Abyssal Wanderer.

Back during "Operation Magician," Jiang Zhou had already used antimatter as an energy source to power a universal printer.

Therefore, upon learning that the nuclear explosion had paralyzed the geothermal power plant, his first thought was of the anti-lithium bomb in Tian Shendao's possession—fifty micrograms of antimatter was more than enough for the instantaneous energy output when breaking through depth 7.

Jiang Zhou was glad that he hadn't launched the anti-lithium bomb when he was fighting the cartographer.

However, because the Celestial Path had been pursued by the constructs, he was not very close to the power plant, and it would take him some time to get there.

This time difference may not be enough to meet the final deadline given to them by the Jupiter Group.

Even so, Jiang Zhou decided to take the gamble.

It's a gamble that there's still time, a gamble that the Jupiter Group has a sliver of patience left.

At the same time, it was also a gamble that Hecate would not stand idly by at the last moment.

But things didn't go as planned—shortly after the emcee reported the situation to his superior, the "big thunderbolt" came crashing down.

Fortunately, at least in the last aspect, Jiang Zhou's gamble paid off.

After speaking with Hecate in the VIP room of Theseus Freight, Jiang Zhou kept thinking about why this goddess of the moon would purchase so much antimatter through Theseus Freight, and why she left behind the words, "I hope I will never need these things."

He originally thought this was a safety measure left by Hecate to completely eliminate any potential threats in the Nord resettlement area should the situation spiral out of control.

But upon closer examination, with the "Great Thunder" hanging overhead, doing so would be completely superfluous.

A more plausible explanation is that this antimatter was not intended to destroy the Nord settlement, but rather to protect it.

Hecate's sudden voice echoing through the Janus program confirmed Jiang Zhou's guess.

Just as Liao Qi displayed "hatred and anger" in the past, the goddess of the underworld, who studied human emotions, rewarded him with the power of revenge.

This time, she directly blocked a "great thunderbolt" and called it "advance payment".

Since it's an advance payment... what price will I have to pay for it?

Jiang Zhou was very uneasy about this.

What does that goddess hope to see in herself?

Jim walked toward the multi-printer with the anti-lithium bomb in his hand, pondering this thought.

Upgrading directly from Depth 3 to Depth 7 carries considerable risk—at least in his experience, it was something he had never heard of before.

Even with Jiang Zhou, an anomaly with a stable mental index, even with the connection of the Janus program, even with his own past as a "perfect superman"... Jim wasn't 100% sure he wouldn't fall into the madness of cyber psychosis.

But this price is far too insignificant compared to what he will gain and be saved after his successful ascension—at least in this respect, Jim will not complain about getting a good deal and think that reaching the limits of human intelligence is something tragic.

Conversely, even knowing he might go insane or die after his ascension, Jim didn't consider it a bad deal as long as it saved the Nord settlement, or even just the people he cherished.

After all, the weights on both sides of the scale are far too unbalanced.

"What exactly is it that you want to witness..."

Jim murmured softly.

Does love... refer to whether one is willing to die for Hanel?
If that's the case, then I already had this realization back when I was on the same level of fighter jet as Fahre and looked out at the leaden-gray clouds with Hanel.

Or……

"Mr. Jim, let's get started."

Winston, standing to the side, urged, holding a data tablet.

At this moment, all preparations were complete, and all that remained was for him to present the object in his hand to the ceremony.

Jim nodded and pressed the anti-lithium bomb in his hand onto the surface of the multi-function printer. A sudden suction force came and instantly engulfed the bomb, which contained fifty micrograms of antimatter.

Then, the black cube began to tremble continuously, disintegrating into countless smaller black cubes, which quickly transformed into the shape of a door.

Behind that door was endless darkness.

Before stepping through that door, Jim took one last look back at the entrance to the geothermal power plant.

Perhaps it was fate, but the emcee and Hanel happened to return at that very moment.

Hanel looked miserable and wretched, but her expression was even more pathetic than her physical condition.

She limped toward Jim, her still-functioning hand reaching out with difficulty, her broken blue eyes reflecting countless images of Jim like a kaleidoscope.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Jim couldn't hear her.

But that's enough...

Jim silently thanked fate in his heart.

Even if the being that emerges from the multi-printer is no longer myself, it's enough to see her at the end.

"Goodbye."

Jim said softly.

He stepped into the multi-function printer.

…………

"Goodbye."

These were Jim Ritter's last words to her before he stepped into the multi-printer.

Hanel stood there, stunned, his outstretched hand grasping at the thin air.

She opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

At this moment, the emcee walked over, his gaze following the silver box containing the self-proliferating nano-grey worms, and then moving to the multi-purpose printer.

"Your instructions are to advance to Depth 7?"

He asked, puzzled.

