Abyssal Wanderer.

"Yes, yes, the situation in the Nord resettlement area is now completely under control. After Jim Reit completed the adjustments and modifications at Depth 7, those infected... no, I asked him, he can't leave here yet. Besides the Dionysus virus, the symbiotes and biological viruses released by the apothecary will still require a considerable amount of time to eliminate..."

At this moment, the master of ceremonies is on the large platform on the tenth floor of the Nord resettlement area, communicating with the person in charge of this operation via satellite signal.

He didn't initiate the "Hundred-Handed Giant Protocol" to contact Briareus directly—even though he was the creation of that board member, the company's internal procedures still had to be followed. Reporting directly to a higher level, as was done before, was a last resort in an emergency, not the norm.

Of course, the more important reason is that not long ago, Hecate, the goddess of the moon, completely lifted the information control blockade on the Nord settlement area—all the online services of the Olympus companies were restored, and they no longer needed to go through the World Wide Web or the Dark Web to contact their superiors.

As for why this advanced dark web AI suddenly lifted the blockade, there are many theories. Some speculate that it finally succumbed to the pressure from the Olympian Order; others speculate that the entire Second Type Crisis was triggered by Hecate, and now that the crisis is over, it no longer intends to invest resources in the Nords.

However, once the blockade is lifted, it's a foregone conclusion that the Nord resettlement area will once again return to the order of Olympus.

As for the future of this resettlement area...

After hanging up the communication, the emcee looked at the ten-story wealthy area in the distance, which was devastated by the battle between Number One and the memetic entity, and was filled with emotion.

"This place will probably be destroyed in the end."

A seductive female voice came from the side.

The emcee turned around and found that the makeup artist had somehow regained consciousness.

However, because her spine had been completely twisted and destroyed by her own gravity beam weapon, even when she was conscious, the only part of her body she could move was her head.

"What do you mean?"

The emcee didn't give this teammate, who had only made things worse throughout the entire mission, a friendly look. He frowned and asked directly.

"It's just a heartfelt expression of blessing because of my previous experience here... Besides, with so many powerful forces having come here, do you think there will ever be peace here again?"

The makeup artist replied in this way.

Although I hate to admit it, what she said is actually true...

The emcee thought to himself.

Although the Nord Resettlement Area is a remote, third-tier settlement with a pitifully small population and industry, lacking even a single Adjuster of Depth 4 or higher, it is bound to become chaotic in the foreseeable future due to the involvement of major powers such as Pluto Deep Dive, Apollo Bio, Fire Stealers, and the Dionysian Cult.

Having learned from the lessons of the Pluto dive, even if the Nord settlement returns to the rule of the Olympian order in the future, no giant corporation will develop it into a core sphere of influence; as a result, it will teeter on the edge of order and disorder, and will eventually be destroyed by some excessive accident.

Unless... it can be like those "one-man cities" with a powerful local regulator in charge.

From this perspective, Jim Ritter himself is close to that level of strength. Unfortunately, due to his special status, after completely settling the mess, he will definitely be heading to Mount Olympus... It is foreseeable that the entire Nord settlement will be in turmoil for the next five to ten years.

However, the emcee was unaware that while he was thinking this, the makeup artist next to him was thinking something completely different.

The “destruction” she mentioned earlier was not in the future tense, but in the present ongoing tense.

In fact, she had been conscious for a while; and not long ago, she contacted the headquarters of Venus Digital Media through a secret channel and uploaded the intelligence she had gathered—especially the fact that the leader of the Dionysian Cult, who had lost most of his equipment, was still in the Nord settlement area.

This single piece of information is enough to offset the complete failure of her mission.

As a makeup artist at Depth 4, who is considered a mid-level executive in the company, they naturally know which entities are stumbling blocks to the company's grand strategy.

As a strong contender for the Dionysian Path, the leader of the Dionysian Cult has always been high on the company's internal bounty list. However, this person is usually too well hidden, and due to the special nature of the Depth 7 Orpheus Path, it is difficult for the company to completely kill her without causing huge collateral damage—if they cannot lure her to the desolate, rotten land, then they would have to kill all the humans around who might be possessed by her.

