Abyssal Wanderer.

Even though Jiang Zhou left the battlefield the moment the battle between Number One and the cartographer began, and the two Depth 7s were also constantly increasing their distance during the battle, Jiang Zhou was not too far from the atomic bomb when the nuclear explosion occurred.

Fortunately, Number One was meticulous in his work—the moment he noticed the abnormal values ​​of the Hellfire Fission Reactor, he sent a message to Jiang Zhou, telling him to quickly find cover.

[The fission reactor readings in Empsa are abnormal; take cover quickly to deal with the impact.]

Upon receiving the news, Jiang Zhou was stunned for a moment before his gaze fell on the words "fission reactor".

The fission furnace is malfunctioning, which means...

"Holy crap, it was originally..."

"squeak--"

The screech of brakes drowned out the word "bullet" behind him.

He looked around for cover, but...

He was on a wide road, with no cover or even a refrigerator in sight.

Even without cover, Jiang Zhou didn't stand still.

Brake, turn off the engine, and then turn your back to the battlefield to avoid being blinded by the flashes. At the same time, search online for "how to save yourself when there is no cover when a nuclear explosion occurs".

This series of actions was completed in one smooth motion.

Unfortunately, before the search results could load, the network signal on the seventh basement level of the Nord resettlement area was completely disrupted by the wide-area EMP generated by the nuclear explosion.

[Your network connection is unstable. Please try again in an open area with a stable signal.]

The AI ​​voice assistant offered this reminder.

Then, the sound became distorted and deformed due to more intense electromagnetic interference.

At this moment, there is still less than an hour until sunrise in Central Asia, but a small sun has already risen on the seventh basement level of the resettlement area.

The nuclear explosion has begun.

Even with his back to the point of explosion and his eyes closed, Jiang Zhou felt as if the entire world was filled with light the instant the explosion occurred.

Without thinking, he fell to the ground, then immediately covered his head and opened his mouth wide.

Even through the company's tactical equipment, he felt a scorching heat seep through his clothes into his body, burning his back with a dense rash of blisters—that was the heat radiation from the nuclear explosion, and other, worse radiation.

Fortunately, Jiang Zhou was not too far from the atomic bomb, but he wasn't too close either.

At least not to the point of roasting him alive.

But his hair still caught fire, and the unpleasant smell of burnt feathers instantly filled his nostrils.

Thermal radiation is just an appetizer.

Immediately afterwards, the shockwave arrived.

The blast wave from the violent explosion was like an oncoming white wall, carrying enough kinetic energy to shatter reinforced concrete.

The highly enriched plutonium inside the Hellfire Fission Reactor is roughly equivalent to a tactical nuclear bomb. While it's insufficient to destroy the Nord settlement, and far from being able to destroy the seventh basement level, detonating it inside the settlement would still cause considerable damage to the building's main structure.

If you were to stand on a high vantage point and look down, you would see that the entire structure of the seventh basement level appeared to have been twisted by an invisible giant hand during the explosion—the concrete ceiling was cracked, and the steel beams bent downwards like twisted ropes.

The safety door of the large elevator shaft was ripped off the track and fell down the shaft like a huge iron plate, smashing countless power supply pipes and communication fiber optic cables along the way.

Countless buildings near the epicenter collapsed as a result. Concrete, metal, glass... fragments of those buildings were hurled by the shockwave, flying everywhere with deadly kinetic energy like shrapnel from a bomb.

Because of the lack of shelter, Jiang Zhou suffered considerable injuries from the heat radiation of the nuclear explosion; however, because he was in an open area, he was not harmed by building debris and falling objects carried by the shockwave.

The explosion happened in an instant, but Jiang Zhou lay on the ground for a full minute before he shakily got up.

He grimaced as he extinguished the last embers in his hair, then turned to look in the direction of the explosion.

A mushroom cloud is rising there, a scene resembling the end of the world.

On one side was the epicenter of the explosion, tearing upwards. The ceiling of the seventh basement level was ripped open, revealing the ground structure of the sixth basement level. Twisted steel bars, like broken ribs, protruded from the fractures, covered with still-burning debris.

Concrete dust mixed with water evaporating from the freshwater purification unit, forming a gray cloud that blotted out the sun.

The clouds and mist churned in the firelight, like some giant creature slowly awakening.

On the other side, the ground had completely collapsed downwards. The shockwave from the explosion tore open the ground of the seventh basement level, connecting the entire seventh and eighth basement levels. Countless building fragments fell down, triggering a series of secondary explosions. The eighth and ninth basement levels were the location of the entire resettlement area's ecological system, and Jiang Zhou dared not even think about how the entire Nord resettlement area would continue to maintain its ecological cycle in the future.

