Abyssal Wanderer.

Although Briareus spoke as if it were urgent, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, he did not take Duan Fan through the fast lane to the "Paradox Insurance Room" where Theresias was located as quickly as possible.

Instead, he had his "arm" drive over a quaint luxury sports car, and like a nouveau riche boss from the Common Era, pulled this "Seventh Wish" to sit on a luxurious leather sofa in the back seat.

After Duan Fan sat down, he subconsciously touched the leather of the sofa, then smiled and said:

"Have a heart."

Upon hearing this assessment, the "arm" sitting in the driver's seat holding the steering wheel finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Creating this ancient-looking vehicle was a task given to him by Briareus long ago. At the time, the hundred-armed giant's requirements were simple—to recreate the appearance and riding experience of vehicles from the Common Era as accurately as possible, while ensuring safety.

They don't care about the specific internal structure or the power source, but the exterior and riding experience must be 100% like a car from the Common Era.

To this end, the director even provided himself with a universal printer and an entire team of historical consultants, as well as access to the alpha interface and dark web addresses that could easily produce “ancient artifacts” from the Common Era.

This sports car is the product of his months of hard work—it's not only amphibious, but also incorporates numerous life support, defense, and protection systems. The exterior materials alone are designed to withstand direct bombardment from high-powered plasma weapons without sustaining any damage.

More importantly, this sports car, not to mention its appearance, even down to the parts, looks no different from a car from the Common Era—all the key structures using dark web technology are at the nanoscale, and only by trying to destroy the parts can you discover the clues.

For example, even though the power source is an absolutely safe "teleportation matter engine," this car still needs to "burn oil." Unless it's an emergency, this car can't be driven without "ritual refueling."

Duan Fan's words, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness," can be seen as a recognition of his diligent work during this period.

"If you like it, you can take this car back with you when you go to Australia. Consider it compensation for the time we've taken away from your work."

Seeing that the other party liked it, Briarous smiled and stroked his mustache.

Duan Fan was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then quickly shook his head and said:
"How can this be? It's too valuable."

Briarous said:

"It's not a valuable gift. If it were an old item, it would have some historical value. But this is just a replica of a sports car from the Common Era. It's not worth much."

He spoke these lies without batting an eye—the true value of this vehicle might be equivalent to a full set of Depth 7 modifications on certain paths.

Of course, He didn't intend for the other party to know this.

"I misspoke..."

But Duan Fan continued to shake his head and said:

"What I mean is, this car looks way too flashy... I'm just a working-class person, how could I afford such an expensive sports car? I'll really have a hard time explaining it to my family and neighbors when they ask about it."

Upon hearing this, Briarus stopped talking, but glanced at the "arm" driving through the rearview mirror, and the latter immediately felt sweating profusely.

"There are also some economy models being counterfeited in the garage. Should I deliver them to you in a couple of days?"

As he spoke, he kept mentally slapping himself.

Why didn't I think of giving this car away as a gift!
"Seventh Will" is now just an ordinary service industry worker in an Australian ecological reserve. How could he afford such an expensive sports car?
"Actually, this isn't necessary. My car loan qualification was approved by the bank a while ago, and I've already had my eye on an SUV."

Duan Fan said this.

[Find out which SUV he wants to buy later, and arrange it immediately. If anything goes wrong this time, we'll be facing early recall.]

Briarius's voice echoed in his mind, and he resisted the urge to nod, replying inwardly, "Received, guaranteed to be completed."

Then, Briareus stopped dwelling on the topic and turned to Duan Fan, asking:
"Speaking of which, the one in charge of escorting you this time is that taciturn guy, and he probably didn't explain the whole story to you. Aren't you curious about where this crisis of human intelligence has been triggered this time?"

Duan Fan shook his head with a wry smile and said:
"I've experienced too many similar things, and I've lost interest in understanding them. In the end, it's just another corpse of mine, so I might as well learn less about the outside world and live a peaceful life in the reservation. From this perspective, I suggest that from now on, it would be best to send 'Eco' to escort me."

Seeing that the other party hadn't taken the bait, Briarous was about to reorganize his speech, but Duan Fan spoke first:

"But this time I do have something I'm curious about, not about this crisis of human intelligence, but about... you."

