Abyssal Wanderer.

This is not easy to explain...

Jiang Zhou thought to himself, while his mind raced as he considered what he should say.

His first thought was to shift the blame onto the goddess of the underworld.

But after thinking along these lines for a moment, he realized it was completely unreliable—mandalas were a scarce commodity for artificial intelligence from the dark web. Getting even one suitable one would be enough to ride a "steed" into the underlying reality; there was no way he could possibly buy so many in bulk.

Therefore, it's really impossible to pin the blame on Hecate.

Should we say this is a special case of the Theseus path? Or should we let Jim take the blame?

Or... why not just reveal your identity?

While pondering, Jiang Zhou hesitated before speaking:

"Well, this is hard to explain..."

However, before Jiang Zhou could even begin his fabricated story, Christie abruptly turned her head to look in a certain direction in the darkness.

Immediately afterwards, she exhaled a burst of hot, molten breath from deep in her throat.

A scorching breath that pierced the darkness collided with a stealthy man-portable missile hidden in the shadows, exploding into a blinding fireball in mid-air.

Almost at the same instant, the Tian Shen Dao, who was lying in ambush nearby, also fired, and the bullets intercepted another man-portable missile that was heading towards Jiang Zhou.

Another fireball ignited in mid-air about 500 meters away.

"There's an ambush here... Let's go back and talk about it."

As Christie spoke, she reached out and grabbed Jiang Zhou.

It's those superhuman zombies, they want to assassinate me!
Jiang Zhou, on the other side, also instantly understood.

Janus had previously told him that once he reached Depth 3, he could completely suppress the spread of the Superman virus—if those guys could have deduced that, they would have done anything to kill him.

"Wait...wait a minute!"

Seeing that Christie intended to take him away from the seventh basement level, Jiang Zhou quickly said:
"Please take me to the geothermal power plant first. I need to complete the adjustment and modification at Depth 3!"

Christie, who had already activated the anti-gravity device to take off, turned her head to look at Jiang Zhou upon hearing this. At this moment, the lingering heat of her previous breath still remained on her steel chin.

This completely incoherent statement made Christie tilt her head.

Perhaps there were just too many things that confused her, and in the end she only said one sentence:
"Excuse me?"

"If I leave now, the entire Nord resettlement area will be destroyed!"

There was no time to come up with a more suitable explanation, so Jiang Zhou gave his conclusion directly in an unquestionable tone.

But clearly, this didn't fool Christie.

"Just received news that Thunderbolt has been withdrawn."

She said so.

This kid wasn't lying, so just do as he says... it'll be good for you too.

But just then, Charon suddenly sent her a message.

[Are you joining in this too? Or did you conspire with Hecate all along? Wait... you even asked me to top up this kid's SVIP account with Theseus Freight... Don't tell me he became a human shareholder of Theseus Freight just because he was named Theseus.]

Seeing that Charon was also getting involved, Christie thought to himself.

Despite saying that, her machine immediately changed direction in mid-air and then flew quickly toward the geothermal power plant.

During this time, the various protective weapons mounted on her intercepted several more attacks that came from the darkness.

These were all prohibited weapons found in the resettlement area, many of which were military-grade. Who exactly attacked them...?

Christie thought to herself.

"Explain this to me properly... Also, are the printing permissions and materials required for Depth 3 ready?"

So she spoke to Jiang Zhou while intercepting the attacks coming from all directions.

Jiang Zhou did not answer Christie's question—he first rechecked the various print permissions of the memory, and then said:
“Icarus had already prepared the materials, but we're still missing a ‘Pegasus’ for printing permissions…”

At this point, Jiang Zhou was also secretly worried.

While in most cases adjustments and modifications don't require a complete installation at once—it's just that in the long run, completing all adjustments and modifications at one depth can make the mental index more stable—Janus is saying that only by completing adjustments and modifications at depth 3 can the problem of the Superman Zombie be completely solved.

I wonder if the lack of a "Pegasus" will have any impact.

Furthermore, the "Pegasus" itself was a crucial adjustment and modification for him, something that concerned his very life.

Christie hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then said:

“Your friend Black Falcon-136 asked me to pass on ‘Pegasus’ to you before… but because the board of directors prohibited the high-risk route from being upgraded further, it has been kept here with me.”

Because the studio was short-staffed, Christie had long planned to recommend Theseus for a promotion; however, because his adjustment path was too sensitive and the approval process was too slow, she had not yet mentioned the "Pegasus" matter to Theseus.

