Abyssal Wanderer.

"Clang clang—"

Christie opened the box with delight, revealing the old pistol lying quietly on the white velvet to Jiang Zhou.

"You wouldn't believe it, would you? The Glock Medal is actually a Glock pistol!"

Wow...that's amazing! It's like the Nobel Prize medal is actually a piece of C4 explosive!

Jiang Zhou couldn't help but exaggerate in his mind as he made the voiceover.

At the same time, his face displayed a look of surprise and a bit of absurdity—the same expression he had when he first saw the "medal" twenty-four hours earlier.

He had originally thought that "Glock" was a tribute to someone who also had that name.

"So... this medal is actually a pistol?"

He picked up the pistol, weighed it in his hand, and then said.

It's important to understand that even for the vast majority of Deep 1 Adjusters, these AD-era light weapons are nothing more than toys.

"This is no ordinary handgun; it's a handgun meticulously crafted by Blontes, a director of the Jupiter Group. I just scanned it, and the precision in its manufacture is simply outrageous, at least at the molecular level. If you were to actually fire it, there would be virtually no chance of it misfiring."

Christie introduced it with a very serious expression.

The meaning is completely unclear, somewhat like some kind of strange performance art—for example, using a lithography machine to draw the Qingming Scroll on a silicon wafer.

"What I mean is, why is this medal a pistol?"

Although Jiang Zhou knew Christie didn't know the answer, he asked the question again.

"I don't know, there's been no official explanation. But judging from what's said online, it's probably related to something from the Great Impact era..."

As Christie said this, she took the pistol from Jiang Zhou's hand like a child, played with it for a while, and then said:
"You're really lucky, kid... The Guardian of Humanity Medal is jointly awarded by the Committee and the Jupiter Group, and the certification criteria are extremely strict. It is only awarded to people who have made significant contributions to solving the problem of the collapse of human intelligence, and in most cases it is awarded posthumously. There are probably no more than twenty people in history who have been able to get it while still alive."

This honor is indeed quite significant...

Jiang Zhou thought to himself.

Earlier... or rather, twenty-four hours later, when the Cerberus Division took advantage of Christie's absence to storm into the Ghost and hijack the riverboat, these well-trained corporate military police immediately disarmed him of all his weapons—including the Periford Inertial Anchor, which served as his offensive prosthetic body—but they dared not confiscate the Glock pistol that symbolized honor.

This was partly because the threat posed by the pistol was similar to that of a water gun to them; and partly because the symbolic significance of the pistol (medal) was immense. Their actions were already clandestine, and if they were to be weighed later, they simply couldn't bear the stigma of humiliating the "Guardians of Human Intelligence."

Jiang Zhou still remembers the hesitant and uneasy looks in the eyes of those men when he raised the pistol.

It was also thanks to this Glock pistol that Jiang Zhou, who was locked in a soft-pack solitary confinement cell, was able to commit suicide decisively.

Although Jiang Zhou didn't know the origin of the story about using a pistol as a medal, he had to admit that this well-made pistol was indeed suitable for suicide—with only one chance to fire, it never jammed or misfired.

Just as Jiang Zhou was expressing his feelings, Christie continued:
"Actually, this medal was originally intended for Jim Ritter, but he refused. Given Jim's current special status, the people on God King's side probably didn't want him to attract too much attention, so after weighing the options, it was awarded to you instead... I didn't expect you to not want to attend the award ceremony either."

At this point, Christie shook her head, as if amused.

"I feel like if I really go, I might not come back."

Jiang Zhou didn't beat around the bush or try to hide his concerns; he directly expressed them.

Even though Jim had taken on as many questions as possible and become the center of attention, Jiang Zhou and his group, who were on the periphery of the whole incident, still had to endure tremendous pressure and various tests.

It's worth noting that when they were still in the Nord settlement, the gods' temptations never ceased; now that they've left the protection of the lingering power of the "paradox," it's hard to imagine how much trouble awaits them.

