"In other words, there are only eight days left..."
Jiang Zhou said this after sending Booker back.
The construction of the geothermal power station takes about eight days, and after that, I only need to use a multi-purpose printer to reprint the body of "Jiang Zhou" to complete the verification and unlock the data inside.
However, by then, Jiang Zhou will need to complete the understanding of the mental model and substitute program online in the "City of Sages". In other words, during these eight days, I must continue to stay in the Abyss Dark Web and cannot just return to the basic reality.
After all, when he returns this time, his identity will become "Hecate's Horse". By then, as long as Pluto doesn't tease the minds of those senior executives, he will not have another chance to dive for a long time.
"There are still eight days left..."
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhou sighed again.
I don’t know if there will be any problems with my body in reality during these eight days.
Maybe the senior executives of Pluto Deep Dive, after long discussions, still felt that the danger was too great and directly dealt with it humanely - after all, there were many people who wanted to kill him before, and they were willing to leave a way for him. The only leader of the company is Perse Fanny.
We can only hope that they will not do this during these eight days.
Otherwise, it would be too dramatic if he died directly because his body in the base reality was destroyed before he could unlock the information and learn the truth.
he thought.
But even though I think so, this is not something I can control anymore...
If you think about it on the bright side, if everything was fine for the first half month, then there is no reason for something to happen after another eight days.
He had no choice but to comfort himself.
"It's better to restore my 'ashes' first."
Immediately, Jiang Zhou muttered to himself.
Now, Charon has not yet fulfilled his reward and has stitched Jiang Zhou's stand-in program back together.
With a sigh, he started the program. Immediately, he teleported himself back to his previous location along the original path.
The surrounding scenery swayed, and Jiang Zhou returned to the dock where he had entered the Narcissus Plain before.
At this moment, on the pier that seemed to have been destroyed by the violent storm, only the somewhat embarrassed Hecate, the goddess of the moon, remained there alone.
Jiang Zhou stared blankly at the other party's appearance as if he had just been fished out of the river, and opened his mouth, but in the end he still refrained from asking any questions.
The graphic image of darknet AI is often related to their current status. The other party's embarrassed appearance was most likely due to being attacked by something before.
As for what kind of attack it was... At this moment, Jiang Zhou had an answer in his mind that was not suitable to ask for confirmation.
Anyway, they were the first to use their special skills to help rescue Christie. If you suffer damage due to this reason, you can't just put the blame on yourself.
The little man in his heart was whistling and squinting at the sky.
And besides that...
Jiang Zhou walked towards each other and looked around - he did not find Charon and Christie.
It looked like they had all left early.
What should I do with my own reward?
Jiang Zhou muttered.
On the other side, Hecate did not show the slightest surprise on her face when she saw Jiang Zhou appearing so suddenly. She just put down the extinguished torch in her hand, and then took out something wrapped in a wrinkled coarse cloth from her soaked robe.
She handed this thing directly to Jiang Zhou who walked in front of her.
To be honest, if it weren't for the mist surrounding the other party's soaked robe, Jiang Zhou really didn't know where to look.
However, it is just a graphical interface. Does AI also have such a thing as shame?
Or is this just the product of an AI that studies human emotions and tries to imitate them?
Jiang Zhou thought to himself when he took the ball.
"This is the reward that Mr. Charon entrusted me to deliver to you... The contract has been completed."
However, Hecate still said this expressionlessly.
Cold, heavy, rough.
This was the first feeling I had when I got the thing.
Jiang Zhou picked it up and then opened the rag - wrapped inside was a hammer and chisel that looked weathered.
He looked up at Hecate in confusion.
"In it, there is stored the mental model and substitute program of this Pygmalion path adjuster. As long as you satisfy his long-cherished wish, he will repair your substitute program for you."
Pygmalion, king of Cyprus in Greek mythology. He is good at carving, but he doesn't like mortal women. So the king used ivory to create an ideal image of his perfect wife for himself. Then, like in many fairy tales, the ivory sculpture really came to life through his miraculous skills and passionate emotion and investment.
Although he didn't know what the other party's specific abilities were, Jiang Zhou had a vague feeling that the promotion path named after this king would probably be very popular with patients with "pathological technology fetishism and social disorder syndrome".
