Abyssal Wanderer

After making those arrangements, Jiang Zhou logged off everyone in the City of Sages.

The damned people have been assigned their due destiny, and those who continue to live will also receive a new mission.

Maybe I should feel sorry for what Booker will encounter in the future - the mission he has been given is too heavy for a human being.

But at the moment Jiang Zhou didn't have that emotion.

Calculating the optimal solution, he made the most suitable decision almost cold-bloodedly.

After logging everyone offline, he looked at the remaining blood-red ghost of Liao Qi, trying his best to dig out the thin gossamer anger in his heart.

"Is there no other way?"

Jiang Zhou asked.

Through the connection of the Janus program, Hecate did not need to answer. He already knew the answer because he was connected.

But he still wanted to ask it himself.

"The transformation of Icarus has completely changed the hardware that carries his consciousness. Now even if he is pieced back together completely, he will only be an incarnation of killing driven by anger and hatred and unable to stop for a moment.

"At that time, you will have to kill him again."

There was no need to answer, Hecate replied.

Life is a process, and the image that everyone can feel is just a side that has been intercepted in time. As for Liao Qi himself, being burned to death by his own anger was the end of him.

It is also the ending he chose.

Jiang Zhou nodded, he respected Liao Qi's choice.

Then let him sleep here forever. That's all he can do.

"In the record of that 'door', Janus apologized to me for what happened to Liao Qi."

Jiang Zhou turned to look at Hecate and asked another question.

But this time, there was no longer a heart-to-heart confirmation. The connection between Jiang Zhou and Hecate was slowly being disconnected - after everything was arranged, Hecate had fulfilled her promise.

At this moment, she is slowly blocking out the perception and control of each other. This is like cutting the left and right halves of the brain open and putting them into different skulls.

"How did he do it?"

Jiang Zhou asked.

Gradually, the extraordinary power, broad vision, and unimaginable wisdom that belonged to the gods were leaving him. And as Jiang Zhou became alone again, those fragile emotions unique to mortals once again filled his heart.

Sadness, indignation, surprise, hesitation...and uncontrollable curiosity.

When he and Hecate were connected to form a system, his will as a "Jiang Zhou" was almost non-existent, just like the self in the dream who was pushed by the dream environment, unable to do as he did when he was awake. Little logical thinking and subjective initiative.

At this moment, Jiang Zhou was trying to recall the information stored in Hecate's database. Trying to figure out more information about the Abyss Dark Web was as difficult as a person waking up from a dream recalling the details of a dream.

Even if some information is recalled, for a human like Jiang Zhou, the series of data codes that cannot be intuitively formed into thoughts are just a bunch of useless garbled codes - after all, that is the information that the AI ​​uses for itself, and there is no need to go out of its way for it. Human understanding writes decoders.

But he was sure that Hecate knew something.

Another thing he is sure of is that Janus, who was just born a hundred years ago, only borrowed the infrastructure of the human Internet at that time, and it was absolutely impossible to accurately deduce what happened today a hundred years later.

"Time, like mathematics, is a tool used by human beings as an intellectual body to understand the world. As for the beings in the highest heaven, their way of understanding the world is different from that of us who are still in the lower world."

Hecate answered thus, and then she continued without lingering on this question for too long:

"No matter what their will is, thinking about them is meaningless to you now, or even to me now... Just focus on the things that are within your reach now."

Jiang Zhou nodded silently.

In any case, the current situation in the world is caused by a series of super artificial intelligences, including Janus. And the influence they bring, in addition to the extremely suspicious "cannibalism" between them, seems to be related to the "last wishes" of those who make wishes.

That wish I had back then brought about the "Janus Program" and my own "time travel". According to "Perseus No. 1", the establishment of the "Styx Firewall" seems to be related to the "last wish" of the last wisher.

If one's own digital personality is the starting point of Janus' evolution, thus granting oneself the power to make wishes. So, will the guy who provides digital personalities for other super artificial intelligences also get the power to make wishes?