Christie naturally understood what he meant—as someone who had a direct connection with the "paradox," although Theseus wasn't chosen like Jim Ritter, the top executives of the major Olympus corporations certainly wanted to know the details of the "enlightenment" He gave Theseus.

Not to mention Theseus, even Christie herself had been subjected to various tests by those corporations over the past two weeks—including one from a high-level adjuster of Theseus's path who secretly sent his advanced puppet. That person carried a mind model scanning device and seemed to intend to attack her or Theseus.

Fortunately, Christie was alert and noticed the anomaly in time. She immediately turned the advanced puppet with a depth of 5 or 6 into a mass of inorganic matter with a single glance.

Taking down a highly skilled puppet of a giant corporation's board of directors is no small feat even in peacetime.

But after all, she was in the right in this matter, and given that Neptune's traffic was still paralyzed, the global Internet of Things needed to rely on Theseus Freight—that is, her cooperation—to maintain basic order. Therefore, Christie had made that director of some unknown company suffer a loss in silence.

"That's true... If you really go to the award ceremony, they'll probably either put you on the live stream or detain you afterwards. Once you're under their roof, you can forget about going back to Yuyuan Studio... In other words, sending you there is tantamount to selling you out."

Hearing Theseus's words, Christie said thoughtfully.

In fact, she received a lot of inquiries from headhunters during this period: some asked if she wanted to switch to other companies, and others asked if she could sell Theseus to them—and the prices they offered were outrageous. Some agents even stopped pretending and directly claimed that they could provide an alpha-level interface and a resettlement area with a population of over five million as a cocoon for her to break through the limits of human intelligence.

If Charon hadn't held her down, she might have actually been tempted.

It must be the Pluto deep-sea dive; other Alpha-class deep-sea dive interfaces will not allow you to fully advance to "Charon".

That old man's words completely shattered her idea of ​​changing jobs.

She had originally considered moving the entire studio to another company, but she never even considered selling Theseus separately—in her view, the band members were like family, sharing both glory and misfortune, and should support each other.

Even though those band members from back then ran away with the Deep Dive interface and became the core directors of Pluto Deep Dive today, with no trace of their past friendship, she never changed her mind.

That just means I didn't know how to judge people well; it doesn't mean that the idea is wrong.

"Besides, although you weren't able to withstand the enlightenment of the 'paradox' back then, since you have the aptitude, you might have another chance in the future! Someone who can be favored by the Goddess of the Underworld must be extraordinary," Christie said in a comforting tone.

This is Christie's current understanding of Jiang Zhou—he was recommended because he was favored by the Goddess of the Underworld, but he became a failure because he could not withstand the "enlightenment" of the paradox.

After all, she had personally witnessed the success of Liao Qi and Jim, and considering her own failure despite being recommended by Charon, Christie quickly accepted this explanation.

She even developed a sense of sympathy for "Theseus" because of this, and dragged Jiang Zhou along with her to curse those high-level AIs on the dark web for doing nothing—Jiang Zhou was extremely grateful that Ms. Hecate was no longer connected to the Janus program.

In addition, Jiang Zhou confessed that he was indeed responsible for the online riots during the Pluto Deep Dive—it was during his first dive that he met Hecate and made his initial contact with "Paradox." It was also through his connection with Paradox that he obtained Jim Ritter's mandala from Paradox before returning to the base reality from his work in the Abyss.

This is similar to some kind of guidance, and the paradox seems to be using him to find another suitable candidate.

In short, while in the Nord resettlement area, Jiang Zhou managed to cover up the suspicion surrounding him by using Jim's acting skills and the slight influence he exerted through his own abilities.

In retrospect, the two analyzed the situation and concluded that Jim's abilities only acted as a catalyst. The main reason they were able to smooth things over was Christy's personality. She was naturally carefree and didn't like to think about such complex issues—whether it was interpersonal relationships or intrigue.

"Don't worry, young man, I'll definitely protect you until then!"

Christie patted Theseus on the shoulder forcefully as she spoke.

