Abyssal Wanderer.

Ji Mu couldn't understand why she, a hacker who often walked the line between law and order, would be invited to the funeral of a police superintendent. Normally, she would run away from anyone from the police station like a mouse before a cat.

Of course, it wasn't that she was unwilling to go, but rather that she was somewhat flattered—not long ago she had her shikigami check the list, and the people attending the funeral were all very important figures.

Not only were all members of the Provisional Government Transitional Committee of the Nord Resettlement Area present, but even the newly appointed CEO of Theseus Freight, who has recently been making waves, came in person.

"She's definitely here to discuss business. Wasn't there a rumor not long ago that she was going to build the largest logistics center in Central Asia in the Nord resettlement area? She's just using this as an excuse to talk about contracts with the provisional government."

Duanmu Youxue said while helping Ji Mu straighten the collar of his suit.

Wearing a fitted black tulip-shaped dress with ruffles over a white stand-up collar silk top, Ji Mu felt severely constrained, both physically and mentally, by this overly formal outfit.

"Don't move, let me see... You look quite good in a suit. Also, don't touch your collar later."

As Duanmu Youxue spoke, she pressed down on Ji Mu's arms with both hands, like holding down a struggling kitten. She looked him up and down carefully for a while, then said with satisfaction.

"I hate this kind of collar..."

Ji Mu muttered to himself.

"What, you're planning to wear your shrine maiden outfit to such a solemn occasion? When the priest arrives, he'll think you're here to cause trouble."

Xue said angrily.

"Waaah, I'll do whatever you say... with Sister Xue."

As Ji Mu spoke, he deliberately put on a pitiful expression.

"Don't give me that..."

Faced with Ji Mu's coquettishness, Duanmu Youxue's words remained stern, but her tone involuntarily softened.

But perhaps realizing her attitude had softened, she immediately straightened her face again and said:
"Also, do you remember the most important thing about attending this funeral?"

“I remember, I remember, you’ve said it almost five hundred times… Go find Mr. Booker Irwin, the chairman of the Nord Provisional Committee, and ask him if we can choose not to join the new government’s ‘Information Security Department,’ right?”

Duanmu Youxue nodded solemnly in response.

"Those who were granted amnesty were all second-rate hackers."

Seeing Yuki's serious expression, Kiki didn't dare to reply, but the image of the magical girl Hoshino Hikari couldn't help but flash through her mind.

However, not long ago, Hikaru Hoshino suddenly announced his graduation on a live streaming platform, causing a wave of lamentations from a large portion of the hacker community. Meanwhile, Junjie Zhang, the person behind the Hoshino Hikaru persona, quietly left the reconstructed Nord resettlement area, his whereabouts unknown.

After Junjie Zhang left, Ji Mu is now the only hacker in the entire Nord resettlement area who can be considered top-notch—no wonder the provisional government invited her to be the chief advisor of the Information Security Department.

But working from 9 to 9 with no weekends off, clocking in and out every day, and having to teach newbies how to capture and tame self-discipline programs to become shikigami... I don't want that kind of thing!

Imagining that boring life of being a class leader, Ji Mu couldn't help but hold his face up in his mind and adopt the posture of "The Call to Arms".

After Duanmu Youxue recovered, her current dream in life is to just live a life of leisure and wait for death.

However, now that the Icarus Liberation Front has taken complete control, the government of the resettlement area is no longer as loose as before—the new government seems to prefer to coordinate through administrative orders rather than relying on free market regulation.

At least the "cooperation invitation" that Ji Mu received not long ago sounded more like an order in terms of its wording—she wasn't sure if she had the right to refuse.

Relying on interest-free loans obtained from Theseus Freight, the current Icarus Liberation Front government has transformed into an authoritarian regime reminiscent of the old era. It is simultaneously implementing sweeping reforms to dismantle old vested interest groups and rebuilding and renovating the infrastructure of the entire Nord resettlement area, striving to gain the support of the grassroots population both above and below ground.

Perhaps because he always plays the villain in today's popular culture, Ji Mu is a little worried that if he chooses to refuse, they might just throw him into prison for forced labor.