If this is the case, then whether it is the multi-purpose printer, the upgrade path, or the current high-ranking Olympian gods... the reasons why they exist and maintain this abnormal society are worthy of in-depth consideration.

Especially today, a hundred years later, Janus has not fulfilled the promise he made to himself - perhaps for a super artificial intelligence, the only power that can stop or delay his will is another person. Super artificial intelligence.

Or, another "last wish".

If I want to know the truth about the "big shock" and other "last wishes", I'm afraid I have to find the people who experienced it back then.

The directors of the company... and the "New Money" that has joined the Olympian order in recent years like the Pluto Deep Dive Company is not enough. It must be a company with a deep foundation like "Jupiter Group", "Juno Financial" or "Minerva Information Technology", and the board members are suspected to be the first generation adjusters.

Hmm... Unless the goddess of the dark moon is willing to help him again, relying on his own ability alone, even with the assistance of the Janus program, this kind of thing is definitely a long-term goal.

Jiang Zhou took a deep breath, then looked at Hecate with some expectation.

The high platform where she was standing was empty at the moment.

Jiang Zhou searched the entire "City of Sages", but couldn't find her existence.

Alright... It's better to think about how to make your own body escape from "Tartaros".

Thinking of this, he took out the crystal ball where "Ye Qian" was imprisoned.

There are two things I need to do right now.

1. Dig out as much useful information as possible from this guy on the "Path of Theseus".

Second, let him die in pain over and over again as much as possible.

Thinking of this, he crushed the crystal ball.

As if releasing a genie from a bottle, Ye Qian appeared in front of Jiang Zhou with a face full of horror.

"Thank God, I finally came out of that endless path. This... sir? Thank you for rescuing me. Is there anything I can do to help..."

Freed from the Möbius strip set by the evil goddess, no matter who rescues him, no matter what the other party wants him to do, Ye Qian intends to do his best to meet its requirements.

Even if I am in a city that is broken no matter how you look at it, even if the image of the other party is a human form composed of countless color block fragments.

Now, with a high probability, I have lost my body and become an electronic ghost wandering in the dark web of the abyss. That being the case, then he intends to simply continue to adjust and transform his stand-in program, so that he can develop from a digital personality to an AI.

At this moment, Ye Qian was ready to abandon his humanity and go completely crazy - being used as a puppet by others, he planned to sacrifice his own mind in exchange for powerful power.

And the AI ​​that has rescued him now is the beginning of his new life.

"You are so noble and forgetful. Oh... By the way, I forgot to adjust my visual image. What now? Do you recognize who I am?"

But I never expected that the "AI" made up of countless color blocks smiled, and then... his image began to change like water, and finally turned into...

"Are you the captive caveman?"

Looking at that familiar face, Ye Qian said in great horror.

Immediately, he recalled what he had seen inside the universal printer program before, and continued:

"No... you are not just a cave... native who has not even installed a brain-computer interface. You are the person who has been trapped in that universal printer. You are..."

Jiang Zhou shrugged:

"My name is Jiang Zhou, but people in this era prefer to call me the First Deep Diver. But all in all, I am the creator of Janus."

Hearing these words, Ye Qian's expression felt as if he was struck by lightning - in his own memory, this was the captured "caveman" who happened to pass through his hands not long ago. And he also plans to make the other party his "core puppet".

It's just a little bit closer, really just a little bit closer. If he could discover his specialness earlier, then as the adjuster of Theseus' path, wouldn't he be able to...

"Let's skip the pleasantries between us and get straight to the point. I've been thinking about a question since I released you earlier.

"Which number should I choose?"

Jiang Zhou's words interrupted Ye Qian's unwilling delusions.

"What number..."

Feeling that danger was looming in an instant, Ye Qian asked vigilantly. And at the same time, he also started to run the prosthetic equipment in his stand-in program, planning to find the right opportunity to run out, or... knock down the opponent?

