Abyssal Wanderer.

The tenth floor of the Nord resettlement area, near the central control tower.

Perseus I stared at the distorted creature before him, speechless.

The image of that meme entity reflected in the web domain was thus presented in reality through a universal printer.

It was like the embodiment of the word "pain"—countless faces surging on that body that flowed like asphalt, each face contorted in a grotesque expression, each face emitting a horrifying scream.

As the screams continued, those people spewed plasma flames and aqua regia venom at Number One.

So primitive...

In fact, the essence of the other party is somewhat similar to the Perseus path—relying on a large number of nanomachines to condense into such ever-changing forms, spreading those pains and fears in a concrete form on the underlying reality.

It's just that the efficiency is too low.

Too many complicated embellishments, too many useless expressions, too many unnecessary feature displays. To put it bluntly, the other party is like using a nuclear reactor for warmth; it's not that it's not useful, but its efficiency is unimaginably low.

Similarly, in manipulating nanomachines, the first one shaped the computational element into the Aegis module, and then transformed the Aegis module into a model that was most suitable for the current scenario in terms of efficiency.

During this period, there were no metaphors, no aesthetics, no personal style... The Aegis modularization became countless simple floating cannons, swimming around the No. 1 like fish, precisely pouring firepower into the opponent's weak points, causing the opponent to retreat step by step.

Even so, their battle was still evenly matched.

Because the other party's scale is far greater than our own.

If Number One adopts a "low-entropy" combat mode, which is very precise but unable to expand its own scale, then the opponent is pure "high-entropy" chaos, unleashing its uncontrolled violence on Number One with the scale of a tsunami.

"Once the Dionysian architecture has fully surfaced, will the future World Wide Web be filled with this kind of thing?"

Several floating cannons automatically combined into a field shield, blocking the oncoming plasma flames, Number One muttered to himself.

Many memes have been personified and given physical form, deeply integrating with human society.

Those "legends" are no longer just inspiring stories, but entities with real power.

The confrontation between ideologies will no longer be just a matter of people's emotions, but will actually take the form of a physical confrontation.

It is conceivable that this would be another upheaval in the entire human world since the Third Cyber ​​War.

But if all memetic entities are like this, then humanity is probably doomed...

Number One thought.

One can only hope that this "incarnation of fear" is merely a deformed product born from the influence of the Dionysus virus, and does not represent the normal state of the concept of meme entities.

After all, "Icarus" is a meme entity, but it looks much more normal.

To imbue memes and ideas with intellect and power... I wonder what Janus's considerations were when he created the Dionysian framework.

"Ok?"

It was at this moment that Number One sensed that "Golden Rain" had been activated—his previous speculation was correct; the enemy had deployed a force far exceeding the mortician's ability to handle the situation underground in the resettlement area.

Two conflicting thoughts surfaced in his mind at that moment.

First, it's fortunate that I had the foresight to make arrangements in advance, and second... this thing backed by the universal printer is a bit tricky. If it really has to allocate computing power to create a quality projection to help the mortician, things will be a bit bad for me.

After hesitating for a second, Number One finally decided to offer assistance.

Not to mention that he can only hold out for now, even if he kills this thing in front of him, it will only be a temporary solution.

To truly eliminate memetic entities, we still need the Orpheus path adjusters to appease those Dionysian virus-infected individuals who have gone mad.

As his thoughts raced, countless floating cannons rapidly transformed around Number One.

They quickly constructed a sixteen-sided cube with a flashing phase field, protecting him from all sides.

Once the defenses were in place, he immediately projected his consciousness onto the "golden rain" and activated mass projection.

The next instant, he appeared on the seventh basement level of the resettlement area, a place he knew all too well.

One of the mortician's puppets died here, and the "Chainer Modified" power armor he had previously constructed was now completely destroyed. Fortunately, the computing elements that made up the armor did not "lose their function" due to the high-energy attack.

They can also reuse them to generate weapons, so they no longer need to rely solely on mass projections to fight.

This... the place where he died seems a little too fitting.

Number One thought.

If this was planned by the mortician, then this guy did a really good job.

Thinking this, he grabbed the guy who was about to leap up.

Hmm... The Emsa Path Adjuster has a whole bunch of high-level weaponry attached to its limbs.

It's a standard monster lineage, a quick-to-be-advanced combatant.

Looking at the Path Adjuster of Empsa before him, he couldn't help but recall the mass-produced opponents he faced during the Third Cyber ​​War.

The intense tremors felt from the main body pulled Number One back to reality—the memetic entity must have intensified its attack.