Duan Fan pointed at Briareus and continued:
"You came to see me in a real hurry, but once you got to Mount Olympus, you weren't in a rush to take the fast track—of course, that's a good thing, because with my fragile body, I really hate the feeling of being stuffed into a washing machine—but there's obviously a contradiction here, isn't there?"

Previously they were in a great hurry, but now they are taking their time.

"You discovered something during this time, didn't you?"

Duan Fan asked this question.

Briarius clapped his hands twice, then gestured for the driver to activate the silence field within the car before speaking:

"Well... I did this to buy some time for the Nord resettlement area, to see if they could change their doomed fate."

Duan Fan said upon hearing this:
"It's destined... You've already observed the 'end' through Therias? No, that can't be done if I don't die."

Briarus shook his head and said:

“It’s not destined at this level… What I mean is, I hope the Nord resettlement area can do its best. Even if all of humanity has to take on more risks for this, I think it’s worth it.”

"The board members certainly won't like to hear what you're saying."

Duan Fan smiled.

There always has to be someone who disagrees.

Briarius had an indifferent expression on his face.

Can I ask why?

Duan Fan then asked.

Briarius began:

"This crisis of human intelligence was triggered by the 'Second Will,' and you, as someone who personally experienced the 'Great Shock' at the core, naturally understand the relationship between Janus and Nyx back then..."

"The past is so vivid in my mind..."

Duan Fan nodded and continued the conversation:
"They were clearly following the same technological path, but their philosophies were completely opposite. Fortunately, the super AI didn't play tricks. Even when their positions were completely opposed, they were still able to cooperate to improve the technology and lay out the infrastructure. In the end, when Janus completely swallowed Nyx's data, he also promised to give the choice to humanity and that he would never interfere."

Briarius held his breath when he heard this.

As expected of a key participant in the "Great Impact," he immediately revealed incredibly explosive information!

Although the Board of Directors had long deduced from their analysis of the "Great Shock" that Janus and Nyx had cooperated for a period during the early stages of the Ascension, they had never anticipated that the "choice would be placed in the hands of humanity."

Except for Briarous.

After returning from the Sun God Palace, He had a similar suspicion. And now, Duan Fan's words have further proven that His suspicion was correct.

Duan Fan came to his senses at this point.

"Sorry, I seem to have gone off on a tangent."

"Not far, not far."

Briarius quickly said:

"That's what I wanted to say. The board has always felt that the echoes of the 'Second Will' are a tumor. In the past, the problem was the large-scale Apollonian zombie epidemic, but now, due to the rise of the Dionysian architecture, the Dionysian zombies have also become a problem. There's also the threat of Superman... In the past twenty years, at least three resettlement areas have been wiped out as a result. And the 'Darwinian Force' has never stopped hunting down Superman who is lurking among the population..." In fact, the anthropocentric crisis similar to that in the Nord resettlement area has not been an isolated case in the past twenty years; it has only been amplified because of the shielding of the "Phantom Moon."

No, besides that, there is one major variable.

Jim Ritter, the perfect superman created by Apollo Biotechnology.

“If Janus’s promise is not fulfilled, the echoes of the ‘second will’ will never cease.”

Duan Fan gave the conclusion directly.

Briarius nodded, then shook his head with a wry smile and said:

"But you know how the board operates; they'd rather nip a threat in the bud every time."

Hearing this, Duan Fan finally understood.

"So that's your idea: to resolve the threat related to the Second Will once and for all, even if it involves considerable risk?"

Briarius nodded slightly and said:

"Even if we fail, we have Thunderbolt as a backup."

However, Duan Fan's response was quite discouraging.

“Then I think you might be overthinking it… After all, for Janus, the timing of His fulfillment of His promise will not change because of our interference. If it is now, then it is now; if it is not now, no matter how much effort you or the board of directors put in, it will not change.”

His tone was very confident, and this answer left Briareus momentarily speechless. After a long while, He finally spoke:

“I’ve also experienced the ‘Great Shock,’ and believe me, I’ve never questioned the power of those super artificial intelligences… but what you’re saying is still a bit too difficult for me to understand.”

