Abyssal Wanderer.

Although it's not a specialization in this direction, it's still a path involving future prediction...

After listening to Xita's introduction, Jiang Zhou thought to himself.

Danger instinct, and the ability to see the future that one might only have when near death.

He carefully considered the implications of this ability.

What a useless ability...

After thinking for a long time, he expressed a similar sentiment.

However, the adjustment paths involving future observations seem to be rather useless.

First is Cassandra.

This path relies on existing information to extrapolate the future, and at a low level, it allows for insight into many of the extrapolation processes. However, the deeper the adjustment, the more distant and complex the future being extrapolated, and the more abstract the extrapolation process becomes. Eventually, it becomes a complete black box, where the adjuster can only make prophecies akin to divine pronouncements.

The Therias path relies on the future self sending information back in reverse, but when sending information in reverse time, the information content is very likely to be missing or distorted due to the noise of quantum fluctuations.

With such an unstable mechanism, Jiang Zhou estimated that apart from the absolutely certain information of the adjuster's own future life or death, it would be difficult for other information transmitted back to participate in large-scale decision-making... It was practically useless.

Then there's Sybil...

Jiang Zhou couldn't help but look down at his hands.

The Sybil Path isn't entirely useless, but it does seem to have its own dangers.

Shortly after connecting with the Sibyl Depth 7 Coordinator and accepting the girl's request to "find herself," Jiang Zhou activated his extensive Zombie Veins to investigate this path and related information about Sibyl herself.

Although some progress was made thanks to the intelligence network, the final amount of clues gathered was still pitifully small.

After all, the path adjustments and modifications of the salvaged Sybil are extremely rare, and this path is also very prone to falling into a state of dementia due to mental index collapse; moreover, unlike most adjusted paths, the higher the depth, the more likely they are to fall into illness, Sybil seems to be the only path that is currently confirmed to be more likely to fall into madness the lower the depth.

Staying in a low-level state can easily lead to madness, but the process of adjustment and transformation itself inevitably leads to a decline in mental index; the combination of these two factors means that for a long time, human society simply did not have a single Sibyl path adjuster with normal cognition who could communicate with the outside world.

After the Third Cyber ​​War, in response to the "Delphi Project," the committee took the risk of performing a complete set of adjustments and modifications from Depth 1 to Depth 7 on a single chosen candidate, thus creating the only stable high-level adjuster on the Sybil path to date.

Thinking of this, Jiang Zhou couldn't help but picture the girl with the wolf tail mullet hairstyle.

It's her.

The Sibyl Path Adjuster connected to him was the prophet of the committee.

Xia Qiu, that seems to be her name.

Or rather, it was a code name given to her by the committee—after all, after learning the name "Xia Qiu," the notes about controllable elements in the Janus program were not updated in real time.

Although there are no records of this, Jiang Zhou believes that the predictions made by the Sibyl Path are most likely achieved through death backtracking or similar methods. At depth 1, the adjuster of the Sibyl Path can predict events up to ten minutes in advance, while at depth 7, it can predict events that will occur in the next twenty-four hours.

This is very similar to the ability Jiang Zhou has now acquired.

As for why there are no records of the underlying principles... one can only say that if Jiang Zhou were the adjuster of the Sibyl path, he would not tell anyone that he actually achieved the prophecy through death rewind.

If outsiders find out, I'll become a guinea pig testing danger, and who knows how many times I'll die.

In short, according to the internal documents of the committee that Zhou Jiang obtained, after the establishment of the Delphi Prophecy Bureau, Xia Qiu was assigned to work at the Delphi Prophecy Bureau as a 24-hour emergency response prophet. However, because the prophecies of the Sibyl Path were not always accurate (Jiang Zhou strongly suspected that this was because she would not restart them when she wanted to slack off), Xia Qiu had a relatively leisurely period according to the records.

But things started to get strange here.

About twenty years ago, Xia Qiu suddenly became able to observe the future 24 hours in advance.

This ability was highly valued by the Jupiter Group. Relying on her accurate predictions, the committee and the Olympian Order nipped four crises of human mental breakdown in the bud within six months, nipping them in the bud at the Martian stage—which greatly reduced the associated casualties and economic losses.

Even the memorandum mentions that the Jupiter Group plans to establish a third-generation human intelligence sovereignty protection system centered around Xia Qiu.