If no corporate-level force comes to rebuild, that would be the case.

Feeling the burning pain in his back, Jiang Zhou pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned his gaze toward the direction of Icarus's temporary data center.

He thought of another, even more critical problem.

"Oh no..."

he murmured.

…………

Fortunately, the temporary data center, which has now been transformed into a "meme entity" fortress, is relatively far from the atomic blast site.

Despite the immense scale of the nuclear explosion, neither the thermal radiation nor the shockwave caused any casualties for Booker or the hackers there—the only person injured was hit on the head by a potted plant on a cabinet.

Even the super EMP generated by the nuclear explosion paralyzed the surging constructs.

The domestic robots, sex dolls, security dogs, and heavy construction machinery, all controlled by the embodiment of fear, were paralyzed in place. Their joints were locked, and the smell of burnt wires emanated from the sensor holes.

But this isn't entirely good news, since EMP doesn't only target constructs.

Because the corresponding protection measures were not yet in place, most of the electronic equipment in the temporary data center was destroyed by EMP.

Meanwhile, with the disruption of the wireless network, those infected with the Dionysus virus were also unable to continue providing power to the memetic entity Icarus.

But this... is still not the worst of it.

The explosion occurred not far from the geothermal power plant.

Booker calculated the distance between the explosion point and the geothermal power plant. If the EMP could disable their equipment, the situation at the geothermal power plant would only be worse.

Of course, since the geothermal power plant itself is printed using some kind of heterogeneous biotechnology, the EMP is unlikely to paralyze the power plant itself.

However, the system used to control and distribute the geothermal energy of the power plant relies on the sophisticated electronic equipment they have installed.

Those things are very delicate; if they stop, the entire geothermal power plant's power transmission must be stopped.

After all, allowing unusable energy to accumulate will ultimately lead to the very reason why Booker became the "Swordholder" of the Nord settlement.

Furthermore, this doesn't even consider the impact of the shockwave on the power plant. What if the power plant is damaged by the shock, causing energy storage equipment to explode, or even leading to lava flow...?

Booker dared not think any further.

It was at this moment that a guy from the hacker group walked over.

"Chief Booker, keep your promise."

He, and those who came with him to petition, were filled with anger.

Booker paused for a moment.

"We have already lost, and it's time for everyone to pay the price."

The man continued.

The other party is referring to directly detonating the geothermal power plant, which would destroy the entire Nord resettlement area.

…………

Within the local area network of the Nord resettlement area.

Icarus, whose flames had abruptly died down, was grabbed by the embodiment of fear. "Got you..."

The goat-headed demon grinned maliciously.

Just a second ago, Icarus was able to maintain a balance with his opponent—and even gain a considerable advantage by using the dark web computing power that person gave him.

But after the explosion not long ago, Icarus immediately became despondent.

It's not that computing power is being suppressed, nor that the algorithm is inferior to others; rather, it's that its very existence is becoming increasingly scarce.

The hackers who maintained his existence were forcibly disconnected from the network by EMP.

Icarus struggled, but at this moment he couldn't even ignite any flames on his wings.

…………

Booker originally intended to refuse the requests from those infected with the Dionysus virus by citing the inability to contact the power plant.

As it turned out, these hackers managed to contact the geothermal power plant directly despite the complete collapse of the wireless signal environment on the seventh basement level of the resettlement area.

A wired communication line was buried between the temporary data center and the geothermal power plant—this was something left behind by Jingoro Ue.

Just how many things has that bastard been doing behind my back...?

Booker muttered to himself.

But this is a good thing right now.

Booker first inquired about the current status of the power plant from the maintenance personnel.

As he predicted, the equipment controlling the power plant was damaged by EMP.

Meanwhile, the heat pipes that pierce the Earth's mantle are rapidly accumulating heat, and the energy storage devices have been damaged by the previous explosion.

If the power plant, which has lost its main control equipment, continues to operate, it will soon trigger an even more terrifying explosion—the kind that could cause magma to flow back into the ground.

The only option right now is to shut down the machine immediately.

"Initiate the geothermal core emergency shutdown procedure, transferring all pressure from the main pipeline to the backup pressure relief tank. Close all power supply valves leading to the seventh basement level, and disconnect the power connection between the generator and the multi-function printer. Before the sealing layer completely fails, I need the entire geothermal power plant to enter a state of silence. The shutdown code is..."

Booker spoke very quickly—he didn't intend to give those infected with the Dionysus virus a chance to react.

"Then what about Mr. Jim Ritter's promotion?"