After all, who doesn’t want the little person into whom they have invested their money and love to come alive?
However, now is not the time to talk about this.
Jiang Zhou immediately pulled his thoughts back.
"So, I still need to fulfill this guy's long-cherished wish first?"
Jiang Zhou was speechless for a moment.
He had done so many things before, and he was still just giving a down payment? Do you have to continue next?
This situation reminded Jiang Zhou of some of the VRRPG games he had played in the past - he played the role of the presiding judge to save the world, but was called upon to run errands here and there. A mission reward requires a series of missions to be redeemed.
Fortunately, Hecate shook her head:
"This craftsman's long-cherished wish is very simple, and you can fulfill it right now."
"What is it?"
Jiang Zhou asked.
"Complete death...except for those who have broken through the limits of their minds, or who are 'walking on the path of Theseus', there are actually very few people who can endure to completely get rid of the body of reality and live in the upper world in the form of pure data.
"After all, your human thinking model was not suitable for this place from the beginning."
The other party replied like this.
After experiencing the "City of Sages", Jiang Zhou nodded with deep understanding. Then, he rewrapped the hammer and chisel and put them away.
He saw that Hecate seemed to have something to say, so he was in no rush to start repairing it right now.
As for the goddess of the dark moon, who covered her graceful figure with mist, she took back the extinguished torch and said:
"According to the previous contract, can you complete the display of 'hate and anger'?"
Regarding this question, Jiang Zhou was stunned for a moment - as if he had just thought of such a problem and was a little embarrassed.
When I was in the City of Sages, I was quarreling with the citizens there, the Dionysian Bureau, etc., but I really didn't feel any anger or hatred - when you are facing a group, not a specific person. Compared with the strong emotions of "hate and anger", what can be felt more is a mentality similar to "pity" or "despair".
"Sorry, I haven't..."
He said so.
But the other party shook his head directly, blocking his next words:
"You don't need to feel uneasy about this. If you present it deliberately, it will not achieve the effect. But if one day, please call my false name and let me bear witness."
"OK."
Jiang Zhou nodded, and then he began to feel that the other party was really asking the wrong person for help in this matter.
Hatred and anger mostly affect smaller interpersonal relationships, and do not always represent a lack of reason - and this is not an area that Jiang Zhou is good at.
After thinking about it, he only had one experience of reckless anger in his life - it would be difficult to recreate it.
Of course, the small scope of emotion does not mean that it has small impact. In history, there are too many things that changed the course of history because of "a common man's anger".
Jiang Zhou originally thought that the other party would continue to urge him to complete the contract as soon as possible. However, after he nodded, Hecate mentioned another thing to him:
"After your substitute is repaired, you still need my guidance to return to the basic reality, right?"
Jiang Zhou nodded.
This is indeed the case. If I want to return to "Tartarus" in the basic reality, I need the other party's help to open the path.
But for this little thing, the other party should be able to directly satisfy me, right?
Jiang Zhou thought shamelessly.
Otherwise, why would you go to such trouble to save yourself?
However, the reality did not develop as he thought.
"Then, in exchange for helping you open the path, I still have two requirements for you to complete."
Two more requirements?
Because it was different from what he imagined, Jiang Zhou asked nervously:
"any request."
His voice sounded a little lacking in confidence - but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, no matter what excessive demands the other party made to him, he had to hold his nose and admit it.
Otherwise, he will never be able to go back in his life.
However, the two requirements the other party gave me were surprisingly simple.
"First, when you drive the Pygmalion Path Adjuster, let him also carve a statue for me.
"Second, write my real name into the list of 'City of Sages'."
Hecate, who was shrouded in mist and seemed to be looming, said this.
Things were not difficult at all, but Jiang Zhou still asked with some worry:
"Can I ask, what are you planning to do?"
He asked so directly, not originally intending to get an answer.
But what I didn't expect was that the other party answered very calmly:
"I want to use the 'City of Sages' in the 'Narcissus Plain' as a medium to temporarily open a passage to the lower realm of the physical layer."
Use the "City of Sages" to open a passage?
Jiang Zhou was stunned.
If he remembered correctly and the old news materials were true, the last time she opened the channel, she almost blew up the entire lunar colony.
(End of chapter)
