Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 852 - 851: This is just the tip of the iceberg

Originally, Fang Zheng wanted to directly teleport Nymph over, but for some unknown reason, this place completely blocked all teleportation. Left with no choice, Fang Zheng had to lead the others to first withdraw from this area, then once again reach the mountain foot through the dense fog, and only then successfully use the summoning technique to summon Nymph.

Initially, Fang Zheng did not plan to bring Nymph on this adventure. For one, Little Angel’s characteristics are too distinct; not to mention, the collar around her neck is enough to draw attention. The relationship between Fang Zheng and Little Angel is known to nearly everyone, so once she appears, any disguise attempts by Fang Zheng are pointless.

Secondly, Nymph is currently with the other children from the "Synapsus" academy, trying hard to digest the Forerunner knowledge previously acquired from Aura World, in order to elevate the Heavenly Dao Palace level to a complete Second Rank. Previously, although Fang Zheng possessed a fleet in Aura World comparable to the Forerunners, it was only the fleet. In other aspects, Fang Zheng’s Heavenly Dao Palace fell short compared to the Forerunners.

If it weren’t for the Forerunners’ lack of magic immunity, allowing Fang Zheng to deal with them using "Ratziel," it would have taken Fang Zheng quite a bit of effort to finish them off.

But Fang Zheng wasn’t entirely at ease either.

Although Forerunners indeed lack magic immunity, they have touched the edges of magic immunity.

Just like when Forerunners were in Shield World, Fang Zheng had almost no way to deal with them. The isolation space they invented to hold stars practically serves as a world barrier, completely cutting off all magic influence. Otherwise, Fang Zheng wouldn’t have played a little game of 007 and snuck onto a Star Alliance Warship to bypass their defenses.

Though after losing the protection of Shield World, Forerunners appeared as vulnerable as ordinary humans in front of Fang Zheng, it served as a wake-up call for Fang Zheng: once technology develops to a certain extent, it can "resist" and "immune" magic.

Fortunately, in Aura World, all Forerunners died, and the Pioneers bit the dust. Otherwise, Fang Zheng wasn’t sure how confident he’d be in completing a mission to destroy the Pioneers.

But now, Fang Zheng needs Little Angel’s assistance.

"Is it like this?"

After listening to Fang Zheng’s explanation, Nymph, who had been summoned, furrowed her brows and pondered for a moment.

"Then please lead me to the village for a field investigation, Master."

"Of course."

Fang Zheng nodded and proceeded to take Nymph along the mountain road once more.

The journey was somewhat dull, but everyone showed no intention of backing out. Initially, Fang Zheng had considered asking Walnut and Kurumi if they wanted to return to Heavenly Dao Palace to rest, but both declined. Obviously, they were curious about everything happening in the village and naturally wanted to know the whole story. Fang Zheng didn’t press further either. Regardless, Kurumi and Walnut were strong enough to face threats of general rank, and if all else fails, Kurumi could take Walnut and run.

Under Fang Zheng’s guidance, the group ventured once more into the dense fog, and as they did, Nymph let out a light exclamation.

"Hmm?"

"What’s wrong, Nymph?"

Fang Zheng turned around to look at Little Angel behind him. Nymph was wide-eyed, staring at the fog ahead and furrowed her brow.

"The information data here... is a bit unusual."

"Oh?"

Fang Zheng naturally understood what Little Angel was referring to. Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows.

"What’s your take?"

"Not sure yet... I need to analyze it further... it might take a while. Let’s continue moving forward."

"Alright."

Fang Zheng wasn’t surprised by Little Angel’s reaction. In fact, he had already sensed the issue from Ratziel’s previous performance. The contradictory, head-scratch-worthy information nearly made Ratziel "crash." Clearly, this place was also causing some difficulty for Little Angel.

Hence, Fang Zheng didn’t say much but continued leading Little Angel and the others forward until they emerged from the foggy area. In front of them, the village appeared once more.

But...

"Huh? Changed again?"

Watching the village engulfed in raging flames, Walnut exclaimed in surprise, and at that moment, they suddenly saw a figure clad in fire stumble towards them.

"Help! Help...!! AAAAA!!"

The figure desperately raised a hand toward Fang Zheng and his companions, seemingly pleading for rescue. However, before he could finish his words, several ghouls jumped out from the surroundings, pinned the figure down to the ground, and amidst the shrieks, quickly tore him to pieces.