This is not impossible. When I met the other party before, the other party was still a native without even a brain-computer interface. Time has not passed for too long now. Even if he is the "First Deep Diver", it is normal. of human beings.

Upgrading and transformation also follow basic rules. Theoretically, it is impossible for the opponent to be strengthened to the point of defeating you in such a short period of time.

Facing the other party's cautious posture, Jiang Zhou's posture was very relaxed. He spread his hands and said:

"You see, this is the Narcissus Plain, and you are now a digital personality uploaded to the Internet. In other words, after losing the restraint of the body, the number of times I can kill you can be greater than 1. Infinitely small...

"I'm wondering how many times I'm going to kill you?"

This sentence is the signal for war. Ye Qian instantly raised his hands, and countless nanowires shot out from the jet holes under the skin of his palms, heading straight for the eyeballs of the unwary guy.

Then, Ye Qian found that everything around him suddenly slowed down - whether it was his own movements or the nanowires shot out at the speed of sound.

Only Jiang Zhou maintained his normal speed.

"This is the city of wise men, a city that belongs to me."

Jiang Zhou gently pushed aside the nano-silk threads and walked to Ye Qian and said - the playback speed of his voice sounded very normal to Ye Qian.

"I still have some things I want to ask you, but I don't need to say them right now...after all, in the compressed time, you have plenty of time to talk about those things slowly."

Jiang Zhou walked one step away from Ye Qian, put his hands on his shoulders, and pulled the other person's face closer.

"Let me tell you some names, Liao Qi, Kerit, Ming Chaokun, Y.G...."

Jiang Zhou named more than twenty names in succession. Those were all members of the Icarus Liberation Front who died in the "Siege of Theseus" - including Liao Qi. If it weren't for the Janus program, he would Should have died in that cheap hotel.

"There are twenty-four people here, and then some earlier, who died from blowing up the 'Intelligent Control Center'. And because the water purification device was forced to shut down by you, there are people who died from accidentally drinking radioactive wastewater, a total of one hundred Forty-nine people. There are also the seventy-eight innocent people who died in harvesting brainware after you assisted the "Lobotomy Gang"... I didn't even count those who died indirectly at your hands because their families were broken. Get in."

Ye Qian wanted to stabilize his emotions through the "puppet program", but he was horrified to find that all the prosthetic bodies in his stand-in program had been locked.

Not having done so for a long time, Ye Qian felt fear like a snake, cold and wet sliding along his back.

"The Nord settlement is only part of your crimes, but I am not interested in accurately investigating how many people you have killed in other places. Let's just multiply it by four."

Jiang Zhou looked at the shivering Ye Qian and pointed to a building behind him.

"That place is called the Massacre Museum. It contains all kinds of strange killing methods invented by a group of people who think they are immortal to pass the time. They also thoughtfully wrote automated programs for those experiences, both in terms of quantity and quality. Disgustingly good."

"I...I will tell you whatever you want to know, but please, don't..."

Jiang Zhou saw his own shadow in the other party's trembling eyes.

"I don't know if any of the people you killed like this have begged you like this. I don't know what your answer was at that time."

Jiangzhou Road.

"Yes, yes, that was when I was in North Africa. I was..."

Ye Qian immediately lied, but the next moment, he couldn't even open his mouth.

"But it doesn't matter if you have it or not. I won't let you go anyway. The Nord resettlement area can count the number of people who died directly because of you. There are 251 people in total. Multiplied by four, that is 1004 people. Let me help you make up the whole number. 1024."

Jiang Zhou waved his hand, and Ye Qian was instantly pulled into the "Massacre Museum" as if his collar was lifted by an invisible hand.

The last voice Ye Qian heard was that person's indifferent words - those words were mixed with restrained anger.

"From now on, you will die one thousand and twenty-four times." (End of Chapter)