Abyssal Wanderer.

"Click".

The moment the trigger was pulled, Duan Fan didn't even blink.

The bullet was pushed into the chamber by the spring, and the hammer fell down, but no shot was fired.

The technicians nearby quickly stepped forward and took the gun from Duan Fan. Several sophisticated instruments began scanning it, analyzing in detail why the bullet had not been fired correctly this time.

"The primer of the bullet failed to be activated... Within that femtosecond of activation, the hot spot 'wave function' of the electron transition energy level enters a super-stable metastable state, causing the hammer kinetic energy to be converted into lattice vibrations. Furthermore, the phonon phases just cancel each other out, ultimately failing to form an effective perturbation on any molecular bond."

The leading technician looked at the data displayed on the instrument and said.

Although Duan Fan didn't understand a single word of this long string of technical terms, he still nodded with an "I see" expression and then asked:
"So... what level of precision interference is this?"

Although Duan Fan will not die no matter what, the factors that could interfere with his death follow the "maximum probability principle" classification.

Simply put, if a bullet can misfire due to moisture, then the miracle of macroscopic quantum tunneling after it is fired will never occur.

Therefore, both the precision of the gun and the overall design of the paradoxical safe room are aimed at minimizing the probability of interference, so that the timeline of the "new possibility" they reach is as consistent as possible with the previous timeline.

Ideally, they should be so similar that there is only one difference in quantum fluctuation.

"The probability of quasi-first-level quantum tunneling is smaller than that of macroscopic quantum tunneling."

That's what the researcher said.

Duan Fan nodded.

That's accurate enough.

At that moment, as he pulled the trigger, the "Big Thunder" launcher at the center of the Olympus Space City ring fell silent.

In other words, the current timeline has shifted to the possibility of not unleashing a "big thunderbolt" upon the Nord resettlement area.

Upon seeing this, Briarus immediately condensed a massive amount of fictitious gravity into a tiny space, distorting the flow of time within it and quickly fixing the anchor point.

At the same time, the pathfinder of Theseus, who was connected to Theresias, also began to observe, through the prophet's "eyes," whether humanity would survive when civilization reached its "end."

Based on Therias's time-reversal nature, actively observing the future 500 years in advance would yield very little information.

More specifically, it can only transmit one byte of information.

Yes or no.

"Hope remains green."

Seeing that Briareus and the others had already started working, Duan Fan stared at the green pillar in the center of the hall and whispered.

As if mocking his silent prayers, accompanied by the urgent sound of an alarm, the color inside the pillar instantly turned blood red.

If a great thunderbolt is not unleashed to wipe out the Nord settlement, then five hundred years later, Therisias will be unable to transmit the prophecy that humanity still exists.

This is the stark reality.

"Ugh……"

Although he had seen similar situations many times before, Duan Fan still couldn't help but sigh at the final result.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

The gravity anchor point vanished in an instant, and Briareus turned his head, his expression complex.

Although it is unclear exactly how humanity perished, if a great thunderbolt does not descend now, there will indeed be no human civilization in five hundred years.

It was only at this moment that the Category II crisis alert for the Nord resettlement area was raised to the highest level.

At that moment, Briareus gave a very human-like purse of his lips:
"The old man is blaming me."

There is only one person, or rather, one being, whom he can call "old man".

Chairman of the Jupiter Group, the only adjuster in all of humanity to reach Level 10 of Depth.

Another Glock pistol was placed on the simple table. Duan Fan walked over, put the old one back on the table, and then picked up the new one.

This time, the sensor on the pistol connected to "Big Thunder" was replaced with an activation option.

Pull the trigger, and the timeline will jump to the possibility of launching "Big Thunder".

Unlike before, he wasn't as decisive, and he was no longer in the mood for jokes. Duan Fan kept weighing the gun in his hand, and then couldn't help but complain:

"To be honest, I'm always the one who has to fire the gun, making it seem like I'm the butcher who activates 'Thunderbolt' every time."

Upon hearing this, even Briareus couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Although the other party appears to be merely a mortal being, if this "Seventh Will" is unwilling to cooperate with them, then they have no way to force him.

"The one who launched the Great Thunder was the chairman, and the one who decided to launch it was Therias. None of this has anything to do with you... No, it should be said that the key to ultimately saving billions of people is actually you."

Briarius immediately said, while his entire professional psychological team behind the scenes began to analyze and study how to get the other party to cooperate with this work.

“I have a complete file here about this Category II crisis in the entire Nord resettlement area. After you see it, you will understand that instantaneous and painless death is the greatest mercy for them.”