We need to hurry up on our end.

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

Thinking this, Number One said this to the illustrator.

Upon hearing this, the draftsman immediately entered phase mode without hesitation.

Looking at the Coordinator who suddenly appeared before him as if teleported, he didn't feel he had any chance to quibble.

However, as he entered phase mode, Number One also constructed a phase sword called "Severing the Undying Scythe".

The blade, glowing with a faint purple light, swept across, cleanly severing the cartographer's two limbs.

The Perseus approach, numerically speaking, isn't particularly powerful. However, its consistent success in various debates stems from its flexibility in adapting to different situations.

Even relying on mass projection, recovering that little bit of computational element generation equipment, and with the energy in the "golden rain" only enough to maintain the projection for three minutes, Number One was confident that he could beat this guy, who only relied on equipment to stack his combat power to Depth 7, to a pulp.

…………

The battle that follows will be one I can no longer stand by and watch.

After confirming that Projection One had arrived, Jiang Zhou left the battlefield without looking back.

No matter how much ambiguity there may be on both sides, this is a battle between two depth 7s who will not hold back.

If you just stand there and watch, you'll most likely die from some unknown area-of-effect attack.

As Jiang Zhou had expected, countless lights and explosions came from behind him; tremors powerful enough to cause the earth to collapse also echoed continuously.

Moreover, even after running hundreds of meters, he could still feel the scorching heat waves constantly hitting him.

If the draftsman had used those things on himself earlier, he probably would have turned to ashes long ago.

After running out of the center of the battlefield, Jiang Zhou found a jet motorcycle by the roadside and rode it directly towards the geothermal power plant.

Currently, Jim and Hanel are under attack by a large number of drones and have no choice but to drive their flying cars at low altitudes—they act like a drone magnet, attracting the pursuit of a large number of structures on the seventh negative level.

Fortunately, they are capable enough to handle it, it will only slow down their journey to the geothermal power plant.

In contrast, Jiang Zhou, riding his jet motorcycle, did not encounter any attacks along the way.

They might even get to the power plant before Jim and the others.

Along the way, he even had the leisure to take his hand off the handle and touch the memory inserted into the brain-computer interface.

He transferred all the adjustments and modifications to the Theseus path depth 3 in "Golden Rain" to memory.

Jiang Zhou pondered whether he should take this opportunity to leave Pluto Deep Diving Company once all of this was over.

After all, even with Christie's help, it's still dangerous to be under the watchful eyes of those board members.

If my true identity is discovered, then things could get really messed up.

Unfortunately, the adjustments and modifications given by Number One did not include Pegasus.

Otherwise, this problem wouldn't even need to be considered.

If radiation sickness cannot be cured, he will have to stay on the Icarus Liberation Front and have Booker get him Pegasus from the market—before his brain completely turns to mush.

After the Category II crisis is resolved, it remains to be seen whether the Nord resettlement area will further consolidate its independent status or be centrally monitored by various companies.

And most importantly, if I leave Pluto, I'll have to find another deep-sea diving site.

I wonder if the Goddess of the Moon will be generous enough to lend me the interface she has... But judging from her usual style, she'll probably ask me to do some kind of task first before she'll agree.

With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Jiang Zhou finally shook his head.

Never mind... it's still hard to say whether we can get through this crisis.

Don't waste time thinking about it; it would be too ironic if the final, devastating thunderbolt killed everyone.

Moreover... even if Jim Ritter successfully ascends to Depth 7, there are still many unresolved questions surrounding this crisis stemming from Nyx's last wish.

For some reason, Jiang Zhou felt a faint unease lingering in his heart.

According to Baptiste's earlier statement, Jim Ritter was a clone created based on the genes and residual mental model of the person who made the Second Will, and was supposed to be a perfect, unconscious Superman. However, due to Janus's contingency plan, he gained self-awareness.

The Orpheus Path created by Janus was specifically designed to completely seal off the Second Will.

Jiang Zhou was able to find corroboration for these points from other intelligence sources, so it was highly likely that Baptiste had not lied to him.

But he may be hiding some crucial information.

After all... why would Janus do that?
If Janus really wanted to completely shut down a certain technology, with his abilities, he could have eradicated it at its source, instead of deliberately leaving an adjustment path as a switch.

From a rational perspective, Jiang Zhou felt that Janus's actions were somewhat like a conflict between his left and right brains.

However, if he starts from his own personality and tries to feel things through his senses, he can vaguely sense something.

Janus seems to be... giving humanity a choice?