These ghouls clearly weren’t satisfied either, as they soon turned their gaze toward Fang Zheng and the others.

"Get ready, Kurumi, Walnut."

Fang Zheng snorted softly as he looked at the ghouls, and once more summoned the pitch-black greatsword. Kurumi and Walnut also prepared for battle. Nevertheless, compared to before, the two wore noticeably more relaxed expressions — after all, they’d defeated these ghouls once before, so why not a second time?

But this time, they didn’t need to lift a finger.

"I found it, Master!"

At this moment, Nymph, who had been silent throughout the journey, exclaimed in delight. She then spread her arms, and soon, transparent and brilliant wings appeared behind Nymph. Alongside them, a round crystal composed of equilateral triangles began to spin around Nymph.

"Domain Unfold! Reconstruction Begin!!"

As Nymph’s clear voice rang out, Fang Zheng watched the environment around him suddenly start to transform. In the next instant, everything began to change swiftly.

Those houses burning fiercely, the ghouls, the corpses, and everything around seemed to decompose into sparkling light orbs as if they had turned to sand, then rearranged. Fang Zheng and the others felt a blur in front of their eyes, like a gust of wind carrying dust blew past them. The next moment, the previously quiet and peaceful village appeared once again before them.

"This... What exactly is this...?"

Although today, Kurumi and Fina had already encountered many surprising things, the scene in front of them left everyone dumbfounded. At this moment, Nymph slowly descended, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and smiled at Fang Zheng.

"Analysis complete, Master."

"Thank you for your hard work, Nymph."

Fang Zheng reached out, patted Nymph on the head, and then quickly voiced his question.

"But speaking of which, what exactly is going on here?"

"This question is quite simple."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Nymph smiled slightly.

"Because you all are currently in a broken, abandoned space."

"Abandoned space?"

"Yes."

Hearing Fang Zheng’s question, Nymph snapped her fingers. Quickly, everyone saw photon particles gathering around Nymph, forming ghouls, villagers, and cultists. However, they looked like puppets, standing there blankly without any reaction.

"Wait, do you mean...?"

Upon seeing these people, Fang Zheng suddenly felt a stir in his heart.

"Are we in an instance?!"

"Correct."

Nymph nodded.

"Strictly speaking, this is something like a ’recycle bin’. Here are discarded fragments and data, so the place you are currently in is not the real world, but a deliberately crafted... instance space."

"Wait, but these people seem so real?"

At this point, Walnut also voiced her surprise and asked.

"If they are NPCs in a game, shouldn’t they only repeat the same lines? Yet their reactions to us are no different from normal people?"

"That’s just the most basic AI, and in fact, achieving this level is not entirely impossible."

Previously, Fang Zheng might have shared Walnut’s doubts, but after experiencing the Aura World, Fang Zheng already understood this point. The Forerunners once aspired to digitize themselves and then restructure, but they failed due to lack of power. As it seems possible here, it indicates a more advanced level of technology than the Forerunners. And possessing such technology... there’s only one.

Thinking this, Fang Zheng looked up at the sky.

The Goddess of Order.

If even the Forerunners could manage to digitize biological data, there’s no reason the Goddess of Order couldn’t.

More importantly...

"Nymph."

Fang Zheng again looked at the little angel, his expression serious.

"Are you saying... all these instances here are defective?"

"Yes, Master, according to my analysis, that’s the case. The instance materials here are based on the same environment but utilize other data naively, as if..."

At this point, Nymph looked somewhat troubled, seemingly unsure how to describe it.

"It’s like someone just getting started is trying to use their tools to create..."

"Alright, I understand what you mean."

Indeed, even without Nymph’s explanation, Fang Zheng knew what she wanted to say. Fang Zheng had seen many people of this type during game development. Some programmers just starting out feel invincible after mastering basic operations, thinking defeating Blizzard or trampling on Black Isle is just a matter of time. So even if it’s just a simple ping pong game, they’ll find ways to add plot, character interaction, store exchanges, data balance...

Of course, the result of this approach is nothing accomplished when the time comes, all in vain.

I only asked you to make a ping pong game; I’m not asking you to make Heroes of the Storm!

But now the problem is... all these are failures, so... where are the successful instances?

In other words, who or what has the capability to arbitrarily modify real-world data?