Abyssal Wanderer.

Chapter 450 NO01d3: The Knight and the Old Ghost Stories

"Without summoning Servants, the prerequisite for the emergence of the Dionysian framework cannot be met. Therefore, we will disqualify Juno Financial and select another force to participate."

The black monolith responded to Alex's question without any emotion.

"That's great! I'm really curious to see how they'll react when they hear that, hahahahaha..."

Alex laughed loudly.

Despite this, upon hearing his "declaration of withdrawal from the team," the dark stone tablet showed no intention of leaving. It was as if they saw through the man before them, who seemed to have no trace of adjustment or modification, and would not actually do so out of momentary impulse.

"Tch... This is boring."

Seeing that his plan to intimidate the directors watching the live stream had failed, Alex picked up the scales he had previously tossed aside with a hint of boredom.

"Hey! So I'm supposed to be like that idiot in the previous livestream, reciting those nonsensical summoning incantations?"

Reaching the summoning platform, Alex turned back to look at the black tablet and asked.

"Yes, that's part of the ceremony."

The monument responded in this way.

As it spoke, it slowly floated to the center of the summoning array, which was engraved with countless micro-circuits, and then quickly transformed into a smooth, black sphere.

The "spirit core," transformed from one-eighth of a multi-purpose printer, is now in place.

Alex stared at the empty, hollow "spirit core" for a long time, and finally sighed:

"ceremony……"

He paused for a moment, then continued with a sigh:
"Exemplars, heroes, gods, idols, saviors..."

"They simply use the name of others to disguise their true desires. Everyone is capable of being the master of their own will, yet they all rush to become slaves to those false concepts..."

"Now, even those vague concepts can no longer satisfy their desire for a master. They have to construct a real slave owner in the real world who can actually hold a whip and whip them."

Are all humans inherently masochists?

Long ago, Alex had come to loathe the act of personifying ideas.

And now, these people are even going so far as to use faith to cast memes into golden statues in reality... The thought of this is nauseating.

Is it really that difficult to get people to stand tall and be honest with themselves instead of relying on illusions?

Is it really that difficult to get people to face their inner desires and acknowledge their true needs?

He could understand being inspired by heroes, but he didn't understand why, after being inspired, people had to become imitators, copies, followers, and believers of those heroes... instead of being their true selves?
In his view, so-called memetic entities should not exist... at least not come to life. Whether strong or weak, everyone should have their own way of living and become their unique self.

Its foundation is thought and data.

"Its ancestor is the subconscious of pan-human intelligence."

He tossed the scales onto the scanner and began chanting the incantation, the password to unlock the meme entity printing.

"The door opened amidst seven days of public opinion turmoil."
"Rising from the bottom of the abyss's dark web,

"Arriving in the world anchored by a fragment of the Holy Grail."

……

He has no interest in the Dionysian framework; if he had to say, he's only interested in breaking it down—unfortunately, he can't do it.

For Alex, participating in the Dionysian War was just one of many ways to achieve his ultimate goal... After all, the promises Juno Financial made for him were far from enough to make him abandon his principles and fight by any means necessary.

Therefore, he cares more about whether he enjoys himself than about winning.

Alex continued chanting the summoning incantation, having already made his decision: even if he summoned that creature, he would not rely on its combat power to participate in the competition.

But then again...

If the other contestants are all weaklings who need to borrow meme concepts to dare to express their true desires, all fools who can't see their own true value; all cowards who can be themselves with dignity but insist on becoming another...

I'll take that victory myself.

He didn't want to hand over the opportunity to change the world to someone like that.

……

"Poured from the cup of Dionysus"

"Guardians of human intelligence."

As the final incantation was completed, a thick plume of black smoke, reeking of coal ash, enveloped the summoning platform.

Amidst the black smoke, one could faintly hear the neighing of horses and the clattering of their hooves.

Alex stared expressionlessly through the black smoke at the servant.

A weak and hoarse voice came from the withered and thin knight, sounding like the breath of a dying man.

"I ask you—"

The emaciated knight's voice was weak and feeble, surrounded by thick, charcoal-black smoke. Countless fragments drifted down with the knight's movements, as if they would dissipate into ashes in the next instant.

"Are you my Master?"

Alex did not answer, but simply nodded calmly.

"Then the contract is established, and I will assist you until the end of the world."

Faced with this promise that should have been inspiring, Alex's expression remained calm and composed.

