Abyssal Wanderer.

"Since you purchased a safety service for your trip to South America, does that mean you plan to return to the Bacchus headquarters next?"

After listening to the deal negotiated by the two geniuses at the pinnacle of human intelligence, "Jiang Zhou" asked a question as impulsively as a naive young man.

At this moment, the expression on his face was as clear as that of an intern who had just graduated from school and was completely ignorant of social etiquette.

"Hey! What have I always told you? Don't ask so many questions about client privacy!"

Upon hearing this, Christie immediately covered Jiang Zhou's mouth, then turned to look at Xita beside her, her face full of apology.

"This child is new here and doesn't know the rules. He speaks without thinking, and it just so happens..."

Christie paused for about half a second, then forced herself to say:
"And he just happens to be one of your fans, insisting on coming to see the world... so let's not bother with him."

Although her words were full of holes and the other party could tell at a glance that they were made up, Christie's attitude was still very clear—don't bother with such a junior.

But Xita, sitting opposite, had a different thought.

Isn't this kid supposed to be pretty shrewd? He even knows to use his zombie-like abilities to hide his true thoughts.

Looking at Jiang Zhou, who was now completely under the control of "zombie mode," she said directly:
"That's quite a novelty. The Dionysian Cult actually has wild fans these days? Under the Olympian Order's control of public opinion, it wouldn't be easy for them to even know we exist."

These words left Christie speechless—she had only mentioned fans casually, but she hadn't expected the other party to have no intention of backing down.

But before she could offer any further explanation, Jiang Zhou calmly said:
"I learned about the Dionysian Cult by following Goro Ue's clues while investigating the Category II crisis in the Nord Resettlement Area. It's a bit of an exaggeration for Sister K to say that I'm a fan, but I am indeed a bit curious about your ideology... If it weren't for Goro spreading the 'Dionysian Virus' that created the memetic entity of 'Icarus,' the Nord Resettlement Area probably wouldn't have survived until you and Sister K came to the rescue."

Jiang Zhou's words were quite appropriate: they both covered up Christie's excuse and subtly praised Sita and the others for their important contributions to the Nord resettlement area; even the right-hand man, who was being used as a pawn, was portrayed as a helpless victim through clever rhetoric.

But... to put it another way, sometimes Theta would lament that it would be better if she weren't the one who adjusted the Orpheus path.

That ability to see into other people's hearts has prevented her from enjoying flattery for many years—everywhere she goes, she hears insincere words born of self-interest and calculation; even worse, when she uses the interface she likes, dark and filthy thoughts and ideas may surface in the other person's mind.

No, she didn't mean to blame those people. It's just human nature; nobody's perfect, and besides, the characters she created based on classic figures from the Common Era are indeed very beautiful, so it's understandable that she would have similar thoughts…

She can only blame her own mind-reading ability, which allows her to frequently see the thoughts of those below.

Returning to the present, if she didn't have the ability to read minds, then Theseus's words resonated deeply with her. Although she might suspect that he was deliberately flattering her, humans are generally creatures easily convinced of their own beliefs.

Instead of being able to tell at a glance that the other person is not human, as is the case now.

It's just a zombie mimicking its owner's behavior patterns, acting on commands.

Even so, the conversation had to continue—at this moment, Sita felt like an old-fashioned gamer from before the widespread adoption of generative NPC technology.

As Christie pointed to herself, frowning and muttering the title "Sister Christie," Sita said:
"Then tell me, what part of the Dionysian Cult are you curious about?"

"This is the diary left by Uejin Goro... Although much of it is his ramblings after he was infected with the Dionysus virus, there is one thing that I, like him, find very puzzling—why didn't the cult use the original Dionysus virus to expand its own power?"

As Jiang Zhou spoke, he sent the file he had found in Wulang's discarded computer to the woman in front of him.

Christie, who was standing nearby, tried to stop them, but was stopped by Theta.

"May Goro's diary eventually reach me..."

Sita nodded slightly and said:
Thank you.

This wasn't just a polite remark. Because she lacked the relevant permissions, Sita couldn't access the entire crisis's files, and naturally, she didn't know that Goro had left behind such a diary before his death.

So, Goro was the only successful member of the Minard Project—he succeeded even before the project began.

Sita flipped through the logbook, then sighed softly.

"When you were investigating us, did you think that Uejin Goro seemed a bit too naive as an undercover agent for a secret organization? Even before he was unfortunately used and infected with the Dionysus virus and lost his mind."