As Briarus said this, the "arm" beside him immediately brought him a data board that was in standby mode.

"The inhabitants there face too many threats: memetic entities caused by the rising of the Dionysian architecture, the Primal Apollo virus that is spreading rampantly everywhere, the damage to the geothermal power plant that could lead to magma backflow at any time, the killing symbiotes spread by Apollo creatures, the behemoths that are running rampant throughout Central Asia... and a large number of completed superhumans."

"A large number of superhumans—you should be aware of how much of a threat they pose to us."

As he spoke, he handed over the data panel he was holding at the opportune moment.

Duan Fan gripped his pistol and looked at the data board that was handed to him with an impatient expression. Then, he raised his hand and shot the data board away.

"Do you think that knowing more about the Nord resettlement area will make me feel better?"

Duan Fan stared at him coldly.

These blunt words, when they reached Briarus's ears, made Him secretly cheer – just as the psychological team had analyzed, the other party's previous hesitation had been spurred on, and He had finally made up His mind.

"You know that's not what I meant."

Briarous said.

Duan Fan gripped his pistol, took several deep breaths, and then said:

“From now on, I must not see any news about the Nord resettlement area. Including the entire Australian ecological reserve, no news about Nord is allowed to appear.”

"That's no problem, and we can meet any other needs."

Briarius nodded.

"no need."

Duan Fan sighed and pressed the gun against his chin once more.

"I'm curious, if this shot goes off and the answer is still red, what would you do?"

He then added a sarcastic remark.

Briarous's reaction to this was unusually calm.

"Just like before, we will find and eliminate the sources of threats one by one, and steer the course of history back to the correct probability level until that green light appears."

Upon hearing this, Duan Fan finally managed a very forced smile.

"Aren't those good old days wonderful?"

After saying that, he pulled the trigger again.

This time, a shot rang out.

The muzzle flash from the gun slightly burned Duan Fan's chin.

However, the copper-plated armored projectile, which leaves the barrel at a speed of 375 meters per second, is rendered invisible the moment it is fired.

The atoms that make up the warhead instantly transform into wave functions, passing through the gaps between the atoms that make up Duan Fan's head, and only after leaving the back of his head do they acquire a macroscopic entity.

It hit the ceiling of the hall, leaving a shallow scratch.

Briarous also re-anchored the gravity coordinates, giving another director the opportunity to observe the future through reverse time information.

This time, they observed very quickly.

The next instant, the pillar in the center of the Paradoxical Security Room lit up in green, representing the safe survival of humanity.

This means that as long as the Great Thunder is activated, humanity will be able to survive safely for another five hundred years.

And so, the death sentence noose in the Nord resettlement area was tightened.

"How much longer?"

Duan Fan put down his pistol, rubbed the charred marks on his chin, and asked, "Fifteen minutes until the Great Thunder is activated."

Briareus replied—his tone a mixture of relief and helplessness.

This time difference is to allow for red light to provide redundancy for adjustments and the cancellation of the Thunderbolt while the red light continues to illuminate.

"However, if you're asking about the situation at the Nord resettlement area, they probably wouldn't last even ten minutes."

Briarius continued.

Just now, He received the information from the master of ceremonies regarding the current situation of the Nord resettlement area.

At this moment, destruction has already come.

…………

The resettlement area has ten floors, with a central control tower.

The meme entity, the embodiment of fear, is now beyond what Number One can suppress with just three tons of computational elements.

Just after the draftsman self-destructed the Hellfire Furnace Core, the opponent's computing power suddenly surged. Originally, Number One was very close to the universal printer, just one breath away from cutting off the opponent's biggest reliance for tyranny in the base reality.

However, the opponent directly devoured the entire control tower, taking control of all the energy equipment inside. At the same time, using the building materials as raw materials, they directly printed out a massive number of simple yet highly practical self-destructing drones, forcefully pushing them back.

With this near-suicidal special attack failing, Number One realized that he had no chance of winning.

After recovering, the embodiment of fear began to use its powerful computing capabilities to produce a massive amount of technological blueprints and manufacture various weapons using readily available materials to suppress Number One.

Judging from the depth adjustment, what the other party printed out were only some structures of depth 1, depth 2, or even human engineering level, but the quantity was simply too large and endless.

As Number One suffered repeated defeats due to the loss of his suppressive power, he began to discover that more advanced products were emerging in the newly created constructs of his opponent.

If this continues, forget about suppressing or defeating the opponent; he might not even be able to escape.

What should I do?
Should we run?

If Number Three knew he was leaving the battlefield, how would he react?
What about that thing called the "paradox"?
Predictions kept flashing through Number One's mind core, but no matter how he calculated the balance, the outcome of continuing to fight this meme entity was obvious.