However, before this plan could even be implemented, things took a sharp turn for the worse. After accurately predicting several crises, Xia Qiu began to exhibit typical cyborg psychotic symptoms of the Sibyl path—dementia, delirium, rambling, inability to respond to external stimuli, and inability to maintain continuous thought…

But unlike the pure ramblings of ordinary Sibyl syndrome patients, Xia Qiu's delirious ramblings, when interpreted, can correspond to real future events; and not only the future, but also many past events can be interpreted through her delirious ramblings, as if Xia Qiu's thoughts really permeate the entire timeline.

Further on, it's not just her thoughts anymore; even her body might suddenly disappear and reappear, leaping to some place thousands of miles away, where she could be witnessed by someone.

Jiang Zhou couldn't help but think of the scene when he met her in the Nord resettlement area.

This situation has continued to this day.

After years of research and experimentation, although the committee still does not fully understand the principle behind Xia Qiu's prophecy mechanism, it has summarized a solution that can make crisis prophecies more efficiently—that is, to contain her in a room that cannot be observed from the outside world, which the committee internally calls the "cat box".

No one is allowed to actively observe the situation inside the cat box without permission; instead, Xia Qiu's thoughts are allowed to spread across the timeline. Only when she actively uses the one-way communication device inside the cat box will the committee members learn of her latest prophecy.

Several days ago, after Jiang Zhou finished reading all the materials that Zhou Jiang had compiled, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

So, does this mean I've found you, Sybil?

Jiang Zhou thought to himself, then silently shook his head.

I guess it doesn't count.

Although there is no evidence, Jiang Zhou speculated that Xia Qiu probably died during a time rewind before the continuous steady-state time limit was fully charged, which caused her thoughts to begin to diffuse in the timeline.

Or, to be more pessimistic—Jiang Zhou was reluctant to believe this possibility—she had disrupted the continuity of her thinking because she had retraced her steps too many times.

However, due to insufficient information, he was unable to make a judgment.

But Jiang Zhou also decided that after the Dionysian War ended, he would go to the headquarters of the Human Intelligence Ethics Oversight Committee to fulfill the commission he had been entrusted with.

Regardless, the future was indeed changed not long ago through Jiang Zhou's ability to rewind.

AR's premonition of danger in Damascus was real—if she hadn't repeatedly retraced her steps, her head would have been removed by that Mars director, and Sita would have been trapped and died in the Middle East.

In other words, AR's perception of Yunxiao is most likely correct.

Although this old mercenary looks honest and unassuming, and speaks without any airs, he could indeed pose a significant threat to the entire Theta team.

However... since I was able to save them from the Mars Wars through rewinding, even if Yun Xiao is a threat, he shouldn't be more dangerous than that director's base adjustment factor.

Thinking this through, Jiang Zhou didn't raise any objections, but continued:
Well, I think it's a good thing that an independent mercenary from a non-corporate faction at Depth 6 got a spot in the competition. If a corporation had taken the spot for the Aeneas Path, they would definitely have sent more than just Depth 6 members, and their logistical and media support wouldn't have been lacking either, which would have been disadvantageous for us.

Both Xita and AR nodded upon hearing this.

There's no benefit to starting a fight, and no harm in not doing so; it might even block the company's quota. The choice is quite obvious.

Xita turned to look at the silent Yunxiao and said:
"Although we are all participants in the Dionysian War and are competitors, I still suggest that we spend the remaining two days getting along well in this giant structure, how about that?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking... and even if it's out of consideration for this guy who helped me buy the ticket, I wouldn't directly retaliate against someone who helped me. In our line of work, it's very important to have principles."

Yun Xiao nodded.

Jiang Zhou smiled, intending to exchange a few polite words, but the other party continued: "Young man, you're also going to participate in the War of the God of Wine, right? Don't worry, when the time comes on the battlefield, I will definitely spare you this time and not kill you."

Jiang Zhou's smile froze.

He spoke with great seriousness, and it was clear that he had really thought it through and would give himself a break this time.

"Are you provoking me?"

Xita raised an eyebrow and looked at Yun Xiao.

No, he simply doesn't know how to speak, or he speaks too bluntly...

Jiang Zhou thought to himself.

However, if he could see it by characterizing the topological structure, then Theta would surely be able to see it even more clearly.

But the reason Sita asked this question was to lead into the next topic.