…………

To put it politely, this was a one-sided battle. Phase Mode was the Cartographer's strongest defensive technique, and his greatest asset, allowing him to cross the barriers of depth and engage in dialogue with truly powerful individuals. The first two times, he had used this very technique to corner the slippery and infuriating Embalmer.

But the guy who suddenly appeared in front of us was not a mortician.

The illustrator couldn't even see how the sword appeared; it seemed to have been in the man's hand from the very beginning. Its shape resembled both a sickle and a sword, and its blade was wrapped in a faint purple light.

The blade traced a simple, almost aesthetically pleasing arc, and his two limbs, equipped with automatic avoidance circuits, were severed in response. The cuts were as smooth as mirrors, without even a trace of metal tearing.

How could it possibly hit me...? Aren't I still in phase form?
The draftsman was shocked and immediately activated the motor to reverse.

Golden light spots converged to form the opponent's body, while lead-gray armor rapidly spread from the opponent's sword-wielding hand and half of their body, covering their entire body.

"The first lesson..."

The man spoke.

As the faceplate with a "V"-shaped viewfinder covered the other person's face, his voice gradually changed from a human voice to a mechanical voice with a subtle stutter.

"Phase morphology is not invincible; it's just that most people don't have time to analyze your coupling parameters."

As he spoke, before any of his body parts were properly secured, he swung his sword at himself again.

The draftsman ignored the other party's seemingly instructional remarks and directly raised the appendage that controlled the Cerberus III phosphating incineration device.

The incinerator opened its jaws, and a high-pressure stream of fire swept towards the man like a breath. The temperature of the phosphorescent flames was enough to melt military-grade armor in an instant, and the air hissed and screamed as it was licked by it.

But the opponent didn't even defend themselves; they simply walked through the flames.

The phosphorescent flames split automatically at a distance of half a meter from him, as if blocked by an invisible wall, forming two fiery wing-like trails behind him.

That's some kind of thermal radiation deflection force field at work.

But this at least bought the draftsman time, and he slammed his bronze foot down on the ground. With a deafening roar, a cone-shaped shockwave traveled along the building structure, pulverizing the concrete within a thirty-meter radius, and the foundation of a nearby building groaned in agony.

This attack also severed the path between the two, buying time for the cartographer to charge his blast pulse gun.

Blue and white plasma beams pierced through the entire street.

The burning of phosphorescent flames, the vibration of bronze heels, and the firing of blast pulse guns—three weapons activated simultaneously, instantly turning the entire neighborhood into a hellish inferno.

He pushed the output power of the three appendages to their limit.

Phosphorus flames, shockwaves, and blast pulses simultaneously struck the same person, engulfing their figure completely in smoke and ionized flames. The air was ionized into a blinding blue-white, and large sections of the nearby glass curtain wall peeled off the frame, crushed into powder by the shockwave before hitting the ground.

The draftsman did not stop immediately to confirm the results of the battle. He first used the recoil from his bronze heels to retreat, trying to create distance, while frantically searching his surroundings for any new energy reactions with his still intact sensory appendages.

however……

A purple light shone through the smoke and dust.

It wasn't the glow of the energy shield, nor the reflection of the armor; that light belonged to the phase sword that had severed his two limbs.

With a gentle stroke, it cut a clean crack in the smoke and dust.

Then that terrifying creature emerged from the crack.

Phosphorus flames were still burning at his feet, but his armor showed no signs of being blackened.

Lesson Two.

The man's mechanical, slurred voice came through the mask.

"Using three different weapon systems simultaneously may look spectacular, but they interfere with each other. Phosphorus fire consumes oxygen in the air, reducing the transmission efficiency of the blast pulse; the shockwave causes violent air vibrations, resulting in a deflection of a fraction of a degree in the pulse's trajectory..."

"You had a chance to hit my left shoulder."

After he finished speaking, the other party made a move.

Blood-red patterns instantly covered the enemy's armor, and at the same time, the vectoring jets began to advance.

The man rushed in front of him like lightning, swinging his weapon down.

Having paid the price of another limb, the cartographer successfully activated his maneuvering device and began to flee—even if he were slow-witted, he should have realized that the other party was the Depth 7 Coordinator behind the Icarus Liberation Front!
But shouldn't this guy be stuck on the tenth floor by himself?
Why did you suddenly come over?
While continuously activating various armed barriers, the cartographer selected complex terrain and flew towards the geothermal power plant.

Gradually, the cartographer realized that his opponent was unwilling to fight him in densely populated areas—otherwise, even a slight aftershock would cause a large number of casualties. This, however, allowed him to escape safely for a minute and a half during the pursuit.