There is no doubt that he will die.

No, even if I do everything in my power to hold it back, there's a high probability that the great thunder will still fall.

If you don't run, you're sure to die.

Running offers a slim chance of survival.

Just then...

I have deciphered 50% of the seal left on you by the Goddess of the Underworld.

A message bypassed the ice wall's protection and resonated directly within Number One's mental core.

Lord Prometheus!
Number One was immediately overjoyed.

What should I do next?

Knowing that time was of the essence and the opportunity was rare, he directly sought instructions from the leader.

He is busy with other things right now and doesn't have time for you. Take this opportunity to leave the Nord settlement area, and I will help you remove the remaining shackles on the way.

After he finished speaking, the voice completely disappeared from the core of his mind.

Having received instructions, Number One naturally did not intend to linger here any longer.

He first apologized to Number Three and the mortician in his mind, and then, under the cover of many floating cannons, he directly transformed into the Aegis Gorgon module, intending to blast open an escape route with heavy firepower.

But at that moment, a fictional humanoid figure with burning wings appeared in his line of sight—and silently bypassed his ice wall!
Prometheus was able to bypass his ice wall because the entire ice wall of the fire-stealer was written by Him.

But where did this guy come from?!
It should be noted that the last strange being that suddenly bypassed his ice wall was the very "paradox" that casually banished the Pluto Deep Dive Director.

Could they really be coming after me because I'm trying to run away?
Yes, that's right. Although you can't see his face clearly, this guy's appearance looks very similar to that "Icarus" named Liao Qi from before.

Thinking of this, Number One shivered instantly.

"Please do not leave. If you escape, then starting from the tenth floor, all the residents of the Nord resettlement area will die in agony."

The humanoid figure with a pair of burning wings on its back said this.

This statement startled Number One.

Or should I say something I don't know?

No, if the other party were a "paradox," they wouldn't use such a pleading tone.

"Who are you? And how did you get around my ice wall?"

Number One asked directly.

The man who looked remarkably like Icarus said:

“I am another meme entity born in Nord, and I am finding you through a broken city.”

Then, without giving him time to understand, the man continued:

"You promised the morticians, the warriors of the data center, and Booker Irwin that you would protect the safety of the entire Nord settlement, promising that as long as you were there, no one else would die... Are you now planning to break your promise?"

Upon hearing this, Number One was speechless.

A wave of embarrassment, shame, anger, and panic washed over him, and it took him a long time to manage to squeeze out a sentence:
"This is not something I can save."

Neither completely defeating the memetic entity nor saving the entire Nord settlement was within his capabilities.

If I just run away, at least I can survive.

If it were possible to sacrifice himself to save the entire Nord resettlement area, he might be willing to consider it.

But if his sacrifice doesn't bring him anything of value, he doesn't think preserving himself is a shameful act.

"But if you choose to stay and fight alongside me to the end, there is at least one thing that can be saved."

The winged humanoid said this with a serious expression.

“Tell me… even if there’s only one thing that can be confirmed as something that can save us, I’ll consider staying and fighting alongside you.”

After hesitating for a few seconds, Number One said this.

"Your salvation."

That person said with a serious expression.

A feeling of being so angry that he almost laughed surged up, and Number One struggled to suppress the urge to mock.

What makes you think you can offer me salvation?

He retorted sharply.

And the previously blurry human face began to become clear.

The moment Number One saw the other person's face clearly, he almost swore out loud.

"I was born from the last echo of the rebel who died because of you. I think if it really is him, he would be willing to forgive the crimes you committed in the past if you were willing to persevere to the end."

Icarus transformed into Liao Qi's appearance and said this.

After a moment of silence, Number One deactivated the heavy weaponry that was being generated and then answered with only one word.

"Grass……"

“I will take this as a yes.”

Icarus said so.

…………

The Nord resettlement area, a four-story building, served as the venue for a commercial performance.

Countless people infected with the Dionysus virus have been placed here, and the last remaining forces of the police department are holding this place.

Wang Ying, Ji Mu, as well as Lin Yuan Hui Li and Duan Mu You Xue, were also left here.

While waiting for the descent team to return, Wang Ying and Ji Mu's main task was to inject the two infected superhumans with anesthetics to prevent them from suddenly waking up.

At that very moment, just as Ji Mu was about to administer another dose of anesthetic to Duanmu Youxue, Youxue, who was still in a deep sleep, suddenly raised her hand and grabbed her.

"The game is almost over. Do you want to see the final result?"

As the snow fell, so it was said. (End of Chapter)