Winston nodded and immediately explained the "anti-lithium bomb" to him.

The emcee's gaze shifted to Tian Shendao, who was maintaining a sniper rifle, and then he nodded.

It was definitely the right choice to have the mortician keep that antimatter weapon...

He thought to himself, and immediately reported the current situation to Briareus through the "Hundred-Handed Giants Protocol".

A reply came about three seconds later—a very long time for Briareus to make a decision.

[You may evacuate the Nord settlement with the witnesses on the list before the second great thunderbolt strikes.]

Is there a second shot?
What about the first shot?

The emcee was taken aback by this.

Because they were underground and the surrounding electromagnetic environment was disrupted by the nuclear explosion, the master of ceremonies had no way of knowing about the outside world except for the "Hundred-Armed Giant Protocol" which was effective through the "Dark Web".

Therefore, he was unaware that the first great thunderbolt had been blocked by Hecate.

But in any case, he now has the opportunity to leave the Nord resettlement area.

As for the witnesses on the list, the professional team is now reduced to only the mortician and makeup artist, who can be taken away together; then there's Jim Ritter and Eloise Haenel. Jim, who is currently being promoted, certainly won't make it in time, and as for Haenel…

"I'm not leaving."

After explaining to her that there was still a chance to evacuate, Hanel replied decisively.

Her gaze never left the ever-deforming multi-function printer.

"No matter how it ends, I will stay here with Jim and witness it to the very end."

She continued.

The emcee was somewhat helpless about this.

He could understand why running or not running would have yielded the same result before, but now that he has the opportunity to evacuate, he chooses to persist...

“Besides, Jim might actually be able to save us all,” Hanel continued.

As she spoke, she turned to look at the emcee.

"Master of Ceremonies, do you have a way to contact the outside world in the current electromagnetic environment? Otherwise you wouldn't have suddenly said that there is still a chance to evacuate."

She was very perceptive and noticed the problem.

The emcee nodded, but before she could explain, she continued:
"And the people you can contact are most likely high-ranking executives within the Jupiter Group... or even members of the board of directors, right?"

This time, the emcee nodded somewhat hesitantly.

Seeing that his guess had been confirmed, Hanel said excitedly:
"In that case, why don't you stay here too? Report the situation in the Nord resettlement area to the higher-ups of the Jupiter Group. If Jim can really resolve the current crisis after completing the adjustments at Depth 7, then they won't need to unleash the Great Thunder, will they?"

The emcee wanted to explain to the other party Therisias's observations about the "end," and why no matter whether Jim completed the adjustments and modifications, it couldn't change the fact that the Nord settlement would be destroyed.

But something he had felt when facing death before prevented him from immediately denying the other person's idea based solely on rational perspective.

He thought for a moment and then said:
"Let me ask my boss about that."

…………

"So, the board rejected your proposal?"

Duan Fan sat on a round chair, sipping his freshly brewed "Qin Lei" tea as he spoke.

As is customary, after completing the leap to future possibilities, this "seventh wish" should go home.

After all, compared to the ecological reserve, there are countless things in Olympus Space City that could potentially lead to his "death."

Furthermore, many of those beings truly possess the potential to cause the extinction of humanity. It wouldn't be good if the future possibilities jumped to something else that could lead to the extinction of humanity, following Duan Fan's "death."

But this time, at Briarous's request, Duan Fan stayed behind for the first time ever.

Briarous did not reply, but Duan Fan picked up the shaker and performed a Japanese hard shake from a hundred years ago for him.

Gin and lime juice were mixed with finely crushed ice and poured into a martini glass. Duan Fan then pushed the glass towards Briarous.

"I can tell from your expression that this is the case, so stop looking so gloomy and have a drink first."

Upon hearing this, Briarous sat down at the bar, picked up his glass, and drank it all in one gulp—this body, used to communicate with natives, had the ability to experience the stimulation of alcohol.

"The old man didn't want any more trouble, and said that since the first great thunderbolt was blocked, the second one would be in a form that couldn't be blocked, so as to teach that unruly guy a good lesson."

Briarius stroked his beard, which was soaked with wine.

"Hey, He's really lazy. I don't mind 'dying' once or twice more, so why would He care?"

Duan Fan joined in the complaints, then asked with some curiosity:
"But now the Dionysian phenomenon in the Nord resettlement area has been brought under control, hasn't it? The temporary workers sent out by Pluto Deep Dive and that girl from the Dionysian sect have arrived; and that kid who looks a lot like John Otto is also undergoing adjustments and transformations... Speaking of which, among those wishers back then, he was the first to die, and I've never actually seen him in person."