But the closer you get to the geothermal power plant, the fewer residential buildings there are. Before long, the cartographer was stopped by that depth 7.

The other party somehow managed to get to a high point and then pounced on him from a blind spot in a building.

He stepped on the most vulnerable shoulder joint of the Hecate-Gifted Power Armor.

A crisp metallic snap echoed throughout the block. The draftsman was pinned to the ground by the immense force, his limbs twisting and deforming under the impact.

Do you know?

He stomped him to the ground, then held the phase sword to his neck and said:
"If this set of equipment you have were given to a true level 7 Empsa, I would most likely be the one to lose."

That's what the other party said.

But in the cartographer's eyes, his top-tier weaponry, which allowed ordinary Depth 3 players to compete in the Depth 7 battlefield, seemed to be less valuable than a pile of gray mud just picked up from the ground in the eyes of the enemy.

“The Empsa Path shouldn’t engage in close combat. Your limbs can indeed carry a lot of weaponry, and theoretically they’re suitable for both close and long-range combat. But your main body is too fragile. Once you’re caught in close combat, even the best equipment won’t save you.”

The man continued, while raising the phase sword in his hand even higher.

The illustrator's response was also quite straightforward.

With a "click," the remaining limbs on his body simultaneously initiated the disengagement process, and the expensive weapon systems fell to the ground like molting skin.

He raised his hands, making a standard surrender gesture.

“I surrender! I am willing to sign the pardon, and I am willing to stand trial for the charges against Neptune Traffic!”

The illustrator immediately said.

Faced with life and death, he no longer cared about the opportunity of Depth 7 or the temptation of superhuman transformation.

He will die immediately if he doesn't surrender.

The Deep 7 adjuster nodded in response, and was about to say something when his expression suddenly turned serious.

It was at this moment that the illustrator's expression also changed drastically.

First came confusion, then struggle, and then it twisted into pure fear.

The core of the Hellfire Fission Furnace emitted a deep hum.

"No...it wasn't me!"

He said in a panic.

Although all other equipment had been removed, the Hellfire Fission Furnace installed inside his body was acting strangely at this moment—the core temperature was rising rapidly and was gradually climbing to the critical temperature.

Number One instantly realized that this foolish Empsa path adjuster had attached the reactor to its own spine, thinking that the company's ice wall would completely protect the control systems of those weapons.

However, he greatly underestimated Baptiste's hacking skills after he became superhuman.

The illustrator looked down at his chest; the temperature curve of the furnace core was rising rapidly on the screen.

The cooling system was offline—that dead man's head had somehow infiltrated his main control system and diverted all the coolant into the long-abandoned sewage pipes.

"Of course it's not you... it's actually me."

Baptiste's voice came from the speaker at the bottom of the jar.

He was smiling inside the jar.

"Thank you for bringing me here, so..."

Number One didn't wait for him to continue arguing and smashed the head to pieces with a single punch.

"Could you—"

The draftsman was terrified.

"No."

Number One interrupted him.

"The furnace core has entered a critical state, and the cooling system has been physically destroyed. I didn't bring any equipment to suppress the fission reactor from going out of control."

He paused for a moment, as if giving the other person time to process it.

"Moreover, the energy for mass projection is insufficient."

Upon hearing the verdict, the draftsman closed his eyes.

He remembered why he had come to the Nord resettlement area.

In order to assassinate the shareholders of Theseus Freight, in order to complete the mission, in order to return alive, and in order for the equipment to be counted as a mission reward.

He had even thought that after this mission was over, he would retire with this set of equipment, find a place far away from the Olympian order, and become the King of Mercenaries like those legends of the past, establishing his own city... He never imagined that he would die here—squeezed dry of his last bit of usefulness by a dead man's head, a thing that only had a head left.

Then he opened his eyes.

"The mortician was right."

He said softly, not knowing who he was talking to.

"Nobility is the epitaph of the noble. But baseness has no epitaph at all."

At this point, the energy stored in the "golden rain" on the other side of the number one side had run out.

Forget about manufacturing suppression equipment, he doesn't even have enough to maintain the mass projection.

"Damn it..."

Before the words were finished, they vanished into nothingness. In the next moment of despair, Number One's consciousness returned to the tenth floor.

Even outside the protective barrier, the attacks of the embodiment of fear continue to surge like a tidal wave.

Then, accompanied by the deafening roar of the nuclear explosion beneath him, the entire Nord resettlement area began to shake violently. (End of Chapter)