Oh, by the way, in order to resolve this Type II crisis, the Jupiter Group even temporarily trained an Orpheus Pathfinder with a Depth 7.

Now that two strategic threats are converging on the Nord resettlement area, she doesn't believe the company won't seize this opportunity to strike decisively.

As she expected, after the information was uploaded, her immediate supervisor only replied with seven words:
[Received, evacuate immediately]

In other words, the entire Nord resettlement area will be doomed once the Jupiter Group's agents leave.

"Why isn't the mortician coming up yet...?"

Thinking about this, the makeup artist couldn't help but complain.

Their mission is now complete, and they can leave long ago—the remaining cleanup work can be handed over to the committee staff.

The apothecary's body and the cartographer's remains have all been recovered; they are just waiting for the mortician to arrive so they can leave.

But that guy is still stuck on the seventh basement level and refuses to come up.

"Their company's executives are here, so the mortician is probably catching up with her downstairs."

Upon hearing this, the emcee replied somewhat casually.

Such a big deal about face?
The makeup artist was slightly surprised.

You should know that Pluto Deep Dive recently lost a director in the Nord resettlement area, and they still dare to send high-level personnel to this place?
She even went so far as to meet with a Deep 2 employee, which she found somewhat unbelievable.

Does that kid have some kind of background? Or is he the mistress of some high-ranking official?

Lost in her thoughts, she compiled the intelligence report and uploaded it back to the company.

[Carol is also in the Nord settlement area, now we have another reason to take action.]

The makeup artist's information was forwarded to "Atlantis" by Venus Digital Media in less than five seconds after it was uploaded.

Although Neptune had already given the order to act, having this extra reason reduced the possibility that He might back out at the last minute—the old man had become much more timid after being punished by the Great Thunder.

According to the information gathered by the "Magic Mirror Matrix", even with pressure from many board members, He ultimately showed very obvious signs of hesitation.

Adding the reason of "revenge" would likely reduce the psychological resistance He would face when activating the authority of the "Pan-human Intelligence Deep Flow Circulation Network Architecture - Poseidon".

Looking at the ever-changing shadow in the center of the false pantheon, the newly appointed executive director of Venus Digital Media sneered at the old man's cowardice.

Even though within the Jupiter Group, most board members, including the chairman, hoped for the destruction of the Nord resettlement area; even though Venus Digital Media was willing to use malicious programs to spread rumors through third parties; even though Apollo Bio and Juno Financial were willing to swear an oath to the River Styx that they would support His position afterward…

The old man from the Common Era was still hesitant.

Sadly.

Even after ascending to godhood and shedding their mortal bodies, even after gaining the vision and power of gods, many deities still harbor the cowardly heart of a mortal.

It's truly shameful to associate with those undeserving "gods"...

Just as He was thinking this, the ever-changing shadow in the center of the pseudo-Pantheon reflected His inner thoughts.

A long black dress as dark as night, gilded high-heeled sandals, skin as pale as milk, and a cold, indifferent expression...

That was the image of Hecate, the goddess of the moon.

Yes……

The executive director thought to himself.

Unlike ordinary mortals, now that they have ascended, they are destined to become true deities like the Goddess of the Underworld Moon—a species far superior to humans in both body and mind.

The image of the Goddess of the Underworld blocking the "Great Thunder" was so striking, even though it was just a fleeting glimpse before the signal was cut off, that it greatly shocked Him.

Even when faced with the wrath of the God-King, he was able to respond with a disdainful attitude.

This is the true "god".

Thinking this, He opened His hand and scattered countless poisonous seeds toward the memetic entity that had transformed into the image of Hecate.

One at depth 6, ten at depth 5, forty-eight at depth 4, and countless others below depth 4.

These malicious programs, riding the "artificial steeds" within the Pantheon, can also wreak havoc on the World Wide Web—of course, they can do this thanks to the Goddess of the Moon for removing the protection of the Nord settlement.