Imagining himself being forced to mine cryptocurrency on the dark web, Ji Mu grew increasingly frightened and couldn't help but say:
"How about I go find Uncle Jim and ask him to put in a good word for me?"

Upon hearing the name "Jim," Duanmu Youxue's expression remained unchanged. She turned around, tidying up the cosmetics on the table, and said in a calm tone:
"Wasn't he supposed to be off the funeral guest list?"

"But he was there when Sister Wang Ying died, wasn't he... Anyway, I don't believe he wouldn't have gone."

Ji Mu said in a low voice.

In the official narrative, the person who ultimately saved the entire Nord resettlement area during the Category II crisis was a high-level Orpheus Path Adjuster from the Human Intelligence Ethics Oversight Committee. However, Ji Mu, who witnessed it all firsthand, knew that the one who truly saved everyone was actually a private detective named Jim Ritter.

However, after everything settled down, his name disappeared from all official and unofficial channels; even when Jim used hacking techniques to search through the internal documents of the Icarus Liberation Front, there was no record or publicity about Jim Reit within their ranks.

His name is also nowhere to be found in any of the plans or internal files of the interim transitional government.

Perhaps apart from her, Yuki, Eri-chan, and that committee member named Hanel, no one else knew that all of this was thanks to him.

But Jim did not leave the Nord Resettlement Area. To this day, his detective agency is still located at 514 Yulan Avenue, on the fifth floor of the Nord Resettlement Area.

And business remains dismal.

After tidying up the table, Duanmu Youxue turned to look at Ji Mu, stared at her intently for a moment, and then spoke:

"I thought you were going to ask again what exactly happened on the day Wang Ying died."

So, are you planning to tell me?

"I don't plan to."

"Hmph, I'm not going to listen even if you try to talk."

Ji Mu snorted and then made a face at You Xue.

"Really?"

Snow raised an eyebrow.

"real."

Ji Mu nodded.

"why?"

Snow tilted its head.

"Because I no longer want to know."

Ji Mu said very seriously.

"why?"

Xue continued to press for answers.

Ji Mu did not answer. She stepped forward and stood in front of Duanmu Youxue, who had regained her normal figure after liposuction. The two looked at each other.

Then, she hugged her.

Ji Mu could feel the other person's body stiffen at first, then immediately relax. Finally, she hesitated before wrapping her arms around the girl's waist.

"The collar... the collar will get all messed up..."

Xue first mumbled something, her voice growing softer and softer until it was barely audible.

Ji Mu ignored what the other person said, and whispered in her ear:
"Because no matter what the truth is, I am very, very, very happy right now."

"That's enough."

…………

Compared to the VIPs who attended, Wang Ying's funeral was remarkably simple.

Many people don't understand why Wang Ying, among so many people who died in this Category II crisis, is qualified to represent the victims in the Nord resettlement area.

In fact, even Booker Irwin didn't understand this. Although he signed the executive order, he wasn't the one who made the choice.

But that person... doesn't seem to have come today?
Of course, part of his body is diffused throughout the scene, but the interface he uses to interact with normal people is not here.

Booker's gaze swept across the entire venue again, but he still couldn't find the detective Xiao Se.

He even attended Liao Qi's funeral...

With that in mind, after greeting Commissioner Elois Hanell, who would be permanently stationed at the Nord resettlement area, he pushed through the crowd and walked to Christie, who was dressed in a solemn black outfit and had a ponytail.

"Ms. Carol."

Even when facing a senior executive of a company that had somehow managed to snatch the entire logistics market in Central Asia from Neptune Transportation, his tone remained neither humble nor arrogant.

"No need to be so serious... Come to think of it, I used to hold you when you were little."

Christie said so.

"When I was a child?"

Booker was taken aback by the unexpected opening remarks.

"The genomes of the adaptors used to cultivate the Perseus pathway were three that the Firebringers dug out from the depth 5 area back then, and I was the one who helped escort them to Mr. Chen... I never expected that they would have grown so big after all these years."

Christie said with great emotion, but Booker found her words strangely unsettling.

So this company executive is actually his savior?
Christie patted Booker on the shoulder to bring him back to his senses, and then said:

"So, what about Number One? Is he still here?"

"No, he's helping rebuild the residential area on the seventh basement level that was destroyed by the nuclear explosion, he doesn't have time to participate..."

