Abyssal Wanderer.

Jiang Zhou blinked.

The girl with the wolf tail and mullet hairstyle was still looking at him with her chin in her hand, as if he had just been lost in thought.

But the ice in the glass in front of her had all melted—meaning that some time had passed.

"So, how did the conversation go?"

"Sibir asked with great interest."

"What do you mean, 'How did you chat...'"

Jiang Zhou asked in confusion, and at the same time, a series of memories surfaced in his mind as he spoke.

Janus, Nyx, Second Will, Self-Awareness, Multi-Purpose Printer, Hecate, Super Zombie...

The compressed information stored in his brain in the past is now being decrypted and released.

The sudden surge of memories startled Jiang Zhou, and then he abruptly stood up.

Putting everything else aside, he recalled what Janus had told him at the end—although Nyx had already admitted defeat, those superhuman zombies would not give up easily.

I need to hurry up and complete the adjustments and modifications to Depth 3!
"It seems like they had a very pleasant conversation."

Observing Jiang Zhou's reaction, Sybil lowered her hand and smiled.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhou quickly said:
"Thank you so much for your help earlier! But I have some urgent matters to attend to right now, I'll explain everything to you after I've resolved those..."

"If you really want to express your gratitude, you might as well do me a favor."

So said Sibyl.

As she said this, she picked up the glass of somewhat cloudy ice water and gulped it down.

"And there's really no need to rush, you're not going to die anyway."

She put down her glass, her tone tinged with melancholy—one might have thought she had just drunk a glass of strong liquor.

These words made Jiang Zhou stop in his tracks.

What do you mean I won't die?

Jiang Zhou asked.

"You'll learn about this later... but let me warn you beforehand, don't take this as a blessing."

She made a face.

That's why I hate riddle tellers...

Jiang Zhou thought to himself, and then suddenly remembered something very important.

Why can't I feel you?

He looked at Sybil with a puzzled expression.

The Janus program indicated that the girl before him was undoubtedly a controllable element. But for some reason, Jiang Zhou felt absolutely no connection with her.

Not to mention thoughts, personality, memory... I don't even know the other person's name.

"Don't worry, I can't feel you either."

Sibyl stood up as she spoke, then looked at Jiang Zhou and said:
"Actually, this is a very lucky thing for both of us."

Although the information available was limited, Jiang Zhou remembered that the Sybil path's adjuster mindset permeated the entire timeline in the form of a wave function. Therefore, their predictions were often fragmented and obscure, yet absolutely accurate.

But to be honest, Jiang Zhou really couldn't imagine what it would be like to have "thoughts permeating the timeline".

Could it be that, just like when I connected with Hecate before, the information was deliberately blocked to protect his mental stability?
Just as Jiang Zhou was pondering this, Sybil suddenly said:

"So, back to the matter of thanking me earlier... As payment for helping you meet Janus, may I entrust you with a task, Jiang Zhou?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhou immediately closed his eyes.

When he reopened, he had regained his identity as a "detective".

"Let's talk about what the case entails. As long as it's not a divorce case, something like..."

"Jim's boat has reconnected," said Jiang Zhou. Sybil was amused by his words.

She covered her mouth and laughed for a while, her eyes narrowing into two crescent moons.

"It's not that he's laughing to this extent..."

Jiang Zhou said with some helplessness.

It took her a while to stop laughing. Sybil put her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and moved closer to Jiang Zhou. This made Jiang Zhou unconsciously take a step back and look on high alert.

"I hope you can... find me."

Ignoring Jiang Zhou's subconscious, straight-man reaction, Sybil said softly.

She had a mysterious smile on her face, but her tone was very serious.

That's why I hate riddle tellers...

On the other side, Jiang Zhou sighed again, then said directly:

"You said you'd find me... but aren't you right here?"

"is it?"

To this, Sybil smiled slyly and then said:
How can you be so sure I'm here—

Before she could finish speaking, she disappeared.

This wasn't a metaphor to describe how fast the other person was moving; in the blink of an eye, the girl who called herself "Sybil" disappeared from Jiang Zhou's sight—during which time Jiang Zhou didn't even look away.

Not only her, but even the empty cup of Americano on the table disappeared.

Jiang Zhou was the only one left in the entire coffee shop, as if he had only been chatting with his imaginary friend.

Jiang Zhou scanned the entire coffee shop several times with the various sensors he carried, confirming that the other party was definitely not teasing him with some kind of optical camouflage equipment—even the molecular sniffing device could not find any scent traces left by the other party.

So he found the waiter from before and asked him if he knew where the girl had gone. The waiter looked at him with a puzzled expression and then said:

"Aren't you alone here?"

Judging from the topological structure, the other party doesn't seem to be lying.

"This is unbelievable..."

Jiang Zhou muttered to himself as he walked out of the coffee shop.

Although it was already early morning, the seventh basement level, without power, remained pitch black. Before he had taken more than a few steps, Jiang Zhou suddenly turned back to look at the coffee shop.

Something's not right... Why is this store still receiving electricity and still operating as usual?
Thinking this, he went back and pushed open the door to enter the coffee shop.

The wind chimes hanging on the door jingled, but...

The store was completely dark and there was no one there.

What's going on... how did she do that?
Or is this the capability of Sibyl Path Depth 7?
Just as Jiang Zhou was in a daze, countless blood-red patterns suddenly lit up in the place behind him that should have been just darkness.

Those crimson lines outlined the silhouette of a mechanical dragon.

"Do you think now is the time for coffee, Theseus?"

A very gentle and kind female voice said this to him.

As he said this, a wave of heat swept over Jiang Zhou's head.

Jiang Zhou was startled and instinctively looked up.

"Ah... well... the weather is nice today, isn't it, Ms. Christie?"

In the darkness of the seventh basement level of the resettlement area, Jiang Zhou looked at the steel dragon's head with flames burning in its throat, forced a smile, and waved to greet it.

"You should at least explain something."

Ignoring the poor weather deck, Christie went straight to the point and asked:
"Why did the mandala certification you used to sign the contract have no effect on you, but work for the residents of the Nord resettlement area instead?" (End of Chapter)