Briarius absentmindedly manipulated gravity to make the water droplets flow upwards along the cup wall, then said:
"What the old man is worried about now isn't the Dionysus phenomenon, but the large number of superhumans in the Nord resettlement area... According to data from Juno Financial, more than 30,000 Mandala verification accounts have disappeared from the entire Nord resettlement area. Even if you include those who may have died, that could have created thousands or even tens of thousands of superhumans, more than all the ones created by accidental infections in the past hundred years. Why don't we take advantage of them being gathered together and blast them away, letting them scatter and escape, who knows how much chaos that would cause?"

Duan Fan asked, somewhat puzzled:
"But those superhumans have abandoned 'self-awareness' and can't even pass the mandala verification. It wouldn't be difficult to find them one by one, would it?"

Briarus shook his head and said:

"But they can hide... If a superhuman infiltrates a resettlement area, conceals his brain-computer interface and disguises himself as a native, it won't be long before he can build a huge black market system to contribute to their cause of replacing humans."

“That is indeed quite troublesome, but it’s normal. Janus once said that as intelligent beings, superhumans are simply a superior evolutionary version of the human species. According to him, even without the ‘Great Impact,’ based on the environmental selection model of human society at that time, the emergence of ‘superhuman-like’ beings among all mankind would only be a matter of a hundred years… So you plan to completely resolve the ‘Second Wish’ once and for all?”

Duan Fan asked.

Briarius nodded.

"The key issue is that the Nord resettlement area has become an information black hole because of Hecate's existence. Apart from Juno Financial, which can access local account information through 'Aure's' authority, other companies have no way to investigate the situation there. If I were an old man, I'd probably think about blowing it up with a single shot..."

"Stop, stop..."

Duan Fan made a stop gesture and said:

"I feel like you're almost convinced? If that's the case, I'm just going home."

Briarous sighed, but it was at that moment that He received the message from the master of ceremonies.

【Dear Director Briarous, now that I have uploaded the mental model, I would like to witness it here to the end. I hope you will approve it.】

Feeling conflicted, Briarous transmitted the message to the data board and pushed it to Duan Fan.

"Look, even your clone is more enlightened than you."

Duan Fan commented in this way.

Upon hearing this, Briarius put down his wine glass.

"I understand……"

As He spoke, the dense mass located somewhere in the Olympus space city began to stir gravitational waves, establishing a connection with a being located in "Heraion".

At a considerable cost, he also obtained access to the "Mandala" account.

Then, He replied to the master of ceremonies:

Go for it, I'll provide all the support.

…………

The pain of my whole body being torn apart...

The expansion of the brain's perception into nothingness...

A chaotic jumble of memories...

After stepping into the multi-printer, Jim silently endured the torment of adjusting and modifying it in complete darkness.

Depth 4 involves replacing his entire body except for his brain, giving his original form sufficient resilience for combat.

Depth 5 enhanced his brain's control over his body and his ability to use the Nyx Factor, allowing his thoughts to expand beyond himself through the Nyx Factor.

However, upon reaching Depth 6, neither his body was strengthened nor his brain was upgraded.

What Depth6 did was profoundly reshape his mindset—allowing his self-awareness to exist in the minds of others, and even within certain cultural memes.

This allows him to leave his mark on some memes, enabling him to exert certain behavioral control over people on the other end of the network through memes via the World Wide Web.

Jim couldn't describe the feeling to others, and Jiang Zhou, whose mind was connected to Jim's, couldn't understand the experience at all—it was like seeing the answer to a math problem at a glance, but if asked how he knew it, he couldn't answer even half a word.

Before Jim could fully savor the feeling, a wave of intense heat enveloped him from all sides—as if he had been kicked into boiling water.

This is the most crucial Deep 7 modification.

Depth 7 completely transferred his "self-awareness"...

Ok?
When Jiang Zhou came to his senses, he realized that just a moment ago, his connection with Jim had been abruptly severed.

He became his completely pure self again.

He was standing alone on the rooftop at that moment.

Downstairs, hundreds of people, carrying lanterns and with expressionless faces, walked toward the geothermal power plant as if on a pilgrimage.

At the same time, Jiang Zhou received a message from Christie.

Hey kid, you're still alive, huh?

Meanwhile, at the same time, on Jim Ritter's side...

Jim stood up abruptly, as if he had been startled awake from a nap.

The previous intense heat had vanished, and the surrounding temperature now carried a hint of winter's chill. Beside him, a very old-fashioned plasma television was broadcasting the news:

"The following is a breaking news update: At 9:45 AM Los Angeles time, a 'red alert' has been issued in Queens. Three mechanical devices, suspected to be relics from a visit, have fallen onto 231 Roosevelt Avenue. Residents in the vicinity are advised not to approach this area until the alert is lifted..."

Then, a cold female voice came from the computer in front of Jim:

"Finally, we've driven that peeping guy away... So, John, have you decided what your wish is?" (End of Chapter)