Although Jiang Zhou doubted whether she could really protect herself because the Super Zombie had successfully assassinated him right under Christie's nose, he could tell from her topological structure that she genuinely considered him a member of the band (family).

This stirred a wave of emotion in Jiang Zhou's heart, but before he could say anything, Christie continued:

"So you need to learn a musical instrument as soon as possible—you can't cheat by using memory; that kind of learning technique is soulless."

"Let me think... Since it's the Theseusian path, why don't you and your puppets form a choir for harmonies? Speaking of which, I've never released a symphonic metal record before!"

In just a few words, she had planned out Jiang Zhou's future role in the band and the future musical direction of the Yuyuan Band, giving him no chance to react.

But when Jiang Zhou tried to explain that she was tone-deaf and couldn't sing at all, she suddenly became serious and started talking about serious topics:
“Oh, right, I have to go out for a bit later. Besides you, Theta, the leader of the Dionysian Cult, also received a Glock Guardian Medal, and I have to deliver it to her—she needs this medal as a talisman more than you do right now.”

Yes, this is it!

Jiang Zhou suppressed the urge to scream.

About twenty hours later, the Pluto deep-sea military police took advantage of Christie's departure to board the Ghost and kidnap him.

Although Jiang Zhou and the Heavenly God Path fought back with all their might, relying on the "Ghost" and the surrounding cluster of constructs, they were ultimately outnumbered. These guys had very little sense of martial ethics and had deployed an entire Wolf Poison Force. They launched a surprise attack in an airdrop pod and were picked up by an orbital spaceship equipped with an anti-gravity engine.

To avoid interference from ground and air structures, these attackers even traveled entirely on space-based orbits.

Not only the Jupiter Group, but even Pluto Deep Dive, its nominal owner, wants to use coercive means to uncover its secrets.

Recalling the fierce battle that would not have taken place soon after, Jiang Zhou said directly:
"Well... I'm getting quite bored staying on the spaceship alone, so I'll come with you."

Without Christie, it would be quite difficult for Jiang Zhou, the Heavenly God Path, and the surrounding construct cluster to completely annihilate the entire Wolf Poison Army.

Moreover, if such an exaggerated achievement as "annihilating the Wolf Poison Army" were actually accomplished, it might actually cause even more trouble.

For example, a director personally getting involved...

But as long as I stay by Christie's side, not to mention her Depth 7 combat strength, given the current status of this CEO of Theseus Freight, I believe those guys won't do anything drastic.

Jiang Zhou's words stunned Christie, who had originally planned to send him information on "bel canto techniques".

Are you going too?

Jiang Zhou nodded, then asked in confusion:
Will my going cause any trouble?

Christie looked him up and down, then hesitated before saying:

"It's not necessarily troublesome, but not all Orpheus Path Coordinators are as easy to talk to as Jim Reiter. If you're willing to accept the possibility of being mind-read by him, then it's not impossible for you to go along..."

Oh no... I forgot about that.

Jiang Zhou mentally slapped his forehead.

The leader of the Dionysian Cult is also an Orpheus Path Depth 7 Adjuster. Although she is currently seriously injured and the Nyx Factor that makes up her body is less than 30% of what it was at its peak, if I were to stand in front of her, the secrets in my mind would probably be as clear as if they were written on a blackboard.

Previously, in the Nord resettlement area, he felt safe because Jim helped him cover things up. But now that he's out of the detective's territory, Jiang Zhou has no choice...

Weird.

Jiang Zhou gripped a syringe in his pocket.

Before leaving, Jim left him three syringes containing Nyx Factor. Once injected into his own or someone else's spinal cord or brain, they would work according to Jiang Zhou's will—after all, Jiang Zhou was Jim, and Jim was Jiang Zhou; connected by the Janus Program, they were one mind.

Only one of these three Nyx factors needs to be left behind, and with a certain amount of time and materials, it can be regenerated to its original quantity.

Therefore, Jiang Zhou only needed to inject himself with a vial of Nyx Factor to completely block out Theta's mind-reading ability.

only……

The very fact that one cannot read minds conveys a certain message. (End of Chapter)