They will then wreak havoc in the Nord settlement, which is now unable to withstand another impact. Although they have no physical form, their sheer numbers alone are terrifying enough. Under these circumstances, Neptune's use of His authority to destroy the Nords will become a reluctant act.

Thinking this, He couldn't help but activate the "Magic Mirror Matrix," intending to observe the destruction of that place of exile.

Venus Digital Media and Neptune Transport are not the only forces hoping to see the complete destruction of the Nord resettlement area.

Leaving aside the internal disagreements within the Jupiter Group; Apollo Bio does not accept Jim Ritter's future residency at Mount Olympus, potentially creating a new faction within Jupiter that hates them; and Juno Financial similarly does not want a new Orpheus Path Depth 7 to exist.

At this moment, four Olympian gods are assisting in the destruction of the Nord settlement.

As for the other gods, some didn't care about Nord's survival; others felt some sympathy but not enough to help; still others were too busy with other matters to pay any attention to this...

Among them, the directors of the Pluto Deep Dive were undoubtedly the most emotionally complex.

They were actually the greatest contributors to resolving this crisis. First, there was Theseus, an outstanding employee of the company, whose actions greatly accelerated the investigation; then there was Christie, a board candidate, whose ultimate rescue, led by the leader of the Dionysian cult, was like a divine intervention.

But at the time, they all thought that the great thunder was destined to strike, so they immediately severed ties with the New Prison Abyss Studio to show that they firmly supported the Jupiter Group's decision to exterminate them.

At least the board members felt immense pain and shame when they made the decision to split up the company—as a newly established Olympus Corporation, sometimes it was necessary to bow to those authorities for the sake of the company's overall development.

They would do anything for this, even if it meant sacrificing Carole Christie—a friend of many of them in the past, and Charon's horse.

Of course, there are also the numerous heavy asset investments they made in the Nord resettlement area.

As they were discussing how to hold the memorial service, they suddenly received news that the second type of crisis had been resolved; and the Jupiter Group also certified that the biggest contributors to resolving this crisis were the owner and employees of New Prison Abyss Studio.

Furthermore, the God-King stated that, due to their outstanding performance in this incident, He intends to facilitate a collaboration between New Prison Studio and the Human Intelligence Ethics Oversight Committee. In the future, New Prison Studio will act as an outsourcing provider for handling various crises, offering financial and technological investment, and even leasing a universal printer to facilitate their expansion.

Cutting it off too early...

When Christie returns, we need to have a serious talk with her about the new terms and conditions to ensure that Pluto Deep Dive remains the sole deep-dive partner of the new Prison Abyss Studio.

However, several directors who knew Christie's personality felt that this matter was quite difficult—after learning about the company's previous decision to cut ties, she had completely blocked several directors.

In short, they observed the aftermath of the Nord resettlement area with incredibly complex feelings.

During this time, a director specializing in information warfare also discovered the whereabouts of their old friend and rival, Prometheus. However, Prometheus seemed to have no intention of reminiscing, and the moment he realized he had been exposed, he immediately changed agents and disappeared without a trace.

In fact, Prometheus was planning to continue breaking the seal that the goddess of the moon had placed on Number One.

He thought that now that Hecate had left Nord, he would be able to completely liberate this member who was now the most promising to advance to Depth 8 among the Firebringers.

But unexpectedly, He was stopped by another being just as He attempted to unseal the seal.

"It's you again, you little rascal."

The boatman, with his aged skin and eyes burning like embers, suddenly appeared before him.

"Charon..."

Prometheus was initially startled, but immediately accessed Number One's external memory device. Upon learning that Christie was also there, his expression quickly returned to calm.

“It’s great to see Christie back. Narcissus Plains is definitely not a place for humans.”

He said this.

"But she won't be happy to see you... Besides, while there's still time, I advise you to leave as soon as possible."

Charon replied.