Before Booker could finish speaking, Christie scoffed and said:

"That guy just doesn't want to see me. Who is he trying to fool with that model worker act?"

Booker remained silent, secretly pondering that the company executive's way of speaking was different from what he had imagined.

After a long while, he finally managed to utter a sentence:
"Thank you very much for providing Nord with an interest-free loan."

Christie, however, waved her hand magnanimously and said:
"This is just a regular business investment, don't overthink it... Also, if building the logistics center isn't enough, we can take out another loan. And fully arming the logistics center, that sounds like a good idea too..."

Christie spoke with a rather boastful tone, as if she weren't using her own money.

"That's enough, that's enough for now."

Booker's bionic skin detected his current signal data and began to secrete fake sweat.

In reality, the current interim transitional government is under much more pressure than outsiders imagine when accepting this loan—not because they are worried about not being able to repay it in the future, but because accepting this money is tantamount to openly standing against Neptune Transport.

After the end of the second type of crisis in Nord, for some unknown reason, the global logistics network came to a standstill. Apart from a few air routes and human transport by the nomadic tribes of the Badlands, almost all human settlements were isolated.

It was at this time that Theseus Freight took over the stalled market and launched its human CEO in a high-profile manner, thereby avoiding potential ethical and legal risks associated with AI.

Neptune's logistics system was restarted three days later, advertised as a comprehensive system upgrade, along with the launch of cheaper and faster services, regaining most of its market share. However, the turmoil still caused Neptune's global market share to drop by about five percent—not including the losses from the complete withdrawal of services in Central Asia. Although New Prison Studio was brought to the forefront, it was clear to everyone that this was essentially a confrontation between two Olympus companies.

It's important to understand that friction between businesses can be truly deadly. In this situation, it's best for the Nord resettlement area to remain neutral—even with Theseus Freight's services, Neptune Transport will most likely just turn a blind eye.

But Booker ultimately defied public opinion and accepted Theseus Freight's loan.

Because Jim Ritter told him that doing so was in Mr. Paradox's interest.

In other words... after the last trial, this Ms. Christie, who was at Depth 7, also became a follower of Paradox.

Furthermore, the previous shutdown of the global Internet of Things network and the complete fall of Central Asia into the hands of Theseus Freight were also the work of Mr. Paradox.
Although it sounds a bit outrageous, Booker thinks it makes sense if Mr. Paradox is involved.

"Oh, right..."

Thinking of Jim, Booker immediately said:

"I've already made arrangements for the place you mentioned you wanted to visit before you came, at Liao Qi's cemetery. Someone will take you there after this is over. But Mr. Jim Ritter said he doesn't want to see anyone..."

Hanel, who was holding a wine glass to the side, paused for a moment upon hearing this, and then gave a bitter smile.

But Christie simply sighed and said:
"Okay, okay... that's about what I guessed."

Then she gave a wry smile and said:

"But I bet that guy is watching us right now."

At least in the Nord settlement, Jim is now ubiquitous.

Thinking this, Booker suddenly had a flash of inspiration and turned his head to look in another direction without warning.

This action does not seem to be of one's own volition.

A young girl dressed in an ill-fitting dress is walking towards us. She looks very nervous and is muttering to herself, as if she is reciting some lines.

Booker recalled that the person seemed to be the senior information security consultant he had recently appointed.

As she pondered, she walked up to herself.

"Respected Provisional Commander Booker Irwin..."

She stammered as she spoke.

And so, Booker was once again struggling with where to find a sufficiently good hacker.

…………

After discussing his retirement with Jiang Zhou, Jim let his thoughts wander throughout the Nord resettlement area.

Nowadays, his most frequent task is to replay those superhuman memories into their minds through strong empathy circuits.

He didn't believe that doing so would bring about miracles—for superhumans, those experiences and feelings were nothing but invalid gibberish, only slowing down their thinking.

To some extent, it might even undermine the perfect imitation they have built with absolute rationality.

But for Jim, this was his attempt to remember those who had passed away.

Remember that they once existed.

So, it's okay if it's not perfect.

Neither memory nor self-awareness is a perfect thing—they are ambiguous and gentle, yet sharp and cruel.