Sita asked.

Jiang Zhou replied:

"Goro is not suitable to be an undercover agent, but he is indeed an excellent member of the Icarus Liberation Front."

A flawless answer.

Sita thought to herself that for a moment she almost forgot that it was a "zombie" answering and took it as Theseus's true feelings—after all, the zombie didn't have any inner thoughts to read to her.

Before she could explain, "Jiang Zhou" continued:
"So, you deliberately selected suitable people to join this organization?"

Did you even guess that?
Sita was slightly surprised.

The zombie mode in Depth 3 is pretty powerful...

With these thoughts in mind, Sita began to speak:

“You’re right… In fact, it’s not just the Icarus Liberation Front in the Nord resettlement area. In all forty-seven environments around the world where ‘legends’ could be born, we’ve dispatched members whose personalities are compatible with those environments. Through technological and economic support, we secretly catalyze the birth of those ‘legends’… This is the so-called Minard Project, which catalyzes the descent of a deity through collective frenzied rituals.”

Hearing this, Christie, who was standing nearby, felt like the alarm clock in her head was going off like a thrash metal interlude.

She quickly said:

"We have no interest in the internal affairs of the Dionysian Cult... Um, we didn't hear anything. Theseus, we should go!"

As she spoke, she pulled up Jiang Zhou, who was standing to the side.

It wasn't that the owner of the Prison Abyss Studio was worried about retaliation from the Dionysian Cult—if a real fight broke out, ten of the strongest Thetas wouldn't be enough for her to take on—but knowing so much about the Dionysian Cult's inner workings, she didn't want to betray Theta or be branded as an accomplice of the Dionysian Cult if the people of the Olympian Order came looking for her in the future.

"Don't worry, Carol."

Sita could naturally see Christie's dilemma at that moment, and she explained with a wry smile:
"I'm not some villain from an anime who likes to go around explaining his plans to everyone. I'm telling you all this mainly because this plan has completely failed now..."

The environments that give birth to dazzling "legends" are naturally so harsh that each one is representative of its own. Of the forty-seven "Menards" sent out, about half died or went insane. After establishing themselves, the remaining half either became disheartened and resigned to their fate or succumbed to the corrupt environment and degenerated.

Back then, it was already considered relatively good that Right Jingoro managed to become the head of the propaganda group of the Icarus Liberation Front; however, he never expected that the Nord resettlement area was full of hidden talents, and the actual situation was far more dangerous than expected.

And the "legend" that ultimately emerged was not Goro.

In reality, that true legend couldn't have been created solely through the foundation of the Dionysian sect.

It wasn't until the people of the Olympian Order approached her that Theta realized that the so-called "Mainard Plan" wasn't unnoticed by the gods, but rather that they simply didn't care.

Almost simultaneously with her rush to the Nord resettlement area to deal with this Category II crisis, her "Menards" were also captured one after another—not even by the company, but by local gangsters who were clearing them out, and all the seeds of resistance were crushed into dust.

Although he was completely being used, at least Jingoro Ue's work contributed to the birth of "Meme Entity Icarus"...

As Sita thought this, she glanced at the log that Theseus had sent her again with great emotion.

This can be considered the only achievement of the "Minard Project".

That's why she was willing to tell the "embalmer" who had investigated the truth about these plans—at least one more person would know about Jingoro's work.

Even though what's controlling his body right now is just a zombie. "Catalyzing the descent of a god?"

Jiang Zhou frowned and said.

Upon hearing this, Sita did not explain in detail to him, but instead looked at Christie who was standing to the side.

The latter also had a look of sudden realization on his face.

"You mean to say..."

She raised her hand, somewhat excitedly.

"Just like when you discovered the Hades architecture... However, due to the different direction of permissions, it doesn't need to be 'discovered,' but rather it is a qualitative change resulting from quantitative accumulation, and eventually 'emerges.'"

Xita nodded.

In fact, it should have emerged as early as during the Second Cyber ​​War...

She thought to herself silently.

And they emerge and descend in the most suitable form of mythological memes.

It's not some mythological deity, not some historical figure, not some heroic legend, and certainly not some national idol, boy band or girl group member, or some cultural meme or ideology that has come to life...

Just as the esoteric form of Dionysus ultimately inspired Christianity in later generations.