As they were talking, a beetle-shaped servo machine crawled along Christie's claws to Jiang Zhou's side, and then an oval-shaped memory chip popped out from under its wing.

"That guy said a lot of self-destructive things, it sounded like his last words. I guess you wouldn't like to hear it, so I'm too lazy to pass it on... Anyway, in my experience, in situations like this, a punch to the face usually cures it."

Christie continued.

At this moment, thanks to Christie's superior maneuverability, they had already arrived near the geothermal power plant and were slowly landing.

During this time, Jiang Zhou picked up the memory chip and couldn't help but sigh slightly.

Before he could express any sentiments, Christie said quietly:
"But just to be on the safe side, I still have to ask... where did you get the printing permissions other than 'Pegasus' from?"

"I provided it, is there a problem?"

It was at this moment that Number One's voice came from the side.

But what arrived was not the original entity, but a humanoid structure that he had pieced together using the semi-discarded parts around the geothermal power plant.

He said this through the highly distorted speaker.

"you?"

Christie looked at Number One and questioned him with extreme vigilance:

"What are you doing here again, getting involved in this mess?"

"I'm just valuing talent... It would be such a waste if such a promising talent under your command, who is on the path to Theseus, were to be ambushed and killed during his weak period. At least if he reaches Depth 3, his main body will have some ability to protect himself."

Number One's clone shrugged, then looked up at the mechanical dragon and said:

“Am I right, Mr. Charon?”

Christie opened her mouth as if to say something, but what came out of her throat was another old voice.

"Thank you for your trouble."

Charon said so.

"It was nothing, don't mention it."

Number One bowed his head slightly.

[Old man, what exactly do you mean?]

Christie, whose microphone had been inexplicably taken from her, immediately spoke up.

Since returning to Base Reality, she has felt that Charon is becoming increasingly different from before—a feeling that has now reached its peak.

The Moon Goddess, Theseus's Cargo, the Fire Stealers… It seems that, unbeknownst to him, this old man is connecting with certain dark web AIs and radical human forces. He's only been back for less than a month, and Charon has already made contact with so many forces whose interests conflict with the Olympian Order. What exactly is He trying to do?
If things continue like this, Christie fears that one day when she is summoned to a meeting, she will be directly arrested by the joint law enforcement force of the Olympian Order and Human Ethics Oversight Committee.

[Didn't you keep asking me what that "paradox" you saw last time was?]

Charon did not answer her question, but instead suddenly brought up another topic.

After the trial in the Nord settlement, Christie repeatedly tried to subtly inquire with Charon about the strange being they had encountered that day. He, on the one hand, acted as if he actually knew, and on the other hand, indicated that he couldn't say yet—his enigmatic, riddle-like demeanor infuriated her.

So, are you willing to talk now?

Christie said rather irritably.

[The "paradox" has many identities, countless and unimaginable... But what I can tell you now is that He is the creator of Theseus's logistics network, and the coronation of you as CEO requires His approval—and this is also part of the deal between you and Pluto's Deep Sea. Only His power can tear a portion of real authority from Poseidon's framework. Do you understand what I mean?]

Charon said so.

What does all this have to do with this kid named Theseus? Is it just because he was given that name?

Christie couldn't help but ask.

You once dived deep into the abyss, but ultimately failed.

Charon suddenly said.

[Wasn't that just you spouting nonsense?! Saying you could break through the limits of human intelligence without a deep-sea interface]

Christie said angrily.

Charon pretended not to hear and continued:
Even though you came so close, you still failed in the end... In the end, you only gained the title of "The One Who Approaches the Abyss," and for that, you had to sink into the River Styx and spend more than ten years washing away the traces He left behind.

This was the first time Charon had spoken of the incident since Christie's escape—no matter how much she cursed or patiently persuaded him, the ferryman of the Styx would never utter a single word about why he had left his horse at the crucial moment, leaving her bewildered and lost until she was trapped on the Plain of Narcissus.

But at this moment, He began to speak eloquently.

That's why I'm certain that His return is neither something we can bring forward nor postpone; all we can do is wait. If you were a counterfeit key that I forged to open the door to a new era ahead of time, then this boy is the real key... That's why Hecate contacted him early; that's why the leader of the Firebringers paid special attention to him.

Christie remained silent for a long time before finally speaking:

So, you guys were just conspiring to fool me when you said he was Hecate's "steed"?

Charon replied:

[After all, given your inability to keep secrets, if I were to tell you all this, it wouldn't be long before the psychological counseling team organized by the board of directors digs out all this information.]