In fact, nowadays, revisiting those people's memories and experiencing their past lives is a rare form of entertainment for Jim.

Especially for someone like him who has already lost his entire life.

The lives of over 470,000 people... that's enough for him to experience for a long time.

After discussing Theseus Freight with Christie for a while, Jim refocused his attention.

Then, as if opening a blind box, he reopened a memory.

This is the moment Jim has been most looking forward to.

What kind of memory will follow?

Sadness? Anger? Joy? Happiness?
With such expectations, Jim was instead met with a familiar voice that completely stunned him.

“Go, John. At least let me have some peace and quiet during these last moments.”

The girl in front of him, whose hair had all fallen out due to chemotherapy and who was as thin as a rake, spoke to him very calmly.

"Hanell, I..."

John wanted to explain to her that he had already created a complete model of her brain, and that once the algorithm was perfected, she would be able to live forever in cyberspace.

But what meaning do these words have for her now that she is lying in a hospital bed and can't even turn over?

She ascended to cyberspace as a data entity, but her physical body still had to die in agony.

Ultimately, all my so-called efforts were nothing more than a selfish desire for the other person to stay.

Essentially, it's about satisfying one's own selfish desires.

John swallowed those words back, which almost used up all his remaining strength. He whispered "Goodbye" and turned to leave.

But Jim's perspective didn't follow John away; instead, it shifted to the surveillance camera in the ward—the entity that recorded John's memories also recorded what happened after he left.

Shortly after John left, a man wearing a bowler hat who looked like a lawyer walked in.

Hanel glanced at him with difficulty, then sneered:

"I've sent you all the data I can. That idiot shouldn't be able to squeeze anything out of him anymore."

"I know."

The man spoke in a tone so cold it was as if it could freeze a penguin to death.

“We are very grateful for your contributions to the group. Regarding your funeral arrangements, you can make any requests you may have, and we will try our best to accommodate them.”

He spoke as if he were discussing a business deal; it's hard to imagine anyone expressing gratitude in such a tone.

"What good are all those funeral arrangements when a person is about to die? Will they let me live one more day?"

Hanel was barely breathing.

"Actually, if Mr. John hadn't taken you for a brain scan, you probably would have lived for another month or so."

That person reminded him.

"Forget it, forget it... It was my own fault. I'll just let this month be a reminder for him."

"I can't speak," Hanel said weakly.

The man didn't answer, but continued to ask:

“Miss Hanel, I’ve come to ask if there’s anything you wish to accomplish before you die. If not, then we’ll proceed according to the terms of the contract.”

He said this as he got up, seemingly intending to leave.

"Wait a moment……"

Hanel called out to the man.

"Promise me one thing at a time."

The man simply stopped walking; he didn't even turn around.

"You said."

"Don't let him know that all of this is fake."

Hanel said.

"This is hardly a condition; we would have done it anyway."

The man turned around in confusion.

“I know… but even after everything is over, even after he has completely lost his usefulness to you, don’t let him know the truth… can you do that?”

"Hanell closed his eyes and said."

Is it because of guilt?

The man never asks personal questions at work, but he made an exception today.

"Perhaps..."

As she spoke, she unconsciously shook her head.

"But it doesn't feel like it... I guess it's more like envy."

"After all, being able to love someone, even if it's all an illusion, is still an incredibly happy thing..."

She murmured to herself, her breathing gradually calming down.

…………

Jim silently withdrew from this memory that did not belong to "Superman".

Was it Nyx, or Janus, who placed this memory inside?
Jim didn't know, and didn't want to think about it.

After a moment of silence, he refocused his attention on the human-shaped interactive interface now located at 514 Silan Avenue, fifth floor of the Nord resettlement area.

He got up from the hibernation pod as if he were a normal person, took out a bottle of bourbon whiskey from the liquor cabinet, and after thinking for a moment, took out two glasses.

Then, he stepped into the kitchen and began making quick curry—his movements were so practiced and skillful, as if he had done it countless times before.

After everything was ready, he placed two portions of food and wine on the table.

He began to wait for the knock on the door that might never come.

(End of Volume 2: Farewell Narcissus) (End of Chapter)