illustrator initially thought that the mortician was simply unwilling to perish with him, so he took a chance and planned to stop him without using the "anti-lithium bomb"—like a clown who couldn't grasp the difference in strength between the two sides.

Unexpectedly, the other side never considered using weapons of mass destruction inside the resettlement area.

On the contrary, I was the one who failed to see through this point and wasted a lot of time playing house here, trying to defend against that anti-lithium bomb.

"In that case..."

Suppressing the complex thoughts welling up in his mind, the draftsman directly increased the output of the power armor.

"Just die embracing your own sense of nobility!"

With his phase-form lightweight superimposed vector jet system, he almost instantly crossed the distance between the two people and appeared in front of the mortician.

Noble is the epitaph of the noble.

Therefore, he preferred to be a living scoundrel.

The appendages, swirling with the decomposition field, pierced the opponent's chest—even with the protection of the Chainbound Modified Power Armor, it was not much more difficult than piercing the air.

His final act of respect was not to use those weapons of mass destruction to kill the morticians.

At least leave him a complete body, let him die with dignity.

Thinking this, the draftsman reached out and removed the mask that ran across the V-shaped viewfinder.

then……

He saw the mortician's eyes moving rapidly in their sockets.

…………

On a building not far away, Jiang Zhou stood holding the spear that Number One had given him before leaving.

The spear was long and slender, and golden in color, as if it were made of pure gold.

This is the weapon from Perseus Path Depth 7, named "Golden Rain".

Its name comes from the story of Zeus transforming into a shower of gold, meeting Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius, the king of Argos, in the bronze tower, and giving birth to Perseus.

If wielded as a melee weapon, this spear can deploy a phase field, ignoring physical defenses and damaging the target's internal organs.

But if it is thrown out—

"So you're telling me, you idiot, you don't understand me at all."

Jiang Zhou murmured to himself as he looked at the cartographer in the distance and the human path piloting the Chain-Binder Modified.

He never considered himself a noble person, but on the other hand, he never considered himself the kind of person who would die to prove his innocence.

For the past hundred years, he has only done things that he feels confident about.

For example, right now.

Jiang Zhou lifted "Golden Rain" over his shoulder and threw it down suddenly.

The golden spear, once released from his hand, transformed into a golden meteor, as if drawn by some force, and plummeted towards the cartographer.

The draftsman, sensing something, turned around abruptly. The Cerberus III phosphating incinerator, mounted on one of the appendages, opened its jaws, and a high-pressure stream of fire shot out like a breath, directly facing the golden light.

After the flames were released, his ghost circuits activated instantly, putting him into phase state.

The golden meteor was engulfed by the phosphorescent flames halfway through its journey, but in the next instant, the golden light transformed into countless fine golden raindrops that tore through and extinguished the flames before shooting toward the cartographer.

The circuitry was severed, the body was pierced, and the energy was absorbed...

But this time, ghosthood could no longer protect him safely.

In this golden rain, the illustrator felt that he had been seriously injured.

The first time after connecting these devices, I experienced excruciating pain throughout my entire body.

It hurts a lot, it's very serious.

But it wasn't fatal.

Realizing that this "golden rain" carried a phase position, the cartographer managed to extricate himself from the ghostly state before he was riddled with holes.

Thus, the golden rain passed through his body as if it were an illusory rain, no longer causing him any harm.

I will kill you!

The draftsman looked down at the mortician who was standing on a rooftop not far away, looking down at him, and said through gritted teeth.

“I will break every bone in your body, burn every drop of your blood, every piece of your flesh… and I promise you will experience all of this while you are fully conscious.”

The draftsman, realizing he had been outmaneuvered all along, roared in fury.

Despite possessing a combat strength of Depth 7, he was repeatedly outmaneuvered by a mere Depth 2 Coordinator.

What's even more infuriating is that the other party staged a scene of self-sacrifice, then used the slight respect he felt to launch a sneak attack.

But there won't be a next time.

The high-performance power armor was now a pile of scrap metal, and the weapon he had used as a trump card failed to inflict a fatal wound.

That shrewd fool should have let the guy in the power armor golem wield that weapon; maybe it would have posed an even greater threat to him...

With that thought in mind, the draftsman activated his power armor and turned on the vector jets, intending to fly up.

Then, he was pinned down by a hand that was placed on his shoulder.

when……

The draftsman turned his head away.

A handsome man with long blond hair and androgynous features appeared behind him at some point—the "golden rain" had transformed into countless tiny particles that formed his body.

The "Chain-Binder Modified" power armor transformed into a light gray, viscous substance that coalesced around him, gradually turning into countless tiny parts and devices.

According to legend, Zeus transformed into a shower of gold and entered the bronze tower, where he had a son named Perseus with Danaë.

As the weapon of Perseus Path Depth 7, if the "Golden Rain" is thrown out and all its energy is released, it can vibrate bosons to activate the Coordinator's own mass projection.

In a short period of time, this is equivalent to the adjuster himself being present.

"I didn't expect it would still be used..."

Number One sighed.

At this moment, his battle with the memetic entity on the tenth floor is not going well, as maintaining the mass projection will consume a lot of his computing power.

and so……

"I can only play with you for three minutes at most."

Number One said to the draftsman. (End of Chapter)