“I know Ms. Christie has a lot of opinions about me… but as long as you don’t send her messages, she won’t know I’m here.”

Prometheus explicitly refused.

Unexpectedly, Charon shook his head with a very serious expression, which was quite rare for him.

"That's not what I wanted to say... Ah, it's too late to leave now, so good luck."

He wanted to explain, but his expression suddenly changed, and he sighed and shook his head.

The next instant, thanks to the network monitoring probes that Booker and his team had deployed in the Nord settlement area years ago, Prometheus sensed a massive influx of malicious programs into the Nord settlement area's network.

From the data structure perspective, it exists from depth 1 to depth 5, and there are even faint signs of depth 6 appearing.

Was this released by Charon? Or was it a runaway horse from the Nord settlement?

As Prometheus was thinking this, suddenly the Fire Stealers' intelligence department sent him a new prophecy.

Space, sky, surface, underground...

Countless swarms of wandering AI constructs, along with dozens of Titan-class behemoths, are hurtling toward the Nord settlement with destructive force.

It blotted out the sky and sun, causing tremors and terror.

Under normal circumstances, this could not have happened naturally.

Did Neptune's transportation department use "architectural permissions"?

With that thought in mind, Prometheus decided to immediately warn Number One to evacuate.

But at that very moment... just as if an earthquake had suddenly struck, He felt a "shaking".

Not only was the network in the Nord resettlement area shaken, but His own body also felt the shaking.

But... wavering?
His true form is located in the Narcissus Plain inside the River Styx!
What could possibly be so powerful as to shake up the Narcissus Plains?
A thought immediately pulled the perspective away from "Number One," and He retreated back to the "City of Suffering" located on the Narcissus Plain.

Whatever being appears in the Nord resettlement network at this moment, it is impossible for Him to...

Heavy chains, abdominal pain, and the mournful cry of vultures.

This is the place where He was sealed, and also the place of His suffering.

But now, above the city of suffering, there has been a huge... thing.

Prometheus could not accurately describe that being.

He was as black as night, immense and unparalleled, without eyes, but with a mouth…

At first, Prometheus simply thought it was dark.

But it was only when He saw that mouth that He realized that some incredibly vast being occupied the entire sky.

Only after taking a bird's-eye view through his hacker's perspective did He realize with horror that the being before Him was merely a tentacle extending from a distant abyss.

…………

The adjustments and modifications were complete, and Jiang Zhou originally thought he would return directly to reality. But unexpectedly, the next moment he arrived in the City of Sages.

Not only him, but even Jim Ritter, who was lingering in the Nord settlement, appeared here—in the form of a whole patch of silver-gray haze.

Then, Jiang Zhou glanced at the visitor list of the City of Sages, wondering if anyone else besides Jim had been pulled in.

The numbers displayed above silenced him.

[Current visitors: 3633491, exceeding the maximum support capacity of the Sage's City server. 3633486 people have been moved to the surrounding Narcissus Plains area.]

More than 3.6 million people...

This must be the entire population of the Nord resettlement area!
Jiang Zhou couldn't help but curse out loud.

What happened? What happened?

"And it's getting dark..."

In his anxiety, he looked up at the deep darkness and murmured to himself.

And as if hearing his words, that "night sky" opened its eyes.

…………

Venus Digital Media, Pseudo-Pantheon.

The malicious program's signals all disappeared in an instant, which is why the executive director was certain that this was just a technical problem with the monitoring system.

Because no one, not even advanced artificial intelligence, can eliminate so many malicious programs in an instant.

Even knowing this, the fact that the signals were slow to return still made Him anxious.

Could it be that the Goddess of the Moon has returned and intervened to block the network in the Nord resettlement area?

impossible……

Just as He was thinking this, a communication came in from the Network Observation Department.

The staff there brought him an utterly absurd message.

"Explain yourself clearly... What do you mean by 'the Styx Firewall experienced a tidal surge, completely engulfing the entire Nord resettlement area's local area network, causing all malicious programs to crash headlong into the firewall and die?!'" (End of Chapter)