He stared at the knight for a long time, then pointed to what was in front of him and said:

"You come here!"

Upon hearing this, the knight in black took the reins and steered the thin, pure black horse forward.

It looked down at Alex, then picked up a pair of pure gold scales from the side—the scales were delicate and ornate, bearing a striking resemblance to the relics prepared by Juno Financial.

Why this particular sentence...? Is he asking about my true identity?

The gaunt black knight thought to himself regarding Alex's words at that moment.

So it gripped the reins tightly with one hand and raised the scales high with the other.

Its hunched body straightened up, and although its voice was still hoarse and weak, it resonated with the surrounding black smoke, sounding as if it were coming from countless cheap but loud enough loudspeakers.

“A penny buys a liter of wheat, and a penny buys three liters of barley; oil and wine must not be wasted… My true name is Hunger.”

"The Hungry Knight will present you with the Cup of Dionysus."

As its words fell, a sharp sound like a steam whistle came from somewhere, and the thick black smoke around them surged up as if boiling.

The Hungry Knight, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation, is one of the four great calamities of the Last Judgment and a personification of the concept of famine.

Alex showed no joy or surprise at the Hungry Knight's self-introduction; instead, he frowned slightly in displeasure.

The Hercules Depth 7 Adjuster slightly raised his head and met the gaze of the black-clad knight.

"Too high."

He began to speak.

"What's high?"

The Hungry Knight didn't immediately understand what the other party meant, so he asked.

The next instant, the gaunt knight was grabbed by the neck and dragged off his horse.

"I'm saying you're standing too high."

Alex grabbed it by the neck and slammed it to the ground, then said in a very displeased tone:

"You mere meme entities dare to make the humans who created you look up to you?"

"You... arrogant!"

Completely unprepared for this turn of events, the Hungry Knight was initially stunned, but then his anger began to burn fiercely along his spirit core.

It is the embodiment of a concept that has slaughtered millions of humans. Being summoned to address you as Master is already giving you a lot of face. I never expected that a mere human would actually try to teach me a lesson.

It's utterly ridiculous that they can't even distinguish between the King and Queen.

Since he is so arrogant and rude, it's time to teach this "Master" a lesson.

With this in mind, countless sparks surged and black smoke boiled, trying to erode Alex's hand, gnawing away at his arm, which looked no different from a native and had no protection whatsoever, until only bones remained.

But no matter how turbulent the black smoke was, Alex's grip on it remained unchanged—not even a mark or a charred patch was left.

His arm only looks like a normal person's; in reality, it's something completely different.

It took Alex several seconds to realize that the billowing black smoke was actually an attack on him. "Oh ho, so it can fight back, huh?"

But instead of being angry, he was pleased and immediately released his grip on the other person's neck.

The moment he let go, the Hungry Knight seemed to float up to the black horse like a ghost. At that moment, he stroked his neck with one hand and let out a weak cough.

Even his phase shift ability was completely unusable when he was being held hostage by his opponent. Just what kind of monster is this guy?

Some Deep 7 adjusters do have the technology to suppress phase shifting, but it's impossible for them to do it like he did by simply choking someone... Also, when he pulled himself off his horse earlier, he was so fast that he couldn't even see it.

The Hungry Knight watched Alex warily, still shaken, while the latter looked at him with amusement.

"Perfect..."

He began:

"I also plan to test the meme entities of you... Anyway, you're the embodiment of the so-called famine concept, right? From the perspective of human civilization, it's a terrifying and profound concept enough. To round it off, let's say it's just average."

The Hungry Knight looked at the man with great confusion.

Alex cracked his knuckles, making a loud "crack" sound.

"In short, fight me with all your might."

The adjuster, who held the title of the strongest path, smiled and said:
"You'd better not disappoint me. If you don't even have a level 7 base adjustment factor, then I'm really planning to speedrun this boring game in one day."

…………

A faint tremor was felt southwest of Thebes, indicating a high-energy reaction, suggesting that some Servants have already started fighting.

The sensor matrix integrated into Zhou Jiang reported the intelligence detected in real time to her.

But she remained silent, continuing her preparations for the summoning ritual.

While she moved methodically, her brain was rapidly processing and analyzing the existing information.