The maintenance personnel on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then asked urgently.

Ascending from Depth 3 to Depth 7 requires enormous energy. Without a geothermal power plant, relying solely on their existing batteries wouldn't be enough to quickly push Jim to the limits of human intelligence.

Booker said directly:
“I know, let Jim figure that out himself! If we don’t shut it down now, we’re finished…”

Before he could finish speaking, the communication was cut off—it was done by those infected with the Dionysus virus.

"you!"

Several hackers immediately surrounded him, angered that he hadn't directly activated the geothermal power plant to self-destruct.

In response, Booker immediately activated "Chef" to emit low-intensity microwaves, causing the onrushing hacker to faint from dizziness.

"We still have a chance!"

Booker said directly.

"Let's wait a little longer! Maybe we can win this battle without such a cowardly mutual destruction!"

Although he spoke with great enthusiasm, in reality, even if Booker racked his brains, he couldn't think of any chance to turn the tide.

He simply acted on instinct to nip a potential threat that could have destroyed the Nord resettlement area.

After all, compared to the despair and death brought by the backflow of lava, the pain of being struck by a giant thunderbolt would be less.

But beyond that, he still held onto a sliver of hope.

That person called the mortician... he was also a mediator who participated in Mr. Paradox's trial.

If this is also a trial, then perhaps he has a way to break the deadlock.

Perhaps... Mr. Paradox has not given up on the Nord resettlement area.

Even under the immense pressure of thunder, He did not give up.

…………

The headquarters of the Jupiter Group is Mount Olympus, a giant space city floating in near-Earth orbit.

Its shape resembles a giant silver ring, shimmering with a noble luster under the sunlight.

Occasionally, people can see that giant silver ring in the night sky, like the crown of the gods.

Although the Jupiter Group became the most powerful company in the entire Olympus Order fleet after the destruction of the Diana Lunar Development Corporation's fleet, no defensive fleet was ever stationed around the Olympus Space City.

After all, the Great Thunder weapon array was located in the middle of that "giant ring".

It was a colossal weapon that could not be manufactured within the gravitational field. Without being charged, it resembled a combination of a solar corona and a shuttle, possessing a simple and unadorned beauty.

But now, it shimmers with a deep blue light, making it look extremely magnificent.

If someone were to look out over the Nord resettlement area, they would see a bright blue star twinkling.

The Great Thunder is now fully charged. Normally, at this time, no spaceships or shuttles are allowed in the airspace around Mount Olympus.

But at that moment, a small shuttle, protected by multiple factions, was rapidly approaching Mount Olympus. The latter, meanwhile, opened the prestigious docking channel intended for the arrival of the board members, allowing the shuttle to pass through without a care in the world.

The shuttle was greeted at Starport by the humanoid interactive interface of Briarous, the fourth-ranking figure in the Jupiter Group and a director.

After the shuttle came to a stop, the middle-aged German man with a mustache personally stepped forward and opened the door for the distinguished guest inside.

Behind him, several "arms" that had been created not long ago peered curiously into the depths of the shuttle, wanting to see what this guy, whom even the chairman of the Jupiter Group treated with such respect, looked like.

But upon seeing that person, these "arms" immediately felt somewhat disappointed.

No matter how you look at it, he was just an ordinary Asian youth.

The word "ordinary" is not a descriptive term, but rather a description of the essence of the other party.

Although Briareus's humanoid interface looks ordinary, it is actually a humanoid form constructed by his main body using gravity to manipulate subatomic particles—it is still human at the cellular level, but not at the atomic level.

But the Asian youth in front of him was just an ordinary person.

The original human, the childbirth, and even the brain-computer interface.

There were no enhancements whatsoever—neither biological nor prosthetic, neither genetic nor plugin-based, nothing at all.

An ordinary person through and through.

Or, to use a more insulting term today, cave dwellers.

But... does the caveman who could personally greet Briareus and open the door really exist?
The "arms" exchanged glances, all looking puzzled.

Is this person, who seems utterly ordinary, really the Seventh Will?

At this moment, Briareus said to the young man:
"Thank you for making this long trip, Mr. Duan Fan."

The young man gave a wry smile and waved his hand, saying:

"This is only the second time this year, much better than in previous years. I originally thought you wouldn't come looking for me until Bacchus ascended to heaven."

To this, Briarous nodded and said:
“We’ll talk about this later… This is about Nord’s affairs right now, so I’ll trouble you to come with me to Theresias…”

The young man named Duan Fan nodded in agreement:
"I understand, I understand. I saw it all on the way here. The Thunder God is fully charged... Anyway, the usual rule, let me die, right?" (End of Chapter)