"Absolutely not. But once we're on the battlefield, we'll definitely have to fight. Whether it's you, this young man, or the young woman next to you, your weaknesses in terms of combat power are too great. If we really fight, I'd probably win... I don't have many valuable things on me right now, and most of them can't be used to repay favors, so I can only repay you by making this kind of promise."

"I really didn't mean to offend you."

Yun Xiao said this.

Every single word you said was clearly provocative and offensive...

Jiang Zhou suddenly felt an urge to facepalm.

Even though Sita could see the other party's sincerity, she was still quite angry at these words.

She held her breath for a long time, then said:
"Let's skip letting the mortician go this time, or perhaps we should. I have a suggestion..."

"No."

Before Xita could finish speaking, Yun Xiao interrupted her directly:
"I can't let the mortician off the hook this time. I won't change my mind once I've made a decision, and you have no right to give it up for him. Of course, you can continue with your suggestion, and I will give a precise answer based on its specifics."

Jiang Zhou noticed that Xita's lips twitched slightly.

I must say, this guy's way of speaking is definitely infuriating.

"Let's form an alliance until we defeat all the other companies in the competition."

Sita took a deep breath and said this.

As a lone wolf mercenary, Yunxiao is outnumbered and lacks logistical support; while as an Orpheus path adjuster, Xita is not strong in direct combat and needs a powerful vanguard.

In her view, early cooperation between the two parties was the best option.

Upon hearing this, Yun Xiao raised his hand and touched his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"I must admit, it is indeed a very attractive proposal. But I'm very sorry, I really can't trust an adjuster of the Orpheus path, so my answer is no."

Wow, that's way too blunt...

Jiang Zhou couldn't help but cover his face in his mind.

Of course, the other party's concerns are indeed valid.

Unless absolute trust is cultivated through long-term collaboration, almost no one is willing to team up with people on the Orpheus Path for missions—although this path is weak in direct combat, they are top-notch if they can operate behind the scenes.

Even the trust built up through long-term collaboration may appear to outsiders as the result of cognitive alteration or brainwashing.

The more the parties involved defend the Orpheus path, the more convinced outsiders are that this is a thorough brainwashing.

Not to mention, this is a war that requires fighting to the very end to determine a single victor; any alliance would only be temporary, and a war between them is inevitable in the future.

Anyone would refuse.

Even Jiang Zhou wouldn't dare work with Theta before he received Jim's Nyx Factor injection.

Although she was directly rejected, Sita's expression didn't change much this time.

I guess I've gotten used to it.

She shrugged and said:
"I guessed that would be the outcome. Well then, if it's not contingent on joint action, and the ceasefire agreement isn't going to last that long..."

At this point, she projected an image of the Mars War Company's raid on the Damascus resettlement area two days prior.

"How about we maintain a minimum level of cooperation until Mars' contestants are eliminated? As you can see, I also have some personal grudges with them."

So said Xita.

Upon hearing this, Yun Xiao carefully reviewed the projection several times before slowly saying:

"As long as it's not on the same battlefield, what you said is fine."

As he spoke, he smiled and said:

"Let's eliminate Mars's team first."

I remember that Minerva's main goal was also to eliminate the contestants who had eliminated Mars...

Listening to their conversation, Jiang Zhou thought to himself.

Even before the fight has started, three forces have already set their sights on him.

Uncle Sam, as the 88th President of the United States, is still a path that requires a lot of time and resources to develop.

If the Servants he summons can't withstand the early pressure, he might really be the first to be eliminated...

It was at this time that Jiang Zhou and Xita received the message from Thebes almost simultaneously.

Jiang Zhou's message came from Zhou Jiang, who had just arrived in Thebes—the committee's participating team had reached Thebes via an orbital drop capsule, thanks to the Jupiter Group's aerospace system.

Sita's intelligence came from members of the Dionysian cult who had arrived in Uruguay earlier.

The two received the same intelligence.

The participant from Mars War Company arrived in Thebes yesterday. Just now, that person actually revealed his identity as the President of the United States and held a grand Servant summoning ceremony in full view of everyone.

Even excluding the official live stream by the Bacchus Order, more than fifty media outlets from around the world have broadcast the entire summoning process live.

The guy named Sam Washington didn't even bother to hide his follower's real name, and proudly shouted it out in front of all the reporters.

Goddess Columbia. (End of Chapter)