“You don’t need to understand, but on this point, I think it’s better if you trust my judgment.”

Duan Fan said directly.

Then, the only one who hadn't uploaded his mental model—the lucky one whose wish had been fulfilled by Janus himself—spoke:

“After all, I was there the day Janus met the First Deep One in the bar.”

…………

They did not discuss this issue further along the way.

On the one hand, Duan Fan was using his seniority to his advantage, and Briarous simply couldn't respond to that statement.

On the other hand, their sports car had already entered the core area of ​​Mount Olympus. Several board members were stationed there, and the shielding devices on the car couldn't guarantee that their conversation wouldn't be leaked.

After driving for about ten more minutes, and passing through several extremely tight and terrifying checkpoints, the sports car finally arrived at their destination.

Paradoxical Insurance Room.

The Jupiter Group is responsible for preserving the location of the Deep 7 Adjusters of Therisias.

Perhaps the prefix "under the Jupiter Group" can be removed, since there's only one Deep 7 Theresias Pathfinder in the entire world.

Of the three prophetic paths, the Teresias path has the fewest and most mysterious adjusters.

The principle behind their prophecies is that they receive reverse-time information sent back by their future selves, thus gaining knowledge about the future.

By leveraging the power of the Therisias path, the Jupiter Group created a paradoxical safe room.

This is a huge hall with an area of ​​tens of thousands of square meters. There is no decoration or furnishing. It is as empty and simple as a salt field.

The silvery-white floor was as smooth as a mirror, and the ceiling was covered with countless pipes and circuits, all converging on the green glass pillar in the center of the hall that ran from the floor to the ceiling.

The glass column was green because it was filled with some kind of life-sustaining liquid. Floating within this liquid was a naked middle-aged man.

"Speaking of which, our boss also planned to do what he did and keep you in a life support tank."

As Briarus and Duan Fan walked to the center of the hall, the hundred-armed giant made a joke.

“I can assure you that He has done so in some ‘possibility,’ which is why I am able to stand here and talk to you now.”

Duan Fan responded to this with an indifferent expression.

"That's true..."

Briarius touched his beard somewhat awkwardly upon hearing this.

The so-called "paradox insurance" is to allow this Tiresias Depth 7 Coordinator to observe the end of his own life and transmit back information about whether human society will still exist peacefully at that time.

The adjustments and modifications made to the Therisias path did not enhance the body or genes in any way; or rather, all their enhancements were not in "space" but in "time".

Therefore, the Jupiter Group extends the lifespan of the Coordinators as much as possible without compromising their abilities—according to a certain board member's calculations, this prophet's lifespan could reach five hundred years.

In other words, the "end" he observed was five hundred years later.

But this alone is not enough, because Therias usually passively receives reverse-time information from the future; active observation often results in incomplete information or an inability to control the timing. Therefore, this system also needs Briareus to help manipulate gravity to warp spacetime and anchor the coordinates of the "end."

More importantly... the director of the Theseus Path needs to make the Theresias Path Adjuster a puppet, so that he can objectively observe and interpret the future from a third-person perspective.

But even at this point, it's still not enough.

Because any observation about the future follows an ironclad rule:
The observable future cannot be changed, and the changeable future cannot be observed—this is why the grandfather paradox cannot hold.

At least according to human understanding, the future is unchangeable.

Even if the future is observed through paradoxical insurance, it is meaningless if it cannot be changed.

Therefore, the final and most crucial link in the paradox insurance is Duan Fan, who is the seventh will.

"After all, the possibility of me living happily is the direction of causality."

Accompanied by Briarous, Duan Fan walked to the green pillar in the center of the hall, speaking as he went.

A simple black round table was placed there, and on the table was a Glock pistol.

He skillfully picked up the gun and then pressed it against his chin to test its feel.

The sensor on this gun is connected to the switch for the Thunderbolt.

"So, what was the first shot connected to?"

While checking if the bullets were loaded, Duan Fan suddenly asked.

Briareus was focused on adjusting the gravitational waves, intending to anchor the time coordinates, but upon hearing this, he still replied:

"Same old rules, the first shot signifies shutting down the Great Thunder... In other words, the first shot points to the possibility that we won't activate the Great Thunder." (End of Chapter)