Christie was furious upon hearing this:
[These stereotypes are too strong! After years of outsmarting Dionysus, I've become much more composed, okay!]

Perhaps to prove this point, Christie immediately adjusted her mindset and calmly continued to ask:
So why tell me all this now? Wouldn't it be more in line with your style to maintain your riddle-solving attitude, or deliberately spout a bunch of low-information-entropy nonsense?

In response, Charon stated directly:

[This is similar to why Hecate will no longer provide him with protection; he now possesses basic self-defense capabilities, and sharing this information with you will actually facilitate the implementation of subsequent plans.]

Charon didn't say what the follow-up plans were, and Christie didn't want to ask.

As I said before, they've joined forces with the Goddess of the Moon, Theseus's Cargo, and the Firebringers. She neither wanted to know nor wanted to get involved in what earth-shattering event these guys were planning.

Anyway, as long as she serves for another year according to the contract, and after breaking through the limits of human intelligence and reaching Depth 8, she will immigrate to the lunar colony on a technical visa—it's time to spread some metal gospel to those effeminate Lunarians who listen to jazz all day.

That being said...

Christie thought of Liao Qi.

Although Charon never explicitly stated it, the "He" he mentioned most likely refers to the product of the First Will... Of course, there is also a small chance that it refers to the super artificial intelligence Janus itself.

Liao Qi was first "enlightened" by that indescribable being in the City of Sages; later, the "Fire Thief" came to steal his body; it seems that no matter how you look at it, Liao Qi is closer to the "key" in Charon's mouth than Theseus.

But Liao Qi eventually died.

Perhaps there is more than one such "key".

Perhaps when one person dies, another candidate will take their place.

Thinking of this, Christie, feeling inexplicably annoyed, looked at Theseus, who was moving materials and preparing to make adjustments and modifications.

I don’t know if these “keys” have similar personalities, but at least Theseus gives me the feeling that he is somewhat similar to Liao Qi.

If that's the case, then at least this time she has to protect him.

Thinking this, she turned her head away.

In the darkness, several more missiles hurtled towards them.

Are these endless... survivors of the Dionysus virus? Or some other force?

Christie thought to herself, "I'll just activate 'Strong Observer Vision' and easily blast all those missiles into pieces in mid-air."

With me here, what can these assassins possibly accomplish?
Thinking this, Christie withdrew her "Strong Observer Vision" and turned around, just in time to see a helmeted technician from the Icarus Liberation Front walking towards Theseus with a high-explosive thermal molten bomb in his hand—this was a backup plan that Jim Reit had brought over earlier to gather enough energy for Upgrade Depth 7.

The missiles launched earlier were just a distraction.

With a loud "boom," everything within a five-meter radius, including Theseus, was reduced to ashes by the intense subatomic energy.

…………

"Tell those Supermen who slipped through the net on the seventh basement level to cease fire; you've already lost."

After disarming everyone present, Jim spoke to Hanel, who had been dismembered into a human pig.

Although he had suppressed most of the Supermen with the Nyx Factor, there were still some Supermen who had prepared shielding devices and prohibited weapons in advance and were now trying to attack Jiang Zhou.

Fortunately, he had Christie's protection, so this level of attack was like child's play to him.

“We have only not won yet, but from the perspective of individual survival, you are the ones who have truly lost right now.”

This is what the super-zombie said.

"What do you mean?"

Although asking them wouldn't make any sense, Jim asked anyway, almost instinctively.

"It means..."

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Zhou, who was on the seventh basement level, heard footsteps behind her.

"The room-temperature superconducting metal you requested has been delivered."

The person who walked over deliberately raised his voice to cover up the sound of him pulling the trigger of the high-explosive incendiary bomb.

Therefore, Jiang Zhou didn't even have time to turn around at the moment the explosion occurred.

The intense heat and blast of air vaporized his body, shattered his will, and then...

The boundless light, or perhaps the piled-up materials, and the multi-function printer all vanished.

When Jiang Zhou came to his senses, he saw the head of a giant steel dragon with flames burning in its throat.

A forced smile was on his face.

"You should at least explain something."

Christie, ignoring Jiang Zhou's previously poor weather deck, went straight to the point and asked:
"Why did the mandala certification you used to sign the contract not work for you, but instead work for the residents of the Nord resettlement area?"

Jiang Zhou blinked, and then recalled what Sybil had said to him not long ago.

"And there's really no need to rush, you're not going to die anyway." (End of Chapter)