Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 1507 - 1506: You’re Not Even Qualified to Be a Consumable (Hopelessly Addicted to Alpha)
In the deep, dark, pitch-black underground cave, only the cold blue light illuminated the path ahead.
Fang Zheng walked through it, marveling at the weathered buildings around him.
But speaking of which......
"Why are you following me?"
Fang Zheng turned his head to look at the blue-haired girl behind him---she wasn’t Katori; at the moment, Katori, Novte, and Aetheria were helping the soldiers on the surface. Fang Zheng planned to go underground to search for the node left by the Goddess of Order, but he wasn’t acting alone.
Neflen and Landoruko also followed him down into the ruins.
Neflen was easy to understand; she had been by Fang Zheng’s side like a loyal puppy during this period, and Fang Zheng had grown accustomed to it. But Landoruko surprised Fang Zheng a bit; they had only met a few hours ago, and Fang Zheng had just answered a few of her questions.
Unexpectedly, he got entangled with her.
Unlike the typically silent Neflen, Landoruko seemed to be a girl who loved learning and thinking. In fact, after discovering Fang Zheng was human, she asked two questions.
How did the beasts come into being?
How did the Golden Fairies come into being?
Of course, Fang Zheng had no reservations in answering; perhaps these were secrets to be kept with one’s life for the people of this world, but to Fang Zheng, they were no more valuable than tabloid magazines you find on the street.
Thus, Landoruko learned the truth of this world from Fang Zheng.
The beasts were transformed from the humans who once existed in this world.
The Golden Fairies were created by the remaining humans of this world to imitate the Star God’s creation of humans.
"Because you’re the kin of the humans who destroyed this world, I have to monitor you to ensure you won’t do anything dangerous."
Landoruko walked behind Fang Zheng, staring at him as she spoke, and Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.
"I told you, I’m not a human of this world."
"I don’t believe that."
"Whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Fang Zheng replied casually once more, then looked away, and Landoruko fell silent---Neflen remained silent as always.
The three continued onward like this until Landoruko spoke up again after a moment.
"I heard about you from Katori and Aetheria. Why are you so kind to us Golden Fairies?"
"Huh? Is there a problem with that?"
"Of course."
Landoruko nodded.
"We are weapons, consumables. Is it really okay for you to treat us like this? Perhaps one day, a Golden Fairy will say, ’I don’t want to fight; I just want to live.’"
"Hahaha......"
However, to Landoruko’s surprise, Fang Zheng suddenly laughed upon hearing this.
"That’s perfectly normal. Wanting to live and not wanting to die is the instinct of life."
"Why are you laughing?!"
Landoruko felt inexplicably angry at Fang Zheng’s laughter.
"But we are not living beings; we are just Golden Fairies, consumables."
"No."
However, Fang Zheng interrupted her just as she finished her words.
"You don’t have the qualification to be consumables."
"What........."
"I have a swarm army under my command. Well...... you haven’t seen them, but in short, you can think of them as a beast-like species. They follow my orders completely and are unafraid of death, but do you know how many of them there are?"
Fang Zheng reached out, pointing upwards.
"There are more of them than there are stars, and they reproduce faster than rabbits. Their minds and spirits are connected through the Swarm Network, sharing thoughts with one another. Kill one, and two more will hatch; kill two, and four more will hatch, endlessly. Because of this, each Zerg will fight desperately, and I will let them fight to the death."
Upon hearing this, both Landoruko and Neflen were stunned. Though they hadn’t seen the Swarm, just Fang Zheng’s description made them shudder.
"Do you understand? Numbers are fundamental to a war of attrition. You Golden Fairies are just a handful, and I heard from Nigolan that not every fairy can become a Fairy Soldier. How can you have the qualification to fight a war of attrition like this? The people of this world are indeed fools; only Golden Fairies can use relic weapons, yet at times like these, they should be well protected and nurtured. Treating them as consumables, I really don’t know if they have a screw loose or what...... Forget it, I’ve been to so many worlds, and I’ve seen even more foolish things......"
Fang Zheng mumbled as he walked ahead, while Landoruko’s expression grew increasingly complex.
"Wait, but you said you have a swarm army...... aren’t they afraid of death?"
"The culture of the Swarm is different from yours, but they too understand the concept of death. However, in the Zerg, dying for the entire swarm is quite normal. They do not fear death, nor do they ignore it."
At this point, Fang Zheng glanced at Landoruko.