That deity should also descend in the form of the "Holy Trinity," which ushered in this era of madness.

Janus, the first deep diver, Jiang Zhou.

Father, Holy Spirit, and Son.

If Dionysus were to truly descend in the form of the Holy Trinity, then, just as recorded in the Orphic mysticism, he would stagger up to the throne of the gods and play with Zeus's thunderbolt; and Zeus would tacitly approve of this, regarding it as a symbol of succession.

The Dionysian sect of that time chose to cooperate with the Holy Trinity faith for this reason, and established the Holy Trinity Divine Descent Altar in the Phoenix Islands.

However, reality differed from what was recorded in the Orphic esoteric tradition. The god-king did not choose to acquiesce, nor did he acknowledge that His rule would ever end.

With unprecedented fury, the Phoenix Islands were ultimately destroyed in the devastating flames of the Great Thunder.

This can be described as the most tragic ending.

The Blissful Order of that time ultimately split because of this incident.

Thinking of this, Xita couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

Remember when the Dionysian Church split up? It still maintained its global influence, while the other faction, which hadn't yet become part of the Bacchus Order, was pitifully weak. It even needed to rely on the remnants of the Holy Trinity for support to survive.

But now, they have become terrifying beings that I cannot understand at all.

Speaking of which...

The thought of the Holy Trinity inexplicably brought another thing to Sita's mind.

Among the remnants of the Holy Trinity, the Theseus Pathfinder, who claimed to be researching the ultimate form of human utopia, is now unaware of how his "identityless utopian society" experiment is progressing.

With the support of the Bacchus Order, all controllable elements can be sent to Paradise to properly maintain the body; and relying on Bacchus's unpredictable technology, a stable settlement can even be established inside the Styx Firewall. Presumably, the final result has been achieved by now.

I don't know if it was successful or not.

If we take controllable factors into account, the power that guy can organize all by himself is probably larger than the entire Dionysian Cult combined...

Although she didn't think much of that person's ideas, the thought of how much resources the other person could squander made Sita a little envious.

Returning to Uruguay after so many years, facing former colleagues who are no longer the same as before, I ask them... no, I ask them for an opportunity, a qualification, based on the friendship we had back then.

Ugh……

The part of Sita that belonged to the mortals couldn't help but feel embarrassed and even ashamed.

Looking at the other Theseus Path Coordinator in front of her, perhaps subconsciously wanting to prove that she was qualified, Theta suddenly felt an urge to educate him on the mistakes made by high-level Theseus Path Coordinators; at the same time, she wanted Christie to judge and criticize the guy who had gone astray together.

That guy might even challenge me for the title of God of Wine in the future.

Sita felt a surge of anger.

However, the thought that this guy was actually talking to him in "zombie mode" immediately dampened his enthusiasm.

Let's not dwell on these old, trivial matters.

Otherwise, she would really be like a resentful woman, unable to extricate herself from the past.

Craving sympathy and approval from others will only lead to a loss of the courage to move forward alone.

"So, you're going to the Bacchus Cult headquarters in South America because..."

At this moment, Christie looked at her with a shocked expression.

Oh no... It seems that the deal we just finalized has gotten caught up in something even more serious.

At this moment, Christie felt as if all the data sensors in her body were shouting "NO!!!"

…………

At this moment, Jiang Zhou, who had not heard "himself" talking to the two human intelligence limit adjusters, was surprised by something else.

He was discovered while eavesdropping on Junjie Zhang and Kumiko Furuzuki?

How can this be? !
It's worth noting that although his hacking skills were still quite rudimentary, he used a script provided by the Goddess of the Underworld to infiltrate Junjie Zhang's private domain!

Although the goddess is no longer connected to him or providing online support, with the permissions of the Moon Mark, isn't it still easy to install a listening channel on a wizard-level hacker's ice wall?

It doesn't involve malicious injection, so it shouldn't be detected...

I almost got caught red-handed by Hoshino Hikaru.

Thinking this, Jiang Zhou, who had exited the private domain and continued to spread mist to conceal himself, suddenly received a message.

Yes, someone pinpointed the server address hidden by the mark of the Goddess of the Underworld and found him directly.

How did you do it?
With that thought in mind, Jiang Zhou opened the message.

[I thought you were a shipper like me, but it turns out you're here to steal information. If I catch you again, I'll report you to Theta - AR]

Wait... what the heck is this? (End of Chapter)