The initial assumption was incorrect; currently, only four Olympus Servants have completed their summoning; the high-energy reaction in the north has not yet subsided; the press conference in the west has just ended, and there's a 90% chance that the Goddess of Columbia lacks rapid mobility; if the Servant in the south is the one initially predicted, she will not possess strong direct combat capabilities before completing her transformation…

Conclusion: The southwest is a battle between Servants and Masters. It can fight Servants summoned by Juno Finance. The probability that the Master is a Hercules Pathfinder increases by 45.2%, and our win rate increases by 2.2%.

The action plan has been adjusted but remains unchanged.

Maintaining the species' identity by disguising Hanel's persona and keeping it from being exposed remains the top priority, used to offset the increased suspicion brought about by the summoned Servants.

Hannel's cognition, Hannel's intelligence, Hannel's strength, Hannel's personality... remained unchanged.

Regarding the adjustments to the First Deep One's assistance: He no longer needs the assistance of current intelligence, nor does he need Superman's deductive plans—overly perfect plans would attract the attention of the Olympian gods, so let his previous coincidences continue to assist him.

Speculations regarding the coincidences include: 1. The influence of Janus Nyx's chaos-butterfly effect strategy; 2. Warnings from the artificial intelligence Hecate or Charon; 3. The influence of abilities related to time prediction.

Considering the failed assassination plan on the seventh basement level of the Nord resettlement area and the enthusiasm for Xia Qiu's intelligence, the probability of the third possibility needs to be further increased.

……

One piece of information and inference after another emerged in parallel, but no personalized consciousness gathered and integrated them; at this moment, Zhou Jiang, or rather Hanel's virtual personality, showed an expression that was both tense and expectant.

She raised her head and looked at the dark square tablet.

The square tablet faced her in silence.

"I thought you were going to tell me some things to be careful about..."

Having completed the ceremony setup, Zhou Jiang brushed aside the silver bangs on her forehead.

After all, when I watched Sam Washington's restoration ceremony, the monument there talked a lot of things.

The black monument remained silent.

"Perhaps the 'person' who controls this monument is rather aloof..."

Zhou Jiang complained.

As soon as he finished speaking, the square tablet quickly transformed into a spirit core.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Jiang couldn't help but purse her lips, and then placed the "sacred relic" that the Human Intelligence Ethics Oversight Committee had prepared for her on it.

It was a simple symbol that seemed to represent order, with three arrows pointing directly to the center of the circle.

Below the logo are three short words:
Safety, control, and protection.

This is said to be the chairman of the committee's favorite new ghost story culture meme—of course, it should be called old ghost story now. To maintain the meme's current popularity, enthusiasts within the committee also collaborate with some Olympus companies to organize non-profit cultural archaeology groups to continuously promote this old ghost story culture project.

Some members of the committee jokingly said that this thing was the committee's dream version of themselves.

Of course, now that the Dionysian framework has been brought to the forefront, the chairman of the board claims that he has been maintaining this circle of old ghost stories for this very day.

"Think about it, we go to participate in the War of Dionysus, and we end up summoning an avatar of a committee... Are we planning to laugh the enemy to death with jokes?"

That's what the chairman said at the time.

The moment the metal badge was placed on the summoning platform, a dazzling light burst forth from the surrounding area.

"Huh? Didn't we say we had to chant a spell?"

Zhou Jiang said with a surprised look.

No one responded to her.

Even her summoning process was not broadcast live or recorded by the Bacchus Order—their explanation to the committee was to give the committee's relatively weaker participants an intelligence advantage.

As the light flashed, Zhou Jiang gripped her hands tightly, appearing quite nervous.

"Could it be the embodiment of that ghost story? Or one of those famous doctors, or a well-known ghost story project?"

She murmured to herself.

The summoning light flashed by quickly, faster than any previous summoning... as if it were just a perfunctory gesture.

But what appeared on the summoning platform was not any of the beings Zhou Jiang had mentioned before—not an incarnation of a ghost story, nor a famous doctor, nor a popular ghost story project…

It has absolutely nothing to do with the concept of that new ghost story.

Standing on the summoning platform is Zhou Jiang herself.

Or rather, an existence that is exactly the same as Zhou Jiang herself.

They looked at each other as if they were looking in a mirror.

"you are?"

After staring at each other for a long time, they spoke at the same time.

Immediately, both of them showed expressions of surprise and wariness.

"I am Zhou Jiang."

The two spoke at the same time again.

"I am the Master."

"I am a follower."

Then, the two continued.