"So, you do not have to be oblivious to the concept of death to become a warrior. Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d rather not have such warriors."
"Wh-why?"
"Because if you don’t understand death, you have no concept of it, and thus, no proper awareness of what you should do."
At this point, Fang Zheng waved his hand.
"I have many companions by my side, and many of them have faced the threat of death. They’ve been afraid, cried, and run away, but in the end, they still picked up their weapons to bravely face battle and death. Because they know what death is, and they don’t want to die, nor wish for others to die, they unleash powerful strength to fight. If I had soldiers who didn’t understand death... I might as well just throw a grenade at them."
Neflen had gotten used to Fang Zheng’s peculiar remarks, but Landoruko was at a loss for words, as Fang Zheng’s statements were completely contrary to her worldview. She had intended to investigate this mysterious human, but found her own beliefs on the verge of collapse after the journey.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Fang Zheng stopped and looked ahead. There, a blood-covered corpse appeared before them.
"It’s one of the salvage team members."
Landoruko immediately recognized the person as a member of the salvage team.
"He was attacked by beasts and is already dead."
"Now that I think about it, I indeed heard about this before coming down here..."
Fang Zheng tapped his head. He remembered hearing an argument between a salvage team captain and the military before entering the ruins because the military had dispatched two salvage teams into the depths of the ruins to save time. The salvage team captain was very angry since, traditionally, more than seven people venturing into the ruins would result in all of them dying.
However, the military officer simply dismissed it as superstition—a classic element in horror film openings.
So, when you court death, you die; it’s only natural.
"Alright, let’s keep moving; it’s just ahead."
Fang Zheng took one glance at the body before averting his gaze and continuing further in, with Neflen silently following and Landoruko somewhat concerned—after all, they were underground, and an attack from beasts here would be dangerous.
But she couldn’t change anything alone and had to follow with her teeth clenched.
Along the way, they encountered several more corpses. Clearly, those who violated the taboo were dead, much like a horror film.
Finally, led by Fang Zheng, they arrived at their destination.
"This is it."
Looking at the scene before him, Fang Zheng whispered softly.
Before him appeared a space that looked like a plaza or some form of religious hall; these details were unimportant. What mattered was that in the center of this space lay a human figure encased in crystal. It was a girl of about seven or eight years old, clad in a flimsy white dress with bright red hair. Across her body, from chest to abdomen, was a large, pitch-black wound.
"What is... that?"
Upon seeing the red-haired girl, Landoruko’s voice trembled slightly.
"I feel... uneasy, as if something is calling out to me..."
"Don’t get too close."
Fang Zheng extended his hand to block Neflen and Landoruko.
"Remember what I said before? Humans killed the Star God and tried to learn from them, using the Star God’s Soul Fragment to create humans. But they failed, and you Golden Fairies are the result of their creation, so..."
"Is that... the Star God?"
At that moment, Landoruko instantly understood the unspeakable feeling deep within her, realizing what it was all about.
She was the product of the Star God’s Soul Fragment, and now, the girl frozen in crystal was the last Star God.
"Is she dead?"
At this point, Neflen asked.
"Dead, or strictly speaking, asleep. Those humans didn’t actually kill her, it’s just that..."
Fang Zheng slowly stepped forward and raised his right hand.
"———O ruthless Queen of Steel, O Holy Sword of Demon-Slaying———appear now as the Sword of Steel."
As Fang Zheng spoke, a silver short sword appeared in his hand.
This was Demon-Slaying Holy Sword—Ester.
The girl before them was the Order Coordinates left by the Goddess of Order, only she was already ’dead’. But this death wasn’t true death. Humanity had created the Holy Sword and, using it, cursed this last Star God with death, which is why she turned into this state.
However, the Demon-Slaying Holy Sword Ester in Fang Zheng’s hand could lift any curse, even the curse of death.
Fang Zheng raised the silver short sword in his hand and thrust it powerfully into the crystal in front of him.
"Crack."
The short sword effortlessly pierced the crystal. The next moment, the ground began to tremble, and the crystal in front of them gradually cracked, shattered, and finally exploded with a "boom", disappearing into thin air. At the same time, the red-haired girl fell to the ground.
The massive wound on her body had disappeared, and Fang Zheng reached out, catching her in one swoop.
"Let’s leave here first."
The tremors of the earth grew increasingly intense; Fang Zheng’s sword didn’t just break the seal, it seemed to awaken something dormant.
"The rest can be discussed on the surface."
